Three Valentines



On February 14th, the obvious people to feature from my CLOSE one-name study today are three members of one family named Valentine CLOSE. 

Valentine CLOSE (1747-1822)

At the head of the family is Valentine CLOSE (the family possibly originally used the German surname CLOSS) who was born in 1747 in Neukirchen, Hessen, according to submitted records in Familysearch.org – yet to be verified from original sources – although his March 1822 obituary gives an age of 76, indicating a birth year of about 1745.
Neukirchen  - photo by Judith Kieling – google.com/maps

Thanks to a lengthy obituary in the Evangelical Magazine and Missionary Chronicle, Volume 30, details of his colourful life have been preserved for posterity.  Valentine was born of Christian parents belonging to the Lutheran church.  At the age of about seventeen, in order to escape military service, he left home, as the Evangelical Magazine reports, “with, at most, but the partial consent of his parents” with the intention of taking refuge with an uncle’s family in London.  He spent some time in the Netherlands, where he continued to be in fear of being arrested for desertion, he disguised himself and took on various jobs, including working in a baker’s shop.  He continued his westward travels by night to avoid detection, and eventually boarded a ship and reached his uncle’s residence in London. 

It appears that Valentine became a partner in his uncle’s earthenware manufacturing business. Some time later this uncle sent him to the Staffordshire potteries on business. It was there that he met and married Hannah HARRISON, a native of Derbyshire, on 6 August 1782 in Tutbury, Staffordshire.  The couple settled in Hanley, Staffordshire, where Valentine set up his own business and left the partnership with his uncle in November 1782, as recorded in The Gazette of 29 April 1783.
The Gazette, 29 April 1783, p.4

Although the obituary does not name the uncle in London, it is more than likely he was the Adam MANTZ named in the Gazette announcement.  FamilySearch submitted records indicate that Valentine’s mother was Anna Catharina MANTZ, and this is corroborated by the fact that Valentine named one of his sons Valentine Mantz CLOSE.  In fact, the marriage was blessed with eleven children, five of whom probably died young, since only six are named in their father’s will of 1822. 

According to the 1822 obituary, Valentine had been a member of the Tabernacle Independent Church for 35 years and a deacon for 25 years, implying that it would have been about 1787 when both Valentine and his wife Hannah embraced Christianity.  Although Valentine is said to have made a great deal of money from his pottery business, he was reputed to have been so generous and trusting that he allowed people to take advantage of his wealth, and notices in The Gazette bear witness to the fact that by 1813 he was bankrupt.  The obituary notes that he accepted this with ‘holy resignation’, quoting from the book of Job: “The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Valentine Mantz CLOSE (1788-1849)

Valentine and Hannah’s son, Valentine Mantz CLOSE, settled in Boston, Lincolnshire, where he was described as a “chinaman”. He was initially trading there as a dealer in glass, china and earthenware together with his father, as Valentine Close & Son – but this partnership was dissolved on 1st June 1809 – although it was not announced in The Gazette until 6 March 1810.  Valentine junior married Mary Ann ASHLIN about 1812, and they had seven children, all of whom survived into adulthood.  It seems that he abandoned the china trade in later life, being described variously as a ‘collector of taxes’ and a ‘collector of poor rates’.  Valentine Mantz CLOSE died on 3 September 1849 in Boston, Lincolnshire.  The 1862 National Probate Calendar names his executor as one of his sons, Henry Valentine CLOSE, gentleman.

Henry Valentine CLOSE (1815 – 1892)

This third Valentine in the family appears to have lived his entire life in Boston, Lincolnshire. In addition to being described as a ‘gentleman’ in various records, he also evidently followed in his father’s footsteps and was a collector of rates from the 1841 to the 1881 census, is described as ‘living on his own means’ in 1891, and by the 1893 National Probate Calendar as an accountant. He was clearly more careful with his money than his grandfather had been, and left £1,713 9s – quite a substantial sum in 1892.

More to come …

There is much more I could say about other members of this family – but I have restricted myself to the above-mentioned three Valentines for today.  Material for  a future blog, perhaps?

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