Philippe Jacques STENGER

Philippe is one of very few people in my tree to get their own page despite not being related to me. This is mainly down to the fact that he is responsible for the most confusing part of my whole tree.

He married at least two of my relatives: he certainly married Ellen Dunshee, in Alloa in 1838.

He also married an Elizabeth Dunshee; that may have been Ellen’s sister Elizabeth, or it may have been her niece Elizabeth, daughter of Robert. Equally, he may have married both!

In the 1861 census, Philippe & Ellen’s daughter Barbara has a stepmother with her – she is named as Elizabeth Stenger, a widow, born in 1825 in Smethwick. With her are two children, Ellen (6) and Louisa (2), described as Barbara’s stepsisters and both born in America.

In July 1861, an Elizabeth Stenger, née Dunshee, gives birth to a son, Philip; the father is given as Philippe Jacques Stenger, deceased.

Given the age, it is reasonable to assume that the Elizabeth in the 1861 census was Ellen’s sister. She was actually born in 1825 in Dumbarton, but would have arrived in Smethwick at a very young age. If Barbara’s husband was giving the information, that would be an understandable mistake, and not an uncommon one.

However, to make things more complicated, in 1863, an Elizabeth Stanger, age 23 and a widow, marries one Joseph Beard. She gives her father’s name as Robert Dunshee. In 1871, she appears on the census with a daughter, who precedes the marriage – named Louisa, and born in the USA, almost certainly the same Louisa as appeared in 1861.

If it was Elizabeth the Elder on the 1861 census, I can find no record of her husband Alexander’s death; in fact, he never appears on any census. Also, if it was her, she never appears on any census ever again; if it wasn’t her, she never appears on any census – ever!

Elizabeth the Younger doesn’t appear elsewhere in 1861, so on that basis it could be her, but how can the age be 15 years out? And if it was her, then she’d have had the older daughter when she was only 15.

I have no idea whether I’ll ever find any record of the Amercian girls’ births, and if I did I don’t know if there would be enough information about their mother. The Philip born in 1864 is never heard of again. Neither is Ellen Stenger the Younger after 1861 or Louisa Stenger after 1871.

The death of a “Philip Stanger’, aged 45, was announced in the New York Herald on 17th December 1860. The death apparently happened in Kent Ave & Clymer St, Williamsburg. This date would fit the fact that he was dead by the time of the 1861 census, but father to a child born in July 1861.

Quite apart from all that, Philippe Jacques Stenger also seems to have been a more than competent, but undoubtedly flaky glass blower. He was well paid by Chance Brothers, and employed briefly as a manager, but there were a few riders built into the contract. He also went bust once 1846 and took the Hull Glass Company to court in 1848 for unpaid wages after getting sacked.

Davison Thomas, William Burdis and Philippe Stenger, sheet glass manufacturers, St Lawrence, near Newcastle, 31st Dec. Debts by Davison and Burdis.

Perry’s Bankruptcy and Insolvency Gazette, 9 January 1846

Yorkshire Summer Assizes

Tuesday July 18

Before Mr Justice Cresswell

Stenger v Hull Glass Company

This was an action brought by Mr Philip Stenger, a foreign gentleman, who has had considerable experience in the manufacture of glass, against the shareholders in the Hull Glass Company, to recover damages for his dismissal without notice from the service of the defendants, by whom he had been engaged as manager at a salary of £500 per annum. Mr Knowles and Mr Tomlinson appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr Martin and Mr Hugh Hill for the defence. After the plaintiff’s case had been opened, an arrangement was come to between the parties by which a verdict was taken for the plaintiff for £400.

The Leeds Times, 22 July 1848

Contract of employment between Philippe Jacques Stenger and Chance Brothers

15 June 1850, cancelled 18 July 1850

Manager of one or more sheet glass houses: £150 per annum + additional salary by blowing sheet glass (Hugs tariff) and shades at Wicht tariff.

“From Philippe Stenger’s peculiarities in founding, we have been enabled to shorten the period of our founding very nearly six house (upon the average), but the metal is somewhat (?) – a fault we can easily rectify. Under the cautious discipline of a superior mind, he may be made extremely useful. He is immediately sensible of an error (after it has been committed) and is more amenable to reason than impelled by bigotry.”

Agreement between Philippe Jacques Stenger and Chance Brothers

26/06/1854 – 26/06/1861

Philippe Stenger, sheet glass blower, guarantee £24 per 4 weeks. £4 per quarter rent. To be fined £5 every time he misses his work or leaves before end of day in consequence of his own neglect.

According to David Encill, a Chance Brothers expert I consulted:

Chance Brothers, from about 1832, started to hire French and Belgian glassblowers because of their ability to blow sheet glass (the skill of blowing long cylinders of glass, which were then flattened), something that the British had yet to learn. This was a valuable resource to the British, but a 'secret' process that was fiercely guarded by the French that they even had their own glasshouses within the works. The French were, consequently, paid very high salaries even though their work ethic could be somewhat lax, hence the £5 fine, I suspect!

'Shades' are those domed items that would cover food, or were used as to protect taxidermy, flowers, etc.

The influx of French and Belgian workers did cause conflict with the indigenous population. Not least the higher wages they earned, but also the cultural differences and at least one street fight was recorded. However, the practice of eating locally-caught frog's legs was adopted for a short time by the English and a street populated with the foreign workers was called French Street.

Philippe Stenger is a name that I may have seen while trawling the records at Sandwell Archives - I can't be sure. As a manager, I assume he had other skills and abilities. However, it was almost certainly due to his skills - blowing sheet glass (the peculiarity?) - that would have commanded his wage and respect. £6 a week was certainly a very high wage, but even £10 has been recorded. These workers would eventually retire very rich men and often ended up with their own estates.

Born:

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Married (1):

Children:

Married (2):

Children:

Where was he when:

Died:

20 September 1813

Woerth, 67360, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France

Jean Louis STENGER, 1780-1872