Reeves, James

Summary

Father: John REEVES
Mother: Jane JOY

Birth: c 1802
Birth Source: baptism

Death: c 1879
Death Source: FreeBMD

Spouse1: Phoebe DEWEY

Narrative

James REEVES is the eighth known child of John REEVES and his wife Jane (nee JOY). He was baptised in December 1802 at the Priory Church of St Mary and St Blaise in Boxgrove, Sussex.

On the 1841 census taken on 6 June, James has yet to be identified. However, Phoeby (sic) Dewey, who was to become his wife later that year, was living in the St Bartholomew area of Chichester¹, so he may have been nearby.

In September 1841, James married Phoebe DEWEY, the daughter of John DEWEY, at the Parish Church of St Nicholas, Mid Lavant in Sussex.

Known children of James Reeves and his wife Phoebe (nee DEWEY) are

1. Charles Reeves, bapt May 1842, died July 1842
2. Emily Reeves, bapt October 1844

Both these baptisms were recorded at the Priory Church of St Mary and St Blaise in Boxgrove, Sussex.

At the time of the 1851 census, on 30 March, James and Phoebe are living in the village of Boxgrove. He is 48 years old, claims birth in Boxgrove and is working as an Agricultural Labourer. In addition to Phoebe (age 48), the household comprises their daughter Emily (6) and two lodgers Edmund Reeves (21, born Tangmere) and Henry Scoot (19). It is suspected that this Edmund is James's nephew, the son of his brother William Reeves.

A decade later and the 1861 census records James as head of household living on Boxgrove Street in Boxgrove. James is shown as 56 years old, claims birth in Boxgrove and is working as an Agricultural Labourer. The household additionally comprises his wife Phoebe (56, born Bosham), daughter Emily (16, born Boxgrove, a Domestic Servant) and nephew George DEWEY (6, scholar, born Boxgrove). Sharing the same dwelling but enumerated separately are two lodgers, Peter HERRINGTON (23, unmarried, Ag Lab, born Boxgrove) and John TRUSLER (20, unmarried, Wheel Wright, born London). Daughter Emily marries a Peter HERRINGTON in the third quarter of 1863.

On the 1871 census, James is head of household living in the village of Boxgrove. His brother William's widow Harriet and his nephew John are both living nearby. James is now 68 years old, claims birth in Boxgrove and is still working as an Agricultural Labourer. In addition to his wife Phoebe (68, born Bosham), the household comprises his brother Edmund REEVES (age 64, unmarried, born Boxgrove), his nephew Thomas REEVES (age 57, unmarried, born Aldingbourne) and his nephew George DEWEY (age 16, born Boxgrove).

Neither James nor Phoebe have not been identified on the 1881 census. It is probable his is the death registered in the Westhampnett Registration District in the first quarter of 1879, aged 76. Phoebe's death is registered in the following quarter.

Research Notes

It is probable George DEWEY's parents died within a few weeks of each other in January 1855 and he was raised by his Aunt Phoebe and Uncle John.
Burial Caroline DEWEY https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/J8ZS-PYD
Burial John DEWEY https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/J8ZS-PY6

Sources

Birth:       
Baptism:   FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/N8YR-GV7
Marriage: FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/N6DT-LQP
Death:      FreeBMD Death Registration - Westhampnett Reg.Dist. 1879 March quarter
                 
1841 Census:
1851 Census: HO107, Piece 1652, Folio 353 reverse, Page 1
1861 Census: RG 9, Piece 0620, Folio 30 reverse, Page 2
1871 Census: RG10, Piece 1115, Folio 34 face, Page 3

¹  1841 Census - HO107, Piece 1119, Book 3, Folio 7 face, Page 26 - Phoeby (sic) DEWEY