James Constance 1805-1890, Longhope Saw Mills Owner. (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Sunday, May 15, 2016, 01:31 (3054 days ago) @ AlecF

Good evening Alec, and a belated welcome from me to this great forum.
As you may have gathered by now I don't have a full family-tree for the various Constances of Longhope, far from it, mainly because I'm not linked to the family as such, my interest is in the Saw Mills business and more recently it's Cricket club wrt my Wright ancestors. However I do know there were quite a few James Constances judging by this site's PRs, although I cannot see a Burial Record for yours from 1896 ??.

Anyhow, the James Constance who owned the Steam Saw Mills is detailed within this local newspaper report of his Funeral, which I downloaded from the excellent BNA site. This should help you to place this James within your own tree.

"LONGHOPE.
The Late Mr. J. Constance.— The funeral of the late Mr. James Constance, of Springfield House, Longhope, head of the firm Constance and Sons, wood turners, took place on Tuesday. The pall bearers and under-bearers were workmen employed by the firm. The Foresters' Friendly Society, of which the deceased was an hon. member, were largely represented. The mourners consisted of the three sons, Messrs T.H., G.W., and J.J.H. Constance, with Masters Bertie and William Constance, grandsons of the deceased, and Mr. H. Cooper, Gloucester. The burial place was at the parish churchyard. The officiating minister was the Rev. F. C. Guise, vicar. Mr. Henry Hampton, Chief Ranger, read the Foresters' Oration at the residence of the deceased, while the concluding part of the fraternal address was read by Bro. S. Chambers, Manor House. In the evening a muffled peal was rung on the church bells."

Saturday 26 April 1890 , Gloucester Journal.

The relevant Burial Record from this site's PRs is;

Record_ID: 22188
Entry_Number: 379
Year: 1890
Month: Apl
Day: 22
Surname: CONSTANCE
Forenames: James
Residence: Longhope
Age_at_death: 84
Officiating_Minister: F.C. Guise Vicar
Event: Burial
Cause_of_death:
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P206 IN 1/11
Page_No: 48
Parish_Chapel: Longhope
Soundex: C523

This would appear to be his Baptism Record, again from this site's PRs;

Record_ID: 392078
Entry_Number:
Year: 1805
Month: Sep
Day: 15
Parents_Surname: CONSTANCE
Child_Forenames: James
Fathers_Forenames: Theophilus
Mothers_Forenames: Mary
Mothers_Surname:
Residence:
Occupation:
Officiating_Minister:
Event: Baptism
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P206 IN 1/3
Page_Number: 128
Parish_Chapel: Longhope
Soundex: C523

So this man is indeed the James Constance I'd identified as the likely original owner of the Longhope Sawmills business in this prior thread;
http://forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?id=41445

Baptisms for the son's named on the Funeral Report include;

Record_ID: 36054
Entry_Number: 490
Year: 1834
Month: Oct
Day: 12
Parents_Surname: CONSTANCE
Child_Forenames: Theophilus Harris
Fathers_Forenames: James
Mothers_Forenames: Sophia
Mothers_Surname:
Residence: Longhope
Occupation: Rake Maker
Officiating_Minister: Cha[le]s Day Curate
Event: Baptism
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P206 IN 1/4
Page_Number: 62
Parish_Chapel: Longhope
Soundex: C523

NB, so by 1835 if not earlier James was working in the "family business" in Longhope, but why can't I find them in the 1841 Census, or his marriage which was presumably? in Sophia's home area in Essex ?.

Record_ID: 135397
Entry_Number: 73
Year: 1851
Month: Aug
Day: 24
Parents_Surname: CONSTANCE
Child_Forenames: James John
Fathers_Forenames: James
Mothers_Forenames: Sophia
Mothers_Surname:
Residence: Longhope
Occupation: Woodturner
Officiating_Minister: Vernon G Guise Vicar
Event: Baptism
Memoranda: Son
Notes:
Register_Reference:
Page_Number: 10
Parish_Chapel: Longhope
Soundex: C523

Ancestry has James' Will dated 27th May 1890, which shows "woodturner and farmer" James died 17th April 1890 with a personal estate of almost £6500, his son Stephen Constance was one of the executors. I cannot yet find James & Sophia in the 1841 Census, neither can I find their marriage. However by 1851 he was definitely in business in Longhope employing 20 men at his saw mill.

1851 Census in Longhope;
Given Name Surname Relationship Age Estimated Birth Year Gender Birth Place
James Constance Head 44 1807 Male Sawmill owner, empl 20 men. Longhope, Gloucestershire, England
Sophia Constance Wife 44 1807 Female Woodham Walter, Essex, England
Theopilus Constance Son 16 1835 Male Longhope, Gloucestershire, England

This 1975 article detailing the history of the Forest's water-powered Mills includes the following brief mention of another Constance Mill in Longhope, which I don't think has been covered before in this forum;

"An isolated reference of 1821 refers to a paper mill in Longhope,worked or owned by Benjamin Constance. In 1840 Benjamin Constance owned some small fields in Veldt House Lane, Longhope. The site of the mill is a mystery..."

http://www.gsia.org.uk/reprints/1974/gi197408.pdf

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So Alec, it seems that this James is not your grandfather. However it's still possible of course that your Grandfather James may also have owned another mill or similar business ?. (On his return from WW2 my brother-in-law's father rebuilt his father's sawmill business on Ruardean Hill; within a few years his two brothers also owned their own mills, giving three Coleman mills within that small area.)

If you can please give more details about your grandfather and his father Thomas, then hopefully we can add to them.

Hoping this helps, Jeff.