fbpx

Tag: blacksheep

Posted on

Ferdinando Kuffeler – Sheep of Many Colours?

Kuffeler galleon

For the past couple of weeks, I have dwelt on the darker side of our family histories. The black sheep and the shame they brought to their families at the time. Sometimes looking at their actions through our current day values rehabilitates them and shows them just to be human. Sometimes what they did will remain a dark stain on the family tree for all time.

Occasionally, however, it is difficult to know whether someone was a black sheep or just had a very exciting and unusual life! I have an ancestor who I am hesitant to label a black sheep using the limited amount of information I have. I have my suspicions he wasn’t always the ‘good guy’ but suspect his full story will never be known.

The glimpses into his life that I have found have intrigued me and left me wanting more. But for a man who clearly lived his life to the fullest, he left remarkably few records of it. Okay, that’s probably not true. There will be records somewhere. It’s just time to pull out all stops to find them. And perhaps I shouldn’t be writing about him till I’ve done that, but he irresistibly draws me in while we’re on this topic of ‘outrageous ancestors’!

Captain Ferdinando Kuffeler

Ferdinando Kuffeler was born in 1646, the son of Johannes Siebertus Kuffeler and his wife Catherine Drebbel (daughter of Cornelis Drebbel). I am yet to find evidence of his baptism. He may have been born in London where his father operated a dye works in Stratford-by-Bow. More likely he was born in the Netherlands, where the family also had dye works in Katwijk and Hulckenstyn near Arnhem, and where his younger brother Edward was baptised. My next step in locating his baptism records will be to do a deep dive into Dutch records around these areas in particular.

The first official records I have of his existence appear in 1668. On 22nd October, a marriage allegation is completed in London, showing him to be a bachelor of St Margaret’s Westminster, and his intended bride Katherine Graves of St Clements Danes. That very same day, they rushed off to the Chapel of the Holy Trinity in Knightsbridge and got married. In that same year, he is listed as a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber of Charles II. This is somewhat unsurprising, given that his grandfather had been at the court of James I, and his father had been involved in attempting to develop an exploding torpedo for Charles II.

Marriage allegation Ferdinando Kuffeler
Marriage allegation between Ferdinando Kuffeler and Katherine Graves.

Bigamist or widower?

At some stage, probably in the early to mid-1770s his wife bore him a daughter, Catherine. No baptism has been found, but she married in 1697 at St Margaret’s Westminster, to a John Burchett. I have found no evidence of Ferdinando and Katherine having any other children together.

Recently I found a Dutch book of pedigrees published in 1760 which contained the Kuffeler family, including Ferdinando. Known names and dates tallied well and it provided the names of several additional siblings to Ferdinando that I had not known of. It even stated categorically that Ferdinando had one child.

Kuffeler dutch genealogy
Genealogy of the Kuffeler family published in the Netherlands in 1760. Ferdinando is stated to have one child…

I flipped the page expecting to see the child listed as being Catherine. But no…it was a Leonora! Herein lies another mystery. Was he widowed and did he remarry in the Netherlands? If so, why would the book not show both sets of offspring?

I am slightly suspicious that Ferdinando may have had a family on both sides of the sea. I have not found a marriage for him yet in the Netherlands, nor is his Dutch wife named in this document. No burial record for Katherine has yet been found.

kuffeler dutch genealogy
…but this child is not the one he had he had in London!

Interestingly, Leonora’s son Abraham Engelgraaf was living in London at the time of his death in 1775, which names the same wife as in the document shown above – so the family definitely had links with England. Whether or not the Engelgraafs and Burchetts knew one another is yet to be discovered, however!

Privateer or Scammer?

Now here is where I get really mystified as to how so little has been written about Ferdinando. Look at the advertisement below, found in a compendium called Rariora. The story sounds like an Errol Flynn-style swashbuckling adventure! Interestingly he is referred to as Captain Kuffeler, hinting at some kind of military, perhaps naval career. No evidence has been found so far that this is the case.

Kuffeler galleon
Broadsheet advertisement for sale of shares in the Spanish Galleon booty found in ‘Rariora’.

There are a couple of possibilities here. Ferdinando really was taken prisoner and learnt of the wreck of a Spanish Galleon loaded with treasures galore. Or he made it up. Did he really swear an oath in Chancery? He may have, but it hasn’t turned up in the catalogue of the National Archives. Still digging. Did he really get a licence to fish for the wreck, or is it some elaborate hoax? Still looking. Regardless, at least one person bought shares…

Kuffeler Gostwick bill of sale
Indenture of Assignment of a grant of 120 shares in the Spanish Galleon wreckage to Charles Gostwick of St Giles in the Fields.

Mr Charles Gostwick, a gentleman of St Giles in the Fields bought 120 of the 1000 shares from Ferdinando. If the expedition was successful, presumably he ended up an extremely wealthy man. I suspect he didn’t.

We know the Ferdinando Kuffeler selling the shares was the same Ferdinando as the one married to Katherine Graves (as if the strikingly unusual name wasn’t enough!). Take a look at the bottom of the Indenture and you can see his faint signature. A great match for the one on the marriage allegation.

I have as yet found no further mention of Ferdinando in records of the time, official or unofficial. He seems to have disappeared completely though he managed to remain partially obscured for most of his life.

Forgive me for doubting his integrity, but at this stage, I am unconvinced that he does not for one reason or another, deserve the black sheep title. Either way, he’s definitely a fascinating ancestor, about whom I hope to learn much much more…

Posted on

Edward Girling – Black Sheep

Edward Girling is my three times great grandfather, and one of my grimmer black sheep ancestors. Last week I wrote about the spice that can be added to your family tree when you research the people that didn’t quite fit the mould of the rest of the family. In many cases, it can bring interest, joy and even humour into the tree. But at other times it can also be confronting and unpleasant to see the results of your forebear’s choices in life. I have two such ancestors, both named Edward (you’ve already heard the tale of Edward Field) and both responsible for the death of an immediate family member.

 

Who was Edward Girling?

Edward Girling was born in 1811 in Sandiacre, Derbyshire. He was the son of a self-described ‘quack doctor’ named William Girling, and his second wife Charlotte (nee Wilkinson). There is rarely a Girling in my tree who is not somewhat eccentric at the very least!

At the age of 21, he married Mary Boot and soon after the young couple and their daughter Charlotte moved to Birmingham where Edward worked as a scale beam maker. Three more children were born to Edward and Mary during the next twelve years.

Along came my great great grandmother…

Then in 1850 my great-great-grandmother Eliza was born. This child was different from the rest, however. Her mother was not Mary Boot, but Sarah Girling, nee Bytheway! Sarah had been married to a William Bennet Girling of London, but he had left her for another woman a few years previously, whom he subsequently and bigamously married. Sarah named Edward as the father of Eliza, and DNA matches have confirmed that we are linked to the Sandiacre Girlings. I have yet to connect the two Girling branches but it seems odd that both men that she bore children to shared the same unusual surname.

By that time, Edward’s younger brother Reuben had also moved to Birmingham with his family, taken up the same trade as Edward and lived nearby. One of his sons founded Girling Brakes, so they’re not all a bad lot!

The Death of Mary Girling

Fast forward to 1885. On the 15th of June Mary Girling was found dead in the marital home. Following an inquest held on the 19th June, a warrant was issued for the arrest of her husband. Mary’s cause of death had been deemed to be ‘syncope, consequent upon chronic bronchitis’. Edward was accused of wilful neglect of his wife during her illness, and charged with manslaughter.

The Birmingham Calendar of Prisoners (see below) outlines the bare bones of Edward’s case. But as I mentioned last week, black sheep often provide us with further sources of information.

Girling Calendar of Prisoners
Edward Girling’s entry in the Calendar of Prisoners.

Edward Girling in the News

Even by today’s standards, this was a sensational case. It was seized upon not only by the local press but all over the country. Newspapers from the Aberdeen Evening Express to the Luton Times and Bedfordshire Advertiser were reporting on the ‘deplorable character’ who was Edward Girling. And as is the situation today, not everything they said was accurate. Some of it was worse.

It seems that Mary had been living out of the marital home earlier in the year, as their youngest daughter was dying. Mary was living with her to provide nursing, comfort and assistance around the home. The daughter passed away in February and by Easter Mary had moved back in with Edward.

Girling inquest

The inquest of Mary Ann Girling, as reported by the Birmingham Daily Post, 20 June 1885

The newspapers had reported that by this time he was living with his brother’s widow Fanny. Shocking stuff. Except that none of his dead brothers had been married to a Fanny. The brother that lived in Birmingham was still alive and married to a Lavinia. The newspapers either didn’t know (or decided not to report) that Fanny was actually his daughter-in-law, not widowed and they had been living together on and off as man and wife since at least 1871, when they are together on census night! Fanny’s children/Edward’s grandchildren were raised from early childhood by their father John. Edward and Fanny reportedly spent much of their time carousing at local drinking establishments.

Mary suffered from chronic bronchitis. In the weeks preceding her death, she had become bedridden and required assistance and medical attention. Her granddaughter Caroline and a neighbour Emma Layton had been trying to help her by visiting and bringing food and medicine. Mary had said she was being starved and beaten, and indeed the neighbour had been threatened with a stick when she brought some broth around for Mary resulting in police intervention. However in the fortnight before she died, no one had been able to see her, as Edward and Fanny had taken to locking her inside when they went out drinking for the day. When asked to provide a doctor they always said they were going to but didn’t.

The Trial of Edward Girling

Girling trial

Report on the trial of Edward Girling. Birmingham Daily Post, 7th August 1885.

The trial had been delayed when Fanny ran off in early July. She was charged with absconding to avoid giving evidence. The reason she gave was that she was being threatened by relatives of the deceased. I have as yet found no documents to support her having suffered any consequences of either this or for the death of Mary.

When the trial finally took place in early August, the ‘decrepit old man’ had obtained no legal counsel and defended himself against prosecutor Mr Etherington Smith. Unsurprisingly, given the shocking evidence provided by Henry Hawkes the coroner and multiple witnesses, it was a short trial. He was found guilty by the jury and received 18 months of hard labour at Winson Green prison in Birmingham. It would have and should have been a longer sentence, but the judge took pity on him because of his age. Nonetheless, he died soon after he did his time. I’m not sure he would have been mourned by anyone other than perhaps his daughter-in-law and girlfriend Fanny.

Posted on

The Black Sheep Ancestor: Take One Family Tree, Add a Dash of Spice…

Black sheep
Where are the black sheep in your family?

What is a black sheep ancestor?

A black sheep ancestor is one who brings shame to the family. The term originates from black wool being traditionally less valuable than white because it is unable to be dyed.

It may be as simple as being a little eccentric or rebellious in a family that is otherwise highly conformist. It may be a young woman who gave birth out of wedlock. Or it could be a family member who commits a crime. Regardless, the black sheep is a disgraced family member who is often shunned by the rest.

Why are black sheep ancestors so interesting?

It is human nature to be intrigued by people who live outside of society’s norms, whether they be criminals or people who have unusual or extreme lifestyles. Look how popular true crime, crime dramas, murder mysteries, reality shows, and soap operas are on TV. Some of the most popular authors are those who write about criminals, fictional or not. Historical criminal figures such as Ned Kelly, Al Capone and Jack the Ripper intrigue us to this day and are unlikely ever to be forgotten.

Black sheep also add colour to our family history and every family has at least one! The great thing about discovering a black sheep ancestor is that there is often a lot of information available about them!

Skeleton in the cupboard
Every family has skeletons in the cupboard. Credit: Wellcome Library, London.

How do we find out about them?

The first hint we get of a black sheep is often the absence of open information within the family though. Perhaps the great-uncle that older family members only whisper about. Maybe the cousin no one speaks about. Perhaps an entire line of the family tree is not discussed. The black sheep is not usually what you are going to hear about when collecting oral history (unless you’re really lucky!). People like to keep the family skeletons in the cupboard, not bring them out to be talked about. Whatever you happen to pick up or overhear is likely to be inaccurate and incomplete. Make sure you cross-check every detail for clues and construct the best timeline you can. Then you need to verify and fill in the gaps using information from outside the family.

Luckily, the more notorious or outrageous the black sheep is, the more information is available. And even if the wrongdoing was only minor, there is likely to be documentary evidence somewhere.

Some sources to consider

A great place to look is in newspapers. Crimes are often reported on both at the time and when the trial occurs, and these reports tend to be a lot less dry to read than the formal documents. Depending on the paper they can actually become quite lurid, for example, the ‘penny dreadful’ illustrated papers of Victorian England.

Some of the sites to check out for newspapers include the British Newspaper Archive (also available through FindMyPast), Newspapers.com (also via Ancestry), Trove (free site for Australian newspapers), and Papers Past (free site for NZ newspapers). Also, do not neglect looking for local history books.

Black sheep reporting
You may be lucky enough to find a dramatic and illustrated version of your ancestor’s misdeeds in a ‘penny dreadful’ newspaper!

For the actual facts about the crime, trial and punishment, there are multiple sources of information such as inquests and coroner’s reports, police gazettes, court records, gaol and prison records and multiple forms of convict documents (about which expect a future blog!). Pictures and/or physical descriptions of the black sheep are not uncommon in several of these documents.

If they left the country, you may find them on passenger lists, or they might have passport applications you can consult.

Illegitimacy black sheep
Young woman accusing married man of fathering her unborn child. Credit: Wellcome Collection

The parish chest can also be revealing. Poor law records such as removal and settlement examinations and orders can provide a lot of information. For illegitimacy see if any bastardy bonds are available. DNA can also be a useful modern tool for validating paternity!

One place where family members might speak out a little is in their will! And if there were legal quarrels in Chancery all sorts of family gossip can be found if you know where to look!

All the feels…

Finding a black sheep ancestor can stir up all sorts of mixed feelings. It is natural to want to feel proud of your family, and believe they are good people. It can be quite a blow to realise that some of them just weren’t likeable (remember my Edward Field?). This doesn’t apply to all, or even a majority of the black sheep though. People were often just doing their best to survive in harsh times.

Remember they were living in different times, with different societal expectations. Most of us today would be considered black sheep if we were transplanted into the 19th Century! Don’t be quick to judge. Take into account the time period and circumstances, and put their story into context. Was it really so wrong to steal food during a famine? Wrong enough to potentially be hung or transported across the world?

At the same time, it is important to be sensitive to the potential ongoing feelings of shame or embarrassment in living relatives who are of an era incompatible with the actions of the black sheep (e.g., unwed mothers, convict ancestry). Do not hide the truth, or worse cover it with white lies. However, be careful how excitedly public you go with information if someone still with us can be hurt.

Convict black sheep
Have you found any convict ancestors? (A.k.a Australian ‘royalty’!)

Next week, I will tell the tale of one or two of my many black sheep, as I have written far too much this week already! In the meantime..who is YOUR black sheep and what did they do?