Category Archives: Harcour

Maria Harcour born in Bombay 1811

So! Summer has been busy and I haven’t posted for a while. It’s been 6 months since I made a start with the blog and I’ve already made contact with a couple of awesome cousins! Turns out I’m not the only one puzzled by Maria Harcour!

Maria was born in Bombay in 1811 and married a shrimper from Margate in 1829. We haven’t been able to find a birth certificate for Maria and know nothing of her siblings or parents.

There’s an  entry in the 1841 census for Marias 10 year old daughter Mary Christina Edwards (sometimes just known as Christiana) which might hold clues or false leads!:
At the top of the census page is:

1. Ann Peg(d?)ine age 50, Independent means, born in the county. b 1791
2. Mary Gibson, age 75, Independent means, born in foreign parts. b1766
3. Christiana Edwards, age 10, female, born in the county. I think the mark in the employment column is F.S meaning (female servant).

Mary Christianna Edwards 1841 Census, Bullers Court, Margate
I wonder if Mary Gibson could be Marias widowed mother seeing as Maria named her first born Mary and Mary Gibson was also noted as born in foreign parts on the census?
Perhaps Ann Peg(d?)ine is Marias older widowed sister? Maria gave 3 of her girls the middle name of Ann so the name must have been important to her.

Or perhaps its just a coincidence and Mary Christiana is the servant not a family member?

Double strokes // are used to indicate the end of the list of people living in a dwelling, single / ones are used to divide different households sharing the dwelling. It looks like Ann and Mary are living in one dwelling and Christiana is noted as same dwelling different household? So I think this would suggest she is not part of the family?

The house is ‘Bullers Court’ Margate.
Family Search says the address is ‘High St Buller’s Court’ and is an institution.

I think this is a picture of it: Margate History, Facebook
In 1793, John Lewis (a historian) stated that Buller’s Court was often referred to as the ‘Parish Yard’ and was used as a refuge for old ladies.

A forum post on Curious Fox references Bullers Court as: alms houses at 99 high street margate for needy widows

…..off to do some more research!

William Edwards and Maria Harcour’s children and census records

William Edwards and Maria Harcour had the following children:

  1. Mary Christiana Edwards bp. 12.9.1830 (St John the Baptist Church, Margate, fathers profession given as ‘Labourer’; Abode: Margate).
  2. Thomas Edwards bp. 9.6.1833 (St John the Baptist Church, Margate, fathers profession given as ‘Fisherman’; Abode: Margate) d. 1874 (Margate).
  3. Henry William Edwards bp. 10.4.1836 (St John the Baptist Church, Margate, fathers profession given as ‘Mariner’; Abode: Margate) d. 1913 NB. He was also known as William Henry Edwards.
  4. Elizabeth Ann Edwards bp. 24.6.1838  (St John the Baptist Church, Margate, fathers profession given as ‘Fisherman’; Abode: Margate) d. 7.11.1838
  5. Richard William Edwards bp. 12.7.1840 (St John the Baptist Church, Margate, fathers profession given as ‘Shrimper’; Abode: Margate) 
  6. Elizabeth Ann Edwards b. 1843 (Thanet) bp. 12.3.1843 (St John the Baptist Church, Margate, fathers profession given as ‘Mariner’; Abode: Margate)
  7. Sarah Ann Edwards bp. 23.12.1849 (St John the Baptist Church, Margate; fathers profession given as ‘Labourer’; Abode: Margate) d. 1872

Census Records:
1841 census: HO107; Piece: 468; HO107; Piece number 468; Book: 6; Folio: 6; Page no: 5
St John’s College Cottages, St John Baptist, Margate, Isle of Thanet:

  1.  William Edwards, age 30. Labourer, born Kent
  2.  Maria Edwards, age 30, born in foreign parts
  3.  Thomas Edwards, age 8, born in Kent
  4.  Henry Edwards, age 5, born in Kent
  5.  Richard Edwards, age 1, born in Kent

1851 Census: Source Citation: Class: HO107; Piece: 1629; Folio: 256; Page: 4; GSU roll: 193530.
1 Kidman Row, Margate, Kent:

  1. William Edwards, (Head) age 46, Shrimper, born: St Lawrence, Kent.
  2. Maria Edwards, (Wife) age 40, born: Bombay East Indies.
  3. Mary C Edwards, (Daughter) age 21, Servant, born: Margate, Kent.
  4. William H Edwards, (Son) age 15, Shrimper, born: Margate, Kent.
  5. Elizabeth A Edwards, (Daughter) age 2, Scholar, born: Margate, Kent.
  6. Sarah Edwards, (Daughter) age 1, born: Margate, Kent.
    Kidman Row
    Rule by Margate Board of Health 1851-1858 (discusses Kidman Row).
    1852 Map of Kidman Row, Margate.
William Edwards and Maria Harcour census 1851

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1861 census:  Class: RG 9; Piece: 535; Folio: 107; Page: 10; GSU roll: 542657.
4 Cuthills Cottages, Margate, Kent:

  1. Maria Edwards, Head, Widowed, age 52, Laundress, born: Margate, Kent.
  2. Henry Edwards, Son, unmarried, age 25, Labourer, born: Margate, Kent.
  3. Elizabeth Edwards, Daughter, unmarried, age 17, born: Margate, Kent.
  4. Sarah Edwards, Daughter, age 11, born: Margate, Kent
    (Living next door is Thomas Edwards, Head, married, age 26, Labourer, born Margate, Kent and his wife Sarah Jane, age 25, Laundress, born Hampshire.

1871 census: Class: RG10; Piece: 991; Folio: 109; Page: 7; GSU roll: 838723.
2 Ventnor Lane, Margate, Kent: (all the below are sharing the same house)

  1. Thomas Edwards (Head) married, age 36, Labourer out of employment, born Margate, Kent.
  2. Sarah Edwards (Wife) married, age 25, Laundress, born Southsea, Hants.
  3. Ann Bow (Head), Widow, age 59, Laundress, born Margate, Kent.
  4. Eliza Bow, Daughter, unmarried, age 30, Domestic Servant, born Margate, Kent.
  5. Alfred Bow, Son, unmarried, age 20, Painter, born Margate, Kent.
  6. Thomas Bow, Son, unmarried, age 18, Waiter, born Margate, Kent.
  7. Maria Edwards (Head), Widow, age 61, Charwoman, born Margate, Kent.
  8. James Brandell (Head) married, age 76, Pensioner, born Woolwich, Kent.
  9. Ann Brandell (Wife) age 65, born Margate, Kent.

Note that in the 1861 and 1871 census Maria gives her birth as Margate, Kent. 

Maria died in 1877 (buried in St John the Baptist churchyard, Margate) and William died in 1858 in Thanet.

Margate genealogy, local and family history resources

William Edwards, a shrimper from Margate and Maria Harcour from Bombay

William Edwards was a fisherman, shrimper and labourer and lived in Margate, Kent. He was born 22nd October 1804 in St Laurence, Kent and baptised in the local church 18.11.1804.

William Edwards baptism 1804 St Laurence, Kent

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He married  (by banns) Maria Harcour, 26th August 1829 at the Parish Church of
St John’s in Margate. The wedding was witnessed by the Parish Clerks rather than family or friends. Perhaps this indicates an opposition to the marriage?  Or perhaps the Parish Clerks were the only people that day who could write and were therefore the only people allowed to sign as witness to a marriage where two people signed by their mark?

Maria Harcour and William Edwards marriage cert

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According to the 1851 census, Maria was born in Bombay, East Indies c.1811 (the 1841 census notes her as ‘Foreign born’).

I’d like to know who Maria’s parents were? Was Maria British? How did she end up married to a shrimper in Margate?

I searched the IGI for a birth and found no reference for a ‘Maria Harcour’ born in India. Maria signed her mark on her marriage certificate so I have to assume she was illiterate (or perhaps pretending to be in order not to show up her illiterate husband..?!) and so her surname may have be misspelt or misheard by the writer.

Perhaps her name was Har Kaur?

Her daughter’s birth certificate (Sarah Ann Edwards) gives Maria’s surname as ‘Hacker’. I’ll need to order her other children’s birth certificates to gain a consensus but in the meantime, I searched the IGI for anyone called ‘Maria’ or ‘Marie’ (omitting a surname) born in India between 1800-1815.

I found the following with surnames similar to ‘Harcour’ or ‘Hacker’:

  1. Maria Hawker, Birth Date: 05 Aug 1815 Christening Place: Quilon, Madras, India, Christening Date: 30 Sep 1815, Father’s Name: Frederick Hawker, Mother’s Name: Mary.
  2. Maria Margaret Harcourt, Birth Date: 24 Apr 1806, Christening Place: Bellary, Madras, India, Christening Date: 13 May 1806, Father’s Name: Hillary Harcourt, Mother’s Name: Margaret Torriano.
  3. Maria Hasker, Birth Date: 12 Mar 1816, Christening Date: 27 Nov 1825, Christening Place: Vizagapatam, Madras, India, Father’s Name: William Hasker, Mother’s Name: Cawder Bee.

None of them show birth dates in Bombay but perhaps Maria was born in Bombay and christened in Madras (a trading post and naval base). These are the closest references I could find in both name, place and date. 

I don’t think ‘Maria Margaret Harcourt’ is our Maria as Maria Margaret was married in 1832 to a John Stow and her father was given as Capt Hillary Harcourt Torriano of the East India Company Madras Engineers. I’ve as yet been unable to find further info on Maria Hawker and Maria Hasker. If one of these two are Maria Harcour then she would have wed age either 14, or 13 respectively. William wed age 24.

It was possible for a girl to marry at 12 and a boy at 14. Even if the parents disagreed with the decision, there were legal ways in which the marriage could take place such as calling banns in a different parish to that which they belonged.

Perhaps Maria had been married before and wed in her married name? The marriage entry says she was a spinster but it’s known that sometimes info given at time of marriage may be incorrect for any number of reasons. 

At the time of Maria’s birth The East India Company held rule in India. Her father could have been any among civil servants, military personnel (most regiments served in India at some point), mariners, medical staff, chaplains, railway workers, law officers, merchants, planters, free mariners, and missionaries.

Only a small number of British military men stationed in India could bring their wives and many men would marry in India (both English and local women) though marriage with Indian women became less common after 1830.

Some young British women would travel the 5 months to India to try and bag themselves a husband amongst the East India Company men. Perhaps Maria’s mother was one of these hopefuls. 

I guess it’s possible Maria may have been Indian as some British took Indian servants back to Britain where many Indians laboured under European names. She may have been a ‘ayah’ ( domestic servant) or a nanny. According to the National Archives:

“This arrangement was attractive for many Asian women, as ayahs were not generally paid a wage, whereas travel of this kind involved a fee. However, although they were promised their passage back home, often they were left stranded, especially in London.”

 Domestic slavery continued in India into the 1840’s:

I think I’ll have to do a bit more digging before I can come to any conclusions. If anyone has any further suggestions I’d be interested to hear them.

William Edwards and Maria Harcour’s children and census records

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