My Genealogy Home Page:Information about George Sleep
George Sleep (b. October 10, 1791, d. May 01, 1883)
Notes for George Sleep:
George Sleep, the "base child" of Mary Saunders,was born in Linkinhorne,Cornwall,England on Monday,10 October 1791.It is probable that he was named after his 30 year old uncle,George Sleep,a brother of his father Thomas,who had been christened in the parish of North Hill in 1761.
George was christened in St. Melor's Church, Linkinhorne, a little over a week later on Monday,31 October 1791, the same date on which his parents would be officially joined in wedlock.Because the child was illegitimate, the baptismal register would not record the name of the reputed father- Thomas Sleep.
The situation was not uncommon, however, for illegitimacy had increased in England in the latter half of the 18th century,with one in every fourteen children born in agricutural areas being born out of wedlock. When such a condition came to the ears of the local parish officials, every effort was made to learn of the father of the child so that he, with the mother ,could be made responsible for the expense of rearing the child.
Why Thomas Sleep waited so long to marry Mary Saunders will probably remain a mystery, but undoubtedly the difference in their ages and possibly the objections of one or more sets of parents could have played a role.
Entering the massive stone church with its magnificent 120-foot high tower on that October day in 1791,Mary Saunders would have felt at home for she,too, had been christened in the church (in 1762) as had her ancestors for two centuries,and she most likely attended weekly worship services there. The young Thomas Sleep, from the bordering parish of North Hill, likely found himself in somewhat less familiar territory.
Upon completion of the marriage ceremony, Reverend James Coffin and the family would have proceeded from the alter to the back of the church , where the infant George Sleep would have been baptized in the large polyphant stone baptismal font. Constructed in the early 13th century,the font had already wittnessed the baptisms of Linkinhorne's children for almost six hundred years.
With the traditional service from the English Book of Common Prayer completed, George Sleep became a member of the Christian family and the Established Church, the Church of England. The event was recorded by the minister in the ancient parish register-"George Sleep base child of Mary Sanders(sic) 31 Oct. 1791.
Able to read and write well, George Sleep was most likely educated either at home or possibly at a school in Linkinhorne. Schools were becoming more and more common, and young children under eight years of age were often taught by older women in their cottages. These schools were known as "dame schools,"and the education they provided was very elementary.
It is from his father Thomas that George Sleep learned his trade,as did George's brother John. Both young men would earn their livelihoods as shoemakers, often referred to in early records as "cordwainers." The name originally referred to workers of cordovan leather,a fine leather originally made at Cordoba, Spain. As shoemakers. the Sleep brothers' position in Englash society would have been in the catagory of "artisans and other skilled workers," a group comprising about 26% of the population during that period of English history.
The George Sleep family eventually moved from Linkinhorne to the parish of Landulph to the south,where George, at the age of twenty-three, married a young resident of the parish named Mary Ann Skelton in theparish church on Wednesday, 7 June 1815. Fifteen months his senior, Mary was the daughter of Richard Hacker Skelton and his wife Mary( Mutton) Skelton.
By 1817 George Sleep and his new wife had moved to the parish of Calstock, Cornwall, a few miles to the north of Landulph and bordering on the County of Devon. It was there that their first child Issac was born sometime in 1817. Nine more children would follow---Thomas(1818), Lavinia (1820), John (1821), Celena (1823), Abraham (1825), Belinda (1826), Dinah (ca. 1829), William (ca.1831) and Samual (1833).Although both christened and married in the Church of England, George Sleep, soon after arriving in Calstock, became a Nonconformist and joined the Wesleyan Methodist Church. Six of his ten children were baptized at a Methodist chapel in Calstock by ministers of the Travistock Circuit of the Wesleyan Church. The circuit included several parishes in the area, both in Cornwall and neighboring Devonshire.
It should be noted that George Sleep,for a good part of his life, used his mother's maiden name(Saunders or Sanders), either alone or in combination with the surname Sleep. For example, he was married as "George Sleep Sanders."In addition, the baptismal entries for his children, who had been baptized in the Wesleyan Church,reflect his inconsistency in the usage of the two surnames as well. The entry for one child lists the father as "George Saunders," while for two other children he is recorded as "George Sleep Sanders," and for the remaining three simply as "George Sleep."
Although George's usual occupation continued to be a shoemaker,the baptismal entry for his daughter Belinda in 1826 states that he was also a "schoolmaster."Apparently a very religious man,it is possible that he taught children in his home when time allowed or in a Sunday School in Calstock.
In 1831 tragedy struck the Sleep family with the death of their eldest child Issac in late August.No cause of death was given for the 14 year old son in the Calstock buriel register.The register did state that Issac was residing at the time in Gunnislake, the largest of the mining villages within the parish of Calstock.Whether George Sleep and his family also lived in Gunnislake or whether Issac was simply working there is not known.
By the time of the 1841 Census of England, George Sleep and his family had moved from Calstock a short distance across the River Tamar to the parish of Bere Ferrers in the County of Devon.Berre Ferrers ,along with the neighboring village of Bere Alston,was on a small picturesque peninsula formed by the River Tamar on the west and the River Tavy on the east.The Sleeps most likely had made their way from Calstock by way of the main ferry across the Tamar at Calstock Passage, where at what is now (1998) Ferry Farm,was Passage Inn.
Listed on the 1841 Cencus for Bere Alston are George Sleep, Mary Ann ,Lavinia, Abraham, Dinah, William, and Samual.Their daughter Belinda, aged 14, was still residing in Calstock, where she worked as a female servant in the household of a farmer and his wife, John and Mary Mole.
George and his family were living at that time on Chapel Street in Bere Alston, so named when a branch of the Methodist Church in the village moved from Cornwall Street and built a chapel there.Also residing on the same street were George's brother John and his family.Both heads of households were recorded as "shoemakers.
In 1849 a tragic event occurred in Bere Alston and Bere Ferrers, which certainly would have caused much apprehension in the households of George Sleep and his brother John.In that year a peddler came to Bere Alston selling watches and jewelry.He brought the terrible disease cholera with him.Although the peddler was eventually seized in the Commercial Hotel in Bere Alston (in 1998 the Anglers Rest), it was too late to prevent an epidemic.
The poorhouse at Bere Alston was used as a local hospital during the epidemic, but despite the best efforts, casualties began to mount.During that August in 1849, 82 people were buried in the churchyard at Bere Ferrers, with five buried in one day.There was only one cholera buriel in Bere Alston's Holy Trinity Churchyard, for at that time the church was new and the churchyard had not been consecrated.Special permission had to be obtained to be buried there, and a box of consecrated earth was sent from Exeter to scatter over the buriel spot.
The 1851 Cencus once again records George Sleep as a resident of Bere Alston,although he was then living on Fore Street.The household had been reduced in number to include only George, his wife Mary Ann and their son William.Also on the same street were George's brother John, his wife Mary, and six children,ranging in age from two to twenty-three.Both brothers still continued their work as "cordswainers."
George Sleep had, at some point, become associated with the National Temperence Society in England and its crusade against the use of "strong drink."One of his possessions, which has survived to be passed down to his decendants, is a bound volume of "The National Temperence Chronicle, Volume II, from January, 1853, to December,1854," which he apparently conscientiously read.Two pages contain his signature and address "Beeralston" (sic) at the top.
A listing in "Billing's Directory and Gazetteer of Devonshire 1857" for Bere Alston lists George Sleep , shoemaker and William Sleep,shoemaker.The William is most likely his son ,who would have been about 26 years of age at that time.Five years later in 1862, a postal directory of Devon and Cornwall again lists both men following their trade in Bere Alston.
On Monday, June 4, 1877, George Sleep suffered the loss of his son Abraham Sleep, who passed away in Bere Alston at the age of 52 years, leaving his wife Susanna and ten children, ranging in age from ten to thirty-two years.Abraham was buried on the following Friday, presumably in the churchyard at Bere Alston.
George himself died in Bere Alston five years later on Tuesday, May 1, 1883, having lived to the then extraordinary age of 91.The cause of death was registered as "senile decay."Informant for the death certificate was his grandson-in-lawHarry Olver, who was present at the time of death.
George was buried on Saturday, May 5, 1883, in either the churchyard of Bere Alston or Bere Ferrers.As the Reverend A.J.C. Beddow, Rector, Bere Alston and Bere Ferrer, wrote in 1978, "George Sleep and Abraham Sleep, I imagine, were buried at Bere Alston, but there is no headstone for either of them.There are two churchyards here, one at Bere Alston and one at Bere Ferrers, both are in the same parish and records are kept in one register for both churchyards and it does not state inwhich churchyard they are buried."
More About George Sleep:
Burial: May 05, 1883, Bere Alston or Bere Ferrers, Devon, England.
Occupation: Shoemaker.
More About George Sleep and Mary Ann Skelton:
Marriage: June 07, 1815, Landulph ,Cornwall, England.
Children of George Sleep and Mary Ann Skelton are:
- Thomas Sleep, b. November 09, 1818, Calstock ,Cornwall, England, d. March 21, 1899, Creswick, Victoria, Austrailia.
- Lavinia Sleep, b. May 01, 1820, Calstock, Cornwall, England, d. March 06, 1905, Negaunee, Marquette County, Michigan.
- John Sleep, b. November 26, 1821, d. date unknown.
- Selina Sleep, b. January 27, 1823, Calstock ,Cornwall, England, d. date unknown.
- +Abraham Sleep, b. March 06, 1825, Calstock,Cornwall,England, d. June 04, 1877, Bere Alston.....Devonshire ,England.
- Belinda Sleep, b. November 28, 1826, d. date unknown.
- Dinah Sleep, b. Abt. 1829, d. date unknown.
- William Sleep, b. Abt. 1831, d. date unknown.
- Samual Sleep, b. January 30, 1833, Calstock ,Cornwall ,England, d. April 20, 1906, Laurium , Houghton County, Michigan.
- Amelia Sleep, b. date unknown, d. date unknown.
- Isaac Sleep, b. date unknown, d. date unknown.