George Fortescue ALSTON [4613]

  General Notes:

George Fortescue Alston
Baptism Date:1 Jan 1831
Baptism Place:Layham, Bts, Suffolk, England
Father:George Alston
Mother:Ann Charlotte
FHL Film Number:989589
Reference ID:- 2:2TN8TBB

George is mentioned by Lionel Cresswell as being "born at Hadleigh,(Suffolk) died in infancy" but I can find no other reference to him.
The IGI has him Christened in Layham, Suffolk - possibly he is buried in either Hadleigh or Layham - Susan Perrett searched the registers of Hadleigh and Layham confirming his baptism date, however he was baptised George Fortescue, not Arteswell which has crept into the record for some reason. She found no burial for George, in Clontarf Ireland, he is not mentioned in the 1841/51/61/71 Census. A search at The National Archives has been carried out.

NATIONAL ARCHIVES SEARCHES 2010
Brief - 7385 Alston
The client, Susan Perrett, is conducting research into the case details of George Alston and his wife, Ann Charlotte (nee Oxenden) for the assault on their 3 year old child, George Fortescue Alston. Susan has a copy of the entry in The Times, which reported the case (this often happened if it was felt that the case would be of interest to the public). Cambridge County Record Office have informed Susan that assize records for the Norfolk Circuit are held at Kew. The trial itself was held in Cambridge on 14/2/1834. George pleaded guilty to the assault but there is no mention of Ann Charlotte in the notes or the result of the court case for either of them. Susan would like to know how and why the case was brought to Court and also details of the depositions and names of witnesses.

Findings
It is true that court proceedings and trial records for Cambridge are included as part of the Norfolk Circuit for this date but unfortunately, the records for 1834 have not survived (I have taken an image of the NA website page to show this).
However, there are errors on the NA site so I therefore decided to check that was indeed the case before going on to search other records, as shown below, in the hope that further information could be found;

Records searched:

HO27/47 Criminal Registers for England. The registers list all people indicted for criminal offences and state whether or not they were found guilty. I found an entry for George but none for Ann Charlotte, either under her married name or her maiden name of Oxenden. George's entry (which I have copied and which is in the HO27/47 image folder) states that the case was heard in Cambridge at the Lent Assizes for assault. George was sentenced to 3 months imprisonment but the prison location was not given.

HO16 Calendar of Prisoners 1834. I searched this as it is the best alternative if no record can be found in HO27/47. HO16 can also give further crime details than HO27/47. I had hopes of finding Ann Charlotte but unfortunately there was no mention of either Ann Charlotte or George.
As HO27/47 stated that the trial was held at the Lent Assizes, I decided to search for these records next, despite the fact that that the image I have taken from the NA website shows that no records for Norfolk Assizes exist for 1834, but I found that they are not held. This is simply a case of bad luck. The NA also states that there are apparently loose items that have not yet been catalogued, but as there is insufficient budget time to go through these, with little hope of success, I decided to check some other options :

ASSI 35 Indictment Files
There was no trace of either George or Ann Charlotte.

ASSI 16 Indictments recovered from private custody.
Again, there was no trace.

ASSI 32/9 Civil and Crown Minute Books
Again, there was no trace.

ASSI 33/12 Gaol Books
Again, there was no trace.

PCOM2/348 Calendar of Prisoners for Norfolk 1834
Again, there was no trace (possibly because George was held in a Cambridgeshire prison?)

HO13/64 List of Pardons, references and respites
Yet again, I drew a blank.

Suggested Further Research
Search for George's prison record in Cambridgeshire? The Gaol books give information on physical appearance, conduct etc.
Search PCOM/2 for Cambridge - this would give details of the indictment (see PCOM2/348 for an example of information given)
Search further for any mention of Ann Charlotte - was she perhaps let off as she had a child to look after?

CHURCH OF IRELANDTel:(+3531) 4923979
REPRESENTATIVE CHURCH BODY LIBRARYFax:(+3531) 4924770
Braemor Park, Churchtown, Dublin Email.library@ireland.anglican.org
13 October 2009
Susan Perrett
21 Toulouse Road
South Morang
Victoria 3752
Australia
Dear Ms Perrett,
Thank you for your letter and payment for a search of the Clontarf parish registers. I have completed a search of the burials between 1831 and 1841 inclusive, but unfortunately no burial of George F. Alston, nor anyone with the surname Alston was found during that period.
All that may be concluded is that he was buried either in another parish or municipal burial ground such as Glasnevin (the main one of the north side of the city and which holds its own records). I suggest that you might try Glasnevin as a last resort.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Susan Hood
susan.hood@rcbdub.org <mailto:susan.hood@rcbdub.org

  Research Notes:

The story of George Fortescue Alston and his subsequent disappearance from the record, are a sad stain on an otherwise upright family.

  Other Records

1. George Fortescue Alston: Place of George's baptism, 1 Jan 1831, Layham Church & Font.
The family were living in Layham in 1831 and George Fortescue was baptised at St Andrew, in the 13th C Purbeck Marble hexagonal font.