|
| |
|
JOHN
CURTIS, BAPTIST MINISTER
Information provided by his great, great, great grandson
John Curtis was baptised in
Chesham, Buckinghamshire on 17th February 1793 - the
son of a soldier in the Bucks Militia. At the time, Chesham was
famous for it's "baptists and boots". In fact, the Bucks
Posse Comitatus of 1798 lists 77 cordwainers in Chesham so it
was one of the main industries in the town.
|
Click the picture for a
larger image
|
It seems that John Curtis joined
the regular army during the Napoleonic Wars because he fought
at The Battle of Waterloo. He returned to Chesham and a few
months later married
Frances
'Fanny' Sedgwick. They had five children who were baptised at the
High Street Independent Chapel in Chesham (Mary, James, Ann,
Catherine and Tabitha).
John's mother Tabitha was buried in
Stoke Hammond in June 1825 and his father James was buried there on
17th March 1827. Around this time, John and his family moved
from Chesham up to Stoke Hammond where he set up a Shoemaker business
in a cottage on
West Side
- eventually employing two men. They had two more children in
Stoke Hammond (John and Eliza).
|
|
|
John
Curtis
1793
|
|
Frances
Sedgwick
1793
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mary
1816
|
James
1818
|
Ann
1821
|
Catherine
1823
|
Tabitha
1824
|
John
1828
|
Eliza
1831
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The population of
Stoke Hammond reached it's peak in the mid-19th Century and with
the development of the railways, Bletchley Station, three miles
away, became a busy junction as new branch lines were built
connecting the main LNWR line to Bedford, Banbury and Oxford. The
development of the railways improved communication and
distribution networks. The village shoemaker could no longer
compete with the high speed closing and stitching machines in the
shoe factories in nearby Northampton. John Curtis' grandsons would have to find alternative
employment in the farmer's fields or on the railways.
In 1949, Arthur Curtis (born 1880) wrote
on the back of a photo of his great grandfather, John Curtis, that
he was "in later life a Preacher of the Baptist faith at
Bow Brickhill". (Click here
for a larger version of the photograph and an image of the notes on
the back of the photograph.) Bow Brickhill is only about four miles away from Stoke
Hammond but John Curtis' occupation is recorded in the 1841,
1851 and 1861 census of Stoke Hammond as "Cordwainer",
"Shoemaker" and "Master Shoemaker" respectively.
Acording to the 1831 census John Curis
was living at 31 Duck End, Great Brickhill, aged 78, A Minister of
the Baptist Church. He died in 1876.
Jane Jones is researching the Curtis family. She is the great
great granddaughter of Mary Curtis, daughter of John Curtis.
To contact the Curtis family researchers email
|
|
