Amelia EASTOE

1819 - 1848  (28 years)

• Name	Amelia EASTOE
  Birth	01 Oct 1819	Fakenham, Norfolk, England   [1]
  Gender	Female
  Immigration	Abt 1831	Canada   [2]
  Immigration	Abt 1835	Jamaica   [2]
  Death	1848	Oracabessa, St Mary, Jamaica   [3]
  Person ID	I9081	NZ Genealogy Project
  Last Modified	3 Aug 2020

  
  

  Father	Francis EASTOE [Frank],   b. 1795, North Elmham, Norfolk, England d. Abt 1834, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (Age 39 years)
  Mother	Mary PHILLIPPO,   b. 27 Dec 1796, East Dereham, Norfolk, England d. 1834, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (Age 37 years)
  Marriage	29 Jul 1818	East Dereham, Norfolk, England   [4, 5]
  Notes	BIOGRAPHY Frank and Mary Eastoe Frank Eastoe married Mary Phillippo in 1818 in Fakenham, Norfolk, England and Amelia, their first child was born there in 1819. Frank worked for his father, William, and his spendthrift older brother John. William was a cloth merchant or draper and his business was seriously stressed by John. As a business partner with access to the accounts, John borrowed heavily from them and lost almost all of it. William knew that John, as his elder brother and partner, would inherit the business, so he set up a reserve to help Frank start a business on his own, but John spent it all. In 1828 the business was on the edge of collapse, so Frank had to leave. After leaving his father's shop, Frank set up his own draper business, but without financial backing, times were very difficult. Amelia, now 12, could have worked in the shop, but it was more important for her to look after the younger children, so her mother could help in the shop full time. The economy continued to slide and, only a year later, even Mary's assistance was not enough and the business failed. With neither job nor income, Frank relocated his large family several times looking for work. Over the years the family had grown. Amelia was followed by James, George, William, Elizabeth Anne, Mary Ann, Hannah, Hephzibah, and Zacchaeus. By the time Zacchaeus, the youngest, was born, the family was living in Norwich and nearly destitute. Peter Phillippo, Mary's father, was a ne'er-do-well. When his building business got into financial trouble, he fled to America, leaving his wife, Sarah, at home. Ostensibly, he left to visit a brother-in-law, but it was mostly to avoid his creditors. He was gone for several years, but when he returned, he wanted to emigrate to America. Sarah firmly declined to join him, but he managed to convince Frank and Mary to go with him to the land of opportunity. In 1831 he abandoned Sarah again, left for America and disappeared from history. Mary and Frank managed to raise enough money for an Assisted Passage, but had decided against America. They were aware of Peter's shortcomings and chose instead to take their family to Montreal in Upper Canada. New immigrants, especially those with business skills, were being welcomed. Their ship sailed across the North Atlantic, up the St Lawrence River and waited out three weeks of quarantine before they finally landed in Montreal. Many other migrants were not as fortunate. Hundreds of passengers, mostly poor Irish fleeing the Potato Famine at home, died from cholera and tuberculosis on the long sea voyage. When the ship finally reached the quarantine anchorage in the St Lawrence River, they faced three weeks or more of quarantine within sight of their new country. Uncounted lives were lost by those attempting to swim ashore to escape from the ships. If an outbreak on the ship was bad, quarantine lasted until the last cases either recovered or died. On some ships there were no living passengers left and the dead were offloaded and buried in mass graves. When they were finally cleared to land, a "medical exam" by a dubiously qualified person was sometimes required for the immigrants to disembark, no doubt for a small fee. Under one of Montreal's bridges there is a monument dedicated to the thousands who died. The survivors often settled in the neighbourhood of what now is Pointe Saint Charles where many francophone families today have Irish surnames. Frank set up a draper business and rapidly became successful and respected in the business community. Business was so good, he was able to move his family from the crowded immigrant quarter into more comfortable accommodations. He and Mary ran the shop, while Amelia stayed at home looking after the children. Staunch Baptists, and the fact that Mary's uncle, the famous Rev. Dr. James Phillippo, was a well-known abolitionist Baptist missionary in Jamaica, probably eased their introduction into the Baptist community. Montreal had a terrible health problem each summer. When hot weather arrived there were annual outbreaks of cholera, typhus and other deadly diseases in the closely packed immigrant quarter. In 1834 a typhoid epidemic broke out, killing hundreds of new arrivals. The outbreak became so severe it spread to the general population. Frank, Mary and six of their children died, only three daughters survived (Amelia, Hannah and Hephzibah). Orphaned, alone in a new country and far from any relatives, the Eastoe girls were split up. Adoptions of orphans were informal and, with Montreal's seasonal epidemics, there were always orphans needing help. Older girls were sent to work and younger ones were sent to orphanages set up by the city. The children who were adopted often become household servants and there were certainly cases where they became little more than slaves to their "adopting" family. The various churches also arranged adoptions with families from their own parishes who were generally kinder to orphans. The children remained with their adoptive family, but could be released into the care of relatives if they were able to come and get them. It is likely that their church cared for the Eastoe girls as their parents had had such strong ties with the Baptist community. Hannah, aged ten, and Hephzibah, aged five, were adopted within the Baptist community and stayed for two or three years until their grandmother, Sarah Phillippo, was able to come out from England and take them home. The date of their return is not known, but Sarah appears in the 1841 census of East Dereham, Norfolk with both Hannah and Hephzibah living with her. Amelia was sixteen when her parents died but, instead of being sent to work, the Baptist churches arranged passage for her to live with her famous uncle Rev. Dr. James Phillippo in Jamaica. Source: Amelia, by Jim Saunders, Comox, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada [3]
  Family ID	F3077	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Reverend David DAY,   b. 01 Oct 1809, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England d. 23 Jan 1862, Oracabessa, St Mary, Jamaica (Age 52 years)
  Marriage	1839	Jamaica   [2]
  Children	1. David Clark DAY,   b. Jamaica d. 18 Feb 1882, United States of America   2. Ebenezer DAY   d. United States of America   3. Jonathan DAY,   b. Jamaica d. Jamaica   4. Sarah Jane DAY,   b. Jamaica d. Mandeville, Middlesex, Jamaica   5. Amelia Amy DAY,   b. Jamaica d. Mandeville, Middlesex, Jamaica   6. Mary Ruth DAY,   b. Jamaica d. United States of America
  Family ID	F4262	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	31 Dec 2024

  
  

• Event Map		Birth - 01 Oct 1819 - Fakenham, Norfolk, England Immigration - Abt 1831 - Canada Immigration - Abt 1835 - Jamaica Marriage - 1839 - Jamaica Death - 1848 - Oracabessa, St Mary, Jamaica  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Notes

  BIOGRAPHY Amelia Eastoe Amelia Eastoe was the eldest child of Frank Eastoe and Mary Phillippo, born at Fakenham, Norfolk, England in 1819. Frank worked for his father, William, and his spendthrift older brother John, cloth merchants or drapers in Fakenham. The business struggled because John spent so much and in 1828 the business was on the edge of collapse, so Frank had to leave. After leaving his father's shop, Frank set up his own draper business, but without financial backing, times were very difficult. Amelia, now 12, could have worked in the shop, but it was more important for her to look after the younger children, so her mother could help in the shop full time. The economy continued to slide and, only a year later, even Mary's assistance was not enough and the business failed. With neither job nor income, Frank relocated his large family several times looking for work. Over the years the family had grown. Amelia was followed by James, George, William, Elizabeth Anne, Mary Ann, Hannah, Hephzibah, and Zacchaeus. By the time Zacchaeus, the youngest, was born, the family was living in Norwich and nearly destitute. When Peter Phillippo, Mary's father, returned from America he convinced the family to emigrate. Mary and Frank managed to raise enough money for an Assisted Passage, but decided against United States and chose instead to take their family to Montreal in Upper Canada. New immigrants, especially those with business skills, were being welcomed. Their ship sailed across the North Atlantic, up the St Lawrence River and waited out three weeks of quarantine before they finally landed in Montreal. Frank set up a draper business and rapidly became successful and respected in the business community. Business was so good, he was able to move his family from the crowded immigrant quarter into more comfortable accommodations. He and Mary ran the shop, while Amelia stayed at home looking after the children. Staunch Baptists, and the fact that Mary's uncle, the famous Rev. Dr. James Phillippo, was a well-known abolitionist Baptist missionary in Jamaica, probably eased their introduction into the Baptist community. Montreal had a terrible health problem each summer. When hot weather arrived there were annual outbreaks of cholera, typhus and other deadly diseases in the closely packed immigrant quarter. In 1834 a typhoid epidemic broke out, killing hundreds of new arrivals. The outbreak became so severe it spread to the general population. Frank, Mary and six of their children died, only three daughters survived (Amelia, Hannah and Hephzibah). Orphaned, alone in a new country and far from any relatives, the Eastoe girls were split up. Hannah, aged ten, and Hephzibah, aged five, were adopted within the Baptist community and stayed for two or three years until their grandmother, Sarah Phillippo, was able to come out from England and take them home. The date of their return is not known, but Sarah appears in the 1841 census of East Dereham, Norfolk with both Hannah and Hephzibah living with her. Amelia was sixteen when her parents died but, instead of being sent to work, the Baptist churches arranged passage for her to live with her famous uncle Rev. Dr. James Phillippo in Jamaica. The life expectancy of a Europeans living in Jamaica was about three months because they were particularly susceptible to tropical fevers. On the other hand, her uncle Rev James Mursell Phillippo and his wife Hannah, had been living in Spanish Town on the south coast of Jamaica since 1823 and had adapted to the climate without health difficulties. As the wife of a Baptist missionary, Hannah was expected to equally share James' responsibilities and duties, they became a daunting team, leading in the long fight for total abolition of slavery, eventually successful in 1834. Amelia's arrival was a blessing, she became the governess for their four children. Now James and Hannah could dedicate their time to successfully fight the brutal Apprenticeship Act of 1834 that followed abolition. Amelia remained with them for five years and seems to have been happy living with them and tending her cousins. In 1839 Amelia married widower Rev. David Day, another abolitionist Baptist missionary in Jamaica. She became a missionaries' wife with the full understanding that she would be working side by side with David, like her aunt Hannah. David took her to Oracabessa, St Mary's on the north side of Jamaica, where he was a preacher. Barriffe Hall had been a planter's house on 220 acres with 85 slaves. After the slaves were freed, the farmland was confiscated and divided into small farms for freed slaves. The Hall was left with only a small parcel of land for its gardens. David and Amelia bought the Hall and raised their six children there. Their youngest son, Jonathan died in childhood in Kingston. When the older children were adults, David, Ebenezer and Mary moved to America. The younger two, Sarah and Amy stayed in Jamaica. Amelia and David continued ministering to their community and spent the rest of their lives in Barriffe Hall. Amelia passed away in 1848 and David in 1862. Sarah and Amy never married and lived in Barriffe Hall for many years until financial circumstances forced them to sell their home. They spent the rest of their lives in a small cottage in the village of Mandeville, 165 kilometres south of Oracabessa, just outside Spanish Town. Source: Amelia, by Jim Saunders, Comox, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada [3]

  
  

• Sources

  [S31] Family Search, (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), none. AMELIA EASTOE; Female; Birth: 01 OCT 1819 Fakenham, Norfolk, England; Father: FRANCIS EASTOE; Mother: MARY; Extracted birth or christening record for the locality listed in the record. [S341] Jim Phillippo Saunders, Canada [email removed for privacy], The Phillippo Family, ( 2006 ). [S11] email. Jim Saunders [email removed for privacy] on 26 Jul 2020 [S340] Dave Spencer, Vincent family of Norfolk UK, (http://www.gencircles.com, Dec 2005), none. [S31] Family Search, (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), none.