21 January 2020

8. John and Anne Wilson of Shropshire

The Wilson name is derived from the first name Will. The name is probably most common in Yorkshire but we have several generations in Shropshire. Whitney means 'white island', and may derive from a place in Herefordshire.

For the record, and with the usual cautions, my oldest direct ancestors we know about in this part of the family are: Thomas Willson (1718), Anne Bayley (1715), Thomas Fox (1702), Richard Cureton (1700) and Anne Whitney (1776).

St Mary's Church, Shrewsbury (my photo)

John Wilson (1769) married Anne Whitney (1776) at St Mary's, Shrewsbury in 1808. They had five children:
  • 36.2.1 - Elizabeth Wilson (1808)
  • 36.2.2 - Mary Wilson (1810)
  • 36.2.3 - Anne Wilson (1812)
  • 36.2.4 - Thomas Wilson (1814)
  • 36.2.5 - John Wilson (1816)
There is more on these individuals in Chapter 36.

In 1841, John was a carpenter living in Ford, nr Shrewsbury. He died in 1851. Anne lived on her own until her death in 1863.


Next       (or skip to Part II)

7. Richard and Susanna Barnard of Essex

The Barnard surname is derived from the first name Bernard. Some of the Barnard family in England may have been French Huguenot Protestants; some of our family appear in non-conformist registers. The name is most common in eastern England, especially Essex, which is where our family were from. The Livermore surname probably comes from Livermere in Suffolk.

For the record, and with the usual cautions, my oldest direct ancestors we know about in this part of the family are: John Barnard (1702), Roberti Pasfield (1716), Thomas Livermore (1708), Mary Colse (1708), William Yalden (1708), Abraham Milbank (1641), Symon Brecknock (1608) and Anne Reeve (1650).

Richard Barnard was born in 1775 in Good Easter nr Chelmsford. The name 'Good Easter' does not refer to the Christian festival but to an old English word for sheep fold, the 'Good' referencing to the fold's female owner GodgythChelmsford is a market town, which originally grew up around a Roman fort, and a medieval bridge. It was made a City in 2012. My photos are here.

Susanna Livermore was born in 1771 in Barnston, nr Dunmow.

Barnston church (credit)

They married in 1792 in Little Dunmow, and had thirteen children.

Little Dunmow church (credit)
 Woodham Walter's 'Village Design Statement' says "The late medieval period saw the building of a moated Manor House in Woodham Walter with an extensive deer park, which was to become the base for the powerful Fitzwalter family and the Ratcliffes, their female line descendants. By 1744, the estate had been sold and turned into farms by the Fytch family. One such farm, the Warren, was later to become the home of The Warren Golf Club." In between times, it was where Richard and Susanna started to bring up their family.

Woodham Walter church (credit)
Maldon is a market town on the Blackwater estuary, famous for its 'Saltmarsh coast' and Maldon Sea Salt. When it was the only town in Essex bar Colchester, it was overrun by the Vikings in the Battle of Maldon in 991. In 1956, it became the home of the first self-service Tesco. While our ancestors were living nearby, the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation was constructed to run from a sea lock near Maldon to Chelmsford. Maldon was also a base for the precursors to Thames sailing barges. My photos of the town are here.

Later children were born in Great Burstead nr Billericay, or in Dagenham. Billericay has some pleasing Georgian properties which may have been familiar to our ancestors. Dagenham was laid out on a north-south axis to share the marshes by the river, the agricultural land in the centre and the woods and commons on the high ground in the north. It was protected from the Thames by defences built by Dutch engineers in the C17.

There is no census information on Richard, but Susanna was listed as a pauper in 1851, eight years after Richard's death. More encouragingly, all but two of the children survived into at least middle age, and there is no record of the other two dying in childhood.

Richard and Susanna's children were:
  • 36.1.1 - Elias Barnard (1793)
  • 36.1.2 - Nancy Barnard (1794)
  • 36.1.3 - Maryann Barnard (1796)
  • 36.1.4 - Richard Barnard (1797)
  • 36.1.5 - Benjamin Barnard (1799)
  • 36.1.6 - Jabez Barnard (1800)
  • 36.1.7 - Mahala Barnard (1802)
  • 36.1.8 - Betsy Barnard (1804)
  • 36.1.9 - Abram Barnard (1806)
  • 36.1.10 - Isaac Barnard (1807)
  • 36.1.11 - Jacob Barnard (1809)
  • 36.1.12 - John Barnard (1810)
  • 36.1.13 - Lois Barnard (1813)
There is more on these individuals in Chapter 36.

Next

20 January 2020

6. John and Margaret Cartwright of Shropshire

The Cartwright name comes from the trade. Our family was based around Much Wenlock, a small market town nr Telford in Shropshire, which originally grew up around an abbey, founded around 680 by Merewalh, son of King Penda of Mercia. My photos are here (the abbey ruins were closed...).

Much Wenlock church (my photo)

For the record, and with the usual cautions, my oldest direct ancestors we know about in this part of the family are: Henry Cartwright (1682), William Duddell (1689), James Lewis (1671), Elisabeth Dawes (1710), John Bradney (1744) and Richard Henshaw (1703).

Henry's son Henry's son Henry's son Henry's son was... John (1788). John probably married Margaret (1783) around 1809 and they had two children:
  • 35.2.1 - Margaret Cartwright (1810, Tettenhall nr Wolverhampton)
  • 35.2.2 - Sarah Cartwright (1811, Little Wenlock)
Henry also had a daughter Sarah who had a daughter with James Clayton:
  • 35.3.1 - Sarah Clayton (1801, Dawley, now in Telford)
There will be more on these individuals in Chapter 35.

In later life, John and Margaret lived in Coalbrookdale, a village in the Ironbridge Gorge, a settlement of great significance in the history of iron ore smelting. This is where iron ore was first smelted by Abraham Darby using easily mined "coking coal". The coal was drawn from drift mines in the sides of the valley. As it contained far fewer impurities than normal coal, the iron it produced was of a superior quality. This discovery was a major factor in the growing industrialisation of Britain, which was to become known as the Industrial Revolution. My photos of Coalbrookdale are here

In 1841, John was described as a fitter, like some of his neighbours; others were iron turners and moulders. In 1851, he was a retired brass founder.




5. John and Ann Lambert of Shropshire

The Lambert name is derived from a Germanic first name. It gained popularity in Britain in the Middle Ages with the immigration of weavers from Flanders, among whom St Lambert was a popular cult figure. The name is most common in the North East of England. John (1765) was from a family well-established in the Shrewsbury area of Shropshire.

Shrewsbury is a large market town on the River Severn, and is the county town of Shropshire. The town centre still has a largely unspoilt medieval street plan, and over 660 listed buildings, including several examples of timber framing from the C15 and C16. Shrewsbury Castle, a red sandstone fortification, and Shrewsbury Abbey, a former Benedictine monastery, were founded in 1074 and 1083 respectively by the Norman Earl of Shrewsbury, Roger de Montgomery. It's probably my favourite town - my photos are here.

Rowley's House, Shrewsbury (my photo)
The Purslow name probably derives from Parsley. Ann (1760) was also from a Shropshire family.

For the record, and with the usual cautions, my oldest direct ancestors  we know about in this part of the family are: Joseph Lambert (1695), Alice Whiston (1699), Richard Purslow (1683), Richard Hoggins (1642) and Sarah Bucknall (1705).

John Lambert married Ann Purslow in Dawley (now in Telford), Shropshire in 1793. Dawley was, for over three centuries, a mining town, both for coal and ironstone. Clay extraction, for local industrial pipe factories, brickyards and the pottery industry, has been a major influence on the landscape, and on the culture. The area was covered by clay mounds, and large clay pits dominated the landscape. The adjacent village of Horsehay was the site of a bridge factory (later a crane fabrication plant) that exported around the world. There will be more on Dawley and the surrounding area in later chapters.

John and Ann had nine children:
  • 35.1.1 - Lucy Lambert (1781)
  • 35.1.2 - Elizabeth Lambert (1787)
  • 35.1.3 - Mary Lambert (1794)
  • 35.1.4 - Mary Lambert (1795)
  • 35.1.5 - Fanny Lambert (1796)
  • 35.1.6 - Benjamin Lambert (1798)
  • 35.1.7 - Jane Lambert (1800)
  • 35.1.8 - Juliot Lambert (1802)
  • 35.1.9 - Jesse Lambert (1804)
More on these in Chapter 35.

There is significant doubt over the first two children, as they predate the marriage. Perhaps there was another John Lambert in the area (there are none in the 1841 census), or perhaps our John had an earlier marriage.

Lucy is particularly interesting, even if she is - in reality - a more distant relative. She was christened at the church at Pitchford, which is on the estate of Pitchford Hall. Her father may also have been baptised here. By coincidence I visited this splendid house with Save Britain's Heritage in 2019.

Pitchford Hall (my photo)
Pitchford church (my photo), where Lucy was baptised
Pitchford church (my photo)
At least one of John's sons was in the iron trade, and there are records of at least one small foundry in Pitchford. Parts of the historically important iron-framed Ditherington Flaxmill in Shrewsbury, which we visited on the same day, were made there. Its steel framing makes Ditherington (1797) the ancestor, construction-wise of The Empire State Building (1931)(my photos) via Cologne Cathedral (1880)(my photos), and the Home Insurance Building, Chicago (1885).

Ditherington Flaxmill under long-awaited restoration (my photo)

19 January 2020

4. Samuel and Sarah Hedges of Worcestershire

Hedges might be a literal name, or it might be derived from the first name Hodge. Rose may be derived from a place where roses grew, or from a sign displayed by the family, or a rosy complexion.

Samuel Hedges (1780) married Sarah Rose (1789) in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire in 1819. Both families were established in the area. In the C18 and C19, Bromsgrove had developed from a small market town primarily producing cloth to become a major centre for the making of nails and needles. My photos are here.

Bromsgrove church, where Samuel and Sarah (Rose) were married (my photo)

For the record, and with the usual cautions, my oldest direct ancestors we know about in this part of the family are: Thomas Hodges (1739), Betty Wright (1743), John Rose (1530), Ann Sparry (1530), Elizabeth Chandeloure (1580), Avis Bradley (1613), Elizabeth Webb (1636), Elizabeth Hill (1683), John Hill (1674), William Clymer (1663), Valentine Sale (1688), Mary Baker (1700) and Alice Harwood (1734).

Sarah was from a large family whereas Samuel has no known siblings. He had married before (to Sarah Abbott) and had a daughter:
  • 34.2.1 Mary Ann Hedges (1803)
Samuel and Sarah Rose also had one daughter
  • 34.2.2 Sarah Rose Hedges (1822)
There is more on these individuals in Chapter 34.

In 1841, Samuel was a book-keeper; in 1842 an ironmonger, in 1851 a coal dealer. By 1861, he had died and Sarah has no occupation. Ten years later she was a retired domestic servant, with a lodger from London. She died in 1876.


Next       (or skip to the Part II)


3. Charles and Elizabeth Barnes of Staffordshire

It is usually suggested that the Barnes name is derived from people who worked around barns but it could also be derived from an old first name. The name is most common in Lancashire.

Charles Barnes (b. 1764) married Mary Lowe (b. 1766) in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire in 1789. Both families were established in Staffordshire: each of the couple were described as being from Stoke. Charles died in Longton, Stoke in 1798, long before the first census. Mary survived until 1850; in 1841 she was still living in Longton with younger lodgers who were colliers and potters.

Newcastle church (credit), where
 Charles and Mary were married

Longton was later a constituent of the City of Stoke-on-Trent. It was already well known for industrial pottery. Sir John Edensor Heathcote, industrialist, was a notable resident of Longton while the couple were there: he rebuilt Longton Hall 1778.

Charles and Mary had five children, including Charles Barnes (1796).

Coppenhall church (credit), 
where Richard and Elizabeth married

The Merry family had quite an illustrious history as landowners in the Shallowford nr Chebsey nr Stafford area: I have a copy of a privately published book written about the family. Apparently, John Merry, gentleman merchant and tallow chandler bought the Barton Blount estate in Derbyshire. Much was lost in the civil war but the family remained prosperous and was active in developing the hardware and metal industries in Birmingham from 1736-1824. Our branch was that of a younger son which fizzles out in 1715 (on page 36 of the book which goes on another 250 years in 200 pages!). Three generations later, Richard Merry (b. 1763) married Elizabeth Ryley (b. 1763) in Coppenhall nr Stafford in 1783.

Richard Garnett (1789–1850) an English philologist (historical linguist), author and librarian at the British Museum, was a notable resident at about the same time.

Richard and Elizabeth had six children, including Elizabeth Merry (1794).

For the record, and with the usual cautions, my oldest direct ancestors we know about in this part of the family are: Ralph Barnes (1706), Margaret Lea (1733), John Lowe (1748), Mary Brammar (1740), John Merry (1528), Margaret Palmer (1562), Elizabeth Vernon (1586), Jane Turner (1744), John Cotton (1721), Ann Allen (1721) and Thomas Ryley (1716).

Chebsey church (credit), 
where Charles and Elizabeth were married

Charles married Elizabeth in Chebsey in 1818. They had eight children:
  • 34.1.1 - Charles Barnes (1819)
  • 34.1.2 - Richard Aspley Barnes (1823)
  • 34.1.3 - Caroline Barnes (1825)
  • 34.1.4 - Martha Barnes (1826)
  • 34.1.5 - Mary Barnes (1826)
  • 34.1.6 - Edward Barnes (1828)
  • 34.1.7 - Thomas Merry Barnes (1830)
  • 34.1.8 - Horatio Barnes (1837)
There is more on these individuals in Chapter 34.

Elizabeth was described as a farmer in 1841 (and with a neighbours named Weaver in Shallowford); she is a yeoman in 1842, and a victualler in 1851; she died in 1862. Charles had died in 1839, before the first census. His gravestone reads thus:

"He lived a calm, domestic life, He love his children and his Wife His friends, his King, his country too All this, indeed Self-love may do But this grand Man, we know possessed True Christian Virtue in his Breast His social love was unconfined He lov’d, he prayed, for all Mankind Out of the little store he had To help the Poor his heart was glad; And when they thank him, thus spoke he; “Give Thanks to God and not to me”

2. Benjamin and Hannah Weaver of Warwickshire

The Weaver name comes from the River Weaver in Cheshire: distribution of the name across England remains biased to the west. Apparently, a Norman - Baron de Wavre was given land there by Edward the Confessor. He probably took the name from the area around the River (which weaves around), or just possibly brought it with him from Flanders. There is a gap in the records but they were still there in 1271, and as lords of the manor until at least the C15. Later generations show up in the West Midlands and Wales.

Clement Weaver was born in Glastonbury in 1620, and is the immigrant ancestor of thousands of Weaver descendants in the United States, including the actress Sigourney Weaver. An exhaustive study about this family, History and Genealogy of a Branch of the Weaver Family (Lucius Weaver, 1928) claims descent from Great King Cunedda of Wales (c 400), progenitor of the royal dynasty of Gwynedd! Traditionally Cunedda was a Romano-Briton from Clackmannanshire, Scotland (!) who based himself in Chester after the Romans left Britain. The next 23 generations of the family - to Cadwgan ap Bleddyn of Powys (1075) - are shown in a tree in Wikipedia - which even shows how the family is related to the Tudor Kings of England. However, Powys was now under Marcher Lord control, and the descendants of the chiefs had little real power.

Weaverham church (my photo)

Six generations on, at the end of the C13, Ieuan ap Madoc married a daughter of the Cheshire Weaver family (probably by then in Shropshire), and named his son Humphrey Weaver, rather than using the traditional Welsh patronymic. This seems to mark a shift away from a Welsh identity at about the time the nation was subdued. We have known for a long time that one centre of the family was at Weaverham but I've recently had access to the 1928 book, which details a second centre of the family, along the River at a place actually called Wever (or Weever or Weaver). The family held the timber-framed mansion Weever Hall until the C15, when the heiress of Thomas de Weever married into the Stanley family of Battle of Bosworth fame. The area suffered from subsidence and flooding due to salt mining, and is now part of Darnhall, just to the south west of Winsford.

Weever Hall (old engraving)

Anyway, there followed several generations in Herefordshire, establishing a separate branch from those who had remained in Cheshire, and those who had moved into Wales. The whole of this area from Chester to the Somerset Levels was 'the debatable lands' between Wales and England for all of these hundreds of years.

It is likely that Benjamin's father was born in Bickenhill nr Solihull, Warwickshire, but the family seems to have been in Worcestershire before that, which would suggest that we share the Americans' Herefordshire line. For some years, I agreed with other researchers that Benjamin's wife Hannah was a Nicklin from the Worcestershire/Staffordshire border - but I now think this is a different couple. Rather than them being in more than one place at one time, we now have the opposite problem with gaps in the census records in 1851 and 1861.

Sutton Coldfield church (my photo)
Benjamin's mother was Martha Barlow, who was born in Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire. Sutton Coldfield had been associated with the manufacture of blades and tools, but by this time it was an early commuter town for Birmingham. This was encouraged by the arrival of the railway in 1837 - before long tens of thousands of Birmingham residents were travelling to Sutton Park on excursions. My photos of the town are here. As late as the 1950s, it was described as a magical place for a Brummie - as good as the seaside.

Martha's parents, John Barlow and Mary Basby, were born in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, and Knowle nr Solihull, Warwickshire, respectively, and they married in Knowle. Stoke is, of course, renowned for its pottery industry. Knowle is well-known to the family; the Birmingham & Warwick Junction Canal through the village opened in 1844.

For the record, and with the usual cautions, my oldest direct ancestors we know about in this part of the family are: Samuell Weaver (1716), Henry Matthews (1696), John Barlow (1708), and Anthony Basby (1707).

Benjamin was an agricultural labourer in 1841. He had five siblings and eleven children, all born in Sutton Coldfield. Most of the children were born in Walmley Ash, to the south of the town, which might suggest that Benjamin worked on land belonging to one of the big halls in the area. 

Walmley church (credit)

This was the period of 'high farming' when farmers and landowners were encouraged to drain their land, rotate their crops, use fertiliser and mechanise. The third quarter of the C19 was the golden age of the British agricultural machinery industry, and its ploughs, mills, threshing machines, and the introduction of steam power.

Despite his large family, he shows up in the Aston Union Workhouse (listing) in 1871 and 1881, when he died, at age 91. Hannah had died in 1853 at Blabbs.

Former Aston Union Workhouse (credit)
There is a particular mystery about one of his children, Rebecca. She was born in about 1826 but, by the first census in 1841, she is already showing up as a servant on the edge of the town. Her baptism is not recorded. She names Benjamin as her father on her marriage certificate, and her descendants have a DNA link to him. Yet more strangely, Benjamin calls his last child, born in 1840, Rebekah.

The children were:
  • 33.2.1 - Thomas Weaver (1813)
  • 33.2.2 - Benjamin Weaver (1815)
  • 33.2.3 - Mary Weaver (1817)
  • 33.2.4 - John Weaver (1819)
  • 33.2.5 - Samuel Weaver (1822)
  • 33.2.6 - Daniel Weaver (1826)
  • 33.2.7 - Rebecca Weaver (1829)
  • 33.2.8 - Emmanuel Weaver (1831)
  • 33.2.9 - Joseph Weaver (1836)
  • 33.2.10 - Rebekah Weaver (1840)
Chapter 33 has more on these individuals.

1. John and Margaret James of Oxfordshire

And so, conventionally, it begins: as far back as we can go, at the top of the tree. John James married Margaret Loveridge in Stoke Lyne, nr Bicester, Oxfordshire on 16 June 1825. Both surnames are probably derived from personal names, with Loveridge coming down from Leofric. Each of them left their mark on the register, implying that they were unable to write their names. John was a widower.

Stoke Lyne church (credit)

I've driven through this parish many times, as it is close to the border with Northamptonshire, and includes the M40 / A43 junction I use on the drive from Swindon to Wellingborough. Apparently, in 584 a Saxon army led by King Ceawlin of Wessex defeated an army of Britons here at the cost of his son's life.

Tackley, nr Kidlington (map), ten miles to the West of Stoke Lyne, was farmed as a single open field until it was enclosed in the C16-C17. And it was here that a John James (son of farm labourer Joseph James) had his son William James baptised in 1826.

Tackley church (credit)

This John died in 1851 having evaded the 1841 census, and William's baptism is not recorded. But it's a satisfactory guess that this is the same John. Reader beware! Margaret died in 1868.
 
[Update: on the second pass, in Oct 2022, closer study of the available records has reduced my confidence that I have the correct John James. I'm now leaning towards John James and Margaret Fox of Brize Norton, suggesting a 15-mile move before William was born - it's close to Clanfield,]

If this surmise is correct, then the children were:
  • 33.1.1 - William James (c. 1825)
  • 33.1.2 - Sarah James (1830) [??]
  • 33.1.3 - Henry James (1833) [??]
Chapter 33 has more on these individuals.

Next

Part I - The Georgians (Chapters 1-32)

Welcome to the [update: fairly] brief history of a family.

The first 32 short chapters introduce the 32 families from which I am descended. Being born around 1788 (1757-1818), mainly in the reign of King George IV, this generation lived before compulsory registration, so we don't know much beyond the family size, lifespan and location, as gleaned from church records. Sometimes, a baptism or marriage record will reveal the father's or husband's occupation.

I've tried to add a flavour of what it was like to live in that place at that time. The church was generally the centre of the community, and there is great variety in their construction, so I've included a photo where I can. For context, I've briefly described the family's town or village too.

Note that the very first chapter is a step/adopted family. There are many other instances further down the tree: I've always included step-children but not always traced their descendants until recent generations.

In addition to the paucity of information on the older records, it is worth noting that due to the way DNA is passed down the generations, there may be little or nothing inherited from people born much before this generation. Nevertheless, I'll outline any earlier history we have of the families. I've also included the derivation of each of the 64 surnames. And commented on known DNA relationships where they add value.

For the record, I note the oldest known relatives in the line for which there is any reasonably credible evidence. This is provided with the caution that, as the records get older, they become harder to verify and rare survivals can distort the context. In time, perhaps we will discover wills and DNA links which provide better verification. The years of birth are estimates based on baptisms or, failing that, on the youngest they could reasonably have had their children.

If there is an audience, I may add more information about the family and the context in which it has existed. Feedback is welcome.
Copyright is mine, except where credit given. Of course, I will bless family reuse of my own material. Please note that much of the material which is not mine has been shared on a Creative Commons licence, so please follow the links to check the conditions.
Support Wikipedia 
This narrative is intended to accompany the family tree, which has 12,000+ individuals, and is currently available on Ancestry.com, where a free trial is available. Contact me for downloads and lookups.

Part II, and subsequent parts covers the descendants of this first generation. Part IV includes a summary of the five generations in scope. Part V provides a snapshot of the family, as revealed by the 1939 Register, taken in England and Wales on 29 September of that year. The 1921 census will be published in January 2022. The 1931 census was destroyed by fire whilst in storage in Hayes in 1942.
Dedication. This history is dedicated to the memory of all those family members who went before me, and those they lived amongst. To those whose lives were cut short, and those whom they left behind. To my amazing grandparents. To Dr Edmond Adedeji, who made the ultimate sacrifice for the people of Swindon while I was writing this history.
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Or you can skip (you will miss some great stories, and I don't introduce places twice).
Skip to Lambert | Larard | Brittain | Squire | Le Brun | Lewtey | Beale

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1 January 2020

Looking Through the Trees


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