The Family of the Rev. Dr Daniel KEITHSusan KEITH - Daughter of Daniel and Jane KEITH (1801-1852)Susan Agnes Sophia KEITH's story is difficult to piece together. Even her existence is not obvious in the records and her relationship to Daniel KEITH and her siblings is obscure. There are no birth or baptism records for her. Despite this, she is almost certainly the natural daughter of Daniel and Jane KEITH. (You can go to Daniel's story and that of his other children here.)
When and where was Susan KEITH born?As we do not have a baptism for Susan we cannot be sure when she was born or where.
In my estimation, Susan was either born in 1898/99 in Bristol soon after their arrival, or (perhaps the most likely) that Susan was a twin of Edward Joseph KEITH, born 2 May 1801 in Bristol. Perhaps we might have expected Susan to have been baptised with the twin brother but there is no evidence for this. However we do know only one of the five girls appears to have been baptised, so even if a twin, Daniel and Jane may have decided not to have her baptised (or may have done so privately and not had the event recorded at the local church). This table summarises the information.
Based on the information we have currently, I suggest Susan was likely to have been a twin sister to Edward Joseph, so born May 1801. This would agree with the census record. Otherwise she was probably born near the end of 1799 or early 1800 but this would have given only around 600 days between the births of Mary and Susan and between Susan and Edward. All the other options seem unlikely unless Susan was several weeks premature. Whether a twin to Edward or born 10 months prior, Susan would have been born at Church Lane, Bristol. An extensive search of all the Bristol parish registers has not located a baptism for Susan, or for her sisters except Frances. Susan would have accompanied her parents when they moved to Kent House, Hammersmith, London in around 1809 and survived the disease that killed her father and two siblings in early 1811. We presume she travelled to Canada with her mother in 1816 and returned with her to England, probably back to Bristol before 1824. Her mother died in Bristol in 1824 when Susan was probably only 17 years old. Departure for Van Diemen's Land (Australia)We do know that on 25 April 1825 Edward Joseph KEITH and his new wife Ann boarded the ship Mountaineer in Portsmouth, bound for Van Dieman's Land (Tasmania) and then on to Sydney, via Cape Town. We also know that Edward with Ann and two of his sisters (Fanny and Jessica) eventually arrived in Sydney. On its way into Cape Town on 14 July 1825 the ship struck a rock and was badly damaged. Its cargo would need to be unloaded so repairs could be carried out. The passengers would be stuck in Cape Town for nearly 3 months. It appeared that Edward Joseph had a problem on his hands - three very eligible teenage sisters who had nothing to do but attract the attention of the well-to-do gentlemen of the Cape Town society. The sisters were accompanied by Edwards's wife Ann (aged 32) and their housekeeper Mrs Saunders. The problems with the Mountaineer were reported in Lloyd's List in London and provincial newspapers.
The newspaper report mentions that a "Miss Prith" had married a John BEAL, purser on board His Majesty's Ship Owen Glendower, Miss PRITH being a mis-transcription of KEITH. Following up this reference has produced two vital documents - John BEAL's application for a special marriage licence, and the marriage record itself. Together they confirm that John BEAL did indeed marry Susan KEITH, and that Susan was a passenger on board the Mountaineer, thus confirming she was Edward's sister. Marriage of Susan KEITH to John BEAL Esq, Purser in the Royal NavyJust 39 days after the ship Mountaineer arrived in Cape Town with a hole in its hull, a John BEAL Esq petitioned the local Governor and Matrimonial Court for permission to marry.
The marriage licence (number 196) was granted, so the next day, on 23 August 1825 Susan KEITH married John BEAL in the Colonial Church at Simon's Town. The service was conducted by the Rev. George STURT, Colonial Chaplin. Importantly, the witnesses included Fanny KEITH and Edward Joseph KEITH, Susan's sister and brother.
So Edward now had one sister off his hands, two more to go. It would appear that Fanny had become enamoured with the dashing Dr Robert Montgomery MARTIN, fresh off a voyage of discovery around Africa. He followed Fanny to Sydney and married her on 13 November 1826. Only Jessica, aged 16, escaped the marriage suitors in Cape Town. She never did marry.
Return to BritainJohn BEAL and the Owen Glendower remained on the Africa station until early 1828 when they returned to Britain. Susan would have lived in Simon's Town during this period, with John away at sea for days to months at a time. John was paid off from the ship on 16 August 1828 after a term of almost 5 years. he then would have been on shore (in Exeter) until his next appointment on the Sparrowhawk on 11 June 1829. He was paid off again on 12 March 1831. Birth of their daughter Sophia Jesse (Jessica) BEAL in 1829We do not know how or when Susan arrived back in England. Presumably she travelled back from Cape Town on a commercial ship rather than on one of His Majesty's warships, although as an officer John could have sought the captain's permission to have Susan onboard but the dates associated with the next event in their lives suggests otherwise. Their first (and only) child was baptised in London on 30 September 1829.
It is not clear why Sophia (Jessica) was baptised at Southwark, when the BEAL family was resident in Exeter. We know that Susan's sister Fanny was living with Robert MARTIN in The Strand, London (before she eloped with John SHERIDAN in 1831). John BEAL was posted to HMS Sparrowhawk on 11 June 1829, so if he was at sea soon after, he was away when his daughter was baptised and he may have been at sea when she was born. Perhaps Susan travelled to London to visit her sister and to have her daughter baptised with her family as witnesses.
Half pay and a new careerJohn BEAL was paid off from the Sparrowhawk on 12 March 1831. He was aged about 34 to 38 and his time with the Royal Navy was effectively over. The Napoleonic and other wars had ended so the King laid up most of his warships. Officers were either pensioned off, or the more fortunate were sent home on half pay. John BEAL, a purser and strictly not a commissioned officer was on half pay. He returned to his property in Heavitree, Exeter and promptly looked for a new role. It is not clear what role he found, but in January 1835 he was the Inspector of Weights and Measures, notifying the citizens of Wingham, Kent that he would soon be available to certify their measures. This role had come about by a new Act of Parliament in 1834 that clarified two earlier Acts regarding the shape and size of standard measures for weight and capacity. The previous Acts had not been administered effectively so the new Act required all existing measures and new copies to be re-validated under the authority of the Auditor or Comptroller General, or some other Superintending Officer of the Exchequer at Westminster.
Either the weights and measures role ended or he tired of the travel, for in early 1836 he applied for the newy created position of auditorship of the Poor Law Unions, currently being combined under a new Act. He made several pitches for this role in the papers, but apparently was unsuccessful. It appears the role went to an incumbent from one of the Exeter parishes being united.
Superintendent of Factories and departure from HeavitreeNot deterred by his failure with the Poor Law auditorship, John BEAL was next apppointed to a key role as a Government Superintendent of Factories for the district of Rochdale in Lancashire. This required his to leave Heavitree in Exeter, and to sell his property there.
In 1838 John BEAL was still the Inspector of Factories
1841 CensusThe appointment of John BEAL as Superintendent enables us to find him in the 1841 census. The family was resident at the small township of Wardleworth, near Rochdale in Lancashire. This location is north of Manchester and a long way from Exeter. This is the census where ages were rounded down to the nearest 5. Jessica for instance would have been 12, but was recorded as 10.
What was John BEAL doing in Rochdale? This 1843 newspaper article explains his role. Noteworthy is the other prosecution in the paper for deficient weights and measures - a role John BEAL had previously held.
Back to ExeterWe do not know how long John lived in Rochdale, but by the time of the 1851 census he and daughter Jessica were back in Exeter, living on his half pay. Death of Susan BEAL (née KEITH)We know nothing more about Susan after the 1841 census. She is not to be found in the 1851 census, although her husband John and daughter Jessica were living in Exeter.
The last we know of Susan is her death on 21 November 1852 at 40 Vere St, St Clement Danes, London. Susan died of liver disease and jaundice. There are many causes of this, including poor diet, haemochromatosis and alcoholism. Susan's burial was recorded in the parish register at All Souls, Kensal Green, Kensington & Chelsea, London. Susan was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery, London. The grave, CONS/10477 has 12 other burials dated 1852 and 1853, suggesting it was a communal or pauper's grave. There is no record of a headstone. Why did Susan die in London, with only the illiterate Margaret Dawson present?
Although long demolished, 40 Vere St was close to the site of the Bulls Head Inn, just to the south-west of Lincoln Inn Fields. In the 1851 census the inn housed the publican and 2 guests. Vere street was part of a run down area of London that included the old Drury Lane and was referred to as Clare Market. Much of the area and its landmarks, such as the Old Curiosity Shop, were immortalized by the famous author Charles Dickens. The area was redeveloped by the London County Council in around 1900 to create the Aldwych and Kingsway, but this was not before 41 and 42 Vere St collapsed in 1874, leaving 40 Vere St uninhabitable. Vere St was replaced by the London School of Economics. This area is close to Clerkenwall where Susan's sister-in-law was living in 1851.
Charles Booth's Poverty Map of LondonCharles Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, produced a detailed map of the areas of poverty and wealth in London, dated from the 1880s. Although this is a few years after Susan died, Vere St was described in Booth's notebook as "..With one of two exceptions occupied by the poor and very poor Classes and some of the Rough Class. Bad as regards sanitary matters."
What became of John BEAL?John BEAL went back to sea on 7 August 1847, joining the HMS Cambrian as purser for a term of over 3 years. The ship was a fifth rate wooden sailing warship of 36 guns, built in 1841. It was under the command of Captain James PLUMRIDGE and sailed for the West Indies. He was back in Exeter by late 1851.
In the 1851 census, John and his daughter Jessica were living at 9 Bystock Terrace, St David, Exeter. He was 56 years old and had reverted back to being the purser in the Navy on half pay. Jessica was shown as age 20 but was in fact only 19.
Back to seaBut John was not ready to settle into retirement (or could not afford to do so), so on 20 July 1852 he signed on again, this time on the HMS Queen as paymaster, aged about 56. This ship was large, a first rate ship of the line, with 110 guns. She was the last pure sail warship to be built, and in 1858 had an auxillary steam engine fitted. She headed to the Crimea Peninsula as the flagship oft he fleet and was engaged in the bombardment of Sevastopol on 17 October 1854, where she was set on fire three times, before being forced to withdraw. The ship's mascot at this time was Timothy the Tortoise, born about 1844 and died at Powderham Castle, Devon on 3 April 2004, thus being the UK's oldest resident and the last survivor oft he Crimean War.
During his time at the Crimea War, John's daughter Jessica Sophia married Frederick HELMORE at All Saints Church, West Ham in London. It is likely Jessica was living with her sister-in-law Ann KEITH at the time. Life in ExeterJohn was paid off from HMS Queen on 21 September 1855 and his association with the Navy ended on 25 July 1856. He was now living at St Sidwell, Exeter, where he appears to have lived for the rest of his life. In 1856 he was awarded the French Legion of Honour for his services as Paymaster in the Royal Navy (resumably for his services in the Crimean War). This was widely reported in the newspapers on 2 August 1856 .
Marriage to Mary Ann HILLAs his wife Susan had died in 1852, John was now a widower, but not for long. On 20 March 1856, shortly after his return from Crimea, John married Mary Ann HILL a widow. She had been married to William Burrow HILL a wine and spitit dealer from Exeter.
In the 1861 census John and Mary Ann and two servants were living at Mt Pleasant Cottage, Blackboy Rd, St Sitwell.
In the 1871 census John and Mary Ann were still at Mt Pleasant Cottage. With them were John's sister Elizabeth and two servants.
John BEAL died in Exeter on 19 October 1875. He is buried at St James Church, Mount Pleasant Road, Exeter.
John BEAL left a Will, with his wife Mary Ann the executrix, the guardian of his grandchildren. The Grant remained in effect until one of the grandchidren had attained 21 years. This happened in 1877 when Mary Ann HELMORE reached 21, but it was not until the oldest male, Frederick John reached 21 that he applied for administration of the Will.
His widow Mary Ann(e) continued to live at Mount Pleasant Villa. She is in the 1881 census living there with a family of five as her servants.
Mary Ann died a year after the census on 27 October 1882. Her estate was valued at £155.
The Child of Susan KEITH and John BEALSophia Jesse (Jessica) BEALSophia, known as Jessica in later records, was baptised on 30 September 1829 at St George the Martyr Church, Southwark, London. There is more about Jessica's family hereReturn to the Daniel Keith Family Index Page Return to the Benton Family Index Page Last updated: 15 March 2024 |
