In July I penned an article about the sinking of a boat known as “Brothers” that was owned by Samuel Babb and his brother John. There was a loose end that needed to be tied off. I could see that his widow Jane (Tessier) has applied for a widow’s pension due to his service in the Royal Navy, but the source document lacked sufficient information to determine if her application was approved or rejected.
The post above is also a continuation of:
I found that the originals were located in England’s National Archives, so I submitted a request to have the records copied from the originals. These documents had been sent to London and thus spared from the Nazi bombing of the Exeter Records Office in Devon.
Those records are now in and give us a more complete picture of her situation after Samuel’s loss. Jane did not possess the ability to earn an “Annual Income of double the Value of fifty Pounds.” Samuel died on 06 Mar 1817 and the application was filed on 03 May 1817.
As you read through the documents, know that “Half Pay” is what Samuel was earning as part owner of the ship. His brother John likely had the other half, but the documents aren’t exactly clear.
This page confirms that Samuel had consistently paid into the Widow’s Pension fund and that he was in good standing.
This page confirms that they were in fact married and that she had not remarried. It is signed by the Minister of Wolborough Parish.
This is the outside of the document, which bears the information needed to file it properly.
It is marked as complete and as Samuel was in good standing and all the requirements were met, her pension would have been approved. There is no indication of how much the Pension would be. I don’t see any details online about there being a difference in the pension and the amount specified on the document. I can only assume the fifty Pounds was a threshold the pension and that it was the amount of the pension itself.
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