On This Day: 23 December

Two events to celebrate today: a christening in 1865 and a wedding in 1722.

The wedding first: Michael DAMAREL and Elizabeth Jane got married in East Allington on 23 December 1722 (they are my 6 x great grandparents).  The surname is one of those which gets spelt differently as each generation moves on - and even gets spelt differently within each generation, so I have to check for DAMAREL, DAMARELL, DAMERELL, DAMERALL and any variation thereof.

The christening is of twins: Lewis Albert and Augusta Ann EDGCOMBE (another surname with all sorts of spellings!).  This christening is marked with a special set of emotions, when I looked at the dates of the other children.  Parents George and Mary Ann married in 1859, followed in 1860 with the birth of baby James Henry - who only lived some four months.  Bertha Ellen was born in 1861 - but she died of scarlet fever aged only 4.  Noah George was born in 1864, but lived for less than a year.  And the saddest thing? Little Bertha Ellen's death was registered by her grandmother, because her mother Mary Ann was seven months pregnant with the twins, and was probably not allowed to go near Bertha.

So there must have been mixed emotions at the christening of Lewis and Augusta.  Grief at the death of Bertha only three months before, hope that these two babies would live (they did, growing up to get married and have families of their own).

Here they are (they are my great-great-uncle and aunt) aged about four:

Surname Saturday: Damerell

I have traced my DAMERELLs back to East Allington (Devon) in 1658.  part of a farming community, they moved to nearby Loddiswell, then to Charleton and Kingsbridge.  Great great grandfather Henry started out as an 'engine rail driver', but soon graduated to the sea, as did many of my ancestors, working as a sailor for nearly twenty years.  He later became a marine-store dealer, which in fact sounds posher than it actually is.  (It also sometimes refers to gypsies, but I do not think I have any Romany blood in me).  Basically, a marine store dealer was a scrap man who sold to mariners. 

" A Marine Store Dealer was a licensed broker who bought and sold used cordage, bunting, rags, timber, metal and other general waste materials. He usually sorted the purchased waste by kind, grade etc. He also repaired and mended sacks etc.
Marine Store Dealers were governed by an Act of Parliament 1st. Geo. IV. sec.16 cap.75. which enacted that every marine-store-dealer shall have his name inserted in legible characters over his shop-door and shall also keep a book in which he shall insert the name and address of any person from whom he shall buy any article." (rootschat.com) and was mentioned by Dickens as early as 1836.

Later, he became a stoker in a steam ship, and in fact was still a stoker in his early sixties.  He was obviously a very strong man!