Amos Charles Webber

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes

Amos married Henrietta Elizabeth Bowles on 22 Dec 1886 in Kariega, Eastern Cape Proince, South Africa. Henrietta was born on 2 May 1869 in Kariega, Eastern Cape Proince, South Africa; died on 8 Aug 1953 in Kariega, Eastern Cape Proince, South Africa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Ernest Leonard Webber was born on 20 Feb 1891 in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
2. Evelyn Blanche Webber was born on 11 May 1893 in Kariega, Eastern Cape Proince, South Africa.
3. Sidney Charles Webber was born on 18 Sep 1887 in Kariega, Eastern Cape Proince, South Africa.

Daniel married Maria Eliza Amos on 21 Dec 1855 in Salem, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Maria (daughter of Thomas Amos, 1820 Settler and Maria Nelson Brown Clogg, 1820 Settler) was born on 5 Sep 1835 in Kariega, Eastern Cape Proince, South Africa; died on 16 Sep 1918 in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Charles William Webber 1826
• Occupation: Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa; a Tailor

Notes:

from A Small World, by Norma van As:

In the year 1820, two British settlers, who were destined to play a part in the fortunes of the Webber family, sailed for the Cape Colony. They were Thomas Young, a farmer of Yorkshire, cousin to the Webber brothers Charles and Samuel of London, and William Shepherd, who was to return to England in 1825 in order to organise a new party of settlers.

By the year 1825 many of the original Albany settlers were reasonably well-established. Some of their most pressing difficulties, apart from the ever-present threat of attack by native bands, had been resolved. Many had left their original locations and moved to Grahamstown, Uitenhage or Algoa Bay, where they resumed their old trades or turned their hand to such occupations as would bring them a living. Certainly, the economic climate was not as depressed as it had been when the 1819 and 1820 settlers arrived. There was now a demand for housing, for shops to provide food, clothing and farming implements, and for better roads and means of communication. Further, the settlers were beginning to participate in civic affairs. Reports of conditions at this time evoked a picture of hopeful progress and the possibility of eventual prosperity in the Colony. The memories of hardships, disasters and rigours endured were eclipsed by a new spirit of optimism.

At about this time, Charles and Samuel Webber in far-off London became interested in settling in Albany, encouraged, no doubt, by their cousin Thomas Young.

Charles, three times married, with a family of six children ranging in age from nineteen years to a babe in arms, was a sober, strict and highly-principled Baptist, by trade a tailor and draper of Bond Street, London. He had lived at one time in Tottenham Court Road and later occupied a comfortable residence at No. 34 Cirencester Place (now Great Titchfield Street) in the division of Portman Square, Parish of Marylebone, Middlesex. This house was demolished in 1971, with all those comprising that block, in order to make way for the erection of the Great Regent Hotel facing on to Carburton Street, which now stands upon the site. Charles Webber's house stood where the ramp to the hotel basement garage has been constructed. Bomb damage during World War II had been severe in the area, but Charles' old home remained untouched.

Samuel, Charles' junior by some fifteen years, occupied premises at 84 East Street, Manchester Square, Marylebone - not a great distance removed from the home of his elder brother. Samuel was a cheesemonger by trade. He had spent thirteen years in the Merchant Navy before marrying and settling down to life ashore, but always hankered after adventure. No doubt he found life in London somewhat dull in the days of peace which followed upon the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars.

It is not known what made the two brothers decide to leave England and risk all in a new and unknown land. Samuel, with his expansive, generous and extrovert nature would have thought little of uprooting his wife and family of five children, but Charles, by far the more serious-minded of the two, must have given the matter much thought before deciding to join his younger brother in such a venture. Without doubt, business in England in the tailors' and drapers' business was not as flourishing as it had been during the Napoleonic Wars when there was a constant demand for military and naval uniforms, but Charles was ever a careful and resourceful man and would no doubt have ridden out the economic depression had he elected to remain in England.

Whatever the personal reasons which lay behind their decision, it is clear that Samuel was eager from the start to emigrate. The manner of their departure from England came about in this fashion: for various reasons, some men amongst the 1820 settlers had left their wives and children at home. They now felt able to support them and desired to be reunited with their families. Others, amongst them Thomas Young, wished various relatives in England to join them in the Colony. William Shepherd, of Sephton's Party, who had settled at Salem, agreed to organise such a party.
Once arrived in England, Shepherd struggled from July 1825 until well into 1826 in an effort to persuade the British Government to assist those concerned. Earl Bathurst, the Colonial Secretarv at one stage offered, on behalf of the government, to meet half the expenses involved. Delay followed upon delay until it seemed that the matter would never be satisfactorily resolved. Samuel Webber, meanwhile, in an effort to secure a free passage, wrote to Earl Bathurst from Manchester Square as follows: 'My Lord - being desirous of settling in Grahamstown, Cape of Good Hope, with my wife and five children, I take the liberty of soliciting from your Lordship the favour of a passage out, with the usual indulgences afforded to Free Settlers. Should your Lordship consider my thirteen years service in the navy entitle me to any claim to the above indulgence, I have enclosed my certificates for the last ten years service. Signed) Samuel Webber.'
Samuel's plea was of no avail and the final blow fell when Shepherd received a letter from the Colonial Office, bluntly informing him that the Treasury had no funds whatsoever with which to assist the would-be settlers.

In the meantime, some of these unfortunates had already sold much of their furniture and possessions in an attempt to raise their share of the required passage money. The full responsibility now rested upon Shepherd's shoulders and he carried out his task as best he could in the circumstances. It is not known how the financial need of all was met, but William Shepherd's Party, consisting of 78 adults (including unaccompanied children) and 88 accompanied children, set sail from England in the English summer of 1826 upon a vovage which lasted close on five months. Some, if not all, sailed in the ship Hebe. The approximate date of their arrival in Algoa Bay is recorded in a letter written by David Cawood in the month of November 1826, from the Colony, to his brother-in-law, William Barrett, in London, in which he stated: 'I have just heard of a few women and children whom their husbands left behind them in England are now arrived at Algoa Bay. From a letter written by John Mitchell Webber to his children, we know the duration of the vovage: 'I have heard my mother say that when a babe I was very small and weak, but having so long a voyage (nearly five months) caused me to grow strong and healthy.'3 Descendants of Charles Webber are proud of the fact that he was in a sufficiently good position to pay his own passage as well as that of his wife Mary and his six children. He certainly had no need to sell any of his possessions for he brought his furniture and books with him. His writing-desk remains in the family to this day. There was also no need for Mary and Martha Webber to sit upon their boxes and weep when the wagons carrying them from Algoa Bay to Grahamstown finally deposited them there. Thomas Young had doubtless made arrangements for the arrival of his relatives -four adults, one youth of nineteen in the person of Charles Pinchin, and ten more children of varying ages.

Samuel's daughter, Martha Jane, in her autobiography, tells of the first blow to befall the party after their arrival. She avers that grants of land had been promised them by Earl Bathurst contingent upon their having paid their own passages. Once arrived, they learned that anyone wishing to obtain land would be obliged to pay for it. There was nothing for it but to give up any plans of farming the land and turn to their trades. For Charles, the Bond Street tailor, this setback seems to have proved no great obstacle.

By 1826 Grahamstown had grown from a straggling village to a thriving town, set in a hollow surrounded by gently rising hills. The 'Settlers' City' had developed from a military outpost to a commercial town served by the two ports of Algoa Bay and Port Frances, the former having been declared a free port in 1826. There existed a flourishing coastal trade with Cape Town which encouraged commercial enterprise, while the institution of the 'Kaffir Fairs', which allowed trading with the natives, had done much to boost the economy of Grahamstown.

When the Webbers arrived there, they found the building of the original square-towered St George's Church in progress and the first Baptist chapel already completed. Artisans were building, innkeepers and businessmen were plying their trades and wagoners regularly travelled the routes to the ports. They saw military barracks and buildings, a gaol, the earliest settler cottages built in characteristic style with pitched roofs and gabled end-walls sporting a chimneystack at either end, as well as single- and double-storeyed buildings with flat roofs and simple lines. There was little evidence of Cape Dutch influence in the architecture of Grahamstown. The detached buildings of the provided a welcome change for the newcomers after the high-density which they had been accustomed in the terraced houses of London.

Charles married Mary Mitchell on 4 Nov 1817 in St Annes, Soho, Westminster, London, England. Mary was born in 1792; died on 30 Aug 1845 in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa; was buried in Grahamstown Cemetery (Old Baptist), Eastern Cape, South Africa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes
• Settler ID: 61
• Name: Thomas Amos 1820
• Settler: 7 Jan 1820, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England

Notes:

Settler:
Menezes' party on the Weymouth

Thomas married Maria Nelson Brown Clogg, 1820 Settler on 29 Sep 1834 in Grahamstown Church (St George's - Anglican), Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Maria (daughter of William Clogg, 1820 Settler and Maria Bright, 1820 Settler) was born on 26 Dec 1819 in at Sea; was christened on 24 Feb 1822 in Salem Methodist Church, Salem, Eastern Cape, South Africa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes
• Settler ID: 2467
• Name: Maria Nelson Browning Clogg 1820
• Settler: 7 Jan 1820, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England

Notes:

name CLAGG in baptismal register

Settler:
Parkin's party on the Weymouth

Notes:

Married:
Description: Rev John Heavyside

Notes:

St M M Bermondsey
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=f52d1214-50c3-44f1-abd1-3ead299b1fee&tid=42827571&pid=41

St George's, Hanover Sq
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=96638dc7-0cee-47b1-b379-63b97b996da4&tid=42827571&pid=41

Samuel married Frances Parker on 27 Nov 1771 in London Church (St George's - Hanover Square), London, England. Frances was born est 1750. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

St George's, Hanover Sq
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=96638dc7-0cee-47b1-b379-63b97b996da4&tid=42827571&pid=40

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Edward Ames
• Name: Edward Amoss

Notes:

National Archives, Kew, London
ADM 103/468 PART 2 Register of British POWs Prisons L-V, France, 1787-1820
Edward AMES captured from the Tixel 24 October 1810

Henry + Elizabeth Ambrose, - wife of Edward Ames 1820 Settler. Elizabeth was born about 1784; died on 19 Jan 1854 in Kariega, Eastern Cape Proince, South Africa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes
• Settler ID: 19
• Name: Elizabeth 1820
• Settler: 7 Jan 1820, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England

Notes:

There was a Richard BOWLES * 1784 Dover, Kent d. 1879 Grahamstown married to (1) Elizabeth (see below) * 1784 Folkestone, England d. 19 Jan 1854 at Kariega. They came to South Africa with the Menezes' 1820 Settler Party aboard the 'Weymouth'. They had the following children:

1. Esther * bet 1809-1810 Dover, Kent d. ??
2. Jemima * 5 June 1819 (I also have her as Jemima Weymouth which I don't think is correct as the birth date I have is from her baptism and says she was born in England and the connection to the ship Weymouth was only in 1820). She died bet 1851-1855.
3. Richard * 10 May 1822 at Rietfontein, Albany District d. 18 Mar 1851.
4. John * 4 Sept 1823 at Grahamstown d. 17 Jul 1904 E Cape.
5. William Charles * 4 Sept 1823 Grahamstown d. 14 Oct 1887, E Cape.
6. Joseph * 13 May 1826 Albany d. 26 Jan 1916 Grahamstown.

Richard was also married on 14 Mar 1856 at the Ministers Home, Grahamstown to Ann BOWKER born ROWNEY formerly married to 1820 Settler John William GREEN who died 21 September 1834, and Thomas Bowker (not related to Miles and Anna). She was 68 and he was 79 years of age. I have conflicting dates of death for her but the one date of 1855 can be ruled out leaving her death either in 1861 or 1865.

Richard's wife Elizabeth was also married to Henry AMOS * abt 1777 in
England and who died abt 1817 in Dover, Kent. They had the following
children:

Henry * 1803
Eliza * 1806
Charlotte * 1807
Rebecca * 1810 d. 25 Aug 1890 at Uitenhage.
Thomas * 1812
Sarah * 1813
Edward * 1815

Henry was a soldier in the Napoleonic wars and went missing and was presumed to be dead and as such was declared dead. His wife, Elizabeth, then married Richard in about 1808 and they had Esther. Lo and behold, the missing and presumed dead husband, Henry made his reappearance and Elizabeth went back to him and they had four more children before he died leaving her free to once again marry Richard, which she did in 1819 as above. Thus you have the large gap between their children.

Elizabeth's husband, Henry Amos, with whom she had 7 children, went missing in the Napoleonic Wars, so she married Richard Bowles and had a daughter. Then Henry Amos reappeared so she returned to him. They had 4 more children before he died. Then Elizabeth remarried Bowles and had two more children.

Settler:
Menezes' party on the Weymouth

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes
• Settler ID: 2465
• Name: William Clogg 1820
• Occupation: a Gardener
• Settler: 7 Jan 1820, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England

Notes:

Settler:
Parkin's party on the Weymouth

William married Maria Bright, 1820 Settler about 1815. Maria (daughter of William Bright and Mary, - wife of William Bright) was born on 17 Feb 1793 in Deal, Kent, England; died on 21 Aug 1873 in East London District, Eastern Cape, South Africa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes
• Settler ID: 2468
• Name: Maria Bright 1820
• Settler: 7 Jan 1820, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England

Notes:

Settler:
Parkin's party on the Weymouth