The Cheeper Tree – Middle

This page draws primarily from Geoff Clarke's work. He conducted a great deal of research in the 1980s and 1990s. In addition, Anne Kratzmann conducted some primary research in the late 1990s and early 2000s, prior to Geoff finding Anne at the end of 2003 and providing copies of his information to us.

This page presents primarily what is known about the middle line of Cheepers (c. 1780-1800). Separate pages provide information about the upper Cheeper line (to c. 1780), and the lower Cheeper line (c. 1800-1850).

Note that entries include Cheeper, Chipper, Chippar and Cheaper (the last as late as April 1911!).

The line relevant to this web-site is child 6.

Anthony Cheeper (1758-1841)
chr. 3 May 1758, Mitcham Croydon
m. Margaret Jacques (1763-1844)
m. 10 Jul 1786, Southwold Suffolk
On their marriage certificate:

• Margaret's surname is spelt 'Jaques'
• Anthony is shown as being of the Parish of Yarmouth
• the witnesses were all Thompsons

Margaret was b. 1763?, chr. 19 Jul 1765
A separate page has some limited information about the Jacques family.

Anthony and Margaret appear to have been:

• resident in Southwold in 1786-87
• resident in Gt Yarmouth in 1788-95
• resident in Southwold again later
• connected with, and perhaps some of the time living in, London as well

Anthony was described in certificates variously as a merchant clerk and a bookkeeper.
In 1803, he was 44 when his son, Anthony Jacques Cheeper, was born.
In 1825, he was 67 when his son, Anthony Jacques Cheeper, was married, and was noted as being of St Michael's, Coventry. (So did the elder Anthony also have a Coventry connection?).
In April 1837, he was 78 when his son Anthony Jacques Cheeper died.
Later in 1837, he was 79 when his grandson, Anthony Jacques Cheeper was born.
Anthony d. 3 Mar 1841, aged 83 [at 'Flat Tops', Mitcham, London; or in Suffolk??].
Margaret was the informant (his wife, rather than his sister-in-law, who had d. 1815).
His will listed dividends, interest and interest of shares along with his estates, which he left to his wife for her lifetime and then to his children. Letters of Administration went to "his widow, Margaret".
Margaret d. 1843/44.
The will makes specific mention of "the rents due to me from the Southwold cottages" (i.e. Margaret's cottages, not Anthony's).
Half of Margaret's estate went to Frederick Harris, natural son of her d. 4. Jane Cheeper, deceased. (Frederick was by then 19). The other half was divided equally among her three children 3. Margaret (Blyth, c. 47), 5. Maria (Chick/Crick, c. 41), and 7. Christopher Jacques (married, and 38-54).
There is no mention in the will of her grandson Anthony Jacques, age 6.
Was he already provided for? (Or somehow estranged?).
He may have had an annuity, because a late son of Anthony's (30. Cyril Gordon Clarke, 1902-2001) told his niece that, c. 1910-12, a cheque used to come for Mr Cheeper at Christmas-time.

The sequence of the following children is somewhat speculative, particularly 7. Christopher:

1. Ann Cheeper (1788-<1843?)
   b. 7 Sep 1788, Gt Yarmouth
   chr. 26? Sep? 1790, Southwold
   m. Charles Jones, St Stephens, Coleman St
   [presumably once, but no longer, in the City of London? There's nonesuch in Southwold or Gt Yarmouth]
   She is not mentioned in her mother's will
   d. presumably prior to her mother's death in 1843/44, and without children
2. Charlotte Cheeper (1794?-<1843?)
   b. 1794?, chr. 14? Oct 1796, Gt Yarmouth
   m. Edward ?Down, 29? Apr 1829, St Mary, Islington
   She is not mentioned in her mother's will
   d. presumably prior to her mother's death in 1843/44, and without children
3. Margaret Cheeper (1796?->1843?)
   b. c. 1796?
   m. William Blyth, 7 Jun 1820, St James, Westminster
   She is mentioned in her mother's will
   d. presumably after her mother's death in 1843/44
4. Jane Cheeper (1797?-<1843)
   b. c. 1797
   Child 1, illegitimate [but how did he gain the name Harris?]
   d. <1843 – inferred from the statement in her mother's will
   1. Frederick Harris, b. 27 Aug 1824
5. Maria Cheeper (1802?->1843?)
   b. c. 1802?
   m. Michael Chick? Crick?,1824, St Anne's?, Limehouse (which is in East London)
   She is mentioned in her mother's will
   d. presumably after her mother's death in 1843/44
6. Anthony Jacques Cheeper (1803-37)
   m. Jane Bokenham, 19 Oct 1825, in Southwold
   Here are details of this line (which is the one of direct relevance to this web-site)
7. Christopher Jacques Cheeper, b. 1790-1805 (his mother was b. 1765)
   m. Elizabeth Catterns, a widow, 27 Jan 1835, St Olave, Old Jewry
   Elizabeth was b. 1785 , so 50 at the time of their marriage
   (Elizabeth's age suggests Christopher was b. early, perhaps as the 2nd child, c. 1790?)
   (A Henry Catterns is a hosier of Cross Cheeping, in the 1928-29 Coventry Directory)
   no children?
   Christopher d. 1850, so aged 45-60, Lambeth
   Elizabeth d. 1872, so aged 87, Camberwell

We're missing a lot of information; and we'd love to know more!

This a page within Roger Clarke's Family Web-Site

Contact: Roger Clarke and/or Anne Kratzmann

Created: 21 October 2005; Last Amended: 9 November 2009