Part Two (appox. 84 sides of print out.)

This page deals with the early history of the family.

In the text there are many Reference marks which indicate the source of the information. If you click on the numbered mark you will jump to that reference.^{^[1]}

Contents

· The First 100 Years

· The Next 50 Years

· William

· Benjamin

· Thomas

· Return to Home Page.

Cotgrove Family History

Part 2 The Family

The First Hundred Years.

From their first arrival sometime before 1690 up to the latter part of the 1700's the family were victims of the difficult times of the period. Time and time again the children died soon after birth and both mothers and fathers went to an early grave leaving one or more children to be brought up by friends or relatives.

As the baptism and the marriage of the first Benjamin to Mary has never been found it is only possible to guess their ages but they can not have been more than about 40 when Benjamin I was buried on the 1st February 1690. A few months later his third son, also Benjamin and the only child that was to survive, was born^{^[2]}.

Like his descendants, Benjamin was a fisherman, most likely he had oyster beds in Hadleigh Creek or in Benfleet Bay. He and his partner, Henry Fisher had worked these two creeks for at least five years before 1688. In fact Henry Fisher had been in Leigh for many years and he, or perhaps a relative, is recorded in the 1667 Hearth Tax Returns. In the spring of 1688 Lady Katherine North & Grey, the wife of Charles, 1st Lord Grey of Rolleston in Staffordshire applied to the King to lease several pieces of land and foreshore around the south eastern corner of Essex. Most of this land should have belonged to the Crown but much of it was either derelict or occupied by squatters, one of whom was Benjamin. Lady Katherine's action prompted an enquiry and in due course she was granted a Royal Warrant to lease the lands for a period of 71 years and could sub-let them if she so wished. ^{^[3]} This shows that Benjamin was established in Essex by 1683 and that his partner at that time had a possible Dutch surname.

Shortly before his premature death Benjamin I had had a row in the pub with the result that both he and the Landlord, Benjamin Mandrey had to appear at Chelmsford Quarter Sessions for assaulting Thomas Medhop, an oyster dredger. ^{^[4]}They were fortunate not to be imprisoned but Benjamin seems to have been bound over to keep the peace while the Mandrey had to report to the next assizes. It is interesting to note that 150 years later Benjamin's 4 times grand daughter married Thomas Medhop's descendant in Bethnal Green. The Medhop's were a known problem in the village and a few years earlier in 1661, possibly before the Cotgroves arrived, he or his father were charged with keeping pigs in Church Lane, where they had a plot of ground up the hill just past "The Ship Inn". In those days the keeping of pigs was common practice among the villagers and the parish was constantly troubled by those who let their animals stray on to the road.

Benjamin's widow, Mary, remarried within two years to Henry Bateman. Henry and his first wife Alice had several properties in Leigh including two houses and a yard, one of which was occupied by Mary Osbourn when the Batemans bought it in 1691. Shortly afterwards Alice died. Henry's second wedding to Widow Cottgrove was on Christmas Day of 1693 in the Church at the top of the hill overlooking the Thames estuary. For Mary it must have been a relief from the poverty of the last two to three years. The two eldest children, Thomas and Benjamin, had both died when a few days old but Benjamin the Second who was baptised on 3rd April 1691 was to marry and carry the family into the next century.

Mary's luck did not change with her second marriage, for her second husband Henry, who was also a fisherman, died on December 7th 1699. They had had no surviving children so in his will made a few days before his death he left his property to his widow, Mary, for her natural life and afterwards to be left to her son Benjamin (II), his heirs and assigns for ever. Mary was to marry a third time to Thomas Hogg who also had a cottage. The ten year old boy thus became the owner of the lease that was to remain in the family for over 130 years.

On Leap Year's Day 1712 he married Elizabeth Emery, the daughter of a well known local family. It is important to remember that at this time the year began on 26th March. Thus in the dates given above such as 1st February 1690 the Parish Priest would have entered 1689 in his Register as it was still the old year.

The next generation sired by Benjamin II and Elizabeth were to see changes in the fishing methods. In 1700 Mr Outing is said to have discovered the method by which oyster beds could be operated.^{^[5]}

A few years later William Utton who in 1714 obtained a lease from the Lord of the Manor of Hadleigh, Sir Francis Saint John, and started a very prosperous oyster business. In March 1724 he had 14 men prosecuted at the Brentwood Assizes for trespass in the parishes of Hadleigh, Leigh and Benfleet. Most of these were from Kent and had sailed across the Thames in a "Kentish Armada" and invaded the Ray with flags flying and guns firing.^{^[6]} The fleet consisted of some 100 smacks and the made off with several thousand bushels of oysters. Fines of about £2000 were levied.^{^[7]} As a result of this case it was established that the Lord of the Manor had rights over the fishing.

It was not only strangers from far away Kent that worried Mr. Utton or Hutton. In 1726 William Hutton sued one Stephen Plough for damages caused by his taking of oysters from his grounds near the property and wharf that he held copyhold from the Lord of the Manor. This wharf was at the Strand, which as we will see was very near the Cotgrove home. The case never came to Court but documents survive in the papers of a later case.^{^[8]}

Again the usual early deaths of children played a part and the first born son Benjamin II died when only eight days old. The family had by now taken up residence in the house his mother had left to him, which was situated on the south side of the High street, just east of the Strand and a few yards before one reached 'The Smack'.^{^[9]} In the illustration the house is about where the wagon is passing. (Click to see Picture)

By 1724 Benjamin had been taken ill and being unable to put to sea his young family suffered by lack of income. On the 28th November 1724 he secured a loan of £20 against the lease of his copyhold house from Abraham Vandevoord, a leading fisher family of Dutch descent. Shortly afterwards on 11th December, Benjamin died and his poor widow, with three or four young children, including the five year old Benjamin III found times very hard; she had a house but owing to the mortgage she now had to pay Vandevoord rent in order to stay there. On 28th November 1725 the mortgage had to be repaid with interest and it is suspected that she was unable to raise the money for she moved into a cottage leased to Charles Alisons.^{^[10]} This had been occupied by James Emery, one of Elizabeth's relations. ^{^[11]}Elizabeth was still the occupier when Charles Alison's infant son took over the lease in 1750. In the mean time Benjamin's own son born in 1719 had married and now being prosperous enough to support his mother set about repaying the debt on the old family house near 'The Smack'.

During this period the oyster trade in Leigh had grown. Supplies of young oysters were imported from Cowes and from Concale in France, near St. Malo. Another source was the Channel Islands. In 1734 the Dredgers of Cowes were complaining to the Customs' Officer at Maldon that certain Dredgers were only declaring a small proportion of their cargo of French oysters at Leigh and hence undercutting the Cowes men.^{^[12]} Two years later the Officer at Leigh was requesting help in measuring the quantity of oysters landed by ships which were coming in from Concale every day. He was told to procure a number of wicker bushel baskets.^{^[13]}

Benjamin's wife was also from Leigh, born four years after himself to Henry and Sarah Studd. In 1743 when only 20 she had married Samuel Guthree but within six months Sam had died and poor widow Sarah married Benjamin only 2 weeks later. In those days life was very hard on widows, there was very little work for women except a little dress making, nursing or midwifery and washing. On occasions it might also be possible to earn a few coppers by picking winkles from off the mud flats at low tide but this work was seasonal and usually reserved for young boys not old enough to go to sea. Sarah would have had to marry again or starve . Sarah’s family probably had connections with the Customs as in 1775 a William Studd was appointed boatman. ^{^[14]} Her first husband Samuel Guthree may also had similar connections as in 1756 a John Gutree was a coal meter at Leigh.^{^[15]}

Up to now it has only been possible to guess the sort of fishing in which the family had been engaged. There are no records of boats owned or mastered so it is only possible to assume that they, like so many other Leigh men, worked for the oyster trade. They would have been employed by one of the few oyster merchants who provided the boats to catch and transport the young brood from remote areas along the south coast or from France and to take the fattened oysters to market in London or even back to France. Between these two voyages was the tending of the beds and the brood. This would needed a number of smaller boats crewed by only one man and a boy.

In 1755 comes the first indicator to add weight to this theory. Perhaps worried by the increased activities of the Press Gang operating in the Thames estuary Benjamin had obtained a Certificate of Protection from the Press for his boat the 'Mayflower' and its crew.^{^[16]} This boat was quite large being of 18 tons burden and having a crew of three men and a boy. Whether he owned the boat is not certain but unlikely but he was the Master. A boat of this size in the 18th Century would have been used for more than cockle or oyster dredging and may have meant that he was engaged in bringing young brood from France.

With a good permanent job Benjamin began to save in order to pay back the loan from so many years before. His efforts paid off, as by 1758 he had earned enough to pay off the mortgage and regain possession of the Copyhold of the family house. He informed the Lord's Steward that he now taken over the lease given to his father by Bateman's will way back in 1699 and in 1761 he appeared at the Manor Court producing his copy of the deeds - his Copyhold - and claimed his right of possession although he must have been living there for some time.

Benjamin III died in 1769 before he was 50 but with his wife Sarah he had raised two sons and five daughters. Four other daughters were to die as children. The two sons Benjamin IV and Thomas were to marry and raise families of their own, however there is the problem of William born about 1777 and he could only be the illegitimate son of one of the daughters, Mary, Allin or Sussanna. Which one was responsible will be made clear in a moment. There is no record of the baptism of William but in later life he gave his date of birth as 17th March 1777 although at his burial he was assumed to have been born in 1775. Benjamin's daughter, Mary born in 1752, the second of that name as her namesake had died the year before, was to marry in 1781 at Southminster, north of the River Crouch. Her husband was John Marsh and their descendants were to be found in Tillingham some 70 years later, including what is almost certainly her son, Benjamin Marsh, born 1794. By the 1850's the Marsh family was engaged in carpentry but as yet there is no record of their trade when John married Mary Cotgrove but the presence of a Cotgrove girl in a rich oyster area is in its self significant. The next youngest daughter was baptised Allin in 1754. This is most likely a misspelling for Ellen, for an Elenor Cotgrove was married 18 years later, again at Southminster.

Her husband was John Smith and two generations of Benjamin Smiths were still living in Southminster in 1851 where the family was engaged in boot and shoe making while the eldest Benjamin, almost certainly a son of Elenor, was a harness maker. The fact that all five daughters married out of Leigh, including the last two in Southminster must have some significance but no clues as to the reason have been found.

Fig. 5 The Fourth Generation; Brothers Thomas & Benjamin and Nephew William.

Draft Tree

The next Fifty Years - up to 1840.

When his father died Benjamin IV was only about ten years old but three years later on 22nd July 1772 he took over the lease on the house in the High Street with his mother being appointed guardian by the Manor Court. The Lord of the Manor collected fines of £1-10-0 and 2/6 for entering these two transactions in the Court Rolls.

By 1780 the male line was assured by the existence of the three boys, Benjamin born 1759, Thomas born 1765 and William who was born in 1777 of unknown parentage. Benjamin lived on in the house with his widowed mother and when he married in about 1785, to another Sarah, he continued to live there. His bride was Sarah E. Gore^{^[17]}who most likely came from the Kent side of the estuary but no details are known about her.

During the last quarter of the 18th century the fortunes of the family waned and on two or three occasions they were forced to seek help from Overseers of the Poor.^{^[18]}. Benjamin's mother also obtained a few shillings by laying out the bodies of the dead and also from sitting up with the sick. In 1779 a certain Jane Gillman, a pauper, had need to visit London. Why, it is not known, but the Parish was obviously pressing for the journey to made, even a great expense to the Overseers. Perhaps they hoped to place her as an apprentice or as a domestic servant. Yards of cloth were purchased as well as two caps, shoes, stockings and two and a quarter yards of flannel. All this was sewn up into a grown by Dame Cotgrove. For this she received a sum equivalent to one weeks rent. Jane even had her transport provided; Mr Young got four shillings for taking her to town. By 1795 things began to improve, Benjamin was elected Constable

William 1777-1849.

William's birth is not recorded but when he registered for his Seaman's Ticket in 1845 he claimed that he was 78 and had been born 17th March 1777. On another occasion he said that he was that he was 56 which corresponded to 1779, which year may be more correct, for it was in January 1780 that Benjamin III's daughter, Sussannah, was taken to see the Justice of the Peace at Rochford. Two years later the parish recorded the first of many payments to assist in the upbringing of Sussannah Cotgrove's child. Young William lived with his mother and grandmother, the son of an unknown local boy. It appears that the parish paid a shilling a week towards the cost of keeping him and this may well have come from the father for that was the custom of the times and would have been resolved at the visit to Rochford.

In July 1785 Sussannah married John Lacell in Prittlewell and left home leaving William in the care of his grandmother. In 1793 she was paid for "keeping the boy" William, who might have been 15 to 16 by then.^{^[19]}. During the next few years the parish had also provided "young Codgrove" with breeches and a new hat at a cost of 5/6 and a little later " a waistcote" and "hyshous" (= highshoes ?). Both of his legitimate uncles were now married and young William began to handle his own affairs, however in 1795 when he was 17 or 18 brother Benjamin was given 2/- to pay his brother rent.^{^[20]}

By then William was in his 20's and in 1803 he married Mary Ann Midleton of Prittlewell. It is not known if his mother attended but her name was not among the witnesses to the wedding. They had several children including four sons, William Thomas, James Daniel, Charles George and Henry John. Father William like his first two sons was a fisherman; his number was 135,040 and it is from this registration of fishermen in 1845 that we can get he date of birth, 17th March 1777, as he appears never to have been baptised. In the 1830's and 40's he was in the "Adeline" and "Amy" both of Maldon or the "Ann". Son William Thomas was No. 462,933 and James Daniel No. 462,937. James is a bit of a mystery as although he lived through years of childhood until registered in 1850 aged about 35 he then disappears. There is no known marriage. He is not in any of the Censuses although the Railway Map 1854 shows a James holding property in High St. He could have been lost at sea or gone overseas. On 18th June 1857 he was buried in St. Clement's churchyard. There is another James who claimed that he was born in 1814, one year older than James Daniel. These two records were probably for the same man who had been together with brother Henry in the "Star" of London in 1836.

In 1816 Father William was one of the recipients of Lord Moyer's Donation, a charity which provided £10 per year for the Poor Of Leigh. William received 15/-. Between 1812 and 1822 the entries in the Poor Law Account Book show William struggling against poverty. The winter months seemed bad and on several occasions during that period he had to rely on a weekly 4/- to 6/-, particularly when either he or his wife was ill. William was buried in Rochford on the 2nd June 1847 aged a reputed age of 72 having died on the 29th May at Rochford Union Workhouse aged, according to the informant, 75 (i.e. Born 1772) and described as a labourer. Very little more is known about him. Neither he nor his wife are in the 1841 Census for Leigh and they have not been located; were they already in the Rochford workhouse ? In 1851 his widow lived in a house in High Street opposite the old Methodist Chapel.

Son William Thomas married into the well known Leigh family when he married Judith Osborne in 1831. He was generally known as William. He was one of the Leigh fishermen who made long trips in order to find catches. In 1861 he was in Jersey, Channel Islands with the "Spray" of Leigh. His crew was his sons Thomas William, also known as William, and Shadrack. According to the census return the Spray was of 15 tons and was dredging for oysters. His catch would most likely have been sold to one of the oyster bed owner who would re-harvest the oysters some two years later when they had reached a larger size. At the same time brother Charles George was in Shoreham Harbour also dredging for oysters. His crew consisted of Isaac Livett and his brother-in-law Thomas Noakes, brother of his wife Elizabeth Noakes who he had married in 1843.

It was probable that like his two uncles, Benjamin and Thomas, William's family was involved in the oyster trade. Many members of this branch have been found in oyster areas along the south coast; some marrying girls from there. This is confirmed by the fact that William Thomas married Judith Osborn, daughter of the well known 'oyster' family. They had owned beds in the Ray since before 1777. Later several Cotgrove grandchildren migrated up the Thames to the East End of London.

Charles had had some problems in his earlier days when he was a lad of about 25 or 26. He had been out in the bawley "Spray" of London which had been bought for the family by a London business man, Mr G.M. Murton. Murton was in the habit of sailing for pleasure at the weekends from Leigh and having made acquaintance with the Cotgroves he had helped them by arranging for the "Spray" to be built in about 1846. In March 1849 Charles had taken her out together with one of his cousins, a young lad of 12 named William. The day before a ship had foundered in the Thames within sight of Leigh and on his way home Charles had picked up 24 bottles of spirits, 10 bottles of wine and 200 cigars as well as four decanters^{^[21]}. Unfortunately for Charles his detour was spotted by the Customs and although he left his booty in the bawley and came ashore in the punt with his legitimate catch, he was stopped next morning as he brought the boat near inshore to her usual mooring. He protested, when challenged, that he had been near the wreck but only to see if he could find a few spars.^{^[22]}, however the Customs Officer found the contraband and made an arrest. Mr. Murton, no doubt thinking about the probable lost of his boat if Charles was found guilty pointed out that the quantity was obviously too small to be part of a genuine smuggling attempt and it was only a crime of opportunity. In fact some of the bottles still had their labels intact, showing that they had been purchased in a normal place of trade. The cigars were also damaged and of no value. All this, although probably true, had no effect on the Customs Officers and arrangements were made for a special sitting of the Magistrates at Rochford on Saturday 7th April. Being under 16 William was allowed to go free but Charles was conveyed to the Court in a carriage and pair hired for the occasion from the King’s Head at Chelmsford where Charles had been held pending his trial. The Saturday turned out to be very stormy so they were unable to take the

Fig. 5. 31st March 1849. An Officer of the Customs & Excise approaches Charles & young William Cotgrove as they land their contraband.

normal route over the Fainbridge ferry and had to take the route over Battlesbridge. This took somewhat longer but the weather had been foreseen the day before so all parties, including the Collector and the Customs solicitor from Maldon, arrived in time for the 10am Court.^{^[23]}

Charles was found guilty and fined £100; a sum he had no hope of raising but which had been the standard fine for many years for smuggling, be it one bottle or 20 barrels. He was sent back to Chelmsford's Springfield Goal as a debtor. He would have had to provide the money for his daily food and failing adequate resources he would get an allowance of a few coppers a day from the Customs.^{^[24]}

Mr Murton, the boat owner, was Irish born and came from a well to do area in north London. He lived in 3 Sommers Place which formed part of the recently built New Road. This is now known as Euston Road and his house would have been near where Euston Station now stands. He was a bachelor and lived with his younger sister, who had a private income from property. In 1849 he was 40 years old and employed as an actuary at the St.Pancras Saving Bank. James Murton wrote a long letter relating his side of the story and pleading for the return of his boat. It was usual for the boats of smugglers to be burnt as an example to others and the head of Maldon Customs wrote to his London Headquarters requesting that this case should be no exception, notwithstanding the plea from its owner. However London replied that the boat should be returned on payment of £5 fine. Perhaps Mr Murton had influence. That was more than Mrs Elizabeth Cotgrove had. She wrote pleading for the release of her husband but this summarily turned down in a curt printed note from London. The Customs Officer at Leigh did take the trouble to inquire of Charles character from his local officers. They admitted that he had never been caught nor suspected of smuggling but that he had “on more than one instance exhibited uncivil and intemperate conduct towards the Officers in the execution of their duty” and had also been known on several occasions to threaten to throw Commissioned Boatman William Livingstone overboard. We have no record of what his solicitor said in Charles’ defence but it is unlikely that he was involved in regular smuggling as the quantity of contraband was indeed far too small. The story as reported by the Chelmsford Chronicle seems very near the truth. The spirits were sold to defray the Customs expenses of £8/5/10p and to provide a reward to the Officer arresting him. The cigars proved to be unsaleable and were destroyed at no further expense to the public purse.

Charles was out by the 1851 Census but within a few years had moved up the coast to Harwich. As we have seen he was back in the "Spray" in Jersey in 1861. He had moved to Harwich in the 1860's and several of his children married there and his widow Elizabeth died there in 1895. By 1869 he had purchased the 30 foot Leigh boat “William & Emily” which he took with him back to Harwich; it was not until October 1879 that he transferred his boat registration up to Harwich but he was back with it in Leigh when he won the Southend Regatta. His own death was probably in 1908 in Leigh. It may be only coincidence but from 1873 a Charles Cotgrove was also Master of William Foster’s boat “Beavor” and this was sunk in September 1885 off Harwich. On the other hand it could have been the boat of his name sake, Charles, son of Thomas & Hannah.

William's other son was Henry John born in 1823 but for most of his life maintaining that he was in fact at least four or five years older. He fished from many boats between 1835 and 1840 giving dates of births between 1817 and 1820, then in February 1840 he joined the Navy and later the Coast Guard before returning home with an Irish wife and three children. Thus of the four sons of William only James Daniel remains a bit of a mystery. The other sons,except William junior, found a living away from Leigh.

Benjamin 1759-1822.

When Benjamin IV was elected village Constable in 1794 his own children were growing up. Together with his wife Sarah, he had raised four sons and three daughters. Three more were to die as infants. His term as constable did not last long but it was one of the village appointments that was taken in turn by the well known and respected inhabitants of the village. He had been "admitted" by the Lord of the Manor to the family house when he was only 12 but it is not known if he lived in it as soon as he married but with his widowed mother's death in 1806 it is certain he moved in. When he died in 1822 he left instructions in his will that the house should go to his eldest son, also Benjamin, married to Mary Cracknel since 1809. This will was never proved but the Manor Court accepted it and Benjamin V was admitted in 1825.

By the will, his mother, Sarah was to live there until her death. She was to get his boat and fishing tackle, which she would not have used but would have provided her with an income derived from its hire. On her eventual death these would pass to their youngest son William, who being born in 1809 was only thirteen when his father died. In 1829 Benjamin V began to consider the fact that his mother was in possession of valuable property which could be put to better use. He drew up a legal document in which he gave his mother a lump sum of five shillings and rent free use of one room in the house for the rest of her life. In exchange for this magnanimous amount Benjamin acquired the rest of the property which he immediately sold to the Lord of the Manor's Steward, Thomas Wade. It seems that Widow Sarah was able to remain in the family home until her death in 1838. There may have been a reason for this financial dealing; Benjamin was master of one of John Osborne’s boats. These were used in his trade as oyster merchant either to tend the beds in Hadleigh Creek or to transport young oysters from the Cherbourg area of France or to deliver the fully grown product to the markets in London or Dunkirk. He had got the job before 1811 when he was only 24 and in 1826 he was still master of the 11 ton yawl "Two Sisters" but when Osborn was forced in sell up in 1826 due to the loss of his stock in the cold winter, he would have lost his job.^{^[25]} The Osbornes had succeeded William Hutton in the oyster trade and had taken over Hutton's old house in the High Street.^{^[26]}

When the house was sold, one of the other Cotgroves, Henry, son of Benjamin IV 's brother, Thomas, had moved in as a tenant of the new owner and was there in 1841. Benjamin VI had moved away to a house a few doors to the west, while his parents with several unmarried children stayed on in the cottage in Beltons Row which was at the west end of the village beyond the pale fence and only a few yards from the sea shore. Two of these children were in fact grand children, James and Susan Palmer both born in the early 1830's to Sarah Ann Cotgrove and her husband James Palmer. These two offspring appeared to have been left as orphans and were thus looked after by grandma, a practice not uncommon in small communities faced with large families and a high incidence of fatal illnesses.

With the eldest son inheriting the house the other sons were forced to find other accommodation. Henry born in 1795 married into one of the well known fisher families when he married Sarah Robinson in 1819. He took a house and yard at the eastern end of Alley Lane. Son John was born in 1803 and was to marry Elizabeth Williams.

The youngest son, William must have been a favourite as he was to inherit his father's fishing boat and all the tackle. This boat was probably the "Ebenezer" or the "Emberton" both of which were used almost exclusively by William or his sons William and George. It was William, or William Peter as he became known in later life, that influenced the tendency for the whole family to live in the west end of the village. His father-in-law owned considerable property in Billet Lane, or to give it its alternative name, Workhouse Lane, to commemorate the fact that the parish workhouse was on the eastern side of this narrow lane that ran up the hill away from the shore. His wife's mother had married twice, first to George Smith and then to Peter Samuel, a carpenter and in 1836, the owner of the “Emberton”. These names played a great part in the naming of their children and grand children. When father-in-law died all his Leigh property was left to his step-daughter Ann Cotgrove and to grandson William Smith Cotgrove.

Benjamin's daughter Mary who was born 1793 had a child in 1813 when she was about 20. The father was William Frost, a young village lad. This was another strain on the finances and although he may have been forced to pay about 1/- a week towards the expenses young Frost does not feature in the records other than the entry in the Church Register on 7th August 1813 when the illegitimate son of Mary Cotgrove and William Frost, the reputed father, was baptised. Poor Mary had given birth sedated by about a gallon of beer and a pint of gin, purchased by the Parish for that purpose. After further substantial payments at irregular intervals the poor child died the following year. There had been another death of a baby Cotgrove in April of that year but there is no record of the name, however, daughter Ann's future father-in-law, Peter Samuel, the village carpenter, made the coffin at a price of £1-1/-.

There were more family problems when in 1816 daughter Mary again found herself pregnant again just before her 23rd birthday. She had been attracted to one of the sailors on board the Customs and Excise boat, the "Safeguard". An old naval gun boat, she had been paid off by the Navy a few years before and now crewed by only a few men, or sitters, she was permanently moored just off Leigh where it checked inbound vessels for contagious diseases as well as keeping a sharp look out for smuggling. The Overseers, realising that the child would be an expense on the Parish, took steps to ensure that they would not be out of pocket. Somehow they gathered that Joseph Wood was the father and after an examination before the Magistrates at Rochford he agreed to marry Mary. The parish left nothing to chance, while one of the Parish Officers acted as chaperon^{^[27]}, a Marriage Licence was procured, a ring was purchased for the sum of seven shillings and bread, cheese and beer for the wedding breakfast obtained from the local shop. On 29th March 1816 the couple were married in the Parish Church in Leigh, entirely at the Parish expense. The baby, of unknown name, was brought up by Thomas' wife and Joseph paid about 1/- a week towards its upkeep, while he took his bride off to Prittlewell where arrangements were made with the Overseers there to collect the money.^{^[28]} Joseph no doubt had to return to his ship, however he was a bad lot and in eight years time he was again before the Magistrates,^{^[29]} this time at the instigation of the Prittlewell Overseers. He had now "gotten Lydia English Thurston, a single girl of Prittlewell pregnant, the child likely to be a bastard." On 6th August 1824 the child, a girl, was born and Joseph had to pay 3/- a week towards her upkeep plus a single payment of 6/6 to cover costs.^{^[30]} It is not known what became of poor Mary.

Mary's first boyfriend , William Frost, got a job with John Osbourn, eventually becoming master of the Humber keel "The Prosperous" of 44 tons.^{^[31]}

There was one other daughter; Sussannah who was born about 1806. ( Her parents could have been Thomas and Elizabeth but Benjamin seems more likely.) Sussannah was to marry away from Leigh in Burnham on Crouch in June 1828 to an Isaac Kingsbury. In 1851 they appear , still in Burnham, living a few doors away from Isaac's relations George & Elizabeth. The Kingsbury brothers, Isaac, George and Thomas were all oyster dredgers and this adds weight to the hypothesis that the Cotgroves were deeply involved in that trade.

Thomas 1765-1848.

The third member of the family lived in a house on the north side of the High Street, very near the old Methodists Chapel. This house was next to the Peterboat Inn and both properties had been in the Osborne family for many years. Before that it had probably been owned by William Utton, the oyster merchant, as even in the 1820's it was still known as "Huttons". Thomas had married Elizabeth Osborn in 1788 and they were to have nine children, of whom two boys and two girls were to marry. In 1845 when he was 78 Thomas was still fishing accompanied by his youngest son, Henry, in the family boat the "Providence"

One of his grand daughters, Mary Ann, daughter of son Thomas married an Osborn. Two more grand sons, Thomas and Charles, were to be found in the Channel Islands in 1861 dredging for oysters. With the connections with the Osborne family this is to be expected.

In the January of 1826^{^[32]} there was a very cold spell which froze the sea water in the creeks around Leigh, the fish pits were covered by a layer of ice but the fish , mainly flounders, buried themselves in the mud in the bottom and came to no harm, although the fishermen were unable to get at them. The same could not be said for the oyster beds owned by John Osborne, the head of the family merchants. The shallow water of the beds meant that the water became far too cold for the oysters, which died. John Osborne was forced into bankruptcy, not helped by the number of local banks that had failed in recent months, thus making the obtaining of credit more difficult. On the 11th April a large crowd braved the showers to bid for lots at the sale of Mr Osborne property.^{^[33]} Some years later the oyster beds were restarted by William Alston who had beds at Rochester and in the Swatch to the east of Leigh.. In the mean time it is expected that the Cotgrove's suffered as it is certain that at least some of them worked for Osborne. On the day of the sale the yawl "Two Sisters" was described as being of 11 tons burden and captained by Benjamin, Thomas senior's nephew.

At about the turn of the century Thomas Cotgrove had leased from the Lord of the Manor, a cottage, just off The Strand, on the north east corner of the lane called Alley Dock. This must have been one of the older cottages in Leigh, with earth floor, right adjacent to the quay. This would have been most convenient for his venture into independent fishing using the boat that he was about to acquire.

There had been a problem with Thomas' boat. A fisherman without a boat is always a drain on the parish finances. In later years the Vicar, the Rev. Walker King, founded an "insurance club" for fishing boats^{^[34]}, but in 1814 there was no such arrangement. When Thomas' boat was damaged he had no funds to pay for the repairs and had to borrow from a local property owner Wolfe Benjamin. ^{^[35]}The Benjamin family of Soliman and Wolfe had a soap factory and owned in addition several fields. By 1840 they had left the village and not much is known about this soap factory except that it later became a school.^{^[36]} With his boat repaired Thomas only had to make the repayments on the loan but in March 1815, a poor season for fishing meant that he could not meet the payment. The overseers, realising that failure to pay would mean he lost of the boat and another pauper family to support, paid out the £7-0-0.^{^[37]}. The fact that the boat was described as Thomas’ boat implies that he was the owner although no Boat Registration seems to have survived. It could be that the boat was the nine and a half ton yawl “Amity” which had in fact been owned by Wolf Benjamin. If this deduction is indeed true then it probably indicates that Thomas was setting up on his own as if he was still in the oyster trade the boat would have belonged to one of the well known merchants.

Some time before 1834 he sold his lease of his house in Alley Dock to James Noakes and moved to the far more imposing house of William Hutton in Cook's Place on the north side of the High Street. This house had a very long garden which reached up almost to the old Rectory, which at that time lay to the west of the Church. In due course the house passed to grandson Thomas and his wife Elizabeth Robinson. Next door was also Cotgrove owned.

Her father Thomas had been poorly for some time with a bad leg which made him lame and prevented him earning much money when daughter Mary got married in 1816. Her husband was John Wilder.

It was at this time, during the summer of 1815 that an event in Europe was to provide one of those strange coincidences that can never be explained. Some three months after the battle of Waterloo Thomas again went lame and was unable to work for two to three weeks. Seventy one years later Thomas's great grand son, Arthur David Cotgrove was making his fortune in the Gold Fields of South Africa. He employed an old lame man with a wooden leg to guard his tents and cook. This man related to Arthur how he acting as drummer boy at the Battle watched the spent cannon balls rolling down the road. He put out a foot to stop one and the surgeon tidied up what was left of his leg ! In 1953, another 67 years on, Arthur, now 88, related the story to his grand son David Cotgrove and he in turn reported the whole story to the press in June 1990, the anniversary of the Battle. ^{^[38]}Arthur had returned to England, became a founder member of the Southend Shellfish Company and was a well known Southend business man for many years.

Thomas had two sons, Thomas who was baptised in 1788 and Henry, baptised 1813. Thomas married Hannah Dicks who came from the nearby village of Hawkswell. They moved out of the High Street and into a cottage up Billet Lane opposite the Workhouse. It was to be their eldest son, Thomas III, known as "Tottles" who moved back into the High Street home on his grand father's death in 1848.

Henry was the youngest of the nine children and was born 12th October 1812. He was only 20 when he married Golden Thompson's daughter, Sarah. The families had lived close to each other for several years so marriage was not unexpected. Another of Golden's daughters had married Edward Gisby and in fact the Cotgrove's, Gisby's and Thompson's were successive owners of the cottage at the corner of Ally Dock. The Gisbys were also boat owners and both the Cotgroves and Thompsons used their boats.

By the mid 1850's Henry and Sarah had moved to Great Wakering. At that time there were many oyster beds in the area so this move would have been in keeping with the family trade. Their son, Henry William, became the third member of the family to join the Navy and it was to Great Wakering he returned in 1859 to marry. Their daughter Eliza married another sailor, Charles Minter, who after his 10 years at sea had transferred to the Coast Guard and was stationed at Shoeburyness. The Thompsons were guests at the weddings of both of Henry senior's daughters and in fact signed the register on both occasions. Eliza was forced to move away when her husband was transferred down to Barnstable in Devon but with his retirement with a pension of £24 a year in 1877 they returned to Shoebury only to have her father die the same year. In the mean time at least two of their children were lucky enough to get a place in the Greenwich Hospital School. Charles was admitted in 1877 aged ten and his younger brother, Henry George Cotgrove Minter, in 1880 aged 11. Young Henry joined the Navy like his father and his namesake uncle before him. He had already completed 30 years when he retired in 1914 but the outbreak of war brought about his recall and he did another 4 years aboard the Dover Defence Vessel.

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COTGROVE FAMILY HISTORY

Part Two

Part Two (appox. 84 sides of print out.)

This page deals with the early history of the family.