Jesse Page

Discussion in 'General Family History Queries' started by Alfred Page, Apr 3, 2018.

  1. Alfred Page

    Alfred Page Member

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    I am searching for birth and marriage details of my great-grandfather, Jesse Head Page. At the 1881 census he was recorded as living in Little Olantigh, Crundale, Kent. I'll be grateful for any information or advice. Thanks
     
  2. Daft Bat

    Daft Bat Administrator. Chief cook & bottle washer! Staff Member

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    Hello Alfred and welcome!

    According to the birth of daughter Annie in Lewes, Jesse's wife Jane's maiden name was WILKINSON. However, I have not yet found a marriage for them. :(
     
  3. Daft Bat

    Daft Bat Administrator. Chief cook & bottle washer! Staff Member

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    Aha! Thinking laterally, I have just found a marriage for a Jane WILKINSON on the same page as Jesse HEAD. However, this was in Brighton in the September quarter of 1882 (volume 2b, page 422).

    Could this be them?
     
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  4. MollyMay

    MollyMay Knows where to find the answers!

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    There is a baptism of Jesse Head 1/5/1857 at Sandhurst (nr Etchingham) Kent to mother Elizabeth Head, father Jesse Head

    On the 1891 census (RG12/797/7/8 - in Lewes Sussex) Jesse H Page gives Sandhurst Kent as his pob:)

    Birth reg. March qtr 1857 Cranbrook 2a 476

    Welcome AlfredC|:-)
     
    Last edited: Apr 3, 2018
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  5. MollyMay

    MollyMay Knows where to find the answers!

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    The family (Jesse senior, Elizabeth and children) can be found in 1861 RG09/571/65/6. Forge House, Etchingham - on the 1881 census Jesse H Page gives Old Forge as his pob.
    It might be worth noting the family on the census just before Jesse and Elizabeth, one John Head and family who could just be a brother of Jesse snr.

    Marriage Sept qtr 1853 Jesse Head and Elizabeth Fuller Ticehurst 2b 125
     
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  6. MollyMay

    MollyMay Knows where to find the answers!

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    Jesse is still using Head as his surname in 1871.
    He can be found working as a groom in Alfriston, Eastbourne, Sussex
    RG10/1039/7/3 - he is age 15 born Etchingham
     
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  7. Ma-dotcom

    Ma-dotcom A Bonza Little Digger!

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    HEAD, JESSE Mmn FULLER
    GRO Reference: 1857 M Quarter in THE CRANBROOK UNION Volume 02A Page 476

    Welcome in Alfred. ;)
     
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  8. Alfred Page

    Alfred Page Member

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    I am astounded and grateful for the treasure trove of information. Guess what I'll be doing for a while. I can't thank all respondents enough. You've made me very happy.
     
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  9. Daft Bat

    Daft Bat Administrator. Chief cook & bottle washer! Staff Member

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    Excellent! Any more questions, just ask. :D
     
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  10. Alfred Page

    Alfred Page Member

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    Regarding Jesse Head Page, I must again thank all who posted information, and ask for help with the following:

    An obvious question is what was the reason for the apparent name change from Head to Page after 1871. It’s not something done at a whim.

    It seems that Jesse and Jane married in July-September 1882. They had two children - Jane Elizabeth in 1877, and Annie E in 1880 – before they married; and perhaps a third – Jesse Jr. in 1882 – depending on the day/month of birth. In his day Jesse was a well-known steeplechase jockey, riding twice in the Grand National (1886 & 1888). In 1890 he won the Grand International Hurdle, the 2nd most prestigious steeplechase race next to the Grand National.

    I always thought it was strange that he was recorded as riding his first winner in 1883 at age 27/28, and as holding a jockey license from 1882. Could it be that the explanation is to be found in a connection between the two situations, and that up to 1882 Jesse was riding under the name Head. Perhaps, also, it accounts for the use of Head as a middle name. I always thought it sounds more like a family name.

    I have been in touch with horse racing contacts to ask if there is any record of a license being issued to Jesse Head.

    I will hopefully be writing up my research (and yours!). It will read rather like a TV soap-opera rivalling Dallas or Downton Abbey - apart from the obscene wealth of those. If there is interest I'll upload the file when completed.

    Thank again and very best wishes to all.
    Alfred
     
  11. Daft Bat

    Daft Bat Administrator. Chief cook & bottle washer! Staff Member

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    Have you looked further back into the family to see if the PAGE name crops up anywhere else?

    I ask as, in my family, I have a chap named John Webb MASCALL. He played hopscotch in the censuses, sometimes recorded as WEBB and others as MASCALL. o_O I discovered that he changed surnames in defference to an ancestor of that name who had died.

    However, one thought with your chap - if he was racing, perhaps a licence had already been granted to a chap of the same name and so he had to be registered under a different one...

    Just a thought... ;)
     
  12. Bay Horse

    Bay Horse Can be a bit of a dark horse

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    I was just about to suggest that. :)

    Jesse's winning mount in 1890 was called 'Waterproof', which seems very apt for the current weather conditions. :)
     
    Last edited: Apr 4, 2018
  13. MollyMay

    MollyMay Knows where to find the answers!

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    Please do let us read your research, when complete - I am sure it will be fascinating:reading:

    I wondered if the name Page was his 'racing name' - perhaps with head being a term used in racing (not that I know very much on the subject, but I do know races are won by a head, short head etc.) and as such it was not a suitable name for the Jockey - just a thought;)
     
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  14. AnnB

    AnnB Editor in Chief who is Hot off the Press!

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    You may well have or know of the following newspaper reports, but I'll post them just in case. From the British Newspaper Archives -

    The Globe 30th November 1900
    Jesse Page jun., who was granted a N.H. jockey’s licence last week, is the son of the one-time successful cross-country horseman who was associated with the palmiest days of Alfred, Prince Frederick, Dominic, and other horses in the Heasman colours, but has encountered very poor times of late.

    The Globe 19th October 1909
    There was no better known or more successful or capable steeplechase jockey than Jesse Page, who in the zenith of the Heasman era rode the winners of nearly all the big cross-country events. The poor fellow has for a long time been on the down grade, and is now, I am sorry to record, not only in want financially, but seriously ill, having just been taken to St Bartholomew’s Hospital. Communications or especially donations for any little extras are deserved, and will be welcomed by him, or by me on his behalf.

    The Globe 27th January 1910
    Sporting Chatter by ‘Magpie’ (W. Lotinga)
    Poor Jesse Page, the ill-fated steeplechase jockey, was buried yesterday at Kensal Rise, the erstwhile crack jockey dying in penury, literally unknown and unhonoured, although it is not twenty years since he actually headed the list of cross-country jockeys, at a time, too, when men like Dollery, Sensier, Capt. Roddy Owen, Capt. Bewicke, the Hon. Geo. Lambton, Arthur Nightingall, and other incomparable cracks were in their zenith in the saddle. It is extraordinary and unaccountable how complete and rapid is the fall of popular idols. Page was a worker to the last, when he had become what may be termed a “hanger on” to racing. He would undertake any odd lad’s task at a race meeting, but was thoroughly trustworthy.
     
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  15. Alfred Page

    Alfred Page Member

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    Hello,
    I am still in the process of calibrating all the new information. The last posting from AnnB was particularly sad to read. I hade been able to access a number of newspaper reports of his racing career and his subsequent tragic history; but those mentioned by Ann are sadder that any I was able to access.
    I've been telling my family about the information received from all of you. A big thank you from them. I did couple my communications to them with the comment that I am sadly not so sure about the description "thoroughly trustworthy" from The Globe of 27th January 1910. His racing career peaked in 1890 with his victory in the Grand International Hurdle - a race 2nd onlt the
     
  16. Alfred Page

    Alfred Page Member

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    With apologies; my previous post was premature - I hadn't finished. I'll continue from where it ended:
    His racing career peaked in 1890 with his victory in the Grand International Hurdle - a race 2nd only to the Grand National in prestige. He suffered two falls that year, the second in a race at Kempton Park that "nearly killed him". That effectively ended his career. Until his death he was summonsed a number of times for non payment of rates and other debts. Among the situations was a trial for aggravated assault and robbery in Berkshire Assizes on November 7th 1901. The trial was stopped because the only evidence offered by the police was the testimony of the alleged victim. I was able to find a number of contemporary newspaper reports; but I'll never know whether or not he was guilty as charged. I visited several of is 8 children when I was growing up, but there was never a mention of such episodes, and in my ignorance I never asked any questions.

    MollyMay mentioned the possibility that Jesse changed his name because of another jockey with the name Head. That is certainly possible. Just about the most famous and successful family in horse racing is one with the family name Head - Freddie Head, born in 1947, is the most famous today. He was in a line of several generations of jockeys/trainers. One of his ancestors' family moved the family to France, and after riding hundreds of winners in England and France, Freddie Head developed a world famous training stables in France. I have not been unable to trace any family connection with my great-grandfather. I have always thought that Head was strange to have for a middle name.

    DaftBat asked if I had tried searching for Jesse Head. I have not done so until now, but will most certainly follow up on it.

    Finally, and with apologies for this rambling post, can MollyMay provide details of The Globe; is it still published, where was it published; was it a newspaper or magazine.

    Thanks again to all.
     
  17. AnnB

    AnnB Editor in Chief who is Hot off the Press!

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    The British Newspaper Archives have coverage of The Globe for the years 1804-1921. According to their description, it was a London evening newspaper founded by Christopher Blackett in 1803 and was a bookseller's trade journal. By 1824 it absorbed another publication called The Traveller, and in 1921 it merged with the Pall Mall Gazette. I don't know when it went out of circulation.

    I had seen the articles about the court case - it was reported in virtually every newspaper in the BNA collection. I didn't mention it because I was pretty sure you would have known about it :)
     
  18. Alfred Page

    Alfred Page Member

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    Hello again,
    I'd like to have copies of, or references to the articles you found relating to the trial. The few I accessed were brief and rather cryptic.
    I notice the odd difference in the details of documents referenced by members, and the corresponding transcripts I have via findmypast. Could that be because of transcription errors by findmypast.
     
  19. AnnB

    AnnB Editor in Chief who is Hot off the Press!

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    The trial was reported in many newspapers with varying degrees of detail. There are far too many to read all of them and decide which give the most details. Although I have access to FMP, I use the British Newspaper Archive for accessing newspaper reports. Having a quick look at all the reports available, I found The Globe of the 22nd June 1901, The Windsor and Eton Express of the 22nd July and The Reading Mercury of the 9th November 1901 have a good coverage of the initial arrest, trial and acquittal. I think all of these appear on FMP.
     
  20. Alfred Page

    Alfred Page Member

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    I have reached a dead-end in trying to solve the puzzle of my great-grandfather's name change from Head to Page. About the only explanation that is consistent with most of known information is that it was done because of a second marriage from a 1st wife to a 2nd wife, Jane Wilkinson in +/-1882. That seems to be consistent with the timing of the name change and the births of children born before 1882. However, I am missing information that would positively support that theory. I cannot find +/-1877 birth/baptism records for eldest child Jane Elizabeth. Daft Bat earlier provided information for second child, Annie Head. That shows Annie's mother as Jane Wilkinson, and in itself seems to disprove my theory. The baptism record of third child, Jesse, in July 1881 shows his mother's name as Jane Page. Jesse Albert H Page, to give him his full name, is the first time that the surname Page appears anywhere in the family, and the initial H given to subsequent children - except William - is an obvious reference to the earlier surname of Head, but why was William the exception. It was also adopted by Jesse Snr. Jesse Jnr's mother's name is shown as Jane Page; that could explain why Jesse Snr changed the family name to Page. I acknowledge that is not the only explanation.

    The next thing that goes against my theory is that William Albert's MMN is shown as Wilkinson; it does not show her first name. The baptism records for the four children born after William (Harriett Alice H, Edith Maud H, Alfred George H and Violet Julia H) do not show the mother's name.

    An apparently simple explanation is that the parish baptism record for Jesse Jnr showed his mother's married name of Page and not her maiden name; that could mean that all the children were born to Jane Wilkinson. But William's baptism record does not show his mother's first name. I can't find any record of another marriage or a divorce record for Jesse Snr.

    An incidental puzzle is why would anybody give two children the same middle name as happened with Jesse Albert and William Albert. I know that Jesse was not only still alive when William was born, but held jockey licenses and was referred to in the press for years after.

    I'll be so grateful if anybody can come up with an explanation that satisfies all the apparently known information. I hope my descendants don't have similar problems about me. I know the above description is confusing, but then the situation is confusing. I'll upload a file detailing the known information of the children. This might make the situation easier to see.

    Thank again
     

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