Blenkin George

Blenkin George

Male 1788 - 1837  (49 years)

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  • Name Blenkin George 
    Birth 1788  Ottringham, East Riding of Yorks Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Christening 17 Aug 1788  Ottringham Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Death 23 Nov 1837  Kingston upon Hull Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I134  My Genealogy
    Last Modified 30 Oct 2023 

    Father Blenkin William,   b. 1751, Mappleton, East Yorks. Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1824 (Age 73 years) 
    Mother Hobson Elizabeth,   b. 11 Jul 1754, Aldborough Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 3 Nov 1802, Ottringham, Yorkshire Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 48 years) 
    Marriage 1773  Aldborough Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F73  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Beatson Mary,   b. 1782, Kingston upon Hull Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 20 Jun 1870, Boston, Lincs. Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 88 years) 
    Marriage 1 Mar 1819  Sulcoates, East Riding Yorks. Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
    +1. Rev Blenkin George Beatson,   b. 4 Mar 1822, Sculcoates, East Riding Yorks. Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 21 Feb 1892, Boston, Lincs. Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 69 years)
     2. Blenkin Georgina,   b. 1820   d. 1826 (Age 6 years)
     3. Blenkin Collings,   b. 1823   d. 1826 (Age 3 years)
     4. Canon Blenkin Frederick Beatson,   b. 1824   d. 1901 (Age 77 years)
    Family ID F57  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 6 Feb 2013 

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 1788 - Ottringham, East Riding of Yorks Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - 1 Mar 1819 - Sulcoates, East Riding Yorks. Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDeath - 23 Nov 1837 - Kingston upon Hull Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Photos
    George Blenkin 1788-1837
    George Blenkin 1788-1837
    portrait copied from a a very comprehensive Genealogy site for the Booth family, which you can find here: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~akrb61/index.htm
    1834 Pigot's Directory for Hull mentioning George
    1834 Pigot's Directory for Hull mentioning George
    Mentions under 'Hop and Seed Merchants and Dealers... George Blenkin, 67 High St
    His business address for many years was 67 High St, which is one street away from the river in the heart of Hull
    His business address for many years was 67 High St, which is one street away from the river in the heart of Hull
    This is the High st today
    1822 Birth record for George Beatson Blenkin, son of George Blenkin and wife Mary
    1822 Birth record for George Beatson Blenkin, son of George Blenkin and wife Mary
    1822 Birth record for George Beatson Blenkin, son of George Beatson and wife Mary Blenkin... who was the daughter of Rev John Beatson, was born at Kingston upon Hull at the Parish of Sculcoates in the county of York o the 4th day of March in year one thousand eight hundred and twenty two...
    source: Protestant Dissenters Birth Registry, digitised on Ancestry.co.uk
    1828 Pigot's Directory for Hull
    1828 Pigot's Directory for Hull
    Mentions under 'Hop and Seed Merchants and Dealers... George Blenkin, 67 High St
    1832 voter registration for George Blenkin
    1832 voter registration for George Blenkin
    George Blenkin... Saville St, Hull ... Freehold property Houses and Land... Oulton
    1836 voter registration for George Blenkin
    1836 voter registration for George Blenkin
    'George Blenkin... No. 4 Saville st, Hull... Freehold land ... Ottringham... John Tindall, tenant
    1822 Baines directory for Hull mentions George and his father William Blenkin as Seedsmen at 67 High St
    1822 Baines directory for Hull mentions George and his father William Blenkin as Seedsmen at 67 High St
    1835 record of Blenkin George, seedsman in Hull, being declared Bankrupt
    1835 record of Blenkin George, seedsman in Hull, being declared Bankrupt
    "Blenkin George, Hull, merchant and seedsman, June 5th, 1835"
    source: p. 42 'The Bankrupt Directory - being a complete register of all the bankrupts...and when they appeared in the London Gazette 1820-1843', by George Elwick, 1843

  • Notes 
    • SUMMARY
      George Blenkin was born in 1788, one of 16 children born to his parents - William Blenkin and Elizabeth Hobson - in Ottringham, Yorkshire. George was No. 11 child. His father William was a seed merchant in Hull.

      He grew up to become a merchant, and 'operated as wholesale grocer, tea dealer and seedsman with his brother, William in High St, Hull'. Ottringham was a small village 13 miles south of Hull, and when George moved to the town it was one of the most important ports in England at the time. It had a population of 22,000 by 1800 and was a trading port for goods from Northern Europe and Yorkshire, and was known for its fishing and whaling industries.

      Hull also was known for grinding rapeseed using Mills which was then used in soap and paint. So the seeds George traded in might have been for that industry. His business address for many years, between 1818 and 1834 was 67 High St, which is one street away from the River Hull in the heart of the port.

      George married Mary Beatson in the Spring of 1819 in Sculcoates. She was also from Hull, and had been married before with 2 children. She went on to have a further 4 children with George, of whom their son George is the significant one to continue this family history.

      The 1830s electoral records have George living in Sculcoates, which is an area of Hull, and it is there that his death is recorded in 1837/1838. He is said to have died of St Anthony's Fire, which causes an intense burning sensation in the limbs.
      (source: http://genforum.genealogy.com/cgi-bin/print.cgi?uk::3368.html).
      3 years before his death he was registered as Bankrupt in the London Gazette, though its not known what affect this had on his family.

      His wife Mary lived lived another 3 decades and moved to Boston in Lincolnshire to live with her children.

      ++++++

      Parish Baptism record
      Name: George Blenkin
      Gender: Male
      Baptism Date: 17 Aug 1788
      Baptism Place: Ottringham,York,England
      Father: William Blenkin
      FHL Film Number: 990841

      source: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/55802648:9841?tid=&pid=&queryId=809ccb5fd62f2ad065aa4b9d9ed1f8bb&_phsrc=lVG2&_phstart=successSource

      1822 Pigot's Directory, Yorkshire, Hull. p.625
      Grocers and tea dealers:
      Blenkin, Geo. (wholesale), 67, High St.

      1828 Pigot's National Directory, North England and Wales (a list of tradesmen):
      Yorkshire directory, Hull
      Hop and Seed Merchants and Dealers:
      George Blenkin, 67 High st

      He has the same listing in the 1818, the 1829 and the 1834 edition of the same publication.

      +++++++++

      1832 electoral Register:
      Blenkin George, Savile st, Sculcoates

      1835 electoral Register:
      Blenkin George, Savile st, Sculcoates

      1836 electoral Register, Otteringham:
      Blenkin George, place of abode - No 4 Savile st, Hull. Freehold land, Willliam Egglston is the tenant on the land.

      Record of death:
      Jan-Mar 1838 George Blenkin, Sculcoates

      He was buried on 26 NOV 1837 in Preston by Hedon

      ++++++++++

      This was his wife Mary's 2nd marriage - she had married Wilfred Burnham and had 2 children but Wilfred died, and Mary then had another 4 children of whom George Beatson was one.

      ++++++++

      There is an interesting legal case in 1820 which involves George and Mary (who had been married 1 year by then) and the custody of 3 children who were nieces and nephews of Mary, before the High Court:

      'Order for Habeas Corpus for bringing up Children on application of Father.
      [The order was made on motion.]
      His Lordship doth order that a writ of Habeas Corpus do issue, directing the said defendants George Blenkin and Mary his wife to bring into this Court the plaintiffs Mary Lyons, Frances Lyons and Jane Beatson Lyons the infant children of the said John Lyons, at the sitting of this Court, at Westminster Hall, on the 10th of February next. Lyons v. Blenkin. L. C. 15th January, 1820. Reg. Lib. B. 1819. fol. 208. S.C. Jac. 247.
      Writ of Habeas Corpus in the above case.
      George the Third &c.'To George Blenkin and Mary his wife greeting. We command you, that you do on Thursday, the 15th day of February next, bring before us in our Court of Chancery, at the sitting thereof at Westminster Hall, the bodies of Mary Lyons, Frances Lyons, and Jane Beatson Lyons, or by whatsoever name or addition they are known or called, who are detained in your custody, to perform and abide such order as our said Court shall make in their behalf. And hereof fail not, and bring this writ with you. Witness ourself, at Westminster, the 29th day of January, in the 60th year of our reign. [From a MS. of Mr. Jacob.]
      The Return to the above Writ. The within named George Blenkin and Mary his wife do hereby certify to the Right Honourable the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, that the within-named plaintiffs Mary Lyons, Frances Lyons, and Jane Beatson Lyons, are detained by and are under the protection of the said Mary Blenkin, in the parish of Sculcoates in the county of York, for the purpose of their being educated and maintained by her as their guardian, under the will of their grand-mother Mary Beatson deceased, and according to the trusts and directions for those purposes contained in the said will. Dated the 9th of February, 1820. (From a MS. of Mr. Jacob.) S. C. Lyons v. Blenkin, supra.

      NOTE: Mary Beatson was also the married name of Mary Beatson's mother, so one assumes this case is to do with nieces and nephews of Mary Beatson (jnr)

      source: Forms of decrees in equity: and of orders connected with them, with practical notes? by Sir Henry Wilmot Seton. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=9akDAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA282&lpg=PA282&dq=George+Beatson+Blenkin&source=bl&ots=FGDMoAOQ_d&sig=x5QEV_fzsM01mdk6rdziqktxXC4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=kagcT4aLEYH28QPF18DRCQ&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=George%20Beatson%20Blenkin&f=false

      +++++++

      1835 record of Blenkin George, seedsman in Hull, being declared Bankrupt:

      "Blenkin George, Hull, merchant and seedsman, June 5th, 1835"
      source: p. 42 'The Bankrupt Directory - being a complete register of all the bankrupts...and when they appeared in the London Gazette 1820-1843', by George Elwick, 1843

      ++++++

      The seeds he was involved in trading were probably linseed and rapeseed:

      "The raw materials flowing into Hull gave rise to a number of industries engaged in processing and refining. The oldest of these was the oil-seed extracting industry. There are references to the milling of rape-seed in Hull from the early 16th century and by the middle of the 18th century the industry was well established. As early as 1740Joseph Pease, later head of the banking firm, had built an oil-mill at the corner of Lowgate and Salthouse Lane, and by the end of the century, when there was a growing demand for linseed oil for cloth-making processes, for paint, and for soap, there were numerous such mills. In 1796 in one street alone, Wincolmlee, there were 'three windoil-mills, one belonging to Messrs. Jarratt & Coates, worked by a steam engine, besides horse-mills for the same purpose'. The growth of the extracting industry is reflected in the quantity of cattle cakes exported: this rose from about 150,000 in 1717 to over400,000 in 1737. Thereafter exports were recorded in tons, 52 tons being exported in1758. Similarly, the quantity of linseed brought to Hull rose from 1,902 bushels in1725 to 18,880 in 1758 and over 66,000 in 1783. English oil-seed was also being brought from East Anglia and from those parts of Yorkshire where flax-growing was developing. The value of rape and other seed sent to Hull by the Aire and Calder Navigation in1792 amounted to £9,750."

      source: 'A History of the County of York East Riding: Volume 1: The City of Kingston upon Hull' by K. J. Allison (editor), published 1969.
      http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=66775

      The same history gives an interesting description of Hull in this directory in 1822, pp. 620-621:
      "...within the last century the alterations and improvements have been very great...The whole town lies on a level tract of land and is of triangular shape, washed on two of its sides by the rivers Hull and Humber...the principal streets are broad and paved and lighted with gas. The town is also well supplied with water, brought by pipes from a reservoir which has the appearance of a canal about 5 miles in length. In commercial importance Hull ranks as the fourth in the kingdom. It is also one of the priviledged ports for trade to the East Indies. It is the principal port for the whale fishery, and its intercourse with the Baltic is very great...It sends two members to Parliament, they are elected by the burgesses or freemen, who are a respectable body of about 2000...there are also many places of worship for dissenters; one lately erected by the methodists is the largest in the kingdom belonging to their body, except that at Huddersfield..."
      The Directory then goes on to praise the various buildings and the architecture of the town, the botanic gardens, the hospital for decayed seamen, the spacious docks, etc.

      ++++++++++++

      Growing of commercial seeds was mainly undertake in southern England from the 1500s onwards, driven by the Dutch who came with their knowledge of seed growing. Vegetable seeds were also imported from the continent, and Hull as a port would have been a transit point. "Onion seed was fre-quently imported: a hundredweight was landed at Hull in September I541 and £770 worth passed though the Port of London at customary values in 1565..." source: https://bahs.org.uk/AGHR/ARTICLES/38n1a4.pdf

      ++++++++

      However, for Hull the main activity connected with seeds was seed-crushing, as the following excerpts from a very interesting article on it by Paul Gibson shows:

      "Hull's industrial history has been dominated by two industries - the timber trade... and oil seed crushing, from which many subsidiary industries have come....

      Oil has always featured highly in the commercial history of the city; rape and other seeds were imported into Hull in the Middle Ages, and the only purpose for this was to extract the useful oil by crushing. In 1969, the compilers of the Victoria County History for Hull noted:

      The raw materials flowing into Hull gave rise to a number of industries engaged in processing and refining. The oldest of these was the oil-seed extracting industry. There are references to the milling of rape-seed in Hull from the early 16th century and by the middle of the 18th century the industry was well established. As early as 1740 Joseph Pease, later head of the banking firm, had built an oil-mill at the corner of Lowgate and Salthouse Lane, and by the end of the century, when there a growing demand for linseed oil for cloth-making processes, for paint, and for soap, there were numerous such mills. In 1796 in one street alone, Wincolmlee, there were 'three wind oil-mills, one belonging to Messrs. Jarratt & Coates, worked by a steam engine, besides horse-mills for the same purpose'.

      The growth of the extracting industry is reflected in the quantity of cattle cakes exported; this rose from about 150,000 in 1717 to over 400,000 in 1737. Thereafter exports were recorded in tons, 52 tons being exported in 1758. Similarly, the quantity of linseed brought to Hull rose from 1,902 bushels in 1725 to 18,800 in 1758 and over 66,000 in 1783. English oil-seed was also being brought from East Anglia and from those parts of Yorkshire where flax-growing was developing. Two industries which arose in connexion with the oil extracting industry were the manufacture of paint and the production of machinery for the extraction process. Samuel Tudor is reputed to have founded a paint firm in Hull in 1749, which later became Tudors, Mash & Co. The main development of the industry however came in the early 19th century; in 1803 Sissons Bros. began manufacturing paint in Hull, and in 1811 Henry Blundell. White lead was made in Hull from at least the 1740s, and Pickard?s factory was established in 1791.

      From that short passage you will see it is almost impossible to write of Hull's history without mentioning the seed-crushing industry, as its effects have been felt so widespread throughout the city, its industries, mercantile success, and more broadly - its social conditions. For those of you who dislike the new generation of wind turbines appearing on the horizon [I quite like them myself] it may surprise you to know that Hull was once dotted with large brick-built windmills - many later converted to steam and other power. Several of these were located near to the city centre, and often within areas of dense housing, often belching out smoke around the clock, as well as deafening those closest with the thump and grind of the machinery. Such industries also caused other nuisances, and in the 17th Century the Corporation forbid the burning of rape-cakes owing to their 'filthy smell'...

      ...White's 1826 trade directory listed four seed crushing companies in Hull. By 1838 there were 13, 19 by 1846, and in 1858 there were 28....

      ...The industry reached its peak in the late 19th Century, and it was during that period that many of the large oil mills were constructed ? many of which survived until very recently.As such, the seed crushing industry was a huge employer, and literally thousands of locals made their living in the mills or the many associated industries.... Although the many old-established High Street offices of the oil merchants and brokers have gone (in 1892 there were at least 53 firms involved in the oil seed crushing industry occupying properties in High Street alone), a very small number of buildings related to the oil seed crushing industry remain.

      source: https://www.paul-gibson.com/trade-and-industry/oil-seed-crushing.php

      ++++++++++

      - It's fascinating to see the long list of trades and professions in Hull for this directory in 1822. Many of which would seem to be unchanged for hundreds of years, and most of which would disappear in the next few decades as the industrial revolution took hold;

      Bakers, Bacon dealers, Basket makers, Block Pump and Mast makers, Book sellers and stationers, Bookbinders, Boot and Shoemakers, Brass Founders, Braziers and Tinmen, Brewers, Brick makers, Brush makers, Builders, Cabinet makers and Upholsterers, Carvers and Guilders, Cheesemongers, Clothes Brokers, Coach Makers, Coal Merchants, Comb Makers, Confectioners, Coopers, Cork Cutters, Corn Factors, Curriers and Leather Cutters, Cutlers, Druggists, Dyers, Engravers and Copper Plate Printers, Fire and Life Insurance Offices, Flax Dressers, Flour and Sundry Dealers in Groceries, Fruiterers, Furniture Brokers, Glass China and Earthenware Dealers, Grocers and Tea Dealers (including George Blenkin), Gun Makers, Haberdashers, Hat Makers and Dealers, Hosiers, Iron Founders, Iron Merchants, Iron Mongers, Joiners, Last and Pattern Makers, Linen Drapers, Maltsters, Mahogany Merchants, Marine Stores, Merchants, Millers, Milliners and Dress Makers, Mill-stone Makers, Millwrights, Music Sellers, Mustard Manufacturers, Nursery and Seedsmen, Oil Merchants, Paint and Colour Manufacturers, Painters, Paper stainers, Pawnbrokers, Physicians and Surgeons, Pipe Makers, Plumbers and Glaziers, Port Dealers, Pot Makers, Printers, Professors and Teachers, Rag and Rope Merchants, Rope Makers, Saddlers, Sail Makers, Sail Cloth Manufacturers, Salt Merchants, Seed Crushers, Ship Chandlers, Shipe Sloop and Boat Builders, Ship and Insurance Brokers, Ship Owners, Silversmiths and Jewellers, Slate Merchants, stay Makers, Stone and Marble Makers, Straw Hat Makers, Tailers and Habit Makers, Tallow Chandlers, Tar and Turpentine Distillers, Tanners, Taverns and Public Houses (the largest number of all the trades/professions listed - 236), Timber and Raff Merchants, Tobacconists, Toy Dealers, Trunk Makers, Turners, Umbrella Makers, Watch and Clock Makers, Whafingers, Whalebone Manufacturers, Wheelwrights, Whitesmiths, Wine and Spirit Merchants, Woollen Drapers, Worsted Manufacturers, Carriers (travel companies), Market Boats, Steam Packets, Coaches...

      ++++++++

      "As the place where fortunes were made and sailors from all over the world mixed, High Street was undoubtedly a place of high drama and human emotion. A fine instance of this was the reaction to the work of the Royal Navy's press gangs, which were used by the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic wars to find rich pickings amongst Hull's seething pubs. These gangs of men would force unsuspecting drinkers onto ships waiting in the Humber and then whisk them away for naval service. Popular feeling against the activities of these gangs grew to such a state that the rendezvous points for the gangs, such as at the corner of Church Lane Staithe on High Street, were destroyed by rioters."
      source: http://www.pockethull.co.uk/phufiles/highstreet.html



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