Uriah Cooper has been sitting in my tree for some time. I feel that he fits. The fact that makes some people less convinced is his supposed date of birth.
As I see it, he is a younger brother of my great-great-great-grandfather Samuel Cooper. Samuel too has a pretty fluid date of birth, somewhere between 1789 and 1801 depending which document you are reading. I’ve not yet been able to find a baptism for Samuel, but I believe he (and Uriah) are the sons of John Cooper and Ann Pullman who married in Stoke sub Hamdon, Somerset in June 1784. It appears from the church register that a sister of John’s also married that day.
There aren’t many Cooper families around this area so I think they have to all be connected. John and Ann had several children baptised in Stoke sub Hamdon and by 1797 had moved to Montacute where they had some more before John died in 1810. John was a tailor according to one story I read attached to someone's tree. My great-great-great-grandfather Samuel and his son John were both tailors too, so this new revelation seems like it could have an ounce of truth to it. My Dad and I spent a lot of Saturdays at the National Library in Wellington reading the microfilm copies of the church records for Montacute about seven years ago. We even managed to find evidence for my great-great-great-grandmother’s maiden name, but still haven’t been able to convince everyone who has it wrong in their trees to make the correction.
But back to Uriah. He is thought to have been born between 1798 and 1807. His death certificate in 1878 gives his age as 80, but who knows ? I remember being reminded recently about the literacy levels of our ancestors and that their numeracy skills were likely low too. Did they really remember which year they were born in, if they couldn’t write it down or have a document to refer back to ? And what were their addition skills like ? 80 might just have been a fair assumption made by his wife, the informant…who signed with an x.
My ancestor Samuel emigrated to New Zealand in 1841. Uriah had however left two years earlier and sailed on the Asia to Adelaide with his wife Elizabeth (nee Hockey) and three children. Some sources have only documented 2 children. He appears to have had a run in with the law before leaving England and spent some time in Ilchester Gaol. He and his brothers may even have been involved in a riot which occurred in Montacute in the 1830s. I wonder if their wives and sisters were involved in the women led riot that occurred around the same time. You can read about the riots here.
Uriah & Elizabeth stayed in South Australia for about 3 years before moving to Launceston, Tasmania. There they had six more children before moving again to Melbourne where their last two children were born. Uriah appears on the 1856 Electoral Roll living in Hawthorn, Melbourne. I am unsure where they lived in South Australia but it should be noted that there is a small settlement there, in the Adelaide Hills named Montacute after the birthplace of a financier of the Copper mine established there in 1843. I wonder if Uriah & Elizabeth knew John Baker ?
There is also a Montacute in Tasmania, near Hobart. This settlement was also established by a former Montacute resident. Captain William Langdon RN was the son of a former vicar of St Catherine’s in Montacute. He had been granted land in Tasmania in 1823, he regularly traded between London and Hobart and is reputed to have owned his own sailing ship. Other former Montacute residents are thought to have joined him there as well. Uriah though seems to have been further north. Uriah was a sawyer by trade and I imagine he would have had no shortage of work as settlers arrived and timber was required for building.
Uriah and Elizabeth had at least 13 children, not all of whom survived infancy, but many of who went on to marry and have families of their own. He died at his home in Highett Street, Hawthorn. I know that the church records make the connection look pretty sketchy, but DNA matches are certainly pointing in the right direction. We all have matches coming up with descendants of Uriah, through at least 5 of his children and we and they also share matches with the descendants of their sister Ann. Contacting some of them is my next priority to compare information and see where can help each other.
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