John Huskisson

John Huskisson is the earliest known ancestor in our Huskisson family. He died aged 39 years in 1820 giving his birth date sometime between 1780-1781.

Sources give his occupation as 'Spur Maker' and 'Bridle Bit Maker'.

 

JOHN or JAMES HUSKISSON?
The certificate for the first marriage of John's son, Henry, gives the father's name as 'James Huskisson'. All other sources give his Christian name as 'John'. It may have been due to human error, or indicate that he was known by both names. No Christening record has been found to confirm his full name and we must therefore presume that his name could have been any of the following:

- John Huskisson
- John James Huskisson
- James John Huskisson 

 

John's Marriage

The Christening records for both of his sons James Thomas (born abt. 1814) and Henry (born 1817) show the parents to be John & Mary Huskisson. The only source that may identify Mary's maiden name is a marriage record dated September 21, 1818 for a John Huskisson and Mary Grenneer. The marriage took place at St Martin's in the Fields, Westminster.

I'd initially discarded it due to the late date of 1818 which was more than three years after the birth of 'our' John & Mary's first child, James Thomas Huskisson.

If the 1818 marriage was 'our' John's, he'd
have been about 34 years old at the time of James' birth. For the early 19th century, this would seem to be a little advanced in age for a man fathering his first child. So it's possible that he'd either been married before, or was already married and Mary was his mistress.

Reasons to be persuaded that the marriage of 1818 was that of 'our' John Huskisson and Mary include the rarity of the Huskisson name, combined with our search specifically for a 'John & Mary' and the unlikelihood of another marriage of a John & Mary Huskisson being  in 'our' John & Mary's residential locality of Soho. (St Martin's in the Fields is very close.)

However, the most compelling evidence we have that John Huskisson & Mary Grenneer were 'our' John & Mary is the name of the witnesses on the marriage record. Notably Samuel Delofe. The handwriting looks like 'Delafoe' for Samuel, and the other witness was a Harriet Delofe (or Delaie?). The intended spelling for both must surely have been 'Delofe', which I believe can be corroborated by the notes on Samuel Delofe below.

Download pdf file of original document


Marriage registration of John Huskisson & Mary Grenneer


 

Samuel Delofe

My own father, Wilfred Huskisson owned two large Bible Commentary books. They'd evidently been given to him along with other memorabilia by his Grandmother, Annie Huskisson (nee Rogers) shortly before she died in the late 1930s.
These were rather typical 19th century religious books commonly found in second-hand book shops for a few pounds. The original owner had written his own family history on a blank page inside one of the covers, but he was not a Huskisson. I'm sure Dad, like myself, believed them to have been no more significant than for the fact that his grandma had once owned them. He gave them to me back in the 1980s at a time when I went through a short phase of collecting different translations of the Bible. Long after this, and after my father's death, I disposed of the books, but not before I'd removed the page that contained the handwritten family history by the original owner. His name was Samuel Delofe.

Samuel gives dates of his marriage to a Mary Bellingham and the births of his two sons, Samuel and Henry. He can be found in the 1841 census living in St Anne's, Westminster and his occupation is shown to be a 'bit maker' (that is, a bridle bit maker).

I have yet to discover exactly how Samuel Delofe fits into our family, but for his family Bible to have been kept within our Huskisson family there seems little doubt that his name on the marriage registration of John Huskisson and Mary Grenneer is significant.

Download pdf file of original document


Family history page from Samuel Delofe's family Bible


Mary Grenneer

I have searched various family history web sites, the IGI, the FreeBMD civil registrations and Census indexes, but I have not been able to find a record of anybody other than Mary with the surname of 'Grenneer'. There is no mistaking the original handwriting. It is neat and not difficult to read. It clearly spells GRENNEER. 

John's son, Henry, spent nine years as an apprentice to Alfred Greener learning his father's occupation of 'Spur Making' (& presumably the related bridle-bit making). Henry's second wife was Jemima who'd previously been married to a George Greener. Many years later, Henry's Granddaughter, Annie Laurie Grace Huskisson, married Arthur Thomas Greener. He was the great grandson of George Greener.

The name 'Greener' has been very much associated with our Huskisson history and for that reason I think it possible that Mary Grenneer was actually Mary Greener. But if this is so, why would the name be changed to 'Grenneer' for the marriage to John Huskisson?

Several possibilities exist:

1) The Greener family may have been quite well known in Soho and without the blessing of her parents, Mary married John and disguised her name.

2) The Curate spelled the name wrongly, or may even have suffered with dyslexia! (unlikely)

3) Her name really was 'Grenneer' and she was unrelated to the Greener family.

The research continues

 

Addresses

According to the christening record of John's son, James Thomas Huskisson (January 30, 1815) the family were living at 12 Little St. Martin's Lane, Westminster.

According to the christening record of John's son, Henry Huskisson (July 20, 1817) the family were living at 23 Porter Street, St Anne, Westminster.

 

John's Death

John died in 1820 aged 39 years. He was buried at St Anne's, Soho on September 28, 1820.

Download pdf file of original document


Burial record for John Huskisson


Soho Square in 1816. John Huskisson would have known this place well. He was living at 23 Porter Street, St. Anne's, Soho when his son, Henry was born.