Alexander Cunningham

Alexander Cunningham

Alexander Cunningham, c1765-1797

• Alexander Cunningham was born say 1765 in England.
• He married Anne E. (?) circa 1794 in England, but no record has yet been discovered.
• His wife Anne E. (?) became a widow at his death.
• Alexander Cunningham died in 1797 at sea, returning from Martinique, according to circumstantial evidence.
• It is likely that Ann Cunningham who married James Anthony Torbert was "Ann Rees John Cunningham, daughter of the late Alexander Cunningham Master Mariner by Ann," christened at Saint George-in-the-East, Stepney, London, on 21 June 1797, birth date recorded as 25 December 1795. Further, on 20 July 1797, Ann Cunningham petitioned the Corporation of Trinity House: "The Humble Petition of Ann Cunningham widow of Alexander Cunningham, Aged 23 Years, Sheweth that your Petitioner’s Husband Alex’r Cunningham was bred to the Sea and served there as a Master – Commander of the Brig Lucy w’h sailed from London to Martinico – left with one Infant ten months old – the Father died on his passage home – Having one child aged two Years. . . . We recommend her as a proper Object of the Corporation's Charity. As Witness our Hands, the Seventh Day of July 1797. Wm ?Clappeson?, Herbert Mayo D.D. Rector of St George Midx, John Butlor Church Warden, Elijah Goff Church Warden." We find this circumstantial evidence very persuasive, as much of it fits with vague family lore about Alexander Cunningham and "the islands."
        According to family lore, Ann and Alexander Cunningham’s daughter Ann was "a playmate of Princess Charlotte who would have been queen. . . ." (presumably referring to the daughter of Charles IV, born 7 January 1796).

• Last Edited: 17 Nov 2012