John HAMMOND

1811 - 1861  (49 years)

• Name	John HAMMOND
  Birth	18 Oct 1811	Sandgate, Kent   [1]
  Gender	Male
  _UID	D6F154A6C63C4B98B915353E52424302C00C
  Death	22 Mar 1861	Dover, Kent   [2]
  Notes	June 2007 There is a mystery about this family which remains unsolved: why did the HAMMOND children (or some of them at least) become Minters? If the 1841 and 1851 censuses are to be believed, there is no doubt that John Hammond and Amy (Baker) had five children: 1841 census: in Queen Street, St Mary Dover, John HAMMOND (25, labourer), Ann HAMMOND (25), Thomas HAMMOND (5), Mary HAMMOND (3) and Emma HAMMOND (7 months). The fact that John's wife's name is shown as Ann suggests either that John had a wife called Ann in 1841 or, more likely, that the census enumerator made a mistake. 1851 census: in Paper Alley, Charlton, Dover, John HAMMOND (head, 40, status unclear but looks more like 'married' than 'widow', labourer), Mary HAMMOND (daughter, 14, scholar), Emma HAMMOND (daughter, 9), Isabella HAMMOND (daughter, 7) and John HAMMOND (son, 5). Another mystery is that a John MINTER (visitor, 17, labourer) was with the Hammonds as a 'visitor'. It seems likely that the death registration of a John Hammond at Dover in Q1 1861 relates to John (the death certificate should confirm this but hasn't been obtained). October 2012: James Earley has found the following in the Dover Express of Saturday 23 March 1861: "Dover Local Board of Health managing committee Death of a Town Porter The master of the porters reported the death of one of the town porters (Mr John Hammond) who, it appeared, had died on the previous evening. Hammond had been suffering from a long period from asthma. Mr Back, asked if it was necessary to appoint a successor? The master said he thought it was. There had always been four town porters, and one of the other porters had for some time acted in Hammonds place when necessary. The town clerk said the appointment must be made by the town council. The subject therefore was not further pursued. " James says that in another part of the paper John's age is given as 57. The IGI has the baptism of Mary Ann HAMMOND, Emma HAMMOND, Isabel HAMMOND and John Stephen HAMMOND and interestingly has a record for the birth (not baptism) for John Stephen MINTER which shows his father as John Hammond and mother as Amy Baker. But this record shows a birth date of 11 May 1845 (which was John Stephen's baptismal date) so cannot be completely trusted. The births of Mary Ann HAMMOND, Emma HAMMOND, Isabel HAMMOND and John Stephen HAMMOND were all registered as Hammond in Dover RD. It's not known what became of Thomas HAMMOND and Mary HAMMOND but for some reason Emma, Isabella and John Stephen began to use the surname MINTER at some point in the 1850s or early 1860s. An 1861 census entry hasn't been found for most of the 5 children so we don't know what surname Isabella and John Stephen were using in April 1861* but Isabella and Emma married as Minters in 1861 and 1862 respectively and John Stephen was known as Minter at the time of the 1871 census and married as Minter in 1873. * as Emma HAMMOND, Emma (21, born Dover) was a servant at 12 Clarence Place, Milton, Kent. The reason for this change of name is unknown but perhaps it's significant that we know for sure that it had happened after John Hammond is thought to have died, in Q1 1861. August 2008. Since the above was written it has emerged that before Amy took up with John Hammond (no marriage has been found) she was married to a Thomas Minter. Amy and Thomas Minter were married in 1834 and Thomas died some time after that. The date of Thomas Minter's death is difficult to pinpoint but Mary Ann HAMMOND was baptised on 18 April 1838 at St Mary's Dover (according to the IGI) and probably born a few days before that. We don't know who Mary Ann's biological father was but if it was John Hammond she must have been conceived about July 1837. On the other hand, if Thomas Minter was Thomas Hammond's biological father and the age (5) given for Thomas Hammond in the 1841 census was accurate, Thomas Minter was probably still living in 1835. This would put Thomas Minter's death somewhere in the 3 years from 1835 to 1837. But no record of his death has been found. And so Thomas Minter's origins remain a mystery.
  Person ID	I1	Dover, Kent
  Last Modified	5 Jul 2018

  
  

  Family	Amy BAKER,   b. Abt 1816, Dover, Kent d. 5 Apr 1846, St Marys Parish, Dover, Kent (Age ~ 30 years)
  Marriage	Abt 1837  [1]
  	Other than the IGI record of the marriage, which says John married Amy 'About 1837 of St Mary, Dover, Kent, England', no trace of the marriage has been found.
  Children	1. Thomas HAMMOND,   b. Abt 1836, Kent d. Yes, date unknown   2. Mary Ann HAMMOND,   b. 21 Mar 1838, St Marys, Dover, Kent d. Mar 1852, Dover RD (Age 13 years)   3. Emma Minter,   b. 21 Nov 1840, St Mary's, Dover, Kent d. Mar 1923, Milton RD (Age 82 years)   4. Isabella Minter,   b. Mar 1843, Dover, Kent d. Jun 1884, Dover RD (Age ~ 41 years)   5. John Stephen Minter,   b. 14 Feb 1845, St Mary Dover, Kent d. Mar 1916, Dover RD (Age 71 years)
  Family ID	F2	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	19 Oct 2012

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 18 Oct 1811 - Sandgate, Kent Death - 22 Mar 1861 - Dover, Kent  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Sources

  [S3] IGI. [S4] BMD index.