Mary Ann Aguirra, a Londoner ‘of colour’, 1814-1878

By John D Ellis

Black soldiers served as enlisted military musicians in the regiments of the British Army between 1715 and 1845. Most references to Black people in eighteenth and nineteenth-century Britain are to males, so invariably, most of the relationships identified involved Black soldiers and White British or Irish women.^[1]Fryer, P. “Staying Power, The History of Black People in Britain”. (Pluto Press, 3rd Edition. 2018). This reflected their greater mobility (opportunity/ability to escape if enslaved or to travel … Continue reading The earliest newspaper reference to a relationship was at Dublin in 1770, when The Freeman’s Journal, reported that “a few Days ago, the Wife of a Black Drummer, belonging to the 51st Regiment of Foot, which lately composed the Garrison, was safely delivered of two children”.^[2]The Freeman’s Journal, (Dublin, Ireland), 27th-30th October 1770. findmypast.co.uk Audrey Dewjee provided this reference. The 51st (2nd Yorkshire West Riding) Foot are an antecedent regiment of … Continue reading

Both Elizabeth Dido Belle (1761-1804) and Mary Seacole (née; Grant, 1805-1881) were the daughters of White military officers: Dido Belle’s father being Rear-Admiral Sir John Lindsay (1737-1788) of the Royal Navy, and Mary Seacole’s reputedly being an officer of Scottish origin in the British Army.^[3]Rappaport, H. “In Search of Mary Seacole: The Making of a Cultural Icon”. (Simon & Schuster, 2022). These ‘mixed heritage’ women deservedly have their champions. But, what of the daughters of enlisted Black soldiers (as opposed to commissioned White officers) and White women, like those of the unidentified Black drummer of the 51^st Foot and his wife? Marginalised by virtue of their ethnicity, gender and social class, they leave no diaries or memoirs. Their histories must be re-constructed from disparate sources: Military service and pension records; parish baptisms, marriages and burials; census returns; gaol and court records; and newspaper reports.

Whilst most contemporary civilian records did not identify ethnicity, the British Army did on key documents. Consequently with ethnicity already established, the omission of ethnicity in civilian records is not an impediment to research.

Online, both ancestry.co.uk and findmypast.co.uk have databases which facilitate the identification of individuals, with the family tree functions suggesting relevant sources and links for individuals. The former website also allows researchers to contact others with shared interests in the people of the past. This allowed the construction of a family tree for Joseph Aguirra (a Black soldier in the band of the 1^st Foot Guards) and establish contact with Paul Mady, a direct descendant of one of Joseph’s children, Mary Ann Aguirra. It is with Paul’s co-operation that the story of one, hitherto unknown, ‘woman of colour’ can be told.

In over twenty years of researching, writing and educating this is the first time I have written a historical article about a female, let alone a ‘woman of colour’.^[4]Mary Ann Aguirra’s ethnicity was only identified twice, and on both occasions (in 1866), she was referred to as a “woman of colour”. I am aware of the issues concerning the use of the term. It is a task I have undertaken with some trepidation. As a male White British former enlisted soldier, I am aware of the issues surrounding historical bias, gender and ethnicity. The piece is presented as a source based chronological narrative, hopefully in order to avoid any errors. Any omissions or erroneous interpretations are my responsibility. I can only hope that more people champion the histories of the children and descendants of Black soldiers.

Introducing Mary Ann Aguirra, a “woman of colour”

Mary Ann Aguirra was born at the Westminster New Lying In Hospital, Westminster Bridge Road, on the 18^th of December 1814.^[5]Westminster New Lying In Hospital. Affidavit book for married women. H1/GLI. Paul Mady provided this reference. Opening in 1767, the aim of the hospital was to provide: “Relief of those child-bearing women who are the wives of poor industrious tradesmen or distressed housekeepers and who either from unavoidable misfortunes or the expenses of maintaining large families are reduced to real want. Also, for the reception and immediate relief of indigent soldiers’ and sailors’ wives, the former being very numerous in and about the City of Westminster”.^[6]Lost_Hospitals_of_London (myzen.co.uk)

Mary Ann’s parents were Joseph and Ann Agerra (Aguirra).^[7]Ibid. As Joseph was serving in London as a private in the 1^st Foot Guards, Ann Aguirra was eligible to give birth in the hospital.^[8]For Joseph Aguirra see TNA WO 25/405 and 974. WO 97/150 (which records his name as ‘Josh Aguiraa’) and WO 120/22. Despite Joseph Aguirra being literate and consistently spelling his name … Continue reading

For brevity the three regiments of Foot Guards will be referred to simply by number: the 1^st Foot Guards, the 2^nd Foot Guards and the 3^rd Foot Guards. Today, they are known as the Grenadier, Coldstream and Scots Guards respectively.

Joseph Aguirra had been born in Guadeloupe c.1773-1777 and served in the 52^nd (Oxfordshire) Foot (who described him as “a Black man”) between September 1800 and June 1801.^[9]For Joseph Aguirra see TNA WO 25/405 and 974.  He may have been the seaman ‘Jose Aguirre’ taken into captivity in 1799 when HMS Trent took the Spanish merchant vessel Flora. The Flora, of … Continue reading In June 1801 he enlisted at London for unlimited service in the 1^st Foot Guards.^[10]Ibid.

Serving in the “Puppet Show”

All three regiments of Foot Guards employed Black military musicians on ceremonial duties, state occasions and at public performances in London between the late 1780s and the early 1840s.

Service with the Guards regiments in the capital came with advantages for Black soldiers: They were able, with the permission of their Commanding Officer, to work as civilian musicians and reside outside of the barracks when not on duty.^[12]Paul Mady suggests that the Aguirra family lived out of barracks in the Kennington area. The Aguirra family are believed to have lived ‘out’ in Kennington. They could establish relationships and raise families, without the frequent movement across countries and continents that other regiments (officers, soldiers and families) experienced. They were in a city with an established Black population and were therefore able to socialise with other Black people – something that Joseph Aguirra was to do. Finally, they were largely spared the risks of campaigning their peers in other regiments faced. Their orientalised ceremonial dress exoticised them to a degree probably not seen in other regiments, (Guards officers were drawn from wealthy families, and would have had a ‘Band Fund’ capable of purchasing the very best uniforms, instruments and training), which probably led to one critic describing the Black bandsmen of the Guards as serving in “…a puppet show…”.^[13]Naval & Military Gazette and Weekly Chronicle of the United Service, 21st December 1844. findmypast.co.uk The same critic went on to denigrate their musical skill, suggesting that they had “…just enough ability to play the cymbals…”^[14]Ibid. although, similar criticism was not levelled at White soldiers similarly employed, and belied what is known about individual Black Guardsmen.

In 1811, as Guards disembarked from their transports in Portugal for service in the Peninsula Campaign, they “…marched off with twelve black trumpeters in front, whose performances were extremely grand”.^[15]London Courier and Evening Gazette, 25^th September 1811. findmypast.co.uk James Hacket, a “man of colour” from St Vincent, died in the Peninsula serving with the 3^rd Foot Guards in November 1811.^[16]James Hacket was born in Kingston, St Vincent in August 1783. A writer (a ship’s clerk) by occupation he enlisted in the regiment at Liverpool in November 1801. He was described as 5 feet 11¾” … Continue reading

Two Black Guardsmen were decorated veterans of Waterloo, albeit whilst serving with different regiments: John Lewis Friday and Thomas James of the 1^st Foot Guards and 3^rd Foot Guards respectively.^[17]For John Lewis Friday and Thomas James see: www.academia.edu/43352940/They_were_there_too_Black_Soldiers_in_the_British_Army_at_the_Battle_of_Waterloo Following the Waterloo Campaign in the summer of 1815, all three regiments of Foot Guards sent the bands to serve with the ‘Allied Army of Occupation in France’ for six months.^[18]Gleeson, J. “Pomp and Circumstance: A History on the Band of H.M. Coldstream Guards, 1685-2015”. (Privately Published. RHQ, Wellington Barracks, Birdcage Walk, London. 2015). Gleeson recounts a meeting in Paris between a Russian Grand Duke and a French instrument maker at which language was a barrier to trade. The Band Master of the 1^st Foot Guards told one of his two French speaking Black bandsmen to act as an interpreter.^[19]The second French speaker was Alexander Nixon. Born at St Domingo c. 1785 and described as having a “Black” complexion, he was also serving in the band of the 1st Foot Guards at the time. For … Continue reading With the particulars agreed, the Grand Duke rewarded the Band Master with the equivalent of £40, which he promptly split with the Black bandsman. The Grand Duke then shook hands with the Band Master, “and he then turned to the black man, shook his hands and said good-bye. – The attendant, who was some noble man said to the Grand Duke, “What, would you shake hands with a black man?” The Grand Duke turned round in a very scolding way, and said, “Who made him black?”…and again shook hands with the black man”.^[20]Gleeson, J. “Pomp and Circumstance: A History on the Band of H.M. Coldstream Guards, 1685-2015”. (Privately Published. RHQ, Wellington Barracks, Birdcage Walk, London. 2015).

Black soldiers were to become such a prominent feature of London military life, that the artist Sir David Wilkie included a Black bandsman of the 1^st Foot Guards amongst the easily recognisable group of soldiers and veterans in The Chelsea Pensioners reading the Waterloo Dispatch (1822).^[21]www.academia.edu/43352940/They_were_there_too_Black_Soldiers_in_the_British_Army_at_the_Battle_of_Waterloo

The biography Wilkie provided for his Black bandsman, was that of a man from a French colony in the Caribbean, St Domingo, who had witnessed the worst excesses of the Republic.^[23]Ibid. (Joseph Aguirra was from Guadeloupe – a French colony). Chelsea Pensioners was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1822 and was so popular that a guard-rail was installed to protect it from the crowds, with prints being sold throughout Britain and Ireland. It clearly evidenced the high profile presence of Black soldiers in the ranks of the British Army.^[24]Ibid.

The Aguirras – Family and Friends

At St Martin in the Fields, Middlesex, in January 1813, Joseph ‘Ageria’ married Ann Lilly.^[25]For the marriage of Joseph and Ann see: City of Westminster Archives Centre. Westminster Marriages. St Martin-In-The-Fields. 1813 and 1828. ancestry.co.uk This may not have been Joseph’s first … Continue reading The witnesses to the marriage were John Taylor and ‘Manuel Newgent’ (Emanuel Nugent). Whilst John Taylor cannot be identified, Emanuel Nugent can. Like Joseph Aguirra he was Black and served in London as a military musician in a Foot Guards regiment. He had been born on the Island of Carrisso (possibly Curacao) in the West Indies c.1782 and had enlisted in the 3^rd Foot Guards at Westminster in December 1809.^[26]Private Emanuel Nugent was discharged on a pension of 6d per day, December 1821, due to an affection of the chest. On discharge he was 38 years of age, 5/11 and ½” tall with black eyes, black hair … Continue reading Joseph and Emanuel may well have met whilst undertaking ceremonial duties with their respective regiments, developing a friendship based on ethnicity and professional respect which transcended regimental rivalry. However, they shared something else in common – both attended the Church of St Martin-in-the-Fields, with Emanuel Nugent having married Mary Phillips there in December 1810.^[27]For the marriage see: City of Westminster Archives Centre. Westminster Marriages. St Martin-In-The-Fields. 1813 to 1828. ancestry.co.uk

Emanuel and Mary Nugent married, 1810. Joseph and Ann Aguirra married, 1813 (witnessed by Emanuel Nugent). Joseph and Elizabeth Aguirra married, 1828 (witnessed by Margaret Rackett).

In December 1813, at St Mary’s, Lambeth, Thomas, the son of Joseph and Ann Agerra (Aguirra), was baptised.^[29]England, Select Births and Christenings. FHL: 1041634. ancestry.co.uk Mary Ann Aguirra was born in Lambeth in 1814.^[30]Her forenames alternated between Maria Ann and Mary Ann, whilst her surname alternated between Ageria, Aguirra, Agera and Aguera. Initially, she was baptised as Mary Ann Agerra in Lambeth, on the 18th of December 1814.^[31]England, Select Births and Christenings. ancestry.co.uk Her parents being named as Joseph and Anne Agerra. Subsequently, she was baptised, as Maria Anna Aguirra, in March 1815 at ‘Our Lady of the Assumption & St Gregory’ (the Roman Catholic Royal Bavarian Chapel) Soho.^[32]The Roman Catholic Royal Bavarian Chapel, Warwick Street, Soho 1815.Roman Catholic Parish Baptisms. Births & baptisms 1793-1819. 1815. Westminster Archdiocesan Archives, 1793-1819. England … Continue reading Her parents were named as Joseph and Anne (nee’ Lilly), and her Godfather was the same Emanuel Nugent of the 3^rd Foot Guards who witnessed the marriage of her parents in 1813.^[33]Ibid. A Catholic baptism was probably performed because, having been born in Guadeloupe, Joseph Aguirra was a Catholic.

Mary Ann Aguirra baptised, 1815, (Emanuel Nugent was her Godfather). Eleonora Aguirra baptised, 1819.

In 1817, Joseph Agearra, a second son, was born.^[35]England Deaths & Burials 1538-1991. Parish Burials. St. Mary, Lambeth, Surrey, England. 1818. ancestry.co.uk Unfortunately Joseph died aged one year, being buried at St Mary’s, Lambeth in May 1818.^[36]Ibid.

Thomas Aguirra baptised, 1813. Joseph Aguirra buried, 1818. Georgiana Nugent baptised, 1822. Mary Ann Aguirra married, 1843.

A second daughter, Eleonora Aguirra, was born in December 1818, and subsequently baptised in May 1819 at ‘Our Lady of the Assumption & St Gregory’, (the Roman Catholic Royal Bavarian Chapel), Soho.^[38]The Roman Catholic Royal Bavarian Chapel, Warwick Street, Soho 1815. Roman Catholic Parish Baptisms. Births & baptisms 1793-1819. 1815. Page 378. Westminster Archdiocesan Archives, 1793-1819. … Continue reading

‘Race Relations’

‘Mixed race’ relationships and the children resulting from them, were not approved of by some. The reformer William Cobbett MP (1763-1835) was clear about his disapproval, accusing White women of stamping “the mark of Cain upon her family and country.”^[39]Cobbett, Political Register, June 16, 1804, cols. 935-6. Quoted by: Wood, M. “William Cobbett, John Thelwall, Radicalism, Racism and Slavery: A Study in Burkean Parodics”. … Continue reading Cobbett’s condemnation of ‘intermarriage’ is significant because between 1783 and 1791 he served as an enlisted soldier in the 54^th (West Norfolk) Foot, reaching the rank of sergeant major.^[40]Later ‘The Dorsetshire Regiment’, and now an antecedent regiment of ‘The Rifles’. It was a view certainly shared by one Gosport publican in January 1802, who on being informed that his daughter “had set off to be married to one of the Black Cymbalists of the Wiltshire Band” (a reference to the Wiltshire Militia), became “…frantic at the idea, pursued with every possible haste the couple, but arrived too late to prevent the union”.^[41]Persuading an officer (of the ‘Wiltshire Band’) to confine the Black cymbalist on the grounds that he was absent without leave, the bride was conducted home by her mother and a constable. … Continue reading

There is evidence that Black Guardsmen formed relationships with both Black civilians and Black soldiers in other regiments, but not always with positive outcomes for the parties concerned.

In 1800, George Barrett, a Black servant born on the Island of St Christopher, was sent by his master, Edward Stephenson Dennison (a resident of St Martin’s Lane and purser on ‘an Indiaman’) to Enderby in Leicestershire. Taking a circuitous route, via St Albans and Northampton, he arrived intoxicated, one day late for the pre-arranged meeting minus the horse he had set out on and several items of Dennison’s property!^[42]TNA HO 26/7 and HO 26/8. TNA HO 26/8. www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?id=t18010520-6-defend77&div=t18010520-6#highlight Whilst some of the items were later found in the pawnbrokers, a pair of ‘nankeen pantaloons’ were recovered from John Stuart of the band of the 2^nd Foot Guards to whom Barrett had given them as “a present”.^[43]www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?id=t18010520-6-defend77&div=t18010520-6#highlight Nankeens were pale yellow pantaloons for men. They became fashionable during and after the Napoleonic Wars … Continue reading The ethnicity of George Barrett  and John Stuart were not referred to at the subsequent trial at the Old Bailey. However, Barrett’s Newgate Gaol records and Stewart’s military records indicate that they were both Black, with the latter being born in Virginia, USA.^[44]For George Barrett (Barrott) see: TNA HO 26/7 and HO 26/8. TNA HO 26/8. Private John Stuart (Stewart) was born in Virginia, USA c.1768. He was discharged on a pension of 1s per day, May 1814, being … Continue reading The friendship, whether based on ethnicity or a shared appreciation of pantaloons, does not appear to have survived the former’s admittance to Newgate Gaol in May 1800 and his subsequent trial. At the latter, Barrett was found Guilty and sentenced to be transported (to Australia) for 7 years.^[45]TNA HO 26/7 and HO 26/8. TNA HO 26/8. www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?id=t18010520-6-defend77&div=t18010520-6#highlight However, he died before he could be transported.

David Deheney was a Jamaican ‘journeyman soldier’ born c.1790.^[46]Black soldiers were more like to re-enlist after being discharged than their White peers. Moving from regiment to regiment, they suit the description ‘journeymen soldiers’) See: Ellis, JD. … Continue reading Enlisting in the 23^rd Dragoons at Andover in September 1816, he was discharged in 1817. Re-enlisting in the 12^th Lancers in 1818, by 1822 he was serving as a private in the 3^rd Foot Guards in London.^[47]For David Deheney also rendered Delaney, Delany, Dehaney and Dehany see: TNA WO 25/299 and WO 67/4. Described as “a man of colour”, he was remanded into Newgate Gaol in April 1822, charged with stealing a clothing belonging to soldiers from the 14^th Light Dragoons based at the Cavalry Barracks, Hounslow. The four victims (William Deacon, William Edwards, John Fishlock and John Fitzhenry) shared a room, and Deheney had been living in the room for four days visiting “….a countryman of his”.^[48]TNA HO77/29. PCOM2/195. When one of the four returned to the room, Deheney and the items had disappeared. He was caught with the property at the White Hart public house, Longford. Found Guilty at the Old Bailey, he was imprisoned for one year.^[49]www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?id=t18220417-66-defend619&div=t18220417-66#highlight TNA HO77/29. PCOM2/195. John Fitzhenry was his “countryman”, and Deheney had stolen a handkerchief, a coat, a towel and a pair of stockings from him.^[50]John Fitzhenry was born at Montego, Jamaica c.1779-1786. He served in the 52nd (Oxfordshire) Foot between 1798 and 1802. After discharge he re-enlisted in the 14th Light Dragoons at Bath, in November … Continue reading

Joseph Aguirra on ‘Civvy Street’

Drummer Joseph Aguirra was discharged as an out-pensioner of the Royal Hospital Chelsea on a pension of 1s/1d per day, July 1823, due to a rupture. On discharge he was 46 years old, 5 feet 11” tall with black eyes, grey hair and a black complexion.^[51]For Joseph Aguirra see TNA WO 25/405 and 974. WO 97/150. WO 120/22. A labourer by occupation, he was of “good character” and signed his records, indicating he was signature literate.^[52]Ibid.

By October 1827, Joseph Aguirra was employed as a musician, residing in John-Street, Union-Street, Walcot Place, Lambeth.^[54]Morning Advertiser, 30th October 1827. findmypast.co.uk Also, The London Gazette, 16th October 1827. However, he appears to have fallen on hard times. Appearing before the ‘Insolvent Debtor’s Court’ at Lincoln Inn Fields, he was augmenting his income by labouring, whilst his wife was working as a launderess.^[55]Morning Advertiser, 30th October 1827. Also, The London Gazette, 16th October 1827. findmypast.co.uk It is not known whether the wife referred to was Ann Aguirra, or a common-law wife, Elizabeth Aguirra, as in August of 1828 Joseph Aguirra married for a second time: to Elizabeth Brennan at St Martin in the Fields, Middlesex,^[56]Westminster Church of England Parish Registers. City of Westminster Archives Centre; London, England. Reference: STM/PR/5/22. ancestry.co.uk the same church in which he had previously married Ann Lilley. The marriage was witnessed by Margaret Rackett, the wife of a Black former soldier named Thomas Rackett from Demerara who had served in the 2nd Foot Guards between 1811 and 1821.^[57]Thomas Rackett was born at Demerara c.1786. He enlisted in the 2nd Foot Guards at London in January 1811. Prior to this, between 1809 and 1810, he had served as a rating in the Royal Navy. He married … Continue reading Thomas Rackett would have served on ceremonial duties in London, alongside Joseph Aguirra and Emanuel Nugent.

Black soldiers or their partners witnessed both of Joseph Aguirra’s weddings and one was a Godparent to Mary Anne Aguirra. The three Black soldiers and their families had established relationships that transcended regimental rivalries, and must have been based on ethnicity, professional expertise and religion (the Aguirras and Nugents attending the same church). Whilst this does not prove the existence of a Black ‘community’, it does demonstrate that serving and former Black soldiers and their families knew each other outside of their respective regiments and did support each other at significant family events.

Joseph Aguirra is believed to have died in 1836.^[58]Information provided by Paul Mady. In 1841, an Elizabeth Aguaria (his widow), was living at 107 Earl Street, Lambeth. Aged 50 years, she was employed as a launderess, and had been born in the County of Surrey.^[59]1841 England Census. Earl Street, Lambeth, Surrey. Class: HO107; Piece: 1058; Book: 8; Civil Parish:  Enumeration District: 21; Folio: 45; Page: 7; Line: 17; GSU roll: 474654. ancestry.co.uk

The next generation – Mary Ann Aguirra

Mary Ann Aguirra was married twice, firstly to Nehemiah Hussey and secondly to John Weatherby.

In January 1843, at the church of St Mary’s, Lambeth, she married Nehemiah Hussey.^[60]England, Select Marriages 1538-1973. London Metropolitan Archives (LMA). FHL Film Number: 1041667. Reference ID: 41-26. ancestry.co.uk Her father was identified as “Joseph Aguirra, a musician (deceased)”.^[61]Ibid. Nehemiah had been born in Trowbridge, Wiltshire c.1826.^[62]1851 England Census. White Horse Street, Lambeth, Surrey. Class: HO107. Piece: 1569. Folio: 355. Page: 9. GSU roll: 174803. ancestry.co.uk A chairmaker by profession, he marked the marriage certificate rather than signing it. However, Mary Ann signed it, suggesting that like her father Joseph, she was literate.^[63]England, Select Marriages 1538-1973. London Metropolitan Archives (LMA). FHL Film Number: 1041667. Reference ID: 41-26. ancestry.co.uk Whilst they remained married until Nehemiah’s death in January 1854, the relationship appears to have broken up shortly after the marriage and subsequently Mary Ann formed another relationship with John Weatherby (Wetherby) who had been born in Shields, Northumberland c.1813. Both the Husseys and John Weatherby lived in the Harlington Street area, later demolished to make way for Waterloo Station (1848).

John and Mary Ann had five children together: John Joseph, (c.1846 Lambeth-). George Nicholas (c.1848 Lambeth-). Nicholas (c.1851 Lambeth-1894) and Eleanor (or Elinor, known as Ellen, c.1853 Lambeth-1888) and Jane Isabella (known as Isabella, c.1855 Lambeth-1921 Lewisham).^[64]Information provided by Paul Mady. Also ‘Aguirra Family Tree’ (John Ellis) ancestry.co.uk  References are available on request.

Nehemiah Hussey, Mary Ann’s first husband, died in 1854.^[65]He was buried the Church of St John the Evangelist, Lambeth. He was 30 years of age and a resident of White Horse Street. Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-2003. London, England. London … Continue reading In April 1855, at the Church of St John the Evangelist, Lambeth, Mary Ann Hussey married John Weatherby.^[66]London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1936. London Metropolitan Archives (LMA). ancestry.co.uk England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915. Apr-May-Jun … Continue reading John was a ‘Huckster’ by occupation (someone who sold items door to door or from a stall), and his father was identified as “Nicholas Weatherby – a Mariner”.^[67]Ibid. Mary Ann, a widower of Victoria Place, identified her father as “Joseph Aguirra – a Musician”.^[68]Ibid. Both signed the certificate.

In 1861, the Weatherby family were living at No.4 Gunn Street, St George the Martyr, Southwark: John was 48 years of age and a ‘Hawker of Poultry’ born in Shields, Northumberland. Mary Ann was 39 years of age and born in Lambeth, Surrey. The children of her first marriage: John, 15 years of age; George, 13; Nicholas, 10; Eleanor, 7; and Isabella, age 6; had all been born in Lambeth.^[69]1861 England Census. Green Street, St George the Martyr, Southwark. RG 9/331/78/12/542616. ancestry.co.uk

The description of John Weatherby’s occupation as ‘huckster’ and ‘hawker’ and that of other family members as ‘dealers’, reveals that the family were ‘Costers’ (costermongers). ‘Costers’ were street venders who sold their wares from baskets, barrows or a stall in locations convenient for London’s burgeoning number of working class consumers. Their produce came from the main London markets of Smithfield (meat), Spitalfields (fruit and vegetables) and Billingsgate (fish). Since the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603) periodic attempts had been made to curtail the activities of ‘costers’ on the basis that their trade was unregulated (and therefore illegal and allegedly dishonest), irreligious (they traded on the Sabbath) and both unsafe and criminal (their presence rendering public streets both over-crowded and places of ‘moral decay’ – crime). For their part, ‘costers’ developed their own culture. This included slang (both ‘back’ and ‘rhyming’), dress code (waistcoats, neckerchiefs, corduroy trousers, boots and mother of pearl buttons), a hierarchy (in which senior ‘costers’ were elected ‘pearly kings and queens’) and a strong sense of ‘social justice’ (they resolved their own problems, eschewing the Police). Mayhew goes much further ‘As regards the police, the hatred of a costermonger to a “peeler” is intense’ and ‘I am assured that in case of a political riot every “coster” would seize his policeman.'^[70]London Labour and the London Poor, Volume 1: Mayhew, Henry: 1861: The politics of costermongers – Policemen.

A “Widow of Lambeth” in Newgate Gaol then at the Old Bailey.

John Nicholas Weatherby died in 1863.^[71]England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915. ancestry.co.uk In September 1866 Mary Ann Weatherby’s daughter, Isabella, was charged with stealing a watch and chain from a Mrs Sarah Allen, the reporting of which reveals something of contemporary attitudes to crime and social class and ethnicity.

The Morning Post (12^th September 1866) informed its readers:

Isabella Wetherby, a melancholy-clad and singular looking girl of 10 years of age, was charged with stealing a gold watch and chain of the value of £10 from the person of Mrs Sarah Allen.

The prosecutrix, a respectably dressed female, said that on Thursday morning last she walked from her residence at Brixton to the Horns Tavern, Kennington-cross, and had a glass of old ale there. She next returned to the Swan public-house, near Kennington Church, and sat down on a seat in front. The prisoner came up to her, and she asked her to go into the Swan and bring her out a glass of ale. She did so, and after returning she asked the prosecutrix to look at her watch and chain, and they were handed to her, and the complainant declared that she had not returned them.

In answer to the questions of the magistrate, she said that the last she saw of her watch was in the hand of the prisoner, that she had not insisted on her returning it, but got into a Hansom cab and drove home. The constable in the case said that he apprehended the prisoner in a perfect den of thieves, that she had given a number of contradictory statements about the affair, and that her mother who is a receiver of stolen property, was present in custody for stabbing a policeman. The prisoner, who is a most cunning and artful creature, was remanded to a future day.

^[72]Morning Post, 12^th September 1866. Same article also appeared in: Express (London) and Daily News (London), 12^th September 1866. findmypast.co.uk

With Isabella being described as “melancholy-clad and singular looking” and “a most cunning and artful creature”, contrasting with the “respectably dressed” prosecutrix, the reporting cannot be described as impartial (“singular looking” might also have been a reference to the fact that with one Black and three White grandparents, her ethnicity was ambiguous to the reporter). Additionally, with “her mother” (a reference to Mary Ann) being labelled “a receiver of stolen property” presiding over “a perfect den of thieves”, it was clear whose side the newspapers were on!

In less than a week, charges had been laid against Isabella Weatherby, but the case had taken two ‘twists’: Firstly, it appears that the “respectably dressed” Mrs Allen had been on a ‘pub crawl’ and had been “tight” with drink, detracting from her credibility as a prosecution witness. Secondly, that the watch and chain had somehow re-appeared in the lining of the dress originally worn by Mrs Allen! With that, the case was dismissed. As the Croydon Times, (19^th September 1866), informed their readers:

SINGULAR RECOVERY OF A GOLD WATCH AND CHAIN.- At the Lambeth Police-court, on Saturday last, Isabella Weatherby, a girl of 14 years of age, was finally examined on a charge of stealing a gold watch and chain from the person of Mrs Allen, a person of respectable appearance, living with her husband at 13 Cranmore Road, Brixton. At the former examination the prosecutrix stated that on Thursday week she had been to the Horns Tavern, Kennington-cross, where she had some ale; that she had gone from there to the Swan in the Brixton Road, where she had some more, and was so overcome as to be obliged to have a cab to take her home. She was not so far gone, she said, as to not to recollect that while sitting on a form in the front of the Swan, that the prisoner asked to look at her watch, that she gave her the watch to look at, and that she had not seen it afterward. On her information the prisoner was taken into custody, and her examination she strengthened the suspicion against her very much, for she first declared that she never saw the watch, though she subsequently admitted she had it in her hand. She also denied having got into the cab with the prosecutrix, but subsequently confessed she had, and that she had placed the watch in the left bosom of Mrs Allen while the latter was in the vehicle. It was now stated that on that morning a charwoman employed by the prosecutrix, while engaged in the kitchen, took down a dress or morning gown belonging to Mrs Allen from a peg, and in the lining found the missing watch and chain, which was then produced.- The prosecutrix was called, and said it was an extraordinary fact that since her supposed robbery she had worn the dress two or three times, and had not discovered the watch. She wished to mention however, that within the last three or four days she had been applied to by different strange girls to be permitted to clean the door and kitchen step, be she had not employed either of them.- Mr Norton remarked that the recovery of the watch and chain was a most mysterious affair, and expressed a hope that the circumstance would act as a warning to the prosecutrix against the habit of drinking strong ale in the morning and getting “tight,” as the witnesses called it, so frequently. The prisoner was then discharged.

^[73]Croydon Times, 19^th September 1866. Also: Sydenham Times, 18^th September 1866. Hyde & Glossop Weekly News, and North Cheshire Herald, 22^nd September 1866. findmypast.co.uk

The recovery of the watch and chain from a dress worn at least twice since the original ‘theft’ was indeed “a most mysterious affair”. The suggestion being that “either” of the two “different strange girls” who visited Mrs Allen’s residence had placed the watch and chain in the lining of the dress to make it appear that there had never actually been a crime. If either girl had been Isabella Weatherby, then Mrs Allen would have been able to identify her. Additionally, and if the watch and chain had been surreptitiously returned by the second of the “strange girls” (following the failure of the first), then someone must have told them which dress to put it in, ensuring that it was placed in the lining of the dress in order to make it appear that it had been there all along.

Neither Mary Ann or Isabella Weatherby had previous criminal convictions, nor were they to be convicted of any criminal offence after this incident. So why did the press allege Mary Ann Weatherby was “a receiver of stolen property” who presided over “a perfect den of thieves”, and infer that either Mary Ann or Isabella had commissioned the surreptitious return of the watch and chain? If the maxim ‘there is no smoke without fire’ is applied retrospectively, then consideration must be given to the possible involvement of Nicholas Weatherby, the then 15-year-old son of Mary Ann and brother to Isabella. He later became a career pickpocket, spending considerable time in prison for a range of offences including fraud, larceny and GBH.^[74]Paul Mady provided this information. Nicholas Weatherby’s criminal ‘career’ is well evidenced. See: ‘Aguirra Family Tree’ (John Ellis) ancestry.co.uk If Mary Ann was a receiver of “stolen property” then Nicholas Weatherby was the most likely source, and if he was living with the family (as he had been in 1861), whilst engaged in crime then the description of the home as “a perfect den of thieves” might have been justified. Similarly, and if Isabella Weatherby had taken the watch and chain either on impulse or by design (“a most cunning and artful creature”), then Nicholas Weatherby would have been well placed to engineer the return of the watch and chain to save his sister. Such speculation is without evidence of course, and whilst Isabella could breathe a sigh of relief, Mary Ann could not. When the police had arrived to apprehend Isabella on the 10^th of September 1866, an altercation had led to Police Constable ’38 M’ Abraham Deerling (Dearling), receiving a knife wound to the hand. Mary Ann Weatherby was remanded into Newgate Gaol from Southwark Assizes on the 11^th of September 1866 charged with feloniously wounding with intent to commit grievous bodily harm (GBH).^[75]Registers of Inmates remanded into Newgate Gaol. From 31^st October 1864 to 10^th March 1869. TNA PCOM2/216.

The incident received much press attention, as did the fact that Mary Ann was “a woman of colour”. From the Express (London), 12^th September 1866:

SOUTHWARK. Mary Ann Wetherby, a woman of colour, was charged before Mr Woolrych, with feloniously wounding Police Constable Dearling, 38M, with the intention of doing him grievous bodily harm. The officer, whose left hand was enveloped in surgical bandages, stated that on the previous day he went into Gun Street in order to take into custody the daughter of the prisoner, a girl twelve years of age, for stealing a lady’s watch. He found the girl, who on being told the charge, set to screaming. The prisoner shortly afterwards came out of her house in the same street and endeavoured to rescue the child from his custody. She had a large knife in her hand with which she made a blow at the officer who pushed her away. She still endeavoured to obstruct him, and suddenly aimed a deliberate blow at him with the knife. To ward it off his face he put up his hand which sustained a very severe wound.

Police constable Mudgett, 176 M, who was in company with the other officer, fully bore out his testimony, and described the stab as very deliberate. Mr Evans, the divisional surgeon to the police, described the injury to the constable’s hand as very severe, the wound an incised one, extending right across the fingers, and penetrating to the bone. Prisoner, in defence, said what had been stated by the constable was quite false, and that he had caused the wound himself in endeavouring to snatch the knife from her hand. A witness on behalf of the prisoner came forward, but her evidence went but little in her favour. The magistrate said it was a murderous and brutal attack and committed prisoner to take her trial at the Central Criminal Court.

^[76]Express (London), 12th September 1866. Also on the same day: Daily News (London), Morning Post (London). Later: South London Press, 15th September 1866. Weekly Dispatch (London), 16th September 1866. … Continue reading

On admittance to Newgate it was recorded that she was “39 years of age, 5 feet 2” tall, a woman of colour, born in Lambeth and a widow”.^[77]Out of approximately 5,540 inmates admitted to Newgate from 31st October 1864 to 10th March 1869, 9 have been identified as being “of colour” (approximately 0.16% of those admitted). However, … Continue reading

A search of the British newspapers in the archive held on findmypast.co.uk for the year ‘1866’ and the words “woman of colour” resulted in 13 relevant ‘hits’. Two were in relation to an un-named “woman of colour” sharing her neighbours concerns regarding the late-night excessive noise emanating from the making of coffins and hammering of nails, in addition to the comings and goings of hearses at an undertaker’s in Pennyfields, Poplar, (which resulted in a violent altercation between the undertaker and a neighbour).^[78]Morning Advertiser, 10^th August 1866. findmypast.co.uk Three were advertising the performances of the “sentimental serio-comic vocalist” Miss Ophelia Powell.^[79]Dundee Courier, 19^th October 1866. findmypast.co.uk One concerned Elizabeth Butler (known locally as “Black Bess”), aged 37 years, of Cross Street, St George-in-the-East, who was charged with “violently assaulting and wounding Mary Lehmann…”^[80]Morning Advertiser, 13^th June 1866. findmypast.co.uk Two more detailed the involvement of Ann Green, “a woman of colour, aged 25” in the assault and robbery of a sailor recently returned from sea, and enjoying “a cruise” in the public-houses of Commercial Road East, (Tower Hamlets, East London).^[81]Morning Advertiser, 3rd September 1866. findmypast.co.uk Ann Green, born c.1835, was subsequently found Guilty and sentenced to 5 years penal servitude. Incarcerated successively at Millbank, Brixton … Continue reading The remaining five ‘hits’ concerned Mary Ann Weatherby.

What this brief and decidedly unscientific survey suggests, is that in 1866 newspapers referenced individual women as being “of colour” if they were linked to crime, in showbusiness or accused of a crime. Contextually, the year before had seen both the ‘Morant Bay Rebellion’ in Jamaica (led by Paul Bogle and the ‘mixed heritage’ George William Gordon) and the end of the American Civil War. Consequently, issues of ‘race’/ethnicity were prominent in newspapers.

Mary Ann Weatherby (“aged 39, a coloured woman”), stood trial at the Central Criminal Court (the Old Bailey) on the 17^th of September 1866 charged with “feloniously wounding Abraham Deerling, with intent to do him some grievous bodily harm”.^[82]MARY ANN WETHERBY. Breaking Peace: Wounding. 17th September 1866. Eleventh Session, 1865-1866. Reference Number: t8660917-877. … Continue reading

A Mr Cooper conducted the Prosecution, and a Mr Pater the Defence:

ABRAHAM DEERLING (Policeman M 38). On 10th September I went to apprehend the prisoner’s daughter, a girl about twelve years old, for stealing a watch—I told her the charge, and she screamed, when the prisoner came out of her house and endeavoured to rescue her—she said that she should not go, she would take her home—I told her to be quiet, we were going to take her to the station—I did not, notice anything in her hand at that time—we moved on a little further, and she said, “I will take my daughter home, ” and she put her hand round against me—I put my hand up to save myself, and I felt a stab in my hand—it made a deep cut right across my four fingers, in the front part of my hand—I took the prisoner by the wrist, and took this knife (produced) from her right hand—it is a common shoemaker’s knife—if what she did with the knife was done accidentally I should not have attempted to take her into custody—she made a direct blow at me—I still suffer from the cut—it is getting on very well.

Cross-examined. Q. Did not she ask you what you were taking her child into custody for? A. I believe she did—I refused to tell her—I don’t know whether it was a false charge that was made—I was at the police-court—I heard the watch fall out of the dress of the person who charged her—the prisoner’s daughter was discharged, decidedly—the prosecutrix found the watch the same morning as the remand.

PATER called: WILLIAM BRIGHT. I am a carman, in the employ of Messrs. Stanford, hay and straw dealers—on the evening of the 10th I was in Mr. Giltott’s yard, talking to him, and heard a very loud scream from a young girl—I went towards Gunn Street, and there saw this young girl in the hands of an officer in private clothes, and there were two in uniform—she was screaming, “Let me see my poor mother; fetch my poor mother” presently the mother came running across the road, and said, “What has my poor child done, that she should be taken away?”—no satisfactory answer was given her, and one of the men turned round and said, “What do you do with that knife in your hand?”—she said, “I have been shelling walnuts”—he said, “Give me this knife”—she said, It is my knife”—he laid hold of the blade of the knife, trying to take it away from her—she held it very fast in her hand—I saw his hand flinch from the knife, and he twisted her arm round, and said, “I will lock you up as well as the child”—I said to him, “Don’t hurt the poor woman; she has done nothing wrong”—no answer was made to me, and a man with me said, “Don’t you interfere, Bill”—I saw the woman go away, and she was treated very cruelly by the officer—they are total strangers to me—I know nothing of them—I can declare that the prisoner never made any attempt to stab the policeman—I saw him take hold of the blade, to try and take it away.

Cross-examined by MR COOPER Q. Did you see the blood flow directly after? A. I did not—I never saw a drop of blood—I saw him flinch from the knife—I was here yesterday—I come here to speak the truth—no one pays me for coming here that I know of—I will swear that—I will swear I have not been paid—I have not been promised money—I will not take anything—I never knew the woman, or any of the family before. 

MARY ANN BENTON I am married, and live at 54, Gunn Street—on 10th September I was at the prisoner’s house shelling walnuts with her—between seven and eight o’clock we heard the scream of a child, “Mother!”—Mrs. Wetherby ran out—she thought it was her own child—I did not run out directly—when I got out I saw the constable and Mrs. Wetherby struggling together, with a knife—I saw him have hold of the blade of the knife, and she the handle—he said, “Give me the knife”—she resisted, and would not give it to him—I saw him take the knife, and said, “I shall lock you up as well as the child.”

Cross-examined: Q. Did you see the blood? A. No—I saw his hand in a handkerchief the next morning—I did not see the hand without the handkerchief.

COOPER, in reply, called: JOHN MADGET (Policeman W 176). I went with Deerling to take the prisoner’s daughter up for stealing a watch—the child shrieked, and the prisoner came out—I told her to keep away, and told her that the child was charged with stealing a watch from a lady—she said the child never saw the watch and never had it—Deerling told her to stand away, and if she had anything to say to come to the station and say it there—she made a rush again, and he took her into custody—she then makes a deliberate stab at him, he puts up his hand, and he was stabbed in the hand—I have heard the statements of these two witnesses—it is not true.

ABRAHAM DEERLING (re-examined). What these witnesses say is not true—it is all a falsehood—I had hold of the handle of the knife—I never touched the blade at all.

NOT GUILTY.

^[83]Ibid.

That three constables (two uniformed and one plain-clothed) were sent to apprehend one girl might be viewed as ‘heavy handed policing’. It could have been a precaution against expected resistance from her family, led by Mary Ann Weatherby, a “a receiver of stolen property” presiding over “a perfect den of thieves”. More likely it was because the Police were aware that they were entering an area in which many ‘Coster’ families lived. The 1860s saw the establishing of regulated covered markets, slum clearances to support railway building projects (e.g. Charing Cross 1864), and a Police crackdown on both unregulated traders and street crime. ‘Costers’ would have seen that their way of life and culture were under siege, and as a result, any Police incursion intending to take a ‘coster’ child in for questioning was unlikely to be met with mild acquiescence. It is also difficult to ascertain to what extent, if at all, attitudes to ethnicity influenced the actions of the constables concerned.

The two witnesses for the defence, William Bright and Mary Ann Benton, were more credible than the one called previously at Southwark Assizes whose “evidence went but little” in Mary Anne’s “favour”.^[84]Express (London), 12th September 1866. Also on the same day: Daily News (London), Morning Post (London). Later: South London Press, 15th September 1866. Weekly Dispatch (London), 16th September 1866. … Continue reading

Mary Ann Benton was shelling walnuts with Mary Ann Weatherby in the latter’s house when the incident occurred, so the pair were either friends or work colleagues. The 1871 Census reveals that Mary Ann Benton’s husband, Henry, was a Southwark born ‘Hawker’.^[85]1871 England Census. Orange Street, St Saviour, Southwark, Lambeth, Surrey. RG10/595/56/25/132. findmypast.co.uk Both the Weatherbys and Bentons were ‘Coster’ families, and whilst this does not discount Mary Ann Benton as an eyewitness, it does suggest that she was also a less than impartial witness (perhaps the Weatherbys and Bentons were as close as the Aguirras and Nugents had been?). Mary Ann Weatherby did not take the stand at the Old Bailey, with the right to remain silent being well established in English law by 1831 (it was sometimes referred to as the ‘privilege against self-incrimination’ and provided protection from the adverse consequences of remaining silent).

Found Not Guilty, Mary Ann Weatherby was returned to Newgate Gaol and released on the 20^th of September 1866.^[86]Registers of Inmates remanded into Newgate Gaol. From 31^st October 1864 to 10^th March 1869. TNA PCOM2/216. Out of approximately 5,540 results, 9 (0.16%) were identified as being “of Colour”.

Finis

In 1871, the Weatherby (Wetherby) family were residing at No.4 Gunn Street, St George, Southwark.^[87]1871 England Census. Gunn Street, St George, Southwark, Lambeth, Surrey. RG10/604/48/129/176. findmypast.co.uk Mary was a widow, aged 44 years, a launderess by occupation, born in Lambeth. Living with her were: John J Weatherby aged 24 years, a dealer by occupation, born in Lambeth. Ellen Weatherby aged 17 years, a dealer by occupation, born in Lambeth. Isabella Weatherby aged 15 years, no occupation, born in Lambeth. Living nearby, in Orange Street, Southwark, was Mary Ann Benton, aged 34 and born in Southwark, and one of the defence witnesses at Mary Ann Weatherby’s trial.^[88]1871 England Census. Orange Street, St Saviour, Southwark, Lambeth, Surrey. RG10/595/56/25/132. findmypast.co.uk Mary Ann Weatherby (nee’ Aguirra), died at the home of her daughter Ellen at 75 Friar Street, Black Friars in 1878.^[89]Information provided by Paul Mady. Also ‘Aguirra Family Tree’ (John Ellis) ancestry.co.uk

Postscript

Mary Ann Weatherby’s children Nicholas, Ellen and Isabella all had children of their own. With successive generations remaining in South London and continuing the ‘coster’ tradition established by John Weatherby. One branch of the family became ‘fish costers’ settling in and around Bermondsey, marrying into another local ‘fish coster’ family, the Hattons, and establishing a string of fish and chip shops ^[90]Information provided by Paul Mady.

Mary Ann Weatherby’s daughter Ellen married John Howell, and their daughter, Isabella Howell (1880 Lambeth-1960 Southwark) was the much-loved grandmother of Paul Mady. Today there must be many people who remain unaware that they are the descendants of the formidable Mary Ann Aguirra.

 

Acknowledgements

This article could not have been written without Paul Mady. His enthusiasm for and knowledge of both his own family history and the history of the area Mary Ann Aguirra and her family lived in is extensive. The patience he demonstrated when responding to the barrage of questions I emailed him was commendable. Thank you Paul.

If the article could not have been written without Paul Mady’s assistance, then it would not even have been started without my daughter, Megan Ellis, who helped me to view the past through ‘a different lens’. Thanks Meg.