Blackmore: Crickett family

Received 9 March 2012

(via Church Office)

To whom it may concern and Greetings from New York. My name is Ron Giacone, I am the grandson of Robert D. Crickett, who once resided at 500 Mawney Rd., Romford. Robert was born in 1892 in Tottenham, died in 1982, in West Hempstead, New York. I am in possession of a small pamphlet entitled "The Priory Church of St. Laurence" A Short History And Guide 1973, compiled by Ms. Constance Simmons (I would add here that I also knew Connie, as she lived across the street from my grandparents’ house, on Mawney Rd. She also visited with us here in New York on several occasions through the years).

There is a small comment in the pamphlet, listed under the heading "The Chapel" which details that " In July 1900, Mr. Robert Crickett gave permission for the coffins of his relatives to be placed below the floor of the Church. The North-East corner of the Church had been a sealed vault - the Crickett vault. With Mr. Crickett's permission, the vault was opened, the coffins buried, a window opened at the east end of the north wall and the side chapel was furnished". I am curious as to;

1.   Who is the Robert Crickett that gave permission to move the bodies, as my grandfather would have been only 8 years of age at the time.

2.   Can you advise the names of the relatives who are buried below the floor of the church

3.  Is there any marking or headstone for these bodies

4.  Are there any existing Church records of the Crickett family that you could copy and email to me.

Additionally, if you could give me any information regarding Connie Simmons; when she passed away and where she may be buried.  Connie was a lovely person and a close family friend to my grandparents and my mother, Eileen (Crickett) Giacone. Eileen is still living and is now 89 years of age. She resides in Maryland with my older brother Michael.

Any information you can provide regarding the Crickett family will be very much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Ron Giacone

Replied  10 March 2012

Hello Ron

Thank you for the e mail sent to the Vicarage.  I am the church’s local historian and have come across the Crickitt family during my research.  I will look up the information requested and let you have a response as soon as I can.

I have a separate blog www.blackmorehistory.blogspot.com and website www.blackmorehistory.co.uk which may be of interest to you.

Regards

Andrew Smith

Received 10 March 2012

Andrew. Thank you for your response. I look forward to hearing from you with additional information, at your convenience. Should you require any information to help in your search regarding the Crickett's, please advise and I'll do my best to provide it.

Looking through the two linked blogs, one thing I find of interest is the spelling of the name. It is spelled both as Crickitt and Crickett in various places through the documents. Could this have been just a common spelling error over time.

Best regards,

Ron 

Replied 12 March 2012

Hello Ron

Please find below the answers to your questions gleaned from my notes.

1.   Who is the Robert Crickett that gave permission to move the bodies, as my grandfather would have been only 8 years of age at the time.

A note on the Crickett family mausoleum appeared on the blog in December 2010: http://blackmorehistory.blogspot.com/2010/12/blackmore-crickett-family.html.  The area was converted into a Side Chapel in 1901/02. 

The letter giving permission for the removal of the bodies reads as follows:

Copy of a letter received from Mr Crickitt respecting the Vault in the Church

Rozelle

Lansdown Road

Cheltenham

15 July 1900

Dear Sir

I quite agree with you that it would be much better that the coffins of my relatives should be placed below the floor of the Church instead of above it for sanitary reasons not regarded in past days …

Rob E Crickitt

2.   Can you advise the names of the relatives who are buried below the floor of the church

Please see above.

3.  Is there any marking or headstone for these bodies

Wall plaques exist for members of the family on what was previously the wall of the mausoleum, now the church vestry.  These read as follows:

To the memory of

Charles Alexander Crickitt

of Smyths Hall Esquire

many years one of the

Representatives of Parliament

of the Borough of Ipswich

who died the 16^th Jany 1803

aged 65 years

also to the memory of

Sarah the widow of

Charles Alexander Crickitt Esq

who departed this life

the 29 day of July 1828

aged 84 years

In memory of

Harriet Alexander Crickitt

the last surviving child

of the late

Charles Alexander Crickitt Esq M.P.

formerly of

Smyths Hall in this parish

she died

the 16^th of November 1868

Aged 79.

4.  Are there any existing Church records of the Crickett family that you could copy and email to me.

Church records are preserved at the Essex Record Office in Chelmsford. 

5.   … Any information regarding Connie Simmons; when she passed away and where she may be buried.

Constance Simmons died in May 1988, aged 82.  At the time of her death she was living in York.  She is buried with her late husband, Albert, in Blackmore churchyard.

6.   Any information you can provide regarding the Crickett family will be very much appreciated.

The final burial entry for a Crickitt, perhaps no relation, was ‘Percy Scott Hill Scott-Crickitt [of] 19 Campbell Road, Croydon [buried] 26 April 1919, [aged] 53 years’.

According to genealogical notes (dated 1908) held in the Essex Record Office [ERO T/G 82/1], the Crickitt family “were bankers at Ipswich, Colchester, Chelmsford and Maldon. They started the Old Bank, Ipswich in 1798. They represented Ipswich in Parliament for 50 years. They owned several manors, among them Smyth Hall Blackmore, pulled down by Miss H Crickitt, it was an old Elizabethan Hall”.

The family is mentioned in the following records:

Crickett	…, Esq	1766	Patron to Church	GLM 9558
Crickett	Charles Alexander, Esq	1778	"Two families of note". Visitation	ERO T/A 778/20
Crickett	Miss	1863	Smyths Hall	White's Directory
Crickitt	Miss	1846	Home Cottage	Kelly's Directory
Crickitt	Miss	1848	Smyth Hall	White's Directory

See also Suckling’s’ Memorials and Antiquities of Essex’ (1845): http://blackmorehistory.blogspot.com/2009/06/blackmore-revd-suckling-memorials-1845.html

Regards

Andrew

Received 13 March 2012

Andrew, Thank you so much for your effort and response to my inquiry. I am starting to think this is much more a situation of coincidence than family ancestry. As far as I know, my grandfather’s family had nothing to do with the banking industry and I'm sure I would have heard about any relative (even distant) being a member of Parliament, as detailed in your records. They were all working-class people from Tottenham, London. My grandfather was in the jewellery business and worked in a small shop in Hatton Garden, London.

Additionally, Ms. Connie Simmons may also be a coincidence, as I do not believe she ever married and lived in Romford on Mawney Rd.  from at least 1954 until her death. So, unless her husband Albert died prior to 1954, this too seems to be a different Connie Simmons.

Again, I am not sure of why the different spelling of the last names Crickitt & Crickett, but both spellings seem to be used interchangeably when describing the Crickett family graves at the Church in Blackmore.

Thanks again for your help.  I will continue to read through your forwards to see if I can find more definitive connections to my grandfather’s side of the family tree.

Best regards,

Ron Giacone