Sancton William Wood Bell

Elizabeth we cross posted .. what would that mean to any property of Thomas Bells?
So we have the right Thomas Bell .. citing Anna Maria ..

[ElizabethHerts]

Julie, she would apply to the court for administration of his estate. We can see that Ann Maria was appointed administrator.

In a book I have it say that according to the Statute of Distrubutions (1670) a widow was entitled to one-third of her husband's estate. The reuidue was divided equally between the children. There is a later act now (1925).

No wonder Anna Maria leaves a 9 page will. When Thomas died she had 12 children aged between 22 and 5. Her will in particular is concerned about 16 year old Michael.
I googled where Thomas died and it is very famous for it's cricket ground. I wonder if the headstone that is mentioned in the Hackney Mercury is still in existence and legible.
I found by googling - in the Royal Military Chronicle - 1st Regt of Foot Ensign Thomas Bell to be Lieutenant, by purchase, vice Lane, who retired.
Also found in the Gentleman's Magazine Obit from 1857 Aug 16 At Alexandria, Michael Bell esq., youngest son of the late Thomas Bell esq., of Hackney, and for some years Engineer-in-Chief in the service of His Highness Said Pasha.
.

Found an interesting snippet googling .. may be no connection but ..
OBITUARY OF REMARKABLE PERFONS with Biographical Anecdotes: ..
1796 - Aged 75, after a few hours illness, Mr. Thomas Bell, of Rothbury, in Northumberland, a most respectable tradesman, universally esteemed for his integrity.
Seems to fit the mould.. Julie

[Shona]

This rootsweb posting has lots of info about the Russell family.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb....ll/d1.htm#John

[Shona]

Trying to pull together some threads on this intruiging family...

We have established that Santon Bell's grandmother, Anna Maria Russell (born 1775), had a sister named Harriot/Harriet Elizabeth Russell. Harriet married John Wood and they named one of their sons Sancton Wood (born 1816).

Santon Wood appears on the London electoral registers, as follows:
- 1841, 1842 and 1843, Hackney Terrace
- 1849, Downham Road
- 1873 and 1875, Bessborough Street
- 1885, Putney

Sancton Wood was an architect and surveyor and was architect to various railway companies in England and Ireland. Wood was commissioned in 1846 by the Great Southern and Western Railway Company in Ireland to design Heuston Station (formerly Kingsbridge Station). Wood also designed the administration block at the Inchicore Railway Works (c.1846). Other stations designed by him include Portlaoise (c.1851), Thurles and Kilkenny (1847). Wood was a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, a Fellow of the Institute of Architects of Ireland and an Associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers.

Sancton Wood 'architect and surveyor of Putney Hill' was named as a 'nephew and executor' in the will of Philip Sancton. Philip Sancton died in Newbury, Berks, in 1886. Philip Sancton left and estate worth £108,536.
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/iexec?h...c=&pid=2268743

Some info on Philip Sancton.

1851 census
At the residence of Richard Tull on the Isle of Wight, 44, unmarried. Proprietor of railway shares, steam navigation shares and bonds. Born London.
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/iexec?h...c=&pid=2268743

1854
Philip Sancton, gentleman, of St James, bachelor, and Mary Vaughan, of St Pancras, spinster, marry in St Pancras. His father is named as John Sancton (deceased) and her father is recorded as George Vaughan. Witnesses are Mary Vaughan and Richard Tull.

1861
Living at Cumberland Terrace with wife Mary.
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/iexec?h...c=&pid=8536566

NOTE: A three-bed flat in Cumberland Terrace sells for several million quid these days. I used to cycle alongside Regents Park on the way to work and the terrace is a drippingly gorgeous neo-classical pile. Most of the houses have been divided into flats, but some remain private houses.

1881
Age 74. Recorded as the uncle of head of household, Albert Tull, 45, magistrate, in Hove. Birthplace is St Lawrence Jewry.
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/iexec?h...=&pid=22046422

The men named Sancton in this family tree are meant to have been named after Philip Sancton.

Philip's nephew, Sancton Wood, of 11 Putney Hill, died on 18 April 1886 and left £15,209 in his will. Sancton Wood has a son named Herbert Santon Wood who died in 1883 and left £874.

Albert Tull, with whom Philip Sancton was living in 1881, died in Newbury in 1954. He left £187.386 in his will. His full name? Albert Sancton Blyth Tull.

I have found a Sarah Sancton, who married Richard Tull in 1834 at St Mary's Hornsey. She was 'of this parish' and he was from Thatcham, Berkshire. One of the witnesses was Philip Sancton.
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/iexec?h...c=&pid=2507006

Sarah Sancton was baptised on 4 July 1819 at St Lawrence Jewry. Daughter of John Sancton, merchant, and Hannah. A marginal note says that she was born on 6 September 1808. At the bottom of the previous page of the register is the baptism of Philip Sancton. The marginal note has his date of birth as 9 December 1806.
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/iexec?h...rc=&pid=581371

John Sancton, the father of both Sarah Sancton and Philip Sancton married Hannah Wood, in Hackney St John, 1804. The curate named Paroissien, who we came across earlier, is the clergyman.
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/iexec?h...c=&pid=2507006

Here is a Google book snippet which mentions the death of Hannah Sancton - can't see a date:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=h...ed=0CEAQ6AEwAw

To sum up - Harriet Elizabeth Russell married a John Wood in 1795. The witnesses to this marriage were John Russell and John Sancton.

Hannah Wood married John Sancton in 1804. Son Philip Sancton was born 1806. Daughter Sarah Sancton was born 1808.

Harriet (nee Russell) and John Wood had a son in 1814 and named him Sancton Wood.

So I reckon the use of Sancton as a first name comes from John Sancton.

What I can't yet work out is whether we have two John Woods here - a father and son.

[Shona]

Oh - another thing. I saw a post on Roots Chat which said that there was a Thomas Bell living at Well Street in 1821. He was a coal merchant and the household consisted of nine males and seven females. Can't find the link now, though.

[kiterunner]

Originally Posted by Shona

Oh - another thing. I saw a post on Roots Chat which said that there was a Thomas Bell living at Well Street in 1821. He was a coal merchant and the household consisted of nine mails and seven females. Can't find the link now, though.

It's this one, Shona:
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=41728.0

Ladies I say once again you are marvelous .. we can't get our head around how you have brought this all together .. It is better than ... Who do you think you are? ..

What you have established absolutely is that Thomas Bell coal merchant married to Anna Maria Russell with 9 sons and 3 daughters is also Lieutenant Thomas Bell of Honorable Artillery Co. The later is confusing to me though.

Is it possible that this was Militia? Would there be records of his enlistment?

I have used a Military Researcher to find records of my OH's ancestor, tracking him through Europe, Barbados and Aus. Would that be the way to go from here?

Shona thank you very much for tracking the Sancton Wood connection. It is certainly a very interesting line.

I have looked at that Russell tree a number of times. What I find frustrating with it is, that it gives the extract of the marriage of John Russell and says he is of St Dunstan's West and that Elizabeth Lloyd Sandiford is of the parish ... but which parish? The entry doesn't identify where the marriage took place .. or does it?