The Origins of John Beckwith, born circa 1779

 John Beckwith was the father of Thomas Beckwith, my 3 x great-grandfather. John married Ann Lamson in Hackney 1804.¹ He died in Bethnal Green on 6th March 1838 his age being given as 59.² This indicates he was born about 1778-79. There are no Beckwith Baptisms in Bethnal Green before 1800, and only one isolated event in Shoreditch (John Backwith, 1778).³

 There are twelve John Beckwiths or Backwiths baptised in England from the beginning of 1777 to the end of 1780, with baptismal locations including Shoreditch, Middlesex, several in Essex, one in Norwich, Norfolk and others extending as far north as Brough under Stainmore, Westmoreland.⁴ To assist with his identification I looked at the details of John’s life and offspring to see if they would provide any hints.

 From the parish records, John & Ann Beckwith had the following offspring: Ann (1800), John Mitchelson (1802), Thomas (1804), Edward (1808), William Henry (1811), Charles (1817) & Edmund (1818), all christened in either Shoreditch or Bethnal Green.^5,6 However this list is not complete because the informant on the death certificate of Ann Beckwith nee Lamson is her son Ambrose Beckwith, weaver of 17 Robert St.⁷ Ambrose is easily found at 17 Robert Street in the 1851 census.⁸ The entry indicates he was born circa 1806 in Bethnal Green and there is a matching 1806 baptism entry in the registers of Bethnal Green St Matthew: Ambrose s/o Joseph & Ann Beckworth.⁶

 Baptisms were initially recorded in day books, often in abbreviated form, prior to being written into the official register. John would be abbreviated J^no and Joseph would be abbreviated J^os. These could be (and sometimes were) confused and misinterpreted during the transfer to the official register. Ambrose (1806) was the first child the couple baptised at St Matthew, so the parish officials wouldn’t necessarily have been familiar with them as a couple. He also fits nicely into a gap in the regular two-yearly child pattern.

 So the complete list of the offspring of John and Ann Beckwith is:

• 1800 Ann, christened 25th December 1800, Shoreditch St Leonard,
• 1802 John Mitchelson, christened 8th December 1811, Shoreditch St Leonard,
• 1804 Thomas, christened 1st January 1805, Shoreditch St Leonard,
• 1806 Ambrose, christened 16th November 1806, Bethnal Green St Matthew,
• 1808 Edward, christened 22nd June 1809, Shoreditch St Leonard,
• 1811 William Henry, christened 8th December 1811, Shoreditch St Leonard,
• 1817 Charles, christened 23rd March 1817, Bethnal Green St Matthew,
• 1818 Edmund, christened 3rd January 1819, Bethnal Green St Matthew.5,6
  

 Both John Beckwith and Ann Beckwith nee Lamson died in Bethnal Green (in 1838 and 1837 respectively).^2,7 On his death certificate, John’s occupation is given as a weaver and in 1841 his five unmarried sons (John, Edward, William Charles & Edward) are still living in the house in which he died, and are all weavers.⁹ The other three married offspring are also living in Bethnal Green in 1841, with all three households (Thomas & Ann Barton nee Beckwith; Thomas & Sarah Rebecca; Ambrose & Hester) being weaving households with everyone from the age of 11 up giving their occupation as weaver.⁹ By 1841 it was hard to make a living as a weaver, and families worked as a factory with the younger children spinning, threading weights or winding shuttles (see Plummer, page 361).¹⁰ Before 1800 there are no weavers with surname Beckwith in the East End.

 One odd point about the family is that Ambrose is quite a rare given name, but there is a sudden glut of Beckwiths with the given name Ambrose baptised in the East End of London in the early 1900s:

1. 1803 – Ambrose son of Ambrose & Ann, christened 7th August, Bethnal Green St Matthew (buried 17th August 1803, Bethnal Green St Matthew),
2. 1804 – Ambrose son of Ambrose & Ann, christened 12th August, Bethnal Green St Matthew (presumed death before October 1806),
3. 1806 – Ambrose son of Ambrose & Ann, christened 26th October, Bethnal Green St Matthew (buried 18th September 1808, Bethnal Green St Matthew),
4. 1806 – Ambrose son of Joseph & Ann, christened 16th November, Bethnal Green St Matthew,
5. 1814 – Ambrose son of Ambrose & Ann, christened 13th March, Bethnal Green St Matthew,
6. 1832 – Ambrose son of Ambrose & Esther, christened 17th June, Bethnal Green St Matthew,
7. 1844 – Ambrose James son of Ambrose & Maria, christened 5th June, Bethnal Green St Matthew,
8. 1849 – Ambrose Bona son of Henry & Mary Ann, christened 4th February, Bethnal Green St Jude,
9. 1871 – Joseph Ambrose son of Ambrose Bona & Sarah Ann Susannah, christened 2nd October, Hackney St Michael.^3,11,12

 The early baptisms (1, 2, 3, 5) are the offspring of Ambrose Beckwith and Ann nee Cecil (married in 1803, St George in the East).¹³ Ambrose and Ann can also be found in the censuses, and in 1861 he is shown as a weaver, born in Norwich about 1782.¹⁴ This corresponds with the son of Ambrose Beckwith and Ann Wittelton, christened in 1782, at Norwich St Paul.¹⁵

 The 1844 Ambrose James (7) is the grandson of Ambrose and Ann nee Cecil via their son Ambrose (1814, #5) and his wife Martha Bennett.^11,16 The 1849 Ambrose Bona (8) is the grandson of Ambrose & Ann Cecil via their son Henry (1816) and his wife Mary Ann Bona.^11,16 The 1871 Joseph Ambrose Beckwith (9) is the son of Ambrose Bona.

 We have already discussed the first 1806 Ambrose Beckwith (4). The 1832 Ambrose Beckwith (6) is the grandson of John and Ann nee Lamson via their son Ambrose (1806, #4) and his wife Esther/Hester Holloway.^11,16 Ann Beckwith (1800), daughter of John Beckwith who married Thomas Barton in 1824, also named one of her sons Ambrose (Ambrose Barton 1835).^11,16

 So all the Ambrose Beckwiths in the East End of London (plus Ambrose Barton) descend either from Ambrose Beckwith (1782, Norwich) and Ann nee Cecil or John Beckwith (c. 1779, origin unclear) and Ann nee Lamson (see Figure 1). Could John Beckwith and Ambrose Beckwith (1782) be related? After all one of our twelve possible John Beckwiths is from Norwich.

Figure 1: The Ambrose Beckwiths of the East End of London, 1803-1871.

 Looking at the family of Ambrose Beckwith & Ann Wittelton (proven parents of Ambrose born 1782, above), we find that they baptised nine children in Norwich, four of whom died in infancy (see Figure 2).^15,17,18,19 No further records can be found for Ambrose Beckwith (1749), his wife Ann nee Wittelton or any of their surviving offspring in Norwich. There is, however, a burial in 1814 at Bethnal Green for an Ambrose Beckwith of about the right age to be Ambrose (1749).⁶ There is then a marriage for an Ann Beckwith (widow) to James Oldfield (Whitechapel 1816).^6,20 Finally there is a burial for Ann Oldfield of the right age in 1819 at Bethnal Green.⁶ Of the surviving five children two can definitively be identified in the East End of London in the 1851 census (Ambrose Beckwith (1782) and Mary Ann Debarr nee Beckwith (1787), (see Figure 2).^8,21

Figure 2: The Family of Ambrose Beckwith and Ann(e) Wittelton, Norwich-Bethnal Green.

 We are thus missing three offspring: John (1779), Susanna (1786) and Elizabeth (1790). There are possibilities for John and Susanna in Bethnal Green: “Our” John, husband of Ann Lamson (and father of Thomas), and Susanna Beckwith who married John Whiter in Shoreditch in 1806 (see Figure 2), but I have not been able to find any evidence for the fate of Elizabeth.^1,5 All these couples (Ambrose Beckwith (1782) and Ann Beckwith nee Cecil, John Whiter and Susanna Whiter nee Beckwith, and James Debarr and Mary Ann Debarr nee Beckwith) lived in Bethnal Green like “our” John.⁹ Furthermore Ambrose Beckwith (1782), John Whiter, James Debarr and James Oldfield (second husband of Anne nee Wittelton) are also weavers like “our” John.^9,22 In addition a James Oldfield witnessed the marriages of John Beckwith to Ann Lamson in 1800 and Mary Ann Beckwith to James Debarr in 1813 prior to marrying Ann nee Wittelton in 1816.^1,20 He signed all three documents and the signatures are similar.

Figure 3: St Edmund's Church, Fishergate, Norwich, where Ambrose Beckwith was baptised in 1749. Photographed by the Author, 2018.

 To summarize, “our” John Beckwith lived in Bethnal Green, the same area where Ambrose Beckwith (1749) lived prior to his death as did his proven offspring Ambrose Beckwith (1782) and Mary Ann Debarr nee Beckwith (1787). John, his male offspring and his son-in-law were all weavers as were Ambrose Beckwith (1782) and James Debarr, husband of Mary Ann Beckwith (1787). John’s marriage was witnessed by a James Oldfield, who also witnessed the marriage of Mary Ann Beckwith (1787) and subsequently married Ann Beckwith nee Wittelton in 1816.

 The balance of the evidence points to John Beckwith (c. 1779) being the son of Ambrose Beckwith (1749) and Ann Wittelton who was christened 29th August 1779 at St Pauls Church, Norwich.

Arriving in London

Introduction

This short piece was written as a 250-word weekly assignment piece for the Diploma of Family History Unit “Writing Family History”. For this assignment we had to “think about a moment in your ancestor’s life where they arrived in a new place and ask yourself some of the key questions of family history: what? where? when? how? why?”

John Common was baptised in 1779 in Longhorsley, Northumberland. In 1806 his first child by Mary Oldfield was buried in Wapping, London. Given that there were coalmines in Longhorsley and that massive amounts of coal were being shipped from the Northumberland ports (including Newcastle) to London, it is almost certain that John would have made the trip by collier. How would a young man who had grown up in a rural Northumberland village feel as the collier slowly made its way up the Thames estuary?

---

Arriving in London, circa 1800

It was the sheer size which stunned John as the collier drifted up the Thames estuary within sight of the northern shore. A bare, flat shore with just the occasional church tower which the master noted one by one as they passed. Initially John couldn’t make out the southern shore, but then it appeared as a flat hazy line on the horizon. It was so different to the Tyne back in Northumberland, where the estuary showed as a clear gap between the low cliffs.

Gradually the banks edged together, but it was still very wide when the river began to meander, wide sweeping loops between the flat lands. He suddenly felt a longing for the hills around Longhorsley.

At Blackwall they heaved to as a boat rowed out from the old docks to check their cargo and direct them to their wharf. Then they continued left, right, left up a series of long reaches. Gradually small groups of cottages appeared on the flat banks. They made a final left turn and suddenly there were buildings as far as the eye could see across a mass of ships. He gasped and asked the man next to him if that was London. “Nay,” came the answer, “’Tis just Shadwell.”

As they approached the wharf he saw that the houses were just as small, mean and pokey as the cottages he had left behind in Longhorsley and as well just as crowded as Newcastle. Well, he was committed to a future here now.

Sources

1. Parry, Naomi, ‘Module 5 Writing Activities’, HAA004: Writing Family Histories, Accessed 23 Nov 2011.
2. Baptism of John Common, baptised 30 August 1779, Parish Registers of St Helen’s Church, Longhorsley, Northumberland, England, FHL microfilm 252593, item 1.
3. Marriage of John Common and Mary Oldfield, married 27 Jul 1806, Parish Registers of Saint John of Wapping, Wapping, Middlesex, England.
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_mining_in_the_United_Kingdom
   https://web.archive.org/web/20160418022803/http://www.cmhrc.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/nblandcf.htm.
5. http://projects.exeter.ac.uk/mhn/1896-33.htm.
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collier_(ship).
7. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/urban-history/article/abs/industrial-coal-consumption-in-early-modern-london/5777CBD7E2B6D476303AF91CEFBA4D1D.
8. https://historicengland.org.uk/research/inclusive-heritage/womens-history/maritime-women/perils/.
9. https://maps.nls.uk/view/102341461.
10. https://maps.nls.uk/view/102342032.
11. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Schematic-map-of-the-Thames-Estuary-showing-in-two-parts-up-and-down-estuary-of-the_fig1_226079902.
    

Eliminating Susana Wood

 My 4xgreat-grandparents were married in All Saints Church Laughton on 19th October 1807.¹ Their names were given in the marriage register as John David Davey and Susan Wood. John died in 1831, but Susan survived until late 1851 and completed two censuses.^2,3,5,6 The important census is the 1851 census, the first England census which required an actual age and a place of birth. Susan(nah) gives her age as 67 (implying she was born 1783-4) and her place of birth as “Sussex, Bucksted”. “Bucksted” should probably be equated with Buxted in north-east Sussex, about 12 km from Laughton.

Hunting through the indexes, there is only one Susan(…) Wood baptism in the correct era – Susana Wood daughter of Daniel & Elizabeth, was born18th February 1782, her birth being registered by the Wesleyan Great Meeting House in Battle in their non-conformist register in 1789.^6,7,8 It looked good to me (and it looked and looks good to a lot of other people too). Battle is about 27 km from Laughton.

However doing my due diligence on Susana Wood turned up another marriage, that of George Jupp and Susan Wood in Battle 1809.⁹ The couple moved to Bloomsbury where they registered the birth (in 1811) of a daughter, Mary Susanna Jupp, in the registers of Dr William’s Library in 1812.¹⁰ In this non-conformist birth registration Susanna, the mother of Mary Susanna Jupp, is stated to be Susanna daughter of Daniel & Elizabeth Wood.

Oh well, back to the drawing board (and probably another blog post when I sort it out). There are, at least, some Woods in the Buxted parish registers.

All Saints Laughton, photographed by the Author, 13 Jul 2016

 Sources 

1. Marriage of John David Davey and Susan Wood, married 19 October 1807, All Saints Laughton Parish Register, Laughton, Sussex, England, FHL Film 1067216.
2. Burial of John Davey, buried 23 December 1831, Hanover Chapel, Brighton, Sussex, England, bmdregisters.co.uk, accessed 22 Feb 2008.
3. Census record for Susan Wood, aged 50, 27 Crescent Cottages, Brighton, Sussex, 1851 England and Wales Census, The National Archives, HO107/1644/244, UK Census Collection, Ancestry.com.au, accessed 11 Feb 2007.
4. Census record for Susanah Wood, aged 67, Crescent Cottages, Brighton, Sussex, 1841 England and Wales Census, The National Archives, HO107/1123/5, UK Census Collection, Ancestry.com.au, accessed 11 Feb 2007.
5. Death certificate of Susannah Davey, died 7 August 1851, registered September quarter 1851, Brighthelmston registration district, General Registry Office, England, vol. 7, p. 203, no. 94.
6. Sussex Family History Group, ‘Data Archive on Frontis, Baptism Data’, http://sfhg.frontis.co/bin/index.php, accessed 23 Oct 2021.
7. FamilySearch, https://www.familysearch.org/en/, accessed 23 Oct 2021.
8. Birth Registration entry of Susana Wood, born 18 February 1782, The Great Meeting House, Battle, Sussex, Ancestry.com.au, accessed 23 Oct 2021
9. Marriage of George Jupp & Susannah Wood, married 13 Sep 1809, Sussex Family History Group, The Sussex Marriage Index (Up to 1837) (CD ROM). Lewes, UK, Sussex Family History Group, 2005.
10. Birth Registration entry of Mary Susanna Jupp, born 5 June 1811, Dr Williams’ Library Registry, Birth Certificates, 1805-1812 , Ancestry.com.au, accessed 23 Oct 2021.
    

Why is ‘Rosers Cross’ so named?

 John Roser migrated to Waldron in the late 1700s having married at East Hoathly in 1782 and baptised his daughter Martha in Waldron in 1794. So the family had not been long term residents of Waldron before the 1800s.^1,2 However just north of the village centre is a cross-roads (and a recently developed hamlet) named ‘Rosers Cross’.³ The cross-roads is marked with this name in the 1898 Ordnance survey map of the area, but not in the earliest (1813) map.^4,5 So sometime in this period the location acquired its name. Is there any way in which the location where the Rosers resided during this time can be identified to see whether it was in the locality later known as ‘Rosers Cross’?

Rosers Cross from Rosers Cross Lane, photographed by Sue Law, 13 July 2016

 In fact the 1841 Census can be used to roughly locate the Roser residence in June 1841. Census takers were allotted an area to cover (an enumeration district, usually described at the start of the census section) and since they were walking or riding, they optimised their route to minimise the length of their journey. The household schedules thus collected were numbered in the order they were taken. Thus by listing the locations in the enumeration district in schedule order, identifying their modern locations and plotting them out in order, the route followed by the census taker can be illustrated and the rough location of any unknown or poorly specified places can be identified. The Rosers lived in Enumeration District 5 (Waldron Parish) of Framfield Registrar’s District which was part of the Uckfield Superintendent Registrar’s District.⁶ The named locations were censused in the following order:

	1841 census location name	Most recent location name
1	Furnace	The Furnace7
2	Sharps Corner	Sharps Corner3,5
3	Eastons	-
4	Horsham	Horeham/Horam3,5
5	Cards	-
6	Great Tan House	Tanners Manor or Tanners Farm3
7	Lions green House	Lions Green3
8	Foxhunt green	Foxhunt Green3
9	Foxhunt House	Foxhunt4
10	Woodgates	-
11	Shullow Bridge	Scallow Bridge3
12	Shullow Bridge cottage	Probably Scallow Wish7
13	Herringdales	Heronsdale Manor3
14	Holms	Holms Farm7
15	Silver Oaks	Silveroaks Farm7
16	Gowers	-
17	Cutteys Crouch	Catts Crouch Farm7
18	Possingworth Bridge	Not named, but the road to Possingworth Manor House does cross the same stream as Scallows Bridge, so I have assumed that this is Possingworth Bridge
19	Possingworth	Possingworth Manor House8
20	Brickendens	Bryckden Place3
21	(Roser Residence)	Location of the Roser entries in the enumeration
22	Mount Pleasant	Montpellier.4 This is the closest I can find to a “Mount Pleasant”, through there is a street called “Mount Pleasant” in Cross in Hand not far from this location.
23	Siggses	Siggswood9 (on Brittenden Lane)
24	Waldron Cross	I assume this is the cross-roads west of the village
25	Poorhouse	Grove Cottages10,11
26	Owlesbury House	Owlesbury House12
27	Waldron Street	The Street

 

Street sign, Waldron, photographed by Alan Law, 13 July 2016

Plotting these places on Google Earth and linking places 1 to 20 (before the Roser residence) with an orange path and 22 to 27 (after the Roser residence) with a red path, we can see that the census taker took a logical and optimal path around the district. The locations of un-named residences will thus be between the identified locations either side of the census entry.

Census taker's route around Waldron, June 1841

 Logically the Roser residence lies in the gap in the path in the area of locations 20, 22 and 23 not far from ‘Rosers Cross’. There is thus a strong possibility that ‘Rosers Cross’ is named after the family of John Roser, his wife Martha and their descendants.

 This technique can be used to locate unknown locations anywhere in the UK with appropriate census records, for example locating named slum “Rents” in the East End of London which were not shown on any map before they were cleared.

Sources

1. Marriage of John Roser and Martha Hook, married 28 October 1782, East Hoathly Parish Register, East Hoathly, Sussex, England, Reprograph obtained from East Sussex Record Office.
2. Baptism of Martha Roser, baptised 6 January 1794, All Saints Waldron Parish Register, Waldron, Sussex, England, Reprograph obtained from East Sussex Record Office.
3. Ordnance Survey, #199 Eastbourne & Hastings, Topographic, 1:50 000, OS Landranger, Southampton, UK, Ordnance Survey, 2017.
4. Ordnance Survey, and Cassini Maps, Eastbourne & Hastings 1898, Matching OS Landranger 199, Topographic, 1:50 000, Cassini Historical Map Revised New Series. Gillingham, UK, Cassini Publishing, 2007.
5. Ordnance Survey, and Cassini Maps, Eastbourne & Hastings 1813, Matching OS Landranger 199, Topographic, 1:50 000, Cassini Historical Map Old Series, Gillingham, UK, Cassini Publishing, 2007.
6. Census record for Parish of Waldron, Sussex, 1841 England and Wales Census, The National Archives, HO107/1118/9 Folios 5-12, UK Census Collection, Ancestry.com, accessed 3 Nov 2006.
7.  Streetmap.co.uk, ‘1:25,000 Street Map: Waldron’, http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?x=554678&y=119747&z=120&sv=Waldron&st=3&tl=Map+of+Waldron,+East+Sussex+[Town]&searchp=ids&mapp=map, accessed 10 Oct 2021.
8. Streetmap.co.uk, ‘1:25,000 Topographic Map: Waldron’, http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?x=554678&y=119747&z=120&sv=Waldron&st=3&tl=Map+of+Waldron,+East+Sussex+[Town]&searchp=ids&mapp=map, accessed 10 Oct 2021.
9. Zoopla.co.uk, ‘Listing for Siggswood, Waldron, Heathfield TN21 0RG’, https://www.zoopla.co.uk/property/siggswood/waldron/heathfield/tn21-0rg/23988774/, accessed 10 Oct 2021.
10. British Listed Buildings, ‘Grove Cottage’, https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101183172-grove-cottage-heathfield-and-waldron#.YWNz3xw7YaF, accessed 10 Oct 2021.
11. Mike Wilson, ‘History of Grove Cottages (Waldron Workhouse)’, Maggi and Popsie's Blog, 1 July 2009, http://maggiandmike.blogspot.com/,  accessed 10 Oct 2021.
12. Rightmove.co.uk, ‘Listing for Owlesbury, North Street, Waldron, Heathfield, East Sussex TN21 0QR’, https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=75796126&sale=80659083&country=england, accessed 10 Oct 2021.

The Confusing Coventry Mob

 The Warwickshire section of my family tree can be very confusing, a situation not helped by the damage and destruction caused to the parish records of St Michael’s Coventry when it was bombed during WWII. The surname ‘Fletcher’ keeps cropping up, legitimately and adoptively, and in this blog I will investigate the reasons for this, and whether there is any relationship between the various Fletchers who appear in my tree.

 I have shown in a previous blog how Mary Ann Butler (daughter of James Butler) was listed in censuses as Mary Ann Fletcher when she was young.^1,2 Her mother’s maiden surname was Fletcher, but this was not the reason for the family using that surname.³ Looking at the timeline:

• Edward Butler married Catharine Randal in 1822.⁴
• Their son James was baptised in 1822.⁵
• Edward Butler died in 1826.⁶
• Catharine Butler nee Randal married Henry Fletcher in 1827.⁷
• Catharine and Henry baptise two children in Foleshill.^8,9
• Henry, Catharine and their children moved to Tower Hamlets about 1833.¹⁰
• Henry Fletcher died in 1840.¹¹
• When completing the 1841 census the widowed Catharine Fletcher gave the surname of all her children as ‘Fletcher’, including James Butler.¹²

 James Butler continued to use the surname Fletcher in the censuses right up to his death, though he used ‘Butler’ when he married Fanny Maria Fletcher in 1843 and when he registered their children.^{1,2,3,13,14,15,16} James Butler’s step-father and wife were thus both Fletchers and while Fanny Maria was born in Tower Hamlets, her father was born in Coventry about 1781.^17,18 Both the Butlers and Fletchers maintained strong links with Warwickshire with many members moving back and forth between Tower Hamlets and the Coventry area.

&npsp;I haven’t found a baptismal entry for Henry Fletcher (James’ step-father) but his death in 1840 (aged 32) was registered by his father, another Henry Fletcher (hereafter distinguished as Henry Fletcher Snr) who was living one street away from Catharine Fletcher (nee Randal) at the time of the 1841 census.^11,19 In the 1851 census Henry Fletcher Snr is listed living in Foleshill, stating that he had been born in Coventry around 1785, like John Fletcher.²⁰ There is a late baptism entry for Henry Fletcher Snr in Shoreditch in 1801, giving a 1785 birth date and parents as “Jones” and “Amey”.²¹

 A search for potential parents in the Coventry area, reveals that Jonah Fletcher married Em Barkby in Walsgrave on Sowe in 1767.²² Jonah was born in Walsgrave on Sowe in 1745, the same year and place as Ame Barkby.^23,24 This pair are probably the parents of Henry Snr.

Figure 1: Church of St Mary, Walsgrave on Sowe, photographed by Susan Law 9 July 2019

 Turning back to the other Fletchers, we noted above that Fanny Maria Fletcher’s father, John Fletcher, was born in Coventry about 1781.¹⁸ There is a 1782 baptism entry in the Bishop’s Transcripts for St Michael’s Coventry for a John Fletcher son of “Joseph” and “Emmy”.²⁵ At this period church events were noted initially in day books (or scraps of paper), often in abbreviated form, before being copied into the official register once a week.²⁶ The abbreviated form of both ‘Jonas’ and ‘Joseph’ is ‘Jo^s’. In this case we have a further potential for error in that this surviving record is a Bishop’s Transcript. So it is possible that John’s father was actually a Jonas. ‘Emmy’ and ‘Amey’ are probable variants of ‘Amy’, as are ‘Ame’ and ‘Em’ (above). It is thus a strong possibility that John and Henry Snr are brothers. Supporting this there is another baptism in a surviving section of a damaged St Michael’s Register in 1771 for James Fletcher son of Jonas and Amy.²⁷ He is probably another sibling of John and Henry.

Figure 2: Ruined chancel of St Michael's Church, Coventry, photographed by Alan Law 8 July 2019 (used with permission).

 It is interesting to note that the occupations for both John and Henry Fletcher Snr were given as “soldier” in the baptisms of their early children in 1806.^28,29 Perhaps they were both militiamen? It was after all the time of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

 If John and Henry Fletcher Snr were brothers, then when James Butler married Fanny Maria in 1843 he married his step-father’s cousin (see Figure 3). While this is not consanguineous it has the potential to cause confusion. The relationship complicates the interpretation of DNA results as it is near impossible to distinguish genetically between the descendants of Catharine Randal’s two marriages and the descendents of John Fletcher. Possibly due to the DNA matches, Henry Fletcher, son of Catherine and Henry Fletcher and grandson of Henry Snr (probable brother of John Fletcher) is attached in some trees as a child of John Fletcher and Catharine Squires, despite the total lack of records associating him with the couple (for example never appearing with the family in the censuses).³⁰ These DNA matches do, however, support the thesis that John Fletcher and Henry Fletcher Snr were brothers.

Figure 3: Relationships among the Confusing Coventry Mob

Sources

1. Census record for James Fletcher, aged 25, 3 Fleet Street, Bethnal Green, Middlesex, 1851 England and Wales Census, The National Archives, HO107/1542, UK Census Collection, Ancestry.com.au, accessed 8 Aug 2008.
2. Census record for James Fletcher, aged 38, 8 Horse Ride, Bethnal Green, Middlesex, 1861 England and Wales Census, The National Archives, HO107/1542, UK Census Collection, Ancestry.com.au, accessed 8 Aug 2008.
3. Marriage certificate of James Butler and Fanny Maria Fletcher, married 5 June 1843, registered June quarter 1843, Shoreditch registration district, General Registry Office, England, vol. 2, p. 376, no. 182.
4. Marriage of Edward Buttler and Catharine Randle, married 18 February 1822, St Laurence’s Church Parish Register, Foleshill, Warwickshire, England, page number not known, No. 412.
5. Baptism of James Butler, baptised 25 August 1822, St Laurence’s Church Parish Register, Foleshill, Warwickshire, England, page number not known, No. 412.
6. Burial of Edward Buttler, buried 28 July 1826, St Laurence’s Church Parish Register, Foleshill, Warwickshire, England, Page 136, No. 1085.
7. Marriage of Henry Fletcher and Catharine Butler, married 10 Jun 1827, St Laurence’s Church Parish Register, Foleshill, Warwickshire, England, page number not known, No. 115.
8. Baptism of Henry Fletcher, baptised 17 February 1828, St Laurence’s Church Parish Register, Foleshill, Warwickshire, England, Page 30, No. 238. FHL Film No. 559233.
9. Baptism of Hannah Fletcher, baptised 27 February 1831, St Laurence’s Church Parish Register, Foleshill, Warwickshire, England, Page 81, No. 646, FHL Film No. 559233.
10. Baptism of George Henry Fletcher, baptised 3 August 1834, Christ Church Parish Register, Spitalfields, Middlesex, England, Page 227, No. 1809. London Metropolitan Archives Microfiche No. X024/002.
11. Death certificate of Henry Fletcher, died 26 December 1840, registered December quarter 1840, Whitechapel Union registration district, General Registry Office, England, vol. 2, p. 439, no. 3.
12. Census record for Catherline Fletcher, aged 37, Quaker Street, Spitalfields, Middlesex, 1841 England and Wales Census, The National Archives, HO107/710/3/24, UK Census Collection, Ancestry.com.au, accessed 15 Sep 2008.
13. Birth certificate of Louisa Butler, born 28 May 1844, registered September quarter 1844, Whitechapel Union registration district, General Registry Office, England, vol. 2, p. 537, no. 304.
14. Birth certificate of Mary Ann Butler, born 1 March 1847, registered June quarter 1847, Whitechapel registration district, General Registry Office, England, vol. 2, p. 564, no. 233.
15. Birth certificate of Charles Henry Butler, born 2 April 1849, registered June quarter 1849, Whitechapel registration district, General Registry Office, England, vol. 2, p. 625, no. 629.
16. Birth certificate of Catherine Butler, born 11 September 1851, registered December quarter 1851, Bethnal Green registration district, General Registry Office, England, vol. 2, p. 73, no. 119.
17. Baptism of Fanny Maria Fletcher, baptised 29 September 1811, Christ Church Parish Register, Spitalfields, Middlesex, England, Page 171, unnumbered. London Metropolitan Archives Microfiche No. X024/001.
18. Census record for John Fletcher, aged 70, 5 Greenwood’s Rents, Bishopsgate, Middlesex, 1851 England and Wales Census, The National Archives, HO107/1524/521, UK Census Collection, Ancestry.com.au, accessed 22 Aug 2006.
19. Census record for Henry Fletcher, aged 58, 13 Fleur de Lis Court, Spitalfields, Middlesex, 1841 England and Wales Census, The National Archives, HO107/710/13/10, UK Census Collection, Ancestry.com.au, accessed 12 Sep 2021.
20. Census record for Henry Fletcher, aged 66, Lockhurst Lane, Foleshill, Warwickshire, 1851 England and Wales Census, The National Archives, HO107/2066/229, UK Census Collection, Ancestry.com.au, accessed 12 Sep 2021.
21. Baptism of Henry Fletcher, baptised 15 January 1801, St Leonard Parish Register, Shoreditch, Middlesex, England, unpaginated, unnumbered, London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812, Ancestry.com.au,  accessed 3 Sep 2011.
22. Marriage of Jonah Fletcher and Em Barkby, married 28 December 1767, St Mary’s Church Parish Register, Walsgrave on Sowe, Warwickshire, England, Page 22, No. 88, Warwickshire, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1910, Ancestry.com.au, accessed 8 Mar 2016.
23. Baptism of Jonah Fletcher, baptised 18 August 1745, St Mary’s Church Parish Register, Walsgrave on Sowe, Warwickshire, England, unpaginated, unnumbered, Warwickshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1535-1812, Ancestry.com.au, accessed 20 Oct 2010.
24. Baptism of Ame Barkby, baptised 5 May 1745, St Mary’s Church Parish Register, Walsgrave on Sowe, Warwickshire, England, unpaginated, unnumbered, Warwickshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1535-1812, Ancestry.com.au, accessed 20 Oct 2010.
25. Baptism of John Fletcher, baptised 19 October 1782, St Michael’s Church Bishop’s Transcript, Coventry, Warwickshire, England, unpaginated, unnumbered, Warwickshire County Record Office microfilm DR0090/13.
26. Burke, Arthur Meredyth, Key to the Ancient Parish Registers of England & Wales, The Sackville Press, London, 1908, https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/430032-key-to-the-ancient-parish-registers-of-england-wales?offset=4.
27. Baptism of James Fletcher, baptised 16 July 1771, St Michael’s Church Parish Register, Coventry, Warwickshire, England, unpaginated, unnumbered, Warwickshire Baptisms, www.findmypast.com.au, accessed 30 Sep 2017.
28. Baptism of Martha Fletcher, baptised 13 April 1806, Christ Church Parish Register, Spitalfields, Middlesex, England, Page 110, unnumbered. London Metropolitan Archives Microfiche No. X024/001.
29. Baptism of Ann Fletcher, baptised 7 December 1806, Christ Church Parish Register, Spitalfields, Middlesex, England, Page 118, unnumbered, London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812, ancestry.com.au, accessed 12 Sep 2021.
30. Ancestry Australia, ‘Susan Law DNA Test: Thru-Lines for John Fletcher’, https://www.ancestry.com.au/discoveryui-geneticfamily/thrulines/tree/1333931960:9009:66/for/080AB020-82F7-4145-BC9C-3BF177830102, accessed 1 Sep 2021 (not accessible without login).
    

Which Thomas Beckwith?

My 2xGreat-grandfather, Zachariah Beckwith, was the youngest of fourteen children of Thomas Beckwith and his wife Sarah.¹ Thomas Beckwith married Sarah Rebecca Hall, on 6 Jun 1824 at St John of Hackney.² The couple appeared in the 1841 census: Thomas Beckwith, a silk weaver aged 36, and Sarah at 2 Shacklewell Street, Bethnal Green.³ Thomas’ age is not rounded down, so we can infer that Thomas was born 1804-5.

There are two Thomas Beckwiths born in East London in 1804-5, one in Whitechapel and one in Shoreditch.^4,5 By comparing the histories of the two families we can deduce which Thomas Beckwith was the father of Zachariah.

Whitechapel	Shoreditch
Thomas, son of Thomas Beckwith & Mary of Church Lane, ch 26 Aug 1804, St Mary Whitechapel4	Thomas, son of John & Ann Beckwith of New Inn Yard, bn 12 Dec 1804, ch 1 Jan 1805, St Leonard Shoreditch5/td>
Marriages
Thomas Beckwith married Mary Finch, 10 Jan 1791, All Saints West Ham Essex6	John Beckwith married Ann Lamson, 7 Jun 1800, St John at Hackney7
Other Offspring
Sarah Ann daughter of Thomas & Mary Beckwith of Colchester Street, ch 5 Jul 1795, St Mary Whitechapel8	Ann daughter of John & Ann Beckwith of New Inn Yard, bn 16 Nov 1800, ch 25 Dec 1800, St Leonard Shoreditch12
George son of Thomas & Mary Beckwith of Colchester Street, ch 19 Feb 1797, St Mary Whitechapel9	John Mitchelson son of John & Ann Beckwith of New Inn Yard, bn 28 Dec 1802, ch 8 Dec 1811, St Leonard Shoreditch13
Harriet daughter of Thomas & Mary Beckwith of Church Lane, ch 17 Mar 1799, St Mary Whitechapel10	Edward son of John & Ann Beckwith of New Inn Yard, bn 25 Dec 1808, ch 22 Jun 1809, St Leonard Shoreditch14
Samuel Cox Beckwith son of Thomas & Mary of Church Lane, ch 24 Jul 1801, St Mary Whitechapel11	William Henry son of John & Ann Beckwith of New Inn Yard, bn 7 Jul 1811, ch 8 Dec 1811, St Leonard Shoreditch15
	Charles son of John Beckwith (weaver) & Ann of Swan Street, bn 27 Feb 1817, ch 23 Mar 1817, St Matthew Bethnal Green16
	Edmund son of John Beckwith (weaver) & Ann of Swan street, bn 19 Oct 1918, ch 3 Jan 1819, St Matthew Bethnal Green17
1841 England Census
Samuel & George Beckwith, carriage makers of Devonshire Street West, Mile End Old Town18	John, Edward, William, Charles & Edmund Beckwith, silk weavers of Old Nichol St, Bethnal Green19

We don’t have any indications of the occupation of Thomas, husband of Mary, but by 1841 two of his sons were carriage makers.¹⁸ In contrast John Beckwith, husband of Ann, is listed as a weaver in the baptism entries of his last two sons and as a silk weaver in his death certificate.²⁰ In 1841 five of his sons are living together and are all weavers.¹⁹

Looking at locations, John Beckwith & Ann lived in the Shoreditch/Bethnal Green area and five of his sons were living in Bethnal Green in 1841 (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Locations associated with the families of Thomas & Mary Beckwith and John & Ann Beckwith. 

Given that Thomas father of Zachariah is a weaver living in Bethnal Green in 1841, not far from five of the sons of John and Ann, the balance of probability is that Zachariah’s father is the other son of John and Ann Lamson.

Sources

1. Birth of Zachariah Beckwith, born 4 Jul 1851; citing II/77/442, September quarter 1851, Bethnal Green registration district, Town sub-district; General Register Office, Southport.

2. Marriage of Thomas Beckwith and Sarah Hall, married 6 June 1824, St John at Hackney Church Registers, Hackney, Middlesex, Page 236, No. 707.

3. Census record for Thomas Beckwith, aged 36, 2 Shacklewell Street, Bethnal Green, Middlesex, 1841 England and Wales Census, The National Archives, HO107/694/11/42/20, UK Census Collection, Ancestry.com, accessed 23 Apr 2006.

4. Baptism of Thomas Beckwith, baptised 26 August 1804, St Mary’s Church Register, Whitechapel, Middlesex, England, Ancestry Australia, accessed 12 Dec 2009.

5. Baptism of Thomas Beckwith, baptised 12 December 1804, St Leonard’s Church Parish Register, Shoreditch, Middlesex, England, FHL Film 396232.

6. Marriage of Thomas Beckwith and Mary Finch married 10 January 1791, Parish of West Ham, Essex, England, Essex, England, Church of England Marriages, 1754-1935 (Index only, no image currently available), Ancestry Australia, accessed 30 Aug 2021.

7. Marriage of John Beckwith and Ann Lamson, married 7 June 1800, St John at Hackney Church Registers, Hackney, Middlesex, unpaginated, unnumbered.

8. Baptism of Sarah Ann Beckwith, baptised 5 July 1795,  St Mary’s Church Parish Register, Whitechapel, Middlesex, England, Ancestry Australia, accessed 30 Aug 2021.

9. Baptism of George Beckwith, baptised 19 February 1797, St Mary’s Church Parish Register, Whitechapel, Middlesex, England, Ancestry Australia, accessed 30 Aug 2021.

10. Baptism of Harriet Beckwith, baptised 17 March 1799, St Mary’s Church Parish Register, Whitechapel, Middlesex, England, Ancestry Australia, accessed 30 Aug 2021.

11. Baptism of Samuel Cox Beckwith, baptised 24 July 1801,  St Mary’s Church Parish Register, Whitechapel, Middlesex, England, Ancestry Australia, accessed 30 Aug 2021.

12. Baptism of Ann Beckwith, baptised 25 December 1800, St Leonard’s Church Parish Register, Shoreditch, Middlesex, FHL Film 396232.

13. Baptism of John Mitchelson Beckwith, baptised 8 December 1811, St Leonard’s Church Parish Register, Shoreditch, Middlesex, Ancestry Australia, accessed 10 Jan 2011.

14. Baptism of Edward Beckwith, baptised 22 June 1809, St Leonard’s Church Parish Register, Shoreditch, Middlesex, FHL Film 396232.

15. Baptism of William Henry Beckwith, baptised 8 December 1811, St Leonard’s Church Parish Register, Shoreditch, Middlesex, Ancestry Australia, accessed 10 Jan 2011.

16. Baptism of Charles Beckwith, baptised 23 March 1817, St Matthew’s Church Parish Register, Bethnal Green, Middlesex, Page 63, No. 502, Ancestry Australia, accessed 10 Jan 2011.

17. Baptism of Edmund Beckwith, baptised 3 January 1819, St Matthew’s Church Parish Register, Bethnal Green, Middlesex, Page 231, No. 1841, Ancestry Australia, accessed 10 Jan 2011.

18. Census record for Samuel Beckwith, aged 35, Devonshire Street West, Mile End Old Town , 1841 England and Wales Census, The National Archives, HO107/713/4/48, UK Census Collection, Ancestry Australia, accessed 30 Aug 2021.

19. Census record for John Beckwith, aged 35, Old Nichol Street, Bethnal Green, Middlesex, 1841 England and Wales Census, The National Archives, HO107/693/1/20, UK Census Collection, Ancestry.com, accessed 11 Nov 2006.

20. Death of John Beckwith, died 6 March 1838, citing II/28/381, March quarter 1838, Bethnal Green registration district, Hackney Road sub-district; General Register Office, Southport.

Railways and Genealogy

When researching my 3xgreat-grandparents, Walter Thomas Piller and Susanna Davies, I hit a problem. Walter and Susanna married in Great Yarmouth and had two short-lived children there, the second of whom was buried in August 1851.^1-5 In August 1852 they had a child, Betsey and in August 1853 a son, Walter, both born in Shoreditch.^6,7 Walter grew up to become my 2xgreat-grandfather, but Betsey seemed to just vanish. The solution lay in the railways.

Railways had a major impact on the development of modern Britain.⁸ Towns which missed out on a route slowly degenerated into villages and formerly remote villages grew into towns. In other locations (such as Amersham) development steadily migrated to a nearby station, leaving the ancient village hanging loose.

With their capacity for both bulk freight and mass human transport, railways significantly reduced both travel times and travel costs while increasing availability. Before the railways, most travel for lower income families was by foot, cart or canal, all at pretty much walking pace (5-7 kph).⁹ Only the wealthy could afford coaches (private, stage or mail) which travelled at about twice the speed (8-14 kph). The frequency with which these services were publicly offered would only be, at most, a few times per week. The early trains frequently travelled at 30-50 kph and often provided several services per day.^{8 (p118),10} After 1844 all new railway companies were required to provide low cost travel at 1d per mile. The existing companies rapidly followed suit as these low cost services provided access to a new, mass market and were extremely profitable.^{8 (p89)} Offering affordability and speed, railways were a key facilitator of migration within the UK.

----------

Coventry was a town which needed transport. Surrounded by a major coalfield and with industries developing, Coventry welcomed developments in transport systems.¹¹ Major road improvements began in the early eighteenth century, with turnpike trusts steadily being set up to convert bridle ways to carriage ways. Canal development begain in 1768 connecting the Bedworth coalfield to Coventry and by 1790 the Coventry Canal provided connections to canals reaching Liverpool and the Thames. Coventry station was built in 1838 as a stop on the London (Euston) to Birmingham railway.^11,12 By 1843 trains were taking 4-5 hrs for the 150 kilometre trip from London to Coventry, with ~8 services per day.¹⁰ This was quicker, more convenient and much cheaper than a stage coach (~10 hours), and also much quicker than by canal (~36 hours over several days).⁹

My 4xgreat-grandparents, Catherine Randal and Edward Butler, married in 1822 at Foleshill, north-east of Coventry.¹³ Edward died in 1826 leaving one child (James born 1823) and Catherine remarried to Henry Fletcher in 1827, again at Foleshill.^14,15,16 Their first three children - Henry (1828), Hannah (1831) and Jonas Henry (1832) - were all born near Foleshill but the last two children - George Henry (1834) and Charles Henry (1837) - were born at Tower Hamlets, east of the City of London.^17-21,24 The move from Foleshill to Tower Hamlets in about 1833 would most conveniently have been made by canal.

In 1840 Henry Fletcher died in Tower Hamlets.²² In the 1841 census Catherine was still living in Tower Hamlets, but by 1851 she was back in the Coventry area with Jonas Henry and George Henry where she remarried in 1856.^23-25 By this time the trip could have made by railway.

Her eldest son (my ancestor), James Butler lived in Tower Hamlets until his death in 1867 but his eldest daughter, Louisa, was staying with her half-uncle, Jonas Henry Fletcher, in the Coventry area in 1861 returning to London by 1871.^26,27,28

Catherine’s second son, Henry Fletcher, also stayed in Tower Hamlets for the rest of his life, but her two youngest surviving sons (Jonas Henry and George Henry) having moved back to the Coventry area with their mother in 1851 married in the area and had families there.^29,24,30 During this time Louisa, daughter of James Butler, visited Jonas Henry. However, Jonas Henry and George Henry, with their families, were back in Tower Hamlets by 1871.^31,32

It is doubtful whether this hopping back and forth, especially of entire families, could have happened were it not for the existence of the railway.

----------

Norfolk had been a relatively isolated area of England for centuries, cut off from the rest of the country by the fens. In addition there was only one (short) canal built in the North-east of the county, so that travel was limited to the rivers and the roads.^33,34,35 The Norwich Thorpe to Great Yarmouth railway line opened in 1844, greatly reducing travel time between the two towns.³⁶ In 1845 Norwich Thorpe was connected to the Shoreditch (Bishopsgate) terminus in London.³⁶ This would have greatly simplified travel from the Norfolk coast to London with a single change of train at Norwich. A faster route from Norwich to Shoreditch (Liverpool Street) via Ipswich was opened in 1851.³⁶ By 1859 London could be reached from Great Yarmouth in eight hours.³⁷

It turns out that Betsey, third child of Walter and Susanna, while born and baptised at Shoreditch, was buried at Great Yarmouth in March 1853 (no death registration found).³⁸ Then in August 1853 their fourth (and first surviving) child was born at Shoreditch.⁷ The family seems to have settled down in Tower Hamlets after this. I have very little doubt that most of the family’s travelling between Yarmouth and the East End of London was done by rail and undoubtedly they made many more trips for which we have no evidence.

----------

It is difficult to see the amount of travelling to and fro between place of origin and London shown above occurring without the railways and the existence of the railways needs to be taken into account when searching for sources. When people vanish in the mid nineteenth century, check when nearby stations were built and where the rail lines could take people. It took me a long time to find Betsey Piller’s death simply because it didn’t occur to me to look for a death outside London once the family had initially moved there!

Getting the best out of an autosomal DNA test

This blog post is based on my experience using AncestryDNA^® for family history research.  AncestryDNA is an autosomal DNA test which (subject to statistical variation) is a “broad spectrum” test covering all antecedent lines.¹ Much of what I say will, however, be applicable to any autosomal DNA test system, but Ancestry does have the biggest sample set of tests.

Once your DNA sample has been analysed Ancestry provides three sets of results:

1. An Ethnicity Estimate,
2. A list of all your DNA Matches with shared DNA equal to 8 cM or greater,
3. ThruLines^TM, a suggested line of connection, based on analysis of Ancestry family trees (private and otherwise) if one can be found.
   

Further background on the AncestryDNA testing and analysis process is available on the Ancestry web site.²

1. Ethnicity

Unless you are primarily interested in anthopology, the Ethnicity Estimate doesn’t help much with family history. Due to the random nature of DNA inheritance, the whole of a particular ancestor’s DNA can have disappeared from your chromosome set. I have 4% European Jewish DNA. A remote cousin via my Jewish ancestors has none.

2. DNA matches

When I first did my test this was the only result useful for family history. Even so the usefulness depended on how much work the matches had put in their end and how accurate that work was (and whether, like me, they prefer to keep their tree private). I have three first cousins in the list whom I know and who were already in my tree. Two of them have online trees, helpful, but mainly containing information I already knew.

The next three with 93-109cM match values have no trees and minimal information on their profiles. By looking at the shared matches I can assign them to either my mother’s or my father’s side and define a rough branch. Two of them have surnames which do not appear in my tree. I don’t know where to start looking for them. The third has a family surname, but I still can’t track him down.

No tree, no personal info, no use (even with high level of DNA match).

The next match (91cM) had a family surname and a VERY small tree, most of which were living people, but she had linked her DNA to it and the one named person was in my tree. I was able to investigate her line and add it to my tree.

Even a small tree is useful as long as it is accurate.

A match at 58cM had a private tree. Even though it is linked, the only way I can directly make use of it is by contacting the owner and requesting access. I don’t blame them. When I first subscribed to Ancestry (15 years ago) I uploaded my careful research to a public tree and found large chunks of it taken and attached to totally unrelated trees. So I made my tree private and have happily shared it with anyone who requests access and can prove how they are related to me. This process can be tedious and this is where ThruLines comes in (see below).

Be prepared to respond to tree access requests in a reasonable and timely fashion if you want to keep your tree private.

A match at 24cM was linked to a public tree with 13,000+ people. Dead cert you might think? There were a lot of common names, but no matching people and no obvious common ancestor(s). The shared matches indicate my mother’s side, but that is as far as I can go.

Accuracy matters more than size in a tree.

3. ThruLines

Added in the last year or so, ThruLines is where Ancestry’s size comes in. Despite all the people who don’t bother with a tree, there are enough trees on Ancestry (with or without DNA links) for someone to have some of your lines in their tree somewhere – as long as what you have in your tree is accurate and you link yourself to it. And this applies to private trees too. You are no longer totally cutting someone off from your tree if you keep it private.

My 91cM match has a relationship suggested in ThruLines, because the linked tree is accurate, even though she only has 8 people in her tree.

My 58cM match with a private tree has a relationship suggested in ThruLines even though her tree is private. I can fill in my relationship with her without accessing information she prefers to keep private.

My 24cM match with a 13,000+ tree does not have a relationship suggested in ThruLines. Considering how many other relationships ThruLines suggests for my tree, I conclude that there is an error in the other tree.

To get the best out of ThruLines you need to link your DNA result to an accurate tree.

My experience with ThruLines is that it is ~75% reliable. It is dependent upon people having accurate trees. For most of the other 25%, you can work out what has gone wrong and still make use of the ThruLines information, but I have had one case where the suggested relationship was rubbish, even to the point of suggesting a relationship on my Father’s side when all the shared matches were on my Mother’s.

With ThruLines, don’t just copy, CHECK carefully.

The final thing I have to say is: what a waste it is to do a DNA test and then do nothing with it. Just a teensy tree with your result linked to it can help. Alternatively, find a relative you trust and let them manage your DNA result and link it to their tree.³

Sources

1. International Society of Genetic Genealogy Wiki, ‘Autosomal DNA’, https://isogg.org/wiki/Autosomal_DNA, accessed 23 Aug 2021.
2. Ancestry Australia, ‘Ancestry DNA White Papers’ https://support.ancestry.com.au/s/article/AncestryDNA-White-Papers3, accessed 23 Aug 2021.
3. Ancestry Australia, ‘Assigning a Manager to Your AncestryDNA® Test’, https://support.ancestry.com.au/s/article/Assigning-a-Manager-to-Your-AncestryDNA-Test, accessed 24 Aug 2021.
   

Which John Roser?

Via my father and paternal grandmother I am descended from Ann Roser of Waldron, the daughter of John Roser, son of John and Martha, baptised Jan 1786 in East Hoathly (see Figure 1). I will refer to this John Roser as John Jnr.

Figure 1: My descent from John Roser Jnr.

Martha, sister of John Jnr, was the first Roser entry in the registers of All Saints, Waldron¹ and similarly John Jnr was the first and only Roser baptism in the registers of East Hoathly Parish Church². This indicates that John Jnr’s father, John Snr, had moved to the East Hoathly/Waldron area from another parish.

Unfortunately neither John Snr nor his wife Martha survived long enough to fill in the 1851 census where they would have indicated their place(s) of origin. However John Snr did survive into the era of civil registration and the 1841 census. This at least provides us with several assessments of his age at death. The evidence relating to the identity of John Roser Snr will be analysed to reach a conclusion as to his origins compatible with the Genealogical Proof Standard³:

1. Reasonably exhaustive searches in relevant sources
2. Complete and accurate citations to the sources
3. Analysis and comparison of the relevant sources
4. Resolution of any conflicts between sources
5. A statement of the conclusion with reasons 

1. The Search

The sources searched were as follows:

• The England and Wales Censuses as they became available online resulting in a digital facsimile of the 1841 Census entry for John Roser Snr⁴.
• The England and Wales Civil Registration indexes resulting in a certified copy of the Death registration of John Roser Snr⁵.

Searching parish registers in the Waldron area is difficult as a number of parishes have refused to allow their registers to be filmed (including Waldron and East Hoathly). However the Sussex Family History Group (SFHG) has been building near complete indexes for baptisms (online)⁶, burials (online)⁷ and marriages (CD)⁸. These indexes were used as follows:

• The SFHG Marriage Index, resulting in purchase of a reprograph from East Sussex Record Office (ESRO) of the entry for the marriage of John Roser and Martha Hook (1782, East Hoathly)⁹.
• SFHG Online Baptism Index, resulting in the purchase of reprographs from ESRO of the baptisms of John Roser Jnr² (East Hoathly), Martha Hook¹⁰ (Little Horsted) and Martha Roser¹ (Waldron) plus a list of John Roser baptisms in Sussex in the relevant date range for John Snr.
• SFHG Online Burial Index resulting in the purchase of reprographs from ESRO of the burial entries for John Roser Snr¹¹ and Martha Roser nee Hook¹² (Waldron).

Other indexes were searched for documentation beyond the parish registers.

• A2A (now part of NA Discovery) resulting in an index entry for a settlement certificate from Waldron supplied by John Snr to the parish of East Hoathly¹³. This document did not mention his age.

Sources for details about descendants of John Snr and Martha had already been located and will be noted where relevant.

2. Citations

See the Reference section.

3. Analysis and Comparison

The 1841 census was taken on 6 June 1841. Census takers travelled around a district collecting completed schedules or completing schedules for those unable to do so themselves. These schedules were compiled into enumeration lists for each district and it is these enumeration lists which survive. Thus the lists are derivative records containing primary evidence about the 1841 status of the persons listed. Information collected included the names, occupations and ages of residents and whether they were born in the County of residence. The ages for persons over 15 years of age were meant to be rounded down to the nearest multiple of five. The 1841 census entry for John Snr was a digital facsimile accessed via Ancestry⁴. He is listed as a male, agricultural labourer aged 80 (i.e. 80-84), born in Sussex. He is resident in the household of his son John Jnr, with John Jnr’s wife and their four youngest children (Elizabeth, Martha, Thomas and George). The implication from the 1841 census is that John Snr was born between 1756 and 1761 somewhere in Sussex.

The death certificate was obtained from the General Register Office (GRO)⁵. It contains a facsimile of the certified, manually-written register entry copy held by the GRO (not the original register entry) and thus is a derivative record. The evidence pertaining to the death is primary, direct evidence for the date and cause of death. The age at death is secondary, indirect evidence. The certificate states that John Roser was a 91 year old agricultural labourer when he died of “decay of nature” on 17th November 1844 at Waldron. The informant was “William Burgess, present at the death” The implication from the death certificate is that John Snr was born 1752-3.

The burial entry for John Roser Snr is an ESRO reprograph of the original register page and is thus a surrogate original¹¹. It is indeterminate evidence as there is no indication of who provided the information. The reprograph is direct evidence for the burial of John Roser Snr and indirect evidence for his death and age. The entry states that John Roser, age 92 of Waldron was buried on 21st November 1844. The implication from the burial entry is that John Roser Snr was born 1751-2.

The year of birth implied from these three sources is not consistent, but covers a ten year range from 1751 to 1761. A search of the SFHG Baptism Index produces four possible John Rosers (see table)⁶.

Name	Parents	Date of Baptism	Parish
John Roser	John and Hannah	17 May 1752	Lindfield All Saints
John Roser	John and Hannah	26 Aug 1753	Lindfield All Saints
John Roser	Richard and Ann	11 Oct 1755	Steyning St Andrew
John Roser	Richard and Susanna	19 Aug 1759	Framfield St Thomas

The two Lindfield baptisms match the burial entry and the death certificate ages respectively. The Steyning baptism lies in the middle of the overall range, but in a central gap, the Framfield baptism lies in the middle of the 1841 census range.

4. Resolution

The key to the identification lies in assessing the reliability of the age of John Snr given in the three documents. To do this we need to consider who the person providing the information was and how well informed they were likely to be.

The 1841 census information came from the Roser household where John Snr was living with his son’s family⁴. John is listed as being an agricultural labourer, indicating he was still healthy enough to be working. The ages of persons in the household over 15 have all been rounded down to the nearest 5, so we should read John Snrs age as being in the range 80-84. He was likely present when the information was taken. The accuracy of the census age thus depends upon how well John Snr could keep track of his age. The only evidence we have for this lies in the burial of his wife, Martha. Neither John or Martha were locally born, so accurate knowledge of their ages would not be widely known in the Parish. Despite this, the burial entry for Martha gives an age compatible within a year to her known baptism entry^12,10. It seems likely that John Roser could keep track of his wife’s age, and thus probably of his own.

The accuracy of the death certificate age depends upon the informant’s state of knowledge, in this case one William Burgess⁵. Who was William Burgess and how much did he know about the family? The Roser family in Waldron had thinned down in the 10 years before John Snr’s death. His wife, daughter, daughter-in-law and two of his older grandchildren were dead^{12,14,15,16,17}. Two more of his older grandchildren had moved out of the district, one to Laughton and one to Australia^18,19. Another had just given birth to an illegitimate child²⁰. His son-in-law had remarried and his son was probably already seriously ill with the tuberculosis from which he died in April 1845^21,22. That left the three youngest grandchildren aged from nine to nineteen. Martha (the oldest at 19) married William Samuel Burgess in January 1845²³, so it seems likely that the informant for John Snr’s death certificate was Martha’s boyfriend (see Figure 2). Given Martha’s age, William’s close association with the family could not have been for long and his detailed knowledge of the family members would be questionable.

Figure 2: The Family of John Roser Snr at the time of his death.

 

The informant for the burial entry is not known but is likely to have been either Martha or William Burgess¹¹. It is significant that the age in the burial entry is different to that in the death certificate. The burial entry must therefore be considered as the least reliable of the three pieces of evidence.

As well as the documentary evidence pertaining to John’s age, we have evidence relating to the background of Martha Hook. While Martha was baptised in Little Horsted¹⁰, other baptisms and removal orders indicated the family moved several times between Little Horsted and the adjacent parish of Framfield, home of one of our possibles.

5. Conclusion

The analysis above indicates that the most reliable indicator of the year of birth of John Snr is the 1841 census entry. John was alive and healthy at the time and the accuracy of the information on his wife’s burial entry indicates that he could probably keep track of his own age. The baptism compatible with this evidence is the 1759 Framfield baptism. This conclusion would place John in close proximity to Martha Hook while growing up and would make him the probable brother of the Elizabeth Roser who married William Betts in East Hoathly in 1775²⁸ (see Figure 3).

 

Figure 3: Parishes mentioned in this blog post.

References

1. Baptism of Martha Roser, baptised 6 January 1794, All Saints Waldron Parish Register, Waldron, Sussex, England, Reprograph obtained from East Sussex Record Office.
2. Baptism of John Roser, baptised 6 January 1786, East Hoathly Parish Register, East Hoathly, Sussex, England, Reprograph obtained from East Sussex Record Office.
3. Jones, Thomas W., Mastering Genealogical Proof, National Genealogical Society, Arlington, 2013.
4. Census record for John Roser, aged 80, Parish of Waldron, Sussex, 1841 England and Wales Census, The National Archives, HO107/113/18, UK Census Collection, Ancestry.com, accessed 3 Nov 2006
5. Death certificate of John Roser, died 17 November 1844, registered December quarter 1844, Uckfield registration district, General Registry Office, England, vol. 7, p. 349, no. 342.
6. Sussex Family History Group, ‘Data Archive on Frontis, Baptism Data’, http://sfhg.frontis.co/bin/index.php, accessed 10 April 2009.
7. Sussex Family History Group, ‘Data Archive on Frontis, Burial Data’, http://sfhg.frontis.co/bin/index.php, accessed 10 April 2009.
8. Sussex Family History Group, The Sussex Marriage Index (Up to 1837) (CD ROM). Lewes, UK, Sussex Family History Group, 2005.
9. Marriage of John Roser and Martha Hook, married 28 October 1782, East Hoathly Parish Register, East Hoathly, Sussex, England, Reprograph obtained from East Sussex Record Office.
10. Baptism of Martha Hook, baptised 26 May 1765, Little Horsted Parish Register, Little Horsted, Sussex, England, Reprograph obtained from East Sussex Record Office.
11. Burial of John Roser, buried 21 November 1844, All Saints Waldron Parish Register, Waldron, Sussex, England, Reprograph obtained from East Sussex Record Office.
12. Burial of Martha Roser, buried 24 July 1836, All Saints Waldron Parish Register, Waldron, Sussex, England, Reprograph obtained from East Sussex Record Office.
13. Access to Archives, ‘Search result: Index entry for Settlement Certificate for John Rosar and wife Martha’, http://www.a2a.org.uk/search/documentxsl.asp?com=1&i=2&nbKey=1 of, accessed 6 Jun 2008 (site now incorporated in the National Archives Discovery Database).
14. Burial of Martha Evenden, buried 30 May 1824, All Saints Waldron Parish Register, Waldron, Sussex, England, Reprograph obtained from East Sussex Record Office.
15. Death certificate of Ann Roser, died 15 January 1843, registered March quarter 1843, Uckfield registration district, General Registry Office, England, vol. 7, p. 369, no. 258.
16. Death certificate of William Roser, died 28 August 1839, registered September quarter 1839, Uckfield registration district, General Registry Office, England, vol. 7, p. 269, no. 118.
17. Burial of Mary Roser, buried 26 October 1834, All Saints Waldron Parish Register, Waldron, Sussex, England, Reprograph obtained from East Sussex Record Office.
18. Marriage of David Davey and Ann Roser, married 1 February 1834, All Saints Laughton Parish Register, Laughton, Sussex, England, p. 33, no. 97, FHL microfilm 1067216, item 10.
19. New South Wales State Archives, NRS-5314 Entitlement certificates of persons on bounty ships, unpaginated, Entitlement Certificate for John & Mary Roser, 1838, Ancestry.com, ‘New South Wales, Australia, Assisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1828-1896’, accessed 22 Jun 2020.
20. Baptism index entry for William Roser, baptised 28 July 1844, Sussex Family History Group, ‘Data Archive on Frontis, Baptism Data’, http://sfhg.frontis.co/bin/index.php, accessed 10 April 2009.
21. Marriage Index entry for William Evenden, married June Qtr 1839, Uckfield registration district, General Registry Office, England, vol. 7, p. 150.
22. Death certificate of John Roser, died 28 April 1845, registered June quarter 1845, Uckfield registration district, General Registry Office, England, vol. 7, p. 337, no. 372.
23. Marriage certificate of William Burgess & Martha Roser, married 18 January 1845, registered March quarter 1845, Uckfield registration district, General Registry Office, England, vol. 7, p. 619, no. 38.
24. Baptism of Ann Hook, baptised 10 July 1757, St Thomas a Becket Framfield Parish Register, Framfield, Sussex, England, FHL Film 1886241, item 3.
25. Baptism of William Hook, baptised 16 February 1759, St Michael Little Horsted Parish Register, Little Horsted, Sussex, England, Reprograph obtained from East Sussex Record Office.
26. Access to Archives, ‘Search result: Index entry for Removal Order for William Hook, wife Elizabeth and daughter to Little Horsted’, http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=179-par3433 of, accessed 25 Apr 2009 (site now incorporated in the National Archives Discovery Database).
27. Baptism of Elizabeth Hook, baptised 2 May 1761, St Thomas a Becket Framfield Parish Register, Framfield, Sussex, England, FHL Film 1886241, item 3.
28. Marriage of William Betts and Elizabeth Roser married 19 December 1775,Sussex Family History Group, The Sussex Marriage Index (Up to 1837) (CD ROM). Lewes, UK, Sussex Family History Group, 2005.

 

A Rifleman of the 60th

 Introduction

 This is the final assessment for another Unit of the Diploma of Family History on writing up your family history, using both primary and secondary sources to build a picture of an ancestor’s lived experience. In this unit we were encouraged to turn our Family History research into a narrative and I chose one of the most interesting tales I’ve found so far – Rifleman Henry Rose.

Most of the narrative is based on primary and secondary sources, but there is also an element of family oral history. Elizabeth Mary Rose was my great-grandmother. My mother remembered her and the tales she told of her childhood in India – travelling out on a sailing ship and back on a steam ship, life on the North-West Frontier, seeing Pathan tribesmen in the street and riding on elephants.

The only unsupported element is the death of Ellen. There is no record of Ellen after her baptism in Winchester and I have chosen to make the not-unlikely assumption that she died on the ship to India. I haven’t yet found any records of military transport voyages, which would record such a death.

-------------------------------

Was John Common a Bigamist?

My 4xgreat-grandfather, John Common, was baptised in Longhorsley, Northumberland (north of Newcastle), on 30 Aug 1779.¹ By 1805 he was resident in Red Lion Street, Wapping and on 27 July 1806 he married Mary Oldfield, daughter of a Yorkshire-born coal-ship owner.^2,3,4

 

Figure 1: The Ruins of St Helen, Longhorsley, photographed by Susan Law, 27 June 2019.

The couple lived around the Wapping waterfront producing children at regular intervals up to 1815 (William Oldfield 1808 at 115 Wapping St, Frances born 1809 at Wapping Wall, Mary born 1811 at 64 Wapping Wall, Henry born 1813 at 64 Wapping Wall, Ann Maria born 1815 at 64 Wapping Wall). In the baptism records for these children, John is listed as a grocer, not very different from the “victuallers” who organised the work gangs who unloaded the coal ships.^5,6,7

The production of children continued in 1817 with Sarah Barbara Common but she was born and baptised in St George in the East. Two final children followed: Robert Robinson born 1819 in Wapping and Jane born 1822 in St George in the East. In these baptism records, John is stated to be a “Coal Undertaker”.^5,7 Note that Robert, Robinson, Sarah and Barbara are all names in the pedigree of the Commons family in Longhorsley (see Figure 2).

 

Figure 2: Ancestors and siblings of John Common of Longhorsley (generated from Legacy Family Tree).

At this time the surname Common was rare in the East End of London. However in 1815 a John Common of unknown origin married Elizabeth Mary Sheffield in Bethnal Green.⁸ In 1822 William John Sheffield Common was baptised in Shadwell, close to where the first John Common resided. William had been born in 1818.⁹ This family was living at 18 Star Street, Wapping and John was a “Hat Maker”, different from the “Coal Undertaker” listed in the later “John and Mary” baptisms.¹⁰

However, there were changes made to the baptism entry: William John’s surname had originally been entered as “Sheffield” but this was struck through and replaced with “Common”, then “Sheffield” added as a third given name. The handwriting on the correction is different from that of the original entry.⁹

 

Figure 3: Baptism entry of John William Sheffield Common.

Note that the marriage took place in Bethnal Green, where the first John would have been unknown, but the baptism took place in Shadwell, the area in which he had been living for nearly twenty years. The modified baptism entry could support possible bigamy because if it was the same John Common the Shadwell clerics would have known of the pre-existing marriage. There is no indication of when the correction was made.

In 1826 the last two children of John & Mary (Robert, 1819 and Jane, 1822) were baptised at St John of Wapping and the 1829 the Post Office Directory lists a single John Common as a silk hat manufacturer of 48 High Street Shadwell.^5,10

In 1830 Elizabeth Common age 34 of High Street was buried at St Paul, Shadwell.¹¹ This is the right age for the wife of the 1815 marriage. In 1834 Mary Common of Spring Street Shadwell died age 50 and was buried in the Ebenezer Chapel, Shadwell.¹² This is the right age for the wife of the 1806 marriage. On 18 July 1836 John Common witnessed the marriage of William John Sheffield Common.¹³ The signature is similar to the other John Common signatures.

Figure 4: Signatures of "John Common" from: Marriage Licence Allegation 1806; Marriage entry 1806; Marriage entry 1815; Marriage entry of W. J. S. Common 1836 (witness).

 

So between 1815 and 1836 we apparently have two Johns with two families. Unfortunately from this point on the records indicate the existence of only one John Common. Apart from his death registration, the age is correct for the John from Northumberland, but the records are inconsistent with regard to his occupation:

• 24 July 1840: John Common of Shadwell, widowed, disabled labourer born c. 1781 admitted to the Mile End Workhouse at Ratcliff.¹⁴
• 23 October 1840: John Common of Shadwell, widowed, disabled hatter, born c. 1780 admitted to the Mile End Workhouse at Ratcliff.¹⁴
• 6 June 1841: Census, John Common, age 60, hatter, not born in Middlesex resident in the Mile End Workhouse in Ratcliff.¹⁵

The age in these records is consistent with John from Northumberland. The crucial piece of evidence is the 1851 Census where John Comnon is listed as a widowed pauper, age 69 (i.e. born c. 1782), a journeyman hatter born Northumberland/Newcastle.¹⁶ This information combines the occupation of the second John with the age and rough birth place of the first.

The death and burial entries in 1858 which form a series with the workhouse and census records give John’s age as 71, but this could be a transcription error for 77, consistent with the earlier information from the Workhouse.^17,18

So was John Common from Northumberland a bigamist? If so it was a risky thing to do because at this period in time bigamy was a criminal offence which carried a jail term (though there is no record of this happening to John Common). This is one case where a genetic link would be helpful.