Kezia(h) Milling(e)

[Nick Smith]

Hi all,womdered if anyone new if there was a jewish community around the Idsle of Sheppey in 1800's? Kezia is my 3x grt.g/ma and is from Eastchurch, Sheppey. No trace of birth records yet, wondered if possibly of Roma(ny) descent?Any suggestions greatly appreciated. By the waywas married in Wesleyan chapel I believe!?!
Sorry forgot tosay she married David Abijah Spillett in 1833 at Charing Kent.

[Coromandel]

FamilySearch has an adult baptism on 9 May 1824 of a Keziah Millinge at Hempstead Place Wesleyan chapel, Ashford, Kent (birth date shown as 28 Dec. 1802, and parents as Thomas and Ann Millinge.

David Abijah Spillett and Keziah Milling were married on 15 September 1833 at Charing, Kent, according to FamilySearch. From the film number (1786210) it appears that this information comes from Bishops' transcripts of the Charing parish register.

I see that there's another marriage of a David Abijah Spillett on FamilySearch too, this time on 5 August 1838 in Strood near Rochester, Kent. His bride was Eliza Terry. The original parish register entry (which can be seen on the CityArk site) shows David as a widower, shipwright, of Strood, son of Thomas Spillett, labour(er).

Is this the same David who'd married Keziah in 1833? If so then it looks as if their marriage was quite short-lived.

FamilySearch has the burial of a Keziah Abigail Spillet at Harrietsham, Kent, on 14 March 1836. No age is given in the transcript but from the burial index on Findmypast this Keziah appears to have been an infant. (I can't see the full details; you will need to get some credit with Findmypast or see if your library has a subscription to find out exactly what the transcript says.)

If Findmypast is right about this being an infant burial, it seems likely that this child was the Kezia Abijah Spillet (daughter of David Abijah Spillet and Kezia) who was born on 28 May 1835 and baptised at the Manner Street Wesleyan chapel, Brompton, Kent on 24 November 1835, according to FamilySearch. (They also have an entry for the same baptism but in their non-conformist database; this time the place is shown as Gillingham. The discrepancy may be due to Methodist records sometimes being listed not individually but according to which 'circuit' they were in.) You should be able to see a scan of the original register on the BMD Registers site, for a fee, to see if any further information is given.

I can see from the 1841 census index on FamilySearch that there's a Kezia Spillett aged about 8 in Eastchurch, Kent . . . though I can't see who she's with. If she was the daughter of David & Kezia then perhaps it was the Kezia the mother, not the child, who died in 1836? Now I'm really confused!

P.S. I was going to say welcome to the forum, Nick, but see you've been here longer than me!

[helachau]

Kentish Gazette - 23 Sept 1833
Marriages - Sep 15 at Charing, Mr David Abijah Spillet, shipwright, of Chatham dock yard, to Miss Kezia Millinge, of Charing

[helachau]

Burial
Keziah Abigail Spillett,
burial date 14 March 1836,
Harrietsham Parish, Kent,
infant, age 0, calculated DOB 1836,
abode Brompton Near Chatham
(FMP)

[blue eyes]

Looks like young Keziah's marriage.

Marriage 1855 district Sheppey

Civil parish Blean - Keziah Spillett - Groom Thomas Laker.

1861

Thomas Laker age 50
Kezia wife age age 27 born Eastchurch
Emma dau age 5
Elizabeth dau age 3
William son age 2
Susannah dau age 2 mths

Class RG9
Piece 522
Folio 168A
Page 10

Kezia(h) is a visitor to a family called Hurt in 1851

Class H0107
Piece 1828
Folio 174
Page 8

[blue eyes]

Looking later census it looks like Kezia(h Laker) is known as Ann.

[Nick Smith]

Thank you all - I had guestimated most of that from pay per view stuff, am I better off subscribing? and if so to what I end up losing credits coz I've paid for access to "1901 census" and others.

Also I know Medway, Brompton is a district of Gillingham which was then part of the Borough of Chatham - I couldn't see the census too well but it looks like they lived on Chatham Hill which is between Gillingham and Chatham near another district called Luton.

Ive been registered for a while but didn't have the time to come on the forum but I am really addicted with this now!

[Nick Smith]

Did not know about this child although the name is the same as he sister born 1838. The "Kezia Abijah" hebrew thread runs through this family which was why I asked if anyone knew if there is a Jewish/Roma community around Sheppey/Medway? Thank you very nuch

[Nick Smith]

Thanks blue eyes really helpful - I like this community!

[Nick Smith]

I thought that when I first saw it but isn't the age on the census different, I have assumed (possibly wrongly) that Kezia Laker (nee Spillett) died in child birth and Thomas remarried Ann - suppose I now need to look for a burial/death record for Ann Laker