Pillar, Pe(e)loe, Pelow – the origin of Jacob Pillar

 I am descended from Isaac Pillar, son of Jacob and Mary Pillar who was baptised in Great Yarmouth on 25 November 1781.¹ His sister Mary Pillar, daughter and eldest child of Jacob and Mary Pillar, was baptised on 29 December 1775 in Great Yarmouth.² 

St Nicholas, Great Yarmouth, photographed by Susan Law, 2016.

This was the first Pillar/Piller entry in Great Yarmouth registers. Searching the indexes leads to a marriage for Mary’s parents, Jacob Piller and Mary White, who married on 18 June 1775 in St Michael Coslany Norwich.³ This indicates that we should be looking for Jacob’s baptism in Norwich. This is consistent with the surname distribution as until that date the Pillar surname was highly concentrated in Norwich, starting with the baptism of Isaac Pillar in 1695.⁴

St Michael Coslany Church, Norwich. Photographed by Susan Law, 2018.

On the whole the collection of Pillar/Piller entries form logical family groups, but there are gaps. Looking at Jacob’s burial entry in 1836 his age 85 indicates a birth about 1751.⁵ and there is a noticeable absence of Jacob Pillar/Piller baptisms in the appropriate time frame. There are, however, two marriages with no offspring in the records:

• Isaac Pillar and Mary Gregory, both of this parish, married on 19 Novermber 1738 in St Paul.⁶
• Isaac Pillar (widower of St Martin at Palace Plain) married Jane Yestis (of St Michael at Thorn) married on 26 Dec 1748 in St Michael at Thorn.⁷

These are the same Isaac Pillar, Mary née Gregory having been buried on 13 February 1744/5 in St Augustine churchyard.⁸ The next Pillar/Pillar record in St Martin at Palace Plain registers after the Isaac/Jane marriage was Jane Pillar’s burial (Widow, late Yestis) buried 9 July 1786.⁹

To try and cover any really queer spelling, a search was done for baptisms with Isaac and Jane as parents but no surname specified. Five entries in the registers of St Martin at Palace Plain were found:

• 25 February 1749/50, Mary Peeloe.¹⁰
• 10 November 1751, Jacob Peeloe.¹¹
• 20 October 1754, Ann Peloe.¹²
• 22 May 1757, Esther Pelow.¹³
• 3 August 1760, Joseh Peloe.¹⁴

Using the surname variants above to search, a burial for Isaac Pillar was found in the St Martin at Palace Plain records:

• 21 November 1767, Isaac Pelow.¹⁵

St Martin at Palace Plain, Norwich. Photographed by Susan Law, 2018.

This group of records looks like a family with a parish clerk and at least one parent who didn't know how to spell their surname. Not only that, but it has a Jacob born about the right time. The balance of probability is that Jacob Peeloe (baptised 1751) can be equated with Jacob Pillar (married 1775).

Note: This research was primarily done in 2008-2010.

Sources

1. St Nicholas (Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England), "Norfolk Record Office PD 28/15, Register of Baptisms/Burials 1777-1783/2," baptism of Isaac Pillar, 25 Nov 1781; FHL microfilm 1,526,328, item 3.
2. St Nicholas (Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England), "Norfolk Record Office PD 28/14, Register of Baptisms/Burials 1771-1777," baptism of Mary Pillar, 29 Dec 1775; FHL microfilm 1,526,328, item 2.
3. St Michael Coslany (Norwich, Norfolk, England), Parish Registers, "Norfolk Record Office PD 16/7(W), Register of Marriages & Banns 1754-1779,"  page 83, marriage of Jacob Piller & Mary White, 18 Jun 1775; digital images(accessed 16 Jun 2010).
4. Family Search (https://www.familysearch.org); British Isles Vital Records Index (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. British Isles Vital Records Index (16xCD ROM). Second Edition. Salt Lake City, USA: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 2001.); Norfolk Transcripts Website (http://www.genealogy.doun.org/transcriptions/index.php, now defunct); FreeREG (https://www.freereg.org.uk/).
5. St Nicholas (Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England), Parish Registers, "Norfolk Record Office PD 18/140, Register of Burials 1831-1836,"  page 240, burial of Jacob Piller, 31 Jan 1836; digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : accessed 6 May 2012).
6. St Paul (Norwich, Norfolk, England), Archdeacon's Transcripts (Norwich), "Norfolk Record Office AT Dean and Chapter 2, Archdeacon's Transcripts 1706-1811,"  marriage of Isaac Pillar & Mary Gregory, 19 Nov 1738; digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ : accessed 25 Jan 2010). 
7. St Michael at Thorn (Norwich, Norfolk, England), Archdeacon's Transcripts, "Norfolk Record Office ANW 13, Archdeacon's Transcript for the year 1748-9,"  marriage transcript, Isaac Pillar & Jane Yestis, 16 Dec 1748; digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ : accessed 25 Jan 2011).
8. St Augustine (Norwich, Norfolk, England), Parish Registers, "Norfolk Record Office PD 185/3(S), General Register 1663-1748,"  page 144, burial of Mary Piller, 13 Feb 1744/5; digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ : accessed 8 May 2012).
9. St Martin at Palace Plain (Norwich, Norfolk, England), Parish Registers, "Norwich Record Office PD 12/5, General Register 1753-1791,"  burial of Jane Pillar, 9 Jul 1786; digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : accessed 16 Jun 2010).
10. St Martin at Palace Plain (Norwich, Norfolk, England), Parish Registers, "Norfolk Record Office PD 12/4, General Register 1729-1752,"  baptism of Mary Peeloe, 25 Feb 1749/50; digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : accessed 16 Jun 2010).
11. St Martin at Palace Plain (Norwich, Norfolk, England), Parish Registers, "Norfolk Record Office PD 12/4, General Register 1729-1752,"  baptism of Jacob Peloe, 10 Nov 1751; digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : accessed 1 Mar 2010).
12. St Martin at Palace Plain (Norwich, Norfolk, England), Parish Registers, "Norfolk Record Office PD 12/5, General Register 1753-1791,"  baptism of Ann Peloe, 20 Oct 1754; digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : accessed 16 Jun 2010).
13. St Martin at Palace Plain (Norwich, Norfolk, England), Parish Registers, "Norfolk Record Office PD 12/5, General Register 1753-1791,"  baptism of Esther Pelow, 22 May 1757; digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : accessed 16 Jun 2010).
14. St Martin at Palace Plain (Norwich, Norfolk, England), Parish Registers, "Norfolk Record Office PD 12/5, General Register 1753-1791,"  baptism of Joseph Peloe, 3 Aug 1760; digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : accessed 16 Jun 2010).
15. St Martin at Palace Plain (Norwich, Norfolk, England), Parish Registers, "Norfolk Record Office PD 12/5, General Register 1753-1791,"  burial of Isaac Pelow, 21 Nov 1767; digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : accessed 16 Jun 2010).

The Parentage of Susan Wood

 My 4xgreat-grandparents, John Dav(e)y & Susan Wood, were married in Laughton on 19 Oct 1807.¹ John had been born in Laughton, but Susan was a "foreigner" from another village.²

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.^3,4,5 However as I've shown in another post, this is not the Susan Wood who married John Davy in Laughton.

The following documentary evidence exists for Susan Dav(e)y nee Wood:

1. Marriage 19 Oct 1807, Laughton (Approximate age 21+) > born before 1786¹
2. Census 6 Jun 1841 Brighton (age 50(-54), born Sussex) > born 1786-91⁶
3. Census 30 Mar 1851 Brighton (age 67 born "Bucksted") > born Mar 1783-Mar 1784⁷
4. Death 7 Aug 1851 Brighton (age 68) > born Aug 1782-Aug 1783⁸
5. Burial 11 Aug 1851 (age 68) > born Aug 1782- Aug 1783⁹

Susan's age is reasonably consistent implying she was born between 1782 and 1786. The change of age between the 1851 Census on 30 Mar 1851 and her death/burial in Aug 1851 (informant was her son William) could mean that she had a birthday between the census and her death.

There is only one source (the 1851 census) which gives a birthplace for her: "Bucksted". This can be identified with Buxted which is quite close to Laughton (the shortest distance between the parish boundaries pre-1844 is about 5 km from Little Streele to Terrible Down).¹⁰ Checking the SFHG index, there is a Wood family producing children in Buxted at this time (Thomas & Sarah) but no baptism for a Susan. The identified children are listed in the table below.^3,11

Child No.	Christening	Died Young?	Next Child	Gap between Baptisms
1	Philadelphia, 20 Jan 1782	No	2 Thomas	21 months
2	Thomas, 16 Oct 1783	No	3 John	33 months
3	John, 30 Jul 1786	No	4 Samuel	16.5 months
4	Samuel, 9 Dec 1787	No	5 Charlotte	22 months
5	Charlotte, 4 Oct 1789	No	6 James	19.5 months
6	James, 25 May 1791	No	7 Charles	17 months
7	Charles, 28 Oct 1792	No	8 Sarah	14.5 months
8	Sarah, 5 Jan 1794	No	9 Lucy	13 months
9	Lucy, 2 Feb 1795, bu 7 Mar 1795	Yes	10 George	27 months
10	George, 5 Jul 1797, bu 15 Jul 1797	Yes	11 George	15 months
11	George, inf bu 20 Oct 1798	Yes	12 Henry	15.5 months
12	Henry, inf bu 9 Feb 1800	Yes	13 Sarah	26 months
13	Sarah, inf bu 20 Jul 1802	Yes	14 Harriet	49 months
14	Harriet, private baptism 30 Aug 1806	No	N/A	N/A

At that time most working class women would breast-feed their children, a practice which resulted in fairly regular gaps between children of about 2 years.¹² One of the causes of short gaps between children is death of a child in infancy. There is no evidence of infant burials for any of the first eight children of Thomas & Sarah. However the next five children, starting with the ninth, all die in infancy, some so soon after birth as to not be baptized. Therefore it makes sense to look at the gaps until the birth of the ninth child (i.e. the first eight gaps) excluding gaps after the infant deaths start. Looking at the offspring of Thomas & Sarah, they are baptising a child approximately every 18 months, but there is a nearly 3-year gap from October 1783 to July 1786. To see if this is enough for an extra child I analysed the gaps between baptisms as follows:

• The average value of the first eight gaps is 19.6 months. 
• If we exclude the 33 month gap, the average of the seven remaining gaps drops to 17.6 months. 
• If we assume that there is an unrecorded baptism during the 33 month gap, then we have nine gaps for an average of 17.4 months between children.

Thus at the average rate for gaps between children borne by Sarah, there is almost certainly enough time for an extra child in the 33 month gap. The fact that this gap overlaps with the inferred range of years for the birth of Susan Wood means there is no familial obstacle to her being the child of Thomas and Sarah.

To conclude, given that Susan Wood was born in Buxted between 1782 and 1786, then there is an opportunity for her to be a child of Thomas and Sarah Wood born about March 1785 (plus or minus a few months). There is weak support for this identification from DNA because my father has a 12cM, single segment match with a descendant of Thomas's sister, Mary.¹³

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. Baptism of John  Davy, baptised 16 April 1786, All Saints Laughton Parish Register, Laughton, Sussex, England, FHL Film 1067215.
3. Sussex Family History Group, ‘Data Archive on Frontis, Baptism Data’, http://sfhg.frontis.co/bin/index.php, accessed 22 Apr 2021.
4. England & Wales, Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers, 1567-1936, Ancestry.com.au, accessed 31 Oct 2021.
5. Birth Registration entry of Susana Wood, born 18 February 1782, The Great Meeting House, Battle, Sussex, Ancestry.com.au, accessed 23 Oct 2021.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. Burial of Susannah Davey, buried 11 Aug 1851, St Nicholas Brighton Parish Register, East Sussex Record Office, PAR 255/1/5/10, East Sussex, England, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-1995,  Ancestry.com.au, accessed 8 Jan 2023.
10. Cockin, T. C. H., The Parish Atlas of England, Malthouse Press, Barlaston, 2017.
11. Sussex Family History Group, ‘Data Archive on Frontis, Burial Data’, http://sfhg.frontis.co/bin/index.php, accessed 22 Apr 2021.
12. World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action, 'Breastfeeding & Birth Spacing', https://waba.org.my/archive/healthcare-research/breastfeeding-birth-spacing/, accessed 8 Jan 2023.
13. Ancestry ThruLines for Alfred Commons (https://www.ancestry.com.au/discoveryui-geneticfamily/thrulines/5C9DF31B-1477-4562-84BC-ED25F3066CCC?filterBy=all).

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.

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 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.

 

Was Susannah Goddard really Thomas?

Thomas Goddard was the father of Frederick Goddard (baptised on 26th Janurary 1813 in Newtimber, see earlier post).¹ He married Emma Frankland in St Nicholas Brighton on 10th December 1809.² The couple baptised three children in Newtimber (Frederick plus Eliza 1810 and Michael 1815) before moving to Brighton where Thomas Goddard of Newtimber died, aged 30, and was buried in St Nicholas’ Churchyard on 23rd October 1817.³ A posthumous child, Thomas, was baptised on 21st June 1818 in St Nicholas Brighton, with the abode stated to be Richmond Row (later part of Albion Hill).⁴

St Nicholas of Myra, Brighton, photographed by the author 11th July 2016

Emma remarried (at St Nicholas, to Francis Buckle on 29th January 1822) one of the witnesses being Richard Goddard (son of William Goddard & Susannah Peacock baptised in Newtimber on 3rd April 1791).⁵ After initially living in Albourne, Richard Goddard and his wife Sarah baptised two children in St Nicholas Brighton in 1819 & 1822 while living in Richmond Row.⁶ Coincidence or a close family link?

William Goddard & Susannah did not baptise a child named Thomas though there is a baptism for Susanna in 1787. However William had an illegitimate nephew, Thomas son of his sister Sarah baptised 29 Jan 1769 in Newtimber.⁷ This Thomas would have been 48+ when Thomas Goddard of Newtimber was buried in Brighton. This is a big difference from the 30 years old of the burial register and considering that Emma Frankland was literate, signing her name in both marriage entries, it is hard to see how this big a mistake could be made.⁸

St John the Evangelist, Newtimber, photographed by the author 10th July 2016

I was able to track five of the six children to the grave, four of them through marriage(s) and children, but nothing for Susanna! (See Table.)⁹ All those who survived long enough can be found in all censuses up to their deaths.

The documented offspring of William and Susannah Goddard plus Thomas

Name	Baptism	Marriage	Children	Buried
Sarah	24 Jun 1783	5 Jul 1803	Frances (1803), William (1805), Thomas (1806), Susan (1808, Mary Anne (1810), James (1816), John (1821)	30 Mar 1860
William	7 Oct 1784	7 Apr 1817	William (1818), Thomas (1820), Henry (1822), George (1824), Ann (1826), Sarah (1828), Jane (1830), James (1831), Mary (1833), Hannah (1835), Eliza (1837), Frederick (1839)	26 Nov 1854
Susanna	4 Oct 1787
John	6 Sep 1789	6 Apr 1812; 11 Apr 1830	John (1812), William (1814), Walter (1820), Richard Henry (1830), Mary Jane (1832), Elizabeth (1838), James (1839), Sarah (1842)	3 Dec 1876
Richard	3 Apr 1791	22 Jun 1810	James (1810), Mary (1812), Fanny (1815), Thomas (1816), William (1819), John (1822), Elizabeth (1823), Ann (1827)	died 31 Aug 1870
James	11 Sep 1796			22 Aug 1815
Thomas		10 Dec 1809	Eliza (1810), Frederick (1813), Michael (1815), Thomas (1818)	23 Oct 1817

Did Susanna die during the period when the Newtimber registers were not properly kept (see earlier blog post)? Or was the name misinterpreted when transcribed into the register? In the baptism entry for Sarah her mother’s name was also given as “Sarah” (a not uncommon error in parish register entries). The error was repeated for William’s baptism but corrected (faintly).¹⁰ So whoever was keeping the register was not careful. In the notes used to initially record a baptism, given names were often abbreviated. Susannah was usually abbreviated Sh and Thomas was sometimes abbreviated Th. Cursive capital S’s and T’s can be misread (I’ve done it myself). So if the cleric knew the mother’s name was Susanna(h) and misread Th as Sh, he could easily mistranscribe the given name as “Susanna”.

Baptism entries of Sarah and William Goddard¹⁰

The only further supporting evidence I have for this is a DNA connection between my father and a descendent of Susannah Peacock’s great-grandparents at Thakefield (Thomas Peacock and Rose Vaughan).¹¹

Sources

1.  St John the Evangelist (Newtimber, Sussex, England), "West Sussex Record Office PAR429/1/1/4, Register of Baptisms 1808-1813," page 3, baptism of Frederick Goddard, 26 Jan 1813; FHL microfilm 991,065, item 2.3
2. St Nicholas (Brighton, Sussex, England), "East Sussex Record Office PAR255/1/1/11, Register of Banns & Marriages 1806-1810," page 138, marriage of Thomas Goddard & Emma Frankland, 10 Dec 1809; FHL microfilm 1,067,106, item 2.
3. St John the Evangelist (Newtimber, Sussex, England), "West Sussex Record Office, PAR429/1/1/4 Register of Baptisms 1808-1813," page 2, baptism of Eliza Goddard, 4 Oct 1810; FHL microfilm 991,065, item 2.3; St John the Evangelist (Newtimber, Sussex, England), "West Sussex Record Office PAR429/1/2/-, Register of Baptisms 1813-1877," page 2, baptism of Michael Goddard, 30 Dec 1815; FHL microfilm 991,065, item 2.4; St Nicholas (Brighton, Sussex, England), "East Sussex Record Office Ref PAR255/1/5/2, Register of Burials 1816-1822," page 76, burial of Thomas Goddard, 23 Oct 1817; FHL microfilm 1,067,169, item 5
4. St Nicholas (Brighton, Sussex, England), Parish Registers, "East Sussex Record Office PAR2551/2/2, St Nicholas Brighton Register of Baptisms 1816-1820 (Folder 004427381, Item 1),"  page 172, baptism of Thomas Goddard, 21 Jun 1818; digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : accessed 21 Feb 2016)
5. St Nicholas (Brighton, Sussex, England), "East Sussex Record Office Ref PAR155/1/3/3, Register of Marriages 1820-1823," page 177, marriage of Francis Buckle & Emma Goddard, 9 Jan 1822; FHL microfilm 1,067,115, item 2; St John the Evangelist (Newtimber, Sussex, England), "West Sussex Record Office PAR 429/1/1/2, General Register 1733-1808," baptism of Richard Goddard, 3 Apr 111791; FHL microfilm 991,065, item 2.2; St John the Evangelist (Newtimber, Sussex, England), "West Sussex Record Office PAR 429, Register of Marriages & Banns 1754-1848," marriage of William Godard & Susan Peacock, 29 Jan 1783; FHL microfilm 991,065, item 2.5.
6. Baptisms of William (1819) & John (1822) Goddard, Sussex Family History Group, "Sussex Baptisms," database, Sussex Family History Group Data Archive (http://sfhg.frontis.co/bin/index.php)
7. St John the Evangelist (Newtimber, Sussex, England), "West Sussex Record Office PAR 429/1/1/2, General Register 1733-1808," baptism of Thomas Goddard, 29 Jan 1769; FHL microfilm 991,065, item 2.2
8. St Nicholas (Brighton, Sussex, England), "East Sussex Record Office PAR255/1/1/11, Register of Banns & Marriages 1806-1810," page 138, marriage of Thomas Goddard & Emma Frankland, 10 Dec 1809; St Nicholas (Brighton, Sussex, England), "East Sussex Record Office Ref PAR155/1/3/3, Register of Marriages 1820-1823," page 177, marriage of Francis Buckle & Emma Goddard, 9 Jan 1822
9. Sussex Family History Group, "Sussex Baptisms," database, Sussex Family History Group Data Archive (http://sfhg.frontis.co/bin/index.php); Sussex Family History Group, editor, CD-ROM (Lewes, England: Sussex Family History Group, 2005); Sussex Family History Group, "Sussex Burials," database, Sussex Family History Group Data Archive (http://sfhg.frontis.co/bin/index.php)    
10. St John the Evangelist (Newtimber, Sussex, England), "West Sussex Record Office PAR 429/1/1/2, General Register 1733-1808," baptism of Sarah Goddard, 24 Jun 1783; FHL microfilm 991,065, item 2.2; St John the Evangelist (Newtimber, Sussex, England), "West Sussex Record Office PAR 429/1/1/2, General Register 1733-1808," baptism of William Goddard, 17 Oct 1784; FHL microfilm 991,065, item 2.2.
11. AncestryDNA Results for Alfred Commons, "Ancestry Australia" database, Ancestry Australia (https://www.ancestry.com.au/ : accessed 8 Mar 2020), DNA match with Jan Thompson (managed by Malandjan)

The wrong Sarah Ayers

When I discovered that Sarah Ayres or Ayers, wife of John Jackman was included in a number of Ancestral Files on FamilySearch (e.g. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:1:M7RD-MH2) I was delighted.¹ In this file Sarah is Sarah Ayers, daughter of John Ayers and Jedidah nee Chamberlain, baptised 28th October 1764 in St Margaret’s Church, Lowestoft. Since the first baptism for a child of John Jackman and Sarah nee Ayres was in 1784 and there is no marriage in the Lowestoft records this seemed reasonable.²

St Margaret's Church, Lowestoft. Photographed by the author 6th July 2018

Following up, the first thing I did was “kill off the relatives” using the Suffolk Burial Index to find all the Ayers/Ayres burials in Lowestoft.³ There aren’t many that early, but among them is the burial of Sarah Ayres, 7th February 1769, age 4. There is only one person this could be. I was sad to lose Jedidah as an ancestress, but accuracy before wishful thinking.

There is another Sarah Ayers in the Lowestoft area, Sarah daughter of Jonathan Ayers and Alice nee Pashly, baptised at All Saints, Pakefield 8th December 1754.⁴ Jonathan was the brother of John Ayers, so the two Sarahs were cousins. What supporting evidence could there be for the Pakefield Sarah being the wife of John Jackman. I decided to hunt for her burial. She was not buried in Lowestoft, despite she and John baptising all their children there. From research I had found that all of the Jackman offspring had moved to Great Yarmouth.

The thatched church of All Saints & St Margaret, Pakefield. Photographed by the author, 6th July 2018

The Great Yarmouth registers had not been indexed, but Norfolk Record Office allowed the LDS to digitise all the films, so I was able to search through all the burial registers page by page. I found a burial for John Jackman M.M. age 55 on 12th February 1805.⁵ Sarah Jackman died 14 years after her husband age 64 and was buried on 7th November 1819. This gives a birth date around 1755, close to the age of the Pakefield Sarah.⁶

Minster Church of St Nicholas, Great Yarmouth. Photographed by the author, 5th July 2018

Final confirmation comes from the entry for the 1769 burial on the Find A Grave website (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/142656017).⁷ Sarah is buried in her father’s grave. The headstone reads:

“Here resteth the body of John Ayers, the husband of Jedidah Ayers, who departed this life Sept the 23rd 1767 aged 43

also 1 child, an infant

and also Sarah, their daughter, who died Feb 1st 1769 aged 4 years

also Jedidah, his beloved wife who died Nov the 7th 1775 aged 49 years”

Unfortunately there is no way to correct the record in Ancestral Files, and every relative I have come into contact with has the wrong Sarah in their tree. How do you start the conversation - “Hello, sorry to mention it but your tree is wrong...”?

Sources

1. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "Ancestral File," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:1:M7RD-MH2 : accessed 8 March 2020), entry for Sarah AYERS (2T2Z-PL); submitted by cpchamberlain618958.
2. St Margaret (Lowestoft, Suffolk, England), Parish Registers, "Norfolk Record Office PD589/2, General Register 1650-1786,"  baptism of William Jackman, 1 Feb 1784; digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ : accessed 6 Mar 2010).
3. Suffolk Family History Society, Suffolk Burial Index, CD-ROM (Ipswich, England: Suffolk Family History Society, 2005).
4. All Saints & St Margaret (Pakefield, Suffolk, England), Parish Registers, "Norfolk Record Office PD 551/2, General Register 1748-1812,"  baptism of Sarah Ayres, 8 Dec 1754; digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ : accessed 6 Mar 2010).
5. St Nicholas (Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England), Parish Registers, "Norfolk Record Office D 28/136, Register of Burials 1801-1806,"  burial of John Jackman, 12 Feb 1805; digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : accessed 3 Mar 2010).
6. St Nicholas (Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England), Parish Registers, "Norfolk Record Office PD 28/138, Register of Burials 18 June 1819 - 1 November 1825,"  page 19, burial of Sarah Jackman, 7 Nov 1819; digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : accessed 3 Mar 2010)
7. Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 08 March 2020), memorial page for Sarah Ayers (unknown–1 Feb 1769), Find A Grave Memorial no. 142656017, citing St Margaret Churchyard, Lowestoft, Waveney District, Suffolk, England ; Maintained by Our Family History (contributor 47719401)