Bungalow,
S Devon.
3rd April 99
Dear Gillian,
Your letter and the enclosed photocopy were a mine of information for
me -just small odds and ends mostly, but often vital links in the overall
story, and have helped me put together a number of things.
Firstly the listing of all 13 children of John Bartlett Chattell and
Elizabeth Bell. I know I have included all these 13 in my Descendant Report,
but I have spent quite a lot of time in the past couple of years finding them
all, and even then I was not sure I had completed the task - mostly because
Mary Trevis once said there were 14 in all! Do you know who drew up this list?
Could it possibly have been Annie? Whoever it was obviously knew which were
those who had died as children, as they are listed to the right of the others.
The only puzzle to me is the [S] after Annie's name, and the [B] after Nellie's,
perhaps you can make a guess as to what these mean? '4;)
I think I have identified all the people mentioned on this page; as you
will see they correspond to those in my listing, but there are a few details such
as exact dates which I didn't have. Sometimes I have found myself in
difficulties over names; a prime one was the fact that my grandmother was
always known as Polly; I now know that this was a very cornmon name for Mary
Ann, but didn't when I first started. Similarly I was confused by the Martha
Anne I Annie, especially as I had
a vague memory of Nellie Walker referring to her as Aunt Nancy!
With regard to your father's natural parents I can help there as my
mother explained the gist of what had happened when I was talking to her at
about the time of Nellie Walker's death. I now realise how much more I could
have found out about the Chattell family if only I'd asked her; she, like many
blind people, had a wonderful memory, and - unlike so many people of that
generation [certainly including her sister who brought me up] - wasn't
inhibited about talking about it.
Although, as I say, I knew the gist of the story, I didn't know more
than that at the time, and it has only emerged in detail as I have undertaken
this research. Until I was more certain of the details I hesitated to make
assumptions in case I'd got it wrong, but your letter has cleared that
confusion. Again there was an ambiguity over names, this time it was Ellen I
Nellie. Nellie Chattell, as is confirmed on your photocopy, was born on 13th
July 1882, and was the 8th in the family, so was a girl of 18, nearly 19, when
she went to London presumably in 1901, to stay with her eldest sister, Polly.
Polly at this time had, or was just about to have, a new baby - Nellie Walker,
born 5th June 1901 - and an older child who was my father, Archie Walker, then
aged just 5. Presumably Nellie went to help look after the children; the
Walkers then lived at 29, Chapter Road, Southwark, in the parish of St Saviour,
and had previously lived at 27, De Launa Street, in the same parish, when
Archie was born. Your father was born the following year at Queen Charlotte's
Hospital, and was the son of Robert Walker - hence your middle name, though no
father's name was given on the birth certificate [photocopy enclosed]. This was
what my mother was able to tell me, though she didn't say what was the name of
your grandmother, and for a while I wondered if it was Annie, though that
didn't fit with her [earlier] date of marriage. At the time I sent for the
birth certificate I hadn't any idea of the names of the other Chattell
siblings, so put the information on one side as a puzzle which might be solved
later! It is interesting to note that Nellie gives her home address as 170,
Lincoln Road, New England, Peterborough, and there are other Chattells living
in that road around that time, Louie ,the next sister in the family, gives
Lincoln Road [but no number] as her address at the time of her marriage to
Samuel Barnes in 1906 [as does he, a widower].
With regard to the French connection I am sure there is one, but a lot
further back. I have now traced the Chattells back [in Huntingdonshire] several
more generations - they seem to originate near Peterborough, but there's still
more work to do there. Someone else with whom I am co-operating on the Chattell
research has found them at Orton Waterville, just outside Peterborough, in
1680. This might be a possible link with French forces in the area, or it could
alternatively be a connection with French Huguenot refugees in the same area;
the dates rnake that look more likely Perhaps this will become clearer
in future. I have looked at some of the Huguenot records obtained by another
Chattell cousin, but though there are certainly Chattell-like names there
[various spellings] , as yet there's no direct link. Stories about connections
like this often run through families; I was always told that my maternal
grandmother's name, Bithrey, was a French Huguenot one, but my research in the
Bedford records seems to indicate otherwise, so who knows!
All best wishes.