James METCALF (~1750-1795), Diamond Cutter

Phebe METCALF, my 4x great grandmother, was born in London in 1784 to parents James and Elizabeth. There were two possible marriages for my ancestors: James Metcalf and Elizabeth FORREST at St Botolph Bishopsgate, London in 1773, and James Metcalf and Elizabeth KEEN at St Luke Old Street in 1783, and it took some time to work out which was mine. I eventually concluded that I was descended from the couple who married in 1783 (see this article for how I did it), but in the process I uncovered the history of the other James Metcalf, who went from the Yorkshire Dales to a highly-skilled job in London, and eventually to India.

In May 1773, a few months after the 1773 marriage, a James and Elizabeth Metcalf had a daughter Mary baptised at St Luke Old Street, which looked very promising. (Mary was buried later the same year.) The register entry describes James as a Diamond Cutter, and this was my first lead. A skilled job like this would almost certainly require an apprenticeship, and it didn't take long to find James in the Board of Stamps records of apprenticeships and taxes. According to these, James Metcalf, son of James Metcalf of Grassington, WRY, was apprenticed in 1764 to Henry POTTER, a Citizen and Farrier of London.

On a trip to the Guildhall Library in London I was able to look at the records of the Farriers' Company. These confirmed the information I had found, and further indicated that on completion of his servitude in 1771, James had been admitted a freeman of the Company. Their last reference to him was in 1794, when, rather intriguingly, he was said to be "of Bengall".

What of the meantime, though? From the IGI I already had a list of possible children of James and Elizabeth in London and surrounding counties, but hadn't worked out whether any of them might belong to them. However, the Farriers' Company records yielded another clue: Henry Potter, James's master, was recorded as living in St Albans, HRT, from 1767 onwards - and there were two possible sons born there at the right sort of time: James "MEDCAFT" in 1774, and William in 1776. Hertfordshire Archives sent me copies of these, and while they didn't give James's occupation, it did at least seem a strong possibility that these were his sons.

It was now looking less likely that this James was my ancestor: this one was quite possibly in St Albans in 1776 and definitely in Bengal by 1794, whereas mine was in London in 1784 and his daughter Phebe (my ancestor) in Leeds by 1802. From the Leeds records evidence was building to suggest that I was descended from the 1783 marriage to Elizabeth Keen (see this article), but I still wanted something relating to the Metcalf-Forrest family which would confirm (or refute) these tentative conclusions. Fortunately, a trip to the London Metropolitan Archives provided just what I needed.

Given that James Metcalf had married in London, there seemed a reasonable chance that his wife was from there, and I hoped that I might find a will for one of her ancestors which would shed some light on the family. Sure enough, the LMA had the will of a James Forrest (proved London Consistory Court 1788), which named his daughter Elizabeth (now Metcalf) and his grandsons James and William Metcalf, both aged under 21 years, who matched the St Albans baptisms perfectly. No mention at all of my ancestor Phebe, born in 1784, so at last I felt secure in concluding that James Metcalf and Elizabeth Forrest were an entirely different family from mine.

James's story doesn't finish there, though. I was still intrigued to find out more about the lad from Grassington who had ended up cutting diamonds in India, and two further snippets of information came my way. First, in the records of the India Office there is a reference to the baptism in 1789 of Charles, the illegitimate son of James Metcalf, a diamond cutter. Second, the Metcalfe Society's list of burials include that of James Metcalfe, a diamond cutter, who was buried in Fort William, India in 1795.

(Since I first wrote this article, a correspondent has been in touch to tell me that according to the Calcutta Gazette, Vol. 4 Issue 92, 1 December 1785, the diamond-cutting firm of Potters in Calcutta closed in 1785, and the equipment was sold to Mr Chator Moratcan, an Armenian pearl and diamond merchant. It seems reasonable to assume that Potters of Calcutta had some connection with Henry Potter of London and St Albans, and that this is what led to James Metcalfe going out to Bengal. James appears to have continued in his profession after 1785, but I cannot say whether this was on his own account, or in association with Mr Moratcan or someone else entirely.)

All of this raises a number of questions. Did Elizabeth and the boys James and William go out to India, or was James the father out there on his own? Did they ever know about Charles, the illegitimate son? And did Charles ever learn anything of his English heritage? I haven't attempted to trace James's ancestry; the dates of his apprenticeship suggest he was born about 1750, and as we have his father's name it should be possible to make some progress with that. However, for now I leave these questions to others who may be connected with this family.

To satisfy my own curiosity, I would be interested to hear from anyone who has any more information, and I'd be happy to publish it here if you agree. You can get in touch with me via this page.