Ref Penley Family.
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Channel Islands 1841 Beiesford Street, St Helier, Channel Islands.Surname Forename Age Relationship Occupation Born in County?
Asher Susanna 15 - Independent England
Asher Elizabeth 14 - - England
Asher Sarah 12 - - England
Asher Ketherine 9 - - England
Asher Esther 7 - - England
Asher Mary 5 - -
Asher John 3 - - Yes
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Channel Islands 1851 Census : 2 Mount Row, St Peters Port, Guernsey.
Surname Forename Age Relationship Occupation Birth Place
Witcher Warrick W 35 Head Pickle Merchant -, England
Witcher Frances 32 Wife - -, England
Astor Elizabeth 24 Sister In Law Proprietor Of Houses -, Engla
Astor Sarah 22 Sister In Law Proprietor Of Houses -, England 2 Mount Row
Astor Katherine 19 Sister In Law Proprietor Of Houses -, Engla
Astor Esther 17 Sister In Law Proprietor Of Houses -, England
Astor Mary 15 Sister In Law Proprietor Of Houses -, England
Astor John Jacob 13 Brother In Law Scholar St Heliers, Jersey
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1861 Census : Northend Road, St. John's Cottage, Fulham.
John J Astor. Head Age 23 Occupation Fundholder. Born Jersey.
Ellen M Astor Wife. Age 21 Born Middx London.
Jessie K Astor Daughter Born Fulham.
Susan Chamberlain Age 24 Servant Born Fulham.
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London 1871 Census : 9 Cambridge Terrace, Clayton Road, Camberwell.Surname Forename Age Relationship Occupation Birth Place
Ashford Eliza 47 Head Income From House Property -, Somerset
Ashford Susannah E 24 Daughter - Westminster, Middlesex
Ashford Ellen L 20 Daughter - Westminster, Middlesex
Ashford Annie J 17 Daughter - Westminster, MiddlesexAstor John J 33 Lodger No Occupation -, Jersey
Astor Jessie 11 Daughter - Fulham, Middlesex
Astor Mabell 8 Daughter - -, GermanyThere is no sign of a wife ! John's condition is illegible but it does look like Bachelor ! ? or could it be Widower ! ?
This is the last sighting of Jessie!, I have not found her on any other Census, or found a death or marriage for her.
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1881 Census : 24 Balborough Street, Deptford.John J Astor Head Age 43 Occupation Traveler Born Geurnsey.
Elizh M Astor (sic) Wife Age 25 (sic) Born Mitcham Surrey (sic)*(Something a bit strange here! as you can see the wife shown as Elish M Astor, I take it that, to be short for Elizabeth! and not for Ellen as is his wife's name in 1861; also her age! going by the 1861 Ellen M is 21 years!,
so would have made her now as 41 years, and not as 25 years as Elizh M states!, and as to the birth place in 1861 Ellen M has Middx Fulham!
this Elizh M has Mitcham Surrey! these two places are not near to each other, both being on opposite sides of the River Thames !
Ihave not found any death entry for an Ellen Astor between 1861 & 1881!
Nor have I found any marriage entry for John Jacob to an Elizabeth.
I have found a death entry for a Ellen M Astor June Qtr 1916 Age 75 Hackney 1b 400. This would be just about the right age of Ellen M Astor of the 1861.
So I believe that the wife's are two different persons !)
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.
Ref Rootsweb World Connect Project :
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=pjc4ax&id=I34670
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Allthough Henry was a Landscape artist of some note, I have not found much of a biography of him, only that he.was born 1806 and died in 1860, there are samples of his work on the www.
The most common attribute to him on the www is a book" Recollections of the late William Beckford "
This was published some 30 years after his death and is a collection of letters written by him to his daughter Charlotte, apparently he was a great friend of William Beckford Jnr. The forward of the book, and a biography of both William Beckford Jnr & Snr are printed below.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Somerset 1841 Census : 20 Great Stanthrope Street, Walcot, SomersetLansdown Henry 35 Landscape Painter Yes born in same county.
Lansdown Mary 25 Yes Ditto.
Lansdown Theodore 7 Yes Ditto.
Lansdown Henry 6 Yes Ditto.
Lansdown Edward 4 Yes Ditto.
Lansdown Lewis 2 Yes Ditto.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Somerset 1851 Census : 20 Great Stanhope Street, Walcot, Somerset
Lansdown Henry 46 Head Lanscape Painter High Littleton, Somerset
Lansdown Mary Ann 37 Wife - Bath, Somerset
Lansdown Henry 15 Son School Assistant Bath, Somerset
Lansdown Edward 13 Son Flower Painter Bath, Somerset
Lansdown Charlotte 9 Daughter Scholar Bath, Somerset
Lansdown Mary 8 Daughter Scholar Bath, Somerset
Lansdown Sarah 3 Daughter - Bath, Somerset
Lansdown Theodorn 1 Daughter - Bath, Somerset
Townsend Harriet 15 Servant General Servant Castle Eaton, Wiltshi
Ballard Eliza 14 Servant General Servant Blunsdon, Wiltshire
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------RECOLLECTIONS OF THE LATE WILLIAM BECKFORD
OF FONTHILL, WILTS and LANSDOWN, BATH
The Manuscript of the following Letters, written by my Father, has been in my possession fifty years. He intended to publish it at the time of Mr. Beckford’s death, in 1844, but delayed the execution of the work, and sixteen years afterwards was himself called to enter on the higher life of the spiritual world.Mr. Beckford and my Father were kindred spirits, conversant with the same authors, had visited the same countries, and were both gifted with extraordinary memories. Mr. Beckford said that he had never met with a man possessed of such a memory as my Father; and many a time has my Father told me that he never met a man who possessed such a memory as Mr. Beckford.
If my Father had published the Reminiscences himself I think that much misconception in the public mind respecting the character of Mr. Beckford would have been prevented. For instance, I remember, when a child, being warned that this great man was an infidel. When he showed my Father the sarcophagus in which his body was to be placed, he remarked, “There shall I lie, Lansdown, until the trump of God shall rouse me on the Resurrection morn.”
CHARLOTTE LANSDOWN.
8 Lower East Hayes, Bath;
July, 1893.
William BeckfordWilliam Beckford (1759-1844), son of William Beckford the Elder (1709-70) alderman and Lord Mayor of London, was at one time one of the richest men in England. His mother was a descendant of Mary Stuart.
At the age of five, Beckford received piano tuition from Mozart (then only aged nine). At the age of 21, Beckford inherited a huge fortune of œ1 million, with an annual income of œ100,000. The fortune had been amassed by three generations of sugar plantation owners in Jamaica.
In 1778, following a period of travel and study in Europe, Beckford returned to England.
William Beckford has two names to fame, as builder of the Gothic monstrosity Fonthill Abbey and as author of the Gothic novel Vathek.
Fonthill Abbey, architect James Wyatt (1746-1813), was the most sensational of the English Gothic revival. Started in 1796, on Beckford's return from Switzerland, the 275 foot tower fell down in 1807 and was rebuilt. Beckford spent most of his life at Fonthill Abbey as a recluse. Fonthill Abbey ate away at his fortune, leaving a mere œ80,000, forcing him to sell Fonthill Abbey and retire to Bath.
Vathek (1786) was dreamt of following a three-day Christmas party held in honour of the eleven year old son of Viscount Courtenay, with whom Beckford had formed an attachment. Completed in outline in three days and two nights, the story was written in French, later translated into English by the Rev Samuel Henry.
Vathek is an Oriental tale about the wicked Caliph Vathek who builds a tall tower so that he can view all seven kingdoms of the world and leads him to challenge Mohammed in his seventh heaven. Undoubtedly blasphemous in the eyes of Muslim fanatics. A public outcry against Vathek would undoubtedly bring about a Renaissance of William Beckford and restore him to the common man and lead to runaway book sales, as did the fatwa and book burning of the badly written Satanic Verses by the mediocre and barely literate writer Salman Rushdie.
Vathek is notable as one of the early examples of the Gothic genre, earning itself a respectable place alongside The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story (1764) by Horace Walpole (1717-1797), The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) by Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823) and The Monk (1776) by Mathew Lewis (1775-1818). Vathek was one of the books to have influenced Mary Shelley, though the note scribbled by Beckford on the fly-leaf of his copy of Frankenstein (1818) shows her views were not reciprocated, 'This is, perhaps, the foulest toadstool that has yet sprung up, from the reeking dunghill of the present times.'
During his lifetime, Beckford achieved notoriety for an alleged affair with the young Courtenay. The scandal broke in the autumn of 1784, when Beckford was charged with sexual misconduct. By the middle of the following year, as news of the scandal spread, Beckford was forced into exile, taking with him his wife and baby daughter. In exile in Switzerland, his wife died giving birth to a second daughter (May 1786). He returned to England in 1796, where he devoted his time to Fonthill Abbey and lived as a recluse.
William Beckford died in Bath (2 May 1844).
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William Beckford. Slave plantation owner, lord mayor, politicianWilliam Beckford was born in Jamaica, the son of a leading sugar plantation owner who, at his death in 1735, was the wealthiest and most powerful man on the island. William Beckford's own property in Jamaica eventually included 22,000 acres of sugar plantations and approximately 3,000 slaves. In the mid-1740s Beckford moved to London to run his business affairs and he became one of the most powerful businessmen in the city. He was twice lord mayor of London and was known for the lavish public banquets he laid on.
Beckford's wealth further increased as a consequence of the Seven Years War (1756-1763) with France. This disrupted French sugar supplies and lead to a massive increase in the profits made by British plantation owners. Beckford's profits were invested in enterprises such as shipping and money lending. He was also aware that political influence would help his business affairs. In 1747, he was elected an MP, first for Shaftesbury and then for London and was a friend and supporter of William Pitt the Elder who became secretary of state and later prime minister. He led an influential group of MPs who were all absentee planters from the West Indies and formed a powerful pro-slavery lobby.
The lobby influenced government policy on defence, trade, shipping and finance, but Beckford also supported Pitt's political reform, including the extension of the franchise. The absentee planters were criticised for their use of slaves and their conspicuous consumption, their manipulation of the sugar market and their use of wealth to gain political influence. There was also social hostility from the established aristocracy towards Beckford and other rich planters, who regarded them as nouveaux riches. In 1756, Beckford married into 'old money'. His wife, Maria Hamilton, was the daughter of the Honorable George Hamilton and the granddaughter of an earl.
In about 1736, Beckford bought the Fonthill estate in Wiltshire where he built a large and expensive house and then entertained on a lavish scale. His only legitimate son, also called William (1760-1844), was for a time the wealthiest man in the country. He also acquired a large collection of art, and built Fonthill Abbey
Ref Rootsweb World Connect Project :
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=pjc4ax&id=I34670
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