Ancestral family notes

1. William Fuller

William Fuller is the earliest known ancestor of the Fuller line that continued in South Africa through 1820 Settlers Henry and Susannah Fuller.
He was a baker of Stratford in West Ham parish, Essex. The oldest known record of the family is that of his marriage to Ann Lodge at All Saints, the parish church of West Ham, on July 19, 1788.
He and Ann had 10 children, of whom three sons -- Henry, James and Charles -- are known to have gone to South Africa. Only Henry, however, was an 1820 Settler; the others followed him.
Another son, William, died aged 36 in 1836 (leaving a not insubstantial estate of £450 which probably formed the bulk of the assets in the father’s estate when he died four years later -- see notes for William the son), while the second eldest son, George, remained in London his whole life, doing business as a gun maker.
George and one of his sisters, Mary, are the only two of William’s children who featured in his will when he died in 1840. It’s not known what happened to the other four daughters, Sarah Eliza, Eliza, Matilda and Ann Ruth. We should remember that until the advent of steamships in the 1850s the voyage from England to the Cape took months, so it’s quite likely that the three Fuller sons and their families who went to the Cape did not see England again. The absence of a bequest for any of these three sons in their father’s will (or indeed for any of William’s other daughters) is an interesting matter. On the one hand, it could simply be primogeniture at work (the practice whereby the first-born son or child inherited everything), which might also explain why William’s two eldest children stayed in England and so many of the others did not. On the other hand, this practice was more usually associated with the upper classes and was in any event fading during the 19th century, a fact vividly illustrated by the fact that William’s son Henry, when his turn came, split his estate equally among his children. So it’s also possible that the family link was essentially broken when William’s other children left England, that the logistics of getting money to the Cape were too difficult, or that the father somehow held it against the children when they left England.
What we know about William comes from two sources -- his death entry and his will.
His death entry is No. 31 of 1840 in the sub-district of Regents Park in the district of St. Pancras. It says William Fuller died at 10.30 p.m. on April 14, 1840, at 50 Arlington St., Camden Town, Middlesex, a 78-year-old baker whose death was due to “decay of nature.”
The informant, Mary Fuller, signed with an X and gave her address as 15 Caroline St., Camden Town. This is most likely his daughter-in-law, wife of William’s son George, whose family was recorded as living at 15 Caroline Street in the 1841 census.
William Fuller left a will as follows:
William Fuller of Prospect Place, Forest Gate, parish of West Ham, Essex, baker.
To my son George Fuller of Wardour Street, Oxford Street, Middlesex, Gunmaker, three hundred and ninety pounds stock, part of the larger amount of seven hundred pounds now standing in my name in the five percent long annuities.
To my daughter Mary Fuller now living with me, spinster, three hundred and ten pounds stock the remaining part of the seven hundred pounds. All household goods, furniture, plate, etc. to said daughter and all the residue to said daughter Mary Fuller, sole executrix. Dated 31 May 1837. Witnesses: G.E. Hillary, solicitor, Stratford, Essex, R.G.A. Hillary, same place.
Proved at London 27 April 1840 by Mary Fuller, spinster.

Sources for William Fuller
Death: PRO, London / Death register. Entry No. 31 of 1840 in the sub-district of Regents Park in the district of St. Pancras.
Will: PRO, London / Prerogative Court of Canterbury wills. 1840 William Fuller Essex April 246 (Prob. 11 / 1925).

Ann Lodge

Sources for Ann Lodge
The only known records mentioning Ann Lodge are those for her marriage, the baptisms of her 10 children, and her death, all in West Ham parish in Essex.

2. Mary Fuller

She appears never to have married, since her surname was still Fuller when her father referred to her as “now living with me” when he drew up his will in 1837, at which point Mary would have been 47 years old.

The 1841 census reveals that Mary (age given as 48) lived in an interesting household at 58 Arlington Street, Camden Town, sharing it with a 17-year-old “engineer” called Charles Fuller and another 17-year-old, a female servant called Eliza Adams. Mary is listed as being of “independent” means.
Who could this Charles Fuller, born in about 1824, have been? As you’ll see if you examine the Name Index on this site, there is no such person in the family tree.
The year before, her father, William Fuller, had died at 50 Arlington Street, according to his death certificate, which is signed (X) by a Mary Fuller, who gave her address as 15 Caroline St., Camden Town and was therefore his daughter-in-law, the wife of his son George.
In her father William’s will, Mary inherited £310 stock in the five percent long annuities, as well as his household contents and the residue of the estate. Her brother, George, got £390 of the stock. Perhaps it was this inheritance that made Mary independent.

Sources for Mary Fuller
1841 British census, Public Record Office, London, (HO 107 / 684), Folio 16.
Prerogative Court of Canterbury wills, Public Record Office, London. 1840 William Fuller Essex April 246 (Prob. 11 / 1925)

7. William Fuller

When he died at the age of just 36, he left an estate of $450 to his father, from which we can infer that he was not married. The will was drawn up on March 8, 1834, more than three years before he died, so that the death was perhaps not expected. This was a sizeable estate for such a young man, and probably formed the bulk of the assets that his father bequeathed in a will drawn up just three months after the son’s will was proven. It’s possible the estate consisted mainly of a life insurance payout, but if not, it would be interesting to find out how the son made his money.
If we look at his family, it’s probable that the younger William would have been some kind of artisan or perhaps a shopkeeper. Working down from the father of the family through the sons, in descending order of age, we have a baker, a carpenter and a gun maker, followed by this son, then a cheesemonger/grocer and another baker.
Sources for William Fuller
Will: PRO, Estate Duty Register, 1837.

9. Matilda Fuller

Purely in the speculative category, there is a marriage of a Matilda Fuller to Joseph James George at St. Dunstan, Stepney on April 4, 1836, when Matilda would have been about 33. Matilda seems to have been quite a rare name in England at that time.

11. Ann Ruth Fuller

It’s not known what happened to Ann Ruth, but there’s a marriage in the IGI of an Ann Fuller on April 15, 1827 at the Old Church, St. Pancras to a Richard Littlejohn that could be relevant, although she would have been only 18 at the time.
Ann Ruth’s brother, George, and his wife, Mary, attended this church, their four children being baptized there between 1832 and 1843.

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