Notes:

About MELMER, George
George Melmer was born in Jersey according to 1851 census, entry registered St Helier 1802 to parents George & Fanny, nee Bott.

According to the entry in the 1841 census George was aged 35 with his wife and 5 of his children. It should be noted that his wife Matilda was enumerated in the name of Martha (enumerator`s error?). I have no evidence of George being married to a Martha! The family were resident at Fairview Street, St Mary`s Cheltenham, and George was described as a confectioner. His eldest son, George, was aged 15 an apprentice, the other children were scholars which included Frances 10, Martha 8, William 6 & Henry 4. Daughter Matilda was elsewhere on the night of the 1841 census as was daughter Elizabeth (born circa 1828).

This family were present at 33 St Paul`s Street North, Cheltenham, in 1851, where George and Matilda were resident with their family. George was enumerated as a 48 year old pastry cook, wife Matilda was aged 50. Daughter Elizabeth Melmer was present in 1851 along with other siblings and Matilda Cooley, mother in law, aged 76, widowed annuitant born Bridgenorth, Shropshire.

Death certificate on file. He died an early death in 1854 aged 52 in Cheltenham of Dropsey, General Anasarca & Debility. His death was registered by son William, in attendance at 35 St Pauls St North.

I do not know where George Melmer is buried. I checked the registers at Bouncers Lane cemetery in Cheltenham, but burials did not begin there until 1864. Cheltenham Cemetery opened with its first burial in 1864, charmingly recorded in the Register of Burials as "The First Commencement" taking place on the 19 November of that year.

NOTE 1./ 1841 Cheltenham, Gloucester, England census,

Name Estimated Birth Year Birthplace Civil Parish County/Island
George Melmer abt 1806 Cheltenham Gloucestershire
Martha Melmer abt 1806 Cheltenham Gloucestershire
George Melmer abt 1826 Cheltenham Gloucestershire
Frances Melmer abt 1831 Cheltenham Gloucestershire
Martha Melmer abt 1833 Gloucestershire, England Cheltenham Gloucestershire
Wm Melmer abt 1835 Gloucestershire, England Cheltenham Gloucestershire
Henry Melmer abt 1837 Gloucestershire, England Cheltenham Gloucestershire

NOTE 2./ 1851 Cheltenham, Gloucester, England census,

Name Estimated Birth Year Birthplace Relationship Civil Parish County/Island
George Melmer abt 1803 Isle of Wight, Jersey, Channel Islands Head Cheltenham Gloucestershire
Matilda Melmer abt 1801 Middlesex, England Wife Cheltenham Gloucestershire
Elizabeth Melmer abt 1828 Leicestershire, England Daughter Cheltenham Gloucestershire
Frances Melmer abt 1830 Leicestershire, England Daughter Cheltenham Gloucestershire
Martha Melmer abt 1833 Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England Dau Cheltenham Gloucestershire
William Melmer abt 1835 Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England Son Cheltenham Gloucestershire
Henry Melmer abt 1838 Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England Son Cheltenham Gloucestershire
Matilda Cooley abt 1775 Bridgenorth, Shropshire, Eng Mother-in-law Cheltenham Gloucestershire

NOTE 3./ e-mail from Carol Cooper ([email protected]) on 8-19-2007

The 1841 census for Fairview Street, Cheltenham, shows the Melmers (George Snr & Martha (sic.) - should read Matilda) with their family of children at that time, namely George 15 (ages were rounded in 1841) and Frances 10 (both born out of county) with Martha 8, William 6 and Henry 4, all born within county of Gloucestershire.

The 1851 census for St Paul's St. North, Cheltenham, shows the Melmer family excluding son George (enumerated as Melmore), who was residing in lodgings at 8 Hanover Street, just around the corner [I know both streets well], with wife Ann and children Emma 8, Mary Ann 6, Elizabeth 3 & George 1 month old. I have now purchased both birth certificates for first and last children, namely Emma in 1843 at 25 Brunswick Street and George in 1851 at 8 Hanover Street, which clearly shows they were born to George Melmer and Ann Hughes - see attached. However, I have not managed to find any marriage between George and Ann Hughes in the indexes for either England or Wales, so presume they did not actually manage to tie the knot, which is a shame as a marriage certificate would confirm who his father was.

What makes me so convinced that this George Melmer, with Ann, was most definitely the son of George and Matilda is that apart from being the only other Melmer family in Cheltenham at that time and living just round the corner from his parents, his birth occurred (according to the 1851 census) in Southampton, which was precisely the same place as his parents' marriage took place the same year, see the death certificate of Matilda Melmer, which I sent you a copy of in a previous email some while ago.

What I can also be certain of is that the reason we cannot find George 1824 in the 1881 census for Canada is because he was almost certainly dead by this time. In his mother Matilda Melmer's death certificate in 1883 at Ipswich, Queensland, Australia, it stated she was the mother of only 3 living children at the time of her death, namely Martha, William and Henry - those deceased were 1 male (can only be George 1824) and 3 females.

So, I speculate that George, Ann and four children left the UK shortly after 1851 for foreign shores, possibly America or even Australia and after the death of first wife Ann Hughes, George moved on to Canada to be with other members of his family, leaving behind his children some of whom would by this time have grown up and probably married and settled. He subsequently married second wife Mary Wallace circa 1856 and the two daughters quickly followed that marriage. From the age of Matilda Eaton (24) in 1881, she must have been the elder of the two daughters.

What I also noticed from the 1881 census entry for the Eaton family in Montreal, was that Robert Eaton, the Pedler, was considerably older than Matilda, indeed he must have been a widower at marriage, as the eldest child in the household was William aged 14. He could not possibly have been Matilda's son, only Robert 4 and Matilda 1 could have been her children, suggesting that Matilda Melmer married Robert Eaton circa 1876, upon reaching the age of 21 years. It is quite conceivable therefore that by 1901 Canadian census, Robert Eaton may have died and his young wife Matilda, may just have remarried and taken another surname by this time. If their daughter Matilda had also married before 1901, she too would be almost impossible to locate in the 1901 census, without evidence of such a marriage. Robert Eaton Jnr would almost certainly have been of an age to fight in a War at the turn of the century, also making his appearance in any census of 1901 very difficult to find - all this is only speculation but could account for their "disappearance" from any census after 1881.

GeorgeSr married Matilda COOLEY in 1824 in Southhampton, Hampshire, England. Matilda (daughter of William COOLEY and Matilda NOYES) was born in 1800 in Bridgenorth, Shropshire, England; died on 11 Dec 1883 in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia; was buried on 12 Dec 1883 in Ipswich Cemetary. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. GeorgeJr MELMER was born in 1824 in Southampton, Hampshire, England; died on 29 Oct 1881 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada; was buried in Pointe St-Charles Grace Anglican Church, Montréal.
2. Matilda MELMER was born in 1827 in Bath, Somerset; died on 03 Dec 1874 in Back of 105 High Street, Cheltenham, Gloucester.
3. Elizabeth MELMER was born in 1828 in Leicester, England; died on 30 Jul 1873 in Coulterville, San Francisco California.
4. Frances MELMER was born in 1830 in Leicester, England.
5. Martha MELMER was born in 1833 in Cheltenham, Gloucester, England; died on 17 Jul 1897 in Raceview, Ipswich, Queensland, Australia.
6. William MELMER was born in 1835 in Cheltenham, Gloucester, England; died on 08 Feb 1893 in Hamilton, Wentworth, Ontario; was buried in Hamilton Wentworth Hamilton HM-287.
7. Henry MELMER was born on 10 Jul 1837 in Cheltenham, Gloucester, England; died after 11 Dec 1883 in Unorganized territory of Nebraska.
8. E F MELMER was born in 1838 in England.

George married Fanny BOTT. Fanny died in Mar 1847 in Sherborne, Dorset Somerset, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]