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This page is part of a website based
on the life and achievements of eighteenth-century inventor Henry Cort. Please email site controller Eric
Alexander with any comments or queries. |
History of
Adam Jellicoe
We deduce the date of Adam Jellicoe’s
birth from the record of his funeral in September 1789, when he is reckoned to
be 63 years old.
His father is said to be another
Adam Jellicoe, died 1725. The elder
Adam's will, held at the PRO, describes him as a leather seller. This matches information from Leathersellers
Company archives.
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Our records show that Adam Jellecoe, son of Abell Jellecoe, a Citizen
and Weaver of London, was bound apprentice to Joseph Hamlin, Citizen and
Leatherseller, for seven years from 29th April 1697. He took up his freedom by servitude on 12th
July 1704 and was voted onto the Livery on 5th July 1711. Adam does not appear to have made any
further progress through the ranks of the Company. From letter of
Leathersellers’ Company archivist to Eric Alexander, 7 January 2004. |
The will, made 21 September 1724
and proved some 15 months later, makes no mention of any children. If the younger Adam is born after September
1725, he doesn't see much of his father.
Indeed, it’s possible that Adam is
adopted by the elder Adam’s widow as a way of raising money. Elsewhere we consider the possibility that
Cort is the illegitimate offspring from a rich family:
the same may be true of Adam.
His career at the Navy Office can
be traced through their books of "promiscuous bills" (PRO, ADM18),
which give a starting date in October 1744, when he is about 18: his own
recollections suggest he has started earlier.
He is evidently working in London, at a salary of £40 per annum. In April 1746 this is doubled, and his
duties are increased: rather than being a mere bookkeeper, he is entrusted with
money to take to the bank.
Towards the end of 1748 he
accepts a pay cut - back to £40. But
now he is involved in ships' payouts, taking him to Portsmouth and other naval
ports. The perks
("emoluments" and "defalcations" are words which occur in
the records) that this new work entails must more than compensate for the
reduction in salary.
On 13 February 1755 he marries
Elizabeth Chitty at St Olave Jewry, London.
No record has yet been found of the baptism of any children during the
next two years, but at least one birth may be inferred from later records.
A sudden crisis in July 1757
sends him to Portsmouth to fill the vacancy left by Wyndham Deverell, and his
salary returns to £80 per annum. George
Marsh’s comments on these events may provide a clue how Jellicoe builds a
fortune from this point.
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After residing about two years
and a half at Portsmouth as happy as possible with my family, and with
constant great labour and attention, I had very much increased my income and
should have obtained a considerable fortune if I had been permitted to remain
there, Mr Deverel the Treasurers first Clerk being a man of such low spirits
he could not do much business, Sir Richard Temple Bart the second clerk, did
not attend to it, and Roderick Richardes a Welsh Magistrate was the clerk
from the Ticket Office, who was an idle man, so that I had almost the whole
private business of the Port, and my commissions amounted to a great sum
every month. On one particular date,
it was £30.1.0 I got thereby. To
finish the business of the day, with the day required very close application,
insomuch that I was up early and late to do so. A vacancy in the Comptroller Office occasioned a remove of the
clerks, and tho’ it was not my turn to be placed in the Pay Office in Broad
Street, London, yet I was ordered to remove to London which I did do
accordingly this day (10October 1757) tho’ very much against my will for the
reasons before mentioned, but not before poor Deverel shot himself. From George
Marsh’s diary, 10 October 1757. |
To Adam Jellicoe One of the Clks to yr Treasurer of his
Majs Navy for attending the Payomt of Wages for his
Salary for 23rd June 1757 to 10th July follg
being 24 Days at £40 pr Annum £2.9.6 And from 10th July
1757 (in a Vacancy occasioned by Mr Wyndham Deverell’s Death) to
the 24th Septembr follg being 73 days at £80
pr Annum £15.1.0 From Michaelmas 1757 entries
for “promiscuous” Navy bills (ADM18/105). |
Seven further Jellicoe children
are baptised at High Street Presbyterian Chapel, Portsmouth, between 1758 and 1771:
first being Earl Jellicoe's great-grandfather Samuel
on 4 September 1758.
At this point there is no
evidence of a connection with Cort, but we may assume that Cort’s employer
Thomas Bell has a long-standing arrangement by which Adam collects and passes
on money on behalf of Bell’s clients.
With many ships being paid off in Portsmouth or Spithead, this is a
useful contact for an agent in London.
Evidently the arrangement continues after Cort has taken over the
agency.
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Mr Adam Jellicoe had been for many years, whilst Pay clerk at
Portsmouth, the Agent of Mr Cort for receiving Money there, due to Officers
for whom he was concerned, and thereupon, there had been Money connections
between them from the 1st Jan 1761. From 1790 memorandum. |
Some time
in 1767 he takes out a mortgage to buy a “country seat”, Shedfield House, from
one of the Missing family. It remains his property until his death in 1789, when mortgagee
James Bennett takes it over.
Towards the end of 1776 Adam
returns to London as chief clerk to the Paymaster, so his period in Hampshire
overlaps with Cort's by less than a year.
He is in London when Cort takes on Samuel as partner, and when Crawshay starts to take an interest in Cort’s processes. Since Crawshay is also in London, Adam
sometimes acts as a go-between. Some
time around 1786 he is appointed to the newly created post of Deputy Paymaster.
His wealth when
he dies amounts to more than £50,000 and includes two properties in
Hampshire and one in London. His eldest
daughter Sarah is married to four-times Portsmouth Mayor William Carter. Some of this wealth and influence has
probably come through his marriage to Elizabeth Chitty.
A
useful source of Chitty family information is the chancery file Chitty v
Parker, which arises from the will of Elizabeth's cousin Mary Chitty.
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I give and devise to my two Executors I now name and hope will accept upon the Trust being my last request to them Mr Adam Jellicoe of Portsmouth and Mr Joseph Chitty Junior now of London to each of them I give one hundred pounds for their Trouble. From will of Mary Chitty |
The
will causes problems because of the time lapse between its making (December
1762) and the testator’s death (August 1791).
During this interval several beneficiaries and one executor, Adam Jellicoe, pass away. It is as easy for the remaining executor, Elizabeth's brother
Joseph, to let the Law adjudicate on disposal of Mary’s estate as to attempt
the disposal himself and risk objections being raised.
Officially
Joseph files a complaint against a number of potential beneficiaries, including
Elizabeth Jellicoe. Besides quoting
Mary's will in its entirety, the complaint gives a helpful account of the
family (recently supplemented from Mike Chitty’s website).
We
learn that Elizabeth's father Jacob and Mary's father Abraham are two of five
brothers. There are plenty of signs of
wealth in the family.
Jacob
is a merchant in Ironmonger Lane.
Abraham
is a wine cooper in Lemon Street, Whitechapel, with properties in London and
elsewhere.
Uncle
Josiah is a grocer, appointed wine taster to Queen Anne in 1710. He owns numerous properties in London, and a
manor at Chadwell Heath. His will
leaves £500 to Elizabeth.
Uncle
Joseph is a brewer near Crutched Friars, with an estate in Surrey. But in 1749 he is bankrupted after falling
foul of the authorities over the duty on a consignment of imported raisins. He is rescued by brothers Josiah and Thomas,
who supports him for the rest of his life.
Thomas,
the youngest, achieves most. A master
salter, he becomes London alderman in 1750, Sheriff in 1753-54. Director of the Bank of England between 1755
and 1762. Knighted in 1759, he becomes
Lord Mayor the same year and lays the foundation stone for Blackfriars Bridge.
In
his March 1762 will he disposes of at least five estates, and several other
properties. £20,000 is to be divided
amongst his grandchildren. A codicil
leaves £200 to a fund for the widows and children of dissenting ministers. The will is proved the following December.
Clearly
Adam Jellicoe's wife is likely to be the source of some of his wealth. But it is hardly probable her family will
consider him a suitable match unless he brings his own fortune into the
marriage. Elizabeth's brother Joseph
names Adam as his executor, as does her cousin Mary. Clearly they approve of the match.
We
can infer that much of Adam Jellicoe's wealth is accumulated before his
marriage: there remains a question mark over its source.
henrycort.net
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