Missing from Benwick

Today we celebrate Freeman Andrew, my second cousin three times removed, on the 174th anniversary of his christening in Benwick, Cambs. He was the oldest of the three children of William & Jane, and spent his formative years in the village of his birth. But then he disappears for 30 years.

On his re-appearance, he turns up in Whittlesey, living with his sister & her husband; then he marries Alice Ransome in 1883. Together, in 1891, Freeman and Alice seem to be running The Wheatsheaf PH in Doddington with Freeman doing a bit of farm labouring on the side. This seems to have been a pattern with the publicans in my family - presumably the wife ran the Inn during the day whilst the old man was out in the fields . . . . . ?? Anyway, Freeman died the following year (1892).

But I'm puzzled by his disappearance from the record-keepers. Two possibilities, I suppose - he was either in the Army or toiling for Her Majesty in an entirely different capacity.

So, while I'm thinking about that and googling any thoughts that come to me, let me point you at a website about the village of Benwick, for a little light reading . . . . .

http://www.robtaylorbenwick.plus.com/benwick/introduction.html

More soon.

Last night I looked to see who I could ramble about and then got stuck into searching the 1911 census . . . . and forgot to actually ramble.

So, come back with me to yesterday in 1901 - Deacon's Lane in Ely saw the birth of Hannah Culpin, my sixth cousin twice removed. She was the daughter of Hannah (nee Stevens) and . . . . er, someone else. Ordinarily I would have said her father was Henry Culpin but he died in 1895 (twice, according to my database - glad I was able to correct that one!) so a bit of a mystery there. Sadly little Hannah only lived for three weeks and was buried, unbaptised, at the end of March in Ely City cemetery.

This then led me to investigate the whole family, as you do, and I found that the widow Hannah married again in 1911; two possible husbands showed up on FreeBMD but, for some reason, I latched onto the name of George Hobbs. No idea why but it seemed to ring a bell. And, finally, this morning I found out why . . . .

Ernest, son of Hannah and Henry, was born in 1895 in Little Downham and was living with his mother in 1911 in Deacon's Lane, Ely, working as a farm labourer. When the Great War came, Ernest joined the Suffolk regiment and was a Lance Corporal by 1917 when he lost his life on the Somme. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (http://www.cwgc.org/) entry for him finally told me why I thought his mother married George Hobbs:

"Son of Mrs. Hannah Hobbs, of Third Drove, Little Downham, Ely, Cambs."

You find the clues in the strangest of places!

Another find was the marriage of Ernest to Alice Watson in 1909. Given that his older brother Charles married Susan Watson in 1905, what are the chances that they married sisters?

Anyway, more hunting to do as their sister Ethel is hiding from me . . . .

More soon.

Cecilia & Phoebe get married

Another "mind the gap" . . . . . so let's get straight back into things with the marriage of Cecilia Annie Staden & Alfred William White Mackie. Outside my usual time frame, I'll admit, but I really just want to boast that at least one person from my database has made it into Who was Who!

Cecilia was my second cousin twice removed, the daughter of John Thomas & Annie Marie (nee Erswell) and was born in Bury St Edmunds in 1892. By 1911 she was in Henley on Thames as a nursemaid and then I lose her until 1941. I happened upon this marriage in The Times online (via the local library) - it took place today at St John's Cross, Dundee - and, barring information to the contrary I assume that the couple lived together happily until Alfred's death in Marylebone in 1951. The Times, again, provides us with the information: "Mr Alfred William White Mackie, CIE, formerly Divisional Revenue Commissioner, Bombay, died in London on Wednesday, a few days before his seventy-fourth birthday. The son of Alexander Mackie, he was born on October 20 1877 and was educated at Harris Academy Dundee, Dundee High School, St Andrews University and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He entered the Indian Civil Service in 1900 and after much district service, was appointed Settlement Commissioner and Director of Land Records, Bombay, in 1924. He retired in 1936, having been a revenue commissioner for the previous five years. He married in 1941 Cecilia Annie, daughter of Mr J T Staden."

Cecilia lived to the grand age of 92, and died in deepest Berkshire (well, the Windsor & Maidenhead district) in 1984.

The second anniversary for today is the christening, in 1803, of my great-great-great-great-aunt Phoebe Freeman. The daughter of Edward & Sarah (nee Church), she was born in Tuddenham St Mary in Suffolk and went on to marry Thomas Stanton in Barton Mills in 1824. And, until a short while ago, that was where the story ended.

Now, I can add a few more facts; Phoebe & Thomas lived in his home village of Isleham (Cambs) and had four children, most notably Frances Freeman Stanton (in 1830) and Francis Freeman Stanton (in 1831). Phoebe died in 1838 and Thomas married again, having three more children with his second wife.

So far, I can find only Francis (that's "i for 'im" not "e for 'er) who married Sarah Keats in Waterbeach in 1855 and, by 1861, had three children, along with Sarah's son James. I haven't taken the family any further (I only discovered the above this evening) but I do know that Francis died in 1890.

More soon.

A Smith-athon . . .

Once upon a time (well, this time last year) I briefly mentioned John Smith, my first cousin four times removed, and made the point that there are so many John Smiths that I hadn't been able to make much . . . . . any progress.

It's taken twelve months to get round to it, but I am pleased to report a bit of progress. The aforementioned John Smith was born in Chatteris today in 1813, son of Joseph & Elizabeth (nee Curtis), the fourth of fourteen children.

He married Elizabeth Dunn in Chatteris in 1842 and they begat three children (2 sons & a daughter), whilst at the same time maintaining a farm reported to be 445 acres (in 1861) - on which they employed 13 men, 4 women and 5 boys. Their children were all sent away to school - Hellen (sic) to Ramsgate & the boys to Huntingdon - and all three had returned by 1871.

I haven't worked out what happened to Hellen yet but elder son Hugh took over the farm, increasing it to 700 acres by 1881 when he is living in Yorke House, Chatteris, with his wife and first three children (they went on to have eight, in all).

Younger son Roland was an 18 year old medical student in 1871 and qualified as a doctor in 1879, becoming a General Practitioner in Clapton by 1881. He married Gertrude McMorran in 1877 in London and they appear to have spent the next thirty years in Clapton, with three daughters.

Hugh junior (he who took over the farm) was last seen, as it were, at Denver Hall, Downham Market, in 1911, with his wife Maria and four of their children; their son Ferdinand had ventured across to deepest Liverpool, and his brother Eustace braved the wilds of Mildenhall! Next brother down, Wilfred, was to be found in Leeds. That's accounted for all their surviving children - I just need to find one more!

Hopefully it won't take another year . . . . .

More soon.

Just the two . . . .

We're starting today with a wedding, so come along with me to the parish church in Somersham in the old county of Huntingdonshire. Today in 1831 this church saw the marriage of Charles Mallison and Martha Bullard; my second cousin four times removed, Martha was the oldest of the seven children of James Bullard & Sarah (nee Fear) who was born in the village in 1813. Charles, a Norfolk boy, transmogrified into a farmer/publican and the couple were to be found at the Three Horse Shoes PH between 1841 and 1861, moving to the Queens Head by 1871. What is it about farmers of the time - they often seemed to have a pub too; maybe the wife ran the pub whilst the husband was out in the fields?? Anyway, Martha died in 1879 and Charles lived on until 1887, still in Somersham. As far as I can see there were no children.

Moving on, but staying on the same side of the family tree, let me introduce you to Thomas Kington. My great-great-great-great-grandfather was the younger of two children of Frederick & Mary and was christened today in 1768 at St Michael's church, Blaston, Leics. He married Sarah Shortland by licence in St Ives in 1792 and they went on to have six children. Sarah died in 1825 in St Ives, and I found Thomas, a butcher, in 1841 living in Bridge Street, head of the household which included his daughter Sophia and her husband Charles Culpin with their family. By 1851 he was in Peeks Yard, St Ives, a retired butcher, sharing his house this time with a housekeeper. He died in March 1853 in St Ives.

Nothing terribly thrilling (no disrespect, ancestors dear!) but I shall rootle around for an exciting detail for later in the week . . . . .

More soon.

Two pubs & a windmill

Today's anniversary takes place in 1831.

That's the year James Clerk Maxwell (physicist) was born, as was Mr Studebaker (he of the American car); Charles Darwin started his voyage on HMS Beagle and the French Foreign Legion was founded; Coal miners rioted in Merthyr Tydfil and Victor Hugo published The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

So, now we're deep in context, let me introduce you to great-great-great-great Uncle Thomas Lowton who married Ann Craft in the small Cambs village of Boxworth today. 180 years ago. The couple settled in Dry Drayton (just down the road) and proceeded to produce four children in the next twelve years. In 1841 James was an ag lab and was similarly listed in 1861; however, he is an invalid in 1851 . . . seems he recovered, so that's good! Mind you, I think he was living in the Black Horse pub in 1861 so maybe that helped!

Moving on, the other significant moment today (in my family history) is an 1811 advertisement in the local paper and reproduced in the Stretham Chronicle, telling us that "Francis Langford, Red Lion, wanted to put a youth as apprentice carpenter, joiner or coachman."

The aforementioned Francis Langford was, like Thomas Lowton, my 4xgt uncle and he was married to Ann Riddle. They had had eleven children by 1811 and managed one more in 1813. I didn't discover whether Francis got his apprentice but there was another advert in 1820: "Windmillers could contact Francis Langford for details of four good mill sails carrying upwards of 9 yards of cloth, five and a half feet wide with the leading board to the left."

Ten years later, and another advert: "Francis Langford, Red Lion, advertised for journeyman miller to take charge of a post windmill."

And the final one: 1839 - "Red Lion: Sale of a well-situated and old-established Red Lion pub in extensive trade for 100 years, containing dining and sitting rooms, tap room, bar, kitchen, airy bedroom, arched ale cellar holding 20 barrels, liquer cellar, good dairy, backhouse and cottage, large stables, blacksmiths shop, barn and outbuildings, yard and bowling green. Has good frontage next to the street through which the Lynn to London mails and coaches pass and repass daily, a good water supply with springs ten feet from the surface; proprietor for the last 70 years was Francis Langford."

I have to say that the last bit about Francis being the proprietor for the last 70 years is a bit misleading. That would be quite clever since he was only 75 when he died two years later. It is, though, a clever piece of phraseology as, you've guessed it, Francis succeeded his father . . . whose name was also Francis.

More soon.

Smiths & Basketmakers

A cold January day, particularly where I was in the county, so snuggle up to your nice warm computer . . . .

And let me introduce you to my first cousin four times removed Jane Smith. The daughter of Canham (Can to his friends) and Mary, Jane was born today in 1829 in the small Fen town of Chatteris and christened on 22 February the same year. In the 1841 census she is, inexplicably, staying with (or possibly living with - who can tell) the Stocks family in Slade End, Chatteris . . . . and that's all I know about her. I've tried to find her again but, let me tell you, there are quite a few Jane Smiths in the area! I'll put her on the infamous "To Do" list.

I know slightly more about the next couple, John Bullard and Maria Robb, who married today at the Baptist Chapel in St Ives in 1854. John, who had previously been married to Susan Wignall (she died in 1851), was one of the basket-making Bullards and he & Maria went on to produce six children in the next eleven years. They stayed in St Ives; in 1871 John was a "basket maker & fancy repository, employing 4 men and 18 boys" and he continued in the trade until his death on the last day of 1893.

Maria lived on in Crown Street in St Ives until at least 1901; and I found her in the 1911 census with her daughter Emily & family. She died in May 1914 and, like her husband, is buried in Broadleas Cemetery in St Ives.

John & Maria's two sons, John & Charles, emigrated together, arriving at Ellis Island in 1885. John stayed there and was last seen in the 1900 US census in Montana, a dealer in musical instruments; Charles appears to have returned by 1896 and was back in St Ives, in Campions Yard, in 1901, listed as as osier grower & basket manufacturer - sucked back into the family trade!!!

More soon.