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I need help to find any records relating to the death of John REES who was the husband of Margaret Jarrett REES (nee THOMAS) He must have died between the middle of 1840 and before the Death of his baby son in 1841. Any help would be very much appreciated.
From Denise

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Some background: There are previous threads on John REES 1800-1841 on this forum March 2008/June 2010/2011

which includes this information

John REES married Margaret JARRET THOMAS - 7 June 1834, Newland

and the two christenings at Coleford

John JARRETT REES - 2 April 1837 (John - occupation: Saddler and Margaret)
George Thomas REES - 9 May 1841 ( ditto - but doesn't say John is deceased) - but later burial of George on 5 June 1841 - says son of late John & Margaret

1841 Census, Newland, Coleford

Margt REECE - 38 - born in County
Thomas - 5
John - 4
Alfred - 3

---

As John REES occupation was a Sadler

??

John (Sadler) & Mary PREECE - baptised daughter Eliza - at Monmouth - 2 August 1818
and a son William at Ross on Wye - 5 August 1829

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Hi MPGriffiths

Thanks for a quick reply. I also think Marg Reece on the 1841 census is correct.
The Thomas who is aged 4 is my great grand father. John Rees had a son George Thomas Rees baptism 9th May 1841 John and Margaret was his parents, but George Thomas died 5th June 1841 of the late John Rees. But the record said age 8 months???

from Denise Rees

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There seem to be no clues as to his death in the BNA but there are references, in 1838, to the insolvency of a John REES, saddler of Coleford. If these are new and of interest I can provide a few more details.

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Hi Mike Pinchin

Thanks for a quick reply. I also think Marg Reece on the 1841 census is correct.
The Thomas who is aged 4 is my greatgrand father. John Rees had a son George Thomas Rees baptism 9th May 1841 John and Margaret was his parents, but George Thomas died 5th June 1841 of the late John Rees. But the record said age 8 months???

I am thinking of visiting Gloucestershire Archive again to see more information about a John Rees as a debtor of Coleford (Saddler/Grover) in March 1838. This is the last proper records of John Rees.

From
Denise Rees.

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Google books

The Jurist Volume 5 Page 20 -1842

Insolvent Debtor's Dividends

John REES, Coleford, Gloucestershire Saddler, Galindo's, Monmouth 5 and a half pence in the pound.

Also: 14 March 1838

John REES late of Coleford, Gloucestershire, Sadler, then Seedsman, Corn Factor, Sadler and Butcher and late Sadler, Grocer and General Storekeeper.

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Hi MP Griffiths

Thank for this information. I did not know how versatile he was.
from Denise Rees

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As John REES got into a lot of debt and one occupation of his was Corn Factor.

My xx grandad was a Miller and got into debt. I understand there was high taxation on Corn in the 19th century and a lot of Millers went out of business. This was explained to me when I visited an old working mill sometime last year.

He moved from Rendcombe where he was a Miller, Corn Factor/and then Blakeney to live with his Son and then to Swindon in Wiltshire - where he went by his mother's maiden name for two census, correctly giving his place of birth - (but he did take his family with him) - and this was to escape debt.

--

The Edinburgh Gazette December 7 1869

William WICKENDEN, late of Bagendon, miller and corn factor and now of Blakeney, both in Gloucester, out of business

(have got a longer version of this from the London Gazette February 18, 1870)

--

1881 Census, 6 Brunel Street, Swindon

William GREEN - 58 Railway Worker, born Glos Coln St Aldwyn
Margaret GREEN - 56 - born Rendcombe
Martha WICKENDEN - Grand-dau - 5 - born Ruardean

--

There is a chance John REES did 'a runner' also and started a new life elsewhere.....

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I have just been trawling this forum and found some info on the above gentleman.
He was my great grandfather x2 and I would like to know how to the research the information given.
My connection to John Rees and Margaret Jarrett Thomas is through their son Alfred. I could only find records of their marriage and the births and deaths of the children.
If I contacted Gloucester Archives would they be able to give me information on his bankruptcy and debt problems or would I have to contact the courts to see their archives?

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John REES is not an uncommon name. Do you have any more details (such as birthplace, dwelling place or occupation) which might help to pin him down? There are sources such as the British Newspaper Archives, The London Gazette and Ancestry which could provide information.

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He lived in Clearwell and was a saddler. He married Margaret Jarret Thomas, who was the daughter of George Thomas from The Grange, St Bravials. I found their marriage record from 1834 easily, but have never found his birth place or burial records. Most of his family are buried at the cemetary in Clearwell.
I am intrigued by the fact that he died and left his wife with 3 sons under six years and a fourth dead at about the same time he died,as well. The son`s death and burial is registered but I can find no record of his.
This new information now says he was bankrupt and in debt in 1838. What I don`t understand is how his wife managed to bring these boys up and my Great Grandad went on to own a number of properties in Clearwell, a quarry and a number of businesses and employ his children and grandchildren in these until well after WW1!!

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In that case,

BNA Cheltenham Chronicle - Thursday 22 March 1838

John Rees, Coleford, saddler, was discharged conditionally, upon payment of 50l. into court.

BNA Gloucestershire Chronicle - Saturday 24 March 1838

John Rees, late of Coleford, saddler, grocer, and butcher, opposed by Mr. Drewe for James James, of Ross, and others. The case was adjourned till Thursday, for the insolvent to amend his balance-sheet. He could not have been then discharged, as notice had been given to his creditors to attend on the 15th.

John Rees, who was remanded yesterday to have his schedule amended, was brought up for adjudication and ordered to be discharged on paying the sum of 59l. 4s. 9d into court.

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Thank you very much!! That was a huge sum for that time. Are the "Cheltenham Chronicle" and "Gloucester Chronicle" old newspapers?
I would like to find out more about John and his life.Do I have to go to Alvin Street to do this?
The more I find the more questions I have!!

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Hi Marj,
without wishing to step on Mike Pinchin's toes, I suspect his post came from his subscription membership of the British Newspaper Archive website, which is well-worth visiting - over the course of a few years I've taken-out several short subscriptions and found and downloaded hundreds of articles about members of my own family, it's a great resource. It can be searched free-of-charge even without a subscription, just by advising your name and email address, new members can get a number of free downloads, and after that can download unlimited numbers of old newspaper pages within just a month's membership so not too expensive at all, would maybe make a nice Christmas gift for yourself ? Indeed, I've found that even when not a paying-member, the B.N.A. email newletters often include "special offers", such as a month's subscription for a pound rather than the normal £12 ! (altho I think £12 say is far better value than a couple of FH magazines, for example). If one has prepared in advance, using the free-search and recording which papers and issues appear to contain interesting articles, after starting the paid-subscription dozens if not hundreds of pages can be downloaded in a very short time.

Yes the Chronicle were old newspapers, details of them as regards the BNA site here.

https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/titles/cheltenham-chronicle
https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/titles/gloucestershire-chronicle

As to visiting Gloster Archives, assuming they are open as I understand they have the builders in at the moment, I'm unsure whether you'll learn anything that isn't already in the old papers. In those days they covered court appearances etc in great detail, which probably negates the need for your trying to find the court's own records, altho I've experienced one instance of reading a report regarding a court adjournment prior to sentencing, but then never found the article about the sentence itself.. Using the following Archives Quick Search for "John Rees Coleford" only gives the one hit, which is clearly the same 1838 insolvency case discussed above.
http://ww3.gloucestershire.gov.uk/CalmView/
I'm unsure as to whether that Quick Search also searches their Genealogical Database, which was just one of the databases in their old and somewhat disjointed website ? The Genealogical search can also give interesting hits such as Wills, although I think much of this database is nowadays also covered by Ancestry.
http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/archives/genealogical-database/

Of course, it may be that searching using less-specific inputs may yield more results, the BNA website is definitely an example of a site whose search engine benefits from the "less is more" approach, for the BNA I'd recommend using the date and location/newspaper filters to narrow down the results, and then plough thro all the "Rees" (and then "Reece" etc) hits, not just the "John Rees Coleford" ones, and so on.

atb for now, Jeff.

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Thanks Jeff. Your answer is far more comprehensive than I might have provided and you are correct about the source of the material.

This, incidentally, is the official notice, in the London Gazette, of the preliminaries to the case. Third paragraph in the second column.

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/19569/page/3294

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Thanks Mike. I just had a look at the pdf. Very Interesting. It looks like he sold up everything to pay the debt. It still amazes me how, when he died in 1841, his wife managed to
bring up three children and set them up to become quite well off. She must have have been one tough lady!!

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Hi Jeff,
Thanks very much for your info on the BNA. I haven`t come across that website when I`ve been trawling. I`ll certainly have a look.

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Hi Marj,
you're more than welcome re the BNA site, I certainly recommend taking a look. The following old post will hopefully give you some more pointers in this respect, and links to other similar sites such as the excellent Welsh Newspapers site which is free to access. Of course this maybe assuming you're based in the UK, as seems to be the case.
see http://forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?id=46941

Many of the older Glostershire newspapers like the Chronicles were eventually superceded by the Gloster Citizen and it's illustrated partner the Journal#, the Citizen's still in print. This history should become clearer from the above thread and by browsing the BNA site.

Happy hunting, can be great fun especially when the weather's cold !

atb J

# The original Journal was possibly Gloucester's first newspaper, founded in 1722. The Citizen was until recently the city's first daily, founded in 1876. However since c1930 they were sister publications, the illustrated weekly Journal being the one to search-thro if looking for C20th photos such as weddings.
https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/titles/gloucester-journal

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