Mary Be(?)rtram
|
|================||
William Lombe                                            Daniel Milner
b.                                                       b.
c.16mar1775                                              c.
d.                                                       d.
|                                                        |
m.                                                       m.
|                                                        | 
Hannah                                                                   
|                                                        |
|================||                                      |================||    
William henry Lombe                                      Frances [Barrow/Barron]
b.30sep1788                                              b.
c.19oct1788 Octagon-Presbyterian Norwich, Norfolk     
d......1824 (?)                                          d.        
|                                                        |
m.14nov1818  St. Nicholas, Liverpool                     |
             Lancashire (Warrington)                     |                          
|                                                        |
Elizabeth barrow ........................................|..........................m2.05jul1828 ... William
Milner                                                                              Stewart (recorded Steward)
b...nov1797 Manchester, Lancashire      
c.19nov1797 Saint Thomas Ardwick, Manchester, Lancashire    
d.~4mar1830 On board the ship 'Bombay' en route to Perth
|
|========================================|===========||   
William henry                            Frances louisa   
b.21dec1820 Cheltenham, Gloucestershire  b.                                                  
c.05mar1826 Liverpool                    c.31mar1822 Claines, Worcester and/or
                                         c.05mar1826 Liverpool
d.05nov1905 Sutherland (Woronora)        d.15sep1900 Miners Rest, Victoria                  
            Cemetery, Sydney  
|                                        |
m.21dec1848 Launceston, Tasmania         m1.14aug1844 ........... m2.12nov1862   
|                                        |                        |         
Julia or Juliana Sherlock                Caleb Crompton           William Brown  
b.07oct1829 Launceston, Tasmania                                             
d......1923                                                                  

Frances' birth

Claines church stands isolated in a farming area some miles north east of Worcester. Today it is surrounded by isolated housing, perhaps associated with farm workers. However in the 19^th century the large parish of Claines extended in a southerly direction into the city of Worcester. It would appear to cover an area bounded by the A38 and the River Severn, south of the village. In today's Worcester it would have included the race course but ended before the railway viaduct.

The register entries for 'Abode' appear to give the precise location of the parents residence. On the same page are mentioned Talbot Row and Loves Grove. This suggests that the Lombe family lived in The Moors, an area adjoining the race course and within walking distance of the city centre. This area is within the parish of Claines.

William Henry Lombe appears to have been a life long Non-Conformist. However, Worcester Local History Centre have no Non-Conformist records; Congregationalist or Presbyterian, for the first part of the 19^th century, therefore it is assumed that this was the reason for Frances' christening within the established Church of England.

1821info4, sheet 2

Above: An abridged page showing Fanny's birth entry in the Claines Parish Register
Source: Worcester History Centre film 62/2 page 100

Above: A map showing the birth place of Frances		Above: Claines Church, Worcestershire, where Frances was first christened

1821info4, sheet 3

Right: 1886 map of Worcester locating The Moors (top left) and 61 High Street (bottom right). The River Severn is in the south west corner and the race course on the western edge. Source: Old-Maps

1821info4, sheet 4

The Moors, once a series of long thin courtyards leading from the road towards the race course, were built on the flood plain of Worcester's River Severn. The 1886 map illustrates Courts 3-11. From a plan view some Courts appear to be single dwellings with a long thin garden averaging 50m long by 6m wide. Other Courts, approximately 55m long by 18m, show several smaller houses built around a 'garden' area. The plots were, in general, for multiple occupancy. The status of the area can be suggested by the quality of the buildings around Britannia Square. Here detached Georgian buildings surround a grassy square, with some of their long gardens extending down to The Moors. Today the building where the Lombe's lived have been knocked down, to be replaced by The Swan Theatre, an ex-serviceman's club, a car park and the race course's hurdles yard. There are only the remains of the facing walls to the gardens of Britannia Square. Clicking on The Moors will open an A4, 85Kb, 1886 map of the area showing the Courts in more detail. Source: Worcester History Centre. Right: A 1902 map of Worcester locating The Moors. Source: Ordnance Survey reprint

Right: The Moors, Worcester, 2005, showing the car park railings, where the Courts once stood and the garden walls to Britannia Square.

1821info4, sheet 5

		Left: The site of the now demolished Courts in The Moors, Worcester, 2005. Beyond the trees is Worcester race course.
Right: The Georgian affluence of Britannia Square, Worcester, 2005

1821info4, sheet 6

Lombe's Circulating Library

Every document researched refers to William Henry Lombe as a musician and 'Professor of Music'. But he was also a bookseller and the owner of Lombe's Circulating Library, a many faceted establishment of books, sheet music, stationery and drawing. The British Book Trade Index (BBTI) records that, in 1819 Lombe's Circulating Library was based in High Street, Worcester, and in 1821 at number 61 High Street. But it is evident that his wife, Elizabeth Barrow Milner, was a 'partner' fulfilling an important role. It is interesting to note that the BBTI lists a Peter Milner, bookseller, in Warrington (where William Henry Lombe and Elizabeth were married).

Circulating libraries sprang up in the 18th century as private libraries for members only. A fee was required to join but they greatly increased the accessibility to books, which were still expensive items. In England, many bookstores could not keep up with the demand for novels and romances so they started renting them out rather than selling them. These circulating libraries, as they were called, were derided by the literate classes as "slop shops of literature". Note the careful wording of the Lombe advertisement. They were also unpopular with publishers as it was feared that they would lead to a fall in book sales. However, in the long term, circulating libraries increased book sales because they contributed to a rise in literacy among previously illiterate classes. As the market for books grew, people started to buy rather than rent. For-profit circulating libraries existed in England well into the 1950s, their demise eventually caused by the proliferation of the paperback book.

Right: The 1886 map of central Worcester showing 61 High Street at the corner of Broad Street. The Guildhall, shown above in the artists impression, is the large black area inn the bottom right corner on the west of High Street. Source: old-maps.co.uk

1821info4, sheet 7

Circulating Library, Artist's Repository and Music Warehouse. No. 61 HIGH STREET, Corner of BROAD STREET, WORCESTER. W. H. LOMBE RESPECTFULLY begs leave to announce to his Friends and the Public of Worcestershire and its vicinity that he has opened a Circulating Library, Music Warehouse, and Artist's Repository at the above Shop, and he humbly hopes, by assiduity and REASONABLE CHARGES to merit support.  W. H. L. have established a connection with some of the first London Houses, (where he has recently made large Purchases at READY MONEY PRICES has it in the powers to offer to the Public Articles of a very superior quality, and cheaper than any other House in Town.   The Library is well selected and comprises the Works of some of the most approved ancients and modern Authors, and particular care has been taken to expunge the trash with which Circulating Libraries too generally are composed.   Mrs LOMBE respectfully acquaints her Friends and the Public that she proposes opening A DRAWING ACADEMY, where a limited number of Pupils will be instructed in that elegant Accomplishment. Parents or Guardians, who may be pleased to honour her with their favours may rely on the strictest attention to the improve-ment of her Pupils. Terms may be known by applying at the Library, 61, High-street.                    (One concern)		Berrow's Worcester Journal, first published in 1690, is the longest running newspaper still being published. Page two, column one, of the 6130th edition of 29 June 1820, printed by Harvey Berrow Tymes of 53 High Street, Worcester, contains an eloquent advertisement place by William Henry. The wording of the advertisement, his protection of the status of his Circulating Library and the building which contained the library, suggests that the Lombe's were aiming to attracting the monied classes. In it he announces Elizabeth's talents. Elizabeth was, at the time, three months pregnant. Above: A scanned copy of the Journal's banner Left:A scaled transcription of William Henry's advertisement. Note: the top two lines should be 9pt italic and there is no paragraph gap after W.H.LOMBE Source: Worcester History Centre newspaper film 2

1821info4, sheet 8

61 High Street, Worcester - the Lombe's Library Above: The doorway Right: The Georgian building

Right: Worcester High Street 1910, showing The Guild Hall and, on the left, looking down towards W.H.Lombe's book shop. Source: From a painting by Worcester artist Nick Upton 1994

The architectural style suggests that this actual building, on the corner of High Street and Broad Street, could have been the one occupied by the Circulating Library. Behind the scaffold and curtains is an elegant building in a prominent position. The numbering of the High Street, in single numbers up one side and down the other, suggest that, at one time, this corner building numbered 61 was at the end of the prestigious development.

1821info4, sheet 9

The family move to Liverpool

William was the advertised owner of the library up to 1824. The BBTI records William Henry's death as 1824 when Elizabeth Lombe took over the business in Liverpool where, in 1826, the children were re-baptised into the established Church. Lombe's Circulating Libraries in Liverpool were at the following locations: 37 Lime Street, Liverpool, Lancashire - 1822-1824. 36 Whitechapel Street, Liverpool, Lancashire - 1824-1825 Click on the map to open a 92kb large map. Source: British Book Trade Index.

It is possible that the Claines baptism 'didn't count'. In the early 1800s and before 1837 non-conformists had no graveyards available to them except those of the local parish church. The parish church wouldn't bury anyone unless they were baptised in that church. Perhaps William Henry, as a non-conformist, was hedging his bets by having the children and perhaps his whole family re-baptised into the new Communion. Is it possible that the date of Fanny's second christening coincides with the burial of William Henry?

An alterative reason for a second christening was for business and social reasons. The congregation of the non-conformist chapel in Churchtown, Southport in the 1820s was made up of impoverished fishing families, farm labourers and weavers, and was not the place for a librarian to be seen. The same scenario may have applied to the Liverpool churches and social scene.

Living in Southport and a second marriage

In 1830 Elizabeth is mentioned as being the former owner of a library in the Lord Street area of Southport. The 'Directory for Southport 1831' or, An historical and descriptive account of Southport, Lytham, and Blackpool. Preston, from Whittle, P and H (1831). The eighteenth entry records:18, Billington, Mrs, "shell repository, music room, " public library. "This building is extremely neat and elegant, and is situated to the east of the Hesketh Arms, and was originally kept by Mrs Lombe".

Above: A map locating the possible position of the old Hesketh Arms and the Lombe's circulation library

1821info4, sheet 10

In 1819 the Hesketh Arms, described in Mrs Billington's trade entry, was called the Black Bull, which in 1790s was in one of three fisherman's cottages and was run by Wm Sutton, who is credited with founding Southport by building The Original Hotel on the sands at the modern south end of Lord Street, then known as South Hawes. Certainly by 1851 the name of the Black Bull had been changed to the Hesketh Arms and the Hesketh Arms, which originally stood in Lord St, had been renamed the Scarisbrick Arms. So Mrs Billington's public library, east of the Hesketh Arms, and which Elisabeth Lombe kept, would have been in Lord Street. This street, of equivalent status to High Street Worcester, runs north to south west is the promenade. If this library was situated to the east my best guess is that it would have been at the bottom of Eastbank Street, where the present Sefton (formerly Atkinson) Public Library now is. Eastbank Street was then a community of fishermen's cottages, later pulled down to make way for more substantial civic buildings. With thanks to Judy Bradwell, who married in St Cuthbert's and now lives in Wellington, New Zealand. Right: An 1848 map locating Eastbank Street, Southport Click on the image to open a larger 39Kb gif map.

The Billington family are still in evidence in the 1851 census, but Mrs Billington of the library is not listed. John Billington, a shopkeeper aged 75 and born in Cheshire, was the family head. Then follows a list of daughters and sons. There is however a nephew, Henry aged 5 who was born in Worcestershire!. They would have been living in Lord Street, so were a substantial family.

On 05 July1828 the widow Lombe married, by licence, William Stewart at St. Cuthbert, North Meols. ¹ George Stewart and Elizabeth Todd were their witnesses. Both Elizabeth and William lived in the parish at the time of their marriage.

The Parish of North Meols included Churchtown, Crossens, Marshside and Banks is situated on a rivulet one mile from the coast, and 2˝ miles north east of Southport railway station. Visitors today who make the short journey from Southport find a charming village with its thatched cottages, St. Cuthbert’s Church, and the beautiful Botanic Gardens. The green road, the A565, leads south-westerly to Lord Street. St Cuthbert Church is indicated by a black circle with a cross. The orange road below the church is Botanic Road. Here is a 'modern' Hesketh Arms built circa 1880.

Above: A map locating St Cuthbert's Church, Botanic Road, Churchtown

1821info4, sheet 11

For the reasons described above Elizabeth may have been happy to have been married in an Anglican church. However, her wedding may have been in Christ Church, consecrated on 29 November 1821 and only 50m from where her library would have been. This was the 'posh-end' of the growing Southport with Churchtown being the the home of impoverished fishing families and weavers. St Cuthbert's, being the original church held the records for Christ Church.

There are Stewarts in the 1851 census living in Upper King Street. This is the local area of Southport where the families who were doing reasonably well out of the new town lived. James Stewart, 34, was a boot maker, born in Hesketh Bank (a village north of Southport), with his wife Jane, 36, born Southport, and their two children Alice, 11, and Ellen 3. An Alfred Johnson, from Bradford was a lodger. However, Stewart is definitely not a Southport name.

Footnote:
¹ The name Southport came into existence in the 1790s; the town is neither south nor a port and was supposedly given by a pixilated doctor. However between two of the sandbanks off the town there was a "lake" where boats could anchor at the south end, so this might be how the town got its name. The parish remained North Meols which was the name of the original area.

		Left: St Cuthbert's Church from the newsagents circa 1960.
Right: The interior of St Cuthbert's Church St Cuthbert's Church is believed to have been built on the site of a church dating from pre-Conquest times. A place called Mele is one of the twelve resting places, in Lancashire, of the bones of St. Cuthbert during their wanderings in the 9th Century. The Church was built in stone in 1571 and rebuilt in 1730-39 although very little of this now remains. The south door bears the inscription: “James Rimmer, Thomas Rimmer, Robert Ball, Church Wardens. James Whitehead Rector 1730”. The tower and spire were rebuilt in 1850 and the interior suggests a similar date.

See: North Meols Civic Society's web site.

Something made this new family emigrate to Australia.

1821info4, sheet 12

Frances and Henry's arrival in Australia - With thanks to Yvonne Fraser

According to her death certificate, Fanny spent 15 years in Tasmania before moving to Victoria with her husband, Caleb, and her family. Here she spent the next 48 years, therefore having arrived in Tasmania c1837.

In fact, she arrived in Hobart, Van Diemen's Land, aged 8, on 26 July 1830 on the ship 'Bombay' from the Swan River Colony, now Fremantle/Perth in Western Australia, which had only been established about 12 months earlier. She had travelled with her brother, William Henry Lombe aged about 10 years(?) old, and Mr Stewart, her step-father. Her mother Elizabeth Barrow Milner-Lombe, now Mrs Stewart, had died on the voyage from Liverpool.

However, Fanny and her family had arrived in the Swan River Colony, on 8 May 1830 - the same day as the 'Bombay', as steerage passengers on the brig 'James'. ¹ which, according to the had arrived in port.

Their voyage had originated in Liverpool and picked up passengers in Kingstown, Ireland. There were 75 passengers in all. The 'James', an American brig built in 1812, with a wooden hull sheathed in copper, was registered in London and weighed 195 tons, making it an extremely small vessel for a voyage of this length. It was carrying general cargo to Swan River for H. Livesey, who was also on board (and part owner of the vessel?).

The captain of the vessel, Edward Goldsmith, seems to have been a fairly unscrupulous fellow and the voyage turned out to be a nightmare for the passengers. Captain Theophilus T. Ellis of the 1st Royal Infantry (Ireland) Regiment boarded the ship at Kingstown on 18 December 1829. His first-hand account of the voyage has survived. Captain Ellis ² wrote:

"On the "James" arriving I found her crowded with passengers [of] the class of labourers, men, women and children, whom with passengers to be taken at Kingstown, made the ship's crew 84 persons, and a quantity of sheep, pigs and geese, which together with the provisions, water casks, spars, etc crowded into a vessel of 196 [sic] tons, left scarcely any room to stand on the deck ... The passengers with a difficulty got down some of their boxes containing clothes after which there was scarcely room for 24 persons to eat and sleep in a space of 19 ft 6 inches by 21 ft 3 inches out of which the bulk of the pumps and main mast of 52 feet (which is to be deducted) we therefore suffered great inconvenience and want of air particularly as the height between decks in the greater part of our cabin is but 4 ft 6 inches between the beams and 4 ft to the beams instead of 5 ft 6in as required by Act of Parliament ...

When we had been six weeks at sea we learned from report on board, that the bows of the vessel were in a state that would render it necessary to have her repaired and we accordingly entered the port of Bapia ... We were dissatisfied at a breach of agreement in not getting fresh food more than 3 times in 7 weeks instead of two days in each week ... We also had mouldy biscuits several times."

On arriving in Bapia (Bassia in Brazil?) Captain Ellis went to the British Consul and demanded that a survey of the seaworthiness of the vessel be made. He also reported the overcrowding of passengers and was told by the Consul that, even though there were too many passengers on board, he would not like to condemn the vessel or to order any of the passengers ashore as he believed that the ship's owner would not be able to pay for sending them onto their destination!

While the repairs to the ship's bows were being undertaken the passengers had to take lodgings on shore. When they came back on board, they found the decks in an even greater state of confusion and filthiness than before. When Captain Ellis' sister, Mrs Bolger, complained that the deck, apart from the area near the round house, was "not in a state to stand on with the dirt of the pigs etc. Mr. Goldsmith (the captain) told her she might remove it herself."

The instructions of the Consul that fresh provisions be provided to the passengers as per their agreements was not complied with after leaving Bapia. No fresh provisions had been taken on board while in port - the pigs which were fouling the decks were for use in Swan River. During 119 days at sea, fresh food was supplied to the passengers on just 13 of them - the equivalent of once a week for 13 weeks! Five people, including Mrs Stewart, died before 4 March. ³

When the 'James' set sail from Fremantle on 21 May 1830 it was blown ashore. The passengers were taken off and transferred back to Fremantle. True to form, Captain Goldsmith refused to release the passenger's luggage to them until ordered to do so by the Colonial Secretary. One man was injured by explosives and another drowned as the cargo was being transferred back to Fremantle and thence to the 'Bombay', which had sailed from Calcutta with passengers for Van Diemen's Land and New South Wales. It reached Swan River on 8 May 1830 and departed for Hobart 15 days later.

The children arrived in Hobart to an uncertain future in the care of a step-father of two years.

1821info4, sheet 13

Source: Particulars of the voyage from Kingstown Ireland (to Swan River in 1828 [sic]) of Capt. Ellis et al., quoted in Henderson 1980: 101-2 Particulars of the voyage from Kingstown, Ireland to Swan River in 1828 [sic] per brig "James" of Capt T T Ellis 1st R.I. (Ireland) and his sister Mrs William Bolger and her family of (six daughters and three sons). Mr Edward Goldsmith (master), State Library of Western Australia, Battye Library Private Archives, ACC2144A

Footnotes:
¹ Source: Dictionary of Western Australians.
² Captain Ellis was travelling to Swan River to take up the post of Superintendent of Native Tribes in 1833. He was fatally speared by aborigines at the Battle of Pinjarra in October 1834.
³That Mrs Stewart is mentioned by name suggests she was one of the 24 deck cabin passenger, rather than one of the 75 steerage passengers.

Frances Louisa's second marriage

Eight years after the death of Caleb Fanny married William Brown on 12 November 1862. It was Frances Louisa Brown, as mother of the bride, who consented to Elizabeth milner's marriage to William Cox.

Issue 3563	Marriage solemnized in the District of Learmouth and Miners Rest								No. 2
Where and when married	Names	Condition	Issue	Birthplace	Rank or Profession	Age	Usual residence	Parents' names	Father's rank or profession
Nov 12 1862 Church of Engn Miners Rest	William Brown	Widower first wife d. August 1860	. .	St Veep Cornwall	Carpenter	50	Miners Rest	John Mary formerly Collins	Farmer
	Frances Louisa Crompton	Widow first husband died December 1854	. 5	Worcester		42	Do	William Henry Elizabeth formerly Milner	Musician
Married in the Church of England Miners Rest Nov 12 1862 The marriage was solemnised between William Brown Frances Louisa Crompton According to the rites of the Church of England and Ireland                            In the presence of Robert Jewell & Eliza Halson

Left: A map locating the birth place of William Brown

1821info4, sheet 14

Frances' death

Frances' death certificate tell us she spent 15 years in Tasmania and 48 years in Victoria, suggesting she arrived in Tasmania about 1837 at the age of 16 and left for Victoria, with Caleb, in about 1853. There were no children born to her marriage to William Brown, whome she outlived. She died, a widow for the second time, on 15 September 1900.

Right: The Dowling Forest Cemetery register shows that Frances Louisa Brown, a resident of Miners Rest in the parish of Dowling Forest was buried in a common grave at 2 o'clock PM, on 17 September 1900. She was still a member of the Church of England and was buried in grave 8 of section 1. Frances Louisa died of 'general debility'. Click on the image to open a full image of 44Kb.

1821info4, sheet 15

William Henry's death

William Henry, a literate Congregational joiner of Kimberly Road, Hurstville, NSW, died on 05 November 1905. He was buried on 17 November 1905 at Sutherland (Woronora) Cemetery Sydney, NSW. His funeral was arranged by his son, Alfred Ernest. The cedar coffin with polished silver fittings was taken to Sutherland Cemetery by hearse and two carriages. The cost of the funeral was 13 pounds 9 shillings.

William Henry's death certificate states that he spent 55 years in NSW (arrived c.1850) and 18 years in Tasmania (arrived in Tasmania c. 1832 at the age of 12. Is there some connection between Henry and Reverend Charles Price, the famous Tasmanian Congregational minister? Henry would have been a member of Rev. Price's congregation and he named his fourth child Arthur Price Lombe.

Back to TOP
This page was created by Richard Crompton and maintained by Chris Glass	Version B15 Updated 27 December 2007