Pillar, Pe(e)loe, Pelow – the origin of Jacob Pillar

 I am descended from Isaac Pillar, son of Jacob and Mary Pillar who was baptised in Great Yarmouth on 25 November 1781.¹ His sister Mary Pillar, daughter and eldest child of Jacob and Mary Pillar, was baptised on 29 December 1775 in Great Yarmouth.² 

St Nicholas, Great Yarmouth, photographed by Susan Law, 2016.

This was the first Pillar/Piller entry in Great Yarmouth registers. Searching the indexes leads to a marriage for Mary’s parents, Jacob Piller and Mary White, who married on 18 June 1775 in St Michael Coslany Norwich.³ This indicates that we should be looking for Jacob’s baptism in Norwich. This is consistent with the surname distribution as until that date the Pillar surname was highly concentrated in Norwich, starting with the baptism of Isaac Pillar in 1695.⁴

St Michael Coslany Church, Norwich. Photographed by Susan Law, 2018.

On the whole the collection of Pillar/Piller entries form logical family groups, but there are gaps. Looking at Jacob’s burial entry in 1836 his age 85 indicates a birth about 1751.⁵ and there is a noticeable absence of Jacob Pillar/Piller baptisms in the appropriate time frame. There are, however, two marriages with no offspring in the records:

• Isaac Pillar and Mary Gregory, both of this parish, married on 19 Novermber 1738 in St Paul.⁶
• Isaac Pillar (widower of St Martin at Palace Plain) married Jane Yestis (of St Michael at Thorn) married on 26 Dec 1748 in St Michael at Thorn.⁷

These are the same Isaac Pillar, Mary née Gregory having been buried on 13 February 1744/5 in St Augustine churchyard.⁸ The next Pillar/Pillar record in St Martin at Palace Plain registers after the Isaac/Jane marriage was Jane Pillar’s burial (Widow, late Yestis) buried 9 July 1786.⁹

To try and cover any really queer spelling, a search was done for baptisms with Isaac and Jane as parents but no surname specified. Five entries in the registers of St Martin at Palace Plain were found:

• 25 February 1749/50, Mary Peeloe.¹⁰
• 10 November 1751, Jacob Peeloe.¹¹
• 20 October 1754, Ann Peloe.¹²
• 22 May 1757, Esther Pelow.¹³
• 3 August 1760, Joseh Peloe.¹⁴

Using the surname variants above to search, a burial for Isaac Pillar was found in the St Martin at Palace Plain records:

• 21 November 1767, Isaac Pelow.¹⁵

St Martin at Palace Plain, Norwich. Photographed by Susan Law, 2018.

This group of records looks like a family with a parish clerk and at least one parent who didn't know how to spell their surname. Not only that, but it has a Jacob born about the right time. The balance of probability is that Jacob Peeloe (baptised 1751) can be equated with Jacob Pillar (married 1775).

Note: This research was primarily done in 2008-2010.

Sources

1. St Nicholas (Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England), "Norfolk Record Office PD 28/15, Register of Baptisms/Burials 1777-1783/2," baptism of Isaac Pillar, 25 Nov 1781; FHL microfilm 1,526,328, item 3.
2. St Nicholas (Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England), "Norfolk Record Office PD 28/14, Register of Baptisms/Burials 1771-1777," baptism of Mary Pillar, 29 Dec 1775; FHL microfilm 1,526,328, item 2.
3. St Michael Coslany (Norwich, Norfolk, England), Parish Registers, "Norfolk Record Office PD 16/7(W), Register of Marriages & Banns 1754-1779,"  page 83, marriage of Jacob Piller & Mary White, 18 Jun 1775; digital images(accessed 16 Jun 2010).
4. Family Search (https://www.familysearch.org); British Isles Vital Records Index (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. British Isles Vital Records Index (16xCD ROM). Second Edition. Salt Lake City, USA: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 2001.); Norfolk Transcripts Website (http://www.genealogy.doun.org/transcriptions/index.php, now defunct); FreeREG (https://www.freereg.org.uk/).
5. St Nicholas (Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England), Parish Registers, "Norfolk Record Office PD 18/140, Register of Burials 1831-1836,"  page 240, burial of Jacob Piller, 31 Jan 1836; digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : accessed 6 May 2012).
6. St Paul (Norwich, Norfolk, England), Archdeacon's Transcripts (Norwich), "Norfolk Record Office AT Dean and Chapter 2, Archdeacon's Transcripts 1706-1811,"  marriage of Isaac Pillar & Mary Gregory, 19 Nov 1738; digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ : accessed 25 Jan 2010). 
7. St Michael at Thorn (Norwich, Norfolk, England), Archdeacon's Transcripts, "Norfolk Record Office ANW 13, Archdeacon's Transcript for the year 1748-9,"  marriage transcript, Isaac Pillar & Jane Yestis, 16 Dec 1748; digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ : accessed 25 Jan 2011).
8. St Augustine (Norwich, Norfolk, England), Parish Registers, "Norfolk Record Office PD 185/3(S), General Register 1663-1748,"  page 144, burial of Mary Piller, 13 Feb 1744/5; digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ : accessed 8 May 2012).
9. St Martin at Palace Plain (Norwich, Norfolk, England), Parish Registers, "Norwich Record Office PD 12/5, General Register 1753-1791,"  burial of Jane Pillar, 9 Jul 1786; digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : accessed 16 Jun 2010).
10. St Martin at Palace Plain (Norwich, Norfolk, England), Parish Registers, "Norfolk Record Office PD 12/4, General Register 1729-1752,"  baptism of Mary Peeloe, 25 Feb 1749/50; digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : accessed 16 Jun 2010).
11. St Martin at Palace Plain (Norwich, Norfolk, England), Parish Registers, "Norfolk Record Office PD 12/4, General Register 1729-1752,"  baptism of Jacob Peloe, 10 Nov 1751; digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : accessed 1 Mar 2010).
12. St Martin at Palace Plain (Norwich, Norfolk, England), Parish Registers, "Norfolk Record Office PD 12/5, General Register 1753-1791,"  baptism of Ann Peloe, 20 Oct 1754; digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : accessed 16 Jun 2010).
13. St Martin at Palace Plain (Norwich, Norfolk, England), Parish Registers, "Norfolk Record Office PD 12/5, General Register 1753-1791,"  baptism of Esther Pelow, 22 May 1757; digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : accessed 16 Jun 2010).
14. St Martin at Palace Plain (Norwich, Norfolk, England), Parish Registers, "Norfolk Record Office PD 12/5, General Register 1753-1791,"  baptism of Joseph Peloe, 3 Aug 1760; digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : accessed 16 Jun 2010).
15. St Martin at Palace Plain (Norwich, Norfolk, England), Parish Registers, "Norfolk Record Office PD 12/5, General Register 1753-1791,"  burial of Isaac Pelow, 21 Nov 1767; digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : accessed 16 Jun 2010).

“Grandad was a Pastry Cook”

 Thomas John Spall was my maternal great-great-grandfather, born in the Old Bailey area of the City of London in 1862 to Jonathan Spall and Elizabeth Arabella Paine.¹ He was the eldest of four children.²

Thomas John married Elizabeth Mary Rose in 1887 and the couple had ten children, three of whom died in infancy.^3,2 My grandfather (Edward John, 1902) was the second youngest of the seven surviving children.²

My mother seemed to spend a lot of time with her grandmother and remembered the tales her grandmother used to tell of her Indian childhood. (see "A Rifleman of the 60th"). Her grandmother also told her that her grandfather had been a pastrycook.⁴

The truth of this was proven by genealogical research with Thomas’ occupation being given as “Apprenticed to cooking” in the 1881 census and as a cook in the 1891, 1901 and 1911 censuses and the birth registrations of his children.^5,6 So if not a pastrycook per se, he was at least a cook for most of his working life and here the tale may have ended if I had not made contact with a third cousin on my Spall side in 2009.⁷

This lady had a collection of family photos, most of which she was able to identify. However there was one photo which had her stumped. This showed a fairly young man dressed in a full length white gown and a floppy white hat (see image below). I looked at it and immediately thought “cook”!

Photograph of an unknown young man with contacts to the Spall family. Original held by J. Ward.

Two of the keys to dating photographs are fashion and photographer. Fashion cannot help with this photograph, but maybe the photographer can. The photographer’s name on the photo mount is R. Hellis of Notting Hill Gate. Looking R. Hellis up on the internet it seems that one Robert Hellis had a photographic shop in Silver Street, Notting Hill by 1870.⁸ In 1887 the name of the enterprise was changed to Hellis and Son, so the photograph must have been taken before then.

At this time photographs were primarily taken on special occasions, so what special occasion occurred in the Spall family between 1870 and 1887 involving a cook? Well, if Thomas was apprenticed at the usual age (14 years) and had a standard length apprenticeship (7 years) he would have qualified as a Journeyman at the age of 21. This would have occurred in 1883 at the earliest.

I believe there is a strong possibility that this is a photograph of Thomas John Spall on the occasion of his graduation to journeyman cook, taken in the period between 1883 and 1887. So, to quote my mother, “Grandad was a pastrycook”.

Sources

1. England & Wales Birth certificate of Thomas John Spall, born 27 Oct 1862, citing 1c/39/180, Dec quarter 1862, West London registration district, West London sub-district; General Register Office, Southport.
2. Law, Susan, 'Susan Commons Pedigree View - Ancestry.Com', https://www.ancestry.com.au/family-tree/tree/52067358/family?cfpid=13296141854, Accessed 4 Sep 2023 (private tree, access can be requested).
3. England and Wales, marriage certificate for Thomas Jonathan Spall and Elizabeth Mary Rose, married 25 Sep 1887; citing 1c/262/455, Sep quarter 1887, Shoreditch registration district; General Register Office, Southport
4. Commons, Patricia P. L. M., private communication c. 2007.
5. Census record for Thomas J. Spall, aged 18, 14 Victoria Grove, South Hackney, Middlesex, 1881 England and Wales Census, The National Archives, RG11/0317/39/16; Census record for Thomas J. Spall, aged 28, 86 Mintern St, Haggerston, Middlesex, 1891 England and Wales Census, The National Archives, RG12/249/122/33; Census record for Thomas J. Spall, aged 38, 9 Marian St, Homerton, Middlesex, 1901 England and Wales Census, The National Archives, RG13/220/146/41; Census record for T. John Spall, aged 48, 71 Mintern St, Hoxton, Middlesex, 1911 England and Wales Census, The National Archives, RG14/1358/78/47, UK Census Collection, Ancestry.com, accessed 27 Jan 2009.
6. See e.g. England & Wales Birth certificate of Thomas Henry Spall, born 28 Jul 1888, citing 1c/29/113, Sep quarter 1888, Shoreditch registration district, Holywell sub-district; General Register Office, Southport; England & Wales Birth certificate of Horace William Spall, born 15 Apr 1909, citing 1c/64/482, Jun quarter 1888, Shoreditch registration district, Shoreditch north west sub-district; General Register Office, Southport.
7. Ward, J., email communications, 2011.
8. Brunning, Robert, “Robert Hellis (1835-1895): Photographer & Conjuror”, Friends of West Norwood Cemetery Newsletter, No. 87, Sep 2016, page 9, https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2804357498?profile=original, Accessed 2 Sep 2023.