After his marriage, James was for five years the Innkeeper of the Bell Inn, 41 High Street, Chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire; see www.mendenhall.org. It is no longer an Inn but the Jack Russell Gallery [www.jackrussell.co.uk]. Surname change: see marriage notes.
1780: Gloucestershire, England, Land Tax Records, 1713-1833:
Name: James Mendenall
Residence Year: 1780
Residence Place: Gloucestershire, England
Hundred: Grumbolds Ash
Owner: Mr Thomas Dorrington
Tax: £1 4s 9d1794 Jun 02 - Bath Journal:
For Sale by Auction, By J. STAFFORD,At the Argyle Coffee-House, By Order of the Trustees of James endenhall, under an Assignment, On Tuesday the 18th June and two following days, at Eleven o'clock. All the Neat and Genuine HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE, some Plate, Plated Goods, Linen, China, Glass and Paintings; including neat four-post, field and half-tester bedsteads, with cotton amd Manchester hangings, prime seasoned goose feather beds, fine blankets, counterpanes and mattresses, chamber tables, chests of drawers, night tables, and window curtains, a complete set of dining and other tables, sideboard, stromng mahogany chairs, looking glasses, and chandeliers, square mahogany coffee-room tables and cushions, large and middle-size carpets, with excellent kitchen furniture. To be viewed on Mondays and mornings of sale, when Catalogues will be ready. The HOUSE to be Lett, enquire of Mr. Matthews, Hesling-Court.1802 England, United Grand Lodge of England Freemason Membership Registers, 1751-1921:
Name: James Mendenall
Gender: Male
Initiation Age: 50
Initiation Date: 24 Mar 1802
Profession: Waiter
Lodge: Perfect Friendship
Lodge Location: Bath
Aged 25 on marriage.
Marriage Notes for James Mendenhall and Mary Holton
Surname evolution:
Like his family before him, James was baptised in 1751 as a Mildenhall (often pronounced as Minal). However, he moved away from north east Wiltshire to Bath in Somerset at a young age. In 1777, he married Mary Holton in her parish of Warminster in south west Wiltshire. As the residents of Bath and Warminster would have been unfamiliar with the surname Mildenhall or the village of this name, the curate at the wedding mistakenly records his surname as Mendenall.James and Mary began their married life in Chipping Sodbury in south Gloucestershire using this Mendenall variant of the surname. The first four of their eleven children were born in Chipping Sodbury and the other seven back in Bath; all between 1778 and 1797. Where a baptismal record is known, all were christened as a Mendenall too; except for Charles whose surname was mistranscribed.
Six of their children died before 1797. Some of these deaths were recorded as Mendenall and some as Mendenhall. After 1797 however, the five surviving children all reached adulthood and all their marriage and death records give Mendenhall as their surname.
Prior to 1777 the family surname was consistently Mildenhall while from 1777 to 1787 it regularly became Mendenall. Between 1787 and 1797 both Mendenall and Mendenhall occur in the records but after 1797 only Mendenhall is ever used. So the surname evolved over a period of twenty years from 1777 to 1797.
Note regarding the place of marriage:
The bride's parish of Warminster was the actual place of marriage. James's parish was in Bath. The IGI reference to Chipping Sodbury appears to relate to their place of residence following their marriage.
Died young. [Source: Chart of the English Family by William Mendenhall, Brother.]
Presumably died before his next sibling was born (17 Dec 1778) as this brother could then be called William too.
Died young. [Source: Chart of the English Family by William Mendenhall, Brother.]
Died young. [Source: Chart of the English Family by William Mendenhall, Brother.]
Died young. [Source: Chart of the English Family by William Mendenhall, Brother.]
1841 England Census:
Name: James Mendenhall
Age: 50
Estimated birth year: abt 1791
Gender: Male
Where born: Somerset, England
Civil Parish: Walcot
Hundred: Bath Forum
County/Island: Somerset
Country: England
Street address: Chatham Row
Occupation: Cook
Registration district: Bath
Sub-registration district: Lansdown1846 - Bath Directory:
James Mendenhall, New Bridge Tavern, Brougham-hayes buildings.1861 England Census:
Name: James Mendenhall
Age: 72
Estimated birth year: 1789
Relation: Head
Gender: Male
Where born: Bath, Somerset, England
Civil Parish: Bath St Peter and St Paul
Ecclesiastical parish: Bath
County/Island: Somerset
Country: England
Street address: 2 Chapel Court, St. Johns Hospital
Occupation: Almsman, formerly Confectioner
Condition as to marriage: Widowed
Registration district: Bath
Sub-registration district: Abbey1865 Jul 06 - Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette:
June 28, after a long and painfull illness, aged 77 years, Jas. Mendenhall, one of the co-brethren of St. John's Hospital, in this city, much respected.
1841 England Census:
Name: Martha Mendenhall
Age: 50
Estimated birth year: abt 1791
Gender: Female
Where born: Somerset, England
Civil Parish: Walcot
Hundred: Bath Forum
County/Island: Somerset
Country: England
Street address: Chatham Row
Registration district: Bath
Sub-registration district: Lansdown
Died young. [Source: Chart of the English Family by William Mendenhall, Brother.]
The Bishop's Transcript for daughter Ann gives her father as John Mendenhall and her mother as Ann; see her baptism source details. This John (Mildenhall) appears to be the only contender for being her father. This link has yet to be confirmed!
If true, then it seems that he moved to Bath where his elder brother James was already living. As James was using the Mendenhall surname by this time, it appears that John too adopted it.
1846 Feb 26 - Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette:
John Mendenhall was a witness at an inquest into the death of a local man. Accidental death recorded.
See her daughter's baptism source details.
1816 Jan 04 - Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette:
Died - Dec 1815 - Mrs Mendenhall, Westgate Buildings.