BARRELING ALONG - A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ELLIOTT FAMILY OF COOPER'S
Before the union of England and Scotland in 1707 and the creation of the United Kingdom, the border area between England and Scotland was populated by bands of families collectively known as the "Border Reivers". These families were basically cattle and sheep rustlers who continually raided farms and farmsteads on both side of the border stealing livestock for profit and food. There were numerous families including the Armstrong's, Scott, Little , Irving, Bell, Graham, Johnston and Elliot(t). Each of these families are also registered Clans under the ancient Scottish system of Clanship.
However, after the union of England and Scotland there was in effect no border to raid across, and the new King of the newly created United Kingdom, particularly as he was Scottish, stamped his authority on the raiders and soon made there trade uneconomical and dangerous to the liberty of the clan members. As a result the families were forced to make a living by alternative means, and as a result, the bulk of the Elliott family relocated to the nearest population centre, being Newcastle.
The Elliott's will have been employed in a number of various manually intense industries, and a review of the Post Offices registers confirm that in the 1880's Newcastle still had the highest percentage of Elliott surnames in the country. The second highest concentration was around Derby and the third Plymouth. These places indicate that initially the majority of Elliott's were either employed as coal miners working the coal seams in North East England and the peak district, or working the ports of Newcastle and Plymouth as Coopers and lightermen. As Coopers, family members were also often employed by brewery's, preparing the various casks and barrels required for the wholesale, distribution and sales of the beer trade. (Traditionally, a cooper is someone who makes wooden, staved vessels, bound together with hoops and possessing flat ends or heads. Examples of a cooper's work include casks, barrels, buckets, tubs, butter churns, hogsheads, firkins, tierces, runlets, puncheons, pipes, tuns, butts, pins and breakers.)
As a major producer of coal, Newcastle would distribute its coal supplies to the rest of England via ship, and would have been transported either in bulk, or in wooden barrels which represented the only other container for shipping goods to a point of sale or for further distribution. It seems that the Elliott's followed the vessels to the major ports of Plymouth and London, who in the 1880, according to the Royal Post Office, had the third and fourth highest populations of Elliott's. It should also be noted that Plymouth and London both had close connections with the Royal Navy, who had a very high requirement for Coopers so that provisions were stored within barrels upon the ships in the worlds largest and most powerful fleet.
It was for this reason that a branches of the family was to move to Greenwich and Chatham in Kent, so as to service the Royal Dockyards. Additional areas in London populated by the Elliott's included Rotherhithe, servicing the wharves, small docks and numerous landing stations and stairs, Poplar, Stepney, Shoreditch, Limehouse, St Georges parish and Hoxton. In all cases, the men of the family were Coopers either working directly at the various docks located in east and south London, or Brewery's who were numerous and often located near to the rivers Thames and Lee, and close to docks and wharves.
Located near to Plymouth were a large concentration of Elliott's who settled along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, and were involved in seafaring and the Cooping trade. A particular branch of the family (styled with one L and one T) were in fact ennobled as Earls of St Germains, situated at Port Eliot and St Germains in what was then Devon and is now Cornwall after boundary changes in the mid 1800's. However, this branch of the family appears to have had little connection to the rest of the Elliott family in the west country, and although Elliott's were located in the Millbrook and Maker villages situated on the Rame peninsular close to Port Eliot and St Germains, there is no blood link that is traceable to today's genealogists.
Indeed, William Elliott born 1785 in Maker and married to Ann Jenkins born 1785 in Maker, moved to the Shoreditch / Hoxton area of London when their son William Elliott (born 1817 in Maker) was a young man so that they could continue their trade as Coopers within the hustle and bustle of London's expanding ports and docks. Williams sisters Nancey and Cordelia, who had both been born in Maker came with them, and further siblings Emma and James were born in London's St George in the East Parish.
William Elliott (1817) married Ann Collett who was born 1817 in Uxbridge Middlesex, at the young age of 16 and had a child in 1836 named William (St George in the East), followed by Ann 1938 (Shoreditch), Charles 1841 (Hoxton), Henry 1843 (Hoxton), Emma 1845 (Hoxton), Lucy 1847 (Hoxton), James 1849 (Shoreditch), Cordelia 1850 (Hoxton), George 1852 (Hoxton), Alice 1854 (Hoxton), Frederick 1856 (Chatham), Alfred 1858 (Chatham), Alice 1860 (Chatham) and Robert 1864 (Limehouse). William and all the males were Coopers, working in wharves and brewery's or alternatively "Lightermen", involved with loading goods on and off ships either on the Thames or its docks.
As can be seen from the various places of birth,Williams family moved from St George in the East, Middlesex (London) to Hoxton / Shoreditch, Middlesex (London) then to the shipyards and Royal docks of Chatham in Kent, and then back to Limehouse, Middlesex (London). This was presumably to follow available work in the Coopers trade. The daughters married in to the following families - Soloman, Rotherham and Roberts, whilst the sons married the families of - Parker, Clifton, Leach, Donald, Roskruge and others.
The locations that the various other members of the Elliott family lived and worked included Bermondsey, Deptford, Dover, Edmonton,Tottenham, Hackney, Rochester, Chatham, East Ham and other coastal or riverbank locations in Essex and Kent. During the 19th Century the following families were also married in to the extended Elliott family descended from William (1785) - Parke, Bourne, King, Stephens, Devon, Smith, Makeham, Longman, Lloyd, Sullivan, Wood, Savage, Rawbone, Sole, Doming, Davis, Sinclair, Allan, Bennett, Wilson, Tozer, Toms, Pearson, Waterson, Lynch, Maynard, Blake, Hendy, Chandler, Malt, Richardson, Tester, Read, Dimock, Knowles, Hatton, Crowley, Hooper, Field, Bull, Weir, Green, Richie, Pocknell, Chalkley, Ticehurst and others.
Williams (1817) son, George Elliott (1852 Hoxton) married Anne Susan Donald (1859 Stepney) in 1877. Ann was part of a Scottish family, her father Charles Gordon Donald being born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland 1819, although her mother Eliza Longman was born in 1819 in Portsea, Hampshire, England. Charles Gordon Donald was a Ships Rigger, so although not a Cooper, was involved with an associated dockland trade. George and Anne's children were George Morris Elliott (1877 London St Georges), John (1880 Limehouse), Charles (1888 Tottenham), Caroline (1890 Tottenham), Maud (1891 Edmonton), Edward (1893 Tottenham), Nellie (1896 Tottenham) and Rose (1898 Tottenham).
The eldest son, George Morris Elliott, a Cooper, married his cousin, Ellen Elliott (1879 Bermondsey) in 1900. Ellen's father, William (1839 St George in the East), was also a Cooper by trade, and the brother of Georges father. Ellen's mother was Jane Parker (1837 St Giles, Middlesex / London). Ellen was the youngest of ten children, with seven brothers who were all Coopers.
George Morris Elliott and Ellen lived at number 4, Seven step Alley, Rotherhithe, and had eight children - George Morris (1901 Rotherhithe), James (1903 Rotherhithe), Henry (1904 Rotherhithe), William (1905 Rotherhithe), Ellen (1908 Rotherhithe), Rosemary (1912 Rotherhithe), John (1917 Rotherhithe) and Alfred (1919 Rotherhithe).
At this time of research it is not known if George,James, William, John and Alfred continued the family trade as Coopers, but with the onslaught of the first world war, the second world war and the vast modernisation of shipping procedures, including the closing of all the docks in central and East London, apart from the occasional requirements for a brewers cooper, there is little need for a Cooper, and I can not see the family tradition continuing.
I know for certain that Henry was not a Cooper, and that he married Rose Baldwin Burnett (1905 Charlton, Kent / London) and had two children, Henry Tony and Derek. Neither Henry or Derek were Coopers and there own sons were also not called to the trade. I therefor suspect that the role of Cooper in the Elliott family is now over for ever.
Before the union of England and Scotland in 1707 and the creation of the United Kingdom, the border area between England and Scotland was populated by bands of families collectively known as the "Border Reivers". These families were basically cattle and sheep rustlers who continually raided farms and farmsteads on both side of the border stealing livestock for profit and food. There were numerous families including the Armstrong's, Scott, Little , Irving, Bell, Graham, Johnston and Elliot(t). Each of these families are also registered Clans under the ancient Scottish system of Clanship.
However, after the union of England and Scotland there was in effect no border to raid across, and the new King of the newly created United Kingdom, particularly as he was Scottish, stamped his authority on the raiders and soon made there trade uneconomical and dangerous to the liberty of the clan members. As a result the families were forced to make a living by alternative means, and as a result, the bulk of the Elliott family relocated to the nearest population centre, being Newcastle.
The Elliott's will have been employed in a number of various manually intense industries, and a review of the Post Offices registers confirm that in the 1880's Newcastle still had the highest percentage of Elliott surnames in the country. The second highest concentration was around Derby and the third Plymouth. These places indicate that initially the majority of Elliott's were either employed as coal miners working the coal seams in North East England and the peak district, or working the ports of Newcastle and Plymouth as Coopers and lightermen. As Coopers, family members were also often employed by brewery's, preparing the various casks and barrels required for the wholesale, distribution and sales of the beer trade. (Traditionally, a cooper is someone who makes wooden, staved vessels, bound together with hoops and possessing flat ends or heads. Examples of a cooper's work include casks, barrels, buckets, tubs, butter churns, hogsheads, firkins, tierces, runlets, puncheons, pipes, tuns, butts, pins and breakers.)
As a major producer of coal, Newcastle would distribute its coal supplies to the rest of England via ship, and would have been transported either in bulk, or in wooden barrels which represented the only other container for shipping goods to a point of sale or for further distribution. It seems that the Elliott's followed the vessels to the major ports of Plymouth and London, who in the 1880, according to the Royal Post Office, had the third and fourth highest populations of Elliott's. It should also be noted that Plymouth and London both had close connections with the Royal Navy, who had a very high requirement for Coopers so that provisions were stored within barrels upon the ships in the worlds largest and most powerful fleet.
It was for this reason that a branches of the family was to move to Greenwich and Chatham in Kent, so as to service the Royal Dockyards. Additional areas in London populated by the Elliott's included Rotherhithe, servicing the wharves, small docks and numerous landing stations and stairs, Poplar, Stepney, Shoreditch, Limehouse, St Georges parish and Hoxton. In all cases, the men of the family were Coopers either working directly at the various docks located in east and south London, or Brewery's who were numerous and often located near to the rivers Thames and Lee, and close to docks and wharves.
Located near to Plymouth were a large concentration of Elliott's who settled along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, and were involved in seafaring and the Cooping trade. A particular branch of the family (styled with one L and one T) were in fact ennobled as Earls of St Germains, situated at Port Eliot and St Germains in what was then Devon and is now Cornwall after boundary changes in the mid 1800's. However, this branch of the family appears to have had little connection to the rest of the Elliott family in the west country, and although Elliott's were located in the Millbrook and Maker villages situated on the Rame peninsular close to Port Eliot and St Germains, there is no blood link that is traceable to today's genealogists.
Indeed, William Elliott born 1785 in Maker and married to Ann Jenkins born 1785 in Maker, moved to the Shoreditch / Hoxton area of London when their son William Elliott (born 1817 in Maker) was a young man so that they could continue their trade as Coopers within the hustle and bustle of London's expanding ports and docks. Williams sisters Nancey and Cordelia, who had both been born in Maker came with them, and further siblings Emma and James were born in London's St George in the East Parish.
William Elliott (1817) married Ann Collett who was born 1817 in Uxbridge Middlesex, at the young age of 16 and had a child in 1836 named William (St George in the East), followed by Ann 1938 (Shoreditch), Charles 1841 (Hoxton), Henry 1843 (Hoxton), Emma 1845 (Hoxton), Lucy 1847 (Hoxton), James 1849 (Shoreditch), Cordelia 1850 (Hoxton), George 1852 (Hoxton), Alice 1854 (Hoxton), Frederick 1856 (Chatham), Alfred 1858 (Chatham), Alice 1860 (Chatham) and Robert 1864 (Limehouse). William and all the males were Coopers, working in wharves and brewery's or alternatively "Lightermen", involved with loading goods on and off ships either on the Thames or its docks.
As can be seen from the various places of birth,Williams family moved from St George in the East, Middlesex (London) to Hoxton / Shoreditch, Middlesex (London) then to the shipyards and Royal docks of Chatham in Kent, and then back to Limehouse, Middlesex (London). This was presumably to follow available work in the Coopers trade. The daughters married in to the following families - Soloman, Rotherham and Roberts, whilst the sons married the families of - Parker, Clifton, Leach, Donald, Roskruge and others.
The locations that the various other members of the Elliott family lived and worked included Bermondsey, Deptford, Dover, Edmonton,Tottenham, Hackney, Rochester, Chatham, East Ham and other coastal or riverbank locations in Essex and Kent. During the 19th Century the following families were also married in to the extended Elliott family descended from William (1785) - Parke, Bourne, King, Stephens, Devon, Smith, Makeham, Longman, Lloyd, Sullivan, Wood, Savage, Rawbone, Sole, Doming, Davis, Sinclair, Allan, Bennett, Wilson, Tozer, Toms, Pearson, Waterson, Lynch, Maynard, Blake, Hendy, Chandler, Malt, Richardson, Tester, Read, Dimock, Knowles, Hatton, Crowley, Hooper, Field, Bull, Weir, Green, Richie, Pocknell, Chalkley, Ticehurst and others.
Williams (1817) son, George Elliott (1852 Hoxton) married Anne Susan Donald (1859 Stepney) in 1877. Ann was part of a Scottish family, her father Charles Gordon Donald being born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland 1819, although her mother Eliza Longman was born in 1819 in Portsea, Hampshire, England. Charles Gordon Donald was a Ships Rigger, so although not a Cooper, was involved with an associated dockland trade. George and Anne's children were George Morris Elliott (1877 London St Georges), John (1880 Limehouse), Charles (1888 Tottenham), Caroline (1890 Tottenham), Maud (1891 Edmonton), Edward (1893 Tottenham), Nellie (1896 Tottenham) and Rose (1898 Tottenham).
The eldest son, George Morris Elliott, a Cooper, married his cousin, Ellen Elliott (1879 Bermondsey) in 1900. Ellen's father, William (1839 St George in the East), was also a Cooper by trade, and the brother of Georges father. Ellen's mother was Jane Parker (1837 St Giles, Middlesex / London). Ellen was the youngest of ten children, with seven brothers who were all Coopers.
George Morris Elliott and Ellen lived at number 4, Seven step Alley, Rotherhithe, and had eight children - George Morris (1901 Rotherhithe), James (1903 Rotherhithe), Henry (1904 Rotherhithe), William (1905 Rotherhithe), Ellen (1908 Rotherhithe), Rosemary (1912 Rotherhithe), John (1917 Rotherhithe) and Alfred (1919 Rotherhithe).
At this time of research it is not known if George,James, William, John and Alfred continued the family trade as Coopers, but with the onslaught of the first world war, the second world war and the vast modernisation of shipping procedures, including the closing of all the docks in central and East London, apart from the occasional requirements for a brewers cooper, there is little need for a Cooper, and I can not see the family tradition continuing.
I know for certain that Henry was not a Cooper, and that he married Rose Baldwin Burnett (1905 Charlton, Kent / London) and had two children, Henry Tony and Derek. Neither Henry or Derek were Coopers and there own sons were also not called to the trade. I therefor suspect that the role of Cooper in the Elliott family is now over for ever.
