Episode Synopsis
Brian Blessed was born in Mexbrough, Yorkshire, in 1936, and now lives in Surrey with his wife. His father and his grandfather George William Blessed were both coal miners, working at Hickleton. His grandmother's name was Alice. His great-grandfather was George Blessed and his 2x-g-grandfather Jabez Blessed, who was born about 1817, the son of Barnabas Blessed and Elizabeth Atkinson who married in 1801 at St Pancras Chapel.
The Land Tax records show that "Barnaby" Blessed lived at Bull Inn Court, off the Strand, paying a yearly rent of £32. Bull Inn Court is still there, so Brian went and had a look.
He was shown baptism records of Barnabas and Elizabeth's children: Martha Atkinson in 1808, Barnabas Charles Atkinson in 1814. Charles was baptised at Portsea, Hampshire (now Portsmouth), where Jabez was also born, so Brian went down there to find out more. The church records showed that another child, Elizabeth jr was born in 1820, the baptism record showing that the family were paupers by then. Burial records showed that both Elizabeth sr and Barnabas sr died in 1822, Elizabeth aged 40 and Barnabas aged 41. Their place of residence was shown as Queen Street.
At Portsmouth History Centre, Brian was told that there was no record of the Blessed children in the local workhouse records, and that he should go back to London, to look at the records of the workhouse at St Martin in the Fields which was the parish for Bull Inn Court. At the City of Westminster Archives, Brian was shown the settlement examination records and the St Martins Workhouse Day Book, which showed that Charles age 8, Jabez 6, Martha 14 ("an Idiot"), and Elizabeth 22 months, arrived on the 11th November 1822, removed from Portsea. This was only 3 days after their father's death.
The burial register showed that Martha died on the 19th November, Jabez and Elizabeth were baptised on the 20th November, and Elizabeth was buried on the 3rd December. Workhouse records showed that Jabez was sent to the Infant Poorhouse at Highwood Hill in North London for three years while Charles stayed at St Martins Workhouse until he was apprenticed to a shoemaker at the age of 11. The records also showed that Jabez ran away while at church on the 29th July 1827 but returned to the workhouse on the 10th August. He was apprenticed on the 22nd August 1828 to David Davis a Master Mariner of Newcastle on Tyne (a coal transporter).
The 1851 census showed Jabez living at Calvin Chapel Yard, Brigg, Lincolnshire with wife Ellen and children Harriet, Elizabeth, William and Emma. In 1861 the family were still at Brigg, with more children: Charles, Anna, Alice, George, Jabez, and Ellen. The 1871 census shows that they had more children, making 13 altogether, all of whom survived to adulthood. Brian visited Calvin Chapel Yard and had a look at a house still standing there, currently being renovated.
Ellen died in 1875 and Brian was shown Jabez's second marriage certificate. He married a Sabina Johnson on the 1st Aug 1876, giving his address as 463 Cold Harbour Lane, Brixton, London. Sabina's residence was Winterton, Lincolnshire. The witnesses were B C Blessed and Mary Ann Blessed. The 1881 census shows the occupant of 463 Cold Harbour Lane as Barnabas C Blessed, a shoemaker, i.e. Jabez's brother Charles.
Brian went to look at Jabez's gravestone which shows that he died 20th June 1890 age 73, "of Winterton".
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