My great, great grandfather, Jeremiah Taylor, 1790-1853 was described over generations as an ‘East India Man’, possibly also a Ship’s Captain! However, was he really?
My sister has a coin which was minted by the British East India Company in 1837. When our grandfather gave it to her, he told her it “belonged to Nanna’s grandfather”, our great, great grandfather, Jeremiah Taylor, 1790-1853. I called my sister to ask her about the coin. Researching it some years ago, she found it to be the coin be a ‘Half Anna’ minted in 1837 by the British East India Company. (Museums Victoria – Bombay Mint, Medal & Coin Makers, India https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/articles/1873) My sister then commented that, while she had heard Jeremiah described as an ‘East India Man’, she’d never heard him described as a ship’s captain as I had done. On reflection, I have found no clear evidence of his being a ship’s captain, so have needed to rethink this. My sister mentioned meeting another of Jeremiah’s descendants, Dean Taylor, who appeared to have a deep understanding of the patriarchal line of his family and who clearly described Jeremiah and his son, Port Phillip Bay ship’s pilot, Henry Taylor, as ‘East India Men’. Interestingly, the term ‘East Indiaman’ was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter or licence to any of the East India trading companies of the major European trading powers (Austria, Denmark, Holland, England, France, Portugal, Sweden) of the 17th through the 19th centuries. ‘East Indiamen’ carried both passengers and goods, and were large, galleon like ships armed, often heavily, to defend themselves against pirates and privateers. The British East India company maintained a monopoly on trade with initially India, then later other Eastern countries, from 1600 until 1834, with the company’s power, and its larger galleon vessels, being phased out over the coming decades. In terms of his age, Jeremiah is likely to have worked with the during the period between 1810 and 1840 when he was twenty to fifty years old. Although Jeremiah was born and spent his childhood in a farming hamlet, Tattershall Thorpe, in Lincolnshire, family records relating to his adult life, including his marriage, births, baptisms, marriages and deaths, list the busy port and market town of Boston, Lincolnshire, as his place of residence during his twenties and thirties. Jeremiah appears most likely to have been employed as an experienced mariner who presented himself to the East India Company for work on voyages as they became available. The ‘half anna’ coin suggests that he was employed by the British East India Company c 1837, when he was in his mid to late forties. He is likely to have done this for periods of time, eventually retiring to Lincolnshire to farm. When his youngest daughter, my great grandmother, was born in 1847, he was 57 and listed on her baptism record as ’farmer’. I need to find records from the 1820’s and 30’s which clearly record that Jeremiah was a mariner. The first available UK census –1841 - appears to contain no record for Jeremiah or his son Henry. Perhaps they were at sea for an extended period? Sea faring mariners and apprentice mariners are likely to be difficult to find in Census. I am certain I have seen records described Jeremiah as a mariner in the St Botolph’s Boston baptism records for his children in the 1820’s and 1830’s – I just need to access them again! I’ve also found that Ancestry.com now has a listing of employees of the British East India Company which I am thinking of pursuing – however there are two hundred or more ‘J Taylors’! Overall, I haven’t fully ‘busted’ the original myth. I have firmed up my hypotheses surrounding Jeremiah having been ‘an East India Man’ and rejected the notion that he was a Ship’s Captain. I’m still looking for more concrete evidence of Jeremiah having been an East Indiaman and have at least two avenues still to pursue! Bev Lee June 2022 Comments are closed.
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The Journey ...An 'occasional blog' recording elements of my renewed family history journey. This is the second wave in my 'family history' journey. The first lasted from 2010 to 2014. with intermittent bursts since then. It's time to revisit, to share more stories, to edit, to tackle uncertainties... Categories
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