Robert GUMBLETON

By the mid-1790s, Robert was a shopman at the grocer's shop of Simon PRETOR, in the Shambles, Sherborne, Dorset. Many of Simon Pretor's papers have been preserved and include references to Robert Gumbleton, at least in 1795. On 10 Jan of that year he refers to 'my man Rob. Gumbleton who is as honest a fellow...'. In July 1795, Simon Pretor retired and sold his business to John and William ENSOR. A notice in the Sherborne Mercury of 10 Jul 1795 indicates that they retained Robert Gumbleton as their shopman.

On 7 Sep 1796, Robert Gumbleton married Ann ENSOR, the sister of his new employers, at Sherborne Abbey (by license). He left Sherborne: the Ensors were advertising for a shopman as early as Sep 1796. However, the evidence suggests that he actually left in September 1797, when he acquired his own business in Ilchester, Somerset: a grocery business, previously owned by J. Backhouse. He baptised his first 4 children in Ilchester between 1798 and 1803. In 1801, Robert Gumbleton, grocer of Ilchester, paid the tax for an apprentice (William Trent). In 1802, 'Mr Gumbleton of Ilchester' was listed as an agent for the Dorchester and Sherborne Militia Insurance Office.

However, in 1805 he was back in Sherborne, and baptised his 5th child, Elizabeth, on the 18th October. This stay in Sherborne must have been short-lived, and on the 28th Dec 1805, Robert Gumbleton was in London where, having cashed a cheque for £33 and dined with friends at an eating house in the Strand, he was robbed in Birdcage Walk, whilst walking to Pimlico. The woman who robbed him was later caught and Robert appeared as a witness at her trial at the Old Bailey on 15th Jan 1806. At this point he said that he lived in Deal (Kent).

In August 1806, Robert Gumbleton was a beneficiary of the will of his father-in-law John ENSOR, who left him £5 in his will.

Robert Gumbleton was enrolled as a freeman of Deal, Kent, on 20 Mar 1806. This was a necessary step to being able to pursue his trade as a grocer in that town. What led him to leave Dorset and travel across England to Kent is another mystery.

From September 1809 to December 1810, the Kentish Gazette carried adverts for boot blacking that listed 'Gumbleton, Deal' as a stockist.

'Mr. Gumbleton' is listed in the census enumerators books in 1811 (these survive for Deal). His household consists of one family of 12 people, 6 male and 6 female, with two 'in trade'.

In July 1811, advertisements in local newspapers show that Robert had made an 'assignment of all his effects in trust, for the benefit of his Creditors', presumably indicating that his business was on the verge of bankruptcy. His grocery business was to be carried on by Mr John Backhouse, of Deal, for the benefit of Mrs Gumbleton and her family.

In the bankruptcy proceedings of John Taylor, a ship's purser, in 1814, 'Ann Gumbleton, of Deal, grocer' is listed amongst his creditors. So Ann must have continued to run the business in her own name.

The will of Mary ENSOR, Ann's mother, was proved in December 1813 (and had been made 9 July 1813): it named 'Ann the wife of Robert Gumbleton' as a beneficiary.

Robert appears in the Deal poll books until August 1813, when his name is crossed out and 'Dead' is written in the column. However, he remained alive until 1820, when he died in St Thomas's Hospital, Southwark, and was buried at St Thomas's church.

He was admitted to St Thomas' on 1 Jun 1820 and was in Edward Ward: a male medical ward with 24 beds. He died two weeks later, on 14 Jun, and it seems there was then a delay until the 22 Jun, when the burial fee was paid. He was buried on 23 Jun 1820. The burial ground no longer exists, having been built on by Guy's Hospital. His age at death is given as 50 and it is perhaps of note that some other burial entries around the same time, also for inmates of St Thomas' Hospital, omit the age. So there are some grounds for believing that the age was not simply a guess.

After Robert's loss of his business, and eventual death, Ann did not remarry and the family did not fall into poverty. Their eldest son became a grocer in Grosvenor Row, Pimlico; another son was a cordwainer (also in London) and the daughters were straw hat makers. Ann (nee Ensor) ended her days in Hampstead and was buried in Highgate cemetery. The apparent prosperity of the family is another mystery.

Robert Gumbleton and Ann (nee Ensor) had the following children:

• Ann GUMBLETON bapt. 26 Jan 1798 Ilchester, Somerset.
• Henry GUMBLETON bapt. 20 Apr 1799 Ilchester, Somerset.
• Richard GUMBLETON born 20 Oct 1801 Ilchester, Somerset.
• Mary GUMBLETON born 25 Jun 1803 Ilchester, Somerset
• Elizabeth GUMBLETON born 7 Sep 1805 Sherborne, Dorset.
• Jane GUMBLETON born 9 Aug 1807
• Josiah William Dornford GUMBLETON born 27 May 1809
• Maria Urmston Backhouse GUMBLETON born 9 Dec 1811