25.6 5xgreat grandmother Elizabeth Selway (1781-1857)

My 4xgreat grandfather Charles James Topper was born on 19 April 1801 in Chelsea, and baptised at St Luke, Chelsea, on 17 June that year, son of Thomas Topper and his wife Elizabeth. When his brother George Prest Topper was baptised in Norwich in 1811, the Register entry helpfully notes that his mother’s maiden name was Selway. Charles James Topper also gave his mother’s maiden name to his youngest daughter Susan Selway Topper.

My 5xgreat grandparents Thomas Topper and Elizabeth Selway married at St George, Hanover Square, London, on 12 April 1798. He died three years before the 1841 census, but Elizabeth was still alive and living with her youngest son Walter (their surname transcribed as Tapper) at Esher Street, Westminster (The Genealogist). He is 21, a Labourer, his mother is 51, born out of county (Middlesex). This would suggest a birth year of 1790. Ages for adults were rounded down – supposedly to the nearest five years – in the 1841 census. This would mean she was only eight years old when she married, and nine when her first child was born, so it seems her age was rounded down too much.

In the 1851 census, she is enumerated as an inmate at the Workhouse at St Luke, Chelsea as a 71-year old widow and Nurse. This makes her year of birth a more likely 1780 – although this would still mean she was only 16 when she married 28 year old naval telegrapher Thomas Topper. 

There is a death index entry for an Elizabeth Topper, aged 76 (b1781) at the GRO for the April-June quarter of 1857 which could be her. The place of registration is Uxbridge, Middlesex. There is a burial record at Ancestry for Elizabeth Topper of Hayes, aged 76, at Hayes, Hillingdon, Middlesex. In 1861 her son Charles James Topper was recorded as living at Hayes; perhaps his mother had come to live with him in her later years and died there.

The death certificate PDF arrived via email from the GRO yesterday, and I am pleased to find that it is indeed for her:

It shows that Elizabeth Topper died on 3 May 1857 at Botwell, Hayes, Middlesex, that she was 76 years old and the widow of Thomas Topper. He is described as ‘Manager of a Telegraph’. The cause of death was ‘Paralysis 2 ½ years certified’. 

The informant was Susan Topper, present at the death. I think this is most likely to be Susan Griffin, the wife of Charles James Topper, and therefore Elizabeth Topper’s daughter-in-law. Her cause of death ‘paralysis’ may be the result of a stroke – as she has suffered for 2 ½ years with it, and that is perhaps the reason for her coming to live with her son and his family.

So much for her death – what about her birth?

In the 1851 census, her birthplace is given as Battersea, Surrey. A search for a baptism in Battersea around 1780-81 generates no results at FamilySearch. However, FindMyPast has a baptism at Battersea St Mary (transcript only) for Elizabeth daughter of John Selway and Elizabeth on 27 May 1781. Her birth date is given as 2 May of that year. However, Ancestry has an image for the same baptism location and date, but mother’s name is shown as Sarah:

27 [May] Elizabeth Dr. of John & Sarah Selway, born May 2 1781

There are also several other baptisms for children of John Selway and wife Sarah at FindMyPast between 1776 and 1783 (and no others for a mother called Elizabeth) which make me believe that the baptism for Elizabeth Selway has been mis-transcribed – a good reason always to try to see digital images (or the real thing) wherever possible.

My 6xgreat grandparents appear to be John Selway and his wife Sarah.

The other baptisms at FindMyPast for children of John Selway and his wife Sarah at St Mary Battersea are:

      Sarah, baptised 12 May 1776
Mary, baptised 14 September 1777
Joseph, baptised 30 May 1779, born 5 May 1779
Martha, baptised 27 July 1783, born 3 July 1783

This indicates a search for their marriage before 1776. Unfortunately, there do not appear to be any marriage records for Battersea or nearby for a John Selway and Sarah (or Elizabeth). So for now her maiden name remains unknown.

I have also failed to find John Selway and his wife Sarah in the 1841 census (by which time they were probably in their ‘90s), nor any obvious burial records. The majority of Selway records online appear to be for Somerset, so it is possible that this Selway line is from there (although my DNA test does not show any coverage in the South West).

For the sources mentioned in bold, see blogpost: MyRoots: Lesly's family history: Sources and resources: A quick view

25.5 6xgreat grandmother Ann Peat (1743-1801): another brick wall

Other than her name on the baptisms of the 13 children she had with my 6xgreat grandfather Thomas Walker Topper, Footman and Groom in the Royal Household Mews of George III, little is known of Ann Peat before or after her marriage.

As her husband does not mention her in his will of 1806, it is likely that she has already died. There is a burial for an Ann Topper at St Margaret, Westminster on 24 September 1801, just a few months after Thomas Walker Topper was ‘put to pension’. There is no other information on the transcript to confirm or otherwise, but she was buried in the same location as her husband.

Her brother-in-law Penniston Topper is listed on the warrants of appointments in the Royal Household at the Index of Household staff at FindMyPast in 1769. On the opposite page is Sarah Peat, ‘Water heater’.

Is it possible that this is the same Sarah Peat who witnessed the marriage of Thomas Walker Topper and Ann Peat in 1767? Could she be her sister and, if so, was this how Thomas Walker Topper and Ann Peat met, and could this help us find their parents?

The summary record for Sarah Peat’s career in the Royal Household at FindMyPast is informative as she is shown as ‘Heater of the Water at the Mews, vice Mary Peat’ (although the record above says vice Elizabeth Crouch deceased, so the summary may be incorrect). There are no other records in the Household records at FindMyPast for a Mary Peat, and no burial record around 1769. It also shows that she worked as a heater of water for the horses in the Royal Mews from 1769-1802. 

Another record (right) from 1783 shows that she was paid a salary of £18 per annum, and an allowance of £7 ‘for coals’.

On 27 March 1802, the then Master of the Horse signs a warrant appointing Mrs Martha Phillips as Water Heater ‘in the room and place of Sarah Peat, deceased’.

---

At FindMyPast, a search for baptisms in London in the 1730s-40s of children with the surname Peat reveals many (even excluding surname variants). There is only one set of baptisms for Ann Peat and Sarah Peat with the same parents. It’s possible they were cousins, or even that Sarah is Ann’s sister-in-law, or mother - although she is not shown as ‘Mrs’ like other married women in the Royal Household index.

There is a probate record at FindMyPast in 1802 for Sarah Peat, which would tie in with her death that year. At TNA, an abstract of the record is for ‘Sarah Peat, Widow of St Martin in the Fields’, from April 1802. The date and location would fit with a Sarah Peat who worked at the Royal Mews until March 1802.

Under the heading London Consistory Court 1802 Abstracts, the relevant section reads:

Date of probate and sum sworn:	Name and description of testator or testatrix:	Name and place of abode of executor or executrix:	Name of the legatees, distinguishing the residuary legatee:	Amount of legacy or annuity:	Particulars or the several specific legacies, bequests in trust and of the residue:
Apr 6th, £100 will 18	Peat Sarah late of the King’s Mews Charg Cross St Martin in the Fields Middlesex Widow	Robert Spencer the Elder (Nephew)	Robt Spencer junr	£20	3 pr ? Consols … a Mahog. Bureau Bedstead and a Walnut tree chest of drawers A night chair Five china plates One old carpet A striped satin gown One pair of sheets and two pillow cases
			Elizabeth Sarah Wife of Wm Gilbert (Niece) Residuary legatee	£100	3 pr ? Consols together with the residue after payment of debts One legacy of £10

Unfortunately this doesn’t give any indication of her relationship to Ann Peat or the Topper family, but does confirm that she is the same Sarah Peat who was Water Heater at the King’s Mews.

---

A reconstruction of the families with surname Peat baptising children including an Ann Peat around the mid-1740s in the St Martin in the Fields/St George Hanover Square areas suggests two possible families at FindMyPast:

1. Robert & Sarah Peat baptised children in ‘London’ or ‘Westminster’ between 1734-1748, including Ann Peat on 13 June 1734, a Sarah in 1745, and sons Robert (1742), Joseph (1747) and William (1748). As we now know that Sarah Peat was a widow, she can’t be the daughter of these parents; and the baptism for Ann in 1734 seems a little early for a marriage date of 1767.

2. George & Bridget Peat baptised children at St George Hanover Square between 1741-1749, including Ann Peat, born 15 December 1742/3 and baptised 7 January 1743/4. Their other children are George (1741), William (1745), Thomas (1747) and Francis (1749).

Did any of these boys grow up to marry a Sarah? As far as I have been able to find out, the answer is no. So we are still no nearer finding a connection between Sarah Peat and Ann Peat. It is possible, however, that Ann Peat is the daughter of George and Bridget Peat, who baptised their children at St George Hanover Square. But for now, she has to remain a brick wall. 

For the sources mentioned in bold, see blogpost: MyRoots: Lesly's family history: Sources and resources: A quick view

Topper (Selway) Elizabeth (1781-1857) Death certificate 1857

 

Superintendent Registrar's District: Uxbridge Union
Registrar's District: Hayes
1857 DEATHS in the District of Hayes in the County of Middlesex
When died: Third May 1857. Botwell, Hayes
Name: Elizabeth Topper
Sex: Female
Age: 76 years
Rank or profession: Widow of Thomas Topper, Manager of a Telegraph
Cause: Paralysis 2 1/2 years certified
Description of informant: X the mark of Susan Topper Present at the death, Botwell, Hayes
When registered: Tenth May 1857

Pearce Alice (c.1766-1846) Death Certificate 1846

 

Superintendent Registrar's District: St Mary Newington

Registrar's District: Trinity

1846 DEATHS in the District of Trinity Saint Mary Newington in the County of Surrey

When died: twenty first October 1846, 4 Cottage Place, Locks Fields

Name: Alice Pearce

Sex: Female

Age: 80 years

Rank or profession: Widow of William Pearce, Wool Stapler

Cause of death: Debility certified

Signature etc of informant: Amy Rowe present at the death, 2 Cottage Place, Locks Fields

When registered: 27th October 1846

25.4 Penniston Topper: 6th great granduncle (1744-1804) Royal Footman hero

My research so far shows that the menfolk in my Topper line were all very much on the right side of the law and weren’t afraid of putting themselves in the way of danger to prevent or prosecute crime.

My 4xgreat grandfather Charles James Topper (1801-1879) worked in London, first as a Thames Lighterman, then a Bow Street Officer and ended his career with 30 years’ work for the GWR at Brentford Docks, as a Foreman Porter. He gave evidence at The Old Bailey against criminals he had apprehended, or crimes he had witnessed, in his time at Bow Street and with the GWR. Unfortunately, he was accidentally run over by railway trucks at the Docks in his ‘70s, and killed.

My 5xgreat grandfather, Thomas Topper, (1769-1838) was a Telegrapher for the Admiralty – and possibly also an officer in the Royal Navy earlier in his career. While working as a Shutter Telegrapher at the Admiralty’s London West Square Telegraph Tower in 1817, he witnessed from his window an attempted murder prompted by a family rift, and is reported as having grappled with the perpetrator, enabling others present to subdue and take him in charge, leaving his victims with knife wounds and covered in blood.

My 6xgreat grandfather, his father Thomas Walker Topper (1742-1806) was born in Lincolnshire, at Somerby near Grantham, but moved to London to join the Royal Mews in the Stables of King George III. While I am unaware of any heroics on his part, his younger brother Penniston Topper (1744-1804), ‘nearly 50 years the King’s Footman’, reportedly stepped in to apprehend Margaret Nicholson, a woman later declared insane, who attempted to stab King George III as he stepped from his carriage in 1786.

Penniston Topper was baptised at Somerby by Grantham in Lincolnshire on 10 March 1744, the son of Edward Topper and his wife Elizabeth. He was one of six known children of this couple baptised at Somerby. His older brother Thomas Walker Topper joined the Royal Household as a Footman allocated to H.M’s Stables in 1765, and it seems that Penniston had also moved to London by 1767, when he married at St George, Hanover Square on 5 May that year. 

The Database of Court Officers: 1660-1837 (luc.edu) (and copies of the Indexes of the Royal Household at FindMyPast) show that Penniston was appointed Groom of the Hobby Stable on 1 July 1769, perhaps on recommendation of his brother. The book ‘Notes and Queries’ at Google Books suggests that a Hobby Groom was a rider available to take messages at all times and particularly in an emergency. 

Interestingly, on the same page as Penniston's warrant of 1769, is listed Sarah Peat, ‘Heater of the Water for Horses’. Perhaps she was a relative of Ann Peat, my 6xgreat grandmother and the wife of Thomas Walker Topper.

From 12 November 1769, he was appointed Footman of the Royal Stables (the warrant shown below from the Index to the Royal Household was signed on 13 January 1770 by the third Duke of Ancaster).

A note in the Index of the Staff of the Royal Household adds “nearly 50 years a Footman to H.M and said to be the person who saved H.M. from an attack by Margaret Nicholson’.  If this length of service were true, he would have started in the Royal Household in about 1760, when he was about 15. Even so, he died in service in 1804, so served at least 35 years. 

The summary of his career, and the note about the attack, from FMP is shown below:

The note re: Ann Topper refers to the pension she was paid as his widow from 1804-1812 (when she presumably died).

The attack on King George III took place on the morning of 2 August 1786 outside St James’ Palace.  It was of course widely reported in contemporary news and was even illustrated in a number of aquatints of the time. Margaret Nicholson: Her Attack on George III in 1786 - Geri Walton gives a good summary and cites some contemporary sources. 

The Hereford Journal of 10 August reproduced - as did many regional papers – the account of this act of High Treason taken from the London Gazette’s extraordinary edition earlier in the month. It includes a paragraph on how ‘the attendant Yeoman’ seized her, and ‘the King’s Footman, Toplin’ seized the knife. Given the note in the Royal Household records, I believe that ‘Toplin’ should read Topper – and that this was Penniston.

The Scots Magazine at FMP includes a footnote to the effect that the Earl of Salisbury offered a reward of £100 to the Yeoman and £50 to the Footman who had ‘first secured Mrs Nicholson after her attempt on the King’. As the Index to the Royal Household summary shows, he consistently refused to accept the reward.

Wikipedia has a print issued at the time (and one of several much advertised, along with the ‘True Memoirs of Margaret Nicholson’ in October 1786). It shows the King, his Yeomen left and right and, behind centre, the Footman – an artist’s illustration of Penniston Topper! This thumbnail snip could be my 6th great granduncle!

Penniston Walker’s wife was Ann Stevens, who he married at St George Hanover Square in London on 5 July 1767. Both sign the Register, and both were single, married by ‘Licence of the A.B. of Canterbury’. One of the witnesses was Thos. Willes, the other’s name is difficult to read but might be Ann or Aron Halam/Holmes.

I have found baptisms for six children of Penniston and Ann in London between 1769-1785. Penniston, as noted above, died in 1804, two years before his brother Thomas Walker Topper. Whereas the latter seems to have ended his life in debt and in poor circumstances, leaving what little he had to his two surviving unmarried daughters in a short will hastily written just before his death, Penniston wrote a long will in 1803 full of convoluted and repetitive clauses typical of the time. In essence he left his ‘dear wife Ann’ her choice of his household goods, furniture, linen, plate and china. He left his property and monies in trust with two friends from the Royal Household, Thomas Shefford and Henry Madgwick to allow Ann to live her natural life in their house, and for proceeds of rents and investments and other property to be shared equally between his children Penniston Topper, George Topper, Diana (wife of James Lintott), Caroline Topper, Mary Ann Topper and Charlotte Topper.

The Pennistone name passed down as a first or middle name for many descendents of Penniston Topper, but I have not reconstructed their various families so far. I do know that his son Penniston, born in 1773, became ‘oil man to the Duke of York’ (whatever that is) and was a victim of 'highway robbery' (a drunk stole his pocket watch while he was out in the street) in 1813. The 20 year old drunk, George Hand, was sentenced to 7 years transportation (a 'lesser crime' as he did not use violence). The younger Penniston was also in the Royal Navy early in his career. More to research.

For the sources mentioned in bold, see blogpost: MyRoots: Lesly's family history: Sources and resources: A quick view

25.3 The Topper family: Lincolnshire to the Royal Household in the 18th century

Earlier research has found that my 5xgreat grandfather Thomas Topper was the son of Thomas Walker Topper and his wife Ann Peat.

Thomas Walker Topper worked as a Footman and then Groom to their Majesties King George III and his Queen, Charlotte, from 1765-1801. I have not found a likely baptism for him in London, where he married and is named as father on the baptisms of at least 13 children, and where he died in 1806.

Also listed in the Royal Household Index in the alphabetical listing (T) (PDF) of officers, are two other men called Topper working in the Royal Stables:

Topper, Penniston Groom of the Hobby Stable 1 July 1769 (LS 13/203, f. 62v). Footman 13 Jan. 1770 (Ibid., f. 65). D. 18 Feb. 1804 (GM LXXIV (1) [1804], p. 191; LS 13/204, f. 70v).

Topper, George Stud Helper 17 Feb. 1790 (MOH WB 1, p. 138). Stud Groom 20 Feb. 1793 (Ibid., p. 143). Last occ. Est. of 17 August 1807 (MOH LB C, p176). Vac. by Est. of 5 Apr. 1812 (MOH EB 4, p. 10).

I had already noticed the unusually named Penniston Topper in the BMD indexes at various sites at St Martin in the Fields/St George Hanover Square, the same churches frequented by Thomas Walker Topper. Given that both churches are close to the Royal Mews at Charing Cross where they worked, this can’t be seen as too much of a coincidence, but as he was appointed four years after Thomas Walker Topper, I thought that he may be his younger brother.

A search for a marriage across the family history sites between a Mr Topper and a Miss/Mrs Walker in the years before 1740 finds just one entry:

·       Edward Topper & Elizabeth Walker were marryd June ye 23^rd 1730 at Somerby by Grantham, Lincolnshire (FindMyPast, Ancestry, FamilySearch, FreeREG)

Were Penniston and Thomas Walker Topper born in Lincolnshire and moved to London to seek their fortunes in the Royal Household?

FindMyPast has the baptism of Pennistone or Pennystone Topper (transcripts vary), son of Edward Topper and his wife Elizabeth at Somerby by Grantham on 10 March 1744. Further up the digitised page, is the baptism of ‘Walker Topper’, 10 April 1742! This is written in a different hand, and no parents are named. However, I believe this is my Thomas Walker Topper (perhaps he didn’t favour the first name Walker, instead using his mother’s maiden name as his middle name), and his brother Penniston.

My 7xgreat grandparents therefore seem to be Edward Topper and Elizabeth Walker from Somerby by Grantham, Lincolnshire.

I have already found as much information as is currently available online for Thomas Walker Topper’s career in the Royal Household, his marriage, children and death. But what of his siblings?

My 7xgreat grandparents Edward Topper and his wife Elizabeth are named as parents on six baptisms in all at Somerby by Grantham after their marriage there in 1730:

• ·       Ann Topper, baptised 1731
• ·       Elizabeth Topper, baptised 1734
• ·       Edward Topper, baptised 1736
• ·       William Topper, baptised 1740
• ·       Thomas Walker Topper, baptised 1742
• ·       Penniston Topper, baptised 1744

I have not found a likely baptism for Edward Topper, but his wife Elizabeth Walker appears to have been baptised at Somerby by Grantham on 6 July 1710, according to a transcript (no image) at FMP. Her parents (my presumed 8xgreat grandparents) were Thomas Walker and his wife Sarah.

As Thomas Walker Topper was given his mother’s maiden name as a first name (and used it as his middle name at least by the time he was married), I wondered if his brother’s first name also derived from a maiden name – either of his father’s mother, or mother’s mother. Unfortunately I haven’t found any likely marriages that would tell us the surname of Elizabeth, wife of Edward Topper, nor the maiden surname of Elizabeth Walker’s mother. I did, however, find out quite a lot about Penniston/Pennistone/PennystoneTopper.

For the sources mentioned in bold, see blogpost: MyRoots: Lesly's family history: Sources and resources: A quick view

25.2 6xgreat grandfather Thomas Walker Topper, Royal Groom (1740s-1806)

My 5xgreat grandfather Thomas Topper was baptised at St Martin in the Fields, London, on 31 December 1769 (born on 3 December), son of Thomas Walker Topper and his wife Ann.

A search for his parents’ marriage before 1769 at The Genealogist finds a record for 9 June 1767 at St George, Hanover Square (transcript only). Thomas Walker Topper married Ann Peat. The only other information given in this record is that they were both single.

Ancestry has an image taken from a Bishop’s Transcript from St George Hanover Square which shows that they could both write their names, and that their witnesses were Sarah Peat (Ann’s mother or sister?) and what looks like Charles Mather.

Their first child appears to have been George, born 21 March 1768 and baptised at St Martin in the Fields, Westminster, on 18 April 1768. My 4xgreat grandfather Thomas Topper was their second son, born in 1769, followed by William (1771); Elizabeth (1775); Sarah (1776); Edward (1778); Samuel (1779); Robert (1781); Georgina Charlotte (1783); another George (1785); Samuel Frederick (1786); Caroline (1789) and Richard (1790). That makes at least 13 children over a 22 year period. There is quite a big gap between 1771 and 1775, so there may be one or more baptisms missing.

His distinctive middle name means that searches for Thomas Walker Topper across the family history sites reveal exciting and intriguing records of his occupation and a copy of his will from 1806.

It seems that Thomas Walker Topper was appointed to the Royal Household in 1765 as The Queen’s Footman, as this typed summary of his career and pension entitlement in the Royal Household Index (FindMyPast) shows:

At the time of Thomas’ appointment, the King of England was George III (later the ‘mad king’), who had acceded to the throne in 1760. Two years later he purchased Buckingham Palace as a family home for his wife, Princess Charlotte of Mecklengburg-Streliz, and their growing family. Thomas Walker Topper would therefore have been footman to Queen Charlotte. (Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz - Wikipedia). Thomas Walker Topper and his wife Ann Peat named two of their sons George (the first having presumably died) and a daughter Georgina Charlotte, perhaps in honour of Thomas' employer.

On 26 December 1766, he was appointed as ‘Groom to H.M. in Ordinary vice William Cater (or Cator) (deceased)’ and FindMyPast has a copy of the Warrant Book detailing the commencement of his warrant on that date, and his occupation of the late William Cater’s room. The record comes from Warrant Books relating to Mews Staff (ref: MEWS/WB/4).

A year later, he was to marry Ann Peat. The next record shows him listed as one of ‘twelve grooms & six for the Master of the Horse’ in the Royal Household Index (Mews staff Royal Mews Warrant Books 1760-1867 Image | findmypast.co.uk):

His salary was a very healthy £60.00 per annum – (worth about £60k in today’s money) - which is just as well given that by then he and his wife had eight children.

According to Royal Mews (rct.uk) George III had a riding school built at Buckingham Palace shortly after he had purchased it, but “kept the royal stables and coach houses near Charing Cross”. 

If this is where Thomas Walker Topper and his family were based, this would explain their childrens’ baptisms at nearby St Martin in the Fields church.

From various documents on the household of Queen Charlotte and his Majesty’s stables in the 1760s-1780s at The Database of Court Officers: 1660-1837 (luc.edu) it seems that some Footmen were associated with the Mews and Royal Stables, allocated to the Master of the Horse (the third most powerful officer of the royal household). In 1765 this was the third Duke of Ancaster (who signed the warrant for the appointment as Groom of Thomas Walker Topper).

“In 1761 the position of first groom, ‘which had been extinct for many years’ was revived for William Cates at £10 per annum. George III began with eighteen grooms at £60 per annum.” Thomas Walker Topper was appointed following the death of William Cater/Cator – perhaps this was actually William Cates?

Interestingly there are two other men called Topper amongst the staff of the stables listed in these documents. More information is given about them, and references to their appointments in the Royal Household Index, in the alphabetical listing (T) (PDF) of officers:

Topper, George Stud Helper 17 Feb. 1790 (MOH WB 1, p. 138). Stud Groom 20 Feb. 1793 (Ibid., p. 143). Last occ. Est. of 17 August 1807 (MOH LB C, p176). Vac. by Est. of 5 Apr. 1812 (MOH EB 4, p. 10).

Topper, Penniston Groom of the Hobby Stable 1 July 1769 (LS 13/203, f. 62v). Footman 13 Jan. 1770 (Ibid., f. 65). D. 18 Feb. 1804 (GM LXXIV (1) [1804], p. 191; LS 13/204, f. 70v).

Topper, Thomas Walker Groom of the [?Hobby] Stables 26 Dec. 1766 (MOH WB 1, p. 114; LS 13/203, f. 54). Rem. (“put upon pension”) by 2 June 1801 (MOH WB 1, p. 156)

Perhaps the first two were relatives of Thomas Walker Topper?

As the earlier summary record shows, he was ‘put on pension’ in 1801 after over 30 years with the royal household. The next we hear of him is a record from three years later. On 12 July 1804 he is included in a ‘list of prisoners in Newgate Prison on the Master’s side’ at FMP (from TNA), listed simply as ‘Debtor’. Perhaps his pension did not allow him to live as he had become accustomed during his time in the Royal Household. There is another record here that shows he was discharged from prison after four months, on 7 November 1804.

It seems that Thomas Walker Topper died in 1806; his will was proved on 13 March that year at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, and a copy is available at Ancestry and TNA. 

The will is short:

I Thomas Walker Topper

In the parish of St Margaret Westminster give and bequeathe to my daughters Charlotte and Caroline Topper everything I die possessed of at this time ffurniture and what money is owing to me witness my hand this third day of January 1806. In the presence of Hannah Thompson Thomas Topper.

On the thirteenth day of March in the year of our lord one thousand eight hundred and six, administration with the will annexed of all and singular goods and chattels and credits of Thomas Walker Topper formerly of his majesty’s grooms and late of the Broad Sanctuary of Westminster in the county of Middlesex deceased was granted to Charlott Topper spinster daughter of the said deceased and one of the universal? Legatees found in the said will she having first sworn duly to administer the executor being named in the said will.

It is possible that the witness Thomas Topper is his son – and my 5xgreat grandfather. Thomas Walker Topper ‘late of his Majesty’s grooms’ left everything (which may not have amounted to much, given his previous debtor status) to his two unmarried daughters [Georgina] Charlotte and Caroline. He may have written it shortly before his death, given how short it is.

I have not found a burial record for him, but his death was probably in January 1806, his will proved two months later. None of the records found give an indication of his year of birth, but if he was at least 21 on marriage in 1767, he was probably born around 1740-46. Given his consistent use of his middle name, it may be that this was his mother’s maiden name, or he may have been illegitimate and given his father’s surname as a middle name.

A search for a marriage across the family history sites between a Mr Topper and a Miss/Mrs Walker in the years before 1740 finds just one entry:

·       Edward Topper & Elizabeth Walker were marryd June ye 23^rd 1730 at Somerby by Grantham, Lincolnshire (FindMyPast, Ancestry, FamilySearch, FreeREG)

This warrants further research (as do the other Topper men listed in the Royal Stables around the same time that Thomas Walker Topper was there).

For the sources mentioned in bold, see blogpost: MyRoots: Lesly's family history: Sources and resources: A quick view

25.4.1 The will of Penniston Topper (1744-1804) Footman to George III

The Will of Pennistone Topper 

Transcribed by Lesly Huxley, Dec 2021. Names are highlighted in bold. Question marks represent words or letters I have been unable to read.

From image at Ancestry

Pennistone Topper

In the name of God Amen I Pennistone Topper of Ebury Street in the Parish of St George Hanover Square in the County of Middlesex Gentleman do make publish and declare this my last will and testament in manner following that is to say ffirst I desire to be buried in my own vault or burying place at or near Bayswater in the Parish of St George Hanover Square and my ffuneral to be managed and conducted at discretion of my dear wife Ann Topper and my executors hereinafter named and I direct that all my just debts ffuneral expenses and the charges of proving this my will may be duly satisfied and paid by my executors hereinafter named with all convenient speed after my decease also I give and bequeathe unto my ffriends and trustees Thomas Shefford of Old Burlington Street in the County of Middlesex Gentleman ^ [inserted in margin] and Henry Madgwick of Pimlico in the said County of Middlesex Gentleman all that my ffreehold messuage and dwelling house with the appurts situate and being in Orchard Street Westminster in the said County of Middlesex now in the occupation of Thomas Brown Ffarrier to hold to them and their heirs upon trust to permit my dear wife Ann Topper and her assigns to ?derive the rents shares? and profits thereof and every part thereof for and during the term of her natural life to and for their own use and benefit and upon further trust from and after the decease of my said wife to convey and assure my said ffreehold messuage or dwelling house with the appurtenances unto and to the use and benefit of my sons Pennistone Topper and George Topper and my daughters Diana Lintott now the wife of James Lintott Caroline Topper Mary Ann Topper and Charlotte Topper their heirs and assigns absolutely for ever equally to be divided between or amongst them share and share alike as tenants in common and not as joint tenants also I give and bequeathe unto my said dear wife Ann Topper so much and such part of my household goods ffurniture plate linen china and other my household goods and effects that I shall die possessed of as she my said wife shall make choice of at or after the time of my decease to hold to her my said wife absolutely as and for her own absolute goods chattels property and effects and whereas I am entitled to certain leasehold premises in the occupation of Mr James Stevens Hatter situate and being in St James Street Westminster aforesaid and which I have let to him at a certain yearly rent which after deducting the ground rent thereof produces me during the term of his lease clear and net yearly rent or sum of one hundred and thirty pounds per annum which I divide by half yearly payments now I give devise and bequeathe the same premises and the rent received and made payable to me by the same James Stevens {or is it Harris?) the occupier thereof when due and payable and all arrears and future payments due and to grow due thereon and all my Estate Right Reversion and interest thereon unto my said ffriends Thomas Shefford and Henry Madgwick Their executors and administrators upon trust that they or the survivor of them or the executors and administrators of such survivor shall and do from time to time lay out or invest or cause the net said yearly rent or sum of one hundred and thirty pounds payable or to be paid in respect of the said leasehold premises in Saint James Street aforesaid and all arrears and future accruing payments thereof when and as the same shall grow due and payable and be received in their own names or name in or upon some of the Parliamentary shares or ffunds or upon Real or other Government security or securities at interest upon the several trusts and to and for the several intents and purposes hereinafter expressed and ? of and concerning same and as to and for concerning all my ready monies and all other monies debts owing and which are and shall be secured or due or owing to me at my decease upon Bills Bonds notes or otherwise and all monies in the shares or ffunds or upon Government or other security or securities at interest and all and singular the rest and residue of my household goods ffurniture plate linen china and effects as shall remain after my said wife shall have made her choice as aforesaid I give devise and bequeathe the same debts monies Bills Bonds Notes Shares ffunds or securities household ffurniture goods and effects except as before excepted and bequeathed and all and singular other rest and residue and remainder of my goods chattels estate property and effects whatsoever and wheresoever and of what nature or kind soever not hereinbefore already by this my will otherwise bequeathed or disposed of unto my said Ffriends Thomas Shefford and Henry Madgwick their executors administrators and assigns absolutely as and for their own absolute property according to the nature and quality thereof upon the trusts ? and to and for the intents and purposes hereinafter expressed and declared of and concerning the same respectively that is to say upon trust that they the said Thomas Shefford and Henry Madgwick or the survivor of them or the executors  or administrators of such survivor shall and do with all convenient speed next after my decease sell and absolutely dispose of my said remaining household goods ffurniture plate linen china and effects after my said wife’s having made her choisc thereof as aforesaid and subject to publick auction or by private contract as to them my said trustees shall seem most fit and beneficial to any person or persons whomsoever for the most money or best price or prices that can be had or obtained for the same and shall and do with all convenient speed next after my decease call or collect in demand interest or receive of and all and every person or persons who is are or shall be indebted to me or be liable to pay or account for the same every and all my debts and debts due and dues of money which at my decease shall be owing or secured or made payable to me upon simple contract and upon bills bonds notes or other securities whatsoever when and as soon as the same shall become due and payable or recoverable and also sell out and dispose of or otherwise continue in their names at interest all my money in the ffunds which shall be vested or laid in or upon real or government security or securities as they my said trustees shall think most advisable upon further trust that they the said trustees Thomas Shefford and Henry Madgwick and the survivor of them their executors or administrators of them and so as soon as conveniently maybe afterwards pay out and invest all the clear monies all produce to arise and be produced by and from such sale or sales and disposition and so to be called in collected recovered and received when and as the same shall be got in and received after satisfying and paying all my just debts ffuneral and testamentary expenses and deductions of all costs charges and expenses attending the execution of this my will and the performance of the trust hereby declared in their or his own names or name in or upon some of the Parliamentary shares or funds or upon real or government security or securities at interest and I do hereby voice declare and direct that they the said trustees shall stand and be possessed of and interested in as well the aforesaid that yearly rent of one hundred and thirty pounds and the notes ffunds and securities wherein the same monies

^[inserted in the margin: shall from time to time be ? and invested by them in their names aforesaid on the pursuance of this my will and the trusts hereinbefore declared thereof as also of and in the said ? monies so to arise and be produced by or form any sale or sales or disposition and so to be called in collected recovered or received as aforesaid the notes ffunds securities wherein the same ….

shall be so laid out and invested by them as aforesaid upon trust that they said Thomas Shefford and Henry Madgwick and the survivor of them or the executors or administrators of such survivor shall and do from time to time during the life of my said dear wife Ann Topper pay to or otherwise permit and suffer and fully authorise and empower her my said wife and her assigns to receive and take the dividends interest and annual produce of the said trust monies and securities as and when the same shall become due and payable to and for her and their own use and benefit and from and immediately after the decease of her my said wife Ann Topper then upon trust that they the said Thomas Shefford and Henry Madgwick or the survivor of them his executors or administrators shall and do thenceforth stand and are possessed of and interested in all the residue of my said trust monies shares ffunds and securities and the interest dividends and proceeds thereof in trust for ? and to pay Transfer and assign the same and every part thereof unto and amongst my said Sons and daughters namely Penniston Topper George Topper

^[inserted in the margin: Diana Lintott Caroline Topper and Mary Ann Topper]

and Charlotte Topper equally to be divided between them share and share alike as tenants in common and not as joint tenants and to for or upon no other trust intent or purpose whatsoever provided always and my will is and I do hereby expressly declare that the several ? and requests heretobefore made to or in trust for my said children or any or either of them shall not lapse or become void by the deaths or ? of the same children or any or either of them in my lifetime it being my intention and desire that the executors or administrators of such of my said children as shall happen to die in my lifetime shall as upon my decease succeed or become entitled to the share or shares of and in my said estates effects hereinbefore given and stated to or in trust for them my said children as aforesaid as fully and effectually as such child or children himself herself or themselves would have done in case he she they had survived anything to the contrary thereof not withstanding and I do hereby nominate constitute and appoint the said Thomas Shefford and Henry Madgwick trusted executors of this my last will and testament and I give and bequeath to each of them a legacy of one guinea each for mourning rings as a small acknowledgement for the trouble they will have in the execution of this my will and the trusts hereby stated and I do hereby so declare that they my said trustees and executors their executors administrators or assigns shall not be charged or chargeable with or accountable for any more of the said trust monies and premises than they respectively actually shall receive or shall come to their respective hands by virtue of this my will nor with or for any loss which shall or may happen of or to the same so as such loss happen without their respective wilful default nor the one for the other of them nor for the acts deeds receipts or disbursements of the other of them but both of them only for his own acts deeds receipts disbursements and defaults and also that it shall be careful? for my said trustees and executors and each of them and each of their executors and administrators in first place by and out of the aforesaid respective trust monies and premises to deduct and reimburse to them all such costs charges and expenses as they or any of them shall sustain or be put into for or by reason of the trusts hereby in them reposed all the management or execution thereof or any other thing in any wise relating thereto and lastly I do hereby revoke and make void of all and other wills by me at any time heretofore made and declare this only to be my last will and testament in witness whereof the said Penniston Topper have to this my last will and testament contained in this and four proceeding sheets of paper subscribed and set my hand and seal that is to say my hand to the bottom of each of the said four proceeding sheets and my hand and seal to the ffifth or last sheet of paper this 12th day of October in the year of our lord 1803 Penniston Topper signed sealed published and declared by the said Penniston Topper the testator as for his last Will and Testament in the presence of us who in his presence and at his request and in the presence of each other have subscribed our names as witnesses thereto

? Salt? Broadway Westminster ? Salt?

This will was proved at London the 19th day of March in the year of our lord 1804 before the worshipful Charles Coste doctor of laws surrogate of the right honourable sir William ? Knight also doctor of laws master keeper and commissioner of the prerogative Court of Canterbury lawfully instituted by the oath of Thomas Shefford and Henry Madgwick the executors named in the said will to whom administration of all and singular the goods chattels and trusts of the deceased was granted having been first sworn duly to administer.