I have recently been looking at the will of Moses Teague, who died in 1840. I was surprised to see that he left an annuity of £10 per year (I think about £1,000pa in today's money) to my 3 x great-grandmother, Martha Cowmeadow (c1815-1900). He specifically stated that the money was to be paid to her and not to her husband, James Cowmeadow (1813-1859). I am puzzled as to what the connection was between Moses Teague and Martha. Does anyone know? Martha and James had a son called Moses baptised in 1839, and as the name Moses did not feature in earlier generations of the Cowmeadow family, I assume that he was named after Moses Teague. Moses Cowmeadow had a son named Moses Howard Teague Cowmeadow (b 1874), which seems to confirm it.

I have been unable to trace a baptism record for Martha, although the census records show that she was born c.1815 at Backwell near Bristol. She married James in 1836 at Newland. Interestingly Moses Teague's first wife, Ann Cook (b 1791), came from Clevedon, which is only about 7 miles from Backwell. They married by licence in May 1815, and Ann died in August of the same year. Moses married again in 1816.

In his will Moses Teague also left an annuity of £10 per year to Esther Herbert, but she is not connected with me and I have no idea why. Any information on this might help to shed some light on the annuity to Martha and would be gratefully received.

If anyone can help with this then I would be very pleased to hear from you. I am especially wondering if any descendants of Moses Howard Teague Cowmeadow might have information that has been passed down through the family.

Thank you.

There's a rather tenuous link between them by the fact that James' father, also James (1788-1844), once owned the Cinderford Bridge mine which was also, at one time, owned by Moses Teague.

Moses was also once a part owner of Cinderford Iron Works along with Crawshay, Allaway, Pearce and Montague (the partnership ended in 1838) and these family names can often be found mentioned in connection with each other. Cowmeadow is another name that often crops up. James (the elder) having interests in various mines at different times.

So maybe they knew each other through these business connections.

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Peter

Hello Peter,

Thank you for replying. I guessed that they would have known each other, but as you say it is a bit tenuous. Martha was only in her mid twenties when Moses died, and she lived for another 60 years, so, assuming that the annuity was paid until the end of her life, it will have cost the Teague family quite a considerable sum. It seems like a surprisingly generous was to treat the wife of a business associate. Also it is odd that Moses was so concerned that the money should be paid to Martha and not to her husband. I cannot help but wonder if there was more to it!

Best wishes,
Tina.

Hi Tina,

Sorry, didn't register it was you asking.

Don't know if you know this already but in the 1841 census, James and Martha are living at Mount Pleasant. A few doors away are William and Esther Herbert.

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Peter

Hi Peter,

No, I had not noticed that. Thank you for mentioning it.

I have found what I think is the marriage of William and Esther - her maiden name was Hawkins, which is not a name that I have come across when researching the Cowmeadows.

I have wondered if there could be some connection between Martha Cowmeadow and Moses Teague's first wife, Ann Cook, as they both came from the same area in Somerset, but have not been able to trace a Clayton family living in that area.

Best wishes,
Tina.

Hi Tina,

Yes, I did have the marriage. Also a burial for Esther at St John's 16 March 1848. I think William may have been Irish but not definite on that. But nothing to connect them to Moses Teague.

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Peter

Hi Peter,

If Esther Herbert died in 1848 aged 52, then she must have been born c.1796.

I have found a Hester Hawkins baptised in 1796 at Newland, daughter of Frederick and Esther Hawkins (née Franklin) of Coleford who were married at Newland in 1795. They went on to have five further children - William baptised 1798, Richard 1799, Jane 1803, Elizabeth 1804 and John 1807. The youngest two were baptised at Coleford Chapel - I do not know if this is the same as the Coleford Baptist Church where Moses Teague’s children were baptised between 1819-1832.

Esther/Hester junior had two illegitimate children - Amelia baptised 1817 and Richard baptised 1825. Amelia married John Yemm in 1836, and they were living next door to Esther and William Herbert in 1841.

All quite interesting, but still it does not establish a link with Moses Teague.

I am having less success finding out anything about Martha Cowmeadow before she married. It looks likely that the parish records for Backwell for the period around Martha Clayton’s birth have been lost.

Tina.

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Hi Rodders,

Many apologies for not responding sooner - I have only just seen your messages. Life has been a bit hectic, and I have not checked the Forum for several weeks.

I am also descended from James Griffiths and Elizabeth Cowmeadow through their son, Ernest, so we may be quite closely related.

Moses Cowmeadow does indeed sound like a character. I would love to see the newspaper reports.

The information you have provided is fascinating. I had been wondering if Martha could be Moses Teague's daughter, although I had been thinking that she might have been his daughter by his first wife, and that perhaps he arranged for her to be adopted when he remarried. However discovering that Moses Teague was connected with Backwell in 1812 makes the idea of illegitimacy seem more persuasive.

It is probably going to be another week or two before I have time to look at this properly, but I will get back to you when I have done so.

Thank you very much for getting in touch.

Tina.

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Hi Mark,

I know of Agnes's existence, but that is about it.

I have changed my profile now, so you should be able to email me directly. Any problems, just let me know.

It is great to be in touch - I look forward to hearing from you.

Tina.

Hi Mark,

Following up on the theory of illegitimacy, I have found the record of a baptism of a Martha Clayton. It took place on 10 April 1814 at the Church of St Michael and All Angels, Ashton-Under-Lyne, Lancashire. The mother's name was Hannah Clayton, she was resident at Dukinfield and the register states that the child was illegitimate. Whilst the location seems to be wrong, a number of factors make me wonder if this could be our Martha.

1. The date corresponds with the information that Martha gave in the census returns.
2. Dukinfield was a coal mining area, so it is possible that Hannah moved to Backwell to find work. I believe that in those days the authorities would return a person to their home parish if they became destitute, so perhaps Hannah got sent back to her home area when she became unable to work owing to her pregnancy if she could not support herself financially.
3. I have been puzzled for a while by the fact that not only have I been unable to find any trace of Martha's baptism at Backwell, but I have not been able to find any evidence of a family by the name of Clayton living there around that time. I have now found the Backwell parish registers on Ancestry, and checked the baptisms from 1810 to 1820. There was no child with the surname Clayton baptised at that time. Clayton seems to have been a name which was most prevalent in the north-west in the early 19th century. I have found some evidence of Claytons in the Forest of Dean, but nothing to connect them with Martha.
4. Martha and James Cowmeadow named their second child Moses. Their eldest child was called Hannah. James's youngest sister was called Hannah, and she died at the age of 5, so it is possible that Hannah was named after her. However their next son and daughter were called Elizabeth and James - James's parents' names - so I wonder if the eldest two were named after Martha's parents.

All a bit speculative, of course, but I will keep digging!

Tina.