Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Crestleaf.com’s 12 Months of Fascinating Family Finds -- July 2015: James Vaux Death Notice in British Newspapers

I am participating in the Crestleaf.com "12 Months of Fascinating Family Finds" contest - see the blog post Crestleaf.com’s 12 Months of Fascinating Family Finds Challenge for details.


My most fascinating family find for June 2015 was:  Finding the death notice, and a residence in 1831, for my 4th great-grandfather, James Vaux (1787-1839) in the British Newspapers collection on Findmypast.com.

There were two newspaper articles for the death of James Vaux on 23 July 1839; one of them was from the Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser newspaper, dated 31 July 1839:


The death notice says:  "On the 23rd instant, at South Petherton, of a paralytic seizure, Mr. James Vaux, aged 52, who has left a wife and eight children in America."

That provided the death date, death location, a cause of death, and information about his family.  

Another result from the search of this collection was the auction of land on which James Vaux resided in South Petherton, Somerset in the Sherborne Mercury newspaper, dated 2 January 1832, mentions James Vaux:


The transcription of this record is:

"TO BE SOLD, IN FEE, BY AUCTION,
By Mr. CHAFFEY, at the Crown Inn, in South Pe-
therton, in the county of Somerset, on TUESDAY, the
10th day of JANUARY next, at five o'clock in the af-
ternoon, on the conditions to be then produced.
THE following valuable PREMISES, in
Lots, viz. ---
1. -- A Dwelling House, Garden, and Outhouses, situ-
ate at South Petherton.
2. -- An Orchard, called Kealand Orchard, also situate
at South Petherton, and containing by estimation 4 acres
(more or less).
N.B.  The above-mentioned Lots are in the occupation
of Mr. Samuel Vaux.
3. -- A Close of Arable, called Holefaxen, containing
by estimation 6 acres (more or less), situate at South
Petherton aforesaid, and now in the occupation of Mr.
James Vaux.
The Occupiers will shew their respective Lots and the
further particulars applications may be made to Mr.
NICHOLETTS, Attorney at Law, South Petherton.
Dated 13th December 1831."

This article indicates that Samuel and James Vaux were residing ("occupation of") on this land and the land was to be sold for some reason (as part of an estate settlement, perhaps bankruptcy of the owner, or to sell the land for profit).  James Vaux migrated to America on 1 May 1832 aboard the ship Cosmo out of Bristol.


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Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

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1 comment:

Vicki said...

What a great find! I think death notices are a great resource because of the information one can extract from them.