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 William Betts Malahide and Ballywalter
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| remagill |
Posted on 02/02/2013 17:41
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 New Member  Posts: 8 Joined: 25/01/2013 |
Hi. I am new to the site and the forum and I am researching the Betts family for a friend. I know William Betts was born in 1813 and died in Ballywalter in 1870. He had 2-3 sons born in Malahide around 1838 - 1842 and I am trying to find out details about any other children or his wife. I think he re-married in the 1860's but any information about his early life or career would be very much appreciated. His second wife may have been Caroline Watty, the daughter of a coastguard. Sons William and Thomas and John became coastguards after their naval service. |
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| crimea1854 |
Posted on 02/02/2013 22:38
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 Administrator  Posts: 906 Joined: 09/07/2007 |
Welcome to the Forum. Using the Coastguard Establishment Books I have traced William's career. In September 1837 he was nominated to the CG service from HMS Thunderer with a first posting to Tower 39 on the Sussex coast, from where he made the following moves: 19 Feb 1839 to Malhide 28 April 1843 to Skerries 6 September 1849 to Ballyhalbert/Roddens - reason for the move wifes misconduct. 7 Feb 1859 promoted to Commissioned Boatman 30 Sept 1870 pensioned. It was while at Roddens that he was drafted into the Royal Navy during the Crimean War where he served on HMS Calcutta as 'Captain of the Mast', for which he was awarded the Baltic Medal. There is a Merchant Seamans Ticket for him (268,952) that gives his date of birth as 1 June 1813, and describes him as 5' ?1/2'' tall, of dark complexion with dark hair and grey eyes. This was issued while he was working at Skerries CGS. What is a little perplexing is that while he still gave his place of birth as Ryde on the Isle of Wight, in the CG records his date of birth is consistently shown as 13 September 1811. It is also worth noting that when he was working at Malhide the Chief Boatman was Thomas Watty, and while at Skerries he worked with William Watty. I'm afraid I cannot provide any family information, but I hope the above is of interest. Martin Edited by crimea1854 on 02/02/2013 22:58 |
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| remagill |
Posted on 03/02/2013 05:39
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New Member Posts: 8 Joined: 25/01/2013 |
Martin Thank so much for this information. I never expected such a prompt and may I say detailed reply. I traced his death to Ballywalter, aged 57 on 12 October 1870 from what is described as "nervous disease". Caroline Watty Betts died 15 October 1883 aged 43. Three sons, William, Thomas and John became coastguards. There may have been others as William and Thomas were born in Malahide around 1840 - 1842 and John in Ballywalter in 1859. One of the sons born at Malahide, Thomas Betts, married Elizabeth Ann Page daughter of the chief coastguard at Bangor, William Page. I know William Page served in England and Ireland and was pensioned off in 1881. He died in Strandtown Belfast on 14 August 1893 aged 67 of Apoplexy. Thenks again for the great information. Any information om William Page would be great. He was born in Harting Sussex in December 1826 I think. |
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| crimea1854 |
Posted on 03/02/2013 14:53
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Administrator Posts: 906 Joined: 09/07/2007 |
Hi William Page turned out to be something of a challenge, not helped by one of the Establishment Books being missing, but I'm reasonably confident that I have now reconstructed his CG career. He was nominated to the CG Service in 1856 from HMS Opossum with a first posting to Fishersgate on 15 August 1856, from where he made the following moves: 23 March 1859 to Newhaven Harbour following promotion to Commissioned Boatman. 12 June 1861 to Lancing following promotion to Chief Boatman 8 July 1864 to Brighton 16 Feb 1866 to Hill Head 22 Dec 1866 to Southsea Castle Chief Boatman in Charge/ Act 2nd Master 1 Jan 1869 to Annalong Chief Officer 4 Sept 1871 to Roddens 6 Sept 1877 Bangor From this point it's not possibe to trace his career because the CG records for Ireland end. Although William Betts had retired it was only shortly after that William Page arrived at Roddens, so this is possibly where their children met. A couple of final points, the later CG Records show him as William A Page, born Petersfield, Hampshire, Dec 1824; also I had hoped that it would have been possible to find some further information re his early career in the Navy, but there do not currently appear to be any concrete leads. Martin Edited by crimea1854 on 03/02/2013 15:06 |
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| remagill |
Posted on 03/02/2013 15:26
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New Member Posts: 8 Joined: 25/01/2013 |
Martin You are a marvel. I am pretty sure that William Page was born in Harting Sussex on 30 December 1826. If he had any middle name it was Henry. I have a note somewhere which gives his pension date as 20 December 1881 just short of his 55th birthday. Was that the standard age for chief coastguards to retire? He worked at Bangor until he retired. His wife was Mary Ann Darragh who was herself the daughter of a coastguard I believe. Another daughter, Mary Jane, married a customs officer, and his father was a world famous astronomer employed by the East India Company in Madras. Once again thank you for your fantastic help. Bobby |
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| crimea1854 |
Posted on 03/02/2013 15:59
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Administrator Posts: 906 Joined: 09/07/2007 |
Bobby If Mary Ann's father was Hugh Darragh, then yes he was a CG who retired in Southsea in 1853. Martin |
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| remagill |
Posted on 03/02/2013 16:30
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New Member Posts: 8 Joined: 25/01/2013 |
Martin Thanks for this. The area and time of William's marriage to Mary Ann would seem to fit. The first child was born in Portsea 1854. Too much of a coincidence not to be right. I had another look at Ancestry and they married in Portsea Island in about November 1852. So Hugh Darragh is her father and yet another inter-coastguard marriage. Brilliant. Mary Ann Darragh is an Irish name and Mary Ann is listed on census records as being born in Ireland about 1935. Thanks again Bobby Merged on 06/02/2013 15:11:23: Martin I found only one Hugh Darragh listed in British Coastguards, born in Ireland in 1801 and married to Ellen. His last posting was on the Isle of Wight - your site lists him as winning an RLNI silver medal for bravery in Galway in 1835. I wonder if this was his only Irish posting as most of his children were born in Ireland, only the youngest, Harry being born on the IOW? I hope this will not cause you any inconvenience. Thanks Bobby Edited by remagill on 06/02/2013 18:28 |
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| crimea1854 |
Posted on 08/02/2013 22:39
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Administrator Posts: 906 Joined: 09/07/2007 |
Bobby Sorry for not having replied sooner, but because the last post was merged I did not receive a notification. I have traced Hugh's career and have established that he was nominated in May 1822 from Beardiville, Coleraine with a first posting to Malin Head on 28 June 1822. It is more than likely that Beardiville was his home town. On 10 Oct 1829 he was removed to Innisbofin following his promotion to Commissioned Boatman, from where he made the following moves: 21 Sept 1837 to Port Ballintoy 1 March 1841 to Rathmullen 5 May 1843 to St Lawrence on the Isle of Wight 15 May 1848 to Southsea Castle 8 Feb 1853 Discharged with an allowance of £37/annum. Martin |
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| remagill |
Posted on 09/02/2013 06:00
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New Member Posts: 8 Joined: 25/01/2013 |
Martin Once again thanks for this. As they say it is a small world, because I am at present living and working in Coleraine -. Beardiville is actually about 10 miles away in the Bushmills - Giants Causeway area. Given the nature of the North Antrim communuties there are probably still some Darraghs living in the vacinity. Thanks again, your information has been fantastic. Bobby Merged on 12/05/2013 04:03:26: Martin I have now nearly completed my review of William Betts and his family. I have come to the conclusion that Caroline Watty was the first and only wife of William Betts. He must have married her at Malahide, Dublin around 1840. If that is so her father must have been Thomas Watty who was chief boatman there. Do your records tell you if he was from Ireland or as I suspect Cornwall, as there appear to be a number of Watty's in the coastguard service from Cornwall. An Elizabeth Watty Legg, born in 1816, re-married in Penzance in 1866, and her father is named as Thomas Watty coastguard. Any information on Thomas would be great. Thanks Bobby Edited by remagill on 12/05/2013 04:03 |
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| crimea1854 |
Posted on 12/05/2013 08:02
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Administrator Posts: 906 Joined: 09/07/2007 |
Bobby My laptop with all the early CG records has just died, but I was able to trace Thomas's career back to Cornwall in the 1820's, so my hunch is that he was Cornish. Out of interest his movements were as follows: from Mousehole to Sennen Cove 11 Sept 1820 17 Sept 1826 to Tresco 15 Oct 1828 to St Agnes 25 Nov 1833 to Malahide. What is perhaps of more interest is that knowing where he worked I did an online search and found the transcription of a bap. of a Caroline Watty on 23 Oct 1825 in Sennen to a Thomas (Preventive Service) & Jenifer (sic) Watty. I would lay any money that this is your Caroline and her parents! http://west-penwi...enbap2.htm If I do manage to get my laptop to work I'll try to establish where Thomas was born, or at least nominated from. Out of interest there is a Seamen's Ticket for a Thomas Watty who in 1845 was a CG in Shoreham; his date of birth was 12 May 1807, Fowey. Martin PS: I've now managed to access the records on my laptop, but Thomas's nomination into the CG service pre-dates the earliest record, which is 1819. However, I did find the following site on the internet, and looking at the Bapt. records would strongly suggest that Thomas & Jennifer were from Fowey. http://www.connor...eyRecords/ Edited by crimea1854 on 12/05/2013 11:27 |
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| remagill |
Posted on 12/05/2013 12:15
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New Member Posts: 8 Joined: 25/01/2013 |
Martin Thank you for this. I have traced his birth to Mevagissey, Cornwall 1 April 1781. He also had at least one brother Francis Watty who was also a coastguard and a son William Watty, born at Mousehole in 1820, who was at Skerries and then Dorset. Thomas spent the last years of his life back in Cornwall living with another daughter, Elizabeth Watty Legg, the wife of master mariner. They were in Madron, Cornwall in 1851, although the census wrongly names him as Wastley, and he died there in January 1854. Thanks again Bobby |
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| crimea1854 |
Posted on 12/05/2013 13:22
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Administrator Posts: 906 Joined: 09/07/2007 |
Bobby William Watty (1820) served on HMS Duke of Wellington as an Ordinary Seaman during the Crimean War, being awarded the Baltic Medal. Martin Merged on 31/05/2013 22:00:55: Bobby I was at the National Archives today, and while it was not possible to find anything further out about William Page, I did establish when William Betts first entered the navy. According to Thunderer's Muster Book (ADM 37/10004), he first entered as a 'Landsman' on 21 Nov 1833, giving his address as High Street, Ryde, Isle of Wight. On 11 November 1834 he was advanced to Ordinary Seamen, and was paid off on 31 Jan 1837, when his conduct was described as Very Good. Martin Edited by crimea1854 on 31/05/2013 22:00 |
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| bettsp |
Posted on 27/06/2013 23:06
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New Member Posts: 1 Joined: 27/06/2013 |
Hi - this is very interesting, I have just registered with the site. I have known for some time that my Grandfather (John and known as Jack) was born in Ballycotton, Cork around 1891 and his family were coastguard people. We think they moved to the west coast of Ireland and then the family returned to Belfast sometime (East Belfast). There was some sort of connection with Ballywalter area because he moved to Ballyhalbert during WWII for a period to avoid the blitz. From what I'm reading from your thread, I would suspect that my grandfather's, grand father was William, and that his own father was one of William's three sons, William, Thomas or John. I'm wondering how I would find out if any of the sons moved to Ballycotton and at what time etc any information would be of interest to my own father, who is also called Thomas John Betts. with thanks Paul |
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