Thread: Thomas Coster

I've been searching for the origins of one of my second great grandfathers, THOMAS COSTER, for a few frustrating years now. The net documentation has been his death certificate, so I still wonder if he was born in England or migrated there, maybe anglisising his name on arrival. His death certificate tells us that he died on 9/2/1853 at 1 Dacre St. Westminster, London at tha age of 52, thus he was born c 1801. But where, and who were his parents? He was a coal porter.

His wife Ann registered his death. We think Ann's maiden name was EDWARDS, but have no firm proof. The other thing we know about her is that she remarried and appears at Westminster in the 1861 census as Ann DAVIS, along with newish husband HENRY DAVIS, 4 COSTER children, Thomas, Mary, William and Frederick and her 2 new children ANN DAVIS C1858 and AMY DAVIS, born 1861. I haven't been able to find any other records of them, either. If any of these names ring a bell with any of you, I'd love to know.

John Gourlay

Hi,

I can't help you with Thomas Coster as I cannot find him in either the 1841 or 1851 Censuses, although it is highly probable that the name may have been mistranscribed.



I had a lokk at Dacre Street in 1851 to see if there was a Thomas with a name similar to Coster to no avail but I did find the following family living at 3 Dacre Street



Jeremy Coster 44 Labourer born Roehampton, Surrey

Mary 38 born St Margaret, Westminster

Jeremy 11 born St Margaret

Mary Ann 9 born St Margaret

Thomas 7 born St Margaret

Frederick 4 born St Margaret



Could Jeremy possibly be Thomas's brother?



Emeltee

For reference: The Coster children, their mother and stepfather in 1861.



Name: Frd Caster

[Frederick Coster] Age: 14 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1847 Relation: Son Father's Name: Hy Mother's Name: Ann Gender: Male Where born: St Margts Westr, Middlesex, England



Civil Parish: Westminster St John The Evangelist Ecclesiastical parish: St Matthew County/Island: Middlesex Country: England

Hy Davis 41 Ann Davis 40 Thos Caster 21 Mary Caster 19 Wm Caster 16 Frd Caster 14 Ann Davis 3 Ann Davis 5

Class: RG9; Piece: 48; Folio: 86; Page: 16

[quote name='johngourlay']

His wife Ann registered his death. We think Ann's maiden name was EDWARDS, but have no firm proof. .

John Gourlay[/quote]



Hi John,



Please can you say why you think Ann's maiden name was Edwards?



The only marriage I can find for a Thomas Coster/Costar with an Ann Edwards on the same page took place in 1851. Details are ..........



Name: Thomas Coster Year of Registration: 1851 Quarter of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec District: Westminster St Margaret County: Middlesex Volume: 1 Page: 467



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Do you think the 1851 census Emeltee found is the right family? If so, it's possible Thomas' wife was named Mary Ann. In which case there's this possible marriage.



Name: Thomas Coster Year of Registration: 1839 Quarter of Registration: Jul-Aug-Sep District: Lambeth County: Greater London, London, Surrey Volume: 4 Page: 278

On the same page a Mary Ann Chaplyn.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Maybe she is just Ann, I found her marriage to Henry Davis and she married as Ann Coster, not Mary Ann.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



If you buy the certificate for Ann's marriage to Henry Davis, it should have her maiden name, it SHOULD say Ann Coster formerly (her maiden name). With Ann's maiden name we have a chance of finding her marriage to Thomas, if we find that marriage and it took place after Sept 1837 you could buy that cert which will name Thomas' father and give his occupation.

Dear Emeltee & Slizzy

Thanks for all your help on this. We now have an 1841 Dacre St.census [COSTAR] that matches exactly. The 1851 one is a great mystery. Either the census taker [or my family] were drunk or Jeremy is Thomas's brother. Apart from the parents [Thomas and Ann were born, according to other census info, 1801 & 1821 respectively], the children are spot on apart from some names. I have Thomas 1839 [called Jeremy in this census] Mary 1842, William 1844 [called Thomas in this census] and Frederick 1847.

A cousin advised me re Ann Edwards. I've just rung her and she says her information came from the birth certificate of Mary Ann Coster b 1842 [St. John the Evangalist] which gives the mother's name as Ann Edwards. She didn't have it on hand but will dig it out and email the details to me shortly. It appears obvious that I need to purchase the wedding certificate in order to obtain parentage for both.

I'll keep you up to date with progress.

Thanks again - John Gourlay

I've now ordered the 1851 marriage certificate for Thomas Coster and Ann Edwards. This should reach me here in Australia at the end of next week.

I'm still intrigued by Jeremy Coster [Costar, Cooter, Costav] as to whether the 1851 census records are full of errors or in fact he is Thomas's brother or some type of relative.

Does anyone have access to Roehampton, Surrey parish records? This is where the 1851 census claims he was born c1807. The only similar name I can find is in the IGI where a 70 year old, widowed, English born, Jeremiah Coster was in the USA, 1880 census, in New York.

regards - John Gourlay

Hi John,



I'm curious to know - have you received the marriage certificate yet?

Dear Slizzey

Thanks again for your interest. The certificate arrived yesterday and it looks like the correct couple ie my 2nd great grandparents, Thomas Coster and Ann Edwards, married on 22/12/1851 at St Margaret, Westminster. This is well after the birth of their 4 children and I have assumed they finally decided to marry after receiving Thomas's diagnosis for phthisis [TB]. His 1853 death certificate stated that he had been 'certified' with it for 2 years.



Both were listed as bachelor and spinster of full age and were living at 1 Dacre St. Westminster at the time. Thomas was coal porter which also lined up with census and death certificate information.



Thomas's father was also Thomas, a carpenter and Ann's father was William, a coal porter. So now the search is on for them.



A cousin has ordered the birth certificate of Frederick b 1847, so on receipt of that, we should have this generation all wrapped up, although apart from son Thomas, my great grandfather, we know nothing of what happened to Mary, William and Frederick.



regards

John Gourlay

Hi John,



It certainly sounds like you have the right marriage certificate The address, and occupation being the same as other info you have. Thanks for letting us know.



I'll take a look at census records to see if I can find anything else on the families Edwards/Coster.