Person:Emma Cassanet (1)

Emma Cassanet was born on 31st January 1808 and baptised three month later at Bethnal Green in Middlesex, in the eastern suburbs of London. She was the daughter of Ann Cassanet, formerly Dean, and her husband Peter Vincent Cassanet, a linguist and teacher of mathematics, who was a Frenchman who had moved to England around the time of the French Revolution. He was reputedly from a wealthy or possibly noble family in France prior to the revolution. However, whilst Emma was young it seems likely that the family would have lived modestly in Bethnal Green.

On 2nd September 1829, aged 21, Emma married James Martin at St Luke's Church, Old Street, just outside the City of London to the north.

James and Emma appear to have had at least twelve children together between 1830 and 1851, although several died young. The first seven children were born in various locations in London's East End, with the family's address given as Hackney Road in Shoreditch in 1830, Gloucester Place in Bethnal Green in 1832, and London Fields in Hackney in 1834. They lived back in Shoreditch in 1838, at Poplar in 1839 and at Bethnal Green in 1841. James was described as both a silk manufacturer and school master whilst living in the London area.

Emma's mother died in 1837.

In the spring of 1842, two of their children, James and Augustine Cassanet, died in Bethnal Green at about the same time, aged two and one - their deaths were both registered on the same page.

Later that year the family left the London area and moved out to Whitwell, in the parish of St Paul's Walden in Hertfordshire. On 23rd November 1842 James was ordained as the pastor of the Independent Chapel in Whitwell.

The family remained at Whitwell for several years. Local newspapers describe how in the summer parties were organised for the Sunday School children of the village in a meadow that belonged to James's house. The family appears in Whitwell in the 1851 census, with James described as an "Independent Minister of Chapel".

Back in Hackney, Emma's father died in 1848.

James and Emma's youngest son was born in Whitwell later in 1851. Some time between 1851 and 1861 the family left Whitwell and returned to the London area, appearing at 7 Providence Place in Hackney in the 1861 census. James was described as a "Dissenting Minister Independent" at this time.

James died in 1870, aged 67. He was buried at Abney Park Cemetery in Stoke Newington on 16th December 1870.

The 1871 census finds Emma living with three of her children at 14 Rutland Road in Hackney. Ten years later Emma was living along in an almshouse at 2 Retreat Place in Hackney.

Emma died in Hackney in 1887, aged 79, being buried alongside James at Abney Park Cemetery on 23rd June 1887.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Church of England. Parish Registers of St Matthew, Bethnal Green.

   April 17 1808 / Emma Daughter of Peter Vincent and Ann Cassanet born 31st Jan[uar]y 1808

2. ↑ 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 1710; Folio 472; Page 27, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: Whitewell, Paulswalden, Hertfordshire
   James Martin, head, married, male, 46 [1804/5], Independent Minister of Chapel, b. London
   Emma Martin, wife, married, female, 42 [1808/9], b. London
   Emma Martin, daughter, female, 14 [1836/7], b. London
   Alfred Martin, son, male, 6 [1844/5], Scholar at Home, b. Paulswalden, Hertfordshire
   Charles Martin, son, male, 4 [1846/7], Scholar at Home, b. Paulswalden, Hertfordshire
   Ellen Martin, daughter, female, 3 [1847/8], b. Paulswalden, Hertfordshire
   James Martin, son, male, 2 [1848/9], b. Paulswalden, Hertfordshire

3. ↑ 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 164; Folio 90; Page 17, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: 7 Providence Place, South Hackney, Hackney, Middlesex
   James Martin, head, married, male, 55 [1805/6], Dissenting Minister Independent, b. Bethnal Green
   Emma Martin, wife, married, female, 52 [1808/9], b. Bethnal Green
   Emma Martin, daughter, unmarried, female, 23 [1837/8], b. Shoreditch
   Alfred Martin, son, male, 18 [1842/3], Wharfinger, b. Whitewell, Hertfordshire
   Charles Martin, son, male, 16 [1844/5], Jeweller, b. Whitewell, Hertfordshire
   Ellen Martin, daughter, female, 14 [1846/7], b. Whitewell, Hertfordshire
   James Martin, son, male, 12 [1848/9], b. Whitewell, Hertfordshire
   Arthur Martin, son, male, 10 [1850/1], b. Whitewell, Hertfordshire

4. ↑ England. England and Wales. 1871 Census Schedules. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG10; Piece 335; Folio 62; Page 23, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: 14 Rutland Road, Hackney, Middlesex
   Emma Martin, head, widow, female, 63 [1807/8], b. Bethnal Green, Middlesex
   Ellen Martin, daughter, unmarried, female, 24 [1846/7], b. Whitwell, Hertfordshire
   James Martin, son, unmarried, male, 21 [1849/50], Upholsterer, b. Whitewell, Hertfordshire
   Arthur Martin, son, unmarried, male, 19 [1851/2], Upholsterer, b. Whitewell, Hertfordshire

5. ↑ England. 1881 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 RG11; Piece 308; Folio 4; Page 1, 3 Apr 1881.

   Address: 2 Retreat Place, Hackney, Middlesex
   Emma Martin, head, widow, female, 73 [1807/8], Annuitant, b. Bethnal Green, Middlesex

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

   d. Emma MARTIN, June Quarter 1887, Hackney Registration District, Volume 1b, page 331, aged 79 [1807/8]

7. ↑ Abney Park Cemetery Registers, accessed 21 Mar 2020.

   bur. 23 Jun 1887, Abney Park Cemetery, grave 47098: Emma Martin, aged 79 of 5 Robinsons Retreat, Hackney

   Buried in same grave as husband James and granddaughter Ada Matilda Wonfor who died aged 7 months in 1877.