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Insolvency Case and where to find Records help

debbieironmonger

master brummie
Hello, I have tried searching on here as I am looking for some advice on how to find further information about one my ancestors. As I couldn't find the advice I am looking for I am hoping that someone will be able to help.

I have found an Insolvency Notice in the London Gazette 21st May 1850. Issue number: 21097 Page number: 1473:
In the Matter of the Petition of Abraham Ward Rhodes....... NOTICE is hereby given, that the County Court of Warwickshire, at Birmingham, acting in the matter of this Petition, will proceed to make a Final Order thereon, at the said Court, on the 10th day of June next, at two o'clock in the afternoon precisely, unless cause be then and there shewn to the contrary.

However, I have so far been unable to find any further notices. And, there was a Notice of sale by Auction of Property in the Birmingham Gazette - Monday 11 June 1849:
TO BE SOLD by AUCTION, by Messrs. CHESSHIRE JL and SON, on Wednesday next the 13th day of June, at the White Hart Inn, Digbeth, Birmingham, at four o'clock in the afternoon, LOT ll—The HOUSE, RETAIL SHOP, and PREMISES, No. 39, High-street, Deritend, with the Rooms over the gateway.

I would like to find out what estate consisted of (not much I would think!) and what ultimately happened to the property. I have a couple of questions I am hoping you can help me with:

Does anyone know how I can go about finding copies of the Court Registers pertaining to the insolvency case?...and,

Is there anyway I could find out more detail about the sale of the Property?

Regards, Debbie.
 
In case you are not aware of this, the 1845 Post Office directory lists Abraham Rhodes as a fire iron maker at court 9. Deritend High St, which was then behind no 39 (numbering changed later. The court is shown in blue on the map below.
In the 1845 directory the occupants of the court are listed as
9 COURT—
Ferney Saml. hinge maker
Thomas John, chain maker
Rhodes Abrhm. fire iron maker
Bishop Thos. scale beam maker
Smith Geo. edge tool maker
Knowles Saml. spike maker

In the 1850 directory the occupants listed were:
9 COURT :—
Ferney Samuel, hinge maker
Thomas John, chain maker
Danks James, fire iron maker
Coles Thomas, file cutter
Smith Geo.edge tool & hammer maker
Knowles Samuel, spike maker

I think it reasonable to guess that the person who purchased Rhodes premises was James Danks.

map c1889 showing court 9 Deritend high St.jpg
 
I did wonder that Mike, and thanks for the map it's great. In the following years, Abraham is recorded at 105 Upper Trinity Street and in 158 Adderley Street Deritend. However, in 1866, he appears in the court again: RHODES Abraham Ward, fire iron maker, 9 Court, High Street Deritend; h. 158 Adderley Street. (I assume this meant he lived in Adderley St and worked at 9 Court) I'm thinking now that maybe he rented the premises to James Danks as Abraham appears in the court in 1883. Do you think this is possible? It's just strange that he's an insolvent in 1850, appearing to sell his property, then returning just over 10 years later??
 
Debbie,

I'll add a little to what Eric said and that is in addition to publication in the London Gazette, the same Notices must appear in a local newspaper as well. That is to protect local suppliers who are unlikely to subscribe to the London Gazette. Hence, the original Notice appeared in the Birmingham Mail dated 27 April 1850, a list of names of similar failed businessmen, including Abraham, who had had the Examination into their affairs performed appeared in Aris's Daily Gazette dated 6 May 1850, and then finally a summary of their history and a date set for the Final Order you mentioned is the one below, reproduced from the Birmingham Journal dated 18 May 1850, which will be similar to the London Gazette entry you already have.

When the Final Order date has been given, it is most unlikely that someone is going to suddenly come up with the funds to pay all of his debts, the only way he will avoid bankruptcy. That was the purpose of the Examination - Courts don't want to go through this procedure if there is a possibly of avoiding it. In the event of a great aunt suddenly dying and leaving him a large sum of money and thus cancelling the procedure, then you would have found a futher Notice in the London Gazette. As well as trying to get the best deal for his creditors, the Court is also there to protect the debtor from further action by them.

Maurice :cool:

Rhodes2.jpg
 
Thanks for that explanation Maurice, it's beginning to make more sense now. In light of what you said about the Final Order, ans as I can't find a further notice after the one you have shown, (Final Order) would it be fair to assume he paid his debts? or would he have been made bankrupt?
 
Debbie,

He would have been made formally bankrupt and at that time most likely have been sent to prison. Following the insolvent Debtors (England) Act of 1813, debtors could request release after being jailed for 14 days as long as their debts did not exceed twenty pounds (equivalent to approximately £1,200 in 2014). They were still at the mercy of their creditors, however, and if any objected, they had to stay inside. However, we're into a bit of a woolly area as from the Bankruptcy Act of 1869, the immediate threat of prison no longer existed if he. could satisfy the Court that he had been honest in declaring his income and all of his debts.

I only studied bankruptcy as a small part of an accountancy course over 60 years ago, and was only required to study it from the period of the 1920s. The position of Official Receiver, who job it is to carry out the instructions of the Court, did not exist until created by the Brankruptcy Act of 1883, so I'm not sure of the exact mechanism that applied in Abraham's day. Neither do we know what his final net debt was as that would have a big bearing on how long he stayed in prison. Sorry that I can't be a bit more specific than that, but I think it's unlikely that many records have survived from 1850.

Maurice :cool:
 
My gt gt grandfather went bankrupt and he was living around the same area. I had to go down the route to get info as to why or what made that happen and that was through National archives. There was 8 pages A3 and they wanted £10 per page.
 
You can visit the National Archives and look through records - they are now in Kew - but I imagine it would take alot longer to find information that it would for the staff who know exactly where everything is.
I guess that's what you're paying for but it still sounds rather excessive!
 
I'm not sure how good the search engine is on the National Archives site, but it brings up "0 results" for both "Abraham Ward Rhodes" and "Abraham Rhodes".

Maurice :cool:
 
My gt gt grandfather went bankrupt and he was living around the same area. I had to go down the route to get info as to why or what made that happen and that was through National archives. There was 8 pages A3 and they wanted £10 per page.

I looked at the National Archives on another related matter when an ancestor of mine filed a claim in chancery regarding the 'Jennens Millions' there were too many pages for me to have copied I worked out it would have cost me around £600 to have them. I have yet to visit Kew to view them.
 
I'm not sure how good the search engine is on the National Archives site, but it brings up "0 results" for both "Abraham Ward Rhodes" and "Abraham Rhodes".

Maurice :cool:

No, I couldn't find anything either, its a puzzle in my family history that I keep coming back to from time to time. I do know that he returned to the business, presumably as a sole trader as he is listed in Trade Directories. Thank you for your explanations on this they have been helpful, If you do ever come across more information, I would be pleased to hear it. x
 
Wow thanks Maurice, they’re interesting and another source of info I didn’t know about. I have come to the conclusion my ancestors life must have been very frustrating, interesting for me but very sad for him and his family x
 
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