I don’t know exactly when John Jamblin was born, but from various pieces of information it must have been very shortly before February 1837. He was born in the parish of St Pancras, London. He was the first child of John Jamblin and Ann Pitts, and they did not stay in St Pancras very long. John and Ann didn’t marry in Peterborough where John came from or Werrington the village just outside Peterborough where Ann came from, or in the main St Pancras Church. As there are upward of thirty churches in the viscinity of St Pancras (Less than 3 miles) I have not had time to check them all yet for either the marriage of his parents or his Christening. St Pancras was a centre of Cabinet Making, perhaps his father, a Cabinet Maker was finishing or polishing his apprenticeship, both of Johns parents had distant relatives in several not to distant parts of London.
By 5th October 1838, when John’s sister Henrietta was born, (I am a descendant of Henrietta) John and his parents were back in Peterborough. In June or July 1840 a brother, William was born. On the night of the 6th and 7th June 1841 the family were living at Chapel Yard, Peterborough, near the Cathedral, or Minster Precincts. The beginning of 1842 saw the birth of a brother Robert, followed by a sister Elizabeth at the end of 1843. Then another brother Edward, who died aged two days at the beginning of July 1845. Another brother, James was born in the summer of 1846, followed by the death of William by now aged six, of Epidemic fever & an ulcerated throat, in August 1846 when John was aged ten. At this time his father is described as a Baker. It is possible that the family had several sources of income. It would be common at that time for the wife to run one business but for it to be described as the husbands occupation nevertheless, Perhaps his father was off work with an injury - he did always have a strong entrepreneurial streak, from the 1860's he is a Hotel Keeper, Brick Maker, Coal Merchant as well as a Master Cabinet Maker.
Another sister for John, Charlotte was born at the start of 1849, and she was Christened at St John the Baptist Peterborough in July. Then followed Alice in 1850. The absence of Christenings except for Charlotte is interesting. Up to that point both sides of the family had been meticulous in observance of these events for hundreds of years, as they were again later. Perhaps there was a Non-Conformist flirtation, I will check that out when I can.
The night of the 30th and 31st of March 1851 saw the family living on Westgate, Peterborough, John’s father was once again described as a Cabinet Maker. John was now aged fourteen, and had left School and was earning a living as an errand boy. Johns brother Robert was educated firstly at The Kings School Peterborough, and later went to first Cambridge for his Degree and then Oxford University for his Masters, before becoming himself a Choirmaster and then a Vicar. I am unsure about Johns education, but expect he went to the Kings School too, his Cousin Edward Speechly was the Organist at Peterborough Cathedral, and taught Music at the Kings School at that time. Perhaps John showed less aptitude than his brother Robert for Academic studies. The other children were still at school in 1851, except for Charlotte ages two, and Alice aged six months.
1852 saw the birth of a brother George. In 1854 John's father was listed in Kelly’s Post Office Directory as a Cabinet Maker and Furniture Broker, still in Westgate, Peterborough. That year, 1854, another sister Mary Ann, (known as Polly) arrived. In late 1856 another sister Julia Ann was born. The last child of the family, William Henry, arrived in February 1859. John took a Photograph of all the surviving children shortly afterwards. Of the 13 children recorded his parents only lost three, Edward at 2 days old, William aged 6 during the cholera epidemic, and in 1860 his brother James would die of Typhus. This older, central part of Peterborough was still dependant on old wells for their water which were replaced around this time. The family moved a couple of miles down the road, across the bridge over the river Nene to Fletton.
At the Parish Church of Woodstone on 9 February 1858 John Jamblin and Ann Pitts oldest son, John, was married to Martha Green, by the Rector of Orton Longville. At the time of the wedding John was an Upholsterer, probably working for his Father's business on Westgate. Martha who was living at Woodstone, was the daughter of Henry Green, a Gentleman. Unusually, at this wedding there were five witnesses rather than the usual two, or occasionally three. Martha’s sister, Fanny and either her Father or her Brother, Henry Green. Also John’s Sister Henrietta and his brother Robert Jamblin. And lastly as the fifth witness there was the interestingly named Caesar Altria - who is he?.
Martha’s father, Henry Green had a music shop in Peterborough, which was taken over by William Henry Archer, Henrietta’s future husband in about 1860 when Henry Green became the Chief Probate Clerk. John’s youngest brother, William Henry Jamblin would later take on this job at the Probate Registry which was eventually sited on New Road, Peterborough.
One year after the marriage, in 1859 John and Martha's first child, Frederick Henry was born. He was Christened at St John the Baptist, Peterborough 22nd February 1859, his father John was described as a China Dealer. In March 1861 their 2nd son, Ernest Henry was born. On the night of 6th and 7th of April 1861 the family were living on New Road, Peterborough. John is described as a Photographic Artist aged Twenty-four. Martha is twenty-two, Fred two and Ernest one month old. Also in the house was Louisa Bland, (or maybe Blake, John had cousins surnamed Blake), aged 30, born in Boro Fen and described as a niece. Later that year On the 2nd of December 1861 a petion for Bankruptcy was filed on John Jamblin, photographic Artist, of Fletton. I don’t think their son Ernest Henry was ever a very strong child, because by the 15th December 1861 the Vicar of St Margaret’s, Fletton came to the house to privately baptise the baby, who died a few days later. At Ernest’s Christening, John was described as an Artist of Fletton. 1861 was a very bad year for them.
In 1864 until 1867 John is listed in trade directories as a Photographer at 17 Park End Street Oxford. So his Bankruptcy must have been discharged by this time. I have not found an entry for the 1871 Census yet for John and Martha, I suspect they were in Oxford. Their son Frederick was living with Martha’s parents at the probate registry, Minster Precincts, Peterborough in 1871.
The family is not seen again until the night of the 3rd and 4th April, the 1881 census. By this time John and Martha were living in Oxford House, Dwygyfydlchi, on the North Wales coast, near to the seaside town of Conwy. John is still an Artist and a Photographer, and Martha is Teaching Music. John also had an assistant named Edith Jamblin who lived with them. I have been unable to find out how Edith got the surname Jamblin, I have not found her relationship and suspect it was either; a made up relationship, or an error in the census, or in the transcription by the Latter Day Saints I used, I will check it when I can. The couple's only son surviving son was in 1881 again living with his Grandparents, Henry and Martha Leasle (sic) Green in the Probate Registry, New Road, Peterborough. Frederick Henry was then aged twenty-two and was a solicitor by this time. The Oxford Arcade of shops was built speculatively around this time by John, it bankrupted him again. The Prime Minister, Gladstone, an old friend, donated £5 to the fund to get John out of trouble.
On August 13 1881 John's son Frederick married at St Dunstan in the West, in the City of London. He married Sarah Emblen Arnold. Sarah was the daughter of James Franklin Arnold, a Chartered Accountant of Lincoln Road Peterborough. In the 1881 Census the Arnold Family were living very close to both John's parents and Martha’s parents.
By the end of December 1881 John and Martha had their first Grandchild, Frederick Arnold St Clair Jamblin, who was born at John and Martha’s house in Conwy district. Frederick Arnold was the first of six grandchildren of John and Martha Jamblin. The second Florence May was born in Peterborough in the summer of 1884. Followed by Rosa Arnold Kathleen in Hackney at the end of 1891. Then there was Dorothy born in Whitechapel in 1894, Kenward William born and died in St Saviour London in 1899 and lastly Evalina P Jamblin born in Marylebone in 1900.
John’s Mother Ann Jamblin died 7th November 1887 in Peterborough, his Father John followed her 8th October 1894, also in Peterborough.
The 1901 Census shows John and Martha living at 2 Beech Grove, Dwygyfychi, Conwy. John is a Photographer and Journalist aged 63, Martha is now 60 and their Granddaughters Florence May aged 16 and Rosa Kathleen aged 8 are with them. John’s son Frederick Henry died in late 1907. Granddaughter Florence married in 1910. On 22 June 1915 Kathleen Rosa Jamblin, daughter of Frederick Henry and Granddaughter of John got married at All Hallows Church in the City of London. Kathleen married Alfred James Richard Higgins, a Clerk. Martha died aged 78 in Conway late in 1916. On the 21st of January 1917 John Jamblin died at Conwy House, Penmaenmawr, North Wales.
According to John’s youngest brother, William Henry, who was also the Chief Probate Clerk for Peterborough, John died a widower, without children, intestate, and William Henry inherited everything as his lawful brother. There appear to be many Grandchildren of John who survived. I am not a expert on Probate Law, but this does seem a little odd to say the least, If John died intestate I would expect John's estate to go down to his living Grandchildren before going sideways to his brother William Henry. Either there was a fiddle, or at some point John lost touch with his Son and Grandchildren, and William Henry did not know of their existence and could not find them, or possibly his only legacy was debts, and William Henry took on his debts to save John’s descendants.
__________________