Continuing the theme of convicted individuals in my family, I came across Jacob, my 4^th great uncle. He was baptised on 14 August 1808 in Torpoint, Cornwall to parents Jacob Burt (1781-1873), a rope maker, and Elizabeth Small (1782-1845).

Jacob married Dolly (sometimes called Dora) Pearce on 24 June 1832 in St Andrews’ church in Plymouth. They had four sons, one of whom died in infancy. Jacob seems to have done well as a tailor and by the 1861 census the family were living in Fore Street, Torpoint (see the map OS Devon CXXIII.6 published 1894). Jacob was described as master tailor employing one man and one boy; both were living with the family.

A record from 1866 shows that the families fortunes had changed. The transcription of a record for Jacob, found in a collection of records from Bodmin gaol, provided the following information:

• Jacob was aged 58, married and had three children. His birth year was given as about 1808 and his abode/birth place was Antony.
• He was admitted to and discharged from Bodmin Gaol in 1866.
• Jacob was a tailor and while in gaol his employment was tailoring.

The notes on the record say that he was ‘late Secretary of the Torpoint Philanthropic Friendly Society, in possession of £17 10s 81/2d’. Unfortunately, there was no further information about what led him to be there and I didn’t find anything else about the case in local newspapers. Perhaps it was a case of suspected embezzlement or similar?

Bodmin Gaol, on the edge of Bodmin Moor, was originally built in 1779. It was used largely as a debtors prison until 1869, when imprisonment for debt was abolished. Prisoners were paid for their work on the products they produced which had been sold by the governor.

The notes on Jacob’s gaol record also included information about letters he had sent and received while in gaol. He had written to his wife Dora at 40 Fore St, Torpoint, which helpfully confirmed his address. Jacob had written to, and received a letter from, Mr John Nodder, PO Torpoint. John was recorded as a sub-master and shoemaker, living at 63 Fore Street, Torpoint, in the 1871 census. The third letter mentioned in the notes was from his son J Burt of Teignmouth.

After his release from Bodmin Gaol Jacob returned to Torpoint. In the 1871 census Jacob and his wife Dora were living at 40 Fore Street, Torpoint, as what looked to be one of three households at the same address, including his father Jacob who was by now a pensioner.

Jacob died on 26 December 1878 of bronchitis, aged 71 years. His youngest surviving son, Jacob (1841-1913), from Lostwithiel, reported his father’s death. Jacob’s wife Dora seems to have gone to live with her son Jacob and his family as her death on 1 November 1881, was reported in the West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser dated 3 Nov 1881.

Finally

I would like to know more about the people mentioned in this blog post. Do contact me if you have any further information which you are willing to share.

Notes:

The map used in this blog has been reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland under the following creative commons licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ and sourced from the NLS maps site https://maps.nls.uk/.

The image of Bodmin Jail has been reproduced under the following creative commons licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page.

Bibliography:

Baptisms, births, marriages and deaths. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed June 2025.

Bodmin Jail. https://www.bodminjail.org/ : accessed June 2025.

Census records. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed June 2025.

Cornwall, England, Bodmin Gaol Records. 1821-1829. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed June 2025.

Lindsell, Robert. (2010) Image of Bodmin Jail. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bodmin_Jail,_Bodmin_(461320b)_(13487018653).jpg : accessed June 2025.

OS Map. https://maps.nls.uk/ : accessed June 2025.

UK, City and County Directories, 1766-1946. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed June 2025.

West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser. https://www.findmypast.co.uk/home : accessed June 2025.