Somes/Soames Family

Progress Report

Summary of Research To Date

The more common name is the variant Soames and for the purpose of this exercise, I have collected some entries in the name of Soames as well as Somes.

Some members of the Soames family adopted the middle name Aldwin. As yet I have not found a link to this family;  searches are a little easier when Aldwin is used.

There was a group of people named Somes who were Thames Waterman and Victuallers with St George in the East as their family church. However there were also Somes living in Islington and Mary Somes and her sister or cousin Elizabeth married at St Mary’s, Islington.

I have not been able to establish the names of the parents and grandparents of Mary Somes who married Heinrich Brecht, my direct ancestor. Real progress was made in 2011/2.

Progress 2007

Visit to London

I visited the Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives in Bancroft Road, near Stepney Green underground station. At the Archives I found out about  Maria Catharine & Charlotte Brecht (Mary’s children)

I had traced Maria’s burial at Christ Church, Spitalfields in the IGI and wanted to look at the Parish Records. To my surprise I found another burial for a Charlotte Brecht, also of Fashion Street, who died in 1819 age 9. Neither Charlotte's baptism nor her burial had previously come to light.

Progress 2008 - 2010

-

Progress 2011

Death of Mary Somes, Wife of Heinrich/Henry Brecht

Browsing the internet for other names, I chanced upon a fascinating entry for Christ Church, Spitalfields:

The burial of Mary (Somes) Brecht (age 35) 3.1.1819 - per the New Family Search web-site.

This partially solved a mystery that we had been trying to solve for 20-25 years!

There must have been appalling and desperate conditions at Fashion Street, Spitalfields where Henry had a colour maker's facility. He lost his wife and 3 young children perhaps to toxic fumes or infection which may have been rife in this crowded area of London:

- Maria Brecht buried 16.11.1814 (age 2)
- Charlotte Brecht buried 15.1.1819 (age 9) 
- Elisabeth Catharine Brecht buried 17.6.1821 (age 5)

Even after Mary's death, Henry lost another daughter at a young age:
- Eleanor Brecht buried 24.10.1824 (age 17 months)

Progress 2012

Tombstone from St George in the East

My cousin sent me a photograph of a tombstone from St George in the East which has 9 memorials including some Thames Waterman. As yet no link has been made to this family. 

I made a start on typing up my records on the Somes Family under the Big One! project. Whilst typing up these records, I went into Ancestry to check some of the London Parish Records and found an isolated entry:.

Christ Church, Spitalfields

John Somes bp 5.10.1783 (21 days old)
(parents John Somes, Victualler of Fashion St & Elizabeth)

Unfortunately as yet I have not been able to trace John & Elizabeth’s marriage and whether they had any further children.

This entry may well explain why after Heinrich Brecht married Mary Somes (born 1783/4) they moved to Fashion St.

For the moment, it has been assumed that Marty's parents were William & Elizabeth Somes

Progress 2012-2022

-

Progress 2023

I decided to do some more research into the Somes/Soames Family.

The Story So Far

In 1808 Mary Somes married Heinrich Brecht at St Mary, Islington (and it appears that her sister Elizabeth Stanley Somes married there in 1809).

The couple ran a colour making business whilst living at Fashion Street, Spitalfields.

There had been a christening in another Somes family living in Fashion Street:

Christ Church, Spitalfields

John Somes bp 5.10.1783 (21 days old)
(Parents John Somes Victualler of Fashion Street and Elizabeth).

I have assumed that Mary's parents were William & Elizabeth Somes. William was a Waterman of Lime Yard, Virginia Street, Shadwell approx. 1783-1792.

St George, Hanover Square

William Somes
married 26.5.1782
Elizabeth Stanley

I recently stumbled across another potential piece of evidence:

St George Hanover Square

John Somes
married 5.7.1779
Elizabeth Reynolds

Witnesses: Ann Baker and Mary Reynolds.

This appears to strengthen my previous assumptions that William & Elizabeth were Mary's parents:

Previous Search for Mary Somes

It is possible that Mary's grandparents were John & Mary Somes. Also it appears that John was part of a dynasty of Thames Watermen named Somes:

Thames Waterman named Somes

I completed 2 further pieces of research:

Search for John Somes, Thames Waterman

Analysis of the Tombstone above including Watermen named Somes

I also summarised the Somes files to date in an Index:

Index

Things we wish we knew

Confirmation of Mary's parents and grandparents.

Which John Somes died 1797 (age 78) born c 1719

Further details of the Apprenticeships of Thames Watermen, such as is held by the London Metropolitan Archives and London's Guidhall.

Colin Bower
12 October 2023