Talk:John Frost (Chartist)

Marriage

When was Frost married and how many times? I noticed a recent article in the South Wales Argus about the 17th century church St David's in Bettws, Newport, being in need of a £40,000 face lift. It claimed:

"John Frost, who led protests for universal suffrage in Newport in the 1830s, was married at the church after he came back from Australia."

But surely Frost was married as a young man? Well before the Newport Rising? It seems his daughter Catherine actually joined him in Tasmania after he was deported. Martinevans123 (talk) 22:04, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

At this site there is this report: "We understand that Mr. John Frost, the old Chartist, died at his daughter's home in Stapleton, Bristol on 27th inst. at the ripe old age of 93. Mr. John Frost, prior to the lamentable outbreak in which he was the prime leader, commenced business in Newport as a tailor and draper in 1811, in a house belonging to his step-father, near the Royal Oak, Mill Street. Shortly after this he married a widow named Geach, who, with her two children, resided with her uncle, Mr. William Foster, a member of the old Corporation and Mayor of the Borough in the years 1804, 1812 and 1817. At Mr. Foster's demise Mrs. Frost and her children derived a handsome property. By Mr. Frost, she became the mother of two sons and five daughters........" The booklet Monmouth and the Chartists, by David J Harrison, states: "[After he returned to England in 1856,] John Frost joined his wife in Stapleton, north east of Bristol....His wife was ailing, and lived less than a year after his return. Catherine, who had accompanied her father around the world, returned to Tasmania.." Ghmyrtle (talk) 22:43, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

How intriguing. So does this mean Frost already had two sons and three daughters, when he married the widow Geach, one of whom was Catherine? BMD and/or census records might repay a visit. Martinevans123 (talk) 23:04, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

My interpretation of the words "By Mr. Frost, she became the mother of two sons and five daughters..." would be that they had those children together, after they were married, but I could be wrong. Ghmyrtle (talk) 23:49, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Well, that would make perfect sense. The index here [1] suggests that any record of the pre-1837 Frost marriage might be difficult to find. It's quite possible of course he did marry again after his first wife's death, although why he'd return to Bettws from Stapleton to marry is unclear. It seems more likely that The South Wales Argus got the timing of the marriage wrong. Maybe the records at St David's in Bettws, if there are any, might set the record straight? Martinevans123 (talk) 21:45, 25 January 2010 (UTC)