Those Glasscodines - think I've almost cracked it!

[kiterunner]

So almost a success story. I've got a family tree of my Glasscodine line drawn up by my Granny but I've never been sure whether it's right or not, once you get back to John Glasscodine who married Jane Lidiard in 1789 in Bath. The tree has his father down as William and with brothers Jacob and William, sisters Elizabeth and Sarah, which would suggest he was from Dodington in Gloucestershire as that's where the family with those names were. But I haven't managed to link the Dodington family with Bath before. Dodington is near Chipping Sodbury, about 10 miles from Bath. Also the John baptised at Dodington was born in 1747 but my John was supposedly 74 when he died in 1833 (if it's him!), also he was a bachelor when he married Jane in 1789 so unlikely to have been born in 1747.

Well... I've found one or two of the Bath Glasscodines calling themselves Glass at one time or another, and thanks to some very kind people who are transcribing the Walcot St Swithins PR's, I've just found another Glasscodine reference which I hadn't seen before. An Elizabeth Glasscodine was buried 27 Dec 1821, age 49, abode 9 Gibbs Court. I wondered whether she could be Elizabeth Parfitt who married Robert Glass at Walcot St Mary in 1792, in which case it would show that Robert Glass was another of the Glasscodines.

I'd searched the Somerset Record Office catalogue online a few times before for variations on the name Glasscodine, with no luck, but I just thought of looking for Glass. Useless because it came up with hundreds of photos covered in glass etc, but doing the phrase search for John Glass, I've found some entries for lease & release, mortgages etc for a John Glass, tiler and plasterer, of Walcot, the properties being No 10 Abingdon Buildings, Julian Rd., Bath, and another property in Arundell Place. My Glasscodines lived in Arundell Place though that was somewhat later than the stuff I've found in the catalogue so far. But looks hopeful. Also my Henry Glasscodine (son of John) was a lath render, which I'm hoping is similar to plasterer?

The entry mentioning Arundell Place (1812) also lists the parties of the first part as John Glass of Bath, tiler, Isaac Amesbury of Bath and Mary his wife (nee Glass - marriage is on FreeREG now, Isaac Ainsbury married Mary Glass 15 Dec 1794 at St Mary's Chapel, Walcot, Bath), Ann Llewellyn (nee Glass) and Robert Glass of Bath, with the party of the second part as Christopher Codrington Esq. of Dodington, Gloucestershire. So there is a connection between this family and Dodington, and Robert is definitely part of John Glass's family. Also there is a marriage between Aaron Llewellyn and Ann Glasscodine (6 Jan 1795 also at St Mary's Chapel, Walcot), so these people are definitely Glasscodines calling themselves Glass (or vice versa). At last I'm getting somewhere!

Need to put all this in somewhere so I don't lose it!
Robert Glass baptised 30 Aug 1761 Bath Widcombe St Thomas a Becket son of John and Sarah
John Glass was brought to church having been privately baptised - 28 Aug 1763 Bath Widcombe St Thomas a Becket son of John and Sarah <= is this my John?
== Need baptism for Ann Glass or Glasscodine somewhere in here ==
Mary Glass baptised 17 Oct 1768 Bath St Peter & St Paul, daughter of John and Mary
Robert Glass baptised 29 Dec 1789 Bath Walcot St Swithin age 5 years son of John and Mary

Mary Amsbury buried 18 Apr 1827 Walcot St Swithin age 60, abode Lampards Buildings.
Children of Isaac and Mary Amesbury all baptised St Swithin:
William 24 Mar 1796, Isaac 23 Feb 1797, John 24 Sep 1801, Elizabeth 29 Sep 1805, Richard 6 Sep 1807, Mary Anne 4 Sep 1810, Jane 3 Mar 1811, Margaret 10 Oct 1813, residence Lampard's Buildings, father's occupation mason.
This definitely fits with my Glasscodines.

[kiterunner]

Update - there is an entry for John Glass, tiler and plasterer, leasing a property in Ballance Street in 1771, so if he's my John then he's more likely to be born in 1747 than in 1759!

[Mary from Italy]

Originally Posted by kiterunner

Also my Henry Glasscodine (son of John) was a lath render, which I'm hoping is similar to plasterer?

Yes, I would think it's almost identical.

How nice to make such a breakthrough

[ElizabethHerts]

Great news that you are making progress, Kate.

[kiterunner]

Still not quite managed to fit them together! I wonder whether those lease and release documents would give me any further information that might help.

[Mary from Italy]

Unlikely, although there's always the chance that one of the other parties or witnesses might be useful.

[kiterunner]

I have at last found some likely baptisms for the family who were listed on that lease / release:

Robert Glass, son of John and Sarah, baptised 30 Aug 1761 Widcombe St Thomas a Becket
John Glass, son of John, baptised 28 Aug 1763 Widcombe St Thomas a Becket
Robert Glass, a child, buried 23 Feb 1766 Widcombe St Mark
Mary Glass, daughter of John and Mary, baptised 17 Oct 1768 St Peter & St Paul, Bath
Robert Glass, son of John and Mary, baptised 29 Dec 1789 Walcot St Swithin, age 5 years.

The leases and releases etc referring to "John Glass, tiler and plasterer" run from 1771 to 1795 and then the one listing "John Glass of Bath, tiler; Isaac Amesbury of Bath and Mary his wife (née Glass); Ann Llewellyn (née Glass) and Robert Glass of Bath" is dated 1812, so it now looks to me likely that the tiler and plasterer is John senior, and the tiler is John junior, and Mary, Ann and Robert are John junior's sisters and brother and listed in order of age. I haven't found a baptism for Ann yet but there must be some baptisms in between Mary and Robert, it's just there are so many possible churches. I also haven't found either of John senior's marriages (to Sarah and to Mary) or Sarah's burial. There is a John Glascadine buried at Walcot St Swithin 11 Jul 1798 who could be John senior (but I think not as I had this one down as a child and the child's parents have another John in 1806). The burial for Mary Amsbury 18 Apr 1827 Walcot St Swithin, age 60, abode Lampard's Buildings, fits with Mary Glass's baptism, and John junior being born about 1763 fits pretty well with his age at death too.

So, I now have to chop off the top few branches of my tree! I feel quite sad to have finally (more or less) proved my Granny's tree wrong. She must have spent ages tracing the wrong family in those pre-internet days. I would like to know whether John Glass senior was actually a Glasscodine but called himself Glass for decades, or if for some reason the family just decided to change their name from Glass to Glasscodine some time in the 1790's. (Since he had a son in 1761, he can't be the John on Granny's tree who was born in 1747 or 1749, so she didn't just miss out a generation.)

It is really weird for this branch of my tree to go from one of the rarest surnames around, easy to search for apart from having to go through all the variations, to such a common word that it is more or less useless to search for unless it is together with a first name (i.e. I have to search for the phrase "John Glass" as just Glass brings back nothing helpful!)

[ElizabethHerts]

It can be very hard to discard parts of a tree that have become old friends, Kate. I hope you are able to progress. It's infuriating when baptism s are spread over different parishes.

[kiterunner]

I'm just glad they were tilers and plasterers and renderers, and not labourers, Elizabeth, and that they did eventually manage to stay in the same place for a few decades. Otherwise I don't know whether I would ever have realised they started out as Glasses.

[ElizabethHerts]

Some surnames do seem to change over time, which makes compiling a tree very difficult. I have an ancestor who vacillates between Bond and Pond.