John LACEY

Sources:

St. Mary Magdalene, Woolwich, Kent, England Christening Printout
1841 Census, Woolwich (Dockyard), Kent, England, (FHL#306883)
1851 Census, Woolwich (Dockyard), Kent, England, (FHL#174825)
1881 National Census Index
Ancestral File - Version 4.19 - nil
Woolwich Parish Registers searched in England
Marriage Certificate of John Lacey and Elizabeth Mills by correspondence from Kent, England
St. Mary Magdalene, Woolwich, Kent, England Christening Printout, by correspondence
Internet IGI 2007, January
Lacey Family Research - http://cybrary.uwinnipeg.ca/people/dobson/genealogy/ff/Lacey.cfm

Notes:

                   OCCUPATION:
    Licensed Victualler

NOTE:
     1851 England census states that he was born in Norfolk, England.

WILL:
    Will dated 26 Mar 1849, proved 23 Aug 1851 at London.  States that he has eight children (ignores son Robert?).

RESEARCH NOTE:
    There are abviously two couples named John and Elizabeth Lacey having children at the same time in the same parish.  all children were previously listed under this John, but the birth dates are often listed within a few months of one another, proving there were at least two couples having children at the same time in this parish.  It is possible that this John's father, also John (whose first wife was Mary and died in 1810) remarried an Elizabeth around 1812 or so and was the father of these additional children.  These two families have been separated based on names, dates, and the will of this John, husband of Elizabeth Mills.  An extensive treatment of this issue, though not fully conclusive, is offered by John Blythe Dobson at http://cybrary.uwinnipeg.ca/people/dobson/genealogy/ff/Lacey.cfm.  A copy is included in the notes.







    
L A C E Y 
Introduction
My connection to the Lacey family is somewhat indirect. Philippa Marjorie Oxenham (Menzies) Mark (1908-1976)  a widow at the time of the marriage  was the second wife of my maternal grandfather, Alan Blythe (the father of my adoptive mother). As they were married over a year before my own birth, she was the only grandmother I ever knew on that side of the family, and her granddaughter, Sherri Lynn Mark, was always regarded as a cousin by my sister and me. Grannie Blythe figures prominently in our memories. This page treats (in Part I) the family of her mother, who lived (albeit briefly) into my lifetime, but whose knowledge, incidentally, of her cousinship with Hubert Bland  one of whose wives, Edith Nesbitt, was one of the most famous writers of her day  either died with her, or with her daughter. The pride the family might have felt in its affiliation with so distinguished a woman of letters was presumably vitiated by her and her husbands scandalous lifestyle. Despite my incessant interrogations of my grandmother on matters of family history  and for a number of reasons I believe it is nearly impossible that she could have been unaware of the connection  I myself had no knowledge of the matter until it was brought to my attention by Daryl Lacey (of whom below). Having read a number of Edith Nesbitts novels as a child, I am delighted to present this information here, regardless of how repugnant it may have been to my grandmother. 

The sources of the account below are, unless otherwise stated, family papers in my possession, or at least seen by me. In what follows, three sections are devoted to a group of Lacey families of Woolwich, Kent  situated since 1889 in the county of London  who were probably all connected in some way, followed by a brief list of unplaced persons, also of Woolwich. Further research, especially in early census records, will doubtless resolve some of the uncertainty as to their relationships. There does not appear to be notice of any of these persons in De Lacey Bellingari, The Roll of the House of Lacy (Baltimore, 1928), a work of over 400 pages. 

Acknowledgements
I should like to thank the following persons for assistance with these notes, but who of course should be held accountable for errors: 

Daryl Lacey, of Vancouver, B.C., who first contacted me shortly after the original appearance of this page in early 2003, and has maintained a steady supply of fresh material ever since; his contributions have been extensive and significant, but he has modestly requested that they not be individually acknowledged where they appear 
Stephen Kirkman, author of a valuable database on the Pettigrew and Kirkman families cited below, who kindly sent material on Elizabeth (Lacey) Pettigrew 
Oliver Blomfield Lacey 
Jenny Poll, not a Lacey descendant but a Smith descendant, who sent valuable information from family papers 
Yvonne Buhagiar-Fountain, descended from a Smith family who may have been collateral relatives of the Laceys, who furnished material from South African archives. 
Louise Bourque, of Maine, U.S.A., who sent information on the on Margaret Mary Katherine Sopp, wife of Blomfield Lacy. 


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Part I
The Lacey family to which the victualer of Mulgrave Place (see no. 2 below) belonged had a family plot in Woolwich churchyard, containing a monument on which the following inscriptions could still be read in the early twentieth century:[1] 

Mary wife of Mr. John Lacey died 30 January 1810 aged 46. 
Robert Long son of above died 15 April 1810 aged 17. 
Robert Edward son of John and Elizabeth Lacey died 9 March 1817 aged 6 days. 
Mr. John Lacey died 29 October 1841 aged 75. 
Mr. John Lacey [the victualer of Mulgrave Place], son of above died 26 June 1851 aged 56. 
The first generation of the pedigree below is largely a reconstruction based on this monument. 



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1. John Lacey (Sr.), of North Walsham, Norfolk, and possibly also of Woolwich, Kent, b. 1765-66, d. 29 Oct. 1841, aged 75 years. He m. before 1792, Mary ____, b. 1763-64, d. 30 Jan. 1810, aged 46 years. John and Mary Lacey were living at North Walsham, Norfolk, in 1792 and 1795, at the baptisms of their sons Robert and John. North Walsham may have been the seat of the family, as the name appears regularly in the parish registers from 1575 onward. Despite the presence of the memorial to them at Woolwich, Kent, we have not found evidence that they actually resided there themselves. 
      John Lacey (Sr.) may have married for a second time, a woman named Elizabeth ____, to account for the parentage of the Robert Edward Lacey (born and died 1817) on the monument, which suggests the possibility that he may have been identical with the John Lacey treated in Part II below, whose wife was an Elizabeth. (However, we note that he cannot have been identical with this other man if the latter was indeed the father of the Robert Thomas Lacey born in b. 1813-14, as he would hardly have named a son Robert in 1817 if he already had a living son of the same name.) The child Robert Edward Lacey cannot have been a son of John Lacey Jr., below, for his birth would precede that of a known daughter by only two months. 
      John Lacey Sr. had the following issue by his wife Mary:[2] 

Robert Long Lacey, b. 10 Sept. 1792, bapt. 13 Sept. 1792 at North Walsham, Norfolk, d. v.p. 15 April 1810, aged 17 years. 
2John Lacey, b. 22 March 1795, and bapt. 25 March 1795 in the parish church of North Walsham, Norfolk. 
2. John Lacey [Jr.], of Woolwich, son of John and Mary (____) Lacey above, and called on his tombstone Mr. John Lacey, son of  Mr. John Lacey, was b. 22 March 1795, bapt. 25 March 1795 in the parish church of North Walsham, Norfolk, d. 26 June 1851, his age at the time being variously reported as 56 years (per his burial record and his tombstone) or 57 years (per his death notice, cited below), and buried 1 July following at the parish church of St. Mary, Woolwich.[3] We reject the statement of an unsourced patrons submission record indexed in the IGI which claims that he was baptized 12 April 1795 in the parish church of St. Michael, Norwich, Norfolk. He m. 17 Dec 1812 in the parish church of Greenwich, Middlesex,[4] Elizabeth Mills, b. ca. 1794-96 (aged 57 in 1851, 65 in 1861, 75 in 1871) at Woolwich, living 1871, daughter of Thomas Mills. The record of their marriage reads: John Lacey of this parish, bachelor, a minor, and Elizabeth Mills, spinster, of this parish, a minor, with the conset of John Lacey and thomas Mills their natural and lawful fathers. Elizabets identification is corroborated by the present of a niece, Louisa Mills, in their household at the taking of the 1851 census, as below. They would appear to have been absent from Woolwich during 1821-29, judging from the gap in the baptisms of their children there. He was certainly of Mulgrave Place, Woolwich, and was presumably either the wine and spirit merchant, or the proprietor of the Red Lion, or both, recorded in Pigots directories of the 1830s, and in the 1851 postal directory.[5] He was enumerated at nos. 14 and 15 Mulgrave Place, Woolwich, in the 1841 census, in which he is called an innkeeper.[6] He appears at no. 14 Mulgrave Place in the 1851 census, in which he is called a licensed victualler.[7] Living with them at the time was a niece, Louisa Mills, aged 20, and born at Woolwich, who was working for him as a barmaid.[8] He is likewise called of Mulgrave Place in his burial record. 
      In his will, dated 26 March 1849, and proved 23 Aug. 1851 at London, in which he styles himself John Lacey, of Woolwich in the County of Kent, Victualer, he mentions his dear wife Elizabeth, his eight children (apparently not quite in order of birth, and ignoring his son Robert) Caroline Mills, Mary Ann Bland, Elizabeth Pettigrew, Emma Lacey, John Lacey, Adelaide Lacy, Harry Lacy, and Clara Lacey, and his sons in law Harry Bland and Thomas Mills who, together with his wife, he appoints executors. He also mentions, but does not name, grandchildren. He requests burial in the family grave at Woolwich.[9] A brief notice of his death describes him as Mr. J. Lacey, of Mulgrave-place, Woolwich, aged 57.[10] His widow was living with her widowed daughter, Elizabeth (Lacey) Pettigrew, in 1861, when she is described as a fund-holder,[11] and in 1871, in which her income is ascribed to dividends and house property.[12] 
      Known issue, all baptisms except the first in the parish church of Saint Mary Magdalene, Woolwich: 

3Robert Thomas Lacey, b. in 1813-14 (aged 37 in 1851) at Greenwich, bapt. 13 Feb. 1814 in the parish church of St. Alphage, Greenwich, Kent (IGI). 
Caroline Lacey, b. 18 Aug. 1815, bapt. 13 Sept. 1815. She m. 11 April 1836 in St. Mary Magdalene, Thomas Mills, b. ca. 1810-11 (aged 70 in 1881) at Woolwich, who is called a son-in-law in, and appointed one of the executors of, her fathers will. Their marriage record does not name his father, and we are unable to say whether he was some kind of relative. They were living at no. 34 Crescent Road, Plumstead, Lewisham, Kent, in 1861, at which time they had four children living with them; Thomas is called a tailor.[13] They were living at 29 Wood Street, Woolwich, in 1881, when he is called a retired tailor; the only other member of their household at the time was a servant.[14] This couple probably had other children who died young, considering the large gaps between the birthdates of their known children. Known issue: 
Lacey Mills [male], Lacey Mills b. 23 July 1837 at Woolwich, bapt. 18 Aug. following in the parish church of Saint Mary Magdalene, Woolwich (IGI). He was living unmarried with his parents in 1861, when he was a tailor like his father. He m. in 1877 in the Woolwich registration district,[15] Eliza Plaisted. They are found at no. 6, Greens End, Woolwich, in the 1881 census, in which he is called Lucey (sic) Mills, sailor. [16] 
Elizabeth Mills, b. 1839-40 (aged 21 in 1861) at Woolwich, living unmarried with her parents in 1861, no occupation being shown for her. 
Harcourt Mills, b. 1846-47 (aged 4 in 1851, 14 in 1861) at Koolwich, attending school in 1861. He m. 29 Feb. 1876 in the parish church of Saint James, Westminster, London (IGI),[17] Jemima Henderson. He appears at no. 3 Vicarage Park, Plumstead, Kent, in the 1881 census, in which he is called an auctioneer, but the rest of his family appears at no. 19 Marine Square, Brighton, where they evidently were on vacation.[18] 
Alice Mills, b. 1853 (aged 7 in 1861; birth registered in April-June quarter of 1853) at Plumstead, Kent; attending school in 1861. 
Elizabeth Lacey, b. 9 May 1817 in Woolwich, bapt. 6 June 1817, living 1871 and almost certainly also in 1881. She was living unmarried with her parents at the taking of the census of 6 June 1841. She m. in 1841 (after 6 June),[19] Robert Pettigrew, d. by 7 April 1861 (he was dead by the taking of the census in that year). They were of Mulgrave Place, Woolwich, the following year, when their eldest child was born. The widowed Elizabeth Pettigue (sic), aged 43 years, described as a fund-holder (i.e. pensioner, probably) is found with her son James (but not her daughter Ada), her widowed mother, her sister Clara, and her daughter Adas future husband Charles William Kirkman, at 25 Culverston Terrace, Hackney, in the 1861 census.[20] She was living at no. 54 Amersham Vale, Deptford St. Paul, in the 1871 census, which ascribes her income to house property her household included her son William, her widowed mother, and a servant.[21] She was probably also the Elizabeth Pettigrew, widow, aged 63 years and born in Woolwich, found lodging with an apparently unrelated family at 18 Unity Place, Woolwich, the source of her income being recorded as ground rents and shares.[22] This couple had at least three children:[23] 
Ada Nutt Pettigrew, b. 4 July 1842 at Mulgrave Place, Woolwich, d. 21 June 1874 at Romford, Essex. She m. (as his first wife) 13 June 1861 in the parish church of Homerton, Middlesex, Charles William Kirkman, b. 3 April 1840 at Stockwell Green, Brixton, Lambeth, Surrey, d. 20 Jan. 1879 at Essex Asylum, South Weald, Brentwood, Essex, son of John Kirkham, of Betsham, Kent. As we are informed by Stephen Kirkman, Charles is mentioned in the 1866 will of his father, John Kirkman of Betsham in the county of Kent Gentleman. They appear in the 1871 census at no. 14 Bignold Road, West Ham, Forest Gate, Essex, in the 1871 census, in which Charles Kirkman is called a general agent.[24] Following Adas death in 1874, Charles Kirkman married secondly, 10 Dec. 1874 in St. Marys Church, Plaistow, Essex, Julia Ellen Scholey, by whom he had further issue; one of their sons was the grandfather of Stephen Kirkman. Issue:[25] 
Guy Benjamin Lacey Kirkman, b. 20 Oct. 1864 at Southfleet, Kent. Stephen Kirkman points out the possibility that he could have been the Guy Kirkman, aged 15 years, born in England of parents both also born there, who was a laborer on the farm of an Alfred F. Giddings, of San Mateo, California, in 1880.[26] 
Henry Kirkman, b. 8 Jan. 1871 at no. 7 Camperdown Villas, Hammerton, Hackney, Middlesex, of whom no further record has been found. 
Charlotte Pettigrew, birth registered March 1846 in Stepney district, not living with her mother in 1861. 
James John Pettigrew, birth registered March 1845 in Greenwich district, living with his mother in 1861. He has not been found in the LDS index to the 1881 census of England. 
William H. Pettigrew, b. 1848-49 (aged 22 in 1871) at Woolwich; living unmarried with his widowed mother in 1871, when he was an unemployed clerk. 
Mary Ann Lacey, b. 20 April 1819 at Woolwich, bapt. 14 May 1819, d. in Aug. 1893.[27] She m. in 1840,[28] Henry Bland, bapt. 6 March 1809 in the parish church of Woolwich, d. by 1881, who is named asa son-in-law in, and appointed one of the executors of, her fathers will; he was a son of Cornelius Bland, of Woolwich, plumber and house-painter (who mentions him in his 1832 will),[29] by the latters wife Elizabeth. The 1851 census records them at Wood Street with three children. As Mary A. Bland, widow and annuitant, aged 61 years, she is found in the 1881 census at 46 Samuel Street, Woolwich, with a son Hubert, aged 25, unmarried, a brush-manufacturer, Margaret Doran, aged 24, euphemistically described as a visitor, and a servant-girl.[30] Known issue: 
William Henry Bland, b. 28 Dec. 1840, bapt. 7 Feb. 1841 in the parish church of Saint Mary Magdalene, Woolwich, d. by 1851. 
Henry Kinton Bland, b. 7 Aug. 1841, bapt. 3 Sept. 1841 in the parish church of Saint Mary Magdalene, Woolwich, living 1851. We have not found a plausible match for him in the LDS index to the 1881 census. 
Percy Owen Bland, b. 9 Nov. 1842, bapt. 7 Dec. 1842 in the parish church of Saint Mary Magdalene, Woolwich, living 1851. According to Briggs, he was no longer living with his parents in 1861.[31] We have not found him in the LDS index to the 1881 census. 
Helen Bland, b. 2 April 1844,