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  1. #1
    Colin Rowledge
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    Default Thomas Fanning - Policeman - Whitechapel - ??

    This man is being very elusive, primarily because he died July 3 1842

    I had started a thread about finding him {The parents of Thomas Digby Fanning] and from that thread and received some invaluable help. As a result I know that the man above was born in 1794. In 1829 he was living in the parish of St, Bodolph, Aldgate, City of London. At the age of 35, he married Mary Draper in the local Parish Church on May 7, 1829. She was of the parish of St. Mary, Whitechapel, Middlesex. This was taken from the LondonEngland Marriages and Banns 1854-1921 - page #411. At that time, there was no indication of the parents of either or the occupations of the groom and respective parents

    During their 13 year marriage they had 4 children.. All have been thoroughly research and documented.

    The 1841 census shows the family living on John Street, St. Mary, Whitechapel, MIddlesex. He is indicated as a Policeman. He would have been aged approx. 47. From his age, I deduced that he was not a 'rookie' officer and that he was a policeman when he married. I had also deduced that he was in the City of London Police prior to marriage. Kerrywood provided with information on the City of London Police, but I couldn't find anything about him there.

    With his bride being from Whitechapel, Middlesex, in 1829, British Viking indicated that the was possibly part of the Metropolitan Police and that there are records available at TNA. As I've noted in the past I need radical help in accessing TNA indexes and information, and as is par for the course, found myself in a deep hole with no way out!! Can someone one help?

    Of course, with no census info. available, finding when and from where he settled in Aldgate, London/Whitechapel, Middlesex I then looked closer at the death cerificate. Athe time of death he lived at 4 John Street and the informant was J. Shaw of 24 Gloucester Street, Stepney. Kerrywood once again came to my resue. She found him on the 1841 census as well as from his marriage in 1837. This J. Shaw, would appear to be John who was an Undertaker. He was also a widower at the time in 1837 with a 5year old son His new bride was Eliza Ponsford.

    We have since found out that Eliza was born in Devonshire, around 1816 and was the daughter of a police officer. Her father would likely have been around the same age as Thomas. If, and it's a big IF, Thomas and her father - John Ponsford - could have served on the same force in Devon. Thomas came to London in the late 1820's and I assume Eliza in the mid 1830's. Could John have asked his friend Tkomas to keep an eye on her??

    Just a thought and a possible avenue of enquiry

  2. #2
    Nicolina
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    a search of the IGI for Thomas FANNING born British Isles in 1794 + / - 5 years gives only one "possible"
    THOS. TRAINER FANNON christened 3rd June 1794 at Saint James, Whitehaven, Cumberland. Parents Thomas FANNON and Elizabeth.
    There is also a marriage between Thomas FANNIN and Elizabeth EUSTACE 16th MAY 1792 at St Mark'S, Dublin

    there's no guarantee that this is the right Thomas but it's worth keeping a note about it.

  3. #3
    Colin Rowledge
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nicolina View Post
    .
    There is also a marriage between Thomas FANNIN and Elizabeth EUSTACE 16th MAY 1792 at St Mark'S, Dublin

    there's no guarantee that this is the right Thomas but it's worth keeping a note about it.
    Thanks, Nicolina. This is interesting and helped jog my memory. Thomas is the great-grandfather of the man [Reginald George Fanning] who married my grandmother. When Reg. was in Canada for my wedding in 1972, he mentioned that his family originated from Ireland.

    In my research of the Fanning family I found them in Penge in 1911. With the family were 2 Irish men from Belfast, both of whom were Electrical Engineers, described in the census as boarders. Under their tutelage, Reg.'s elder brother was also training as an Electrical Engineer. This elder brother has turned out to have been quite 'instrumental' in the birth of my father.

    Is it possible from IGI to find more detail on this and is it possible that Thomas and Elizabeth had a son Thomas around 1794 and then came over to England as a result of the revolts in Ireland in 1798 against English rule and Thomas felt it was safer to add a 'g" at the end of his name?

  4. #4
    Colin Rowledge
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    Another case of me putting 'the cart before the horse'. After posting the response above, I then checked on Ancestry and in the U.K and U.S. Directories 1680-1830 found a reference to a Thomas Fannin, who from 1801 - 1825 ran a Pawnbrokers business at 41 York Street, Dublin.

    If this is the same Thomas that married Elizabeth and is the father of my Thomas, could he have sent her to family in England and remained behind, to run what could have been a dangerous business, but also a fairly lucrative one, at the time of the revolts?

    Just a thought and how do we follow rhrough on this line of thought?

  5. #5
    Name well known on Brit-Gen
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    Default

    There is also a marriage between Thomas FANNIN and Elizabeth EUSTACE 16th MAY 1792 at St Mark'S, Dublin
    there's no guarantee that this is the right Thomas but it's worth keeping a note about it.
    A Thomas Eustace FANNIN is listed on Record Search Pilot who may be a descendant of the above couple.

    He married Margaret BOOTH in Dublin South in 1869, and a number of children were baptised at Rathmines, Dublin, in the 1870s. Irish Civil Registration has a death index record for Thomas Eustace FANNIN in Sep Qtr 1888 in Dublin South, aged 56.

    There are a substantial number of Thomas FANNIN/FANNAN/FANNON records on Record Search Pilot, so it's obviously a fairly common name and you'll want to be cautious.

  6. #6
    Brick wall demolition expert!
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    I'm going to add this burial record to this thread. I see from your other threads that the death of Mary Draper Fanning has never been firmly established.

    Here's one from the London Burials database on Ancestry:

    Name: Mary Fanning
    Record Type: Burial
    Event Date: 4 Apr 1849
    Age: 67
    Parish: St Mary, Whitechapel
    Borough: Tower Hamlets
    County: Middlesex

    The indexed age is 67, but looking at the image, I read 51, which would give a birth year of c1798.
    This Mary Fanning is of Museum Street in Bloomsbury. I note that daughter Mary Eliza Fanning of Bloomsbury died 2 years earlier.

  7. #7
    Colin Rowledge
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    Quote Originally Posted by AdeleE View Post
    I'm going to add this burial record to this thread. I see from your other threads that the death of Mary Draper Fanning has never been firmly established.

    Here's one from the London Burials database on Ancestry:

    Name: Mary Fanning
    Record Type: Burial
    Event Date: 4 Apr 1849
    Age: 67
    Parish: St Mary, Whitechapel
    Borough: Tower Hamlets
    County: Middlesex

    The indexed age is 67, but looking at the image, I read 51, which would give a birth year of c1798.
    This Mary Fanning is of Museum Street in Bloomsbury. I note that daughter Mary Eliza Fanning of Bloomsbury died 2 years earlier.
    Hi Adele.
    This could definitely be Thomas's wife as you say, I've never firmly established her death. The 1841 census has her as age 40 but the ages then were rounded so I plumped for a birth around 1801. 1798 also fits. There was a daughter Mary Eliza, who I am satisfied is their daughter and I have her death cert.

    Thank you for finding this gem.

    Now, if we can find what police dept. he was with, prior to his marriage, we may be able to locate a Next- of-Kin.

    Time to spend another 9.25 quid on a death cert. Hopefully and my fingers are crossed, it will show she was the widow of Thomas, a Police Officer and that should tie them up nicely. Then I can contrate on who Thomas's parents were and where he was a 'copper'.

  8. #8
    stickymone
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    Hi Colin,

    I've had a look at the Register of the Metropolitan Police Force 1829-1836 and the only Fanning listed is a John Fanning. He joined on the 21st Sept 1829 warrant number 1265 and was dismissed on the 18th Feb 1831

    I suspect your man could well be in the MEPO 4/333 which covers up to Dec 1842 and has an alphabetical list of joiners to the Met.

    You could try asking for an estimate from the TNA. try sticking his details in the order box and see what they come back with.

    Stickymone

    PS Haven't forgotten about Dorset
    Last edited by stickymone; 31-05-2010 at 11:54 PM. Reason: Extra Text

  9. #9
    Colin Rowledge
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    Quote Originally Posted by stickymone View Post
    Hi Colin,

    I've had a look at the Register of the Metropolitan Police Force 1829-1836 and the only Fanning listed is a John Fanning. He joined on the 21st Sept 1829 warrant number 1265 and was dismissed on the 18th Feb 1831

    I suspect your man could well be in the MEPO 4/333 which covers up to Dec 1842 and has an alphabetical list of joiners to the Met.

    You could try asking for an estimate from the TNA. try sticking his details in the order box and see what they come back with.

    Stickymone

    PS Haven't forgotten about Dorset
    Hi Stickymone
    No rush on Dorset - the folks I'm looking for aren't going anywhere in the near future!!

    I tried the TNA, found MEPO 4/333 and clicked onto it. Inserted the name Fanning and the only one that came up was for a chap on 4/342 which of course was the register for much later. Nothing came up when I tried finding the 4/333 register to see if the name had been mispelled.

    Am I correct in now thinking that he wasn't part of the Met. but another county entirely? Could have been 'on loan' to them, or was he just an 'inside' worker, who described himself as a policeman? The terminology and writing on the 1841 census is a little difficult to translate.

  10. #10
    Brick wall demolition expert!
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    Quote Originally Posted by Colin Rowledge View Post
    Am I correct in now thinking that he wasn't part of the Met. but another county entirely? Could have been 'on loan' to them, or was he just an 'inside' worker, who described himself as a policeman? The terminology and writing on the 1841 census is a little difficult to translate.
    On various registrations he is also described as "messenger" and if memory serves me, on one he is "messenger for police". Perhaps he was an older version of our modern auxiliary constable, delivering summonses etc.

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