The Bower & Collier Family History
Research by Colin Bower
The Big One!
Family History Report
The Pitts Family
Introduction - Bower/Collier Family Tree
When I set out to study the Bower/Collier Family Tree, my initial aim was to identify my 8 Great Grandparents (Bower) and my wife Chris’ 8 Great Grandparents (Collier). Though I have tended to study the Family History of the 16 Great Grandparents, I have also sought to find out the additional 16 Great Great Grandparents’ family names, and any 3 x Great Grandparents along the way!
The names that I have identified to date are:
Bower/Brecht Family Tree
Great Grandparents
Bower
Jones
Hayes
Gardner
Brecht
Walland/Worland
Saunders
Seabourne(e)/Saban
2 x Great Grandparents
Pitts (Bower)
Counter (Jones)
Bradbrook (Hayes)
Tunstell/Tunstill (Gardner)
Somes/Piper (Brecht)
Hutley (Walland/Worland)
Neville (Saunders)
Holbrook (Seabourn(e)/Saban)
3 x Great Grandparents
Pinnion (Pitts)
Spence (Jones)
Mason (Hayes)
Robinson (Bradbrook)
Shocke (Brecht)
Reynolds (Walland/Worland)
Hunt (Piper)
Howard (Seabourn(e)/Saban)
4 x Great Grandparents
Bates (Pitts)
Smithers (Pinion)
March (Jones)
Venice (Robinson)
Juliane (Brecht)
Adamson (Neville)
Siggins (Walland/Worland)
5 x Great Grandparents
Cook/Cock (Jones)
Wyat (Robinson)
Jahns (Brecht)
Odell (Walland/Worland)
6 x Great Grandparents
Amears (Robinson)
7 x Great Grandparents
Amore/Mills (Robinson)
Collier/Hunt Family Tree
Great Grandparents
Collier
Gardiner
Peryer/Perrier
Smith
Hunt
Farrow/Pharoah
Marjoram
Ransome(e)
2 x Great Grandparents
Adams (Collier)
Goodchild (Gardiner)
Mitchell (Peryer/Perrier)
Nye (Smith)
Sheldrake (Hunt)
Smith (Farrow)
Rookyard (Marjoram)
Aldous or Alhous/Ollis (Ransome(e))
3 x Great Grandparents
Mason (Collier)
Ridett (Adams)
Sly (Nye)
Snelling (Peryer/Perrier)
Spall (Hunt)
Shepherd (Farrow)
Allen (Ransome(e))
More (Aldous/Aldis or Alhous/Ollis)
4 x Great Grandparents
Trigg (Peryer/Perrier)
My research has included a One-Name Study into the name Brecht, my mother’s maiden name.
Names Index
The additional surnames in this Report have been listed in the Names Index below.
Pitts Family
Progress to date
2 x Great Grandparent: Mary Pitts
- Her parents: James Benjamin Pitts & Louisa Pinnion
- Her Grandparents: John Pitts & Elizabeth Bates
Mini Family Tree (Direct Ancestors)
The Pitts Family Tree to date may be summarised:
John Pitts b c 1765
Married c 1788
Elizabeth Bates b c 1765
James Benjamin Pitts Smith b c 1790/1 d 1839 (age 48)
Married
(1) Louisa Pinnion 30.8.1812
(2) Kezia Plume (born Purser) 19.4.1829
Mary Pitts b c 1816/7 bp 12.1.1817 d 12.1.1875
married 24.11.1842
Benjamin Bates Bower c b 1819/20
George Christopher Bower b c 1841/2
married 13.08.1864
Martha Hannah Jones b c 1845
William Bower b 23.10.1867? d 2.12.1948
married 6.06.1897
Charlotte Hayes b 15.08.1876
Frederick Bower b 12.09.1910
d 10.09.2006
married 11.07.1936
Doris Ivy Brecht b 15.03.1912
d 29.6.2003
Colin Malcolm Bower
married 15.10.1966
Christine Elizabeth Collier
Pitts Family
Summary of Research To Date
Mary Pitts was my 2 x Great Grandmother who married Benjamin Bates Bower in 1842.
This was not a name that I spent a lot of time researching. But the first big breakthrough was obtaining an entry for Mary and her grandmother Elizabeth (Bates) Bower in the 1841 Census, when looking for Christopher & Elizabeth Bower & Family.
Since then a distant relative in Australia has provided a great deal of information about the Pitts & Bower families.
It tunrned out that Mary& Benjamin were cousins and shared the same grandmother Elizabeth (Bates) Pitts.
Progress 2005
The person conducting a One-Name Study into the Pitts name provided me with some miscellaneous information listed below including a Benjamin Bates Pitts with a similar middle name to my Great Great Grandfather - Benjamin Bates Bower.
Progress 2009
A contact in Australia sent me an extraordinary amount of additional information:
• The Wills of John Pitts, Elizabeth (Bates) Pitts and Elizabeth (Pitts) Bower
• James Benjamin Pitts, Widower’s marriage to Kezia Plume (Widow) in 1829
• James death in 1839
• Kezia’s emigration to Australia in 1853
• The whereabouts of Benjamin & Mary (Pitts) Bower in 1851 and
• Mary’s death in 1875
She also provided me with some additional information from Parish Records including the marriage of George Henry Pitts (at which Elizabeth Bower was a witness).
Progress 2010
My contact in Australia sent me more remarkable information:
- The marriage of James Pitts & Louisa Pinnion and
- The baptisms of their children James, Elizabeth, Mary & Louisa
- The marriage of Elizabeth Pitts and Christopher Bower
I wrote this report as part of the Big One! project.
Progress 2011
I visited London and walked the streets my ancestors walked and took photo's I went in 3 churches:
- St Giles in the Fields.
- St Martins in the Field
- St George, Hanover Square
where there were family services particularly the marriages of Christopher Bower and Elizabeth Pitts in 1817 and Benjamin Bower & Mary Pitts in 1842 at St George Hanover Square:
Progress 2012
A regular correspondent in Australia sent me the deatils of 2 burial in the Holborn/Drury Lane area of London:
St Giles in the Fields
Louisa Pitts of Great Wild Street
buried 31.10.1838 (age 44)
Benjamin James Pitts of Queen's Court, Holborn
buried 15.1.1839 (age 47)
(Benjamin was born James Benjamin Pitts)
I tried to find the bp of Loiusa Pitts nee Pinnion but found one potential entry only:
West Clandon, Surrey
Louisa Pinion bp 28.4.1793
(Parents William Pinion & Mary)
Pinion/Pinnion is a relatively uncommon name and if this is "our" Louisa, it would mean an unexpected link for the Bower/Pitts/Pinnion family with West Clandon that we know from my wife Chris' ancestors in the Peryer/Perrier and Smith families:
The Big One!- Peryer/Perrier Family
Progess 2013-2019
-
Progress 2020
There are a number of gaps remaining that I thought I would gradually work through.
When I discover new information, I will change my records including the records of individuals.
An example of this is the Bower/Pitts family where I have set up a new record for Louisa Pinion/Pinnion:
The parents of my 2 x Great Grandparent Mary Pitts were James Benjamin Pitts and Louisa Pinnion.
I did not know any more information about Louisa, so I did a few searches on Ancestry and found:
1. James Benjamin Pitts (1791-1839)
married 30.8.1812
Louisa Pinnion (1793-1838)
at Parsons Green, Fulham
2. Louisa Pinion bp 28.4.1793
(Parents William Pinion (1759-1826) and
Mary Smithers (1764-1830)
at St Peter& St Paul Church, West Clandon
- This came as a real surprise with the Bower Tree because Chris and I have been to the Chuch when researching the Collier/Peryer/Smith Tree (see below):
James Benjamin Pitts (Parents John Pitts and Elizabeth Bates) had a sister Elizabeth who married Christopher Bower
Things we wish we knew
Also see Summary of Records Held (Completed & To Do):
Summary of Records Held - Pitts Family
Research Undertaken
Birth Marriage & Death Certificates Held (see 1. below)
- Births:
- Marriages: 1 – Mary Pitts & Benjamin Bates Bower (1842)
- Deaths: 1 – James Benjamin Pitts (1839)
Census Records Obtained (see 2. below)
- 1841 Elizabeth (80*) & Mary (20*) Pitts, Kezia Pitts (40*)
- 1851 Benjamin & Mary (Pitts) Bower & family
- 1861 Benjamin & Mary (Pitts) Bower & family
- 1871 Benjamin & Mary (Pitts) Bower
*nearest 5 years below
Other Research Undertaken
- IGI -
- Parish Records – see 3. below
- Wills – John Pitts, Elizabeth (Bates) Pitts, Elizabeth (Pitts) Bower
- Businesses – Some of the Pitts Family were Smiths but also licensed victuallers and tailors as was Christopher Bower (see 4. below)
- Correspondence- Exchange of Correspondence with John Pitts re his One-Name Study
- Correspondence- Exchange of Correspondence with contact in Australia re James Benjamin Pitts & Kezia (Purser) Plume who married in 1829 (see 5. below)
- Visits – Visits to Fulham & London (see Progress 2011)
- Photographs - Parsons Green and London
- Miscellaneous Info/Documents (see 6. below)
Where they were & what they did
The attached tables summarises the name of my ancestors, where they lived and their occupations:
Pitts Family - Where they were & what they did
Pitts Family - Where they were & what they did (Contd)
Family Tree Maker Sheets
The family details of John Pitts and his son James BenjaminPitts have been summarised in the attached Family Tree Maker sheets which I may enter in to the relationship database, Family Tree Maker:
Family Tree Maker Sheet - John Pitts
Family Tree Maker Sheet - James Pitts
Names Index
The following surnames appear in this Report in addition to the names at the start of this Report.
Bateman
Blakey
Chambers
Connor
Crouch
Dale
Lawrence
Mason
Marston
Mensforth
Plume
Purser
Skinner
Smith
Colin Bower
25 May 2017
Appendices
The names of Direct Ancestors have been highlighted
1. Birth, Marriage & Death Certificates Held
Full Name: James Benjamin Pitts of: 4 Queens Court (High Holborn)
Occupation: Coach Smith
Died: 8/1/1839 age: 48 at: 4 Queens Court
Cause: Consumption
Informant: Kezia Pitts
Full name: Benjamin Bates Bower (of: Knightsbridge)
Occupation: Tailor (Age: Full)
Father: Christopher Bower, Tailor
Married at: St George, Hanover Square (Date: 24/11/1842)
Spouse: Mary Pitts (of: Knightsbridge)
Occupation: (Age: Full)
Father: James Benjamin Pitts, Smith
Relevant Witnesses:
2. Censuses Records Obtained
1841
Peterboro Lane, Fulham (next to Duke’s Head)
Elizabeth Pitts 80* Independent born Fulham
Mary Pitts 20* born Fulham
Sarah Lawrence 13 not born Fulham
Benjamin Bower 20* Tailor born Fulham
Alfred Bower 15*
Christopher Bower 46 Tailor born Fulham
Elizabeth Bower 44 born Fulham
Elizabeth Bower 12 born Fulham
* In the 1841 Census, a number of adult ages were rounded to the nearest 5 years below
Queens Court, High Holborn
Kezia Pitts 40 Independent
Robert Pitts 17 Journeyman Smith
James B Pitts 10
1851
Broom House Cottage, Broom Lane, Fulham
Benjamin Bower 31 Tailor born Fulham, Middx
Mary (Pitts) Bower 34 born London
Elizabeth Bower 5 born Fulham
1861
1 Felix Street, Bethnal Green
Benjamin Bower (41) Tailor born Fulham, Middx
Mary (Pitts) Bower (41) born Holborn, Middx
Elizabeth Bower (16) born Fulham, Middx
Louise Bower (4) born Whitechapel, Middx
1871 Census
20 Bath Place, Whitechapel
Benjamin Bower 50 Tailor born Fulham, Middlesex
Mary (Pitts) Bower Wife 53 born London, Middlesex
3. Parish Records
St Martins in the Fields
John Pitts
Married 1788
Elizabeth Bates
All Saints Church, Fulham
Amelia Pitts bp 17.1.1802
(Parents John & Elizabeth Pitts)
John Smith
married 17.9.1810
Mary Pinnion
Witnesses: James Mason & Louiza Pinnion
James Pitts
married 30.8.1812
Louiza Pinnion
Witnesses: George Blakey & Elizabeth Pitts
St Giles in the Fields
James Pitts bp 15.10.1815
(Parents James Smith, Coach Smith & Louisa, Blenheim St, St James)
St James, Westminster
James Pitts of Blenheim St buried 10.3.1816 (age 5 months)
St Giles in the Fields
Mary Pitts bp 12.1.1817
(Parents James Pitts Coach Smith & Louisa, Oxford Market, St Mary le bone)
St George, Hanover Square
Christopher Bower
Married 3.11.1817
Elizabeth Pitts
Witnesses: (?) N.G.Bower & M. Pitts
St Martins in the Field, Westminster
Louisa Pitts bp 19.5.1822
Parents James Pitts, Coach Smith & Louisa, 5 Hanover Street)
St James, Pentonville
James Benjamin Pitts b 19.12.1824 bp 9.1.1825
(Parents James Benjamin Pitts, Coach Smith & Louisa, High Street)
St Luke, Chelsea
George Henry Pitts
married 17.12.1827
Sophia Mensforth
Witnesses included Elizabeth Bower
Christ Church, Newgate Street, City of London
James Pitts, Widower
Married 19.4.1829
Kezia Plume, Widow
St George, Bloomsbury
James Benjamin Pitts bp 31.3.1831
(Parents: James Benjamin Pitts, Coach Smith & Kezia, Holborn)
4. Businesses run by Pitts
Victuallers
1839 per Pigot’s
George Pitts, White Horse, Parsons Green
1841
George Pitts, Parsons Green
1851
Sophia Pitts, Parsons Green
1861
Benjamin B Pitts, 13 Bread St Hill, City of London
1876
Benjamin Bates Pitts, formerly Ship Tavern, Horseferry Road, Westminster
Smiths
1811 per Holden’s
Pitt F, Silversmith, 105 Bishopsgate
Pitts Wm, Silversmith, 14 St James’s-street,Lambeth marsh
1822 per Baptism
James Pitts, Coach Builder, 5 Hanover Street
1825 per Baptism
James Pitts, Coach Builder, High Street (?Pentonville/Clerkenwell/Holborn)
1831 per Baptism
James Benjamin Pitts, Coach Builder, Holborn
1839 per Death
Benjamin James Pitts, Coach Smith,4 Queens Court
1841
Robert Pitts, Jy Smith, Queens Court, High Holborn
1842 Per Marriage
Father James Benjamin Pitts, Smith
1846 per Kelly’s
Pitt, Benjamin, Smith & bellhanger, 1 Little George St, Westminster
1851
Benjamin Pitt, Smith, 10 Little George St, Westminster
Robert Pitts, Wheelwright, (Mother Sarah Pitts) Peterboro Lane, Fulham
1861
Robert Pitts, Goldsmith, 6 Holland Terrace, Brixton
Tailors
1811 per Holden's
Pitt, George Tailor, 54 Well St, Oxford St
1824 per Pigot’s
Pitts Chas, Tailor, 2 Clement’s Inn
1839 per Pigot's
Pitt, Ephraim, Tailor, 1 Little James St, Westminster
1846 per Kelly’s
Pitts, Charles, Tailor, 27 Tavistock st, Covent Garden
5. Family Tree of Kezia Pitts born Purser late Plume
John Purser
Married
Elizabeth Chambers
James Benjamin Pitts b 1798/9 d 1839 (age 48)
Married
(1) Louisa Pinnion
(2) Kezia Plume
Children by Louisa
James Pitts bp 1815 but died 1816
Elizabeth Pitts bp 1815
Mary Pitts b 1819/20
Louisa Pitts b 1822 bp St Martin in the Field
Robert Pitts b 1823/4
James Benjamin Pitts b 1824 bp St James, Pentonville
Children by Kezia
James Benjamin Pitts b 1831 bp St George, Bloomsbury
Kezia (late Plume born Chambers) Pitts
1841
- Age 40 Widow Queens Court, High Holborn
1851
- Age 53 Holly Green, Ripple (with Mother: Elizabeth (Chambers) Purser)
1853
- Emigrated to Australia with 2 children (Kezia Plume & James Pitts)
1854
- Married (3) John Skinner in Australia
6. Miscellaneous Information Obtained
Miscellaneous Information from John Pitts
George Henry Pitts (d c 1847 Kensington)
Married
Sophia Mensforth at St Luke’s Chelsea
Benjamin Bates Pitts b 1838 Kensington
d 1876 Croydon (age 36)
- formerly Licensed Victualler, Ship Tavern, Horseferry Road, Battersea
- brother George Pitts, Clerk in HM Customs of 47 Speke Road
Misc. Entries in the Censuses
Some misc. entries in the Censuses show other families of Pitts in the Fulham area:
1841
Parsons Green
George Pitts 35 Victualler Born in same county
Sophia Pitts 35 do (birth)
Amelia Pitts 5 do (birth)
Caroline Pitts 6 do (birth)
George Pitts 5 do (birth)
Benjamin Pitts 2 do (birth)
Henry Pitts 10 months do (birth)
Louisa Pitts 20 do (birth)
King St, Hammersmith
Sophia Pitts 14 (at a school)
Sarah Pitts 40
Robert Pitts 17
John James Pitts 16
1851
Parsons Green
Sophia Pitts 47 Licensed Victualler b London, Middx
Sophia Pitts 22 At home b Fulham, Middx
Amelia Pitts 18 do (birth)
Caroline Pitts 16 do (birth)
George Pitts 14 do (birth)
Henry Pitts 10 Scholar do (birth)
Alfred Pitts 6 do (birth)
10 Little George St, Westminster
Benjamin Pitt, 18 Lodger/Smith b Westminster, Middx
1861
13 Cambridge Villas, Fulham
Edmund Marston 32 Colonial Agent b Norwich, Norfolk
Caroline Marston 25 b Fulham, Middx
Edmund G Marston 2 b Fulham, Middx
Sophia Pitts 56 Formerly Licensed Victualler b Clerkenwell, Middx Mother in law
Sophia Pitts 30 b Chelsea, Middx Sister in law
George Pitts 24 Clerk to Silk Manufacturer b Fulham, Middx Brother in law
Henry Pitts 20 Apprentice to Plumber & Glazier do (birth)
Alfred Pitts 16 Clerk to Builder do (birth)
Hannah Bateman 31 House Servant b Newington, Surrey
13 Bread St Hill (City of London)
Benjamin B Pitts 22 Licensed Victualler b Fulham, Middx
Elin (?) Pitts 28 b Hanwell, Middx
John Dale 27 Potman
Mary Connor 27 General Servant
William Crouch 39 Waiter
1871
47 Speke Road, Battersea*
Caroline Marston 36 Widow/Manufacturer b Fulham, Middx
Edward Marston 12 Scholar do (birth)
Alfred Marston 5 Scholar do (birth)
Sophia Pitts 42 Sister/No occupation b Chelsea, Middx
George Pitts 34 Brother/Clerk HM Customs b Fulham, Middx
* Address at which Benjamin Bates Pitts died in 1876 (age 36)
