Captain William Hornblow EIC


There has been long history of Pomeroy family connections to East India Company  

The first  to become part of the East India Company was Sir William Pomeroy in the C16th .
He was William Pomeroy, ( 1674-1747) Freedom of the City of London, Merchant Taylor Alderman of City of London, Lyme Street Ward: Knighted  February 18, 1744. &  on board of directors of  the EIC from  1736 to 1744.
He was a son of Henry Pomeroy, Gent of St Germans, Cornwall of the Armorial Pomeroy line & grandson of
the wealthy Agnes Huckmore widow Pomeroy-Harris of Totnes who died in 1602

 William Hornblow was one of the sons of Rev John Hornblow Particular Baptist  minister in Braintree & his wife Elizabeth Young, daughter of a cabinet maker in Mansell Street  Goodmans Field  London.  Born 1782 baptised 1802 in Braintree ,Essex  died age 78 buried 1867 in Lambeth  Middlesex

William became a ship owner & a captain in Hon. East India Company navy & married a Sarah Hornblow. ( parents not recorded )
The daughter of his sister Sarah was Sarah Georgina Moore  was married in 1837 to Augustus Stephen Pomeroy  a clerk in the offices of East India Dock Company Stepney before moving to Liverpool and taking up a post at new Royal Albert Docks.in Liverpool.

His father was Richard Pomery  born in Werrington Devon who moved to London who worked as a checking clerk in East India Dock Company from 1806 to 1853   He and his son Augustus Pomeroy   both worked for East India Dock Company as did Augustus's grandson James. Augustus marroed Sarah Georgiana Moore daughter of Sarah Hornblow.

Her brother was William Hornblow  (Sarah Hornblow, Moore ,Cadle ,Thomas , Gurney of Port Elizabeth South Africa)
He was born 18 Sep 1782 a twin to John  & they were 2 the 11 children of Reverend John Hornblow &  his wife Elizabeth Young of Braintree, Essex.

William and his twin John were born  to a nonconformist Baptist family &  baptised age 20 in 3 Dec 1802 St. Michael the Archangel Braintree .  

There is a record in 'Ancestry' that William Hornblow married in  14 August 1808 at St James Clerkenwell to a Sarah Hornblow; witnessed by  Mary Hornblow - given the joint surname they were presumably related .

Children

Elizabeth Mary Hornblow Baptism daughter of William & Sarah Hornblow Bb 24 Oct 1813  Father a gentleman in South Weald Archive Essex RO

 Elizabeth Mary  appears to have been sent out to India age 16 to be marry 26 year old Captain Matthew Harry Bainbridge of the 23rd Light Infantry on the 2nd On 27 July 1829 in India - Her husband died on 24th of November the same year. Cholera was a significant cause of early /sudden death at that time. The widowed Elizabeth received a HEIC pension of £32+ a month - She  married again in Madras in the following year in 1830 to a James Cochran. 

Juliana Hornblow Bb 31 Mar 1816 South Weald  She also appears to have been sent out to India to marry   Edward Griffiths married her on  9th Jan 1832  in Madras. When he died and she came home to England where she married Charles Goodall in Hastings in 1858.

William Bristow Hornblow Baptism date 17 Nov 1819 Lambeth, Surrey, England Father' William Hornblow  Mother Sarah, father a mariner; 

Notably the baptism in Lambeth was by Bernard Scale vicar of St John the Baptist Braintree  (IGI).

Frederic Cowles Hornblow baptised 2 Apr 1822 Lambeth, Surrey, England Father William Hornblow Mother Sarah  father a mariner   

James Hornblow born CLAPHAM Surrey  Born  25 Aug 1822 baptised 1st Oct 1823   married Elizabeth Ann Bent at Camberwell  3 Sept 1864

Catherine Eliza Reeve Hornblow Bb 13 Nov 1829 Lambeth remained unmarried and of independent means living in London - 

FMP Census

1851 Census  East India Company Buildings, 7, All Saints Poplar, Poplar, London & Middlesex, England - Pastoral Tales of EIC

Sarah Hornblow Widow 60 B  1791 Pensioner East India Company Surrey, England

Catharine  Hornblow  dau. Unmarried 22 1829 Surrey, England

James Hornblow Son Unmarried 28 1823 Transcriber British Museum Kensington, Surrey, England


Madras India


Merchant trading ; insurance , indemnity of goods and security bonds for cargoes

Year 1817  William Hornblow free mariner 29 Oct 1817 Bond number 1296 Presidency  Bengal    

Description of Instrument  Bond & Covenant     Date 1 Nov 1817  Amount of Security  £500    

Sureties  John Short, Birchin Lane, Merchant. Robert King, Blackheath, Gentleman.    

IOR Reference  Z/O/1/8     Source Name  Miscellaneous Bonds, Nos. 1-2945. 1814  1821    

    

 Year 1817  William Hornblow Bond number 1873 5 Nov 1817 William Hornblow    

Description  To export gunpowder     Presidency  Bengal & Madras    

Description of Instrument  Bond     Date  28 Nov 1817     Amount of Security  £1,000    Sureties  William Hornblow, Harleyford Place, Kensington, Ship Owner.    

IOR Reference  Z/O/1/8     Source Name  Miscellaneous Bonds, Nos. 1-2945. 1814  1821     Source Year  1817 


 1817  William Hornblow Bond number 879 

To export firearms     Description of Instrument  Bond  Date 5 Dec 1817  Amount of Security  £500    

Sureties  William Hornblow, Harleyford Place, Kennington.    

IOR Reference  Z/O/1/8     Source Name  Miscellaneous Bonds, Nos. 1-2945. 1814  1821     Source Year  1817    

In 1827 it seems Captain William was made bankrupt & Bankruptcy was a  total disaster ! 
Tuesday Oct 1827 Captain William Hornblow of Acre Lane announced as bankrupt Mast Mariner & Ship Owner

Dealer & chapman 3 Jan 1827 on going to 1829.
A Chapman  in the 17/18c, before the advent of factories, a Chapman would invest in the raw materials of the cotton, woollen or silk trade, put out the work to spinners and weavers at home on piece-rates, and sell the product for profit -   and we know he carried raw silk as cargo 

In Victorian times - bankruptcy was a criminal offence and bankrupts were seen as crooks who deserved to be punished.!
 It brought disgrace and humiliation to the individuals concerned as well as to their families and friends.Following the insolvent Debtors (England) Act of 1813, debtors could request release after being jailed for 14 days as long as their debts did not exceed twenty pounds (equivalent to approximately one thousand two hundred pounds in 2014 ).

 They were still at the mercy of their creditors, however, and if any objected, they had to stay in prison. Dickens tale of woe 'Little Dorrit' tells us the tale  & reference say It was not uncommon for the families of debtors to stay in prison with them. It has been reported that children were born and raised in prison only leaving when the father was released. At the time of the closure of Fleet Prison, London in 1842 it was found that two debtors had been imprisoned for thirty years.

 

Capt William  went on sailing  - He still had the Miora  but she foundered on a voyage to India in September 1843 on route from Hong Kong 
Moira: Deck Log  IOR/L/MAR/B/96A  28 Feb 1820-14 Nov 1821 /
Moira: Deck Log  IOR/L/MAR/B/96B  29 May 1828-14 Jul 1829/
 Moira: Deck Log  IOR/L/MAR/B/96C  16 Jul 1831-27 Jul 1832/
Moira: Deck Log  IOR/L/MAR/B/96D  20 May 1833-12 Nov 1833   


1830  Capt. Wm. Hornblow     Description  Indemnity on account of freights    

Description of Instrument  Bond     Date  14 Oct 1830     Amount of Security  £420    

Sureties  William Hornblow, London, Mariner. George G. de. H. Larpent, Austin Friars, Merchant.    

IOR Reference  Z/O/1/10    

Source Name  Miscellaneous Bonds, Nos. 5739-7915 1827-1830     Source Year  1830   

?

The letters found in FMP were written from the Jerusalem Coffee House in  Cornhill,  one of the oldest of the City of London news-rooms, and frequented by merchants and captains connected with the commerce
of China, India, and Australia.

The subscription-room is well-furnished with files of the principal Canton, Hongkong, Macao, Penang, Singapore, Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Sydney, Hobart Town, Launceston, Adelaide, and Port Phillip papers, and Prices Current: besides shipping lists and papers from the various intermediate stations or ports touched at, as St. Helena, the Cape of Good Hope, etc.
The books of East India shipping include arrivals, departures, casualties, etc. The full business is between two and three o'clock, p.m. In 1845, John Tawell, the Slough murderer, was captured at [traced to] the Jerusalem, which he was in the habit of visiting, to ascertain information of the state of his property in Sydney."—The City, 2nd edit., 1848.

John Timbs Club Life of London Vol. II London, 1866

There are several other very long letters on record in FMP from Captain William Hornblow .
The one above is TO  him  1818 appointing him command of the ' Moira' a transport ship -
 The slave trade in the British Empire was abolished in 1807 so this could have been  a convict ship. 

1834 still trying get compensation for his loss of employment after bankruptcy

Following  James Hornblow son of Captain Willaim 

  FMP James Married Elizabeth Anne Bent at Camberwell  3 Sept 1864    

FIBIS    James Hornblow  Born CLAPHAM Surrey 1st Oct 1823   son of the late Capt. William,  .E.I.C . married on 3 Sept 1864  to Elizabeth Ann Bent , daughter of the late Nath. Bent., Esq.,of EIC a  Maritime Service, at Christ Church, Camberwell .

1860 - 1871 James Hornblow working as Transcriber in the Department of Printed Books at British Museum Kensington, Surrey  where he appears to have remained 

1871  Census Church End Lichfield Grove, Finchley, Barnet, Middlesex, England

James Hornblow Head 48 B 1823  working as a Junior Assistant at  British Museum Surrey,  (Great Russell Street) 

Elizabeth A Hornblow Wife 47 1824 Surrey,  

Jane Adams Servant - 18 B 1853 London 

James Hornblow born 1823 died  on 2 Jan 1879 age 56 buried  St Giles in the Fields Brompton died at 8 South Crescent, Bedford Square

 A grant was to Elizabeth Ann Hornblow his widow of 11 , Litchfield Grove  Finchley -  3 guineas with £2 13s interment fee & 6d stamp duty for an extra depth grave

Elizabeth made grave purchase in Feb that year,  presumably a headstone

              His will seen here  found by JB


1881  Census living at  11, Litchfield Grove, Finchley, Barnet, Middlesex 

 Elizabeth Hornblow widow of independent means &  servant Jane Powell age 17

Elizabeth died age 64 buried 23 April 1888 Barnet & was buried with her husband 

         in Brompton cemetery 

Other James Hornblow 

There was a James Hornblow Died 21 Aug 1881 buried the following day at Lucknow in Bengal source British Library- Private James Hornblow of 1st Battalion Halifax Regiment  Died in a cholera outbreak

There was also an 1871  James  Hornblow recruited to the Coldstream Guards HQ London & Windsor service number 2756


Following Catherine

Catharine Eliza Reeve Hornblow Bb 13 Nov 1829 Lambeth 1851 living with her mother Sarah & brother James in Poplar 

1871 visitor at the home of Catherine Stockdale a stevedores widow at Gates Street, Poplar

1881 living  and working as an Assistant in Gates Street, Poplar 

In 1901 living on her own means 31 Park Road Battersea at a Home for Ladies 

She died there 26 Dec 1905


FAMILIES IN BRITISH INDIA SOCIETY  website https://www.fibis.org/

An Obituary  for  Sarah Hornblow wife of Capt William

 Sarah Hornblow , widow of the late Capt. William., H.E.I.Co's Service, ( death & burial) at Poplar( London)  aged 74, April 18. 1864   

Edition Year   1864  

Marriage     James Hornblow  Born CLAPHAM Surrey 1st Oct 1823  marriage to Elizabeth Ann Bent at Camberwell  3 Sept 1864  son of the late Capt. William, H.E.I.Co Maritime Service, married  to Elizabeth Ann, daughter of the late Nath. Bent., Esq., H.E.I.Co.  Maritime Service, at Christ Church, Camberwell, Sept. 3rd 1864    



1829 on the ship Rockingham under Captain W Hornblow Miss Hornblow arrived 6 Jan sailing Jone 22  for bound for London via Bahia & the Cape arriving  10 Nov 1830 

1831 Miss Hornblow arrived in Madras Dec 29 1831 on Mary Anne Captain Hornblows ship  departed for  London Sept 13 1832

 1842 J Hornblow Esq sailed  for London via the Cape  on Anne Robinson under Captain James Hamilton

Edition Date   15 September    


 BONDS (Insurance)

Year 1817  William Hornblow free mariner 29 Oct 1817 Bond number 1296 Presidency  Bengal    

Description of Instrument  Bond & Covenant     Date 1 Nov 1817  Amount of Security  £500    

Sureties  John Short, Birchin Lane, Merchant. Robert King, Blackheath, Gentleman.    

IOR Reference  Z/O/1/8     Source Name  Miscellaneous Bonds, Nos. 1-2945. 1814  1821    

    

 Year 1817  William Hornblow Bond number 1873 5 Nov 1817 William Hornblow    

Description  To export gunpowder     Presidency  Bengal & Madras    

Description of Instrument  Bond     Date  28 Nov 1817     Amount of Security  £1,000    Sureties  William Hornblow, Harleyford Place, Kensington, Ship Owner.    

IOR Reference  Z/O/1/8    

Source Name  Miscellaneous Bonds, Nos. 1-2945. 1814  1821     Source Year  1817 


 1817  William Hornblow Bond number 879 

To export fire arms     Description of Instrument  Bond  Date 5 Dec 1817  Amount of Security  £500    

Sureties  William Hornblow, Harleyford Place, Kennington.    

IOR Reference  Z/O/1/8    

Source Name  Miscellaneous Bonds, Nos. 1-2945. 1814  1821     Source Year  1817    

 

1830  Capt. Wm. Hornblow     Description  Indemnity on account of freights    

Description of Instrument  Bond     Date  14 Oct 1830     Amount of Security  £420    

Sureties  William Hornblow, London, Mariner. George G. de. H. Larpent, Austin Friars, Merchant.    

IOR Reference  Z/O/1/10    

Source Name  Miscellaneous Bonds, Nos. 5739-7915 1827-1830     Source Year  1830  

  This may be him - William Hornblow Greenwich address  - Pigots 1840 -  3 Vansittart Terrace Greenwich.  This was close to the Greenwich Royal Observatory apparently

 Vansittart Terrace was a row of 8 houses numbered from east to west.  They were renumbered as 143-157 Greenwich Road in 1875 and destroyed by a flying bomb in 1944 -

 Greenwich Road was renamed Greenwich High Road in the 1930s  

 

William joined the Honourable East India Company and sailed on its ships to India and China  

He was Purser on 1169 tons CARNATIC a China ship  owned by its Captain John Jackson esq., 

Under Captain William Ward Farrer in 1805 William was 3rd officer  on CUMBERLAND 1200 tons to China ( if this is the same man he was 23) 

Between 1807 & 1808 he was made 2nd officer on that ship under the same captain  . 

Still on the CUMBERLAND he is recorded as  1st officer under its captain William Borradaile esq  Madras and China 1803-04

William Hornblow age 27 is recorded as  Purser in 1809 on the ship WARLEY 1200 tons which made 6 voyages to Madras, Bombay and China

under Capt. William Augustus Montagu sailed 22 June 1807  & was on moorings  by 10 Dec 1809.

After the Miora sank he bought another ship the Mary Anne and sailed her as Captain 

 He married  Sarah Hornblow, who presumably was a cousin & lived at South Weald. 

He died in 1847 having made 24 voyages to the Far East for the Honourable East India Company  


The EIC chartered Moira on 10 January 1820 for one voyage at a rate of £11/ton. 

Captain William Hornblow sailed from The Downs , off  Deal in Kent on 21 April,1820  bound for Madras and Bengal. 

Moira was at Rio de Janeiro on 11 June 1820 , and arrived at Calcutta on 1 October. Homeward bound, she was at Saugor on 30 December and Madras on 5 January 1821.

 On 27 January 1821, "Earl of Moira", Hornblow, master, was driven between the Little Basses, where she grounded. She lost her rudder but got off. 

 On 31 January, in attempting to sail between the Great and Little Basses with a temporary rudder, she again grounded. She was pulled off and sailed on to Bombay.

She arrived at Bombay on 25 March 1821. She reached St Helena on 5 August and arrived at The Downs off Deal in Kent on 30 September 1821


Moira foundered on a voyage to India in September 1843. She departed from Chusan, China for Hong Kong. No further trace, presumed foundered with the loss of all hands.



[19]  https://www.wikiwand.com/en/List_of_shipwrecks_in_1844  

The Asiatic Journal 1832 Honourable East India Company Cargoes in India       


         Moira: Deck Log  IOR/L/MAR/B/96A  28 Feb 1820-14 Nov 1821

Moira: Deck Log  IOR/L/MAR/B/96B  29 May 1828-14 Jul 1829

Moira: Deck Log  IOR/L/MAR/B/96C  16 Jul 1831-27 Jul 1832

Moira: Deck Log  IOR/L/MAR/B/96D  20 May 1833-12 Nov 1833   


Captain William was made bankrupt in 1827 - reasons yet to be discovered 

He continued  his sailing career -  records shown here indicate that .

Bankruptcy a terrible social disgrace as well as a criminal offence . Bankrupts were seen as crooks who deserved to be punished.! It brought disgrace and humiliation to the individuals concerned as well as to their families and friends.Following the insolvent Debtors (England) Act of 1813, debtors could request release after being jailed for 14 days as long as their debts did not exceed twenty pounds (equivalent to approximately one thousand two hundred pounds in 2014 ).

 They were still at the mercy of their creditors  and if any objected, they had to stay in prison. The most famous today was the Fleet Prison, Giltspur Street; others included the Marshalsea Prison and the Clink , which obviously gave rise to the expression going to Clink  .It wasn’t uncommon for the families of debtors to stay in prison with them. It has been reported that children were born and raised in prison only leaving when the father was released.   (Shades of Dickens and Little Dorret in Marshalsea Prison, arise  here !!) When the Fleet Prison, London closed in 1842 it was found that two debtors had been imprisoned for thirty years.

 

William Hornblow seems to have have owned the ship called MOIRA until she was lost -  or he may simply have captained her

He certainly is recorded as owning  the sailing ship Mary Anne 1837. (documents held at British Library, Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections )

Voyages: (1) 1819/20 Madras and Bengal. Capt William Hornblow. Downs( off Deal in Kent )  21 Apr 1820 - 11 Jun Rio de Janeiro - 1 Oct Calcutta - 30 Dec Saugor - 5 Jan 1821 Madras - 25 Mar Bombay -Chartered ship, 650 tons.  Principal Managing Owners: 1 William Hornblow, 2-4 Henry Templer. 5 Aug St Helena - 30 Sep Downs.( off Deal in Kent)

(2) 1827/8 Bengal. Capt Robert Thornhill. Downs .  7 Jul 1828 - 29 Nov Calcutta - 15 Jan 1829 Kedgeree - 4 Feb Madras - 25 Apr St Helena - 20 Jun Downs. 

(3) 1830/1 Bengal. Capt Samuel Beadle. Downs 12 Aug 1831 - 4 Dec Calcutta - 2 Mar 1832 Saugor - 16 May St Helena - 9 Jul Downs. 

(4) 1832/3 China and Halifax. Capt Thomas Alexander Johnson. Downs 9 Jun 1833 - 6 Oct Surabaya - 7 Feb 1834  Whampoa - 17 Mar Second Bar - 26 Jun Cape - 17 Oct Halifax.


 

Background

My research show  Rev John son of Jeremiah Hornblow, a malster  and his wife Mary Mew were married on 1st October in 1743 in  Upton cum Chalvey Buckinghamshire.   Children found in FMP 

 My gratitude goes to my friend Jenny for her huge efforts and contributions  that resulted in this page  about Captain William Hornblow -

The tree she created from her independent researches 


 Other finds in Thatcham    Hart Hill Farm seems to be where they lived

John  Hornblow Marriage  05 Oct 1664 St Mary's Thatcham Berkshire marriage by banns to Patience Smith

John Son of John Hornblow Bb 7 Oct 1665 ;

John Hornblow & Elizabeth Bartholomew married 23 Feb 1696 of Harthill Thatcham ( on Hartshill Road )

 John son of John Hornblow & his wife  Elizabeth  BB 17 Jan 1696 buried 8 Feb 1698 of Harthill Thatcham


The ASIATIC JOURNAL ALSO GIVES US 

The arrival  on 29th Oct in Calcutta of Captain Hornblow's ship the 500 ton Mary Anne 

the Moira carried a cargo of raw silk; indigo (dye)  & refined saltpetre used for salting or curing of meat in pre refrigeration days


The marriage in Madras  of Williams 2nd daughter Juliana Hornblow  to Edward Griffiths on 9th Jan 1832

  

 


The Honourable East India Company became the worlds most powerful monopoly