Isaac William Davey – born 30 December 1851

I have been pleased with the amount of progress in my research on Isaac William Davey. His timeline is filled with many events. Some sad, some curious, some rather romantic. The only thing missing is a photo of him.

1851 – On the 30th December Isaac William Davey is born in St. Helier (possibly 143 Breton Yard, Jersey – which I think no longer exists). His parents were Isaac William Davey b.1821 and Ann ‘Nancy’ Le Breton b.1827.

1852 – Four months later, Isaac is baptised in St. Helier, Jersey. His godparents were Isaac Davey Senior (his father) and Fanny Le Breton, aged 15 (his aunty/mother’s sister).

I wonder why Isaac was baptised so late after his birth? Nowadays, baptising your child four months after their birth doesn’t seem such a long time but in the 1800’s it was recommended that a baby be baptised very soon after the birth due to illness and high child death rates. I know that when my son was baptised he was almost 9 months old. This was due to the fact that we did a joint baptism ceremony with his cousin Anna. In an article by Stuart Basten from the Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure, he explains:

…in the early seventeenth-century, William Gouge wrote that ‘it is not meet for Christians to defer the baptizing of their children beyond eight days.

He goes on to say that:

However, both Gouge and the later seventeenth-century Prayer Books allow for a short period of rest for mother and child.

1861 – Aged 10, Isaac is living at 14 Lempriere Street, St. Helier, Jersey with his father Isaac – a ships carpenter, mother Ann and siblings William, Ann, Mary and Esther – all scholars (attending school).

1871 – Aged 20, Isaac is still living at 14 Lempriere Street ( once known as The Eagle Tavern). He is now a shipwright following in his father’s footsteps. His mother Ann is a Tavern Keeper. I wonder if she living upstairs and working downstairs in The Eagle Tavern? Isaac’s six siblings are also living at home with him: William – a Mason’s Labourer, Ann E. – Apprentice Tailoress, Mary, Esther, Cecelia, Matilda and Selina.

You can read more about shipwrights in a previous post here: Shipwrights

1876 – At the age of 26 Isaac marries Ellenora Goudge. Tony, a family historian and contact of mine gave me the following romantic story;

The marriage date was first worked out from 1911 census. Then on a visit to the Jersey archives one year I found the following information from his marriage record book ALL SAINTS C/E MARRIAGE INDEX SEPT 1872-JUN 1907:

NO.22    January 4th 1876

Name: Isaac William Davey

Age: 24

Marital status: Bachelor

Occupation: Shipwright

Place of residence at time of marriage: St. Helier

Place of birth: St. Helier

Father: Isaac William Davey               Rank: Shipwright

***

Name: Ellen Goudge

Age: 21

Marital Status: Spinster

P.O.R at time of marriage: St. Helier

P.O.B: Grouville

Father: Henry Goudge                Rank: Mariner

En presence de: A. H. Moon & Mary Frances Davey (Mary is Isaac’s sister and Mr Moon later becomes Frances’s husband)

1877 – On the 1st of January Isaac and Ellenora become parents to son Isaac Davey.

1879 – On the 20th February Isaac and Ellenora give birth to James Davey.

1881 – Isaac is still living at 14 Lempriere Street, St. Helier, Jersey. this residence must be feeling quite cramped by now as Isaac is living here with his parents, 5 siblings, his wife and sons Isaac and James. That’s 11 people!

(Note: the mother Ellenora’s birth place on the 1881 census says St. Martin, not Grouville.) It is here that Isaac and Ellenora’s third child Elenora was born.

1885 – Isaac and Ellenora become parents to my great grandfather George Perchard Davey born at 14 Lempriere Street, St. Helier, Jersey.

1888 – On 15th August, Isaac and Ellenora have another daughter, Eva Louisa Davey. Eva was baptised within a month. maybe they knew she was not going to survive. Sadly, Eva died of convulsions 5 months later in the following January. During this period Isaac is working as a carpenter.

1891 – Isaac, aged 39 and Ellenora, aged 36, become parents to another son, William Davey, born at 14 Lempriere Street, St. Helier, Jersey. Isaac is now recorded as a ‘shipwright.’ His son Isaac is apprentice to a plasterer and his son James is an errand boy. Isaac’s parents and one sister are also still living at this address.

1893 – On the 12th may, Isaac and Ellenora have another daughter Violet May Davey.

1899 – The Channel Islands sees one of it’s worst shipwrecks in history. The sinking of the South Western Steamer, The Stella. You can read more about the disaster here in a previous post: The Stella. 86 passengers and 19 crew died. One of the crew was a W. Davey. As of yet I have been unable to confirm a link with my Davey tree. But what I do know is that family relations between Isaac and his father Isaac Senior deteriorate around this time. So much so that in Isaac seniors Will & Testament in October 1899, Isaac Snr states:

“…it is also my wish that my body shall not bee seen or touched by my eldest son Isaac William Davey after my death.-“

 These are quite dramatic and powerful words and one can only wonder at what on earth Isaac Jnr said or did to enrage the anger of his father so much. Did Isaac say something bad about W. Davey’s seamanship on the Stella?

Did Isaac reconcile with his father before he died 6 months later in July 1900?

1901 – Aged 50, Isaac is living at 15 Union Street with his wife Ellenora, son George P. Davey, a plasterer and daughter Violet M. Davey.

1911 – Aged 60, this years census states that Isaac is a ship-fitter, living with his wife Ellenora at 21 Charles Street, St. Helier, Jersey. The census also records that of the 8 children Isaac and ellenora have had, only 4 are alive in 1911. Also living at this address is Ellenora’s mother, Eleonore Hope Goudge (nee Perchard) a widow aged 81 along with grandson John Philip Bree, aged 25, single and a Baker.

Where Isaac William Davey died or was buried is still unknown to me, although I do know that his wife Ellenora is curiously in the same grave as Isaac’s father. Maybe Ellenora reconciled with her father-in-law at some point. Maybe she took sides? Whatever happened Isaac’s love for his wife was enduring as we can see from the photo image above where Isaac was calling for Ellenora on his deathbed.

I hope you have found this interesting, maybe have even discovered something new. And if there is anything new you can tell me or contribute to Isaac’s life I would to hear from you.

Thanks for stopping by!

Ramona

Some more information on the history of baptisms:

When were babies baptised? Some Welsh evidence

Birth baptism intervals for family historians