Henry Draper, elder brother of John Draper.

He

Henry Draper was the first born child of Henry Draper and his wife Anne. As can be seen above, he was baptised at Edmonton on June 25, 1758.

Not much is known about Henry Draper the Younger. We know that he was apprenticed by his father as a young man to London carpenter Epiphranius Poole. He was apprenticed to Epiphranius Poole from 1772 until 1779. After completing his apprenticeship, he seems to have settled in the Enfield district.

There is no record of a marriage for Henry Draper, and no reference to a wife when he wrote his will in 1834.

Burial of Frances Banks Draper, widow of John Draper.

Above: The burial entries for Frances Draper, widow of John, from the parish registers of St. Andrews, Enfield. They note that she is the widow of both John Draper and her first husband Banks, but unfortunately don't mention his first name, which I just can't discover!

John Draper's Will.

Above: The will of murder victim John Draper, written five years before his demise at the Bald-faced Stag at Enfield Chase, Middlesex.

" In the Name of God. Amen. I, John Draper, of the parish of Enfield in the County of Middlesex, Wheelwright, being of sound mind and memory do make this my last will and testament, at the same time revoking all former wills made by me declaring this to be my last will and testament.

I desire my body to be decently interred in the churchyard of this parish as near to my former wife as possible and hereby direct that my funeral expenses and all my just debts be paid as soon as convenient after my decease by my executors hereinafter named.

First I give and bequest unto my son DAVID DRAPER, cordwainer of the parish of Edmonton in the County of Middlesex one half of my real and personal estates, money in the Bank of England and everything I am possessed of whatsoever or wheresoever for his sole use and benefit. I also give and bequeath unto my daughter ELIZABETH WAGER the other half of my real and personal estates and money in the bank of England and everything I am possessed of whatsoever and wheresoever In trust for ___ her heirs forever and I do hereby appoint my executors hereinafter named trustees to my said daughter Elizabeth Wager and her heirs. I do also give and bequeath unto my present wife FRANCES DRAPER one third of my freehold estate with the stock in trade, household furniture and effects which she now enjoys at her dwelling house at Forty Hill in this parish on condition of her paying and satisfying all the just debts which may have been __ by her at any time previous to my decease and I do hereby appoint my brother HENRY DRAPER, Carpenter, and DAVID BECK, Gentleman, both of this parish joint executors and trustees of this my last Will and Testament to which I have hereunto set my hand and seal this twenty sixth day of August in the Year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eleven.

John Draper. Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of John Walker, Thomas Bliss and John Davis.

8 February 1817. Admin (will ann.) of the goods __ of John Draper late of the Parish of Enfield in the County of Middlesex was granted to David Draper the son and Elizabeth Wager(wife of Thomas Wager) the daughter the residuary legatees having been first sworn duly ___ Henry Draper the brother and David Beck the executors___first ___.

The mystery of John Draper's insolvency

Above: A directory from the 1790s (1790-97) showing that John Draper was still a wheelwright in Enfield. He was still a wheelwright in 1811 when he wrote his last will and testament.

One of the most interesting things to come out of James Tuck's trial for the murder of John Draper was the fact that John had somehow lost his wealth prior to his death and had at one stage declared insolvency.
One of the witnesses called to the stand first alerted me to this piece of information. His testimony stated that he was one of the pugilists residing at the Bald-faced Stag with James Tuck. They were sitting at breakfast on the morning of August 8th when they saw John Draper pass. Robert Crouch testified that James Tuck said to him"Here comes old Draper, as good an old fellow as ever was." They had a conversation about him, during which James Tuck told the fighter that John Draper had previously been in good circumstances financially, but was now "reduced to serve summonses for the Court of Requests".

The following statement came from Crouch's testimony as recorded on the Oldbaileyonline website:

"I was there on the morning of the 8th, I saw the deceased come up to the house that morning, he had a horse and cart, and said he was going to Barnet, The prisoner spoke to him kindly; he spoke of him before he came up to the house; we were at breakfast, and the window was open, and we saw the deceased coming up with the horse and cart; and the prisoner said, here is Mr. Draper coming, as good an old man as ever lived; he said he understood he had been a man of considerable property, but through some misconduct of his own or law affairs, his relations got it. They shook hands together through the window, when Draper came up; there seemed to be a cordiality and friendship between them."

When David Draper, John's brother, appeared as a witness later in the trial, he was questioned on his brother's financial difficulties. He stated that his brother had been "unfortunate", and had been insolvent about two or three years ago. The great amount of money that John Draper had with him at the time of his death was not his, but the money of others that he had collected as part of his job.

I have combed the newspapers and The London Gazette for mention of this insolvency in the period 1812-1815, all to no avail. It is an area of John Draper's life that I will continue to chip away at in order to discover the circumstances of his financial decline.

Burial record of John Draper.

Jackson's Oxford Journal, September 28, 1816.

From The Morning Post, September 21, 1816.