Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past History Information Request St Andrews church

If your further interested in this man you can follow a thread here about him, the mystery just deepens.

http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/Mariners/2008-01/1201347882

Thanks Oxton, Strange that the IOM deemed it fitting enough to have a Charles Corlett mentioned regarding an issue of stamps, Manxmen at Trafalgar.

http://stampsonstamps.brinkster.net/Isle%20of%20man/Isle%20of%20man.htm

Below a link, Manxmen who served at Trafalgar

http://www.gov.im/lib/docs/mnh/heritage/library/9manxmeninnelsonsnavyx2.pdf

http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/fulltext/worthies/ch07.htm#134 some more snippet's here.
Also a great source for family history,i have traced lots through the old wills on here.

Thanks for the link PP, still a little bit of mystery on this man.

Very strange he can't be found on official roll's!

A bit early to jump to conclusions i know, I suspect someone has in the past, if you give someone the title Nelsons hero, then most will jump to the conclusion he would have served at Trafalgar, especially the uninitiated who thought Trafalgar was Nelsons only battle, i prefer to be guided by the official rolls, of which he doesn't appear.

well its very interesting about corlett, i may be wrong but maybe his stone isnt wether beaten maybe it was defaced because of the mystery of him not being on any official list?

I've been trying to see what I could find about this man, and if it was not for the picture, and the various descriptions I would have said it was all a load of old tosh.

But;

The registers of St. Andrews Church Bebington clearly say,
Charles Corlett buried 29th January 1862, aged 90.

The earlier Newspaper report says he died 25th January 1862, so far so good, but can I find him on the 1861 Census, can I hell.
Nor could I find his son at 7 Wellington Street, Rock Ferry.
I cannot find him on the 51 or 41 Census.

I do think the stone is wether beaten, if you were going to deface it I would have thought you would go for "One of Nelson's Heros"

If he had all that fuss, surely the event would be in the Newspaper of the time, perhaps that's where we should look for more information.
Just a thought, is the stone in it's original location? or was it moved in the 1868 clearence?

i thought it was strange to have a headstone butted up against the church wall they normally leave a gap! ummm

I also ran him through the ancestry mangle and found nothing.

As it happens last week i was in a cemetery and there must have been about 50 headstones hard up against a wall, they had no uniformity of dates, i assumed they were placed against the wall for safety after they had fallen elsewhere etc.

Looking at the headstone which must have been very decorative at the time and assuming must of cost a penny or two.
To me it looks like the stern of a ship, anyone got any ideas on that?
Is it a Naval crest associated with something in particular?

According to the 1851 census there was a Charles Corlett living in Liverpool, aged 76, born I.O.M., occupation Smith, wife Sarah.

I think that this is the same guy as there are very few Corletts recorded outside the I.O.M. in the early records, and ‘our’ Corlett married a Sarah (Dowling) in Alverstoke, Hampshire (by Portsmouth) in 1811.

The occupation of ‘Smith’ is interesting. Could it be that Charles was one of Nelson’s land-based heroes based in the ship yards at Portsmouth, Gibraltar and elsewhere. When he left the navy and moved to Liverpool nobody would know about his past and over time he could have made up a few stories, perhaps even just to get a few free pints at the local pub. All the exploits claimed in his obituary are well before his marriage, so perhaps even his family were hoodwinked.

Strange that he doesn't appear in the 1861 census.

Mmm but why was he interred with all naval honours,surely he couldn't have duped the Navy?

Fair comment, but died 25th, buried 29th - no instant checking of records in those days. Perhaps the only person to be duped was Capt. Inglefield, of her Majesty’s ship, MAJESTIC which just happened to be in port? And that might easily be done if the guy had become a bit of a local celebrity.

I have come across similar information elsewhere on his marriage and occupation, though not on Ancestry, i only checked 1861, well done Nightwalker for that. There seems to be a discrepancy on his age, 1851, 76 years old and dieing at the age of 90, 1862. Perhaps nothing in that to be to concerned about.

My grandfather was buried with full military honours in 1940 having left the Army after the Boar war, until now i can't find any outstanding reason for it other than doing an old soldier and his family a favour if you like, I tend to think if a request is made the regiment will do everything they can to oblige. Perhaps the captain felt obliged after the request.