Nelson & His World

I thought I'd start a new thread in case any more information or leads come to light re: Captain B.

Chasbaz:

I came across the notice in The Times of 17 and 22 April 1847 of the sale of his house in St John's Wood. It may be that you have these details already, but I think it is interesting nonetheless to see the manner in which one retired naval captain lived.

Very excellent gentleman’s residence in perfect order and repair fit for the immediate reception of a highly respectable family, admirably situate in the preferable part of Hamilton Terrace, St John’s Wood,. Mr Leifchild has received instructions to offer for SALE at Garraway’s on Wednesday Ma 5 at 12 for I, the above very eligible town villa, being the property of Capt. J W Bazalgette RN and known as 83 Hamilton Terrace. This truly desirable residence contains handsome vestibule and entrance hall, elegant drawing room 21 x 19 feet, with stone steps to lawn and garden, well-proportioned dining-room 19 x 14 feet, library 21 x 19 feet, breakfast room and gentlemen’s room, ante-room and water-closet, four light and airy bedchambers and four secondary ditto; well-arranged domestic apartments in the basement, comprising excellent kitchen, butler’s pantry and larder, with capital ales and wine cellars, coal vaults, water cisterns and all other conveniences necessary to a respectable establishment. There is a neat flower garden in front and a handsome lawn and walled garden planted with choice shrubs to the rear. The property is held on a lease from Harrow School for a term of years of which 76 are expired and subject to low ground rent of £20 p.a. Particulars and conditions of sale will be issued 10 days previous to the sale and may be had at Garraway’s, of Messrs Fladgate, Young and Jackson, 12 Essex Street, Strand; and at Mr Leifchild’s land and auction offices, 62 Moorgate, city, where only cards to view the premises can be obtained and a plan and elevation of the house may be seen.

Have you any idea why Capt. B. was selling up? Shortage of funds? This is quite a splendid London house and would require some upkeep. It is interesting to compare Mr Leifchild's other advertisements with this one. He uses the term 'respectable family' in other advertisements but this one also mentions 'gentleman's residence', 'admirable situate', 'the preferable part' of Hamilton Terrace. Just a thought - but St John's Wood, though elegant and expensive, also had a racy reputation as the place where men secreted their mistresses. I wonder if this offended the Captain's
religious sensibilities?

Bet you wish he'd kept it in the family - it sounds lovely - and worth a few million today!

Tycho,
Thanks for giving Joseph his own thread!
This is nice - in fact I have a copy of this ad.

I have been thinking that we should maybe move some of the postings on Joseph from 'crimping' etc.

The actual story is more prosaic. In fact I dug out some of my documents and had a flash of reality last night. In 1847, Joseph's wife Theresa Philo Bazalgette was diagnosed with uterine cancer (her death certificate in 1850 says she had had it for 3 years). Joseph himself died of 'ulceration of mucous membranes producing atrophy'. Of course it is not clear which of the many mucous membranes it means, but from a few searches I have done this does look like one of the terminal effects of tuberculosis. Joseph made his will in 1847, sold the house, which they were probably unable to manage any more, and retired to Ryde.

I have requested rate books etc for Lind Street, Ryde, which is where Joseph died. I know he didn't buy a house there, but rented a house or rooms. I think it very unlikely that he lived at Brading at all, but purchased a burial plot there, or perhaps the NMBS bought one for him, and I think probably the society also put up the rather grand tomb which he occupies.

The Hamilton Terrace house was probably bought from the proceeds of the sale of a fine house in Enfield, which may have been given them as a wedding gift by Joseph's father Louis, who was very wealthy. For some reason they did not stay in Enfield very long. The Hamilton Terrace house is still there of course, and has a blue plaque bearing the name of Joseph's son, the civil engineer, who lived there for a time.

Actually the plaque is on number 17, so either it is on the wrong house, or they were renumbered later. Or perhaps even the family had two huses in Hamilton Terrace, but I don't think so.

It appears that the family bought 12 Grove Hill in Tunbridge Wells, but I am not sure when. They had 7 unmarried daughters at the time, so they had to have somewhere for them all to live...

This is just me speculating in my usual over-imaginitive way:

was Lind Street anywhere near St James Church in Ryde? Digging about, I came upon the history of the church which was, and still is, very evangelical in its stance. It seems possible that proximity to an evangelical church might have been a priority for Capt. B. when choosing a place of worship.

A few years prior to Captain B's arrival, there had been uproar there over their priest, Richard Waldo Sibthorp, who hopped around between Rome and Evangelicalism, and gained mild notoriety. The evangelicals won, and the church remains strongly evangelical to this day.

see www.churchsociety.org/aboutus/managed/P ... Church.htm

If you have difficulty accessing this link, simply Google St James Church,
I O W and you will find the Church Society link about 9 down in the listings.

There may not be anything more to be gleaned in the church records but if he did worship there, the doctrinal upheavals, in view of JWB's evangelical leanings, might add a little background to his story.

I'll move the relevant threads on JWB from the 'crimping' thread to this thread when I learn how. My two expert advisers are out of contact at the moment.

There is a St James Church in Lind Street. I think the church in the link you gave me is now held in a different location. Sibthorp certainly seems evangelical enough but I haven't yet found any connection with the naval societies.

Chasbaz,

Have just come across this, whilst looking for something else as usually happens:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/commen ... 395266.ece

Perhaps you have already seen it and I am sure you know of him. Not your man, but perhaps your family?

Kester

Devenish,
Thanks for this.
I have seen it in fact, but I might not have!

Rear Admiral Derek was my 2nd cousin, once removed.
All Bazalgettes, at least in the UK, are from the same family.
If you have nothing better to do, and most of us have plenty, you can look at
www.bazalgette.com - it also has a link to my project.

Thanks and best wishes,
Chasbaz

Something which suddenly gelled today.
Joseph named one of his sons Henry Gambier Bazalgette.
Always wondered why, but - duh! it suggests he had a high regard for 'Dismal Jimmy'. He certainly seems to have matched him for zeal!
Maybe the admiral or his son was the boy's godfather.

The boy died before he was two, though, otherwise we would probably have more Gambiers in the family, as we have Willoughbys.

Hi Charles, just wondering if you got any further with establishing the link with Gambier?

Christian names can provide important clues - in my case, the name of Charles Mansfield's son provided a clue to a vital missing link in his early service history. His son's name was James Hawkins Hughes Mansfield, and I had a hunch that he could be named after Admiral Sir James Hawkins Whitshed, who was a close contemporary and so perhaps a friend of Mansfield's, and was just plain James Hawkins in the early days (later taking the name Whitshed to inherit from his maternal grandfather). As James Hawkins lived longer, and was more famous than Mansfield, information on his service history was easier to come by, and so I traced his progression through ship's musters and sure enough I soon came across one of Mansfield's brothers and then Charles serving together as Midshipmen with James Hawkins at the opening of the War of American Independence.

I'm still working on the Hughes in his son's name!

As you suggest, Joseph's choice of Gambier for his son's name could be out of respect or it might indicate a much closer link.

Tony,

No, afraid not. I would have to dig out a baptism entry, and I don't think I have that. It is just in a family Bible entry. Gambier was of French extraction, as were many officers at the time, so there was a sort of bond there. Mainly the connection was in serving in the same evengelical societies. There is no known family connection.

Names may occasionally give a clue which leads your research in a new direction, or wild goose chase.

Chasbaz:

you seem to have Captain B.'s service record pretty well sewn up, but I thought I'd let you know of a reference that I came across in the Times Archive of 24 January 1814 to Mr Bazalgette, senior lieutenant in the America. To be brief, the surrender of a castle ashore had been obtained the day before and contained prisoners. It was of 'considerable size and strength, walled and ditched, and capable of containing 1000 men' but Lieut. B was sent and 'with a few barrels of gunpowder completely destroyed it.'

If, on the off-chance you haven't got this information, and don't have access to the Times Archive, I will happily transcribe it for you.

Hello Tycho,

I do have a transcription of Rowley's report, thank you.
I always enjoyed the 'few barrels of gunpowder' bit.
Presumably Joseph was rather good with the stuff!

Chasbaz