James Dearman 1826-?

James

origins

Hebrew, from the same root as Jacob, meaning ‘supplanter’ Not a very auspicious name. I do not know if he was named after a relative. A very popular name for all time, probably because of the apostle of that name.

variations

Seamus

abbreviations

Jim, Jimmy, Jamie, Jimbo.

James Dearman

Named 6 July 1826, Enfield, Middlesex

Received (Baptised?) 30 November 1834

m Emma Eliza Brown 5 March, 1854, Enfield, Middlesex

d between 1891 and 1901

Children

Henry William (Brown)

c 13 February 1848

Frederick (Brown)

b 14 July 1851 c 15 July 1851

James John b 27 April 1854 c 23 July 1854 d 28 December 1913

John Charles

c 21 September 1856

Thomas

b 12 December 1858 bu 2 January 1859

Charles John

b May 13 1861 c 7 July 1861

George Alfred b ca 1862

Sophia Annie

b 6 September1865 d 7 January 1866

(There is also an earlier Sophia Annie who was buried in May 1855 as an infant, but I have not been able to find a baptism. So it is possible there is a mistranscription and she is the same child as the later Sophia Annie or she could be the child of John Newman Dearman, James’ brother, or she is an earlier daughter who also died.)

Documentation

Baptism record

Parish records for children’s baptisms

Marriage certificate

Census records 1841-1891

I wish I had a photograph, but both sides of the family have very few. So I am making do with this portrait of an unknown brickman. I do not know when it was taken - probably somewhat later than our James’ lifetime, but nonetheless I think it stands in for how I imagine him - a hardworking, life is tough kind of guy.

After a really shaky start to life - mother dies young, father transported to Australia, early years in the workhouse - he seems to have settled into a long-lasting marriage with a local girl and a steady job as a bricklayer. The place is Enfield. The time is early nineteenth century until the end of that century. Another ancestor whose time on this earth parallels that of Queen Victoria almost exactly. And he is yet another example of how there is drama and interest in even the most ‘ordinary’ of lives.