No. 44.
In the Churchyard on the North side: "In this vault are deposited the
remains
of Oliver Toulmin of London Merchant who died the 24th of July 1783 aged 62
years;
and Anna Toulmin, wife of Oliver Toulmin who died the 29th August 1762 aged
38
years. Richard Fellowes Toulmin,
Robert Blincko Toulmin, Abraham Toulmin,
Oliver
Toulmin, Margaret Toulmin, Oliver Blincko Toulmin, children of Oliver and
Anna
Toulmin, who all died in their infancy.
Jane Toulmin, spinster, sister of
Oliver
Toulmin who died the 5th of September 1756 aged 26 years. Anne Toulmin, wife
of
Lieutenant John Toulmin of the Royal Navy and sister of Oliver Toulmin, who
died
the
17th June 1770 aged 45 years. Mary Coward, widow of James Coward of London,
Merchant,
and sister of Anna Toulmin, who died the 3rd of March 1791 aged 71 years.
Sukey
Coward,spinster, daughter of James and Mary Coward, who died the 24th December
1764
aged 20 years." (M&B, quoted
JMH and Bond; but the latter has "widow of JOHN
COWARD";
Burke (Blencowe of the Hooke) gives James Coward. I have visited
Sanderstead
Church, but could not find this vault.)
This
very informative inscription presents one problem: how was it that the wife of
Lt.
John Toulmin was sister of Oliver Toulmin?
Obviously there are two possible
explanations
(a) "sister" here means "sister-in-law" (as was common
usage); (b) she
was in
fact sister of Oliver and it was a Toulmin/Toulmin marriage (like the younger
Oliver
and Charlotte). In fact, Ann Toulmin m.
John Toulmin on 18 Oct 1766 Christ
Ch.
Spitalfields (see ***311134 and **132111) which seems to establish (b). It's
true
that Lt John Toulmin's will (given in full below) mentions "my Brother
Oliver
Toulmin",
but very much ranking after "my Brother William" ("Toulmin"
omitted); so I
believe
the former means "-in-law".
(It may have been a copying error: the Will of
William
Toulmin **132133 contains "my son" as an undoubted error for "my
son-in-law".) Oliver and Abraham both died after John, but
their wills make no
mention
of his family, nor of a William Toulmin.
The ME/IGI tree, I believe, went astray in
assuming (a), and also misquotes 1721
and
1756 as 1724 and 1765; however, I accept their attribution of "Abraham
Toulmin
of
Cartmel" as being a brother of Oliver.
This gives us a family of Toulmins to be
compared
with the children of Richard Toulmin (or Tolmin) of Bolton-le-Sands (from
the
Bolton registers), thus:
Bolton Sanderstead and ME/IGI
Robert bapt. 6 Sep 1716 (presumably d. in
infancy)
Isabell bapt. 22 Mar 1718/9
Oliver bapt. 9 July 1721 Oliver d. 24 July 1783 aged 62
Ann bapt. 26 Jan 1723/4 Anne d. 17th June 1770
aged 45
Abraham bapt. 30th July 1727 Abraham of Cartmel d. 1800 age
unknown
Jane
bapt. 22 May 1730
Jane d. 5 Sep 1756 aged 26
Robert bapt. 30 Nov 1731 (buried 27
Dec.1732)
The
ages for Oliver and Jane match perfectly; there is a 1-year discrepancy for
Ann(e),
which seems venial. I think the
agreement is good enough to justify the
assumption
that the families are the same. (Note
also that Abraham of Cartmel had a
dau.
Isabella.)
The rest of the inscription is explained by
the following tree (Burke, s.v.
Blencowe
of The Hooke):
Thomas BLENCOWE = Martha PERRISS
________|______
| |
James COWARD m.1740 Mary BLENCOWE Anna BLENCOWE m. 6 Jul 1751 Oliver TOULMIN
d.before 1791 | 1720-1791 1724-1762 (at St Pauls) 1721-1783
|
Sukey COWARD (not in Burke)
1744-1764
ME90
adds that James Coward was of St Peter ad Vincula, merchant, and m. Mary at
St
Paul's Cathedral.
It seems worth remarking that the Lancaster
registers have an entry for the
marriage
of Tho Toulmin of Preston and Elizabeth Coward, 30 Dec 1717 (WillT).
Tho.
could have been the Thomas, b. 1692, whom I believe to have been a younger
brother
of Richard, and so uncle of Oliver; there may be some remote connection.
The inscription makes no mention of
surviving children of Anna and Oliver; but it
seems
well-established that their children surviving infancy were Susannah
***3111331
and Richard ***3111332: see the details given there. A residual problem
is the
claim that Susannah's father is said to have been "Barrister-at-Law and
Master
in Chancery" (Burke, and Flood, applied to **13218), which does not sound
like
our "Merchant and Navy Agent".
I think this must be an error: see the
discussion
under **13218.
I have devoted considerable efforts to
trying to trace Lt John Toulmin, so far
without
success. Following is what I have
discovered about him and his family: the
tree
shows the people involved. The
identification of George as a brother is
hypothetical.
______________________________________________________________
| | |
Lt John Toulmin 1737-1780 William Toulmin, surgeon George Toulmin, R.N.
=(1)(1766) Anne Toulmin 1724-1770 d.c. 1805 d. before 1776?
(2)(1771) Mary Field ?-1805 (brother
Jarrard Field)
|
| William Osborn Sr d.c. 1803 = Margaret ?
| |
Mary Toulmin 1775-c.1800 =(1792) William
Osborn Jr d.c.1803
_______|_______
| |
Mary Osborn Emily Osborn
Lt John Toulmin was wrongly identified by
Stewart Toulmin (per Flood) as the
eldest
son of the Rev. Thomas Toulmin of Ravenstonedale, and by ME/IGI as a brother
of
Abraham Toulmin ***311136. Neither of
these is possible.
He entered RN 10 Jan 1756, no. 341 in Muster
Book of "Gosport" (PRO Adm.36/5649,
f.192):
"Volr. Portsmo. AB until 18th Jan then Mid". On leave (marked "p" in the
muster)
25 Mar to 5 April; drew £3.0.0 Bounty during Mar-Apr 1756 (Adm.36/5650,
f.14).
"Gosport" had a complement of 200; presumably a frigate, probably of
28 guns
(v.
William Spavens, cited below, p.88).
Passed exam. for Lt 20 Feb 1760 (Adm.107/5,
f.195), then "more than 23 years of
Age"
[agreeing with marriage licence, see under ***311134] & "at sea more
than 6
yrs,
part in Merchants Service". Career
to then:
Ships
Qualities y
m w d Date PRO Adm.36/
Gosport Able 0 0 1 1 10.1.1756 5649
Mids 2 3 1 3 18.1.1756 5649-50
Saphire " 0 2 3 3 [28.4.1758] 6751
Experiment " 0 6 2 1 [22.7.1758] 5461-2(?)
Torbay " 1 0 2 5 [ 6.2.1759] 6837-9
Total 4
0 2 6
(Dates in [] inferred, do not check exactly
with cert. date.) "Certificates from
Captains
Edwardes, Allen, Owen, & Keppel". Keppel was in "Torbay" (74
guns) from
1756 to
1761. "During the summer & autumn of 1759 the Torbay was again
attached to
the
grand fleet off Brest under Hawke, and on 20 Nov was the leading ship in the
battle
of Quiberon Bay, and was closely engaged with the French Thesee, which
ultimately
sank" (DNB s.v. Keppel). Listed as
Lt, 4.11.1762 (Pitcairn-J, with no
further
detail at all).
His will, below, states he was "on board the Albion Transport" 20 Aug
1776, and
ME/IGI
lists him as "commanding Albion", and ME92 as "of the
Essex". I failed to
find
him on HMS "Albion" (Adm.36/8290,8294); but that Albion was a large
warship
(complement
600, about the size of "Torbay"), not a transport, while there was
also
a Hired
Tender "Albion", at least from 26 Jul 1779 to 12 April 1783
(Adm.36/9246).
She had
a complement of only 12 non-naval and 12 naval, and was commanded (from 15
Nov
1779) by a Lt Obad. Newell: no Toulmin. If she existed earlier, and the muster
book
has been lost, it is possible Lt John Toulmin was in fact commanding her in
1776,
though not during his later "service in America" (she was based at
Plymouth).
However,
the probability is that he was simply in transit to his ship.
His
will, in full, reads:
To wit.
Being in Bodily health and leaving my affairs at Home unsettled and
going on a hazardous Service tomorrow
Morning I think it necessary I should
now declare in the presence of the two
underneath Witnesses that I leave
every thing I may die possessed of at
home or abroad to Mary my Wife during
her natural life - in case of her death
to my child Mary but should my Wife
be pregnant and the Child live then to
be equally distributed between them.
Should all these die before my Brother
William then my desire is that he
should take possession of the whole and
should he also die Then to my
Brother Oliver Toulmin & his
Survivors and I hereby appoint him my sole
Executor. In Witness wherof I on the
other side set my Hand and Seal Jno
Toulmin (SS). Dated on board the Albion Transport the 20th August 1776.
Witness. John Inglis, Robert Inglis, John Prideaux, Phillip Parrall.
This Will was proved at London the
fifteenth day of April in the Year of
our Lord one thousand seven hundred and
eighty... by the Oath of Oliver
Toulmin Esquire ... (PRO PROB11/1064
f.219)
As noted above, I believe "brother
Oliver Toulmin" (note the surname) meant
"brother-in-law".
Certainly ***311133 is meant, and his will, 1783, mentions
no
brother William, nor does the Bolton-le-Sands PR.
"Deaths ... Feb.17. At West-Ham in
Essex, Lieut. John Toulmin of his majesty's
navy,
who arrived from America only a few days before, where he had been employed
some
years." (GM 1780 p.154, mis-indexed as Towlinin).
For his first marriage, see under
***311134. His second was on 10 Aug
1771 (PR,
West
Ham, per JMH; licence ("Feild") 9 Aug 1771, MLic/VicGen); "John
Toulmin Esq to
Miss
Mary Field of Westham" (GM per WillT); "sister of Gerrard Field"
(ME90). She
was of
Adam St Adelphi, 1796 (ME90); but in will dated 1802 (admon. 1805) "of
Lambeth,
widow", and she desired to be buried with her daughter in West Ham (PRO
PROB11/1430
f.282: cited here as "Mary's will"; it names her brother as Jarrand
or
Jarrard,
and one witness was Mary North of 6 Bridge Row [Road?] Lambeth). Her
estate
included £2300 3 reduced Bank annuities and Household goods & furniture
sold
£25,
Ready money under £3, Wearing apparel under £15 (PRO PROB31/982/793,
Declaration
by Administratrix, Margaret Osborn, Widow).
Their daughter, Mary, was bap. Shalford
[Surrey], 25 Nov 1775 (BC-T/IGI); the
location
is unexpected, but Shalford, just S. of Guildford, may have been a
stopping-point
for John, Mary, or the couple between London and Portsmouth. She
was
living in 1796, bur. West Ham before 1802 (see above).
This daughter, Mary Toulmin, m. William
Osborn, East Wickham, Kent 24 Sep 1792
(per
EM, 20 Oct 1986, source unknown). Living 1796.
"The younger", Wine merchant,
of the
Adelphi (ME90); son of "William Osborn the Elder of Adam Street Adelphi in
the
Strand, Hotel Keeper" (Mary's will) . (There was an Adelphi pier and
wharfs
where
Adelphi Terrace is now, at the bottom of Adam St.) Two daughters, Mary &
Emily
Osborn, are mentioned in Mary's will, which states Mary was the elder (she was
bequeathed
"my family Bible" and had first choice of two chests of drawers).
Both
William
Osborns seem to have died between the making (2 Nov 1802) and probate (2 Aug
1805)
of Mary's will, as Margaret Osborn is described in the latter as "next of
kin"
of the
girls.
Unless there was a close relationship, it
is an extraordinary coincidence
that
George Toulmin entered RN just 2 days after John, 12 Jan 1756, no. 193 on
Muster
Book of "Dispatch", a sloop, capt. David Edwardes, complement of 80
(PRO
Adm.36/5396,
f.11, 28, 50, 67, 83, 93, 110, 132, 138, 147).
No details of age,
origin,
or place of enlistment are given. From
9 July to 29 Sep 1756, "Dispatch"
was at
the Downs, Sheerness, and The Nore. f.147 shows transfer to
"Seaford", on 30
Sep
1756; his discharge ticket was no. /198/MV, "delivered to Pty".
Passed exam. for
Lt 2
Sep 1761 (Adm.6/87 & 107/5 f.387): "more than 21 years of Age & at
sea more
than 6
yrs, part in Merchants Service".
[If he was just 21, he was b. about 1740.]
Career
to then:
Ships
Qualities y m w d
Date PRO Adm.36/
Dispatch
Able 0 9 1 4
12.1.1756 5396
Seaford
Able 0 5
3 1 30.9.1756 6711-2
Mids 1 3 0 2 [22.3.1757]
Assistance
Mids 2 0 3 5
[24.6.1758] 4890-2
Richmond
Able 0 1 1 0
[20.7.1760] 6494-5
Masrs. Mate 1
0 0 6 [27.8.1760]
5 7
2 4
[First
line should be 0 8 2 4 & total 5 7 2 4 is 3 days short, though the detailed
dates
work out exactly right.]
"Certificates from Capt. Edwardes and Elphinston".
"Richmond"
was a 32-gun ship, capt. Elphinston, that returned from N. America to
England
towards the end of 1760, and in Feb 1761 drove ashore near the Hague &
destroyed
a French frigate; in 1762 she was involved in an expedition against Havana
(DNB,
s.v. Elphinston). "Master's
Mate" = Assistant Navigating Officer (SOED);
commonly
a step between Mids and Lt. "In
the Royal Navy they must first go as
Midshipmen,
in which station they serve about three years, and then are sometimes
made
Masters' Mates, and from thence rise to be Masters or Lieutenants, though
frequently
they act as Cadets or Acting Lieutenants for a while". (William Spavens
"Memoirs
of a Seafaring Life", Folio Society, 2000, first pub.1796).
Not in Pitcairn-J: perhaps never promoted?
John Toulmin, above, had to wait nearly
3
years. I know nothing further of
George; if he and John were brothers,
the
absence
of George from John's 1776 will suggests that he died before then.
It seems very probable that "brother
William" of John's will was "William Toulmin
of Prescott
Street Goodmans Fields in the county of Middlesex Surgeon" named as
executor
and trustee in Mary's will, though she does not identify him as a
brother-in-law;
and this surgeon was certainly the one I list as App.D,42. He left
a Will,
proved 17 Jan 1806: "I William Toulmin of Prescott Street Goodmans Fields
in
the
City of London Apothecary ... bequeath unto my beloved wife Mary Toulmin all my
Money
Securities for Money Goods Chattels Estate and Effects ...and I do nominate
constitute
and appoint Richard Toulmin of Surrey Street Strand in the County of
Middlesex
Esquire to be Executor ... this 30th day of April 1804". He was "sick of
body"
when he made the will, and may have died before Mary's will was proved, or at
least
been too ill to serve as executor. The
lack of any mention of his
sister-in-law
or great-nieces in his will is no evidence against the relationship:
he
would have been aware that they were well provided for. His wife may have been
Mary
Howson, m.1758: see Lond*134.
I might as well note here that Oliver Toulmin
did have a nephew, Edward
(***3111365,
son of Abraham Toulmin of Mireside), who was a Seaman, HMS Superbe, at
his
death in 1781. Another naval Toulmin
was Arthur Toulmin, d. 1798 Ship's
Corporal
HMS Culloden, last belonging to HMS Hyena; all I know of him was that he
had a
wife Susannah Toulmin, widow and sole executor (App.B section 4c). Still
another
was George Toulman "o'rwise Loton or Powlett", seaman HMS 'Childers',
bachelor,
d.1808; admon to John Toulman natural & lawful father (App.B section 4c).