Stephen Cropper was born on the 22nd. of November 1807 at America Street, Southwark, London, the son of Richard and Alice Cropper. He was  |
| Stephen Cropper's baptismal certificate from St. Saviour's Church, Southwark © F. Claussen |
baptised on the 27th. of January 1808 at St. Saviour Church, Southwark. Richard, his father, was a hatter according to the entry in the St. Saviour baptisms register, a trade which Stephen himself would later follow.
Nothing much is known of Stephen and his family during the early years of his life, and we do not catch up with him until he married Hannah Downs on the 19th. of May 1828 at Manchester Cathedral. Stephen was said to be a hatter, although there is no indication of whereabouts in the city he plied his trade. Their first child, a son named John Richard, was born in Manchester in 1829/30.
The next documentary evidence of Stephen and his family comes in May 1831, when he was the victim of an assault on his person by Samuel Ogden senior, another hatter with a business in Bridge Street, Carnarvon. Although there are no details included in the document, a Memorandum of Recognizance issued to Ogden, it is easy to speculate that there must have been some conflict between the two gentlemen, presumably when Stephen arrived in town and set up a rival business not far from Ogden's premises. Sadly there is no contemporary account of the fracas in the local newspaper, leaving us with nothing more than the tantalising glimpse into Stephen's life which the recognizance gives us. Shortly after this unpleasant episode a daughter, Elizabeth Anne was born, although she was not baptised until the 4th. of June 1834, along with her younger sister, Emma. Other children followed: Sarah Ann, born 14th. of February 1836, but not baptised until 16th. of April 1837 (along with John Richard); twins Eliza and Hannah, born 28th. of January 1838, and William Henry, baptised 15th. of May 1839. Sadly, Hannah died when only a few months old, but curiously she is not buried at Llanbeblig.
The Cropper family had settled down to family life in Carnarvon  |
An early 20th Century view of Bridge Street, where Stephen Cropper had his hatter's shop.
© K. Morris |
at Bridge Street, where Stephen carried out his business supplying the town's gentlemen with their hand crafted hats. He appears in Pigot's directory of 1835, as well as being listed in the voters' rolls for the same year. He continued to be registered to vote in the Borough up until 1839, when he again vanishes.
The family had left Carnarvon by the time of the 1841 census, and indeed their whereabouts at the time was almost certainly in Belfast. Stephen is listed in the 1841 index of Belfast electors as Peter S. Cropper located on Ann Street. Subsequent press reports indicate additional involvement in Belfast politics.
In an article published in the June 15th. 1842 edition of the Times, entitled "House of Commons - Belfast Election," there are allegations of corruption and bribery during the election. Stephen, now going under the name of Peter Stephen, presented a petition to the House containing a charge of bribery alleged to have been committed at the last election for Belfast by certain individuals who had canvassed for Messrs. Tennent and Johnson. Subsequent to this, a second petition had been presented, by a person named Evans, of Carnarvon, stating that he knew Cropper, in 1838, as being, at the time, resident in Carnarvon. Evans declared that Cropper was a man of extremely bad repute - that he had defrauded his creditors, and made a dishonest conveyance of part of his stock. Evans, therefore, asked the House to look closely into the character of Stephen Cropper before acting on his petition. Another similar petition was presented by Mr. G. Johnson, which mentioned the embarrassed state of Stephen's circumstances before he went to Belfast, where, according to his own confessions, he took a house at £70 per annum; but by what means, or how he contrived to obtain it, no person knew. Johnson concluded by earnestly praying that strict inquiry should be made into the character of Peter Stephen Cropper, in order that a proper judgment might be formed of his veracity. Stephen alleged in his petition that when he left Carnarvon he was in much reduced circumstances, and that, being much distressed, he accepted a bribe of £20 to influence the election.
It appears that Stephen Cropper left Belfast soon after, only to reappear, still calling himself Peter Stephen, this time in the Midlands.
From 1845 to 1850, Peter Stephen Cropper is listed as a hat manufacturer in the Birmingham city directories, having two premises at 15 New Street  |
| New Street, Birmingham. © K. Morris |
and 63 Bull Street. In 1845 and 1846, the St. Peter's Ward rate book lists Peter Stephen Cropper as the rate payer at 15 New Street. In 1843 and 1844 the same rate book lists 63 Bull Street as "unoccupied," but by 1845 Stephen Cropper's name appears as the rate payer at the address until 1849. By 1850 a Thomas Parker is listed as the rate payer at 63 Bull Street, which gives us a pretty good idea of when Stephen Cropper arrived and left Birmingham. Between 1848 and 1850 the Birmingham burgess rolls list Peter Stephen Cropper as having a shop and premises at 63 Bull Street.
In October 1849 a fire destroyed 63 Bull Street. It appears that the damage to the shop was bad enough for Stephen to collect an insurance payout on it. The payout was reported to be as much as  |
| Bull Street, Birmingham. © K. Morris |
£470, which would have been considered a vast fortune at the time. Soon after collecting this insurance money, Stephen decamped for America, leaving the United Kingdom in probably December 1849. His destination was to be Baltimore in Maryland.
Subsequent research has found Stephen's family, (travelling without him), arriving at Philadelphia on the 25th. of February 1850, on board the ship William Penn. What is strange is that they were travelling under an assumed name: Brooke. The ship's manifest shows:
| John R. Brooke | 21 | | Hatter | England | Philadelphia | 20 bags/parcels |
| Elizabeth Brooke | 18 | | Sister | England | Philadelphia | |
| Emma Brook | 16 | | Sister | England | Philadelphia | |
| Sarah Brook | 14 | | Sister | England | Philadelphia | |
| Eliza Brook | 12 | | Sister | England | Philadelphia | |
| Hanna Brook | 43 | | Mother | England | Philadelphia | |
The answer for this apparent change of name is perhaps explained by the fact that on the 12th. of April that year, 22 year old Isaac Brookes, a hatter from England, arrived in Philadelphia on board the ship Wyoming. Records at Birmingham show that there was a Brooke family living very close to Stephen's hat shop, so the two families must have known each other. By the time of the 1850 US census, Isaac Brooke was listed as being part of the Cropper household, and in fact he later went on to marry Emma Cropper in 1855.
After all this, there is still no sign of Stephen Cropper travelling to the US. Perhaps he also used an assumed name. Were the family "on the run," and what made Stephen return to England later in the year to face the music?
By the summer of 1850 Stephen Cropper was back in the country, and we next find him being arrested for lack of payment to his creditors after having left for the States with the insurance money following the fire at his hat shop. He was tried as Peter Stephen Cropper in November 1850, and was found guilty. He was remanded to the debtor's prison at Lancaster Castle for 18 months as an "insolvent debtor." On the 7th. of January 1851 he appealed to the court for added support. This appears to have been a standard procedure at the time for undischarged bankrupts, as they had no means of providing food and clothing for themselves while in prison. (Henry Ensor, a shoemaker of Carnarvon, followed the same precedure in 1818 while at Carnarvon Gaol). This appeal was denied.
Stephen appears on the census on the 30th. of March 1851 at Lancaster Castle. He was enumerated as Stephen Cropper, not Peter Stephen Cropper. This census record states that he was a shopkeeper, 41 years old and born in Surrey, London. This lines up very closely with Stephen's actual birth date in Southwark, London, Surrey in late 1807.
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| Lancaster Castle. © K. Morris |
After his release from prison, Stephen Cropper returned to Baltimore sometime in late 1851 or early 1852. Between 1853 and 1854 he lived at the corner of Howard and Cathedral Streets, Baltimore, where he was listed in the city directory as "Proprietor" of Howard House, a large Baltimore hotel. Stephen's son, John R. Cropper, was listed as a "resident of Howard Street."
At some point between the fire at his Birmingham hatter's shop and his return to Baltimore, Stephen's wife Hannah appears to have died. Either this, or the marriage had been dissolved after his imprisonment (although this is highly unlikely as an Act of Parliament was needed to 'divorce' at the time). Whatever the reason, he was free to marry Martha Finall on the 15th. of December 1853 at St. Paul's Church, Baltimore.
By 1859 Stephen and Martha were living in Peoria, Illinois, and over the next four years lived and worked at various addresses. In 1859 they were listed at 106 Water Street, and his occupation was a liquor merchant. From the information he provided on the census of 1860 he was 50 years of age, with a personal estate of $5000. In 1860 he was at Water & Main; with his residence stated as "2nd floor." Other addresses were: 1861 - 1 South Water; residence at 3 Main, and 1863 - 1 South Water; residence at Hamilton and Main. There was no 1862 Peoria city directory published because of the Civil War.
Stephen and Martha returned to the United Kingdom around October 1863, and settled at Birkenhead. Prior to their return, Stephen applied for a copy of his baptismal certificate from St. Saviour's Church in Southwark. This copy is dated the 12th. of August 1863. The estimated date of his emigration is based on the date of this document. A possible reason for the couple settling at Birkenhead was that Stephen's nephew, Richard Cropper, was living not too far away, at Tranmere.
Stephen Cropper died on the 26th. of September 1865 at Denmark Villa, Williams Street, Southport, at the relatively young age of 57 years. However, he seems to have packed more incidents into his life than many others. Stephen was listed on his death certificate as a "wine and spirits merchant." He was buried on the 27th. of September 1865 in plot K9 in the graveyard at St. Marie-on-the-Sands Catholic Church, 25 Seabank Road, Southport. What is not known is the reason he was in Southport  |
| Sarah Ann (Cropper) Dodson. © F. Claussen |
at the time of his death, as five months previously he was still at Birkenhead, as is evidenced by his will, which was drawn up on the 20th. of April. Perhaps there were family in the town, which drew him there as his life ebbed away.
In his will, his widow Martha was named as executrix and an heir. Also named as heirs were his grandson William Stephen Brookes, and his children, Eliza Harris, of Chicago, Illinois; Sarah Ann Dodson of Bloomington, Illinois and John Richard Cropper of Memphis, Tennessee. The will was proved in London on the 20th. of December 1865 by Martha Cropper.
Martha Cropper died at Birkdale on the 16th. of May 1876. The estate of Stephen Cropper was administered by his nephew, Richard Cropper, who resided at Lucknow Villa, 8 Olive Mount, Tranmere, on the 8th. of November 1876. This administration was granted due to lack of administration by Martha, the sole executrix.
And so ended the story of a man who travelled far and wide, and experienced both successes and tribulations along the way. And for a short time, Stephen Cropper touched the everyday lives of the residents here at Carnarvon.
SOURCES
Fred Claussen: Genealogy Research
Trade Directories: 1835 - 1850
Carnarvon Voters Rolls: 1835 - 1839
Carnarvonshire Quarter Sessions Records 1831 (XQS/1831/228)
Llanbeblig Baptismal Registers
1851 UK Census Returns
G. R. O. Indexes & Certificates
1860 US Census
Root's Peoria City Directories: 1859 - 1863
Machette's Baltimore City Directory for 1853-1854
The Southport Visitor: September 29, 1865
Calendar of the Grants of Probate 1865 & 1876
The Times: June 15, 1842 & January 8, 1851
Ship's Manifests - Various
Thomas L. Hollowak - Index to Marriages in The Baltimore Sun: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1978
S. Bray. The Burgess Roll of the Borough of Birmingham: Borough of Birmingham, 1848 - 1850
Birmingham Rate Book, St. Peter's Ward, Book 8
The Baltimore Sun
Petitions of Prisoners, Register No. 12; 10 & 11: VIC:CAP:102. n.p.: Lancashire County Court
Stephen Cropper's will (20 April 1865)
Many thanks to Fred Claussen for sharing his extensive research into his family history. You can contact Fred at:
fclausse@pacbell.netHe would be pleased to hear from anybody with further information about Stephen Cropper.
© F. Claussen & K. Morris 2006