The Foyne Family Saga

THE PROBLEM OR TASK

Today's research efforts have been about trying to add more ancestors to the Lost Cousins website in the fond hope of finding more cousins. 

I wanted to find a census entry for Samuel FOYNE, my 3rd great-grandfather.  My cousin Sharon also has a theory that the FOYNES come from Ireland originally.  We're contemplating engaging a researcher in the UK to dig deeper for us. I volunteered to come up with a research question and this research is part of that mission.

One of the great things about family history, and one of its traps, is when family members use the same first names over the generations.  

I have been tracing the FOYNE family for a while and am keen to find its origins.

The FOYNEs married into the CONNER family in 1851.  

Rebecca FOYNE married Edward CONNER at St Paul's Deptford London on 19 January 1851.[i]

Rebecca's father was recorded on the marriage certificate as Samuel FOYNE, Cabinet maker. No record of the mother's name on English marriage certificates though I understand that may have changed now.

FOYNE is such an unusual name and Samuel is in fact the only cabinet maker I have in my family tree.  When I found the death of a Samuel FOYNE, cabinet maker, in Birmingham a while ago, I assumed it was one and the same and that there had been some mix up about his date of birth.

Today, I have pursued the research even further and now realize Samuel had a son, also called Samuel who, to make things even trickier,  was also a cabinet maker.  At least, that's what I think/deduce.  Of course I will have to order the death certificate. But to be frank, English death certificates are not much chop and I will probably be none the wiser.  But I did manage to push the envelope back a bit further and discovered a new place for the FOYNES - Romsey, Hampshire to be precise.

The Hundred, Romsey, Hampshire by Peter Trimming, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

You can imagine that FOYNE is not always spelled FOYNE of course.  FOYN is another common spelling and I am sure there is more.

Recently I discovered a baptism for Rebecca FOYNE. [ii] She was (to my mind) baptised quite late in life at the ripe old age of 17 on 14 November 1847 in the parish of St James, Clerkenwell by the curate CJ Anderson (at least I think that is his name).  Her birth date (or close enough to it) is recorded on the baptismal register (Born November 3(?) 1830).  Her father is listed as Samuel, cabinet maker and her mother is listed as Harriet.  This makes sense as one of Rebecca's daughters is also called Harriet.  Her parents are listed as living at 1 Ann's Place, Pomeroy ?? Old Kent Road.

 

St James Church Clerkenwell J. Booth; engraved by Joseph Skelton - Antique print; probable scan.

 

So what can we discover about Samuel and Harriet?   I was able to discover their marriage today as well.  They were married 16 December 1814 in Southampton, Hampshire.[iii]  Harriet's maiden name was GROSSMITH. Yay!  A new name to research.   Samuel’s surname is spelled FOYN. 

CHILDREN OF SAMUEL AND HARRIET FOYN/E

The children that I have been able to find are as follows:

1815 Louisa – seems to have been christened twice or are they two different Louisas?  There is one christened 23 June 1815 at Bishop’s Waltham, Hampshire, father Saml FOIN and Mother Harriett.  And another on 25 December 1815 at St Mary, Hampshire.  Let’s go with the latter until we can investigate further. Maybe Harriet’s family lived at Bishop’s Waltham?[iv] TO DO LIST - find out where Harriet's family came from and who Louisa married and where she ended up.

1817 Harriet (Jr).  Again, I have found a couple of christenings.  One on 17 October 1817 at St Michael and then another at Romsey on 25 October 1818.  Let’s go with the former for the moment and I will look at the originals when I can find an affiliate library.  Perhaps time to join GSQ? TO DO LIST[v]- Join GSQ

1819 Harriet Jnr is buried aged 2 31 October [vi]

1820 John is christened at Romsey, Hampshire [vii]

St Martin-in-the-Fields (1721-6) by James Gibbs.

1823 Samuel Jr is christened at St Martin in the Fields[viii] (I believe this record has sometimes been transcribed incorrectly as Daniel rather than Samuel)  To say I am chuffed about this connection to such a beautiful church is an understatement. I am sure I have been to some concerts here in my youth.  Must check with Dad if he remembers.

1828 George is christened 29 June at St Mary's Parish Southampton [ix]TO DO - find out what happened to George.  Did he marry and where did he end up?

1830 Rebecca is born 3 November (as per christening record 14 November 1847 in the parish of St James, Clerkenwell)

THE FOYNES GO TO THE WORKHOUSE

Then in 1832 Harriet Foyne died aged 46 and is buried at St James Clerkenwell.[x] (TO DO – FIND Harriet birth in approx. 1786)nd source this ***

1833 Samuel and his three sons John, Samuel and George aged 12, 9 and 6 are admitted to St Pancras Workhouse Camden London.  The dates are a bit confusing but I think they were in there for 2 years.[xi]  What happened to Rebecca??

 

St. Pancras Workhouse (now St. Pancras Hospital) Photograph 2006 by Jacqueline Banerjee.

 

1839 - From British Newspaper Archives I was able to discover an article on Page 2 of the The Hampshire Advertiser published Saturday 2 November that identified Samuel Foyne as a begging-letter imposter who was sentenced to one month's imprisonment and hard labour by the Southampton Police. TO DO – CAN I FOLLOW THIS UP MORE WITH HAMPSHIRE ARCHIVES?

 

 

1841 Census - I found George Foyne aged 13 in the Droxford Union Workhouse.  There is also an Elizabeth Foyne aged 10 or 15 (it's hard to decipher) but I can't find any baptism or birth records for an Elizabeth to Samuel and Harriet for those time-frames. [xii] 

I also found a Samuel Fone in Derbyshire in the 1841 Census.  He is the right age for Samuel Jr and says he was not born in Derbyshire.  I know it's a big leap.  He is working as a draper's shop man for presumably for Robert Bannister in 3 Rotten Row All Saints Derby.  What interests me is that he is sharing an abode or his workplace with Samuel Cottrell, a cabinet case maker, aged 60.  I just wondered if that is how the cabinet making apprenticeship began.  Derby is not that far from Birmingham, where they all seemed to end up.  Apart from Rebecca that is.

THE FOYNES MOVE TO BIRMINGHAM

I then find Samuel Foyn Jr, cabinet maker marrying Mary Hocknell at the Parish of St Martin Birmingham in the county of Warwick on 11 October 1847.  Samuel Foyn, cabinet maker is listed as his father. [xiii]

 

St Martin in the Bull Ring, Birmingham, from the 1875 book History of Old St. Martin's, Birmingham by J. T. Bunce.

 

Remember that in November of the same year Rebecca is baptised in London.  

In March 1848 I find a Samuel Fein aged 56 in the London Workhouse. [xiv] 

1851 Census - I find Samuel Foyne, a bedstead maker, is living at number 86 Loveday street as one of four lodgers - one a brush maker, one a stitcher and one a boot binder with a widow shoe binder and her son and an errand boy.  His older brother John Foyne, Cabinet Maker, is on the next page, living with his wife Jane and their 1 year old daughter Harriet at 87 Loveday Street St Mary Birmingham. [xv]

1861 Census - I find John Foyne (cabinet maker) with wife Jane and daughters Harriet and Mary Jane and son William living with 69 year old Samuel Foyn. [xvi] Samuel Foyn Jr (Cabinet Maker) and his wife Mary, a boot binder, are living at 72 Pool Street Wolverhampton. [xvii]  This is the census entry that I will use to enter into Lost Cousins because…..while it is better to use an 1881 Census entry….

1865 Samuel Foyne dies in Birmingham in the Oct-Nov-Dec quarter. I am pretty sure this is Samuel Snr but I would need to get a copy of the death certificate to be sure. [xviii]TO DO LIST

1871 Census – we find poor Samuel Foyn Jnr cabinet maker aged 48 is now a widower and living in lodgings at 37 Edgbaston St Old Inkleys in the Market Hall Birmingham.[xix]

1881 Census Samuel Foyne Jr aged 57, cabinet maker, is in the Union Workhouse.[xx]

 

English: The former Birmingham Workhouse, now derelict, in the grounds of the later City Hospital. Author Andy Mabbett

 

There is a grave for Samuel Foyne at Merridale Cemetery, Wolverhampton  - death date 22 September 1895. He is described of Great Brickiln Street St Mark, a cabinet maker.

CONCLUSION

Are you still with me?  You deserve a mince pie or some shortbread for your perseverance!! 

 

Whilst I have found a lot of records, there are so many questions.  Why did they move to Romsey?  Did Samuel Snr and Harriet have another child called Elizabeth?  

I'd like to find out more about Samuel Senior's working life.  I suspect his grandfather was called Samuel too.  I found a Samuel Foyn admitted to the Grand Lodge of England Freemasons in 1809 - Lodge No 305 Coopers Arms East Smithfield.[xxi]  There is also a newspaper article about a Samuel Foyne bringing salt from Lisbon as per below:

If you search the London Metropolitan Archives you will find a Samuel FOYN listed on a Royal and Sun Alliance Insurance Group listing for the Houndwell Buildings in the Parish of ST Mary Southampton 10 September 1792.

I also found two articles - one from 1768 from the Salisbury and Winchester Journal and one from 1777 from the Hampshire Chronicle describing a Samuel Foyne as a victualler occupying the Blue Anchor in the Blue Anchor Lane.  From the See Southampton Facebook page "The inn itself was named after the fact that when nearby ships would bring up their anchors they would be covered in blue clay." In 1777 Samuel was trying to lease the premises.

 

In 1794 a Samuel Foyne aged 74 is buried at St Michael's Southampton.[xxii]  This could be Samuel Senior's grandfather I suppose.  

 

St Michael's Parish Chruch, Southampton.  By Richard Nevell - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35344364

 

So, in conclusion we found a census entry to put into Lost Cousins and we’re working towards a research question about the Foyne Family.  Sharon wants to know if they were from Ireland.  There’s a bit of me that wonders if they’re from Norway or somewhere more exotic.  I found a will for a Baltazar FOYN on the National Archives website.  I think it is incorrectly indexed as the Will of Balteram Foyn but I’d be interested in what you think the name is.  Balteram or Baltazar as I think it is was a mariner bound for the East Indies.  He was a merchant of Stepney in Middlesex in 1664.  Of course we all know how dangerous it is to try to make a connection from someone of no proven relation coming forwards but I am rather taken with the name 😉 I have downloaded the will but it is very difficult to read.  I will leave that for another day when I feel like a challenge !

Thanks for visiting today and of course, if you have any observations, suggestions etc, I’d be only too pleased to hear them.  I am eternally grateful to my husband who puts up with looking at my back in the study all the time as I research and who reminded me of the Church of the Latter Day Saints last night at dinner.  I had been searching all day on Ancestry but of course Family Search had some stuff on its site that Ancestry didn’t, so that really helped.

References

 

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[i] Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1936 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; London Church of England Parish Registers; Reference Number: P75/PAU/043

[ii] Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1920 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Board of Guardian Records and Church of England Parish Registers. London Metropolitan Archives, London. London Church of England Parish Registers; Reference Number: P76/JS1/019

[iii] "England, Hampshire Parish Registers, 1538-1980," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGQL-C4WD : 13 February 2021), Samuel Foyn and Harriet Grossmith, 15 Dec 1814; citing Marriage, , possibly other reference information Lancashire Record Office and Hampshire Record Office, England; FHL microfilm 1,041,739.

[iv] "England, Hampshire Parish Registers, 1538-1980," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGQ2-R9B2 : 13 February 2021), Louisa Foyn, 25 Dec 1815; citing Christening, , Lancashire Record Office and Hampshire Record Office, England; FHL microfilm 1,041,733.

[v] "England, Hampshire Parish Registers, 1538-1980," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGQ2-5993 : 13 February 2021), Harriett Foyn, 17 Oct 1817; citing Christening, , Lancashire Record Office and Hampshire Record Office, England; FHL microfilm 1,041,739.

[vi] "England, Hampshire Parish Registers, 1538-1980," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGQ2-KXGV : 13 February 2021), Harriet Foyn, 31 Oct 1819; citing Burial, , possibly other reference information Lancashire Record Office and Hampshire Record Office, England; FHL microfilm 1,041,733.

[vii] "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N143-H99 : 20 March 2020), John Foyne, 1820.

[viii] Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1920 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Board of Guardian Records and Church of England Parish Registers. London Metropolitan Archives, London. London Church of England Parish Registers; Reference Number: DL/T/093/036

[ix] "England, Hampshire Parish Registers, 1538-1980," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGQ2-LXS5 : 13 February 2021), George Foyn, 29 Jun 1828; citing Christening, , Lancashire Record Office and Hampshire Record Office, England; FHL microfilm 1,041,733.

[x] Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-2003 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data:Board of Guardian Records, 1834-1906 and Church of England Parish Registers, 1813-2003. London Church of England Parish Registers; Reference Number: P76/JS1/070

[xi] Ancestry.com. London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1764-1930 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: London Workhouse Admission and Discharge Registers held by the London Metropolitan Archives, London, England. Reference Number: P90/PAN1/220

[xii] Ancestry.com. 1841 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2010. Original data: Census Returns of England and Wales, 1841. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1841. Class: HO107; Piece: 387; Book: 3; Civil Parish: Droxford; County: Hampshire; Enumeration District: Droxford Union Workhouse; Folio: 4; Page: 4; Line: 13; GSU roll: 288793

[xiii] Ancestry.com. Birmingham, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1937 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Original data: Anglican Parish Records. Birmingham, England: Library of Birmingham. Reference Number: DRO 34; Archive Roll: M117

[xiv] Ancestry.com. London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1764-1930 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: London Workhouse Admission and Discharge Registers held by the London Metropolitan Archives, London, England. London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: WEBG/SM/040/007

[xv] Ancestry.com. 1851 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.Original data:Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1851. Class: HO107; Piece: 2057; Folio: 366; Page: 30; GSU roll: 332117-332118

[xvi] Ancestry.com. 1861 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.Original data:Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1861. Class: RG 9; Piece: 2150; Folio: 31; Page: 9; GSU roll: 542926

[xvii] Ancestry.com. 1861 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.Original data:Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1861. Class: RG 9; Piece: 1988; Folio: 86; Page: 15; GSU roll: 542898

[xviii] FreeBMD. England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Original data: General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office. © Volume 6D Page 147

[xix] Ancestry.com. 1871 England Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. Original data: Census Returns of England and Wales, 1871. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1871. Class: RG10; Piece: 3111; Folio: 97; Page: 29; GSU roll: 839576

[xx] Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1881 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. 1881 British Isles Census Index provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints © Class: RG11; Piece: 2807; Folio: 122; Page: 38; GSU roll: 1341672

[xxi] Ancestry.com. England, United Grand Lodge of England Freemason Membership Registers, 1751-1921 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Membership registers 1751-1921 from the collection of the United Grand Lodge of England held by the Museum of Freemasonry. Images reproduced by courtesy of the Museum of Freemasonry, London. Rights reserved. Membership Registers: London Lodges, vol L, #1-300 Page 189

[xxii] Ancestry.com. England, Select Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.