Napier

Submitted by edpope on

Napier 23.10.1801 at Cts (=future Mrs Godwin) / 14.7.1802 mrs Napier dines; adv J Napier & mrs Pagan / 8.8.1802 Napiers dine / 22.8.1802 again / 25.9.1802 Napier & miss Walsh adv at dinner / 29.9.1802 miss Walsh dines, Napier adv / 21.11.1802 mrs Napier calls / 28.12.1802 again / 9.1.1803 again / 11.1.1603 E Napier calls / 5.3.1803 W L White & mrs Napier dine / 10.3.1803 W L White & E Napier dine / 23.3.1803 E Napier dines / 6.4.1803 E Napier dines adv John Napier / 7.6.1803 E Napier calls / 25.6.1803 E Napier at tea / 7.3.1804 sup at Napier's with miss Walsh & miss Burt / 11.3.1804 Jno & V Napier, miss Walsh & miss Burt dine / 11.4.1804 sup at Napier's / 29.7.1804 J Napier calls / 23.9.1804 J, C & V Napier call / 29.3.1804 call on miss Walsh, adv miss Green & VN / 21.11.1804 mrs Napier dines / 6.12.1804 sup at E Napier's / 28.12.1804 call on Napier, for M J (=mrs Godwin) / 20.1.1805 Napier calls / 1.2.1805 S & V Napier dine / 21.5.1806 V Napier sups / 28.5.1806 V Napier dines / 5.7.1807 mrs Napier dines / 8.1.1808 mrs Napier calls / 9.1.1808 again / 23.5.1808 M & V Napier & miss Walsh sup / 8.9.1809 Vernon Napier calls / 13.11.1809 V Napier calls / 22.10.1810 write to mrs Napier / 12.8.1811 E Napier dines / 23.5.1814 E Napier calls / 5.3.1815 S Napier dines / 16.4.1815 again / 8.10.1815 mrs Napier dines / 21.10.1815 S Napier at tea / 12.6.1816 mrs Napier calls / 20.12.1816 again / 1.4.1817 adv 2 mrs Napiers at dinner / 1.8.1817 mes Napier call / 8.8.1817 Napier dines / 5.12.1817 mrs Napier dines / 9.6.1818 S Napier at tea / 11.6.1818 S Napier dines / 2.6.1819 mrs Napier calls / 9.11.1826 meet mrs Napier / 20.2.1827 mrs Napier calls / 13.3.1827 mrs Napier dines / 8.4.1827 again 

The will of John Napper of Tintinhull Somerset dated 18.4.1791 proved 26.8.1791 by widow Mary, mentioned his children John, Andrew Nathaniel, Charles George & Vernon. The spellings Napper and Napier seem to have been alternatives. The name Vernon Napier which Godwin used on 8.9.1809 was the clue here, but it is confirmed by the six appearances of Miss Walsh with the Napiers, John Napper's wife was Mary daughter of Captain Philip Walsh RN whose will PCC 1789 provided for his three youngest daughters, Phillis, Katherine & Margaret. The four Napier brothers were John Philip born 1782 who died 1830 Bombay Major of a battalion of Native Invalids, Andrew Nathaniel born 1785 Lt RN 1807 who served on the Prince of Wales 1809 and died in Guernsey 1821, Charles George born 1787 Major Royal Artillery who died 1846, and Vernon born 1789 who died 27.5.1817 at the house of his brother Charles at Brooke Hill, Woolwich, The mother and three of the sons account for the initials M, J, C and V,  and the E was probably Miss Eleanor Napier who received a legacy in the will 1808 of Elizabeth Burt (see Burt, Miss) and was presumably a sister or daughter of John Napper died 1791, though not mentioned in his will. According to an Ancestry user-submitted tree John Napper's mother was called Eleanor (she d.1782) and he had a sister Eleanor born 1757 and died 1779. Which still leaves an S who may have been a wife of one of the brothers. According to the Ancestry user-submitted tree, Charles Napier's first wife (but see comment below)  was Sarah Ann dau of C Lewin. His second wife whom he married on 31.7.1809 at the Cape of Good Hope where he was Chaplain to HM Forces Royal Artillery and aide de camp to the Governor (Earl of Caledon) was Maria van Ryneveld. The autograph of Mary Wollstonecraft's which G N initialled as received from Mr Godwin on 10.3.1803 (Shelley & his Circle SC 19, in Abinger?) adds a further initial which might have been Charles George but seems more likely to have been a misreading or an alternative name for E Napier, given that Godwin recorded E Napier dining that day.

Work notes
Eleanor Napier of Sherborne buried there 2.10.1840 age 90