Charles Metcalfe Esq. of Inglethorpe Hall (b. 1797, d. 1871)
 

Charles was born in 1797, probably in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. His will in 1871 says he was "Charles Metcalfe Esquire of Inglethorpe Hall, Norfolk, with artefacts of £25,000". Via the inflation calculator that's £2.92 million today. He was a solicitor, but I've got a hunch that Inglethorpe Hall can't have come cheap if he bought it himself (30 acres!), so he was possibly from a genteel/noble family and Inglethorpe was an inherited property. He married his wife Mary in 1826, and her maiden name might well have been Metcalfe too, so there's a chance of distant cousinship. Their eldest son Arthur Metcalfe Sr was obviously rich enough to bed someone who may have been a Jewish servant girl (Sarah Moyses) and not show on his son's baptism. I'm interested in any possible portraits of Charles and Arthur, cementing a noble link, and seeing whether I can trace the ancestry of Sarah Moyses and confirm my suspicion that she was in fact Jewish - that's just an idea based on her surname and the fact that her son hid evidence of his mum's roots later on. £25,000 was a vast life income in the 1870s for a presumably modest solicitor, so that on top of Inglethorpe makes me think Charles Metcalfe was gentry. He's certainly mentioned in a heraldry list. Amusingly, Sarah Moyses' grandson (who was my 3x-great-grandfather) was a cab-driver, so a drop down the social ladder did happen.

Some related work and answers already on another forum.I

OC

I've not looked to see what's on other forums, but wondered if this might help with the "are they related?" part...

I also looked at the birth registrations for their children born after 1837 and the mother's maiden name is Metcalfe.

And given he was Charles junr, this might be his parents marriage:

There's a two column obit here:

Herts & Cambs Reporter & Royston Crow 27 October 1893

regarding Frederic Morehouse Metcalfe, eldest son of Charles and Mary. States they (Charles and Mary) had 17 children and that they were cousins.

I may be misunderstanding, but why would you need to be rich to make a servant pregnant?

Is this the child:

1861 census:

Wisbech, Cambridgeshire

Arthur Metcalf b 1851 Nephew b Walsoken, Norfolk

Others in the house are James Smith and his wife, Mary Ann.

Mary Ann Moyses married James Smith in Wisbech district in 1847.

Mary Ann Moyses was born about 1823 in Wisbech according to the 1861 census, so Sarah should be her sister.

In 1851 James and Mary Ann Smith have Francis Moyses aged 18 living with them, listed as brother. Mary Ann is aged 30 on this census.

Looking at Wisbech baptisms, there's

Francis Moyses bap 13 Apr 1833 parents John (cabinet maker) and Sarah

also:

Mary Ann Moyses bap 09 Jun 1820 same parents.

No sibling called Sarah though.

I can't see Sarah or Arthur on the 1851 census. Interesting he was registered in Wisbech district but his aunt and uncle think he was born in Norfolk! That's not helping with finding Sarah.

Do you know what happened to Sarah?

Isn't Wisbech Norfolk?:o


It must be bang against the border, as the parishes to the East are all Norfolk. It's a sort of Bermuda Triangle of East Anglia. Some of mine were tenant farmers, with a child in every county of the fens.