SEXTON - Jersey

[Davran]

Does anyone know how to access the Jersey BMDs? I have tried the Jersey Archive website, which has provided me with some of the information I was looking for, but I need to check for another death.

I am looking for the death of Alexander Humboldt SEXTON, who died in 1932, possibly in Jersey at the age of 78. The trouble is he was born in England and lived for many years in Scotland (professor in Glasgow from 1884-1909). I have searched for his death in England (Ancestry and family rellies) and Scotland (scotlandspeople), but no luck. The only thing I can think is that he moved to Jersey with his children, who were known to be there from 1913 onwards. I have found the deaths of both children - Florence Elizabeth and George Alex in Jersey Archives, but wonder if there is another source of BMD for Jersey.

Can anyone help, please? |help| |help| |help|

[Stewart Hill]

Hi there

As I had to go to the ArchiveCentre last night (late night opening), I took the opportunity of looking for your Alexander Humboldt SEXTON. Well the good news is that there is an index record for a death of AHS of St. Helier between Feb 1931 - Feb 1933 (Vol 56 P65).

I could also see the death of Florence Elizabeth Sexton of St Helier between Jan 1956 - Feb 1958 (Vol 67 P31) and George Alex Sexton of St Helier between Aug 1941 - Nov 1943 (Vol 67 P31).

I also looked up the St Helier rate list(s) as to where they were living. I could not find a record for AHS at least in in the years I looked, in so assume he was living with someone. However in 1924 FES and GAS were living at 51, David Place, St. Helier. From 1925 to 1955, FES was at 51, Val Plaisant, St Helier whilst the record for 1956 shows that address being owned by "the estate of FES". GAS lived at the Val Plaisant address for a time but then in 1940 was at 2, Le Sommet, Trinity Hill, St. Helier.

cont.....

[Stewart Hill]

Whilst I don't know the people, the impression from other references implies FES was a doctor and there is a sound record of a lady talking about FES and the support she had been given.

http://jerseyheritagetrust.jeron.je/wwwopac.exe?DATABASE=dc&LANGUAGE=0&DEBUG=0&BRIEFADAPL=DCBRIEF&SRT0=iD&SEQ0=ascendingOCC0=1&AU=Sexton,+Florence+Elizabeth,+Dr&LIMIT=10

I expect you've seen the reference to GAS's will but in case you haven't - "Testament of George Alexander Sexton, Le Sommet, Vingtaine of Haut de Mont-au-Pretre, Minister of the New Church. Dated 23 April 1941. Bequeaths an oil painting of his father by James Ramsey Russell to the New Church Society, Glasgow; to Frederick Peak Sexton all scientific instruments and books written by the testator or his father; Swedenbourg's books to the library of the New Church; books on Yachting and Charts to the Royal CI Yacht Club and St Helier Yacht Club; remainder of possessions to the Trustees of the First Association of the New Church in Jersey. 1942".

http://jerseyheritagetrust.jeron.je/wwwopac.exe?DATABASE=dc&LANGUAGE=0&DEBUG=0&BRIEFADAPL=DCBRIEF&SRT0=iD&SEQ0=ascendingOCC0=1&AU=Sexton,+George+Alexander&LIMIT=10

Let me know if you need anything further.

Stewart

[Davran]

Hi Stewart

Humble apologies for the late reply to your info - I have no idea how I missed it! :o |blush| . That's fantastic that you found the death of Alexander Humboldt Sexton - that finishes off that branch of the family as there were no offspring from either of his children. George Alex's wife, Blanche, was the last to die in 1958.

If you ever come across any references to Dr Florence Elizabeth I would be very interested to know. According to family lore she is supposed to be the first woman GP. It seems unlikely to me, but perhaps she was the first woman GP in Jersey! She qualified as a doctor from Glasgow University in 1910 and was practising in Jersey in 1913 (aged 35).


Thanks again for your trouble and sorry for not thanking you before!!!!

[Spencer]

Dr Florence Elizabeth Sexton was an early qualified Scottish doctor but not the first. Marion Gilchrist had graduated in medicine from Edinburgh a decade earlier. Dr Sexton is linked to our Stuart and Jacobite side of the family. Interesting then that Dr Florence Sexton chose medicine and not the law considering that some of her Scottish forebears had been eminent Scottish lawyers over a number of centuries. Her grandfather Dr George Sexton was a doctor of law as well as a qualified medical doctor. However, in 1909 the Scottish legal profession consisted entirely of men! (The first female law graduate was from the University of Edinburgh and the first from Glasgow was Madge Easton Anderson in 1919 and she became the first woman to be admitted as a Scottish law agent in 1920.) We understand that Dr Sexton was the first female qualified doctor in Jersey and before the passing of the Disqualification(Removal) Act in 1919!

[David150]

Professor Timothy Larsen has analysed Dr George Sexton's career as an academic theologian. A study of documents in Rome links Dr Sexton's family with the Jacobite court at Rome. Dr George Sexton was educated at Giessen in Prussia and was involved with the Accademia dei Quiriti being a member of a notable Scottish family who lived discreetly after the 'Forty-Five'.

[Davran]

Spencer, I would be very interested to see the links to Scotland through the Sexton family. As far as I knew they came from Norfolk.

[Davran]

David150, I would be very interested in seeing the evidence you have uncovered in Rome. As far as I knew Rev George Sexton had a degree from Gottingen. Any information about the Accademia dei Quiriti would also be of great interest.

[Spencer]

Professor Timothy Larsen has analysed Dr George Sexton's career as an academic theologian. A study of documents in Rome links Dr Sexton's family with the Jacobite court at Rome. Dr George Sexton was educated at Giessen in Prussia and was involved with the Accademia dei Quiriti being a member of a notable Scottish family who lived discreetly after the 'Forty-Five'.

SEXTON- JERSEY-PRUSSIA-ROME

Thanks. Professor Larsen's research notes that Dr George Sexton was awarded a Ph.D from the University of Giessen in Prussia in September 1858 and it seems that the MD was also from Giessen. (Professor Timothy Larsen, 'Crisis of Doubt' OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 2006. p. 199).

[Spencer]

SEXTON- JERSEY-PRUSSIA-ROME

Professor Larsen's research notes that Dr George Sexton was awarded a Ph.D from the University of Giessen in Prussia in September 1858 and it seems that the MD was also from Giessen. (Professor Timothy Larsen, 'Crisis of Doubt' OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 2006. p. 199).

Professor Larsen also comments in a more recent piece: 'George Sexton was the only atheist leader in nineteenth-century Britain with an earned doctorate--although he was English, his PhD was from the venerable University of Giessen in Germany. As a man of science, he was a Fellow of a whole range of elite, learned institutions including the Royal Anthropological Institute, the Zoological Society, and the Royal Geographical Society. (2) As an atheist, perhaps George Sexton's most important scientific publication was a work drawing on Charles Darwin's thought entitled The Antiquity of the Human Race (1871)'. (Professor Timothy Larsen, 'War is over, if you want it' AMERICAN SCIENTIFIC Publication 2008)

[David150]

Thanks, I agree that Professor Larsen's work is interesting. My interest from a church history and academic POV is the contribution made by Dr George Sexton to the study of the Universality of Religion. Professor Larsen refers to Dr Sexton's interest in the concept of Universality of Religion in his 'Crisis of Doubt' p. 219 (OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 2006). In particular, the re-engineering of 'Doubt' at that time in the face of revolution, monarchical struggle and scientific development across Europe both intrigued and troubled the established church in Rome. This forms part of the dialogue between Sexton and Cesilli and others (St Scholastica's Library, Rome). Professor Timothy Larsen refers to sections of Dr Sexton's analysis and wide academic conversation partners (Ibid. p. 220 OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 2006) and refers to one of Dr George Sexton's published works - 'Theistic Problems' p. 102 (London: HODDER & STOUGHTON 1880).

It seems that at points in history the established church could have reacted and developed in a particular way - 'co-operation above conflict' or a 'Universal approach'. Dr George Sexton's private and published work sits at a historic crossroads and embraces elements of an academic conversation at various times with those of diverse interests including Jacobites, Darwin, Marx and Rome. In my view the study of the reaction of the established churches to the suggestion of a 'Universal' approach provides pointers to the nature of current and future co-operations.

[Davran]

MY interest in Rev George Sexton is as an ancestor - he was my ggggrandfather. He was born in 1825 in Hainford, Norfolk to Samuel (a farmer of 12 acres) and Mary Sexton. In 1841 he was living in Hainford with his parents and siblings - he was listed as a male servant. He married Elizabeth Turner in Southwark in 1848, by which time he was described as a surgeon. George and Elizabeth had their first child, Justus Liebig in 1851. The family was living in Tower Hamlets and George was listed as "Physician Graduate of Gottingen".

My understanding is that degrees could be purchased from German universities, which is what I assumed George had done as I have been unable to obtain any proof of formal study of any kind. In fact, during a debate with a Dr Hime regarding vaccination in 1872 (Sheffield Daily Telegraph) some doubt was cast on his medical qualifications.

There is no doubt that he was an educated and intelligent man, who was much respected as a speaker and wrote many articles on medical and religious themes.

I am intrigued by the suggested Jacobite connection as, as far as I can determine, the family came from Norfolk. If anyone can enlighten me, I would be most grateful.

[David150]

Hi Davran,
Very happy to help you with your interest if possible. Professor Timothy Larsen gives you part of the answer for your para two. Professor Larsen has confirmed that Dr George Sexton was a student at University College London. This is confirmed in an email dated 28 June 2005 by Wendy Butler, Archivist of University College London Records Office (Ibid. p.198. OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 2006).
As set out above Professor Larsen has confirmed that Dr George Sexton's Ph.D was awarded by Giessen University in Prussia.
I have re-requested hard copies of documents which I have seen in Rome relating to the early education of Dr George Sexton. These documents provide evidence that Dr Sexton was in fact brought up in Fakenham, Norfolk and was provided with a highly structured early education such that he was fluent in latin and ancient greek before the age of nine years old and that he was not brought up by his listed parents or legal guardians. The funding for this education was connected to a Mr William Gordon or Gordon family connected both with Paris in France and Jersey. It was not uncommon for 'Diaspora Families' to change information required in census, birth and death certificates since they of course did not respect the legitimacy of a regime imposed to a large extent on England and in particular Scotland. Sometimes they changed only one letter in a name or the order of a name and sometimes used names which were very unusual. This makes the job of a researcher harder but it is clear that Dr George Sexton and his sponsors were connected with the Swedenborgian network from an early age. It is mooted with authority that the Swedenborgian network at that time was more secretive than the networks of Scottish Jacobites and Freemasons but they were of course inter-connected. This may not be of interest to you but I believe that it has a bearing on Dr Sexton's education and his rejection of the established church for a period of twenty years and his subsequent re-discovery which has so interested Professor Larsen. The Thread above provides evidence from the Jersey archive, and other evidence archived in Jersey and Rome, that here is a family with a very close connection with Swedenborg. Professor Larsen provides detailed and fully researched evidence that Dr Sexton was a key person in the re-engineering and exploration of religious and scientific thought during his life. However, Professor Larsen notes that 'Sexton's life story has never been fully pieced together' (Ibid. p.197. OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 2006) and suspects that much remains in private archives not in the public domain.
One point which interests me from an earlier Thread which you have written is that you note that are aware that Dr Sexton was given a ring or other artefacts perhaps connected with the tomb of Cicero by the Accademia Dei Quiriti in Rome. I would like to enquire whether you know at what approximate date that gift was made please.

[Davran]

Thanks, David150. That is most interesting and would account for the apparent anomaly of George's education and comparatively humble background. My brother has the information about the ring and I will ask him if it gives a date. Do you have any information about the Accademia dei Quiriti? I have not been able to find out much about it.

Re the Jersey Sextons, Prof Alexander Humboldt Sexton joined his children in Jersey. Florence, as you know, was a doctor and George Alex was a Swedenborgian minister.

[Davran]

David150

I have contacted my brother, who says that Rev George was given a glass stone purporting to have been found in Cicero's grave, with an intaglio of Socrates' head, which he then had set into a ring. This stone was given to him by Prof Mariana in 1872. How does that tie in with your documentation?

[David150]

Thanks Davran,
Regarding your first point, the Roman Academies were associations of scholars and there were a number established in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Pontificia Accademia degli Arcadi ('Academy of Arcadia') was a literary academy formally founded in about 1690 by Gravina and Crescimbeni. This Academy had met informally for a number of years prior to that date under the patronage of Queen Christina of Sweden (from about 1660). The Academies were often influential in their respective areas and therefore attracted the attention of Heads of State and the Papacy. It is believed that in about 1711 there was a difference of opinion between Gravina and Crescimbeni, and Gravina founded the Accademia Dei Quiriti, initially another literary Academy. The Archives of the Academy of Arcadia are housed in the Biblioteca Angelica in Rome.
The second point concerns your information about the ring and the documentation in relation to Dr George Sexton who was a member of Accademia Dei Quiriti. The date you mention is before the death of Luigi Cesilli who had been President of the Natural Science Facility of the Pontifical Academy of the Concezione and President of the mineralogical branch of the Quiriti. Cesilli had been charged with a study into the origin of mankind (probably after Darwin's 'Voyage of the Beagle' in 1831 but many years before the publication of 'On the Origin of Species'). With the fall of the Napoleonic system in Italy and restoration of the Papal States in about 1814, some of the artefacts which had been 'safely stored' were restored to their owners or heirs over the following decades. The documentation at the Library of the Monastery of Subiaco indicates that Cesilli played a private part in this restoration. However, part of the Luigi Cesilli 'collection' was also lost after the death of Ceselli. The date you give (before the death of Cesilli) would indicate that the ring (and possibly other artefacts unspecified) were a restoration to George Sexton as an heir and this ties in with the documentation. A number of researchers in Rome have clearly linked your George Sexton to branches of the Gordon and Seton families of Scotland. Your information about the ring will interest other correspondents to this Forum and other Threads since there are a number of Jacobite Scottish families who have used archives in Roman libraries or collections to confirm their family lines.

[Spencer]

David, thank you for your interesting contribution. That is very kind of you considering that your central interest is in Swedenborg although there seems to be significant links between the GSI to GSIV chain, Dr Florence, GAS and Swedenborg and Clan Stuart. My observation coming from a different angle and with my own Clan Stuart in mind is that this family (GSI-IV) for a considerable period of time and throughout generations has observed considerable discretion and secrecy. Professor Larsen observes the same in the character of GSIII. It is of course possible that GSIII was unaware of the position and wealth of his grandfather in his early life. However, this family has acted so precisely and with such discretion that the line and links fall outside of public records. It is a family who for the most part seek to remain private. These are people who forfeited significant Scottish estates for the Jacobite cause and while other Scots compromised their values, they created a new life and the rest was unimportant. Your academic work and interest in the Universal approach to religion and conflict resolution is also fascinating and GSIII did indeed play a significant part. Thanks.

[Spencer]

David, I understand that the original Cesilli documents in relation to this matter are held in private archives in Sweden and not in Rome. There are some very able academics and other commentators who research the Swedenborg organisation who have made me aware of the Scottish-Swedish-Prussian axis and the links to the Jacobite court at Paris, Avignon and Rome. It is clear from Professor Larsen's work that Dr George Sexton had a proximity to Marx in London, and the Swedenborg records indicate the family links between the von Westphalen family's Scottish ancestors and Sexton (through clan Douglas and Stuart). Dr George Sexton was a beneficiary of academic contacts at Gottingen and Giessen courtesy of Jenny von Westphalen's brother. The Giessen academic record of Dr George Sexton has been validated by Professor Larsen. Many Scottish Jacobite families forged successful careers on the continent (the Scottish Keith brothers for example) and did not return.