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Benham, William and Daniel, and Allied family papers

 Collection
Identifier: MS 296
Finding aid note: Stored off-site at the Library Service Center. Please request this material via woodson@rice.edu or call 713-348-2586.

Scope and Contents

This collection is composed of many items which have been tipped-in to a bound volume. These items include a Benham family tree, general historical survey, and original and facsimile correspondence between Benham family members. Included with the correspondence are several original envelopes with British stamps and wax seals. There are numerous journal entries by Daniel Benham (born in 1788) describing his childhood experiences in school as well as his mother’s death and his apprenticeship to his step father. However, he decides to join the British navy and his entries include his experiences as a stowaway, various encounters with illnesses, his eyewitness account of mutiny and the punishments, and his descriptions of the land and people he saw on voyages to America, Grenada, Barbados, and Antigua. Daniel sailed on several different ships including the British Sloop of War the “Columbine.” This collection also includes extracts of British Naval Officers’ diaries, daily journals of life at sea, newspaper clippings from the Grenada Gazette (1808), and family trees and histories of the Curtis family. Also included are birth certificates, family correspondence, burial certificates, and marriage licenses, all of the Benham family.

Dates

  • 1848

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

This material is open for research.This material is open for research. Stored off-site at the Library Service Center. Please request this material via woodson@rice.edu or call 713-348-2586.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish material from the William and Daniel Benham Family papers must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library.

Biographical / Historical

Daniel Benham was born in 1719, the son of William Benham, farmer and resident of Focott, Hampshire, England. Daniel married Sarah Holford of Silchester (1721-1786) and together they had a son named William. Daniel died in 1802. William Benham, (son of Daniel) born in September of 1753, was married to Ann Benham and together they had two children, Daniel and Ann. Daniel was born on October 20, 1788. Ann was born on April 18, 1790 and she died in 1829 at the age of 39 years old. William Benham died in October of 1793 at the young age of 36, and Ann Benham remarried Thomas Pitts, who was the stepfather to young Daniel and Ann, and who also took care of them after their mother passed away.

Extent

0.25 Linear Feet ( (1 folder))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Overview

This collection contains a Benham family tree, general historical survey, and original and facsimile correspondence between Benham family members. Included in the correspondence are some original envelopes with British stamps and wax seals. Items have been tipped-in to a bound volume.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection was purchased with funds from the History Department on March 13, 1963.

Subjects

Record Groups

Related Names

Creator

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title
Guide to the Benham, William and Daniel, and Allied Family Papers, circa 1848
Status
Completed
Date
2008
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Woodson Research Center, Rice University, Houston, Texas Repository

https://library.rice.edu/woodson
Contact:
Fondren Library MS-44, Rice University
6100 Main St.
Houston Texas 77005 USA

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Harmful Content Statement
© 2023 Woodson Research Center
Fondren Library, Rice University
Physical Address: 6100 Main, Houston, Texas 77005-1827
Mailing Address: MS-44, P.O. Box 1892, Houston, Texas 77251-1892