Black teacher in rural Herefordshire.

[Monty Stubble]

Bit of a long shot really.

There is a family story that, in the 19th century, a female family member was employed as a seamstress in the trans-Atlantic shipping trade. In this occupation she met with and married a black guy. His name may have been Tobias Gordon.

They returned and settled in the Michaelchurch Escley area but do not appear in any census, although his wife, unusually called Muline does appear in the 1891 census as Muline Gordon, widow.

The story is that he was employed as a schoolteacher at Goff's Endowed School in Lower Maescoed.

There was, as you might expect a good dose of racism here and the story goes that on their return when married they had to get off the train in Dorstone to avoid a family 'lynch' mob in Peterchurch.

They were cut out of the family and even in my mothers youth she was forbidden to speak of Aunt Muline.

Muline later went on to marry a local farmer in Llanrosser, finally dying in 1922. They are buried together in Michaelchurch. No sign of Tobias though.

Does anyone have any information on this or on Lower Maescoed school? If the story is correct I would have thought having a black teacher in the 1880's would have been noteworthy.

[christanel]

Welcome to British-Genealogy :smile5:

1881 RG11 Piece 2598 Folio 73 Page 3
School House
Michaelchurch Escely
Alexander S. Gorden 53 School Master Certified born Kincardineshire, Scotland
Mulina B. Gorden 43, Assistant In School, born Peterchurch, Hereford

[christanel]

On same page FreeBMD

Marriages December 1/4 1879
Mulina Bowyer
Alexander Sherratt Gordon
Hereford vol 6a page 987

[Monty Stubble]

Thank you.

I've just found that was his name. He died in 1890 worth the princely sum of £64 it seems. Are you saying he was the school teacher at Michaelchurch?

If so another dead end as Michaelchurch school burned down in 1938 taking its records with it!

[christanel]

Hello
Yes he was a school teacher and residing in the Schoolhouse at Michaelchurch Escely so safe to say he was the school teacher
there.

I have just found the probate record also which says there is a will which can probably be found on the National Archives site.
http://www.british-genealogy.com/forums/extensions/uploads/c2bb7e2f-a0e3-4d54-846a-29a2e198f2cb.jpg

His death registration on FreeBMD has him as age 72 so born 1818 not 1828 as he says in the 1881 census.

Christina

[christanel]

I wonder if this is your Alexander S Gordon. His birth date here is 1818
1861 RG 9 piece 1824 folio 86 page 1
Bridge Farm Michaelchurch Hereford
Alexander Gordon 43 single farmer of 80 acres born Scotland
Mary Gordon 70 Mother widow Scotland
David Gordon 27 brother single Scotland
Wm Hughes 14 servant Herefordshire

[Monty Stubble]

I wonder if this is your Alexander S Gordon. His birth date here is 1818
1861 RG 9 piece 1824 folio 86 page 1
Bridge Farm Michaelchurch Hereford
Alexander Gordon 43 single farmer of 80 acres born Scotland
Mary Gordon 70 Mother widow Scotland
David Gordon 27 brother single Scotland
Wm Hughes 14 servant Herefordshire

Looking very unlikely the guy was black. I wonder where that came from then? Mum, who is still alive (83) is quite sure about that.

Maybe she had another man before that...?

Chris

[NicoUK]

In case it's helpful and you don't already have it, there is a public tree on A******* for a Malina BOWYER Birth 1839 in Herefordshire, England that shows the following Censuses, some badly mis-transcribed, but could this be Muline? There is no further info for her after 1861 on the tree.

1841 Mullina Bowyer age 2 Parents possibly James Bowyer 41, Hariott Bowyer 40, siblings and her mother perhaps? Elizabeth Price 65 living at Peterchurch, Hereford, sub-registration district Madley - HO107; Piece: 427; Book: 24; Civil Parish: Peterchurch; County: Herefordshire; Enumeration District: 9; Folio: 10; Page: 14; Line: 4

1851 Calena Bowyer 12 Parents James Bowyer 55 a Mason born Bristol St James, Harrcett Bowyer 53, and siblings living at Peterchurch, Hereford, sub-registration district Hereford City - HO107; Piece: 1978; Folio: 431; Page: 11

1861 Celina Bowyer 22 Parents James Bowyer 66 now a Farmer & Local Preacher born Bristol Gloucestershire, Harriett Bowyer 62 living at Peterchurch, Hereford, sub-registration district Madley - RG 9; Piece: 1822; Folio: 71; Page: 1

and her Christening:

England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 Malina Bowyers Gender Female Baptism Date 31 Dec 1837 Place Peterchurch, Hereford, England Father James Bowyers Mother Harriet FHL Film 992386

[NicoUK]

In 1891 Mulina Gordon widow living on own means abt 1841 Peterchurch, Herefordshire, England Head Michaelchurch Escley, Herefordshire - RG12; Piece: 2066; Folio: 66; Page: 3

Mulina Gordon date of marriage registration Apr-May-Jun 1897 district Hereford volume 6a page 998
records on page Mulina Gordon, Frederick James Lomax, Aaron Meredith and Jane Whittam

In 1901 Malina Meredith 60 born Peterchurch, wife of Aaron Meredith, a farmer and employer age 58, living at Michaelchurch Escley and a William Morgan 22, boarder - Class: RG13; Piece: 2485; Folio: 65; Page: 5

In 1911 Mulina Meridith age 72 born Peterchurch, wife to Aaron Meridith, a farmer and employer age 68 - RG14; Piece: 15745; Schedule Number: 28

[christanel]

Hello
What has been established is that Malina (and variations) married Alexander Sherret Gordon in 1879 and that he was a school teacher (certified) in 1881 census living in the schoolhouse.

This marriage record on FreeBMD would indicate that Malina was single when married as she is recorded under her maiden name. Buying the certificate would establish father's names and occupations for bride and groom and the ages of the bride and groom and their address at time of marriage. Also recorded would be the witnesses to the marriage which, if either one was a Bowyer, would indicate no break in the family relationship because of this marriage.

It may be that she had another relationship without marrying the man concerned and that the story has become muddled over the years.

What we remember is sometimes only what we have been told and not what we have actually experienced so there is room for embellishment/distortion through the generations. :smile5:

Christina

[Monty Stubble]

I agree with you Christina. This has been the case with my Grandfather's service in WW1. The family story tells us one thing but long and painstaking research finally brought out a story which was interesting but unlike the received tale. He was incidentally wounded badly in 1917 and was expected to die. The YMCA paid for his mother to visit him in France. Quite remarkable for a woman from a very rural background to go to France! I've just done a piece for the BBC on that subject.

With Muline (Mulina?), the story is muddled too. My mother is quite adamant about the story of the black guy but of course there is no way of investigating it. We have already found a compressing of information and names. Yesterday, however I did find her grave, now in a shocking state, so some work there then. This was with her second husband, Meredith. I can' t find the grave of her first husband, Gordon though. I will have to speak to a church warden and ask to see the burial register/grave plan.

My mother has added some more to the story as well as a very faded photograph of her, I suspect taken in the 1880s. She also said that if I was a girl she had proposed to call me Muline but had been told by her family that wasn't acceptable, such was the dislike of the woman's memory. Strange things families?

She apparently accompanied an uncle to the USA and Canada when he was selling local cattle there. She worked as a seamstress on the boat and repeated the trip many times. I wonder if the manifests for those ships are still around?

Thank you so much for your help and observations.

[Monty Stubble]

Incidentally the Scottish connection is interesting. I've just trawled through the census returns for the village for the 1880's to find that at least six families have their place of birth as Scotland. Most of them are farmers who had recently moved there. I wonder what prompted such a Scottish diaspora to such a rural part of Herefordshire?

[Ladkyis]

The highland clearances where the landowners found it was more prifitable to have sheep on their land than tenants so they drove the people from their houses and then pulled them down................. the houses not the people. Some of the people went to Canada and America and Australia. A lot went to Northern Ireland and some came south.


ETA: The age of Mr Gordon might have something to do with the family aversion and where he came from in Scotland could mean that he was known as a "Black Scot". This is an expression I heard my grandfather, born in Scotland, use several times when eavesdropping on grown-up conversations. I am still not sure of the exact meaning. I will Google.

[Monty Stubble]

The highland clearances where the landowners found it was more prifitable to have sheep on their land than tenants so they drove the people from their houses and then pulled them down................. the houses not the people. Some of the people went to Canada and America and Australia. A lot went to Northern Ireland and some came south.


ETA: The age of Mr Gordon might have something to do with the family aversion and where he came from in Scotland could mean that he was known as a "Black Scot". This is an expression I heard my grandfather, born in Scotland, use several times when eavesdropping on grown-up conversations. I am still not sure of the exact meaning. I will Google.

I thought the Highland Clearances were earlier than the 1870's?

A further muddying of the waters occurs now as I get a little further into the research. The family story about the black guy and the train could only have happened after Mr Gordon (the Scots') death. He died in 1890 and the Golden Valley Railway was only opened from Pontrilas to Dorstone in 1881. If the story has any credence at all it must have happened between 1890 and and her marriage to Aaron Meredith in 1897. Of course she wasn't in the first flush of youth by this time. Unless of course she had some kind of affair after 1881!

Perhaps the 'Black Scot' expression has some mileage. I await your research with interest.

[thewideeyedowl]

I suspect that 'Black Scot' might be used in much the same way as 'Black Irish', i.e. to signify someone with black hair and the darker skin tone that is prevalent in Mediterranean countries. It has been claimed that the 'Black Irish' were descendants of Spanish sailors shipwrecked after the Armada in 1588 (lovely story, but perhaps not quite accurate). It is more likely that 'Black Irish' are descendants of the steady stream of folk trading from the Iberian peninsula from about 500BC. And if they got to Ireland, they probably got to Scotland too.

Not sure where this gets us, so I'm off to roost now.

Owl

[christanel]

In 1901 Malina Meredith 60 born Peterchurch, wife of Aaron Meredith, a farmer and employer age 58, living at Michaelchurch Escley and a William Morgan 22, boarder - Class: RG13; Piece: 2485; Folio: 65; Page: 5


I started to look for this William in earlier census to find out if/how he was related to Alexander Morgan and here he is in 1891 but having difficulty finding him in 1881. He is not with Aaron Meredith.
1891 RG12 Piece 2066 Folio 67 Page 5
Lower Danrosser(?) farm Michaelchurch Escley
Aaron Meredith 48 farmer Bryngwyn, Radnorshire
Mary Morgan 71 Widow Dorstone, Herefordshire
William Morgan 12 boarder Clodock Herefordshire
John Howells 26 servant Presteigne, Radnorshire
Elizabeth J Howard 74 servant Michaelchurch Escley
Alice E Howard 9 boarder Michaelchurch Escley

It is said the second lot of Highland Clearances in the 1800 - 1820's were far more savage than the first lot so I thought it may have been Alexander's parents who moved to Herefordshire in that time period but haven't found them yet in England if it was so.

Christina

[Ladkyis]

I have it in my head that a "Black Scot" came from the Black Isle. That area of Scotland that includes Aberdeen. I really should get my 'brane' in gear before engaging my mouth shouldn't I? I have tried to google black scot but I am pants at research - no really, everything I have on my ancestors I have "found" with help from other people on here. I just don't ask the right questions and as for wildcard searches well, no, I won't go there today.

I think there has to be something closer to home than this so your theory about a possible affair could have substance.

There were more black people in this country at that time than we realise. My daughter-in-law's grandfather came from Barbuda to Devon and became a lay preacher in South Wales in the 1890s. He married a white woman from Pontypool and this caused quite a stir. I do believe she said he came over with quite a few other men from Antigua and Barbados as well as Barbuda but I have no idea how to research them.

[Sandyhall]

From Wikipeda - Black Scottish People - Scottish 'Tobacco Lords' played a leading role in the slave trade and by 1817 it was estimated that one third of all slaves in Jamaica were held by these Scots. This role in slavery led to the first significant documented Black population in Scotland, as slave owners brought slaves back to serve as household servants. In some cases, slaves were freed through manumission.

So it's possible he could have been, lots of info about it just Google "Black Scott"