John Cayley (1730 - 1795)

Born 7 Oct 1730 in England

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah Anna (Cozens) Cayley — married 19 Dec 1756 in British Embassy, St Petersburg, Russia

Descendants

Died 28 Jul 1795 at age 64 in Richmond, Surrey, England

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Biography

John Cayley was born on 7 October 1730. He was the son of Cornelius Cayley and Elizabeth Smelt.^[1][2] He was baptised at Holy Trinity, Kingston-upon-Hull, Yorkshire on 24 October 1730.^[3]

John went to St Petersburg, Russia. After being apprenticed to the firm of Napier and Hassenfeller, he became a free member of the Russia Company and a partner in the firm of Ritter, Thornton, Cayley & Co., which was subsequently renamed Thornton, Cayley & Co and then (after his son John became a partner) Thornton, Cayley and Son.^[4]

On 19 December (old style - 30 December new style) 1756 John married Sarah Cozens.^[5] They had the following children:

• Elizabeth,^[5] baptised on 28 December 1757^[6]
• Sally, baptised on 16 April 1759, who died on 21 February 1760^[7]
• John, baptised on 17 April 1761^[8]
• Cornelius, baptised on 24 March 1762^[9]
• George, baptised on 9 March 1763^[10]
• Sally, baptised on 6 June 1764^[11]
• Ann, baptised on 29 June 1765, who died on 7 October 1766^[12]
• William, baptised on 28 June 1766^[13]
• Henry, baptised on 22 December 1768^[14]

In St Petersburg, John was a founding member of "the Perfect Union", a Freemason Lodge, becoming senior warden in 1771-2 and serving as Master in 1776.^[15] He was elected as a member of the English Club in St Petersburg in 1774, becoming a committee member the next year.^[4]

On 21 September 1787, the Russia Company recommended John for the position of British Consul-General in St Petersburg.^[16] He was duly appointed.^[17] He held this position until his death in 1795, along with that of Agent for the Russia Company,^[15] receiving an allowance of £300 a year.^[4] After becoming Consul-General he gave up trading as a merchant himself.^[4] According to one of his daughters, on one occasion, when he was waiting to be presented to the Russian Empress Catherine the Great, his periwig became caught in the drops of a chandelier and was detached, leading to his bald head being exposed when he bowed.^[4]

On 8 March 1794, John asked for a year's leave of absence from his duties as Consul-General on grounds of ill-health, requesting that his son John should carry out his responsibilities.^[18] Permission was granted and John came to England. On 25 June 1795, writing from London, John requested a year's extension of his leave of absence.^[19]

John died very shortly afterwards, on 28 July 1795, at the house of a daughter in Richmond, Surrey. The Gentleman's Magazine described him as "universally regretted for his amiable manner and excellent qualifications."^[20] The daughter was probably Elizabeth who married William Henry Poggenpohl.

John's will was dated 16 June 1794 (old style - 27 June new style).^[5]

Research Notes

ThePeerage.com gives John's death date as 9 July 1795, citing Burke's Peerage.^[21] The Gentleman's Magazine for 1795 gives a death date of 28 July.^[20]

"On the Banks of the Neva" shows his father as Matthew, which is incorrect.

Sources

1. ↑ http://www.thepeerage.com/p21227.htm#i212263
2. ↑ Burke's Peerage 1938, p. 534
3. ↑ Yorkshire baptisms, FindMyPast original source: https://search.findmypast.co.uk/record/browse?id=gbprs%2fyorkshire%2f007587752%2f00198
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4} Anthony Cross. By the Banks of the Neva Chapters from the Lives and Careers of the British in Eighteenth-Century Russia, Cambridge University Press, 1997, pp. 63-64
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} Anthony Cross. By the Banks of the Neva, pp. 84-86
6. ↑ "Россия Рождения и крещения, 1755-1917", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XT69-JLB : 9 February 2020), Элизабет Кейли, 1757
7. ↑ "Россия Рождения и крещения, 1755-1917", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XT69-5QX : 9 February 2020), Салли Кейли, 1759
8. ↑ "Россия Рождения и крещения, 1755-1917", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XT6S-7P2 : 9 February 2020), Джон Кейли, 1761
9. ↑ "Россия Рождения и крещения, 1755-1917", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XT6S-W51 : 9 February 2020), Корнелус Кейли, 1762
10. ↑ "Россия Рождения и крещения, 1755-1917", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XT69-BQ8 : 9 February 2020), Джеордж Кейли, 1763
11. ↑ "Россия Рождения и крещения, 1755-1917", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XT69-5QJ : 9 February 2020), Салли Кейли, 1764
12. ↑ Russia Births & Baptisms 1755-1917, FindMyPast
13. ↑ "Россия Рождения и крещения, 1755-1917", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XT6S-358 : 9 February 2020), Уиллам Кейли, 1766
14. ↑ Russia Births & Baptisms 1755-1917, FindMyPast
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1} Anthony Cross. By the Banks of the Neva, pp. 29-31
16. ↑ Minutes of the General Court of the Russia Company, the National Archives, ref. FO65/15 folio 268
17. ↑ John Cayley's letter of thanks for the appointment, sent to Lord Carmarthen (Foreign Secretary), dated St Petersburg, 22 October 1787, the National Archives, ref. ref FO65/15 XC017200
18. ↑ Letter of 8 March 1794 from John Cayley to Lord Grenville, the National Archives, ref. FO65/26 XC23140
19. ↑ Letter of 25 June 1795 from John Cayley to Lord Grenville, the National Archives, ref. FO65/30 XC21073
20. ↑ ^{20.0 20.1} The Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. 78 (1795), p. 705, entry for death on 28 July 1795, Google Books
21. ↑ http://www.thepeerage.com/p21227.htm#i212263

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• https://vukutu.com/blog/2017/08/roger-hollis-and-elli/