Moses Teague (c.1792-1840) and Martha Cowmeadow (née Clayton (General)

by tinak , Monday, August 31, 2020, 13:15 (1333 days ago)

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.