Henry Randall, schoolmaster of Huntingdon

This is the first post in a series on the offspring of Charles Randall (1784-1849) of Huntingdon, my 4th great-grandfather. A few of his children stayed in Huntingdon, but most left at some point and settled elsewhere. Unfortunately, I don’t have any photos of this generation of Randalls, but I’ve enjoyed researching them and seeing where they all ended up. I’ll start with Henry.

Henry Randall (1807-1876) was the oldest surviving child of Charles Randall and his first wife Mary Pattison (1787-1810). From what I can surmise, he was level-headed, conscientious, and intelligent. He became a teacher and ran a small tuition-based school for young men. This 1834 newspaper clipping advertises his “Commercial Academy” and room for 2 boarders. 

(Huntingdon, Bedford, & Peterborough Gazette, and Cambridge and Hertford Independent Press, 28 Jun, 1834)

In 1832 Henry married Sarah Carter, also a teacher, in Cambridge (England, Select Marriages, 1538–1973, Ancestry.com). In 1839 Sarah opened a day school for young ladies, presumably in the same building as her husband’s school for boys. Instruction covered reading, English, grammar, history, geography, and needlework. Additional courses included writing and arithmetic, geography with the use of globes, music, French, and drawing. 

(Huntingdon, Bedford, & Peterborough Gazette, and Cambridge Independent Press, 12 Jan, 1839)

If my arithmetic is correct, the total for the first two courses was 17 shillings, which was equal to 4 days’ wages of a skilled tradesman (Currency Converter: 1210-2017 at the UK National Archives). I’m not sure how many families could afford to pay for those courses or for the additional courses such as French. But it seems the schools were successful, because in 1840 Henry and Sarah Randall announced that they had moved to a larger, more comfortable space, in the Old Jail (Gaol) on Orchard Lane.

(Cambridge Weekly News, 18 Jul, 1840)

Census records give us a bit more insight as to the size and ages of the student body. In the 1841 England Census, Henry and Sarah are recorded in St Mary’s parish, Huntingdon, as schoolmaster and schoolmistress living with 2 additional schoolmistresses, 1 female servant, and 8 female pupils between the ages of 7 and 15. In the 1851 England Census, Henry and Sarah are recorded with 1 schoolmistress, 2 female servants, and 15 female pupils between the ages of 12 and 18.

At some point, Henry decided to leave teaching. In 1855 he was elected to the Town Council. In the 1861 England Census, his occupation is listed as “merchant clerk.” His wife continued teaching and the couple still had servants but no pupils boarding on site. 

Henry’s wife Sarah died in 1864 (Cambridge Weekly News, 1 Oct, 1864). Two years later he married a widow named Harriet Waddington (nee Marshall; England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index: 1837-1915). When Henry died in 1876 he left most of his estate to Harriet and her son Thomas Edward Waddington, but he also gave £200 and all of his “wearing apparel” to his younger half-brother Phillip Allpress Randall (will proved 13 May, 1876, at Peterborough, available on FamilySearch).

(Cambridge Weekly News, 6 May, 1876)

Henry’s obituary paints a picture of someone who was very well regarded in the town of Huntingdon, noting that many of the local tradesmen and farmers were “indebted to him for their education” (Cambridge Weekly News, 6 May, 1876). He was active in his church (Trinity Church, a dissenting/nonconformist congregation), serving as a deacon and as Superintendent of the Sunday school. He was also a member of the Cromwell Lodge of Good Templars and a supporter of the Temperance Movement, which promoted abstinence from alcohol and drugs. Later in life, he was elected to the Huntingdon Union Board of Guardians, which was in charge of the workhouse and administering relief to the poor (Huntingdon Union: Clerk to the Board of Guardians Minute Books, 1872-1876, available on FamilySearch). While serving on this board, he initiated many improvements at the workhouse, including the installation of pipes and hydrants to supply drinking water (Board of Guardians Minutes, 27 Nov, 1875) and the creation of a sick ward (Board of Guardians Minutes, 1 May, 1875). 

As stated in his obituary, “Mr. Randall faithfully and diligently served his fellow citizens. As a steadfast Nonconformist and Liberal he manifested a great public spirit, and when these sentiments were less popular than they now are was ready to suffer for conscience sake.”

Henry lived a life of service. Although he didn’t have any children of his own, he clearly had a positive impact on the town of Huntingdon and contributed much to the well-being of its citizens.

Charles Randall and the case of the mixed-up wives

For roughly 100 years (from 1750 to 1850), the homebase of my Randall family line was Huntingdon, England. My 4th great-grandfather Charles Randall was born in 1784 and baptised at All Saints church in Huntingdon. In 1806 he married Mary Pattison, who was from the nearby town St Neots. When I started my genealogy journey, I thought Mary Pattison was the mother of all of Charles’ children. So did everyone else researching this line. But I soon noticed some red flags that led me to dig deeper.

St Mary’s church, Huntingdon

Charles and Mary (Pattison) baptised their first child at St Mary’s church in Huntingdon. It was a boy named Henry Randall, born in 1807, but not baptised until January 1809. Later in 1809 Charles and Mary baptised a girl named Mary; she died a few months later. Then there is a gap in the baptisms for children of Charles Randall until the baptism of Charles Jr in 1815 at All Saints, Huntingdon. These records do not include the maiden name of the mother. It sure would help if they did. But it is important to note that on these later baptisms the mother’s first name is recorded as Mary Ann, not Mary.

The 1817 baptism record for John Randall (sometimes called John Henry Randall) at Huntingdon All Saints (second line). Image from FamilySearch (Parish registers for All Saints' and St. John's Church, Huntingdon, 1558-1876).

In total, Charles and Mary Ann Randall baptised 8 children at All Saints, Huntingdon. The youngest child, Phillip, used the name Phillip Allpress Randall throughout his life. Where did this middle name of Allpress come from? It didn’t come from Mary Pattison. There was no one named Allpress on her side.

I also saw the Allpress name listed in a transcribed death record for Fred Randall, who died in 1885 in Maldon, Victoria, Australia, at the estimated age of 65 (Australia Death Index, 1787-1985, Ancestry.com). Father’s name? Charles. Mother’s maiden name? Allpress. This death record didn’t include a birthplace, but it was a match for Frederick Randall, who was baptised at All Saints, Huntington, in 1822, to parents Charles and Mary Ann.

I searched for a marriage of Charles Randall to a Mary or Mary Ann Allpress in Huntingdon but did not find it. I did, however, find the marriage mentioned in a newspaper. 

The marriage of Charles Randall and Mary Ann Allpress noted in the Stamford Mercury, 31 Jul, 1812

I expanded my search area and found the parish record for their marriage in Potton, Bedfordshire. I had never heard of this town before, but I would later learn that the Randalls have roots in Bedfordshire. Potton was the hometown of Charles’ grandmother Martha Edwards, who married John Randall, of nearby Sandy. Mary Ann Allpress was originally from Fenstanton but was probably working in Potton as a servant. Why Potton? Her father’s cousin John Lucas lived there with his wife Mary Randall. Mary (Randall) Lucas was Charles’ aunt. Now it starts to make a bit more sense why a man from Huntingdon met and married a woman from Fenstanton in the completely different town of Potton.

The 1812 marriage record of Charles Randall, widower of St Mary’s Huntingdon, and Mary Ann Allpress, spinster of Potton. Image from FamilySearch (Parish registers for Potton, 1614-1948).

So what happened to Charles’ first wife Mary Pattison? She passed away in 1810 of an unspecified “lingering” illness and was buried on the 25th of February at St Mary’s Huntingdon. She was just 25 years old.

Mention of the death of Mary (Pattison) Randall in Drake’s Stamford News, 23 Feb, 1810

Thus, the mother of Charles’ oldest son Henry was Mary Pattison (1785-1810), but the mother of his other surviving children, including my direct ancestor John Henry Randall, was Mary Ann Allpress (1786-1830). These findings are backed up by the wills of the children’s grandparents (as found in Probate Records of the Archdeaconry of Huntingdon, 1585-1858). Mary Pattison’s father Robert passed in 1821 and mentions grandson Henry in his will, while Mary Ann Allpress’s father Phillip died in 1838 and mentions in his will his various grandchildren with the surname of Randall. (Lucky for me, the grandfathers in this case lived long enough and had sufficient means to leave something to their grandchildren in their will.)

Thankfully I had not researched the Pattison line in-depth before realizing that I was instead an Allpress descendant. After I got my tree sorted and assigned Mary Ann Allpress as the mother of my ancestor John Henry Randall (1817-1849), I was able to embark on research of her paternal (Allpress) and maternal (Taylor) lines, which I will present in a future blog post.

If you are working on your family tree, make sure you properly record all of the marriages of your ancestors. Be sure to differentiate between birth parents and stepparents. If parish records do not state the maiden name of the mother on a child’s baptism, it is up to you as the researcher to uncover the mother’s identity.

Things to look out for in a family’s baptism records: 

• Gaps in time

• Changes in baptism location (switching to a different church)

• Changes in the mother’s first name. For example, Mary and Mary Anne are not the same name. Eliza and Elizabeth may be different women as well.

• Unusual or uncommon first or middle names given to children. These are often a surname from the mother’s side!

Other Records to check:

• Newspapers

• Grandparents’ wills for mentions of their grandchildren.

• Burial records for the family’s surname in your place of interest to find wives and children who passed away. Best care scenario: a child’s burial record lists both parents’ names (e.g., “Robert, son of John Parker and his wife Anne”) or at least the name of the father. A married woman’s burial record will (hopefully) list the name of her husband (e.g., Anne Parker, wife of John). For UK research, I prefer to do these searches in Find My Past, but parish transcripts may be available in FreeReg and at local archives and family history societies.

• Look for subsequent marriages of your ancestors after the death of a spouse. Expand your search area to include marriages that took place in another town.

Sources

1. As of early 2025, transcribed parish records for Huntingdon All Saints and Huntingdon St Mary’s can be found on Ancestry.com, FindMyPast, and FreeReg. Parish images can be viewed on FamilySearch, but only from an Affiliate Library.

2. Transcribed parish records for Potton can be found on Ancestry.com or FindMyPast (they are not on FreeReg). Parish images can be viewed on FamilySearch, but only from an Affiliate Library.

3. Huntingdonshire wills (pre-1858) are available on FamilySearch and are easier than ever to locate with the new Full-Text Search.