James and Jane/Jenifer PHILLIPS of St. Blazey, Cornwall 1815-1819

Research note by Wesley Johnston (St. Blazey Families Project) - begun 16 Feb 2011, Updated 2 Aug 2012, 14 Aug 2014, 30 Mar 2023
https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/pt/EditStory.aspx?tid=20919668&pid=1120989527&oid=c3401049-296b-4d8a-86dd-b7c3d5f75b0f&_phsrc=zpo267

2023 Revised Conclusion

James and Jenifer (who apparently was also called Jane, which was common at that time for women named Jenifer) PHILLIPS had four children baptized at St. Blazey, Cornwall from 1815 to 1819. They moved to Canada about 1833.

I now conclude that neither the 1802 James Phillips and Jenefer Tucker married at Truro nor the 1809 James Phillips and Jane Williams married at St. Agnes were this couple, since the children's births in both of those marriages conflict with those of the St. Blazey/Canada couple. So, I am now carrying Jane/Jenefer with no surname and showing their children only as those born at St. Blazey with the exception of eldest son John whose baptism I have not found.

Overview

1815 Mar 26 - Ann, born 12 May 1812 - daughter of James and Jane, abode Alms House

1815 Mar 26 - Jane - daughter of James and Jane, abode Alms House

1817 Jul 5 - William - son of James and Jennifer, abode Turnpike Gate

1819 Oct 24 - Joseph - son of James and Jenifer, abode Turnpike Gate

Based on my original 2011 research, I had conjectured that they were the James PHILLIPS and Jenifer WILLIAMS who married 6 Feb 1809 at St. Agnes, with witnesses John RICHARD and Richard PHILLIPS. (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-11610-164290-38 and banns at https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-11610-167633-97)

However, there was another couple, James PHILLIPS and Jenerfer TUCKER, who married 17 Apr 1802 at Truro - St. Mary's, with witnesses Matthew ELIOT and M (or W) BARRETT. This is the only other James-Jenifer/Jane marriage for which there would have been children in the 1810's. (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11607-70357-14 and banns at https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11607-69368-76)

In the Cornwall Family History Society research database, I found no children of such a couple at Truro. They may be the parents of a son William baptized 17 Apr 1803 at St. Clement (mother as Jane - https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11083-29129-29?cc=1769414&wc=MMVH-V68:n1578825581) and a daughter Elizabeth baptized 19 Oct 1806 at Bodmin (mother as Jenepher - https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-12445-5286-88?cc=1769414&wc=MMVH-NY1:n1888631017). Those are the only two James-Jenifer/Jane baptisms outside of St. Agnes and the Isles of Scilly in the 1800-1810 decade. (The Isles of Scilly couple married 3 Mar 1789 and thus were much older, as well as being isolated on the islands.)

But at St. Agnes there were baptisms from 1810 until 1832. All of those are shown with the mother as Jane, except for the 1810 baptism of Mary to James & Jenifer. One of these St. Agnes James-Jenifer/Jane baptisms was in 1816, which was during the period when the St. Blazey James-Jenifer/Jane were baptizing their children at St. Blazey. So there seem to have been two couples.

There is yet another rub. On 30 Sep 1828, the 11-week-old Jane Phillips, abode Turnpike Gate but parents not yet determined, was buried at St. Blazey, with no baptism found for her anywhere. So if the couple had come from St. Agnes to St. Blazey and then returned to St. Agnes by 1822, the Jane buried at St. Blazey was almost certainly not their child. Thus there seems to have been a St. Agnes James/Jenifer-Jane and a separate James/Jenifer-Jane who were in St. Blazey by 1815 and stayed there.

1851 Census of St. Agnes

http://search.ancestry.com/Browse/view.aspx?dbid=8860&path=Cornwall.St+Agnes.ALL.2f.5

The 1851 census of the village of Mount Hawke in the parish of St. Agnes shows James PHILLIPS (64, Copper Miner) and Jane (65), with children William (26, Copper Miner), Richard (22, Copper Miner), and Jane (19, Copper Miner) - all born at St. Agnes.

The second next family appears to be their son James PHILLIPS (36, Copper Miner) and wife Catherine (37) and their children James (15, Copper Miner), John (13, Copper Miner), Amelia (11), and Catherine (4) - all born at St. Agnes.

The next family, after the younger James, is that of the widow Philippa PHILLIPS (67), who is of the right age so that her deceased husband may have been the brother of James. With her are daughters Phillipa (31, Dress Maker), Harriet (26, Dress Maker) and Jane (24, Copper Miner).

The James and Jane in this family are almost certainly those of the 1809 St. Agnes marriage and not the 1802 Truro marriage. However, none of the children listed include the four baptized at St. Blazey, so that nothing can be established about them. So this further supports the St. Agnes couple as NOT being the couple who came to St. Blazey, thus supporting Jenifer TUCKER and not Jenifer WILLIAMS as the St. Blazey mother.

1841 Census of St. Agnes

Keep in mind that in this census ages were rounded to the nearest 5 years and does not show relationships.

http://search.ancestry.com/Browse/view.aspx?dbid=8978&path=Cornwall.St+Agnes.St+Agnes.11.7

The 1841 census of Trenithick in St. Agnes shows James PHILLIPS (50, Copper Miner) and Jane (50) and their apparent children John (25, Copper Miner), Philip (20, Copper Miner), Thomas (15, Blacksmith), Elizabeth (15), William (14, Copper Miner), Richard (12, Copper Miner), and Jane (8) - all born in Cornwall. This is clearly the same family as in the 1851 census and thus also the same couple who married in 1809 at St. Agnes.

http://search.ancestry.com/Browse/view.aspx?dbid=8978&path=Cornwall.St+Agnes.St+Agnes.11.2

Five pages prior, in the village of Mount Hawke, was the family of Richard PHILLIPS (55, Copper Miner) and wife Philippia (55), with daughters Phillipia (20, Dress Maker), Harriet (15, School Mistress) and Jane (14, Copper Miner). This is clearly the family of the widow Philippa in the 1851 census. Thus it seems likely that James and Richard PHILLIPS were brothers and that the Richard PHILLIPS who witnessed the 1809 St. Agnes marriage of James PHILLIPS and Jenifer WILLIAMS was this same Richard.

So what are the implications of this for the four St. Blazey baptisms of James and Jane/Jenifer PHILLIPS? The fact that sons John and Philip appear with the family in the 1841 census but not the 1817 William or the 1819 Joseph, both baptized at St. Blazey, could mean that these two sons had died. Or it could mean that their parents were a different James and Jane/Jenifer PHILLIPS than the ones in the 1841 and 1851 St. Agnes censuses. The family may have emigrated, since they do not appear in either the 1841 nor 1851 census.

Conclusion / Conjecture

Weighing all the evidence, I am now (2 Aug 2012) concluding that my original conjecture was wrong and that the St. Blazey couple were the couple married 1802 at Truro - St. Mary's and thus that Jenifer was Jenifer TUCKER.

[I had not yet revised my tree to reflect this changed conclusion, due to other priorities. But as of 14 Aug 2014, I am altering my tree to reflect this conclusion.]

This conjecture certainly needs additional research to validate or refute it. But from the parish registers that I have access to at this time, there is insufficient information to validate or refute it. So additional records are needed.

I have also had word that another researcher (http://boards.ancestry.com/localities.northam.canada.ontario.durham/2546.1.1/mb.ashx) has also concluded that the couple were the Truro couple and that they emigrated to the Columbus, Ontario area in 1834, living on Lot 4 Concession 6 of Whitby Township before moving to Mariposa Township in Victoria County, with James and Jenifer apparently dieing before 1861.