Mrs William Ann Chenery

???? - 1856

Claimant or beneficiary

Biography

Awarded the compensation for three enslaved people in Barbados and probably a further two under a second award; mother of the newspaper editor Thomas Chenery.

  1. Widow of John Chenery, merchant of St Michael, Island of Barbados, whose will was proved 18/02/1834, and the mother of:
    Thomas Chenery, Adm. pens. at CAIUS, Oct. 11, 1849. S. and h. of John, West India merchant. B. 1826, in Barbados. Schools, Kentish Town (Rev. Dr Griffith) and Eton. Matric. Michs. 1849; Scholar, 1850-3; B.A. 1854; M.A. 1858. Incorp. at Oxford, 1869. Adm. at Lincoln's Inn, July 18, 1856, age 30, as ‘s. and h. of John, late merchant of Barbadoes, W. Indies, deceased.’ Called to the Bar, 1859. Correspondent for the Times in the Crimea; afterwards on the Times staff and Editor, 1877-84. A learned Hebrew scholar and an excellent modern linguist. Lord Almoner's Professor of Arabic at Oxford, 1868-77. Member of the Old Testament Revision Commission, 1870-83. Author, translation of ‘The Six Assemblies’ of 'El Hariry', etc. Died Feb. 11, 1884, aged 59, at Sergeants' Inn. Buried in Brompton cemetery. M.I. (Venn, II. 292; D.N.B.; Al. Oxon.; History of ‘The Times.’)

  2. Unlikely though the name appears to be, the death of a William Ann Chenery was registered at Chelsea in Q2 1856. William Ann Chenery (widow) of 76 St John's Wood Terrace, out of business, formerly bookseller and stationer, was in the Debtor's prison for London and Middlesex in 1852. The ODNB entry for her son identifies the insolvent bookseller as Thomas Chenery's mother.


Sources

T71/895 Barbados no. 386. Claim by Henrietta Smith Bovell. Counterclaim by Mrs William Ann Cheney [sic] widow and only executrix of John Cheney [sic] of the City of London, by her attorney John Archer of Barbadoes, as assignee of Walter Jacob Levi a creditor by judgement 18/08/1820 £497 14s 111/2d currency. T71/896 Barbados no. 1473 is given simply as 'William Ann Chenery'; Matthew, H. C. G. "Chenery, Thomas (bap. 1826, d. 1884), newspaper editor." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 4 Jan. 2018. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-5215.

  1. PROB 11/1827; Ancestry.com, Cambridge University Alumni 1261-1900 [database online].

  2. FreeUKGen, England and Wales Free BMD Database, Deaths, 1837-1983 [database online]; London Gazette, Issue 21281, 13/01/1852 p. 122; Matthew, H. C. G. "Chenery, Thomas (bap. 1826, d. 1884), newspaper editor." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 4 Jan. 2018. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-5215.

 


Further Information

Absentee?
British/Irish
Name in compensation records
Mrs William Ann Cheney

Associated Claims (2)

£27 3s 9d
Awardee
£62 2s 10d
Awardee (Assignee)

Relationships (3)

Widow → Deceased Husband
Sister-in-law → Brother-in-law
Sister-in-law → Brother-in-law

Addresses (2)

City of London, Middlesex, London, England
76 St John's Wood Terrace, St John's Wood, London, Middlesex, London, England