Scarborough with the Castle and Port in 1731. Section of an etching by John Setterington
Smith family from Scarborough, Yorkshire & the Cape Colony
John Smith 1771-1813
Smith is a very difficult surname to search simply because it is so common but luckily I have had some help with family letters and documents. My Smith family came from Scarborough, Yorkshire, England. They were ship owners.
John Smith, my 3x great grandfather, married Charlotte Burnett in Scarborough on 3 November 1803. Their eldest son John Owen Smith was born the following year in Scarborough. They went on to have three more children ….. James, Charlotte Rebecca and Sarah Elizabeth all born in Middlesex. I think James must have died as there is no further record of him in the family. In 1813 John, Master of the merchant ship ‘Maria’, died intestate at Richard Street in the parish of Saint George in the County of Middlesex. Charlotte Smith was granted the administration of his estate which was sworn in at less than £300 [£300 would be about £35,000 today] Charlotte returned to Scarborough only to die a year later.
It would appear the children were looked after by an aunt who lived in Scarborough. John Smith’s brother, James, who had gone to the Cape Colony, most probably encouraged his nephew, John Owen, to join him which he did, in 1819 at the age of 15, aboard the ship ‘Sarah’, which was a merchant ship probably owned by James Smith.
My great great grandmother, Charlotte Rebecca Smith, emigrated to the Cape with her sister, Sarah, about 1832, after having received a letter from her uncle, James Smith, inviting them to live in the Cape Colony, since their aunt had died.
John Owen Smith became one of the leading merchants of Port Elizabeth. He played a very important role in the early history of Port Elizabeth and at the time of his death he was described as “almost its founder”.
Charlotte settled in Cape Town with her uncle and his family. She married Adolph Heckrath on 1st December 1834.
Sarah Elizabeth Smith went to live with her brother, John, in Port Elizabeth. She married Alfred Jarvis on 11th August 1838. About 1853 she, Alfred and five children moved back to England. She died in West Hampstead, London.
Marriage of John Smith and Charlotte Burnett on 3rd November 1803 in St . Mary’s Church, Scarborough.
Administration of the Effects of John Smith deceased. Dated 20th May 1813 (photocopy of original)
Probate record for Charlotte Smith who died in Scarborough in November 1814.
Children of John Smith & Charlotte Burnett:
John Owen Smith 1804 – 1871
James Smith 1806 – ?
Charlotte Rebecca Smith 1808 – 1871
Sarah Elizabeth Smith 1812 – 1898
Sources:
Margaret Harradine, former Africana Libraian at Port Elizabeth Library
City Archives, Cape Town
Family documents and letters
Scarborough Library
Legacy Pages for the Smith family
James Smith 1774-1846
James Smith was my 4x great uncle. His death notice in South Africa says he was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire . I do not know who his parents were but his brother was John Smith, Master of the ship Maria. James was a ships captain and owner as well and it is thought he encouraged his nephew, John Owen Smith, age 15, to join him in Cape Town in 1819. Since John Owen’s parents had died several years previously James must have decided to try to help his young nephew.
I do not know when James arrived in Cape Town. I have not managed to find a record of his marriage to Sarah so do not know her maiden name or the place and date of marriage but their daughter, Sarah Elizabeth, was born in Cape Town in 1819.
By 1824 he was recorded as a shipwright at 30 Boom Street, Cape Town. He appeared in the South African City and Area Directories from 1831 to 1841 as a merchant at 49 Castle Street, Cape Town and from 1838 to 1845 as a ship owner and having an office at Green Point.
In July 1832 he wrote to his nieces Charlotte Rebecca and Sarah Elizabeth Smith, in Scarborough, inviting them to the Cape to live since their aunt had died. [I presume they had lived with this aunt since their mother died] In December 1834 he was a witness at Charlotte Rebecca’s wedding to Adolph Heckrath.
His daughter, Sarah Elizabeth, was married on 4th January 1838 in St. George’s Cathedral, Cape Town, to James Searight, who was from Liverpool. They had ten children of which the first five were born in Cape Town. About 1852 they moved to England first to Liverpool and then to London. James Searight was a very successful merchant which was reflected in their lifestyle and where they lived.
I do not know when James returned to England but it was after he became insolvent in 1845. He died, age 72 years, at 12 Melton Place, Gravesend, London in 1846.
South African Death Notice of James Smith. He died intestate about 25 June 1846.
Children of James Smith & Sarah ? :
Sarah Elizabeth Smith 1819 – 1897
Sources:
Probate records, South Africa
Family documents and letters
Legacy Pages for the Smith family