(001) James Curniss (B) ?. ?. - (D) ?. ?.

(002) Edward Curniss (B) ?. ?. - (D) ?. ?.

(590) William Curness (B) 1766. ?. ?. - (D) 8th Feb 1839. Lambeth. London.

As I do not know the origins of the name Curess, so I have made this the starting of the Tree. I have treated James, Edward and William as brothers although they might not be related at all. I have also added Elizabeth as William's wife, as sadly both William and Elizabeth died as paupers in the Lambeth Workhouse. I did not know this until among a some of the certificates I have purchased over the years, were two death certificates for an Elizabeth Curniss and a William Curness who died in 1838 and 1839 respectively. The first record I have for the name Curness was the christening of a John Curness in St Katherine by the Tower, London on 5th August 1735. His parents were John and Mary. In reading the document, the date of the day of the month is on the left hand side and the age of the child in days is on the right hand side, thus according to the document if I have read it right, John's christening was the 5th of August so therefore he was born on the 6th July 1735. Between John's Baptism and the Marriage of Edward and his wife Harriot in 1791 I have found a number of isolated entries for the Curness surname but none that I can tie to the tree. Up until the middle of 1837 all births, baptism, marriage and death details were in parish records and I have only found two sets of records that pertain to the Tree. One for London itself and the other for Greenwich. These parish records only contain details of births, christenings and marriages but none for deaths, so at this stage I have only two records of deaths prior to the middle of 1837. I would estimate that at least thirteen members of the Curness family died between 1795 and 1837 (see list below). If you check out Edward's contribution, you will see that his part of the tree did not go far as he and his wife Harriot had five daughters and a son, but the son must have died in infancy, so the line died out.

This is the list of people I believe died between 1796 and 1837. (CA 001)) (MA 002))

(1) Ann Curniss (nee ?)

(2) Elizabeth Curniss

(3) James Curniss

(4) Catherine Curniss (nee Watson)

(5) Catherine Curness

(6) Edward Curniss

(7) Harriott Curniss (nee Moore)

(8) Edward James Carnis

(9) James Curness

(10) Hannah Curness (nee Parkins)

(11) Charlotte Curness

(12) James Curness

(13) Hannah Curness

(14) George Henry Curness

(15) William Edwin Curness

I have now found two entries for burials highlighted red and although they don't give much information about the deceased except the name and age, I do believe them to be the people I have highlighted.

The difference in the spelling between Curness and Curniss was due I believe too most people at the time being unable to read or write and most documents were written down phonetically by clerks or clergy. I have the Curness name written down as Carness, Carnis, Cairness, Curneys and Curnett and I am sure there are others.