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

[The Wannabe Toff]

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.

[Olde Crone]

Some related work and answers already on another forum.I

OC

[Merry]

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

Bury and Norwich Post 08 November 1826

Cambridge, Nov. 6.
MARRIED
On Thursday the 19th ult. Mr Charles Metcalfe jun. Solicitor, of Wisbech, to Mary, eldest daughter of Morehouse Metcalfe, Esq. of Terrace House, Gailsboro'.

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

[Merry]

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

Stamford Mercury 28 November 1794

On Monday, Mr,. Charles Metcalf, attorney-at-law, of Wisbech, was married to Miss Scrimshire, daughter of William Skrimshire Esq. of the same place.

[Merry]

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.

[Merry]

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

[Merry]

Back to Sarah Ann Moyses:

She must have died between Dec 1897 and 1901 as her husband (still at the same address as on the marriage cert) is a widower on the 1901 census:

Henry Harris Head Widower Male 68 1833 Furniture Dealer b Southwark, Surrey, England

Worryingly, the most obvious entry is this one:

Deaths Dec 1897

Harris Sarah Ann 65 Lambeth 1d 293

But that would mean she had died within a few days of her marriage (21 Dec) and there would need to be time to register the death in the same quarter. Still possible though. There are no other likely deaths in Lambeth before 1901, so if that's not her, then she died somewhere else which could make finding her tricky as Harris is such a common name.

[Merry]

Oh, that death is her. She was buried 3 Jan 1898

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interacti...nSearchResults

and the address given is 42 Holland St Brixton, which is the same as the 1901 census for Henry and their marriage cert.

[Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Merry

Back to Sarah Ann Moyses:

She must have died between Dec 1897 and 1901 as her husband (still at the same address as on the marriage cert) is a widower on the 1901 census:

Henry Harris Head Widower Male 68 1833 Furniture Dealer b Southwark, Surrey, England

Worryingly, the most obvious entry is this one:

Deaths Dec 1897

Harris Sarah Ann 65 Lambeth 1d 293

But that would mean she had died within a few days of her marriage (21 Dec) and there would need to be time to register the death in the same quarter. Still possible though. There are no other likely deaths in Lambeth before 1901, so if that's not her, then she died somewhere else which could make finding her tricky as Harris is such a common name.

Perhaps it was a deathbed marriage? Did her widower leave a will?

[kiterunner]

House of Names website says that the surname Moyses originates from Moy in Normandy but I don't know whether that's right:
https://www.houseofnames.com/moyses-family-crest

Other sites say "son of Moses".