Person:James Copps (1)

James Copps was baptised on 12th August 1792 at Weston in Hertfordshire, son of Mary Copps, formerly Dearman, and her husband James Copps.

On 19th October 1811, aged 19, James married Mary Berry at Weston. They went on to have ten children baptised at Weston between 1812 and 1838, although two died as babies.

James's father died in 1829 and his mother died in 1833.

The 1841 census finds James and Mary living with some of their children and grandchildren in Weston. James was working as an agricultural labourer.

James's son James died as a young man in 1842.

Mary died in 1847, and was buried at Weston on 24th February that year. There was quite a discrepancy between the ages quoted on her death certificate, which says she was 58, and her burial record, which says she was 45. The death certificate is more consistent with the age she had indicated in the 1841 census. A couple of months later James's son Richard died too.

After Mary's death James initially continued living in Weston, appearing there in the 1851 census living with his daughter Hannah and her family. James's son George died later that year, meaning that James outlived all his sons. His daughter Hannah emigrated to America in 1853, after which James does not appear to have had any children living in Weston.

By 1861 James had gone to live with his daughter Elizabeth and her family, who had settled at Edmonton in Middlesex.

It would appear that James died in 1862 at the Westminster Hospital in London. He was buried on 3rd July 1862 at the Victoria Park Cemetery in Bethnal Green in the eastern suburbs of London. He was 69 years old.

1. ↑ Church of England. Weston Parish Registers, 1539-1932. (Hertford: Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies).

   Baptisms 1792: Aug[us]t 12 James the Son of James Copps & Mary his Wife

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 437; Book 10; Folio 23; Page 5, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Weston, Hertfordshire
   James Cops, male, 45 [1791-6], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], born in county
   Mary Cops, female, 50 [1786-91], born in county
   Hannah Cops, female, 20 [1816-21], born in county
   Richard Cops, male, 15 [1821-6], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], born in county
   Sarah Cops, female 8, [1832/3], born in county
   Charlotte Cops, female, 3 [1837/8], born in county
   Edward Lawman Cops, male, 1m [1841], born in county
   George Cops, male, 60 [1776-81], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], 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 1709; Folio 176; Page 2, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: Village, Weston, Hertfordshire
   John Bates, head, married, male, 37 [1813/4], Butcher, b. Abbotsley, Huntingdonshire
   Hannah Bates, wife, married, female, 33 [1817/18], b. Weston, Hertfordshire
   Edward Bates, son, male, 9 [1841/2], Scholar, b. Weston, Hertfordshire
   Mary Bates, daughter, female, 7 [1843/4], Scholar, b. Weston, Hertfordshire
   Elizabeth Bates, daughter, female, 6 [1844/5], Scholar, b. Weston, Hertfordshire
   Samuel Bates, son, male, 4 [1846/7], b. Weston, Hertfordshire
   Wilfred Bates, son, 8 months [1850], b. Weston, Hertfordshire
   James Copps, father, male, 56 [1794/5], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], b. Weston, Hertfordshire

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 796; Folio 43; Page 23, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: Church Road, Upper Edmonton, Edmonton, Middlesex
   Richard Munt, head, married, male, 41 [1819/20], Bricklayer, b. Weston, Hertfordshire
   Elizabeth Munt, wife, married, female, 40 [1820/1], Bricklayer Wife, b. Weston, Hertfordshire
   Eliza Munt, daughter, unmarried, female, 9 [1851/2], Scholar, b. Edmonton, Middlesex
   Frederick Munt, son, unmarried, male, 4mo [1860], b. Edmonton, Middlesex
   James Cops, visitor, widower, male, 72 [1788/9], Farm Lab[oure]r, b. Weston, Hertfordshire
   Joseph Clark, lodger, unmarried, male, 40 [1820/1], Bricklayer, b. Weston, Hertfordshire

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

   d. James COPSEY, September Quarter 1862, Westminster Registration District, Volume 1a, page 195, aged 67 [1794/5]

   No obvious James Copps / Cops / Copse death of the right age can be found in England and Wales after 1861, when he appears in the census in Edmonton. Conversely, no obvious James Copsey of around this age has been found in the 1861 census. As James was living not far from London in the 1861 census and this James Copsey is about the right age and with a phonetically very similar name, it seems reasonable to conclude that he is likely to be the same man.

6. ↑ Victoria Park Cemetery Burials, in England & Wales, Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers, 1567-1970 (The National Archives / ancestry.co.uk)
   Class RG8; Piece 45; Volume 4, 1860-1863.

   1862
   Copsey / James / Westminster H[os]p[ita]l / 3 July / 67 y[ea]rs