As I suggested in my last post, my theory that my 4 x great grandfather James Blanch was the son of Thomas and Mary Blanch of Tewkesbury, still leaves a number of unanswered questions. One of them is why James moved from Soho to Holborn, after his second marriage to Sophia Atkins, and what connection if any did he have with the various Blanch families living in that area?
One possibility is that other members of the Gloucestershire Blanch family had also moved to London, and that some of them were living in the Holborn area. Some time ago, I came across records for the family of Thomas and Sarah Blanch, who lived in Holborn at around the same as James and Sophia, but I was unable to establish a link between the two families.
Now my eagle-eyed distant relation Jan Addison has reminded me that this Thomas Blanch is described in one record as a heel maker, the same occupation as that followed by James Blanch, as well as by the person I now believe to have been his father, Thomas Blanch of Tewkesbury.
In November 1791, heel maker Thomas Blanch and his wife Sarah had a daughter, Louisa, christened at the church of St Giles, Cripplegate. However, by the time their daughter Harriet was baptised in October 1795, they were living in Fetter Lane, Holborn (assuming that this is the same Thomas and Sarah Blanch, of course). Below is a complete list of the addresses we have for Thomas and Sarah, marked in bold, with the known addresses for James and Sophia Blanch marked in italics:
Nov 1791 St Giles Cripplegate Baptism of daughter Louisa
Mar 1792 St Anne, Westminster Marriage of James and Sophia
Aug 1794 St George, Southwark Baptism of daughter Mary Ann
Oct 1795 Fetter Lane, Holborn Baptism of daughter Harriet
Dec 1797 Saffron Hill, Holborn Baptism of son Thomas
1799 St Anne, Soho Baptism of daughter Sophia Sarah
May 1807 Saffron Hill, Holborn Baptism of son Thomas
Aug 1800 St Andrew, Holborn Death of daughter Sophia Sarah
Aug 1802 Saffron Hill, Holborn Baptism of son John
Apr 1804 York Street, Holborn Baptism of son William Henry
Dec 1807 York Street, Holborn Baptism of son Joseph
May 1810 York Street, Holborn Baptism of son David
May 1812 Saffron Hill, Holborn Baptism of daughter Sarah Ann Catherine
This means that Thomas and Sarah Blanch were in Holborn before James and Sophia. In 1791, they were in the neighbouring parish of St Giles, when James Blanch was still living in Soho. Thomas and Sarah had moved to Holborn by 1795 at the latest, whereas James and Sophia Blanch were in Saffron Hill, Holborn by 1797 at the latest, and remained there until about 1804, when they moved to nearby York Street. Thomas and Sarah were definitely in Saffron Hill between 1807 and 1812.
Section of Horwood's 1792 map of London, with Saffron Hill and York Street visible at lower right
If we regard York Street as part of the Saffron Hill area, then the two Blanch families were close neighbours, certainly between 1807 and 1810, and probably for longer. It’s even possible that they lived in the same house for some of this time.
So who was this Thomas Blanch? The most obvious answer would be that he was the brother of James Blanch, the same person who worked as a heel maker in Bristol and married Sarah Millard in 1770. However, Matthews’ Directory places him in Bristol between 1785 and 1799: that is, if I’m right in thinking that the person listed in the directory was James’ brother. What’s more, we know that Sarah, wife of Thomas Blanch of Bristol, heel maker, died in that city in 1779.
Alternatively, perhaps Thomas Blanch of Bristol married again, and his second wife was also named Sarah? Or it could be that he was related to James Blanch in some other way. As always, more research is needed: but the fact that James and Thomas shared an occupation and lived in the same streets in Holborn at around the same time suggests some kind of family connection between the two men.
The records for Thomas and Sarah Blanch of Holborn come to a halt after the christening of their daughter Sarah Ann Catherine in 1812 (she was actually born in 1803). However, we know that Thomas Blanch was still alive in 1825, when he witnessed Sarah’s marriage to Scottish-born tailor James Thomas Matthews at the church of St Luke, Finsbury. James and Sarah Matthews disappear from the records until 1871, when they re-surface in Deptford with three grandchildren: Fanny and James Hamilton, born in Sydney and San Francisco respectively, and Henry Munford, born in Deptford.
Hello – Just stumbled upon your site. I recently found out that the father of my GGG GM, Rachel Blanche, was James Blanch. He was born 1764 Guernsey, Channel Island (perhaps Tensbury) and was buried in 1840 At St, Dunstan’s, at 86. He married a Sarah and some believe is wasa a Sarah Hayman. There 2nd son was names after James and I was named after my GG GF, that James. :). Anyway, I wonder if there are enough similarities that there may be a connection.
This is preliminary information and I am trying to verify it.
Best
Jim W. USA
Hi Jim
Thanks for your comment. I’m not sure if there’s a connection between your James Blanch and mine: I haven’t come across any Guernsey-born ancestors yet! My Blanch family came from Bristol and Gloucestershire, then moved to London. When you say that ‘your’ James was buried at St Dunstan’s – do you mean Stepney? and are you sure it’s the same James (and not ‘mine’)?
Best wishes
Martin
Jim
I’ve seen on rootsweb info that your James had to change his name to Hayman in order to marry Sarah as her father would not agree to the marriage unless he did so. So… for several years they were known as Haymans and then changed back to Blanche later. Half of the children were baptised as Hayman and the later children as Blanche. Sarah Hayman was from Guernsey as was her father John who lived in London but retired to Guernsey. I googled ‘Blanche family Guernsey’ to find this info. My grandfather was John Joseph Blanch (possibly Blanche originally) from Guernsey. 1843 – died 1909 in New Zealand. We don’t know who his family was. Anecdotal info says he was brought up by two maiden aunts or sisters and that’s all we know.
I too have been on the trail of the James Blanch who married Sara Hayman in 1773 in St pewter Port, Guernsey, and concluded that the James Blanch (Exciseman) who died at 21 King St, St Anne’s, Westminster on 18 December 1840, buried at St Dunstan & All Saints, Stepney on 27 December 1840 is not “ours”.
I also suspect that the Sarah Blanch who died aged 75 at Glass Court, Clerkenwell in September 1833, buried at St James Clerkenwell 18 September 1833 (i.e. born ~ 1758) is not ours either. I suspect this Sarah was the wife or mother of a Thomas Blanch, bedstead maker. See http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?foo=bar&path=sessionsPapers/18311020.xml&div=t18311020-63
This may be the Thomas and Sarah Blanch you are looking for?
Thank you for your comment, Richard. I haven’t looked at the Blanch family records for a long time, so it will take me a while to process this information. My fellow researcher and distant relative Robin Blanch is fairly convinced that ‘our’ James Blanch, born in Tewkesbury, is the person buried at Stepney in 1840.