Person:Hannah Argent (8)

Hannah Argent was born about 1785 in Bow, London. So far we do not know who her parents were, though I think we've identified a couple of siblings.

When Hannah was 19 she married Reuben Pressman on 6 Jul 1804 at St. Mary's Church, Stratford Bow. Witnesses were John and Ann Pressman (Reuben's parents) and Elizabeth Argent (possibly her mother? sister? sister in law?). Hannah and Reuben had the following children:

1. William Pressman b. 23 Aug 1806 in Bow, bap. 21 Sep 1806 at St. Mary's Church, Stratford Bow. He must have died before 1817 as Hannah and Reuben christened another son William that year.
2. Reuben Pressman b. 29 May 1810 in Poplar, bap. 1 Jul 1810 at St. Dunstan and All Saints Church. He grew up to be a lighterman.
3. Sarah Pressman b. abt 1813 in Poplar.
4. Mary Ann Pressman b. 8 Sep 1814 in Poplar, bap. 5 Oct 1814 at All Saints Church, Poplar.
5. William Pressman b. 26 Jun 1817 in Poplar, bap. 23 Jul 1817 at All Saints Church, Poplar.

Reuben Pressman died some time between 1817 and 1820, leaving Hannah with four children. She married again soon after, on 26 Jul 1820 at St. Leonard's Church, Shoreditch to waterman Enos Redknap. Witnesses were John Pressman (her father-in-law) and Clifford Elisha (sp?). They had one child that we know of,

6. Arabella Amelia Redknap b. 3 Apr 1821 in Poplar, bap. 2 May 1821 at All Saints Church, Poplar.

Hannah was 36 when Arabella was born, and perhaps this is why we haven't found that they had other children. In any case, Enos died and was buried 8 Aug 1828 at All Saints Church, Poplar, London, England aged 33 years. In 1831 her daughter Sarah married Enos' first cousin, lighterman Joseph Edward Redknap.

Sometime between 1828 and 1834 Hannah moved to Greenwich, where she married for a third time, to a Thomas Melvin of Greenwich, on 20 Jan 1834 at St. Alfege Church, Greenwich. Again, an Elizabeth Argent was a witness - what relation was she? Shortly afterwards her daughter Mary Ann married Portuguese mariner James Lowther on 24 Mar 1834 at St. Anne's Church, Limehouse. Witnesses to the wedding were Mary Ann's brother Reuben and a Sarah Argent (who I believe to be Mary Ann's aunt, Hannah's sister). Hannah was a witness to her daughter Arabella Amelia Redknap's marriage to shipwright Thomas Ingram at St. George in the East Church on 8 Jan 1841.

By the 1841 census Hannah was back in Poplar, living on Leicester Street with Mary Ann, her husband James and their first child William. Thomas Melvin was not living with Hannah in the 1841 or 1851 censuses though she still claimed to be married in 1851 (perhaps he was a mariner and was away at the time?). Also living with Hannah and the Lowther's in 1841 were Sarah Redknap, Hannah's granddaughter (daughter of Sarah Pressman) and lighterman Thomas Argent (who I believe to be Hannah's brother).

Hannah's son Reuben Pressman was married 2 Sep 1844 at St. Anne's Church, Limehouse to Elizabeth Cross. Reuben's sister Mary Ann was a witness.

On the 1851 census Hannah was still living at 6 Leicester Street with Mary Ann and her children (perhaps James was at sea at the time). The census entry lists Hannah as the head and is supposed to state the relationship of each person to the head but the relationships have been mixed up a little, with most of the listed relationships being to Mary Ann. See the source entry below for a transcription and interpretation of the form, but the household basically consisted of: Hannah; her daughter Mary Ann (Pressman) Lowther and her children Mary Ann, George and Alfa Lowther; Hannah's daughter Sarah (Pressman) Redknap and her children Georgeana, Sarah and Mary Ann Redknap; Sarah Argent, Hannah's sister; and Thomas Argent, Hannah's brother. It was a very crowded house of 11 people, with Thomas again working as a lighterman, Sarah Argent working as a servant, Sarah (Pressman) Redknap working as a dressmaker, and Hannah relying on parish relief (there may be some parish relief records existing for further research?)

Hannah died at 6 Leicester Street on 28 Jan 1854 at the age of 73 due to "dropsy" (edema probably due to heart failure). A Mary Ann Cornwallis was present at the death, though it is not yet known what relation, if any, Mary Ann was to Hannah. Hannah was buried on 5 Feb 1854 at All Saints Church, Poplar.

DNA Genealogy

If you are a descendant of Hannah Argent and would like to compare autosomal DNA results please contact Jocelyn_K_B (at) yahoo.com for kit numbers

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Bow, London, England. St. Mary's Church Parish Records
   "London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921," Reuben Pressman m. Hannah Argent, 6 Jul 1804; accessed 13 Mar 2010, 13 Mar 2010.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Middlesex, England. 1841 Census
   Poplar, folio 38, page 2; digital images, \i Ancestry.com\i0  (www.ancestry.com : accessed 31 Jan 2011); citing PRO HO 107/702/2, 31 Jan 2011.

   Name Age
   James Lowther 30
   Mary Ann Lowther 27
   William Ch Lowther 7
   Hannah Melvin 60
   Thomas August 46 - brother?
   Sarah Redknap 8 - granddaughter

3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Middlesex, England. 1851 Census
   Poplar, folio 138, page 31; digital images, \i Ancestry.com\i0  (www.ancestry.com : accessed 28 Jan 2011); citing PRO HO 107/1556, 28 Jan 2011.

   Name Age
   Hannah Melvin 66 - "Head"
   Mary Ann Lowther 34 - "Dau"
   Sarah Argent 40 - "Aunt" - to Mary Ann, sister to Hannah? - unmarried
   Thomas Argent 50 - "Uncle" - to Mary Ann, brother to Hannah? - unmarried
   Sarah Redknap 38 - "Sister" - to Mary Ann, daughter to Hannah. (nee Pressman)
   Georgena Redknap 14 - "Dau" - of Sarah Redknap (nee Pressman)
   Sarah Redknap 8 - "Son" - of Sarah Redknap (nee Pressman)
   Mary Ann Redknap 3 - "Dau" - of Sarah Redknap (nee Pressman)
   Mary Ann Lowther 5 - "Dau" - of Mary Ann
   Geo Lowther 1 - "Son" - of Mary Ann
   Alfa Lowther 3 MO - "Son" - of Mary Ann

4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3} Poplar, London, England. All Saints Church Parish Records
   "London, England, Deaths and Burials, 1813-1980," Hannah Melvin, bur. 5 Feb 1854, pg 129; accessed 31 Jan 2011, 31 Jan 2011.
5. ↑ ^5.0 5.1 General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Death Index. (London, United Kingdom: General Register Office, 1837-Present)
   entry for Hannah Melvin, volume 1c, page 474, Jan-Feb-Mar quarter 1854, Greater London, London, Middlesex district, Poplar (To 1965) sub-district; accessed 31 Jan 2011, 31 Jan 2011.
6. ↑ ^6.0 6.1 Poplar, London, England. All Saints Church Parish Records
   "London, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906," Mary Ann Pressman, bap. 5 Oct 1814, pg 27; accessed 31 Jan 2011, 31 Jan 2011.
7. ↑ ^7.0 7.1 Shoreditch, London, England. St. Leonard's Church, Parish Registers
   "London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921," Enos Redknap m. Hannah Pressman, 26 Jul 1820; accessed 13 Mar 2010, 13 Mar 2010.
8. ↑ Poplar, London, England. All Saints Church Parish Records
   "London, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906," Arabella Amelia Redknap, bap. 2 May 1821; accessed 8 Nov 2009, 8 Nov 2009.
9. ↑ ^9.0 9.1 Greenwich, London, England. St. Alfege Church, Parish Registers
   "London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921," Thomas Melvin m. Hannah Redknap, 20 Jan 1834; accessed 13 Mar 2010, 13 Mar 2010.
10. ↑ Stepney, London, England. Saint Dunstan And All Saints Church Parish Records
    "London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812," Rheuben Pressman, bap. 1 Jul 1810; accessed 31 Jan 2011, 31 Jan 2011.
11. ↑ Poplar, London, England. All Saints Church Parish Records
    "London, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906," William Pressman, bap. 23 Jul 1817, pg 74; accessed 2 Feb 2011, 2 Feb 2011.
12. ↑ ^12.0 12.1 General Register Office. England & Wales. Certified Copy of an Entry of Death
    death certificate for Hannah Melvin, died 28 Jan 1854; citing 1c/474/393, Jan-Mar quarter 1854, Poplar Union registration district, Poplar sub-district; General Register Office, Southport. .
    Hannah (Argent) Melvin death certificate