Starbuck Letter

From Alan Glover -1984 -a descendent of the Starbucks of Earl Shilton

" It was with great interest that I studied the Morman Index in 1984. It
showed that the Starbucks name was listed in the mid 1600's as having
lived at Lubenham, near Market Harborough. They appeared to earn their
living from the river trade. It was around 1700 that the families started
to leave this area and by the year 1849 they had spread over the whole of
Leicestershire.

I gave quite a lot of thought to their means of travel in those days as
the various rivers were not connected, eventually I obtained a book on the
Leicestershire Canals, and after reading same, the last piece of the
jigsaw fell into place.

In 1776 the Soar Navigation Company were granted an Act of Parliament
authorizing the conversion of the River Soar into a navigation from the
River Trent to Loughborough.

The construction of other navigations in the county was soon to follow in
1778 - 1791 - 1794 and finally in 1809 it reached Kilby Bridge and
Sebdale. After further construction at Foxton in 1814, the London to Trent
waterways were complete, making it possible to bring and take goods direct
from Leicester to the capital and also to the ports on the Humber river.

It appears also that Lubenham was an important centre on the route

The opening of these waterways also allowed coal from Derbyshire into the
industrial centre of Leicester. This bought competition between the
Leicestershire and Derbyshire coal fields and there-by bringing down the
price of coal to 1/- cwt (5p)

Canals remained the main source of transport untill the opening of the
railways around 1840. Further interesting points worth noting is that the
connection from the River Trent at Nottingham to Grantham passed through
Harby, Belvoir Castle and near all the villages shown on the map below.
This connection of the canals was opened in 1797.

It appears that the canals either run directly through the various
villages the Starbucks were residing in or very close to them.

Most of the family must have worked for a navigation company in Lubenham,
doing long trips to various towns and ports. They must have made many
friends, including girl friends which eventually led to marrieage and
settling down in various parts of Leicestershire and maybe further
afield."

THE STARBUCK MOVEMENTS FROM 1676 - 1849

LUBENHAM..................1676..............Market Harborough

BRUNTINGTHORPE...............1698-1722

LONG CLAWSON.................1776..............vale of Belvoir

BARLESTONE...................1781

STATHERN.....................1792..............vale of Belvoir

MARKET HARBOROUGH............1796

EARL SHILTON.................1803

HARSTON......................1806..............vale of Belvoir

BRANSTON.....................1806..............vale of Belvoir

ROTHERBY.....................1818

HARBY........................1847..............vale of Belvoir

EATON........................1849..............vale of Belvoir

NARBOROUGH...................1849

FROM DR. GRAHAM FIELD IN AUSTRALIA IN 1990

( A DESCENDENT OF A LINCOLNSHIRE FAMILY )

............... " my interest arises through my wife's mother being a Starbuck.
The Starbuck family consisting of John William, his wife Anne, and their two
children migrated to Victoria in 1853 and were pioneer settlers and wheat
farms in Western Victoria. They came from Lincolnshire .

I have not been able trace the marriage of John William and Anne. However it
is known from Victorian death records that Anne was the daughter of Daniel
and Susan WOOLNER and that she was born about 1819.

John William is believed to have been born in 1818, the son of John and Mary
Ann Starbuck, and was baptised at the Baptist Chapel at Fleet on 7th June
1816. His mother before her marriage was Mary Ann SKINNER, who was
probably baptised on 21st August 1786 at Gedney in Lincolnshire, the eldest
daughter of John Skinner and his wife Ann (nee JENISON)

According to the I.G.I. the family of John and Mary Ann consisted of:-

Sarah...............bapt. 27 February 1812

Joseph..............bapt. 30 June 1813.....

Tamar...............bapt. 20 December 1814-

John William.......bapt. 7 June 1816--------

Anna................bapt.20 February 1819---

Christopher.........bapt.24 March 1821.......

(All baptisms at the Baptist Chapel, Fleet)

John Starbuck is believed to have been born in 1786 (baptised at Sutton
St.Edmund on 15th October 1786), his parents being Joseph and Ann
Starbuck.

Death notices in the Starbuck family records give the names of

Mark died 1st February 1885 aged 94 years

Jabez Foreman died 23rd April 1887 aged 70 years

Joseph died 26th July 1882 aged 71 years

These names have been identified in the IGI, associated with the towns of
Fleet and Holbeach, and their ages at death are consistent with the baptism
dates listed in the IGI.

Jabez Foreman is the son of Mark,

Joseph is probably John William's brother,

but I am uncertain who Mark is unless he is John William's uncle,

i.e. John Starbuck's brother

The flysheet of an old book in the Starbuck's possession indicates that the
book was presented to John Starbuck and Sarah Fraser Brown on the
occasion of their marriage in the parish church of Holbeach on 5th December
1831. Also recorded are the births of their children (not recorded on the IGI)
-

Matilda on 18th October 1832

Jabez on 9th May 1835

at St.Edmunds

In different handwriting is the inscription : "J. William Starbuck, St.Edmunds,
Lincolnshire - May 14th 1841

There is also another Starbuck family in Victoria, unrelated as far as is known,
who migrated here in 1849. This was Joseph Starbuck aged 27 and his family
who came from Huckland (Hucknall ?) Nottinghamshire. Four of the family
including his wife died of cholera during the voyage, the surviving members
being Joseph, a daughter Mary aged 7 and Mark aged 19, possibly Josephs
brother.