17. John and Sarah Squire of the West Riding of Yorkshire

In 1422, despite being less than a year old, King Henry VI of England was crowned King of France. The arrangement worked surprisingly well until Henry, and his wife Margaret of Anjou, were old enough to get involved in affairs of state. In 1453, they lost France, except for Calais, and Henry had a nervous breakdown.

Unsurprisingly, by the time Henry had recovered his senses a year later, the Lord Protector, Richard of York, was considered a popular alternative. Things got out of hand, and thus began the Wars of the Roses. Richard's son Edward was imprisoned after the Battle of Northampton, and his wife fled to Scotland. The Lancastrians had raised an army in the North, and Richard was killed in the Battle of Wakefield; Edward was freed after the Battle of St Albans. London would not open its gates to the Lancastrians so they withdrew to York. In March 1461, Richard's son was crowned as a rival King, Edward IV.

Soon, Edward marched north towards York. After a skirmish at Ferrybridge, the Lancastrians fell back to Tadcaster; the Yorkists made camp at Sherburn in Elmet. The rival forces were huge, 50,000 to 100,000 men in total. This was between 2% and 5% of all the men in country at the time, a much higher proportion of those in their late 20s.

The Battle of Towton was fought on Palm Sunday, 29 March 1461, on the open plain between the villages of Saxton and Towton, near Selby in Yorkshire. It was probably the largest and bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil. Soldiers fought for hours amidst a snowstorm. Up to half of them, perhaps 28,000, were killed in the battle and the ensuing rout of the Lancastrians. Showers of razor-sharp arrows rained down on the lightly armoured retreating men, and they were cut down by sword, mace and hammer. This was still less than ten years after the fall of Constantinople where cannons had ended the Eastern Roman Empire but early cannon were used here too; evidence has even been found of very early handguns. Henry fled and was deposed.

Towton Cross - Memorial to the Battle (my photo)

Our family may have lived on the edge of the battlefield - they certainly did within living memory. John Squire was born locally in 1540, his son James (1566), grandson Edward (1608) and great grandson Edward (1647) were born in Saxton. This was just two years after the Battle of Sherburn in Elmet where the village changed hands four times, culminating in the defeat of the last Royalist force in the First English Civil War.

Saxton (my photo)

The younger Edward's son was also Edward (1671, Lenerton), and died in Sherburn. The next four generations (two Edwards, a John and an Alfred) were born in Sherburn, probably all at Rest Park. Some years ago, I met an eight cousin online who had employed a professional researcher and confirmed much of the line. As a result, I met an eleventh cousin!

The Squire name was occupational and social, deriving from the Old French esquier, 'shield bearer'.

For the record, and with the usual cautions, my oldest direct ancestors we know about in this part of the family are: John Squire (1540), Ann Mckenlay (1540), Thomas Barke (1594), Edward Ellwood (1540), Elizabeth Howe (1570), Margaret Atkinson (1600), Reginald Dobson (1591), Margaret Jackson (1580), John Lockwood (1694), William Dowson (1635), Dorothy Wilson (1721), Robert Catton (1700), Elizabeth Quarton (1693), Richard Johnson (1670), Jane Hesletine (1705), Thomas Smyrfit (1696), John Cussons (1620), Anne Kettlestrings (1645), George Flintoft (1663), Richard Trewman (1630) and Anne Dicking (1632).

Sherburn church (my photo)

Sherburn itself was once part of an independent Brittonic kingdom which survived in Anglo-Saxon England until it was absorbed by Northumbria in the early C7. The existence of Elmet is attested in the Historia Brittonum, which says that King Edwin of Northumbria “occupied Elmet and expelled Certic, king of that country”. Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People says that Hereric, the father of Hilda of Whitby, an important figure in the Christianisation of the English, was killed at the court of Ceretic. Perhaps it was the last independent British part of England. To this day, it is genetically distinct. Ted Hughes published a poetry collection 'Remains of Elmet' in 1970; James Whittle's concerto was inspired by the poems in 2013.

Two centuries later, "Æthelstan became the first king to have control over all of the English after overthrowing the Scandinavian kingdom of York in 927. In 937 he defeated an alliance of Scots and Scandinavians at the Battle of Brunanburh, where "never yet as many people killed before this with sword's edge ... since the east Angles and Saxons came up over the broad sea". As thanks for this victory, he gave the manors at Sherburn and Cawood to the Archbishop of York. The manor house or palace at Sherburn was a high status site and was subsequently used as a hunting lodge by the Archbishops. There is documentary evidence that there was a wealthy Saxon church associated with the palace and the Domesday Book shows no drop in income for the manor, unlike most other areas of Yorkshire. The Saxon church was replaced c.1100 by a larger church which still stands immediately to the south of the monument, but the palace had fallen into ruin by 1361 when the then Archbishop, John Thoresby, ordered its demolition. The stone from the palace was then used in the building of the choir at York Minster." (English Heritage).

Not much later, in 1383, a license was granted to crenellate the fortified manor house belonging to the Archbishops of York at Rest Park, perhaps a replacement. It seems to have been dissolved with the monasteries in c1535. An aerial survey in the early C21 revealed its outline. By the time our family was there, it was a farm, owned and managed by the family. The farm still exists but there is little or nothing left of the farmhouse. My photos of Sherburn are here.

So Edward (1743) and Sarah Dowson (1750, Drax nr Selby) had a son John (1784). He married Sarah Catton (1791), daughter of Robert Catton (1764) and Nelly Smirthwaite (1761). The Dowson name is curious as the first syllable is matronymic (a sweet female - ultimately from dulce), and the second syllable patronymic.

They had ten children at Rest Park, Sherburn:

41.1.1 - Ann Squire (1814)
41.1.2 - Edward Squire (1816)
41.1.3 - Sarah Ellen Squire (1818)
41.1.4 - Alfred Squire (1820)
41.1.5 - Caroline Squire (1823)
41.1.6 - Mary Squire (1825)
41.1.7 - Charlotte Squire (1826)
41.1.8 - Edgar Squire (1827)
41.1.9 - David Squire (1829). David died in 1830.
41.1.10 - Hannah Squire (1830). Hannah died in 1830.

More on these individuals in Chapter 41.

John was the eldest surviving son, so would have taken over the family farm.

Interestingly, there was a bill before the Commons in 1797, that "divers low grounds in the Selby district, including Rest Park, be more effectually drained, preserved and improved, and the commons and waste grounds be inclosed, divided and allotted unto the land owners."

The railway through Sherburn-in-Elmet was opened in 1840 by the York and North Midland Railway. John is recorded as having had a vote in the 1848 West Riding Election of a Knight of the Shire for the West Riding of Yorkshire, in consequence of the removal of Lord Morpeth to the House of Lords on the demise of his father, the Earl of Carlisle.

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16. James and Margaret Waddilove of Middlesex

The Waddilove surname might be a Middle English term for 'rage like a wolf', or it might be habitational, e.g. from Wadlow nr Toddington, Bedfordshire. There is a northern bias to the surname distribution. Taylor is an occupational name (from 'cutter').

For the record, and with the usual cautions, my oldest direct ancestors we know about in this part of the family are: John Waddilove (1743), Elizabeth Lugg (1767), John Taylor (1767) and Margaret Tilley (1767).

James Waddilove (1785) and Margaret Taylor (c1785) married in Westminster in 1808, both families being local to Middlesex, although James seems to have been baptised in Bermondsey, across the river. The couple were married in the well-known church in St George Hanover Square which was then relatively new. Westminster was not yet a city, and was still in Middlesex but part of a prosperous and growing metropolitan area which was becoming known as London.

The couple had ten children, some born further east in London, in perhaps less fashionable neighbourhoods. I can't explain how the children are born in these different areas, but there are no obvious records of another James around at the time. James is recorded at his son James' baptism as a 'gentleman', and the same (resident in Hackney Road) at Richard's baptism in Shoreditch.

St George's Hanover Square, where James and
Margaret were married (credit)

Shoreditch was a prosperous area of London at the time: it had been well known for Huguenot silkweavers, and for furniture. It was a centre of entertainment to rival the West End, and had many theatres and music halls. Bethnal Green was still characterised by market gardens, but also by weaving. Regent's Canal opened in 1820. Both districts became overcrowded and poverty-struck as the C19 went on.

The children were:

40.2.1 - James Rinaldo Waddilove (1808, Bethnal Green). An interesting choice of middle name, perhaps from the Handel opera
40.2.2 - Eliza Margaret Waddilove (1810, Bethnal Green)
40.2.3 - Joseph G Waddilove (1812, SGHS)
40.2.4 - Alfred John Waddilove (1812, SGHS)
40.2.5 - Ann Taylor (1814, Shoreditch)
40.2.6 - Amelia Waddilove (1814, Shoreditch)
40.2.7 - Henry William Waddilove (1816, Shoreditch)
40.2.8 - Richard Taylor Waddilove (1818, Shoreditch)
40.2.9 - Frederick Waddilove (1823, Shoreditch)
40.2.10 - John Waddilove (1826, SGHS)

More on these individuals in Chapter 40.

Margaret died in Islington in 1833, aged 48; James survived until 1839 when he died, aged 54, back in St George.

Next      (or skip to Part II)

15. George and Jenny Meaden of Dorset

The Meaden surname may have denoted a meadow dweller, although one theory has it that it comes from a clan in the west of Ireland, with an offshoot in Cornwall, with a name derived from the Gaelic for 'dog'. Our Meaden family comes from Dorset, with four generations traceable around Blandford and Dorchester.

For the record, and with the usual cautions, my oldest direct ancestors we know about in this part of the family are: George Meaden (1722), William New (1700), George Morris (1723), Mary Lock (1723) and David Bartlet (bef. 1772).

George Meadon (1783, Child Okeford nr Blandford) married Jenny (or Jane) Bartlett (1790 Stourpaine nr Blandford) in 1809. They had seven children in Shillingstone nr Blandford:

40.1.1 - Jane Eleanor Meaden (1810)
40.1.2 - George Meaden (1813)
40.1.3 - Harriet (1815, Stourpaine)
40.1.4 - David Meaden (1818)
40.1.5 - Charles Meaden (1820)
40.1.6 - William Meaden (1829)
40.1.7 - (Edward) James Meaden (1834)

More on these individuals in Chapter 40.

Shillingstone church (credit)

Shillingstone is an old agricultural settlement, close to the Iron Age hillfort of Hambledon Hill, now managed by the National Trust. The village used to specialise in gathering moss, which, slightly later in the C19, was transported to the Covent Garden flower market. (This is now the London Transport Museum: the flower market has moved to New Covent Garden). The station survives on the preserved North Dorset Railway. Around the same time, the village had the tallest maypole in Dorset, at a reputed 86 feet high - until it blew down in a gale. It was later to be known as the bravest village in Britain due to the number of volunteers early in WWI. It was also to have a role in the preparation of the D-Day Landings in WWII.

Blandford Forum is a market town, which was rebuilt by the Bastard brothers, after a major fire in 1731. The Georgian street plan and architecture, and a few older buildings, which would have been familiar to our family, survive. The town supported various industries around the time our family was there, including livestock trading, brewing, wool-spinning and button-making. My photos of the town are here.

These are my photos of the town centre, church, town hall and (recommended) Greyhound Inn (fuelled by the town's Badger brewery):

 


The family were living in the 'New Buildings' in Blandford in 1841 (although George's age is misreported); George was a labourer. William and Edward were still at home. David married two years earlier, his father is described as a 'farmer' on the wedding certificate - that may be job title inflation.

By 1851, the family had moved to Milton Abbas, with only Edward still at home. George died in 1855. In 1861 Jenny is recorded in Blandford with an annuity, a lodger, and her daughter Harriet. She died in Lytchett Matravers nr Poole, the village in which Edward was also living.

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14. Thomas and Elizabeth Hill of Birmingham

Well, I had a nice back story here, until the whole edifice crumbled when I wasn't DNA-related to someone I should have been on Ancestry.

Hill refers to someone who lived by a hill. Birmingham is that big place in the middle of England. Thomas met Elizabeth there.

They had a daughter, of whom more in Chapter 39.

39.2.1 - Maria Hill (1819)

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13. Edward and Mary Brittain of Warwickshire

The Brittain surname probably denotes a family of Breton origin. Our family spent several generations in Knowle, Warwickshire inter-marrying with Horton, Rawbone, Watchend and Biddle families. They were probably in the congregation at the same time as the Basby family (see Chapter 2).

The Plant surname might have referred to a gardener, perhaps of a herb garden. Our family was from Warwickshire, with at least one generation in Mancetter nr Atherstone. Mancetter has Roman origins. Atherstone is a market town with a sizeable market square. My pictures are here. When our family were there, it was an important producer of felt hats. The church was remodelled about the time our family moved on.

For the record, and with the usual cautions, my oldest direct ancestors we know about in this part of the family are: William Brittin (1709), Rebecca Horton (1710), Richard Rawbone (1715), Edward Biddle (1725), Hannah Watchend (1725), Thomas Plant (1700) and Elizabeth Bearsley (1732).

St Philip's church, Birmingham - now Birmingham Cathedral (my photo)

Edward Brittain (1787, Knowle) married Mary Plant (1790, Deritend, Birmingham) in Edgbaston, Birmingham, in 1813, Mary signing with her ‘mark’. Deritend was a crossing point on the River Rea. Edgbaston was not for a few decades yet the home of Warwickshire County Cricket, nor yet of the oldest Lawn Tennis club in the world, nor even yet of Birmingham University, but it was an affluent area where industrial buildings had not been permitted.

The couple had six possible children in Birmingham, probably all in the St Philip parish.

• 39.1.1 - Mary Brittain (1813)
• 39.1.2 - Edward Brittain (1815)
• 39.1.3 - Charles Brittain (1817)
• 39.1.4 - Eleanor Brittain (1820)
• 39.1.5 - Edward Brittain (1821)
• 39.1.6 - William Brittain (1823)

There is more on these individuals (and the fact that some of the children are unverified) in Chapter 39.

Edward was a carpenter at the time of his son Charles' baptism. He died in 1849 in Aston, surviving Mary by five years.

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12. Solomon and Mary Ann Knight of Lambeth

The Knight surname has evolved over time, and the derivation may depend on the family. In Old English, Cnight meant 'a youth' and may have indicated a servant. The name became more exalted as Norman tenants, bound to serve as soldiers, rose in status. But the genuinely higher status individuals would have their own surnames, perhaps habitational, so the Knight surname might indicate someone who served an actual knight. The first appearances of the name were in Norfolk in 1166, Oxfordshire in 1200, Worcestershire in 1221, and Hampshire in 1307.

The last would be the most obvious root for our family. John Knight was a clothier in Elizabethan times, apparently donating £50 to the fund to defeat the Armada! He acquired and rebuilt the medieval Chawton manor house (about 30 miles from Dorking). When they ran out of children to inherit the property, they adopted (more distant relative?) Jane Austen's brother, Edward, who became a Knight, and it stayed in the family until 1992. Edward's jacket was one of the 100 Objects by which the BBC told the history of the world... Jane was a frequent visitor: her own house, where she wrote three novels, is about a mile away and currently engaged in an appeal for its post-Coronavirus survival. Her life there is described by HistoryExtra and letters by the Knights survive.

Chawton House (Ray Moseley)

Another early Hampshire Knight was a guardian of Romsey church, helping to preserve it during the Dissolution. My photos of Romsey are here. By the 16th century, the Knight family held a great deal of land in Lambeth and Streatham, including Knight's Hill, Norwood, where our Knight family ended up.

The Songhurst surname is habitational, probably from Song Hurst nr Ewhurst, Surrey. It is possible to trace the Knight family back to Ewhurst - both Richard (1801) and his son Solomon (1728) were born there. There were then two generations in Cranleigh, and two in Dorking. Conversely, (with caution) we can trace our Songhurst family back to Thomas (1569, Ockley nr Dorking) and then another six generations around Dorking (mainly at Capel). Our other families like the Boshers and Sayers have similarly deep roots there. These days all these places are on the fringe of the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, a lung of London, just outside the M25.

Ewhurst Green church (credit)

Cranleigh was 'Cranley', possibly named after crane breeding grounds, but it was changed as all their mail was going to Crawley... Dorking is a market town which grew up around a staging post on Stane Street, between Chichester and London. While our family were there, the construction of a turnpike road made Dorking a staging post on the route to Brighton. It was once famous for a riotous form of football, and is still known for chickens. Just northeast of the town, the River Mole cuts a steep-sided valley through the North Downs, on its way to the capital.

Capel church (credit)

One of the eleven children of Solomon Knight (1764, nr Dorking) and Rebecca Songhurst (1766, Dorking), was Solomon Knight (1789, Dorking).

The Bridger name probably derives from someone living by a bridge, rather than someone who built it. The Boxall name is Anglo-Saxon and probably derives from Boxhulle (now Bugshill) nr Midhurst, Sussex. One of the ten children of Daniel Bridge (1724) and Sarah Boxall (1756) was Mary Ann Bridger. She was born in 1784 at Lodsworth nr Petworth, close to the suggested ancient home, as were at least eight generations of the family, and several generations of Boxalls.

Dorking church (credit)

Lodsworth is a small village with a historic well of pilgrimage. The first transport other than pack horses or horse carts was in 1795 when the Rother Navigation was built from Pulborough to Midhurst, allowing canal barges to reach the wharf at Lodsbridge. This was used mainly to bring chalk and coal in and to export timber.

Lodsworth church (credit)

Petworth is an attractive small town - my photos are here. It is dominated by Petworth House, a large manor house owned by the National Trust. It was once a fortified manor house owned by the Percys of Northumberland. The main front was built while our family was still local, c. 1690, and Capability Brown carried out extensive works in the gardens and deer park (much painted a little later by Turner) between 1751 and 1763. To this day, the house's art collection would be recognisable to contemporaries of our family. My photos of the property are here.

Petworth House (my photo)

For the record, and with the usual cautions, my oldest direct ancestors we know about in this part of the family are: Richard Knight (1701), John Bridger (1595), Ann Chaper (1625), Mariam Humphrey (1656), Elizabeth Pledge (1746), Thomas Songhurste (1569), Marye Bickner (1570), William Swayn (1440), Christian Gittins (1440), Agnes Reeves (1462), John Arnold (1480), Joan Morgan (1480), Joan Dee (1530), Ann Trumbull (1578), Nicholas Bannister (1510), Jane Jackman (1525), Thomas Andrews (1520), Richard John de Cooper (1525), John Kingsmill (1498), Elizabeth Goring (1505), William Strudwick (1540), Joyce Standen (1544), Jacobi Mill (1556), Johannes Laky (1608), Thomasina Coquer (1608), John Charman (1700), George Sayer (1716), Ralph Bosher (1605), Thomas Constable (1593), Robert Eede (1611), Katherine Delves (1629) and William Gardiner (1640). Needless to say, many of the above are tagged 'unverified' in my tree, the sources often being other people's trees. Those of later date are more likely to be accurate. Whilst it is true that the more aristocratic families have better records, the liberal numbers of titles and coats of arms in these other trees do not make a watertight case.

Anyway, Solomon was a bricklayer/builder and he (or his father) paid tax on a new tenement in Dorking prior to 1804. Solomon and Mary Ann married in Newington, Lambeth in 1810. This move represents a significant uprooting from Surrey and Sussex respectively.

They had six children in Lambeth. They were baptised in the same church, and at a similar time to the Little family in Chapter 10.

• 38.2.1 - William Knight (1811)
• 38.2.2 - James Knight (1814)
• 38.2.3 - Johnson Knight (1816)
• 38.2.4 - Solomon Knight (1816). Solomon died in 1821.
• 38.2.5 - Rebecca Knight (1818)
• 38.2.6 - Mary Knight (1822)

The gap after Rebecca may be explained by Solomon apparently having been jailed in 1819 for larceny (theft).

There is more on these individuals in Chapter 38.

Solomon's father retired to Croydon, the first appearance in the tree, of many, of this town.

Solomon jr's family appear in the 1851 census in Kennington, with Solomon listed as a retired builder. He died in 1854 near Faversham, Kent. My photos of Faversham are here. Mary Ann died in 1866 in Lambeth.

Next       (or skip to the Part II)

11. Benjamin and Elizabeth Mousley of Staffordshire

Mousley is a habitational name: perhaps in our case from Moseley in Wolverhampton (derived in Old English from the name Moll) or Moseley in Birmingham  (derived from the Old English for mouse) which are roughly equidistant from the late C17-18 home of our family in the Clifton Campville/Chilcote area (including Campville House). There are many variants of spelling but we can be confident that we are not closely related to the famous fascist. [Update: Howard Lunn whose mother was born Mousley tells me that the name is pronounced 'Mouzley' starting as in 'mouse'.]

Moseley, Wolverhampton is the home of Moseley Old Hall, which is now in the care of the National Trust. In 1651 King Charles I hid there after defeat at the Battle of Worcester, which is roughly when our earliest known ancestor, Benjamin's 3rd gt-grandfather, was born, 25 miles away across the county.

Clifton Campville and Chilcote are close to Tamworth, and very close to the border between Staffordshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire and Derbyshire.

Clifton Campville church (credit)

The Dean name might originally have described people who lived in valleys, or who worked for an ecclesiastical dean. Our family came from the hamlet of Ranton in Stafford. Wright is a trade name; our family came from Derbyshire.

Clifton Campville church (credit)

For the record, and with the usual cautions, my oldest direct ancestors we know about in this part of the family are: William Mousley (1662), Elizabeth Humphreyson (1694), Ann Lees (1726), Major Dean (1720), Samuel Wright (1764) and Judith Stenson (1764).

Benjamin (1778, Chilcote) was the son of Benjamin and Ann (née Dean). He married Elizabeth Wright (c 1782, Derby) in Barrow upon Trent in 1803. They had five children in Chilcote:

• 38.1.1 - Samuel Wright Mousley (1805)
• 38.1.2 - Mary Ann Mousley (1806)
• 38.1.3 - Thomas Mousley (1808)
• 38.1.4 - George Mousley (1812)
• 38.1.5 - Elizabeth Mousley (1822)

There is more on these individuals in Chapter 38.

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10. William and Charlotte Little of Lambeth

The Little family name is probably a simple descriptive. Our family descended from Wiltshire, with five generations living around Corsham, Brinkworth nr Chippenham and Broad Hinton nr Swindon, with further connexions to Devizes, and Owlpen nr Dursley in Gloucestershire. A surprising local root close to my adopted home.

Broad Hinton church (my photo)

Before that, the family may have descended from Thomas Lettle of Looe, Cornwall (1590), and there appear to be other Cornish connexions. According to American researchers, Thomas Little (1700, Broad Hinton) emigrated to the USA and died in Delaware. Prior to that he married twice in Wiltshire and had three children. One of these was Burgess (1738, Broad Hinton) who moved to Battersea, South London and married Sarah Smith. One of their eleven children was William (1777).

The name Crocker is habitational and comes from one of several places in Normandy, France, called Crèvecoeur ('heartbreak'), a reference to the infertility and unproductiveness of the land. Our family may have come from Devon but Benjamin (1744) married Elizabeth Richardson in Southwark, South London, in 1769. Their daughter Charlotte was born in Holborn in 1770.

For the record, and with the usual cautions, my oldest direct ancestors we know about in this part of the family are: Thomas Lettle (1590), Priscilla Even (1590), Margery Jones (1621), Robert Sprye (1576), Jane Smith (1576), Tamzine Johnson (1625), Anthony Rogers (1650), Anne Wroughton (1650), Richard Fords (1672), Richard Holder (1658), and Sarah Smith (1740).

William and Charlotte married in St Martin-in-the-Fields in 1798. They subsequently lived in Lambeth, which was still in Surrey. Lambeth once belonged to the Archbishop of Canterbury, with LambethPalace prominent on the Thames. It had industrialised - for example Royal Doulton's main pottery was there for centuries. By the time our family arrived, the area had a rapidly rising population, many of whom were considerably poor. In response, the Lambeth Poor Law Parish was formed in 1835. My photos of Lambeth are here.

Church of St Martin in the Fields, Westminster (my photo)

The family's children were all born in Lambeth, and baptised at St Mary (where Admiral Bligh of Mutiny on the Bounty fame is buried).

Church of St Mary, Lambeth (my photo)

• 37.2.1 Benjamin Little (1800)
• 37.2.2 William Burgess Little (1804)
• 37.2.3 Harriett Cassandra Little (1806)
• 37.2.4 Dinah Loveday Little (1808)
• 37.2.5 Thomas Little (1810)
• 37.2.6 Burgess Little (1812). Burgess died in 1813.
• 37.2.7 Sarah Hannah Little (1814)
• 37.2.8 Edward Little (1816)
• 37.2.9 Charlotte Little (1819)

More on these individuals in Chapter 37.

By 1841, they had moved to West Wickham nr Bromley, Kent, where William was a tailor. Charlotte died in 1844 and was buried at St Mary, Lambeth. William had retired by 1851, and he died in 1863, leaving up to £8000 in his will.

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9. Francis and Elizabeth Larard of Clerkenwell

The derivation of the Larard surname is uncertain but believed to be of French or Flemish origin. Family lore is that the family were Huguenots. It is sometimes written 'Layard' and it is possible that we are related to the illustrious Huguenot family of Austin Layard MP, explorer of Nineveh. This is 'an ancient Albigensian family, whose original name was Raymond “de Layarde” (near Montpellier), being merely their nom de terre, as in so many similar cases.' The Lazard family also have Huguenot origins.

Huguenots were French Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who followed the teachings of theologian John Calvin. They were persecuted by the French Catholic government: the most infamous violence being the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of 1572, which saw up to 70,000 Huguenots murdered, under the direction of Catherine de' Medici, the regent queen and mother of King Charles IX. During the three days of violence that began on the night of August 23, 1572, and spread from town to town, officials recruited Catholic citizens into militia groups that hunted down Huguenot citizens, indulging in murder and gruesome torture, mutilation and desecration of the dead. In 1685, Louis XIV enacted the Edict of Fontainebleau, which made Protestantism illegal. More bloodshed ensued, and over the next several years, more than 200,000 Huguenots fled France for other countries. It is believed that this is the origin of the word 'refugee'.

However, there is scant evidence! Indeed, the name Larard does not appear on authoritative lists of Huguenots. In 'Place Names and Surnames: Their Origin and Meaning' (1944) Taylor Dyson, has Larard - along with Luard and others, as an example of immigrants such as Flemish Weavers or French Huguenots.

There are other snippets which suggest that a Fleming or Walloon heritage may be more likely than French. For example, "Edward III (1327-1377) encouraged the Flemish to settle in England, as he valued their silk and other textile skills [of which more anon]. Other waves came in 1551 and 1567 fleeing the occupying Catholic Spaniards, as did the Walloons. They... were employed especially in silk weaving..." "Henry VIII allowed them to settle and refused all requests from Charles V that they should be forbidden to remain there. Between 1535 and 1550, about 5,000 Flemish and Walloon refugees living in the London area were granted citizenship (many joining the Worshipful Company of Weavers) and there were many more living in country towns. I have found C17 Lorard (Lerard, Larurd) family histories in Braine-L'Alleud and Namur, Wallonia.

Edward Larard was born in Mountsorrel, near Loughborough in about 1650 (during the English Civil War). It would have been essential to find somewhere which offered employment and tolerated Calvinist religion: Mountsorrel eventually had several dissenting chapels and was visited by the Methodist preacher John Wesley.

Mountsorrel castle had been used as a bastion against King Stephen, and was destroyed in 1217 by the King's men from Nottingham, who branded it "a nest of the Devil and den of thieves and robbers". The future King Louis VIII of France had sent support in the form of 20,000 men to the besieged barons in the castle, but this force had failed to arrive in time to prevent the castle's fate.

With Ann, Edward had a son, John Larard, in Mountsorrel in 1680. John moved to Derby, an important centre in the wool trade (note Derby County FC's badge).

Derby is a county town and - since 1977 - a city - on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire. My photos are here. Derby had been settled by the Romans – who established the town of Derventio. Later, the Vikings made Derby one of the Five Boroughs of the Danelaw. Initially a market town, Derby grew rapidly in the industrial era: its claim to be one of the birthplaces of the Industrial Revolution rests on the existence of the proto-factories which now make up the southern part of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.

St Werburgh's church (credit) in Derby, 
where Francis was probably baptised

The weaving of silk had been introduced to England by Flemish refugees in the C16, and was greatly developed after 1685 when the French Huguenots established themselves in London. The industry developed slowly but, at the end of the C17, Thomas Cotchett built a water-powered mill on an island in the Derwent near the centre of Derby. He installed a number of “Dutch machines” but the project failed. One of Cotchett’s employees, John Lombe, carried out a 'daring piece of industrial espionage', and returned to England with a number of Italian workmen and detailed drawings of Piedmontese throwing machines. In 1721, he and his brother began to build the mill pictured below, which eventually employed over 300 workers, and is now part of the World Heritage Site.

Derby silk mill (my photo)

For the record, and with the usual cautions, my oldest direct ancestors we know about in this part of the family are: Edward Larard (1750), William Dale (1718), Thomas Slater (1710) and Mary Stammers (1710).

John had a son, Edward Larard, in Derby in 1710. Edward was a woolcomber, who had four children there with Sarah. The eldest son was Thomas (1733), a stocking maker, whose son Edward (1762) moved to Hull.

More on his son in Chapter 37.1.1:

• 37.1.1.1 Thomas Larard (1786) 

The third son was Timothy Larard (1739), a silk dyer. Timothy's son Francis Larard (1777) moved to London. The London silk industry, mainly in Spitalfields, developed rapidly after Lombe's patents expired, which might explain Francis' move. Many Huguenots settled in Spitalfields, bringing with them their silk-weaving and textile skills. The Brick Lane Mosque was built as a Huguenot chapel in 1743 and was still is use as such when Francis was in London. However, he married Elizabeth Deale (1771) in the established church - at St Giles Cripplegate in the City of London, in 1800. Deale is locational, and probably means 'Kentish'. The couple had eight children in Clerkenwell, Middlesex.

St Giles, Cripplegate (my photo)

Clerkenwell is an area of London which has basked in turn in notoriety and fashion, based on its location just outside the City of London. My photos of the City are here. It was founded around a priory which was the English headquarters of the Knights of St John, and the clerics' well. The watchmaking and watch repairing trades were once of great importance. The Middlesex Sessions House was new when our ancestors lived there.

Francis and Elizabeth's children were:

• 37.1.1 - Francis Larard (1801). Francis died in 1805.
• 37.1.2 - John Larard (1803)
• 37.1.3 - Mary Ann Larard (1805). Mary Ann died in 1805.
• 37.1.4 - William Larard (1807)
• 37.1.5 - Elizabeth Larard (1809). Elizabeth died in 1810.
• 37.1.6 - Edwin Larard (1810), according to another researcher
• 37.1.7 - James Larard (1810)

There is more on these individuals in Chapter 37.

Middlesex Session House, Clerkenwell (credit)

At the time of James' baptism, Francis was a shoemaker. In 1818, the Old Bailey records a theft: "FRANCIS LARARD. I am a bootmaker, and live in Aylesbury-street, Clerkenwell. On the 4th of April, between ten and eleven o'clock at night. My son alarmed me; I ran out, and secured the prisoner with the boots. JOHN LARARD JUN. I saw the prisoner cut the boots from the nail, and ran after him - We took him on Clerkenwell-green.".

In 1843, Francis was listed in the Post Office Directory as a bootmaker, still at 28 Aylesbury Street. In 1851, he was a 'fund holder', and they live at Green Terrace, Clerkenwell. In his will (which says that he had moved to Greene Terrace), he sets up several annuities each with a thousand pounds. He died in about 1853. In 1861, Elizabeth is lodging with a professional singer, William Adams, in Seckforde Street.

Francis and Elizabeth are buried in the famous Highgate Cemetery. I had this confirmed by the Friends, and received a photo of the plot, which has no headstone.

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