See also
| Husband: | Edward PETTIT (1807-1856) | |
| Wife: | Sarah SPEARPOINT (1804-1864) | |
| Children: | Elizabeth Jane PETTIT (1826-1875) | |
| Eleanor Boxer PETTIT (1826-1861) | ||
| Sarah Wilkins PETTIT (1829-1903) | ||
| Henry Spearpoint PETTIT (1831-1915) | ||
| Edward PETTIT (1833-1862) | ||
| Susannah May PETTIT (1834- ) | ||
| Alice Spearpoint PETTIT (1836-1895) | ||
| George PETTIT (1838-1861) | ||
| Richard May PETTIT (1840-1894) | ||
| Francis Eastwick PETTIT (1842-1907) | ||
| William Milton PETTIT (1845- ) | ||
| James PETTIT (1848-1894) | ||
| Marriage | 11 Apr 1826 | Folkestone, Kent |
| Name: | Edward PETTIT | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Father: | Edward PETTIT (1773- ) | |
| Mother: | Elizabeth MAY ( -1861) | |
| Birth | 11 Jan 1807 | St Charles the Martyr, Plymouth |
| Death | 13 Jan 1856 (age 49) | Folkestone |
| Name: | Sarah SPEARPOINT | |
| Sex: | Female | |
| Father: | Henery SPEARPOINT (1777- ) | |
| Mother: | Sarah MATSON (1782-1833) | |
| Birth | 1804 | Folkestone |
| Christening | 29 Jul 1804 (age 0) | Zion Chapel, Folkestone |
| Death | 1864 (age 59-60) | North Street, Folkestone |
| Name: | Elizabeth Jane PETTIT | |
| Sex: | Female | |
| Spouse: | Robert Banks PEGDEN ( - ) | |
| Birth | 1826 | |
| Christening | 6 Dec 1826 (age 0) | Folkestone |
| Death | 1875 (age 48-49) | |
| Name: | Eleanor Boxer PETTIT | |
| Sex: | Female | |
| Spouse: | Henry Magee WILKINSON ( - ) | |
| Birth | 1826 | |
| Christening | 6 Dec 1826 (age 0) | Folkestone |
| Death | 1861 (age 34-35) | |
| Name: | Sarah Wilkins PETTIT | |
| Sex: | Female | |
| Birth | 1829 | |
| Death | 1903 (age 73-74) | |
| Name: | Henry Spearpoint PETTIT | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Spouse 1: | Charlotte SCUTT (1832- ) | |
| Spouse 2: | Annie HALL (1846- ) | |
| Birth | 1831 | Folkestone |
| Christening | 23 Feb 1831 (age 0) | Folkestone |
| Census | 1881 (age 49-50) | 10 Little John St., Bermondsey |
| Death | 1915 (age 83-84) | |
| Name: | Edward PETTIT | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Spouse: | Alice WARMAN ( - ) | |
| Christening | 25 Dec 1804 (age -30--29) | Folkestone |
| Birth | 1833 | |
| Death | 1862 (age 28-29) | |
| Name: | Susannah May PETTIT | |
| Sex: | Female | |
| Spouse: | Frederick GROTA ( - ) | |
| Birth | 1834 | |
| Christening | 3 Dec 1834 (age 0) | Folkestone |
| Name: | Alice Spearpoint PETTIT | |
| Sex: | Female | |
| Spouse: | David STONE (1832- ) | |
| Birth | 9 Nov 1836 | Folkestone |
| Christening | 9 Nov 1836 (age 0) | Folkestone |
| Death | 2 Jul 1895 (age 58) | Rochford Union Workhouse, Essex |
| Name: | George PETTIT | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Birth | 1838 | |
| Christening | 26 Aug 1838 (age 0) | Folkestone |
| Death | 1861 (age 22-23) | |
| Name: | Richard May PETTIT | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Spouse: | Emma Maria FINCH (1850- ) | |
| Birth | 25 Nov 1840 | Lydd, Kent |
| Christening | 25 Nov 1840 (age 0) | Folkestone |
| Death | 1894 (age 53-54) | |
| Name: | Francis Eastwick PETTIT | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Birth | 1842 | Folkestone |
| Death | 1907 (age 64-65) | |
| Burial | 1907 | Greenbank cemetery, Clifton, Bristol |
| Name: | William Milton PETTIT | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Birth | 1845 | |
| Name: | James PETTIT | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Birth | 1848 | |
| Death | 1894 (age 45-46) | |
1. Edward Pettit died in 1856 and his age was given then as 49. (Sorry - he was away from home in the 1851 census, so that gives us neither his age nor his place of birth.) There is also no record of him or any of his family in the 1841 census in Folkestone. But we know that his son Richard was born in Lydd around this time, so presumably the whole family had moved away for a while.
2. Edward Pettit was a Coastguard and his service record (extracted by Yolande Dunn) is as follows :
ADM 175/78 Register of Nominations for Appointments - 1833.
This says he was born in Plymouth and his wife born in Folkstone.
ADM 175/6 Establishment Book
Folkstone Feb 1833-May 1834 (2 entries) orinially as a boatman.
There was a proposed move to Dungeness in April 1834 but this was cancelled owing to promotion at Folkestone in May 1834.
From 1834 he was a commissioned boatman.
Moved from Folkestone to No 2 Battery, Dungeness Dec 1838-June 1842
June 1842 moved from Dungeness to Shorne Cliffe station, Dover port, Folkestone district.
ADM 175/7 Establishment Book
Sandgate Jun 1843-Apr 1849
Lydd Apr 1849-July 1850
Preston, Weymouth July 1850-July 1853
Langley Fort, Rye July 1853-Dec 1853 (the move to Langley was at his request)
Enchantress Dec 1853 (he is now a Chiefboatman) stationed at Rye port. He appears to be on detatchment with the DWARF watch vessel which has a crew of 7.
Death 13.1.1856
Eileen Stage notes that Mrs Pettit is not mentioned among the Widows' pension records.
3. The 1841 census shows Edward and his family at No.2. Battery, Lydd. He is a coastguard and not born in Kent. See census transcript at www.familychest.co.uk/History/Data/Cen41_006.htm
4. Janet Penfold has found him in the 1851 census in Weymouth. He is living in Preston aged 44, described as head of household (but family not with him) chief boatman born in Plymouth.
The rest of the family in the 1851 census are in Folkestone:
Sarah Pettit, 47, Married, Wife of Coast Gueard
Eleanor 24, Laundress
Elizabeth 24, Laundress
Edward 18, Fisherman
Susannah 16, Domestic Servant
Alice 14
George 12, Scholar
Richard, 10, Scholar
Francis 9, Scholar
William 5, Scholar
James 3
All were born in Folkestone except Richard who was born in Lydd.
5. His seaman's ticket was issued in 1845 (Reference 241,352 BT 113/121). The details contained in it (information from Eileen Stage) are:
Edward Pettit born Plymouth Devon 28/12/1806
Capacity : boatman
Height 5' 10", Complexion fair, Hair brown, Eyes grey, Marks none.
First went to sea a boy 1818
Served in Royal Navy : No
Been in foreign service ie. American, French merchant service : No
When unemployed resides Kent
Ticket issued Dover 26 June 1845
Age when ticketed 39
Can write : yes
CG commissioned boatman: Shorne Cliffe station, Folkestone district, Dover
6. There is a record of the birth of an Edward Pettit on January 11, 1807 in the parish of St Charles the Martyr, Plymouth. Parents are Edward and Elizabeth Pettit. The Plymouth parish of East Stonehouse has not been searched, but most of the surrounding ones are on the on-line IGI and show no trace of him. I think that I am happy to take the 1807 record as the right one.
7. Note that I have searched the Devon FHS index of marriages for anyone who might be Edward's parents. Whoever they are, they certainly weren't married in Devon.
8. This obviously leads us back to Folkestone, where Edward Pettit and Elizabeth May (m.1805) are eminently suitable candidates for his parents. This is all the more suitable given that three of Edward's children have the middle name of 'May'. I think that I have to pencil these in fairly firmly.
9. The middle names of the children are very interesting ie. Spearpoint, May, Boxer and Milton. Spearpoint is obvious and comes from his wife's maiden name. As yet I have no clues whatever about Eastwick or Milton. The Boxer bit could have come from the Eliz Boxer who married a Tho Pettit in 1748 or the Sus Boxer who married Tho Spearpoint in 1744. Unfortunately both seem a little distant - it would be nice to find someone closer. Note that Edward Pettit (snr) was a widower at the time of his marriage to Elizabeth May. As yet, I have found no trace of his first marriage; was there a Boxer connection there ?
10. He died in 1856. A transcription of his death certificate can be seen at www.familychest.co.uk/History/Data/DthEP_01.htm
11. The majority of the dates of death for his children have been taken from a family tree on Ancestry.com owned by Margaret Wickes.
1. The IGI on-line index has two records of christenings of 'Sarah Spearpoint' who are both good candidates for the wife of Edward Pettit. One was christened at the Zion Chapel, Folkestone in 1804, and the other at St Mary the Virgin, Dover in 1803.
The Folkestone entry has to be chosen owing to the information in the 1851 which says that she was born in Folkestone. See the census transcript at www.familychest.co.uk/History/Data/Cen51_006.htm. She is the Head of househld with 10 children at home. Presumably there is a separate record somewhere for her husband who is probably at sea.
2. Note that this census entry also tells us that her next door neighbour was a William Spearpoint, and it looks as though he is her first cousin.
3. In 1861 Sarah Spearpoint was living at the Royal Oak pub in North Street. A photograph of this pub taken in 1910 (was it ?) survives in a book of 'Victorian and Edwardian photographs of Folkestone'.
4. She died on July 6, 1864 in North Street, Folkestone. The cause of death is 'Aneurism of Aorta'. A transcription of her death certificate can be seen at www.familychest.co.uk/History/Data/DthSP_02.htm