The Mystery of Thomas Webb Love
My 3x Great Grandfather
Thomas WEBB and Sarah Francis Bush PEARCE were my 3x great grandparents. Thomas was born in 1822 at Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire, England. His parents were named on his birth record as Charles WEBB and Amelia GIBSON.1
Name Change
Many years ago, it quickly became obvious, when researching the Webb family line, that there had been a name change from WEBB to LOVE. It seems that the name change occurred with the fresh start in Australia.
Another family researcher and myself have tried many times over the years to solve the name change mystery, along with his disappearance (see below). Following is the information that Graham Sleeth, researcher has been able to find, published with his permission, with further information since added, from my research.
1851
In the Census of 1851 Thomas [29] was living 67 Middle Rank, Bradford with wife Sarah [30] and children Martha [6], Charles [3] and Catherine [1]. In 1851 Thomas was then known as Thomas WEBB.2
1854
Thomas was still using the surname WEBB in 1854 when Thomas Albert was baptised on 6 November. The family at that time was still living at 67 Middle Rank, Bradford.
Disappearance
In the Census of 1861, Thomas wasn’t present with the family. Sarah and the children were living with, and supporting, Sarah’s widowed mother in Bradford. In the house next door was the Usher family. Hannah Usher was the daughter of John and Mary Cox, who were the parents of Richard Cox who was to become one of my Great Great Grandparents.3
It is reasonable to assume from this, that the Cox and Webb/Love family was known to each other before they came to Australia and both families then settled in the Heathcote region of Victoria.
Hannah Cox [often known as Anna] was one of Richard Cox’s sisters.
In 1840 Hannah married George Usher in Steeple Ashton. George was born in West Ashton in 1821 and he was the son of James and Mary Usher.
The Census of 1861 has the Usher family living in Middle Rank, Bradford where they are living next door to the home occupied by Sarah Webb and family. Sarah was the wife of Thomas Webb [Love] and they were the parents of Thomas Albert Webb who was later to marry the daughter of Richard Cox.
Sarah Webb was living with and supporting her widowed mother Rachael Pearse.
Sarah’s husband, Thomas Webb [Love] does not appear in the Census.
Attempts to trace Thomas Webb [Love] through Census data for England in 1861 has so far been unsuccessful.
Arrival in Australia
Sarah Webb brought the family to Australia in 1862, aboard the ship James Booth. Again, Thomas was not with the family and the reason for that remains a mystery. Those travelling on the James Booth were:4
Sarah [aged 38]
Martha [12]
Charles [10]
Rachel [8]
Albert [5] – actually Thomas Albert.
Conclusion:
A reason for Thomas not being with the family at the time of the Census in 1861 and his not having travelled to Australia with the family has not been found. Travel arrangements to Australia have not been found either. It’s possible that he made his way to Australia, ahead of his family before 1860, but I haven’t as yet, found him in the passenger records.
The family name changed from WEBB to LOVE on arrival in Australia. Why that happened is a mystery. They became known as LOVE, but Thomas and Sarah’s son Thomas Albert was later married as Thomas Albert WEBB.
Will of Thomas Webb/Love
In the will of Thomas WEBB/LOVE, Thomas is referred to as “Thomas Webb Love (commonly called Thomas Love)”5
“Administration referred to in the third paragraph of the aforesaid affadavit.
That the right and proper name of the said deceased was Thomas WEBB LOVE, but he was designated Thomas Love in the aforesaid Letters of Administration, that being the name by which he was generally known and commonly called”.
Middle Rank, Bradford-on-avon
The Webb family lived in Middle Rank. Middle Rank, when it was developed, referred to rows of terraced houses. The houses of Middle Rank are of the very end of the 17th or earliest 18th centuries, many with mullioned windows and gabled fronts, which was rather old-fashioned for that time. Much that can be seen today is largely a rebuilding that dates from the 1960s. The houses were in a very bad condition through neglect and some of them had been derelict and had lost their roofs by the end of the 19th century. Some at the far end were demolished.
The photo above shows the type of houses that were built in Middle Rank, and still exist today6
Much of this research was contributed by my cousin and fellow family researcher Graham Sleeth.
Parts of this post were published by me on: Tracking Down The Family - Wordpress
Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre; Chippenham, Wiltshire, England; Wiltshire Church of England Parish Registers; Reference Number: 883/9. Ancestry.com. Wiltshire, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1922 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2017.
CENSUS 18851: WEBB Thomas, 67 Middle Rank Bradford On Avon, Class: HO107; Piece: 1841; Folio: 398; Page: 18; GSU roll: 220988; Ancestry.com. 1851 England Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.
Class: Rg 9; Piece: 1299; Folio: 80; Page: 11; GSU roll: 542792; Ancestry.com. 1861 England Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.
PASSENGER LIST, Webb family; Public Records Office, Victoria, Unassisted Passenger Lists, VPRS 947/P0000, May-Aug 1862
WILL Thomas LOVE/WEBBPublic Record Office Victoria; North Melbourne, Victoria; Victorian Wills, Probate and Administration Records 1841-1925; Series: VPRS 7591
Middle Rank: https://www.bradfordonavonmuseum.co.uk/hillside
This is a very compelling mystery!
Could he have been incarcerated for time?