Person:James Snelling (1)

James Snelling was born on 21st December 1799 and baptised the following month at Crawley in Sussex. He was the son of Sarah Snelling, formerly Razell, and her husband William Snelling, a tallow chandler. James was the fourth of their ten children.

On 3rd May 1824, aged 24, James married Mary Sayers at Ifield, immediately west of Crawley. They went on to have seven children together between 1824 and 1840, although one daughter died when just a few days old in 1832. The first six children were baptised at Crawley, although the family’s abode was sometimes given as Ifield – the parish boundary between Crawley and Ifield at this time was such that parts of the urban area of Crawley village were actually in Ifield parish. James was described as a carpenter on all his children’s baptisms.

James’s father died in 1830.

Mary died on 8th March 1840 of peritonitis, shortly after giving birth to her seventh child. The baby was baptised privately a few days later at Ifield – the private baptism possibly indicating that they thought the child’s life was in danger too. As it happens, she survived.

The 1841 census finds James and his five elder children living at Cross Keys Cottages in Crawley. His youngest daughter was being looked after by a widow called Martha Sayers in Ifield – quite likely a relative of James’s late wife.

On 9th September 1844, aged 44, James married again. His second wife was a widow called Maria Dancy, formerly Thompson, and they married at Worth, a couple of miles east of Crawley. They had a son, Oscar Thompson Snelling, the following year at Crawley.

James’s eldest two sons both married in Brighton in 1847, and his first two grandchildren were born the following year.

Sometime between 1845 and 1851 James and Maria left Crawley and moved over sixty miles west to Southampton. The 1851 census finds James, Maria, their son, two of James’s children from his first marriage and Maria’s sister living together at 14 Princes Street, which was also called Sussex Cottage – possibly a name they had given it themselves, naming it after the county they had recently left.

Maria died at home at Sussex Cottage in March 1858 after a short illness. She was said to be 53 years old.

On 21st July 1859, aged 59, James married for a third time. His third wife was a widow called Margaret Chisholm, formerly Gamble, and they married at the Register Office in Southampton. The 1861 census finds James and Margaret living at 1 Princes Street with James’s son from his second marriage and Margaret’s son from her first marriage. James’s stepson died in 1864, aged 24.

James’s youngest son, Oscar, moved to Swansea in Wales, where in 1865 he founded his own non-denominational church and became a popular preacher there for many years.

Back in Crawley, James’s mother died in August 1869.

James died just over four months later, on 8th January 1870 at Chantry Road in Southampton, just a few days after his seventieth birthday. He had lived to see at least 27 grandchildren born in his lifetime, although some had died young. Margaret survived him by six years.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Crawley, Sussex: Parish Registers (West Sussex County Council, Chichester).

   Baptisms / 1800 / Janu[ar]y 19. Baptized James Son of Will[ia]m & Sarah Snelling, born Dec[embe]r 21

   This baptism has been linked to the James Snelling who married Mary Sayers then Maria Thompson then Margaret Gamble on the basis of the censuses in which the adult James indicated that he had been born around 1799 in Crawley, and his second and third marriage certificates which give his father’s name as William Snelling, tallow chandler. The baptism for William and Sarah’s younger son Edwin notes that William was a tallow chandler.

2. ↑ England. 1841 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 1111; Book 5; Folio 11; Page 17, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Cross Keys Cottages, Crawley, Sussex
   James Snelling, male, 35 [1801-6], Carpenter, born in county
   Louis Snelling, female, 15 [1821-6], Carpenter Ap[prentice], born in county
   Edwin Snelling, male, 13 [1827/8], Shoe M[aker] Ap[prentice], born in county
   Alfred Snelling, male, 11 [1829/30], born in county
   Margaret Snelling, female, 7 [1833/4], born in county
   Emily Snelling, female, 4 [1836/7], born in county

3. ↑ England. 1851 Census Returns for England and Wales. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 1669; Folio 287; Page 38, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: Sussex Cottage, 14 Princes Street, Southampton (St Mary), Hampshire
   Ja[me]s Snelling, head, married, male, 48 [1802/3], Carpenter, b. Sussex
   Maria Snelling, wife, female, 46 [1804/5], Housekeeper, b. London
   Alfred Snelling, son, unmarried, male, 27 [1823/4], Shoemaker, b. Sussex
   Mary A. Snelling, daughter, female, 11 [1839/40], at School, b. Sussex
   Oscar Snelling, son, male, 6 [1844/5], at School, b. Sussex
   Sarah Thompson, wife’s sister, female, 47 [1803/4], Nurse, b. Sussex

4. ↑ England. 1861 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG9; Piece 674; Folio 160; Page 42, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: 1 Princes Street, Southampton (St Mary), Hampshire
   James Snelling, head, married, male, 56 [1804/5], Carpenter, b. Crawley, Sussex
   Margaret Snelling, wife, married, female, 47 [1813/4], b. Scotland
   Oscar Snelling, son, unmarried, male, 15 [1845/6], Printer, b. Crawley, Sussex
   Alexander Chisholm, son, unmarried, male, 21 [1839/40], Brewer, b. Hull, Yorkshire

5. ↑ Deaths index, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   d. James SNELLING, March Quarter 1870, Southampton Registration District, Volume 2c, page 5, aged 68 [1801/2]

6. ↑ Hampshire Advertiser (Southampton), in United Kingdom. The British Newspaper Archive
   Page 4, Saturday 15 Jan 1870.

   DEATHS…
   On the 8th inst., in Chantry-road, Southampton, Mr. James Snelling, aged 69.