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| The Bench Hogarth |
A derivation of the name Blacketer is Blackadder, a Lowland clan whose lands were on Blackadder Water, a tributary of the Tweed in Berwickshire. I am thus related to Edmund Blackadder, made famous by Rowan Atkinson in the series by that name! So far, I have not come across any Blackadders, although I have documented Blackader with one d.
Before proceeding further, I will review my Blacketer line. My great grandfather on this side is Thomas John Blacketer (sometime Mayor of Poplar) and his wife is Mary Ann Peterken. His father is Joseph Blacketer (who died aged before Tom was born) and his mother Hannah Thurley. Joseph Blacketer's father is Thomas Blacketer (sometime shoe maker, also carman) and his mother Martha Greenfield. And Thomas's father in turn is Joseph Blacketer (chemical worker, watch maker, and carman) and mother Elizabeth (probably) Botting. The documentary record of all of this holds together tightly through census returns and vital records. We can be as certain as it is possible to be that this line must be correct back to my 4xgreat grandparents.
In the previous post, Earlier Quaker Connections, I moved a generation before this to the parents of Joseph Blacketer, based on birth records kept by the Quaker Meeting in Ratcliff in east London. Here are the connections between that record and later records that I am sure belong to my 4xgreat grandfather Joseph Blacketer:
1. Name on the birth record match those of later records.
2. Time of birth on the birth record is consistent with that given in the later records.
3. Place of birth on the birth record is the same as that given in the later records.
Whether we believe the two Joseph Blacketers to be the same person hinges on our answer to how many Joseph Blacketers were born around 1787-8 in Ratcliff. I suspect there is only one, and I give special significance to the Quaker connection of Joseph's birth record, and then the later birth records of Joseph Blacketer's children. We also have a plausible narrative by which the widow Elizabeth Blacketer moves from Ratcliff to Barking; that is, she marries Christopher Moor.
All the same, it would be nice to see some kind of direct link between Joseph Blacketer and Elizabeth and/or Christopher Moor (his step-father from the age of 6); perhaps from a will. While I haven't yet found such a document, I do think I am justified in believing that Joseph Blacketer, child of the Ratcliff Meeting birth records (1787) is Joseph Blacketer, father of the Barking Meeting birth records (1817 to 1825).
Now, we work backwards from the 1787 birth record, searching for references to "Winnifread Blacketer". I set up the search in ancestry.com for "someone Blacketer" with spouse "Winifred someone" married around 1760 (broad search setting). And this produced the following record from London and Surrey, England, Marriage Bonds and Allegations 1597-1921. The names Winifred and Blacketer are rare enought that this must be the only couple, at least in that time and place, to possess that combination of names.
15th May 1753
Appeared personally Zachariah Blacketer
of the parish of Endfield in the County of Middlesex
Bachelor aged Twenty three Years and
alleged that he intends to intermarry with
Winifred Brown of the same Parish Spinster
aged Twenty two years
[etc...]
That is the Marriage Allegation. It goes on to specify three places where the marriage might be solemnized: the Parish Church of En[d]field, St Botolph Bishopsgate, or St Andrew Holborn. Enfield is where Zachariah was from; the others may be where Winifred is from, and where they intended to live. Additionally, the Marriage Bond contains the information that Zachariah is a Cheesemonger.
Cheesemonger Zachariah Blacketer is a prosecution witness, and victim of larceny, in Old Bailey Proceedings dated 23 October 1754. Here is a transcript of his testimony:
Zac. Blacketer: I am a Cheesemonger in East Smithfield. The prisoner
[William Smith] took a lodging in my house, ready furnished; he went
for a Cooper. On the 6th of Sept. the first night he lay there, he burnt out
a whole candle; the next day he came in about 12 o'clock at night and
lay on bed till 12 the next day, which was Sunday; he got up and went
out, and came in about half an hour after 6 in the evening, and said he'd
go lie down for half an hour, and then he'd go and see his mother; he told
me she was a tallow-chandler near London-stone; he went up about 5 or
6 minutes, he came down, and at going out, said he had ordered a man
with his chest of cloaths, and bid me take care of them; I went up stairs in
about three quarters of an hour and missed my watch which was hanging
up in my room before and the door was left open; then I suspected, as I
had lost my watch I had also lost my lodger...
Smith was found guilty of this and other offenses, and sentenced to transportation. Zachariah doesn't appear to have recovered his watch, as the pawn broker denied any knowledge of the stolen property and was distinctly uncooperative with the authorities.
A series of tax records show a change in residence of Zachariah Blacketer. In 1762 and 1765, he is found in Wapping. The address is given as simply "Street", the previous address being Parrot Yard. In 1762 his landlord is Josiah Shank. In 1765, his landlord in John Minnitt at what looks like the same address, described as "empty late Zachh Blacketer". But not late as in dead, rather because he had moved. In 1766 there is a Zach Blacketer, and in 1772 a Zachh Blackader on Bett's Street, St George in the East.
This move is confirmed by baptismal records for their children.
At St John Wapping:
14 [April 1754] Robert S of Zacariah Blackiter Cheesemonger and
Winifred Eastsmithfield 16 [days old]
14 [March 1756] Sarah Daur of Zacariah Blackiter Cheesemonger
Eastsmithfield & Winifred 27 [days old]
24 [April 1757] Thomas S of Zachariah Blackiter Cheesemonger &
Winifred Eastsmithfield [illegible days old]
18 [February 1759] Hannah d of Zachariah Blackiter Chandler &
Winifred Eastsmithfield [illegible days old]
23 [March 1760] George s of Zacharias Blackiter Chandler &
Winifred Eastsmithfd 29 [days old]
23 [December 1764] Peter S of Zachariah Blackiter Labourer &
Winifred Eastsmith [27 days old]
At St George in the East:
17 [July 1768] Zechariah S of _______ Blacketer Labr by
Winifred Betts St 28 [days old]
There is a burial at St George in the East 18 December 1774 for:
Zachariah Blacketer Betts St 44 [years old]
So far, I have no death nor remarriage record for Winifred, although we do know she was still alive in 1788 to witness the birth of her grand daughter Hannah, Hannah's father, of course, being the Thomas Blackiter above, baptized 24 April 1757 at St John Wapping.
To find the family origins of Zachariah, I searched for a birth or baptism about 1730, based on his age at death. I was rewarded with this record from the Enfield Baker Street Presbyterian Meeting. Note this agrees with his marriage allegation that he was from En[d]field. There is not just Zachariah, but a family with five recorded siblings:
Septr 25 1728 Sarah Blackader Daugtr of Robert Blackader Gardr Enfd
Decr 13 1730 Zachariah Blackadour Son of Robt & Sarah Blackadore Enfd
Apr 24 1733 Elizabeth Blackadore Daur of Robt Blackadore at Enfd
Octbr 21 1735 Sarah Dautr of Robt & Sarah Blackador Baker St
Apr 27 1740 Thos Son of Robt & Sarah Blackadore Firty [prob. Forty] Hill
A Sarah Blackadore was buried 14 October 1728, presumably the first of these children. A note after her name, "Aff m" means that an affidavit was made affirming her shroud to be made of wool, after an Act of Parliament requiring all burials to be in wool (thus providing the wool trade a steady stream of customers).
The baptism for Sarah (1728) states he was a gardener (Gardr), and for Thomas (1740), he lived on what is probably Forty Hill, and for the second of the Sarahs (1735), he was on Baker Street, which is close by. Was he a market gardener, working on his own account; or did he work as a gardener at the Jacobean mansion at Forty Hall?
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| Forty Hall, Enfield |
London and Surrey, England, Marriage Bonds and Allegations 1597-1921 records 24 February 1724/5 the intention to marry of Robert Blackader Bachelor and Sarah Field Spinster. The Bond states that Robert is a Gardener of Enfield.
The corresponding Allegation for this marriage records:
Appeared personally Robert Blackader of
the parish of Enfield in the County of Middx
aged twenty four Years and a Bachelor
and alledged that he intends to marry
with Sarah Field of the same place aged
twenty three Years and a Spinster...
Squeezed into the last line of a page in the parish register at St Andrew, Enfield:
Robert Blackader & Sarah Field Both of this Parish were married February 25 1724/5
There are burial records for both Robert Blacketer (20 March 1774) and Sarah (8 March 1770) Blackedter at St Andrew Enfield, which are likely to be theirs. Robert Blackader and Sarah Field are my 7xgreat grandparents.
Following these generations of Blacketers, the documents show several spellings of the name. Zachariah is associated with the spellings: Blacketer, Blackiter, and Blackadour/Blackadore; while Robert has: Blacketer, Blackadore/Blackadour, Blackader and Blackador. His wife Sarah even has Blackedter. Robert himself signs: Robart Blakader. He does so twice, (on his Marriage Bond and Marriage Allegation) the same day 24 February 1725, so I believe he intentionally wrote his autograph this way. It is not at all obvious to me which spelling we should prefer for any individual.
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