suey
4th November 2011, 10:51 PM
I am trying to trace the family of Hermon (or Herman) Soley/Sooley who married Joseph Blandford on 7th April 1738 at St Edmund The King and Martyr, Lombard Street/Gracechurch Street in the City of London by licence. I do not know dates of birth for either of them and do not know their parents' names - they are not on the marriage record. What is shown is that he was a bachelor of the parish of St Mary Woolnoth (sometimes called, as in this record, St Mary Woolchurch), at the other end of Lombard Street and she was a spinster of the parish of St Peter upon Cornhill, which is between Gracechurch Street and Cornhill. I do not know why they chose to marry at St Edmund, unless it was just a convenient church between their two parishes(?)
Joseph and Hermon had 6 children (that I know of) between 1745 and 1753. Their first child, named Thomas Sooley Blandford, appears to have died before the age of two (although I have found no record yet), as their next child was also named Thomas Sooley Blandford born in 1747. Their other children were Elizabeth (1748), Joseph (1749) and then two daughters named Beata, both of whom died in infancy or early childhood.
All the children, apart from the last, were baptised at St Mary Woolnoth and some of their baptisms record the family living at Little Lombard Street, which no longer exists. Their last daughter Beata was baptised and buried in the South West vault of St Swithin London Wall, in Cannon Street, which may indicate that the family moved - albeit not very far - around that time (1753). Joseph Sr. was also buried in the same place, two years after Beata in 1757 and Hermon was also buried here in 1763.
Thomas Sooley Blandford married Rachel Drummond in 1771 at St Botolph Bishopsgate - again, not very far from where he grew up. Both Thomas and Rachel signed their marriage record with a very fair hand. Their children were Beata, Susanna, Joseph and Thomas.
I came across this website quite by chance when researching Lombard Street/Cannon Street areas in 1700s and was amazed to find Tony Storey's "A Walk in the City" which referred to people with similar surnames. I would love any information about this family, their parentage/ancestors or any information about their occupations which might help me to connect them to my tree. I would particularly like to know the origin of Hermon's unusual name. Is it a variant of Hermion(e) or was she named for a male relative? Any ideas gratefully received :)
Best wishes
Susan
Joseph and Hermon had 6 children (that I know of) between 1745 and 1753. Their first child, named Thomas Sooley Blandford, appears to have died before the age of two (although I have found no record yet), as their next child was also named Thomas Sooley Blandford born in 1747. Their other children were Elizabeth (1748), Joseph (1749) and then two daughters named Beata, both of whom died in infancy or early childhood.
All the children, apart from the last, were baptised at St Mary Woolnoth and some of their baptisms record the family living at Little Lombard Street, which no longer exists. Their last daughter Beata was baptised and buried in the South West vault of St Swithin London Wall, in Cannon Street, which may indicate that the family moved - albeit not very far - around that time (1753). Joseph Sr. was also buried in the same place, two years after Beata in 1757 and Hermon was also buried here in 1763.
Thomas Sooley Blandford married Rachel Drummond in 1771 at St Botolph Bishopsgate - again, not very far from where he grew up. Both Thomas and Rachel signed their marriage record with a very fair hand. Their children were Beata, Susanna, Joseph and Thomas.
I came across this website quite by chance when researching Lombard Street/Cannon Street areas in 1700s and was amazed to find Tony Storey's "A Walk in the City" which referred to people with similar surnames. I would love any information about this family, their parentage/ancestors or any information about their occupations which might help me to connect them to my tree. I would particularly like to know the origin of Hermon's unusual name. Is it a variant of Hermion(e) or was she named for a male relative? Any ideas gratefully received :)
Best wishes
Susan