Genealogy puzzles come in all shapes and sizes and research can throw up some surprising family history stories. Here is a recent example of how a half-torn will led to researching a Monmouthshire family and did just that.
An unconnected will and a genealogical itch
Buried in an email requesting some help to find a missing ancestor, was a comment about a half-torn will. It was amongst some family papers but belonged to an unconnected Speary family. The will mentioned ships that travelled between Bristol and Newport. I offered the emailer some advice that helped them find their lost ancestor. However, the out-of-place will was a genealogical itch that could not be ignored. Who exactly was the Speary family?
The shipwreck and the widow
A bit of searching led to the wreck of a boat named Morriston that had run aground in 1880 on the isle of Anglesey, Wales. Details on the Coflein website said the Morriston was acquired in 1867 by one ‘Ann Speary, widow of Newport.’ And so the family history hunt was on…
The Speary family and booming Newport
From a genealogy perspective, it was a relatively straight forward task to build the Speary family tree. Following the more unusual surname through the standard genealogy sources of Wales’ civil, church and census records was a refreshing change from hunting John Joneses. (Although I quickly ran in to the usual challenges of Welsh surnames, of course!) Probate records, wills, directories, court and tax records provided additional evidence to confirm the genealogical connections. Newspaper articles from British Newspaper Archive and National Library of Wales added more colour and insight to the family history… and revealed a fascinating story.
So who was ship-owning widow Ann Speary?
Ann SPEARY (1835-1896) was born Ann REES in Llantarnum, Monmouthshire, Wales. She married Richard SPEARY Jr. (1830-1865) in Newport in 1859. Richard was one of six children of Richard SPEARY Sr. (1796-1846) and his wife Catherine JOHNS (1801-1871).
Richard and Catherine were both from Barry, Glamorgan, Wales but married in London in 1830. Pigot’s 1830 directory shows they lived in Newport where they ran the Ship and Castle pub in the Canal Side area. Richard also owned Tredegar Wharf and was agent for three ships, the Tredegar, Neptune, and Fanny, that sailed from his wharf. In the 1841 census they were still at the same pub and now had 6 children.
This was boom-time for Newport with the opening of the new docks in 1842. Newport shipped coal and iron from the Welsh valleys on a scale similar to Cardiff, but tinplate, oak timber and other merchandise also passed through the port. The Speary family clearly benefited from the rise in shipping trade and the massive influx of people into the town.
Richard Sr. died in 1847 and his will (see National Library of Wales ) left his estate to his widow Catherine. His assets were valued at £3420 (worth about £4m today). This included the Tredegar Boat Company based at Tredegar Wharf, Newport which sailed to Bristol and back three times a week. Gazette records show the company had previously been owned by the Smith family until 1833.
The Speary sons take over
In 1851 Catherine was still the publican of the Ship and Castle and the two eldest sons, William and Richard, had taken on the Tredegar Boat Company. Catherine’s uncle, Thomas JOHNS, was also a partner in the business. However, in 1852, the partnership between William, Richard and Thomas JOHNS was dissolved, leaving the two Speary sons to run the company.
By the 1861 census, Catherine had moved to Chepstow Road, Newport. She was described as a ‘retired house and property owner’. Her son William, now aged 33, lived with her whilst Richard Jr. lived in Park Street, Newport with his new wife Ann (Rees).
Tragedy and the family feud
Tragedy struck the Speary family soon after as both brothers died in the same year. William died on 18 February 1865. Then Richard Jr. died on 29 April 1865, leaving a daughter and his pregnant widow (Ann). Neither William nor Richard Jr. left a will. So what happened to the Tredegar Boat Company? William’s estate was granted to their younger brother James. Richard’s passed to his wife – ‘the widow, Ann Speary’. And this is how Ann came to run a shipping company. She was aged 32 and had 2 infant daughters.
Clearly, the boys’ mother, Catherine, was not happy about Ann’s inheritance. A family feud broke out that was played out publicly, both in the courts and in the press.
On 31 Aug 1867, Ann published a newspaper announcement that, as Richard Speary Jr.’s widow, SHE would run the Tredegar Boat Company out of Tredegar Wharf. She asked people to order business through her name or the ‘Old Tredegar Boat Company’ and appointed new agents in Bristol. Several similar announcements followed over the coming months. This was clearly designed to counteract a move by her disenchanted mother-in-law, Catherine.
On 26 Oct 1867, Catherine published an advertisement as the ‘original proprietor of the Tredegar Boat Company’. She claimed that she had tried, unsuccessfully, to come to a settlement with Ann. So, she announced ‘to avoid further litigation’ she was moving her business to nearby Cinder Hill Wharf where would operate as the ‘New Tredegar Boat Company’. Presumably this suggests that she lost the case she took to the Chancery Court in 1867 not just against Ann but against her son James and daughter Lavinia and her husband Frederick BOSHIER. Catherine clearly believed that, following the death of both sons, she was the rightful owner of the original company.
How the story ended
Catherine died on 05 Jan 1871 and administration of her estate was awarded to her remaining son James. James, a farmer, clearly had no interest in running a shipping company and sold New Tredegar Boat Company in April 1871. He also sold Catherine’s 12-roomed house in Clarence Place, Newport. This was not the end of the legal wrangling however. James was immediately sued in the Court of Chancery over his mother’s estate. One of the plaintiffs was Frederick Tucker BOSHIER, husband of his younger sister Lavinia, who had previously been James’ co-defendant! Clearly this was a family not at peace with each other.
It is not clear why, but in 1870 Ann SPEARY put up for auction all her furniture and household effects from her house in Park Street. Later that year, on 02 Nov 1871, Ann remarried. Her new husband was Thomas Floyde LEWIS, a brewer who had previously been mayor of Newport. It seems that Ann also disposed of the Old Tredegar Boat Company around the same time to William Simon REES. He in turn, put it up for sale in Feb 1873.
Ann’s marriage was not a long one and Thomas died in 1880. Ann sold off their house ‘Carisbrooke Villa’ in Caerau Park, Newport in 1881 and by the 1891 census she lived on Chepstow Road. Ann died on 31 Jan 1896, aged 61. Her will left her estate to her two daughters Edith and Catherine.
...and the George Melly connection?
So what of the final interconnection? By following the descendants of the each of the 6 Speary children I discovered that the jazz musician Alan George H. MELLY (1926-2007) was the 2x great-grandson of Catherine (JOHNS) SPEARS. He was a descendant of Richard & William’s eldest sister Mary Anne SPEARY.
Conclusion
So that was another genealogical itch scratched. Genealogical research had connected a half-torn will, to a Welsh shipwreck owned by ‘the widow Ann Speary’. The records revealed a feuding shipping family from Newport, Wales whose battles over inheritances were public and litigious. And in true ‘Who do you think you are?’ fashion, one of the Speary’s descendants (albeit through a string of maternal lines) was identified as a famous jazz musician. Quite a family history story that all started out with ‘I wonder…”
