Saddington Family History

Horace Claude Saddington (1884 - 1946) - Update No. 1

2011-08-08T18:51:00.000+01:00

This is a short update on a post that I wrote back in March 2008 - link here.

Since then of course more resources have become available to the family history researcher, including the 1911 census.

Access to the Leicester Schools Register Index tells me that Horace was born on 16 July 1884 and that he left education in the Leicester area on 18 March 1898, shortly before his 14th birthday.

In the 1911 census, Horace is living at 4 Wilson Street, Leicester, aged 27, with his wife, Florence Emily, aged 25, and their two children, Beatrice aged 4 and Joseph Henry aged 1. He describes himself as being a clerk employed by "Lester" Corporation - this means that he worked for what is (since 1974) now Leicester City Council. Horace also states that he was born in Glenfield, Leicester, has been married for 6 years, that there have been two children of the marriage and that both are still alive at the time of the census.

Horace and Florence also went on to have three further children beyond those mentioned in his military pension papers. Horace was born in the March quarter of 1920, Kenneth R was born in the September quarter of 1921 and Doris E was born in the June quarter of 1923, all in the Leicester Registration District.

Unfortunately not all of Horace and Florence's children lived to adulthood. Thanks to the excellent index of burials at the Welford Road Cemetery, Leicester compiled by members of the Leicestershire and Rutland Family History Society, I can tell you that Horace was buried on 25 October 1924 aged 4 and Violet Ada was buried on 6 May 1931 aged 19, having been living at 14 Marston Avenue, South Wigston, Leicestershire at the time of her death. Horace Claude himself was buried at Welford Road Cemetery on 23 March 1946 aged 61. His abode at the time of his death was 7 Bartholomew Street, Leicester. All three of them are buried in the same grave.

If this Saddington family is related to you, please do not hesitate to contact me.

William Leonard Saddington 1919 - 2011

2011-06-23T19:38:00.000+01:00

Rest In Peace

Arthur Saddington 1909-1931

2011-06-13T20:46:00.006+01:00

Arthur Saddington was born in Middlesbrough in the June quarter of 1909 (volume 9d, page 552), the eldest child of Penrith Saddington Taylor, commonly known as Penrith Saddington, and his wife, Emily May Roxby. Arthur was the eldest of thirteen children born over a period between 1909 and 1934.

In the 1911 census, Arthur, then nearly 2, and his parents were living at 17 Harewood Street, Middlesbrough, the home of Penrith’s parents, Arthur Charles Saddington and his wife, Hannah (nee Robinson). Also sharing the house were five of Penrith’s brothers and sisters ranging in age from 17 years to 1 year. Penrith was employed as a bricklayer while his father, Arthur, worked as a blast furnace man and the next eldest son at home, Nathan, aged 17, was a butcher.

As we must wait to see the 1921 census, I can only surmise what happened to Arthur over the next twenty years. He grew up in a large family, probably leaving school in his early teens in order to find a job and earn money to support the rest of the family. At some point he decided to become a sailor, a decision which eventually led to his tragic death.

I first learnt about Arthur’s death courtesy of the Gravestone Photographic Resource Project, an on-line international grave monument directory. When I was sent a photo of Arthur’s gravestone, I was intrigued by the inscription written on it. It said that the gravestone was:

“In Loving Memory of
Our Dear Son
Arthur Saddington
Who was accidentally killed
On the SS Dalwhinnie
Dec. 2nd 1931 aged 22 years
Someday we’ll understand.”

I googled the SS Dalwhinnie and discovered that it was a steamship built in Holland in 1919 to carry cargo up and down coastlines. It was originally called the SS Begonia, and was owned by a Norwegian. In 1922 it passed into the hands of T C Steven & Co of Leith and was renamed the SS Dalwhinnie. In 1938 it was sold to Comben Longstaff & Co – Williamstown Shipping of London, and renamed the SS Whintown. Unfortunately it was then sunk in a collision off Great Yarmouth on 7 December 1939.

Having got this far, I emailed my contact in this branch of the Saddington family, who knew about the gravestone but not what had happened to Arthur, and who agreed to do some further research for me.

A search of the local paper, the Middlesbrough Evening Gazette, produced the following sad story reported on 3 December 1931.

Tragedy of the Tees
Boro’ Man Falls Into River

An unfortunate drowning tragedy occurred in the River Tees, off Messrs Gjers, Mills and Company’s wharf, about nine o’clock last night. The victim is Arthur Saddington, aged 22, of Palmer-street, Middlesbrough, an able seaman of the crew of the s.s. Dalwhinnie, which was berthed at the wharf.

It appears that Saddington was fixing the gangway from the vessel to the wharf when he overbalanced and fell into the river in the short space between the ship and the wharf. One of his mates on the crew immediately dived to his rescue, but Saddington had completely disappeared from view.

Grappling operations were carried on by members of the crew with the assistance of River Police officers, and after about 20 minutes, his body was recovered. Artificial respiration was tried for some time, but Dr. Hepplethwaite, who had been called to the scene, pronounced life extinct.

The body was conveyed by ambulance to the mortuary.

The member of the crew who showed so much gallantry in diving to his comrade’s rescue was Bo’sun Gatenby. After his futile efforts to trace Saddington he was hauled aboard by other members of the crew.

It is thought that Saddington may have struck his head on the boat or the wharf in his fall, and was rendered unconscious.

The Dalwhinnie have moved from Dent’s Wharf to Gjers’ Wharf at the time of the tragedy.

A tragic accident and a young life lost – no wonder Arthur’s parents had inscribed on his gravestone the words “Someday we’ll understand.”

If you are related to the Middlesbrough branch of the Saddingtons, or have any further information about the SS Dalwhinnie, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Potterspury Registration District Marriage Challenge

2010-12-31T16:22:00.005Z

The last post of 2010 comes courtesy of Tracy Barrall's Potterspury Registration District Marriage Challenge.

Potterspury Registration District lies in the area between Milton Keynes, Buckingham, Towcester and Northampton to name the biggest towns in the immediate vicinity.

As there are just two marriages to report, I propose to give full details of them.

The first marriage also appears to be the first to be recorded in the parish of Passenham with Deanshanger under the new registration procedure commencing in late 1837.

Marriage solemnized at St Guthlac in the Parish of Passenham with Deanshanger in the County of Northamptonshire

No. 1
5th Oct 1837

James Saddington 21 Single Groom Passenham James Saddington Groom
Pheobe Ayres 26 Single Dairy Maid Passenham - -

Married in the Church of Passenham according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church of England after Banns by me, L ? Smith

This Marriage was solemnized between us, James Saddington, Phobe Ayres
in the presence of us, George Buckingham, Martha Buckingham

The second marriage took place just under 10 years later.

Marriage solemnized at St Guthlac in the Parish of Passenham with Deanshanger in the County of Northamptonshire

No. 77
5th Apr 1847

George Clarke 25 Bachelor Labourer Deanshanger Thos Clarke Labourer
Mary Ann Sadington 24 Spinster Servant Deanshanger George Sadington Labourer

Married in the Parish Church according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church of England after Banns, by me ?

This Marriage was solemnized between us, George Clarke x his mark, Mary Ann Sadington x her mark
in the presence of us, William Clarke, Sarah Ann Foxley x her mark

Passenham and Deanshanger are slightly south of the A5 between Towcester and Milton Keynes. As yet I have no further information about the Saddingtons in this area, but would be delighted to hear from anyone who has these people in their family tree.

I send my best wishes for a happy and prosperous New Year to everyone who reads this post.

Saddington Marriages in the Romford Registration District

2010-10-18T20:40:00.009+01:00

Tonight's post comes courtesy of Peter Copsey and his Romford Marriage Challenge.

1) Parish Church of St Margaret, Barking, Essex

No.89
May 20th 1872
George Bacon, 20, Bachelor, Labourer, Barking, George Bacon, Labourer
Elizabeth Saddington, 20, Spinster, -, Barking, Obed Saddington, Labourer
After Banns by me, John Reginald Beckett
George Bacon
Elizabeth Saddington x her mark
Witnesses - Tom Lambert, Sarah Anne Bailey x her mark

This bride in this marriage is believed to be Sabina Elizabeth, born circa 1853 at Tilbrook, Bedfordshire, daughter of Obed Saddington and Eunice Marriott.

2) Parish Church of St Mary, Great Ilford, Essex

No. 389
July 30th 1882
George Saddington, 20, Bachelor, Labourer, Gt Ilford, Frances [sic] Saddington, Labourer
Mary Elizabeth Cummins, 20, Spinster, -, Gt Ilford, William Cummins, Labourer
After Banns by me H.B.Barnes
G.Saddington
X The mark of Mary Elizabeth Cummins
Witnesses - x the mark of William Boxall, x the mark of Mary Ann Boxall

3) Parish Church of St Mary, Great Ilford, Essex

No. 472
Decr 23rd 1883
William Saddington, 23, Bachelor, Labourer, Gt Ilford, William Saddington, Labourer
Margaret Ronan, 18, Spinster, -, Gt Ilford, Patrick Ronan, Labourer
After Banns by me H.B.Barnes
X The mark of William Saddington
X The mark of Margaret Ronan
Witnesses - William Fisher, x the mark of Rebecca Fisher

4) Parish Church of St Mary, Great Ilford, Essex

No. 267
Jany 27th 1901
George Ambrose Saddington, 19, Bachelor, Labourer, 25 Oaklands Park, Ilford, George Saddington, Labourer
Alice Maud Elizabeth Appleford, 18, Spinster, -, 25 Oaklands Road,Ilford, Charles Appleford, Labourer
After Banns by me Arthur G.Evans
George Ambrose Saddington
Alice Maud Elizabeth Appleford
Witnesses - x the mark of Edward Langstead, x the mark of Maria Elizabeth Saddington

5) Parish Church of St Margaret, Barking, Essex

No. 427
Tenth April 1909
George Cooper Saddington, 40, Bachelor, Solicitor's Clerk, 16 Cavendish Street, St Albans, George Saddington, Gentleman
Elizabeth Jane Beszant, 25, Spinster, -, 17 St Pauls Road, Frederick Beszant, Carriage Builder
G.C.Saddington
Elizabeth Jane Beszant
Witnesses - E.J.Saddington, Marguerite E.Harding

This marriage relates to an earlier post regarding Saddingtons in St Albans. The first witness is believed to be the groom's brother, Ernest John Saddington (1874-1958).

If any of these couples belong on your family tree, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Charles Joseph Saddington (1870 - 1916)

2010-08-31T19:20:00.007+01:00

This post comes to you courtesy of Google, without which I may never have come across the Great Explosion at Faversham, Kent which took the life of the subject of this post.

Charles Joseph Saddington was born in Margate in the December quarter of 1870, the second son of Charles Saddington and Ann Long.

The family appears on the 1871 census at 2 Wheatleys Place, Margate, but under the name of Long. This is, I believe, because Charles and Ann are not yet legally married despite having registered their three existing children under the name Saddington.

In 1871, Charles Long (otherwise Saddington) is enumerated as a 36 year old bricklayer born in Oundle, Northants (where many Saddingtons can be found). Ann Long is enumerated as a 33 year old laundress born in Reading Street, Kent. The children were enumerated as Susannah and Louisa, aged 11 and 9, both scholars and born in Lambeth, London, [probably Ann Long's daughters by a previous relationship as they are registered as Long] and Mary A, age 4, John, age 2, and Charles, age 5 months, all born in Margate, Kent and the elder two being scholars.

A second daughter, Elizabeth Jane, was born in the December quarter of 1872 in Margate.

It may be that Charles and Ann were waiting for Ann's previous husband to die or otherwise disappear as they did not marry until the June quarter of 1873, possibly at St Laurence in Thanet, Margate.

The now legalised family was increased by the birth of Isaac Robert in the September quarter of 1875 and Ellen in the June quarter of 1878, both in the Thanet Registration District.

Then tragedy struck. Charles Saddington died in the March quarter of 1881, apparently aged 48. The date of death can be narrowed down to being before 3 April 1881 because Ann Saddington appears on the 1881 census held on that date as a widow.

In 1881, the Saddington family were living at 73 Dane Road, Margate. Ann was enumerated as a 46 year old widow, working as a laundress. Living with her was her son, William Long (presumably from the same relationship as Susannah and Louisa), aged 23 and a fisherman born in Lambeth. All six of the children from her relationship with Charles Saddington were also living with her from Mary, now aged 14 and a general servant, through to Ellen (enumerated as Nelly) age 2. Also lodging with the family was one Ellen L Raymond, a 47 year old single woman born in Gloucester who was living on the income from an allowance.

By the 1891 census, the family had moved on, back to Lambeth. Ann Saddington, now a 52 year old widow working as a 'washer', was sharing 3 rooms at 1 Neptune Cottages, Lambeth, with her three sons, John (a bus conductor, age 22), Charles (a waiter, age 20) and Isaac (enumerated as Robert, a van boy, age 16), and two of her daughters, Mary (an ironer, age 24) and Elizabeth (an ironer, age 19). What has happened to Ellen/Nelly, as yet I do not know.

I have been unable to locate Charles Joseph Saddington in the 1901 census as yet, and there is the possibility that he might be overseas, perhaps fighting in the Boer War in South Africa.

However, by the June quarter of 1906, he has reappeared and proceeds to marry Susan Gibbs in the Steyning Registration District. This is none too soon as their first child, Susan Annie E Saddington, is born in the December quarter of 1906, again in the Steyning Registration District. A son, Charles Joseph, follows in the September quarter of 1908, this time in the Brighton Registration District.

There was obviously something about Lambeth which attracted this branch of the Saddington family because the 1911 census finds Charles Joseph and his family living at 2a Wheatsheaf Lane, South Lambeth. Charles is enumerated as a 36 year old laundryman, married for 6 years with both children of the marriage still living. Susan is enumerated as aged 30 and born in Canterbury, Kent.

The evidence seems to show that Charles Joseph and Susan had two more children whilst living in Lambeth; Kathleen L, born in the March quarter of 1912, and William F, born in the September quarter of 1914.

At some point after the birth of William, the family moved back to Margate and Charles Joseph got a job at the Explosive Loading Company's factory at Uplees near Faversham, about 27 miles away.

At 2.20pm, on Sunday 2 April 1916, some empty sacks caught fire at the factory, resulting in the explosion of 15 tons of TNT and 150 tons of ammonium nitrate. The explosion was so huge that it shattered windows in Southend on the other side of the Thames and the tremor could be felt in Norwich. Details can be found on a number of websites including Faversham's own website, the Kent section of the Roll of Honour website, and Wikipedia amongst others.

The death toll totalled 109 men and boys, including the whole of the Works Fire Brigade and Charles Joseph Saddington. The female members of the factory's workforce was saved by the fact that it was Sunday and women were not permitted to work the Sunday shifts.

Charles Joseph Saddington's body could not be identified following the explosion and so he has no death certificate. Whatever was found of him was buried in a mass grave on 6 April 1916 at the Faversham Borough Cemetery. He is named on the grave as J. Saddington because, as stated in his obituary in the Isle of Thanet Gazette of 22 April 1916, he was generally known as 'Joe'.

According to John Breeze's "Faversham Explosives Personnel Register 1841 - 1934,Part 3: S-Z", he is however listed on the Margate War Memorial as "C.J. Saddington, killed in Faversham munitions explosion".

At the time of Charles Joseph's death, the family were living at 205 High Street, Margate. What happened to them after his death, I am not yet sure. But if you are descended from Charles Joseph Saddington or any of his siblings, I would be delighted to hear from you.

Saddington Marriages in the Thrapston Registration District

2010-08-07T14:20:00.009+01:00

Many thanks to David Barrall who has kindly provided me with a whole wodge of Saddington marriages courtesy of his Thrapston Registration District Marriage Challenge.

Thrapston itself is in Northamptonshire on the A14 between Kettering and Huntingdon, and the Registration District covers the area around it.

As there are 30 marriages to list, I will only give the place, date, names of bride and groom, and their fathers' names. If you would like further information, just get in touch

Parish Church of St James, Thrapston
22 December 1842
Samuel Manning, son of Henry Manning, and Ann Saddington, daughter of Robert Saddington

Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Woodford
6 May 1844
James Saddington, son of Joseph Saddington, and Mary Abbott, daughter of John Abbott

Parish Church of Holy Trinity, Denford
13 September 1847
Obed Saddington, son of John Saddington, and Eunice Marriott, daughter of Saml. Marriott

Parish Church of St Mary, Ringstead
19 August 1849
Jonathan Saddington, son of John Saddington, and Harriet Coward, daughter of William Coward

Parish Church of St Peter, Raunds
25 December 1849
William Saddington, son of John Saddington, and Hannah Harrison, daughter of Thomas Harrison

Parish Church of Holy Trinity, Denford
13 October 1851
Job Major, son of John Major, and Lois Saddington, daughter of John Saddington

Parish Church of St Peter, Raunds
10 August 1856
James Bars, son of William Bars, and Elizabeth Saddington, daughter of John Saddington

Parish Church of Holy Trinity, Denford
[no date given] 1857
John Saddington, son of John Saddington, and Elizabeth Hannah Wakefield, daughter of William Wakefield

Parish Church of Holy Trinity, Denford
27 January 1858
Stephen Fensom, son of John Fensom, and Charlotte Ann Saddington, daughter of John Saddington

Parish Church of Holy Trinity, Denford
13 July 1858
William Pearson, son of William Pearson, and Mary Ann Saddington, daughter of John Saddington

Parish Church of St Peter, Raunds
13 September 1858
Thomas Knight, son of John Knight, and Mary Saddington, daughter of Samuel Saddington

Parish Church of St Mary, Ringstead
15 November 1860
Henry Smith, son of William Smith, and Sarah Saddington, daughter of Samuel Saddington

Parish Church of Holy Trinity, Denford
28 July 1862
Henry Kettle, son of William Kettle, and Elizabeth Sadington, daughter of James Saddington

Parish Church of Holy Trinity, Denford
24 March 1864
Benjamin Starmore, son of John Starmore, and Elizabeth Ann Saddington, daughter of John Saddington

Parish Church of St Peter, Raunds
1 December 1867
Joseph Burton Saddington, son of Samuel Saddington, and Mary Emma Beeby, daughter of William Beeby

Parish Church of Holy Trinity, Denford
24 December 1879
John William Saddington, son of John Saddington, and Hepzibah Mayes, daughter of Williams Mayes

Parish Church of Holy Trinity, Denford
16 October 1882
George Saddington, son of John Saddington, and Harriet Smith, daughter of Henry Smith

Parish Church of Holy Trinity, Denford
12 October 1885
James Burton Oliver, son of Arthur Oliver, and Mary Jane Saddington, daughter of John Saddington

Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Titchmarsh
15 October 1891
John Saddington, son of John Saddington, and Sarah Ann Alderman, daughter of James Alderman

Parish Church of St Peter, Raunds
16 April 1892
Samuel Saddington, son of Joseph Saddington, and Naomi Lynes, daughter of Thomas Lynes

Parish Church of Holy Trinity, Denford
26 March 1894
Albert William Smith, son of Frederick Smith, and Elizabeth Annie Saddington, daughter of John Saddington

Parish Church of Holy Trinity, Denford
24 July 1894
Charles Robinson, son of George Robinson, and Annie Saddington, daughter of John Saddington

Parish Church of All Saints, Hargrave
5 August 1895
George Saddington, son of John Saddington, and Sarah Jane Pettit, daughter of (deceased)

Parish Church of St Peter, Raunds
23 May 1896
Joseph Saddington, son of Joseph Saddington, and Flora Smith, daughter of Alfred Smith

Parish Church of St Peter, Raunds
13 June 1896
Alfred Attley, son of George Attley, and Elizabeth Ann Saddington, daughter of Joseph Saddington

Parish Church of St Peter, Raunds
28 September 1896
Arthur Bugby, son of Lewis Bugby, and Mary Ann Saddington, daughter of James Saddington

Parish Church of St Peter, Raunds
24 December 1898
Francis Frank Tidbury, son of Samuel Mitchell (deceased), and Sarah Lucy Saddington, daughter of Joseph Saddington

Parish Church of St James, Thrapston
24 June 1900
Harry Saddington, son of Solomon Saddington, and Bertha Hodby, daughter of Joseph Hodby

Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Woodford
24 December 1900
John James Saddington, son of George Saddington, and Florence Elizabeth Hawkins, daughter of William Hawkins

Parish Church of St John the Baptist, Chelveston
14 December 1908
William Saddington, son of Joseph Saddington, and Amelia Hollyoak, daughter of George Sparks

If any of these happy couples belong in your family tree, please do get in touch.

Saddington Archive at Guild of One Name Studies website

2010-04-30T21:07:00.003+01:00

I am now in the process of putting on-line some of the basic information that I have regarding the Saddington name.

The information can be accessed here - Saddington Archive.

I will be adding to the information available on a regular basis and intend to put updates on this blog. Currently the archive holds GRO index details for Saddington marriages between 1837 and 1860. It also indicates whether I have any further details regarding a particular marriage.

Please note that you will have to register to view the contents of the archive, but this is only for the purpose of keeping out spammers and data miners. Your details will not be passed on to anyone else.

I hope that you will find the archive of use in your research.

Update No. 3 - Lewis Bryan Saddington, the Habitual Criminal

2010-04-30T20:12:00.006+01:00

A couple of new pieces of information about our Lewis - I'm really quite fond of him now.

I bought a batch of certificates the night before the prices went up, and one of them was Lewis' birth certificate. So, having had the end of Lewis' life in a previous update, here is the start.

He was born on 27 September 1860 at Market Place, Wantage. His parents were William Saddington and Jane (nee Cox). William was an innkeeper. The birth was registered by Jane on 22 October 1860.

The place of birth corresponds with the 1861 census when the family were living at the "Crown Inn", Market Place, Wantage.

Having looked into his parents' marriage, according to the IGI, there is a marriage of a William Saddington and a Jane Cox on 24 June 1846 at Old Church, St Pancras, London. This corresponds with the only entry for a William Saddington/Jane Cox marriage on FreeBMD, which is for the June quarter of 1846 in the St Pancras registration district. However, without further information, I cannot be certain that this is the right marriage and so it will remain a possibility for the time being.

The other new piece of information relating to our Lewis comes from the Chelsea Pension records that are now on line at Findmypast.

He enlisted into the Army as Bryan Lewis Saddington at Canterbury on 11 November 1881. [I don't know yet when he was released from Holloway Prison which is where he had been for the 1881 census held on 3 April.]

Lewis said that he was born in Wantage, Berkshire, was 20 on his last birthday and was an ostler by trade. He enlisted for "General Services Cavalry" and was appointed to the 9th Lancers. His regimental number was 2194.

He is described as being 5 foot 7 1/4 inches tall, weighing 143lb, and with a chest measurement of 34 1/2 inches. He had reddish brown hair, brown eyes, a fresh complexion and scars on both knees. Lewis had been vaccinated in his childhood and had two vaccination scars on each arm. Nevertheless the Army revaccinated him on 22 November 1881.

Lewis' service record shows that he was stationed at "Home" (meaning England, Scotland and Ireland) between 11 November 1881 and 31 December 1882. Between 1 January 1883 and 22 November 1885, he was stationed in the East Indies. And then between 23 November 1885 and 14 August 1889, he was stationed at "Home" again, after which he was released from the regular Army and was a member of the Army Reserve from 15 August 1887 to 10 November 1893. He was then discharged from any form of Army service as of 10 November 1893.

During his Army service, Lewis had a number of medical problems. Whilst stationed in Canterbury, he had an ulcer at the end of 1881 and a sore throat in June 1882. He was sent to India on 31 January 1883 and was being treated for orchitis caused by gonorrhea at Umballa in late February/early March of that year. He had another longer bout of orchitis at Rasauli [sp?] in August/September 1883. He suffered a contusion of the foot following an accident in the gymnasium at Umballa in January 1884. He was then sent to Rasauli [sp?] Hill Depot for a change of air in August 1884.

Lewis seems to have remained healthy for the remainder of his time in India, boarding HMS Crocodile for the journey home on 28 October 1885. He arrived back in Shorncliffe, Kent on 24 November 1885, where he appears to have remained until 21 August 1886, when he was posted to York for the last part of his service in the regular Army.

General remarks regarding his habits, conduct etc were "Regular, Fair, Temperate". His character on being passed to the Army Reserve was described as "Fair".

Lewis spent 5 years 277 days in the Army and a further 6 years 88 days in the Reserve. The whole of the 5 years 277 days in the Army counted towards his Good Conduct pay and 5 years 263 days counted towards his pension.

So where do his convictions for assault in Canterbury in December 1882 come in? He would have been in the Army for about a year by then - surely assaulting a police officer in the execution of his duty is not Good Conduct! However, other than that, he seems either to have behaved himself whilst in the Army, or they didn't catch him when he misbehaved!

Still more research needed, methinks! If Lewis belongs to your branch of the family, please do get in touch.

40 Years Faithful Service 1922 - 1962: Thomas George Saddington

2010-02-26T20:21:00.006Z

This post comes courtesy of Ebay and the National Gas Archive.

Last month I was fortunate enough to be the successful bidder for this little gem, which is the size of a 2p. It is a long service award presented by the South Eastern Gas Board. On the back, the inscription reads "For 40 years faithful service. Awarded to T.G. Saddington 1922-1962".

A little research on Wikipedia informed me that the South Eastern Gas Board was created in 1948 when the UK gas industry was nationalised, and that it was formed from a number of privately owned and municipal gas companies in the area covering Kent, and parts of the administrative County of London and of Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex. So prior to 1948, T.G. Saddington must have worked for one of these privately owned or municipal gas companies.

I got in touch with the National Gas Archive to find out if they had any information on T.G. Saddington. The archivist there could only find one reference to him, but that reference was directly related to the little badge that I had won. It was a double spread article in the February 1963 issue of the SE Gas magazine, headed "Forty years behind all these men...", and it listed all the men who had received long service awards. It also gave the area in which they worked and their job title. So under Eltham, there was a reference to Thomas G. Saddington, district fitting foreman. The article also had photographs taken at the banquet that had obviously been given as part of the award presentations, and there, referred to as one of "four from Greenwich and Woolwich district" was Mr T.G. Saddington and his wife. Unfortunately he is sat slightly behind another award recipient, so it is not a very good picture of him. (I only have this in pdf format, but would be happy to forward it to any interested party.)

So now I knew that his first name was Thomas and that he had worked in the South London area for possibly as many as 40 years. If, as seems likely, he had worked in the gas industry for his whole career, beginnng in 1922, he was probably somewhere between 14 and 18 at the time he started work. This meant searching for a suitable birth between 1904 and 1908, but I widened the search to the period 1900 to 1910 to cover all eventualities. I found two possibilities - a Thomas George born in the Lewisham registration district in the June quarter of 1904 and a Thomas George born in the Wandsworth registration district in the March quarter of 1906. In 1922, they would have been 18 and 16 respectively.

In order to try and find out a bit more about these two Thomases, I searched the 1911 census, when they would have been 7 and 6 respectively. Unfortunately I have only managed to locate someone who I believe to be the 1906 Thomas George Saddington. The 1904 Thomas George is as yet unfound.

The presumed 1906 Thomas George is living at 28 Arden Street, Battersea, London SW. He is living with his parents, John Henry Saddington, age 46, a potman in a public house, born in Northampton, and his mother, Clara, age 41, born in Clapham, London. His parents have been married for 22 years [FreeBMD states that John Henry Saddington married Clara Frances Randall in the September quarter of 1889 in the Wandsworth registration district]. The marriage has produced 8 children, 6 of whom are still living, and all of whom are listed on the 1911 census.

The children are John Henry G., age 20, a manufacturer's clerk, born in Clapham; Gladys, age 18, a book folder in a printer's, born in Battersea; Frederick, age 15, a house painter's assistant, born in Battersea; James, age 12, at school, born in Battersea; Albert, age 10, at school, born in Battersea; and Thomas, age 5, at school and born in Battersea.

These eight people shared four rooms, not including any scullery, landing, lobby, closet, or bathroom. It did include the kitchen, so the house might have contained a kitchen, a living room and two bedrooms. This would have presented some problems with five sons (two at work, and three at school) and an adult daughter to accommodate. It is likely that, if there was a living room, that it would also have been used for sleeping as well.

Having checked the Charles Booth poverty map of London for 1898/99, it seems that Arden Street ten years or so previously had been classified as "Purple - Mixed. Some comfortable, others poor." With four wages coming into the house, the family might have been quite comfortable despite the cramped quarters.

A quick check of the 1881 census finds John Henry Saddington, the father, living at 33 Castle Street, Northampton, described as a provision shop. He is aged 16, described as a confectioner, and living with his elder sister, Eliza, age 18, a tailoress, and his younger brother, James Bronham [James Brown, born 1868], age 12, a laborer. The relationships are a bit odd here. Eliza is enumerated as Daur (Head), John as Son (Bro) and James as Son (Bro), which seems to indicate that there is a parent somewhere in the offing.

There is still a lot of research to be done on Thomas George Saddington and his family. However, if he is a member of your family tree, I would be delighted to hear from you.

Saddington Marriages in the West Ham Registration District

2009-12-30T19:36:00.015Z

The following 15 marriages come to you courtesy of Peter Copsey's West Ham Marriage Challenge. I hope to be able to expand further on some of them in future posts.

1) Parish Church of All Saints, West Ham

No. 84
February 16 1857
James Gladman, 37, Widower, Pork Butcher, West Ham, John Gladman, Pork Butcher
Frances Saddington, 41, Widow, -, West Ham, George Cooper, Foreman
After banns by me, A. F. Raine, Vicar
Both bride and groom signed.
Witnesses: Samuel Calver, Fanny Calver

2) Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Woodford

No. 319
November 16th 1867
George Saddington, years 26, Bachelor, Grocer, Chelsea, Middlesex, Edward Saddington, Deceased
Harriett Blond Fear, years 23, Spinster, -, Woodford, William Fear, Gent [?]
After banns by me, Joseph Clarke, Curate
Both bride and groom signed.
Witnesses: William Fear, Emma Eliza Fear, Mary Ann Mitchell Fear

3) Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Plaistow

No. 270
2 October 1870
Joseph Saddington, full, Bachelor, Blacksmith, 24 Abbey Street, Thomas Saddington, Blacksmith
Sarah Wood, full, Spinster, -, 24 Abbey Street, George Wood, Blacksmith
After banns by me, N.W.B. Marsh
Both bride and groom signed.
Witnesses: George Parry, Elizabeth Coy.. [?]

4) Parish Church of Holy Trinity, Canning Town

No. 23
10th June 1878
Edwin Bennett, 21, Bachelor, Carpenter, 47 Bidder Street, James Bennett (deceased), Carpenter
Priscilla Saddington, 20, Spinster, -, 47 Bidder Street, William Saddington, Blacksmith
After banns by me, George Soden
Both bride and groom signed.
Witnesses: William Saddington, Emma Saddington

5) Parish Church of St Luke, Victoria Docks

No. 208
March 28 1880
David Saddington, 23, Bachelor, Gas fitter, 37 Vincent Street, William Saddington, Blacksmith
Elizabeth Haley, 21, Spinster, -, 37 Vincent Street, John Haley, Labourer
After banns by me, H. S. Brooks, Curate
Signed: Elizabeth Haley, Elizabeth Haley's x mark [don't know what happened to groom's signature]
Witnesses: Henery Goodchild, Emma Saddington

6) Parish Church of Holy Trinity, Canning Town

No. 183
18th July 1880
James Henry Goodchild, 23, Bachelor, Lighterman, 23 Hermit Street, Charles Goodchild (deceased), Lighterman
Emma Saddington, 19, Spinster, -, 1 Hampden Villas, William Saddington, Blacksmith
After banns by me, L. M. Dalton
Both bride and groom signed.
Witnesses: Edwin Bennett, Priscilla Bennett

7) Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Plaistow

No. 424
August 17th 1885
Harry Saddington, 21, Bachelor, Planer, Plaistow, William Saddington, Blacksmith
Mary Morison, 20, Spinster, -, Plaistow, George Morison, Clerk
After bannns by me, A. StLege Westall
Both bride and groom signed.
Witnesses: Alice Morison, Annie Morison

8) Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Plaistow

No. 420
September 1st 1889
William Saddington, 23, Bachelor, Engineer, 5 Avenons Road, Barking Road, William Saddington, Blacksmith
Elizabeth Allen, 21, Spinster, -, 52 Newman Road, James Allen, Stoker
After banns by me, Richard H O'Reilly
Both bride and groom signed.
Witnesses: Thomas William Mason, Agnes Saddington

9) Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Plaistow

No. 450
December 25th 1889
Thomas William Mason, 26, Bachelor, Lighterman, 336 Barking Road, Thomas James Mason, Lighterman
Agnes Saddington, 19, Spinster, -, 5 Avenons Road, William Saddington, Blacksmith
After banns by me, Richard H. O'Reilly
Both bride and groom signed.
Witnesses: William Saddington, Ada Saddington

10) Parish Church of All Saints, West Ham

No. 244
March 20th 1890
Simeon Cundy, 36, Bachelor, Manager, Prince Regent Lane, Isaac Cundy (deceased), Coal Merchant
Elizabeth Ann Saddington, 28, Spinster, -, 14 Baron Road, John Saddington, Blacksmith
After banns by me, John I Mitchell
Both bride and groom signed.
Witnesses: John Saddington, Clara Saddington

11) Parish Church of All Saints, West Ham

No. 33
25th Dec 1890
Robert Henry Whitaker, 29, Bachelor, Engineer, 30 Parker Street, Thomas Whitaker, Engineer
Clara Jane Saddington, 26, Spinster, -, 14 Baron Road, John Saddington, Blacksmith
After banns by me, Deans Cowan
Both bride and groom signed.
Witnesses: John Saddington, Jane Saddington

12) Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Plaistow

No. 422
October 8th 1892
John George Saddington, 30, Bachelor, Carpenter, 14 Baron Road, John Saddington, Blacksmith
Bessie Allen, 27, Spinster, -, 42 Ordnance Road, John Allen (deceased), Saddler
After banns by me, C. Pierrepoint Edwards
Both bride and groom signed.
Witnesses: John Saddington, Rosa Crush, Janice McBride

13) Parish Church of All Saints, West Ham

No. 331
May 3rd 1896
James Henry Holdgate, 50, Widower, Labourer, 19 Beaconsfield, Henry Holdgate (Deceased), Bricklayer
Sarah Saddington, 49, Widow, -, 18 Liverpool Road, George Wood (Deceased), Blacksmith
After banns by me, W. R. Morrow
Both bride and groom signed.
Witnesses: S. Brenster, Eleanor Brenster

14) Parish Church of All Saints, West Ham

No. 331
Septr 5th 1897
John Thomas Moore, 26, Bachelor, Lighterman, 42 Amelia Street, Thomas Wormsley Moore, Chemical Worker
Sarah Jane Saddington, 20, Spinster, -, 14 Baron Road, John Saddington, Blacksmith
After banns by me, Henry G. W. Cooper
Both bride and groom signed.
Witnesses: John Saddington, Grace Maud Saddington

15) Parish Church of St Thomas, West Ham

No. 138
June 18 1899
William Saddington, 20, Bachelor, Fireman, 35 Langehorne Street, Richard Saddington, Labourer
Florence Archer, 18, Spinster, -, 37 Langehorne Street, George Archer (Decd), Bricklayer
After banns by me, J. W. Eisdell, Vicar
Both bride and groom signed.
Witnesses: Emily Gardiner, E. Bewick [?]

If any of these couples belong in your family tree, please do get in touch.

Saddington Marriages in the Shoreditch Registration District

2009-12-30T19:25:00.008Z

These three marriages come to you courtesy of Howard Benbrook's Shoreditch Marriage Challenge.

1) Parish Church of St Mary, Haggerston Road, Shoreditch

No. 357
Aug 3rd 1863
William Saddington, 22, Bachelor, Groom, 21 Kent Street, William Saddington, Groom
Ellen Connolley, 21, Spinster, -, 21 Kent Street, Michael Connolley (dec), Labourer
After banns by me, Geo. Morris
Signed: William Saddington, Ellen Connolley x her mark
Witnesses: John David King, Sarah Ann Stanborough x her mark

2) Parish Church of St Mary, Haggerston Road, Shoreditch

No. 481
Jan 3rd 1871
Edward Bell, full, Bachelor, Schoolmaster, 19 Brownlow Road, Robert Bell (dec), Civil Service
Eliza Saddington, full, Spinster, -, 19 Brownlow Road, William Saddington (dec), Shopkeeper
After banns, by me Sidney S. Browne
Both bride and groom signed.
Witnesses: Henry Woodley, Elizabeth Jarvis

3) Parish of St Chad, Nichols Square, Haggerston

No. 11
Oct 24 1872
John Douglas, 24, Bachelor, Clerk, 17 Huntingdon Street, George Douglas, Butcher
Elizabeth Saddington, 22, Spinster, -, 88 Cowley Road, Brixton, James Saddington, Tailor
After banns by me, Edwd. H Flynn
Both bride and groom signed.
Witnesses: Robert Chignell Bostock Jr., Jane Saddington

If any of these couples belong to your family tree, please do get in touch.

Walter Frederick Saddington (circa 1866 - ?)

2009-10-29T18:04:00.010Z

When you commit yourself to a One Name Study, you commit yourself to collecting all instances of that surname. It doesn't matter whether the person concerned was born with the surname that you are collecting, whether they acquired it by marriage or whether they chose to use it instead of the one that they were born with - you must collect the reference to the surname.

Walter Frederick Saddington, the subject of this post, is an example of the third option - someone who chose to use the surname Saddington instead of the one that he was born with.

He was born Walter Frederick Needham in Oakham, Rutland. His birth was registered in the March quarter of 1866, and his mother was Adaeliza Needham, a daughter of John and Sarah Needham of Egleton, Rutland. She was baptised on 12 June 1847, so was about 19 at the time of Walter's birth.

In the December quarter of 1869, Adaeliza married John Saddington in the Oakham Registration District. According to the 1871 census, by which time the little family had moved to Lowdham in Nottinghamshire and Walter is enumerated as a Saddington, John was born circa 1850 in Market Overton, Rutland and was employed as a railway porter. He may be the son of Henry and Sarah Saddington of Market Overton, Rutland, but as yet I cannot prove this.

Unfortunately, the marriage did not last long. Although I have yet to find a probable death reference, it appears that John Saddington died at some point before 13 July 1880, when his widow remarried at St John's Parish Church, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.

No. 78 - July 13 1880
Charles Dunkling, 32, Bachelor, Tallow chandler, Back Lane West, Simeon Dunkling, Labourer
Addaeliza Saddington, 31, Widow, -, Back Lane West, John Leedham, Labourer
After banns by me, Cecil G Paget

Charles Dunkling
Addaeliza Saddington

Witnesses - Sybilla Newson[?], William Henry Draycott x his mark

In the 1881 census, the newly formed family were living at 17 Clumber Street, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. Walter is enumerated as Walter Fk Dunkling, Son in law, Unm, 15, Printer Apprentice, Rutland, Oakham. So he is now on his third surname.

However Walter does not appear to have been too keen on the new situation. On 20 October 1883, aged 18 years and 10 months, and describing himself as a "clerk", Walter enlisted at Derby in the Derby Regiment under the name of Walter Saddington. He appears to have remained a Saddington for the rest of his life. His next of kin is listed as Elizabeth Dunkling, Mother, 17 Clumber Street, Mansfield.

Based on his pension records, Walter appears to have served with the 2nd Battalion of what was then known as The Sherwood Foresters (Derbyshire Regiment). He served in the East Indies (presumably India) twice and in Malta. On 30 September 1894, he married Hellena Fitzgerald at the Wesleyan Chapel in Umballa, Bengal, India. It appears that they had two children who died in India, but I know nothing more about them at the moment.

Walter and Hellena were back in England before October 1904, as their son, Frederick, was born on 24 October in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, and was then baptised in the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in Southwell on 12 December 1904. Their daughter, Eveline, was also born in Southwell on 4 April 1906, being baptised in the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel on 30 April 1906.

In the 1911 census, the family are living on Westgate, Southwell. Walter's occupation is given as 'Colour Sergeant His Majesty's Army, Instructor to Territorials'. The census also confirms that Walter and Hellena had had four children, two of whom had died.

Walter retired from the Army on 31 December 1912, having served for 29 years and 73 days. However, he re-enlisted the next day (1 January 1913) in the 8th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) for 'promotion forthwith to the rank of Company Quarter Master Sergeant, Service in the United Kingdon only'. The 8th Battalion was a Territorial Battalion, so I assume that he carried on with the training work that he had been doing previously. He was then living at 26 Crown Street, Newark, Nottinghamshire.

Walter remained in the Territorial Army for another couple of years, before being discharged on 24 March 1915 under King's Regulations 392 (XXV) - whatever that means (if anyone can tell me, I would be grateful). By this time, the First World War was raging and a good soldier was going to do his bit as long as he could. A couple of months later, on 28 May 1915, Walter re-enlisted again, this time in London.

Walter spent the rest of the war in the Army, working as a storeman, before being discharged for the final time on 30 December 1919 due to cardiac debility and vertigo at the age of 53. He then returned to his home in Newark.

Having already lost two children in infancy, Walter and Hellena must have been devastated when their son, Frederick, died on 6 March 1927 at East Stoke, Nottinghamshire, at the age of 22. As yet, I do not know the cause of death. The family was then living at 14 Crown Street, Newark, and letters of administration were granted to Walter at Nottingham on 18 May 1927 in which he is described as an Army Pensioner.

Walter was obviously still closely connected with his old Battalion as the Letter of Administration lists his sureties as being 'Horace Leslie Brockbank Mills of the Drill Hall Newark aforesaid Captain and Adjutant 8th Battalion Sherwood Foresters T.A. and Albert Coltman Grimwood of the Drill Hall aforesaid Lieutenant and Quartermaster 8th Battalion Sherwood Foresters T.A.'.

After Frederick's death, I currently have no further definite information about this Saddington family. I believe that his sister, Eveline, may have married in the Holborn Registration District of London in the December quarter of 1938, possibly to a Mr Ballard.

If you have any further information about Walter Frederick Saddington or his family, I would be delighted to hear from you.

Derby Registration District Marriages - Part 2

2009-09-22T18:09:00.013+01:00

Courtesy of Sue Horsman's Derby Marriage Challenge, this post contains details of further Saddington marriages which took place in the Derby Registration District.

In the Parish Church of Holy Trinity, Derby:

No. 68
January 25 1879
George Saddington, 24, Bachelor, Ticket examiner, Derby, John Saddington, Framework Knitter
Margaret Annie Bowen, 21, Spinster, -, Derby, Thomas Bowen, Joiner
After banns
Both bride and groom signed their names.
Witnesses - Robert Blood, Harriet Blood

In the Parish Church of St Luke, Derby:

No. 351
November 6 1892
Frederick Saddington, 23, Bachelor, Butcher, Appleby, Derbys, Henry Saddington, Butcher
Jessie Ward, 20, Spinster, -, 17 Crosby[?] Street, James Ward, Farmer
By Licence
Both bride and groom signed their names.
Witnesses - Samuel Banks, Eliza Banks

In the Parish Church of St Chad, Derby:

No. 386
August 30 1902
Frank Saddington, 24, Bachelor, Shunter, 43 Vale Street, John Saddington, Labourer
Alice Jemima Bloor, 21, Spinster, -, 17 Mill Hill Road, George Bloor, Blacksmith
After banns
Both bride and groom signed their names.
Witnesses - Albert Tharme, Ealand Tharme

In the Parish Church of St Paul, Derby:

No. 206
June 2 1906
George Smith, 27, Bachelor, Waggon Builder, 42 Colombell Street, William Holt Smith, Waggon Builder
Lucy Saddington, 22, Spinster, -, 10 Roman Road, Arthur Saddington, Moulder
After banns
Both bride and groom signed their names.
Witnesses - Arthur Saddington, Jane Saddington, Willons Charles Wright, Elizabeth Holt Smith

Subsequently, the locations of six other Saddington marriages have also been discovered, together with the names of their respective spouses, as follows:

December quarter 1853 - Thomas Saddington married Susannah Sporway at the Derby Register Office.

December quarter 1864 - William Saddington married Sarah Wild at the Derby Register Office.

December quarter 1869 - James Saddington married Emma Shephard at the London Road Methodist New Connection.

December quarter 1877 - Henry William Herdman married Mary Saddington at the Derby Register Office.

September quarter 1888 - George Henry Saddington married Elizabeth Meller at the Babington Lane Swedenburg Chapel.

June quarter 1903 - Henry Frederick Rankin married Mary Saddington at the Derby Register Office.

If any of these happy couples feature in your family tree, please do let me know.

Update No. 2 - Lewis Bryan Saddington, the Habitual Criminal

2009-08-25T21:15:00.007+01:00

Just a quick one to say that I have filled in part of one of the gaps currently to be found in Lewis Saddington's dodgy career.

On doing a general search for Saddingtons in the Online Catalogue of Kent Archives Service, I discovered our friend Lewis misbehaving in Canterbury.

The index to the judicial records in the Canterbury Cathedral Archives shows that on 7 December 1882, Lewis was up before the Court of Summary Jurisdiction and was convicted on two counts as follows:

James Taylor and Bryan Louis Saddington, St Alphege: assaulting William Neville Jeffries. Each fined 5s plus 3s 9d costs payable forthwith. If in default of payment, 7 days hard labour in HMP St Augustine's, Canterbury.

Bryan Louis Saddington: assaulting PC Edgar Hawkes a police officer in the execution of his duty as a constable of the City of Canterbury Watch. Fined 10s plus 6s 6d costs payable forthwith. If in default of payment, 14 days hard labour in HMP St Augustine's, Canterbury.

My best imperial arithmetic brings Lewis' total fine to £1 5s 3d. According to the Measuring Worth website, in 2008 terms, this would be £94.74 [using the retail price index] or £662.05 [using average earnings]. Either way, not an insignificant sum. Lewis may well have preferred to do 21 days hard labour, rather than try and find that amount of money.

So what else did our black sheep Saddington get up to during his life? It will be interesting to find out.

If Lewis is one of your Saddingtons, or if you come across him in your research, please do get in touch.

Derby Registration District Marriages - Part 1

2009-07-21T21:04:00.007+01:00

These four marriages come to you courtesy of Sue Horsman's Derby Marriage Challenge. At the moment, I am just supplying the details on the marriage certificates, but hope to be able to expand on them in the future.

1.
Parish Church of St Werburgh, Derby
No. 120
March 15 1862
Abraham Joseph Yeoman, 21, Bachelor, Copper Smith, Dunkirk[?], Daniel Yeoman, Labourer
Sarah Jane Saddington, 20, Spinster, -, London Road, James Saddington, Labourer
By Certificate
Both bride and groom signed their names.
Witnesses - William Saddington, Macklin Harvy

2.
Parish Church of St Peter, Derby
No. 252
May 30 1868
Henry Saddington, 20, Bachelor, Moulder, Normanton Road, James Saddington, Labourer
Eliza Wheatcroft, Full, Spinster, -, Normanton Road, William Wheatcroft, Solicitors Clerk
After Banns
The groom signed his name and the bride made her mark.
Witnesses - Will[?] Saddington, Sarah x Saddington

3.
Parish Church of St Alkmund, Derby
No. 469
December 25 1878
Arthur Saddington, 22, Bachelor, Iron Moulder, Upper Brook Street Derby, James Saddington, Tanner
Kate Hind, 24, Spinster, Mill Hand, Upper Brook Street Derby, Thomas Hind, Iron Moulder
After Banns
Both the bride and groom signed their names.
Witnesses - John T Brailsford, Elizabeth Alice Hind

4.
Parish Church of Christchurch, Derby
No. 476
June 18 1904
John Saddington, 24, Bachelor, Clerk, 7 Webster Street Derby, George Saddington, Porter
Elizabeth Kemp, 24, Spinster, -, 83 Devonshire Street Derby, Charles Kemp, Deceased
After Banns
Both bride and groom signed their names.
Witnesses - John Kemp, Ida Kemp

If any of these marriages feature in your family, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Saddington One Name Study on GenealogyWise

2009-07-12T18:36:00.007+01:00

Just a quick post to let you know that I have started a Saddington One Name Study group on GenealogyWise, the new genealogy social network.

GenealogyWise is apparently like Facebook, but for family history researchers.

Hopefully, I will see some of you there soon.

Plush v Saddington - A suit in Chancery

2009-06-30T20:50:00.010+01:00

Once again I must apologise for the shortage of posts this month. However, the exams are now out of the way and I have just about got my life back in order.

A couple of years ago, I received an enquiry from a gentleman in South Australia who had come across a family called Plush who, for a couple of generations, had used the name Saddington as a forename. The family descended from three brothers who had emigrated from England to South Australia in 1839, the sons of Thomas Plush and Frances Taylor. One of the sons was named John Saddington Plush, and my enquirer asked if I could assist him with any connection between the Saddington and Plush families on the basis that surnames used as forenames tend to be family surnames somewhere along the line.

Well, I had nothing in my database at the time, so I had a look round the Internet. Initially, all that I could find were IGI records for the marriage of Thomas Plush and Frances Taylor on 1 November 1804 at St Leonards, Shoreditch, London and a marriage for John Saddington and Ann Plush on 16 February 1792 at St Peters, Cornhill, London.

On the National Archives website, I also found a reference to a document referred to as "Item C 13/589/19 = Plush v Saddington. Answer only." It was dated 1801 and related to a matter in the Court of Chancery. It also appeared that only part of the paperwork still existed.

Some months later, I took a trip to the National Archives and ordered the Chancery document in advance. When I went to collect it, what I was given was a huge roll of documents which had been brought specially from the disused salt mine in Cheshire where documents which are rarely requested are kept. With my white archival gloves on, I worked my way slowly down the roll until I reached my document. Straining my eyes to read the tiny writing, I discovered the following story.

The document was an Answer to a Bill of Complaint. The Bill had been brought by John Plush and Sarah, his wife, and by Sarah Plush, James Plush, Mary Plush and William Plush, Infants [i.e. persons under the age of 21] by their father, John Plush. The Answer was submitted by the Defendants in the case, who were John Saddington and Ann, his wife, and Jane Plush, the Guardian of the Infant Defendants, Thomas Plush, Jane Plush, Elizabeth Plush and William Colewell Plush.

The Bill of Complaint [which was missing] appeared to have related to the Will of the late William Plush, who had died on 26 December 1794, and who was the father of Ann Saddington and the grandfather of the Infant Defendants.

When William Plush Senior had died, his Will had been proved in the Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury by his Executors, Daniel Tanner and Titus Tanner. In his Will, William had left his daughter, Ann Saddington, £310 in 3% Capital Stock, and he had left his four grandchildren £200 in the same 3% Capital Stock. His remaining 3% Capital Stock (about £200 worth) and his personal Estate had been left to his son, William Plush Junior. Unfortunately, William Plush Junior had died during his father's lifetime, so this bequest had lapsed and the residue was divided between his daughter, Ann Saddington, and the four grandchildren. William Plush Senior had also owed his son in law, John Saddington, the sum of £34 17s 2d, which John Saddington had kindly forgiven.

Now, during his lifetime, William Plush Senior and one Thomas Home or Horne [it was difficult to read this surname, so I will call him Thomas Horne throughout this post] had been the Trustees of a Trust Fund containing £600 worth of 3% Capital Stock for the benefit of the Complainant, John Plush. At some point in the past, £100 worth of stock had been sold at John Plush's request and the money given to him on the proviso that the stock was to be replaced using the dividends from the remaining £500 worth of stock.

However, in May 1792, Thomas Horne had prevailed upon William Plush Senior to sell out the remaining £500 worth of stock without John Plush's knowledge or consent, so that Horne could use the money himself. Horne signed a memorandum dated 8 May 1792, acknowledging the agreement and agreeing to repurchase stock to the sum of £500.

In December 1794, William Plush Senior died and Horne became the sole Trustee. From Christmas 1797, John Plush had been receiving dividends from Horne equivalent to the entire £600 worth of stock. However, when John Plush went to collect the dividends that had accrued at Christmas 1799, he discovered that Horne had absconded. Horne was insolvent, avoiding his creditors, and had never replaced the stock as agreed in the May 1792 memorandum.

The Defendants' Answer to John Plush's Bill of Complaint came in two parts. Firstly, it stated that William Plush Senior's Executors, Daniel and Titus Tanner, had not done their job properly. They had failed to make the proper enquiries in relation to the Estate, and they had refused to allow John and Ann Saddington to make the proper enquiries. The Executors had therefore been unaware of the Trust Fund and indeed one of the Executors was now dead. The 1792 memorandum signed by Thomas Horne had only lately been discovered by John Saddington amongst a bundle of William Plush Senior's papers which were in the custody of William Plush Junior's widow (probably Jane Plush, the Guardian of the Infant Defendants).

Secondly, the Defendants stated that John Plush should have made proper enquiries in relation to the Trust Fund and paid proper attention to the reinvesting of the stock after the initial £100 worth had been sold at his request. They went on to say that Thomas Horne had been solvent for many years after William Plush Senior's death, so if John Plush had taken proper care, things would never have been able to get to this point.

And for these reasons, the Defendants should not have to reimburse John Plush out of what they had inherited from William Plush Senior's Estate.

Unfortunately, there appears to be no further documentation to say what the outcome of the case was.

However, putting all the evidence together, I believe that the Thomas Plush who married Frances Taylor in 1804, and who named one of his sons John Saddington Plush, was the Infant Defendant Thomas Plush in this case. It would seem that his aunt's husband was sufficiently important in his life that he named one of his sons after him.

But who was John Saddington and where did he come from? The Answer doesn't say. If you have any further details relating to this case and/or John Saddington, I would be delighted to hear from you.

Transported to Australia - Saddington convicts

2009-05-31T19:45:00.007+01:00

To begin with, I would like to apologise for the shortage of posts this month, but I am labouring under the burden of revision for exams in June.

This is a brief post resulting from the appearance on-line of British Convict Transportation Registers, courtesy of the State Library of Queensland.

So far it appears that only two Saddingtons emigrated to Australia courtesy of the criminal justice system. These were Eliza Saddington who was sent to Van Diemen's Land for 7 years in 1850, and George Saddington who was sent to Western Australia for 7 years in 1865.

Eliza Saddington was convicted of a felony, to wit the theft of four pairs of clogs at Coventry, at the Lent Assizes held at Coventry on 28 March 1850. She was 17 years old. Eliza was sentenced to 7 years transportation, and consequently sailed from London on 30 October 1850 aboard the 'Emma Eugenia', together with 169 other female convicts.

The 'Emma Eugenia' arrived in Hobart Town, Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) on 7 March 1851. The Archives Office of Tasmania has now digitised a lot of their convict records. Eliza Saddington is described as being a nursemaid, aged 18, 4'9" tall, with brown hair and eyes, and a fresh complexion. She had a scar on her left cheek, a scar and blue marks on her right arm below the elbow and another scar over her right brow. She could read and write imperfectly. It appears that she had also spent 12 months 'on the town' before this conviction, i.e. she had been a prostitute.

According to the records, her native place was Appleby, probably Appleby Magna in Leicestershire. Her father was John, her mother was Elizabeth, and she had a sister, also Elizabeth. As yet, I have not been able to place Eliza within the Appleby Magna branch of the family.

Unfortunately Eliza did not flourish in Van Diemen's Land. The surgeon on board ship reported that her conduct was indifferent. It appears that Eliza was then sent to the Brickfields Hiring Depot at Hobart New Town. Here she would have waited to be hired as a servant for the period of her sentence or until she was paroled. Eliza never went into service in Van Diemen's Land. The records show that she died in the Hospital at the Brickfields Hiring Depot on 4 July 1851.

Moving on to George Saddington, the records show that, at the age of 25, George was convicted of larceny at Guildford Assizes in Surrey on 1 August 1864 and sentenced to be transported for a term of 7 years. He left England on 20 or 30 September 1865, sailing from Portland on the 'Vimiera' with 280 other male convicts, bound for the Swan River Colony. The voyage took 83 days and the ship arrived at Fremantle, Western Australia on 22 December 1865. It appears that 3 of the convicts had died on the way, as only 278 convicts landed in their new country.

In the convict records, George is described as being a carpenter, married with one child, 5'11 1/4" tall, with brown hair and grey eyes. His face was long, he had a pale complexion and his build was middling stout. He also had a scar over his left eye. Most of this additional information comes from Convicts to Australia , a website compiled by the Perth Dead Person's Society.

According to the records of Fremantle Prison, George received his ticket of leave on 11 February 1868. This was his document of parole, which entitled him to seek employment within a specified district, marry or bring his family over from England, and to acquire property. Despite having a wife and child back in England, George married Dorah Toole on 20 February 1869. He received his Certificate of Freedom at Perth, Western Australia, on 2 November 1871, having completed his sentence.

The records then show that George died on 20 April 1895 in the Champion Bay Registration District, Western Australia, when he was about 60. He was buried in the St Francis Xavier Cemetery, Geraldton, despite being a Protestant. His wife, Dorah, died on 25 July 1905, age 62, and was buried in the Urch Street Cemetery, Geraldton. It is not known whether they had any children. A George Saddington was also buried in the Urch Street Cemetery in February 1905, age 55. Now was this a relation, or did Dorah have her husband's body moved?

If either Eliza or George belong to your family, please get in touch.

Elizabeth Saddington (1828 - 1863): Trying to tie up loose ends

2009-04-30T21:01:00.008+01:00

This post relates to Elizabeth Saddington, eldest child of my 3x great grandparents, Thomas Saddington and Hannah Deacon, and demonstrates how incomplete information can lead to wrong conclusions. The research involved in this post has taken place over a twenty year period.

Elizabeth Saddington, daughter of Thomas and Hannah, was born in December 1828 in Great Bowden, Leicestershire, and was baptised on 29 December 1828 in the Parish Church.

Her life is then conjecture until the 1841 census, due to the lack of official documentation. In 1841, Elizabeth, now aged 13, was living in Great Bowden with her parents, Thomas and Hannah, and six of her siblings, namely Thomas (1830), John Jonathan (1831), William (1834), Joseph (1836), Ann (1838) and Jonathan (1841).

Over the next ten years, Elizabeth appears to have remained at home, helping out with the housework and the younger children. In the 1851 census, she was still living in Great Bowden, aged 22, with her now widowed father and seven siblings, being the six present in 1841 and a further brother, Henry (1843). Elizabeth's occupation is given as 'housekeeper'; her mother, Hannah, having died only about six weeks before.

When the 1861 census was taken, Elizabeth, aged 32, was still living at home at Middle Green, Great Bowden with her father and her three youngest brothers, Joseph, Jonathan and Henry. However, her occupation is now given as 'charwoman', so she was presumably working outside the home, cleaning other people's houses. Her father had not remarried, so it is reasonably safe to assume that she was also still keeping house for him and her brothers.

After that, I could find no record of her in the 1871 and 1881 censuses, so at that stage in my research I presumed that she had probably moved away and possibly got married. Elizabeth is a fairly common name amongst Saddingtons at the time, so tracing her marriage would not be easy, and so I let it ride.

Research later showed that, at the time of the 1871 census, her father, Thomas Saddington, was living alone at Lucas Yard, Great Bowden; all of his children had seemingly left home. And in 1881, he was living in Foxton with his next youngest and unmarried brother, John, and their youngest and spinster sister, Sarah. But when Thomas died on 28 May 1883, he was back in Great Bowden and his death was registered by "E. Saddington, Daughter, Present at the death, Great Bowden". When I bought his death certificate back in 1998, I assumed that this meant that his daughter, Elizabeth, had not married after all and had come back from wherever she had been for the 1871 and 1881 censuses to care for her father in his final illness.

Recently, however, I went back through the notes that I had originally taken from the Great Bowden parish registers. There, amongst the burials, I found an entry for an Elizabeth Saddington, aged 34, being buried on 26 February 1863. I did the maths and the dates were right for Elizabeth Saddington born in 1828. So I bought the certificate to make sure one way or the other.

When the certificate arrived, it stated that Elizabeth Saddington, aged 34 and a charwoman, had died on 22 February 1863 of chlorosis and exhaustion. The death was registered by one Sarah West, present at the death. Further research was called for. Going back to the 1861 census, I found a Sarah West, wife of Samuel, living two doors away from the Saddington family. I can now be almost 100% certain that the Elizabeth Saddington on the death certificate is the same as Elizabeth Saddington, daughter of Thomas and Hannah Saddington. The only other Elizabeth Saddington of a similar age known to be living in Great Bowden in 1863 was the wife of Thomas Saddington, Elizabeth's oldest brother, but she is known to have lived until 1914 and is buried with her husband in the Great Bowden cemetery.

This means that the conclusion I reached in 1998 regarding which Elizabeth Saddington had registered Thomas Saddington the elder's death was completely wrong. It had been his daughter in law, Elizabeth Saddington (nee Smith), not his own daughter, Elizabeth. I had been misled by the custom of referring to sons and daughters in law as sons and daughters, something which happens frequently in historical documents.

To tie up the final loose end, I investigated the cause of Elizabeth's death. According to Wikipedia, chlorosis is a form of anaemia (iron deficiency), one of the symptoms of which is lack of energy - which probably led to exhaustion being given as a secondary cause of Elizabeth's death. It may have been hereditary, and today it would have been treated with vitamin supplements. In Elizabeth's day, it was also known as green sickness, because a sufferer's skin developed a pale green tinge. An academic article about chlorosis can be found here.

So Elizabeth Saddington died relatively young and unmarried, having spent most of her life looking after her family. The possibility of her cause of death being hereditary has now made me look more closely at her mother, Hannah, who died at the age of 42.

Any comments on this post will be gratefully received.

Update - Lewis Bryan Saddington, the Habitual Criminal (1860 - 1921)

2009-04-28T20:48:00.007+01:00

Following the release of the 1911 census and the arrival of the Board of Guardians records from the London Metropolitan Archives and the Guildhall Library on Ancestry, I can now update you on the life and times of Lewis Bryan Saddington, the habitual criminal.

Having been sentenced to prison on 28 March 1911 for "feloniously uttering" a forged cheque, the 1911 census taken on 2 April 1911 found Lewis incarcerated in HM Prison Wandsworth. As stated in my previous post, I am unsure whether Lewis was to be imprisoned for five or eight years on this occasion, but he must have been used to the system by then, having definitely been in prison for the 1881 and 1901 censuses and probably for the 1891 census as well.

Whether Lewis was in prison for the 1921 census, we shall have to wait and see. However, 1921 was the year that his story came to an end.

The Register of Deaths for the St Pancras South Infirmary, Pancras Road, London states that Lewis Saddington died on 17 November 1911 in Ward 4 of the Infirmary. He had been admitted to the Infirmary on 11 November 1921. His age was given as 61 and his last place of abode had been 6 Kenton Street, Camden. His occupation was given as builder's labourer and the cause of death was bronchitis. The Register also states that Lewis Saddington was buried by his Parish, presumably in a pauper's grave somewhere.

So a misspent life came to an ignominious end. What set Lewis Saddington on the path of crime will probably remain unknown. It would be interesting to find out what crime he committed to be in prison in 1881 at the age of 18. Any further information about Lewis Bryan Saddington would be gratefully received.

Saddingtons of Rochers Head, Bradfield, Yorkshire

2009-03-31T20:48:00.015+01:00

This post relates to a family that I am still researching and is being posted in the hopes of connecting with a family member.

The first Saddington of Rochers Head was Joseph Saddington, son of Samuel Saddington and Mary Milbourne, born in Tansor, Northamptonshire circa 1843. How and why he made his way to the Sheffield area is as yet unknown.

In the December quarter of 1870, Joseph married Lucy Ann Earnshaw in the Wortley Registration District, and later that same quarter, she gave birth to their first son, John Albert. They went on to have 11 children in total.

Samuel Ernest arrived in 1873, followed by Joseph William in 1875. Florence Ann showed up in 1876, and Lucy Ann in 1878. Then Catherine Mary was born in 1880.

The 1881 census showed Joseph and Lucy Ann living at Smallfield, Rotchers Head, Bradfield, Yorkshire. He was a farmer of 200 acres. Their eldest son, John Albert, was living with his uncle, John Earnshaw, at Fair House, Bradfield, but the other five children were at home with their parents.

The family continued to grow. Percy was born in 1883, followed by Clara Elizabeth in 1885 and Elsie Emma in 1887. Then Louisa Ellen came along in 1890.

The 1891 census showed Joseph and Lucy Ann at Rocher Head, Bradfield, with nine of their then ten children. Lucy Ann the younger is not with the family. Joseph was still a farmer.

Edith came along in 1892 to finish off the family, but unfortunately died later the same year.

The surviving children of the family married one by one, and started producing their own families. John Albert married Lily Earnshaw, and Joseph William married Clara Haigh probably on the same day in 1898.

The 1901 census shows Joseph living at Rotcher Head with five of the children. Lucy Ann has gone to stay with her aunt, Ann Holbrook, at Cross House, Bradfield, where Lucy Ann the younger is working as housekeeper. John Albert is at Cross Cottage, Bradfield, with his wife and two small children, working as a stone cutter. Joseph William is at Fir Tree Farm, Thurgoland, with his wife and son, working as a carter and farmer.

Lucy Ann the younger married William Bramhall in 1905, and Florence Ann married Benjamin Roebuck in 1908. Clara Elizabeth married Alfred Andrews in 1909 and Samuel Ernest married Rachel Barnes in 1915. Louisa Ellen married James Heywood Staniforth in 1917.

Catherine Mary is believed to have married a Mr Binder, but no marriage has yet been found. Elsie Emma is known to have died a spinster, and it is believed that Percy never married.

Joseph Saddington died on 8 May 1928, described as being "of Rocher Edge Bradfield near Sheffield". He didn't leave a will and administration was granted to his sons, Samuel Ernest and Joseph William, both farmers. His estate amounted to £767 12s 1d, which would have been worth £141,951.43 in 2007, based on average earnings.

His wife, Lucy Ann, died on 17 December 1929, described as being "of Rocher Head, Bradfield, Yorkshire". She didn't leave a will either, and in March 1930, administration was granted to her son, Samuel Ernest Saddington, farmer. Her estate amounted to £712 13s 4d, which would have been worth £132,397.74 in 2007, based on average earnings.

If this family of Saddingtons belongs to you, please get in touch.

Wanted! - Descendants of Thomas and Elizabeth (nee Smith) Saddington of Great Bowden, LEI

2009-03-23T19:39:00.018Z

This post is a continuation from my post of 24 December 2007 in which I listed the descendants of my great grandparents, John Jonathan and Jane (nee Hewlett) Saddington in the hope of locating previously unknown members of the family. As a result of that post, I am now in contact with 2 new cousins.

Today's post relates to the descendants of John Jonathan's eldest brother, Thomas, and his wife, Elizabeth(nee Smith). Thomas was born in Great Bowden, Leicestershire in 1830, and was baptised in the Parish Church on 13 September that year. He followed his father's trade of blacksmith all his life.

On 31 August 1854, he married Elizabeth Smith, daughter of John Smith, a labourer, at the Parish Church in Great Bowden. According to the parish records, they had 10 children.

Their eldest daughter, Mary Rosina, was baptised on 25 December 1854 at Great Bowden. Mary Rosina married Benjamin Croshaw, an engine driver, on 18 April 1878 at Great Bowden. The couple went on to have six children, Thomas Saddington (1879), Joseph Benjamin (1880), Constance Daisy (1882), Clara Mabel (1885), Horace Albert Victor (1887) and Nelly Rosina (1893) - most of whom were born in Netherfield, Notts.

Thomas and Elizabeth's second child was a son, John Charles, born in 1856 at Great Bowden. He married Mary Christiana Jane Howitt in the June quarter of 1880 in the Barton Regis Registration District. John and Mary had nine, possibly ten, children - Charles John (1881), Thomas William (1883), Frederick (1886), Constance May (1888), Lilian Mary (1890), George (1893), John Leonard (1894), Harry (1897), Nellie Elizabeth (1900) and possibly Arthur, for whom I have no dates.

Child number 3 was Thomas, born in 1858 at Great Bowden. He married Elizabeth Coe on 25 December 1880 at Great Bowden. I can find no record of this couple after the 1881 census, but believe that they may have emigrated to the USA.

The fourth child was Joseph, born in Great Bowden in 1861. He married Sarah Susan Peake at Foxton Parish Church on 16 October 1884. This couple only had three children: Thomas (1885), Elizabeth (1887) and John (1890).

Child number 5 was Elizabeth, born in 1863 at Great Bowden. She married George William Marshall, a brakesman, on 25 December 1883 at Great Bowden, and moved with him to Netherfield, Notts, where they had four known children - George (1885), William (1886), Percival (1888) and Elizabeth (1893).

The sixth child was Sarah, born in 1866 at Great Bowden. Sarah married John Henry Bassett, a fireman on the railway, on 2 September 1889 at Great Bowden, and also moved to Netherfield, Notts, where they had three known children - Constance Lilian (1890), John Henry (1894) and Ivy Irene (1896).

Child number 7 was Florence, born in 1868 at Great Bowden. She married Frederick Fortnum, a butcher, on 26 December 1887 at Great Bowden. Florence and Frederick went on to have nine children, most of whom were born in Market Harborough. The children were Frederick Ernest (1888), William Henry (1890), Florence Maud (1892), Herbert Leonard (1894), Nellie (1897), Archie (1900), Emily (1902), Elizabeth Constance (1908) and Thomas Sidney (1910).

Thomas and Elizabeth's eighth and ninth children were Emily Ann (1870) and Ellen (1872), both in Great Bowden. Neither Emily nor Ellen ever married, and they are buried together in the Great Bowden Cemetery, not far from their parents.

Child number 10 was Constance, born in Great Bowden in 1874. Constance married Arthur Richards, a joiner, on 29 October 1896 at Great Bowden, and then moved to Carlton, Notts, where the couple had two known children - Herbert Arthur (1898) and George (1900).

Thomas Saddington died on 8 May 1901, and was buried on 13 May 1901 in the Great Bowden Cemetery, just down the road from the Parish Church. His wife, Elizabeth, died on 21 May 1914, and was buried with him on 25 May 1914.

If you are descended from any of these people, I would be delighted to hear from you.

Saddington - Walton Marriage - 24 April 1905

2009-03-12T21:22:00.012Z

This post comes to you courtesy of Joan Rowbottom and her Barrow upon Soar Marriage Challenge.

The marriage took place in the Parish Church of St Mary, Queniborough, Leicestershire.

No. 218
24th April 1905
Joseph Edward Saddington, 27, Bachelor, Labourer, Queniborough, Edward Saddington (deceased), Labourer
Mary Alice Walton, 22, Spinster, -, Queniborough, Alfred William Walton, Parish Clerk
After banns, by T H Austin, Vicar

Both the bride and groom signed the register.

The witnesses were Ernest Saddington and Annie Walton.

And now for a little background information. On checking my records, I found a Joseph Edward Saddington born in the Grantham Registration District in the December quarter of 1877 (Vol 7a, Page 499), which corresponds with the groom's age at marriage.

I then checked the 1881 census for a Joseph Saddington, son of Edward, on the basis that people often didn't use their middle names. FamilySearch provided me with the family of Edward and Mary Ann Saddington, living at Scutchel, Saltby, Leicestershire (RG11/3185, Folio 46, Page 6). I am reasonably certain that this is the correct Joseph Edward Saddington in both instances for the following reasons.

Firstly, the family of Edward and Mary Ann Saddington in the 1881 census comprises the married couple themselves (aged 41 and 40 respectively) and the following children: William (11), James (10), John (7), Emma (5), Joseph (3) and Ernest (1). One of the witnesses at the wedding was an Ernest Saddington.

Secondly, all of the children present in the 1881 census were born in Wyville, Lincolnshire, which happens to fall into the Grantham Registration District. [Edward was born in Market Overton, Rutland, and Mary Ann was born in Saltby, Leicestershire.]

Naturally, further research is required to dot all the i's and cross all the t's. However, if this branch of the Saddingtons appears on your family tree, please do get in touch.

Ludford - Saddington Marriage - 1 February 1879

2009-02-19T21:12:00.011Z

This post comes to you courtesy of the St George Hanover Square Registration District Marriage Challenge, and Mary Ghrist in particular.

The following marriage took place in the Parish Church of St John the Evangelist, Smith Square, Westminster, London.

No. 564
1 February 1879
Harry Alsop Spencer Ludford, 35, bachelor, Clerk, 34 Tufton Street, William Henry Ludford, Barrister
Betsy Saddington, 29, spinster, -, 34 Tufton Street, Thomas Saddington, Farmer
After banns
Witnesses - Charles Aires, Mary Howell

A little more research shows the happy couple living at 37 Sloane Square, Hans Town, London in the 1881 census. Harry Ludford is now a "Warrant Officer Com Dept - Navy Officer", and gives his birthplace as Gloucester. Betsy Ludford gives her birthplace as Appleby, Leicestershire. They also have a one year old daughter, Isabel Eveleen, born in London. Also staying with them is Laura Ashley, age 16, described as Niece, born in Oxford. [RG11/0078, Folio 97, Page 17]

Following on from this by checking the records for Appleby Magna, Leicestershire, Betsy is found to be Betsey, the seventh of Thomas and Ann Saddington's ten children, consisting of seven daughters and three sons.

Betsey's birth was registered in the December quarter of 1848 in the Ashby de la Zouch Registration District. She appeared with her parents and six of her brothers and sisters in the 1851 census, living at Birds Hill, Appleby Magna, Leicestershire. Betsey was baptised at the age of 4 on 16 October 1853 in the Parish Church of St Michael in Appleby Magna, on the same day as her older brother, Tom, and her younger sisters, Frances and Clara.

Checking for Harry's birth, there is a registration for one Alsop Ludford in the Gloucester Registration District in the June quarter of 1845, which would correspond with Harry's age at marriage. There are only six Ludford births in the Gloucester RD, commencing in the June quarter of 1839 and finishing in the December quarter of 1848, which leads me to conclude that these were probably all Harry's siblings.

If this is your family, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Update - Saddingtons of Houghton on the Hill, Leicestershire

2009-01-31T13:35:00.011Z

This is a quick post updating my original post of 30 December 2008 with information discovered during my post Christmas trip to the Leicestershire Record Office.

John and Frances Saddington's son, Daniel, did indeed die in infancy. The relevant burial register for Houghton on the Hill [DE2555/7] states at entry no. 200:

Daniel Saddington Houghton February 4 [1841] Infant J S Coleman

The same register also gives details of John and Frances' burials:

No. 634
Frances Saddington Houghton April 12th [1890] 83 G B Dalrymple Rector

and

No. 669
John Saddington Houghton Sept 6th [1894] 88 G B Dalrymple Vicar of Worthington

Turning to the relevant burial register for Barsby, which can be found under Ashby Folville [DE960/10], the following entries were found:

No. 244
Henry Mayfield Barsby Ap 4 [1858] 1 year W Prosser Vicar

and

No. 334
Fanny Mayfield wife of Reuben Mayfd Barsby Novr 1st [1870] 33 H S Norwood Curate of Twyford

A further inspection of the GRO indexes provided a reference to the death of a Frances Mayfield in the December quarter of 1870 in the Melton Mowbray Registration District, whose age at death was either 31 or 34, depending on how good your eyesight is.

As before, if this is your family, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Saddingtons of Harringworth, Northamptonshire

2009-01-31T12:40:00.012Z

The first Saddington to be found in Harringworth was John Saddington, born circa 1750 in Empingham, Rutland. He married Mary Hudson of Harringworth on 26 February 1783 in Harringworth Parish Church. It was a relatively short and unproductive marriage. Both bride and groom were in their early thirties when they married, and Mary was only 39 when she was buried on 31 October 1791. The marriage had produced two sons, both named John. The first son was baptised on 20 December 1784 and buried on 30 January 1785. The second John was born on 7 July 1786 and baptised 5 days later on the 12th. As yet, no burial record for this child has been found, but later events suggest that he died some time before his tenth birthday.

John Saddington did not remain a widower long. On 20 February 1792, less than four months after burying his first wife, he married Mary Bailey in Harringworth Parish Church. The happy couple then went on to have seven children, four sons and three daughters.

Their first child was a son, Christopher, baptised on 4 January 1793. He was followed by John, baptised on 12 July 1795. Then came Anne, baptised on 23 December 1797, and Sarah, baptised on 20 December 1799. The new century saw the births of Thomas, baptised on 21 October 1801, and Joseph, baptised on 16 June 1804. The final child was Hannah, baptised on 28 March 1807.

John Saddington lived to be 73 years old, being buried in Harringworth on 3 March 1823.

His sons went separate ways. The older two, Christopher and John, migrated to North Luffenham, Rutland, which will be a separate post. Thomas and Joseph remained in Harringworth and raised their families there. At the moment, nothing more is known of their sisters, apart from a hint in the parish registers that Sarah may have had an illegitimate child.

Thomas Saddington (1801) found his wife in South Luffenham, Rutland. He married Alice Bird on 12 June 1826, and their first daughter, Mary, was born in South Luffenham on Christmas Day 1826, being baptised on New Years Eve. However, the family were back in Harringworth for the baptism of their son, John, on 29 August 1830, and there they stayed.

John was followed by Thomas, baptised on 1 December 1833, and William, baptised on 10 July 1836. On 14 April 1839, James was baptised, followed by Susanna on 29 December 1844.

John, Thomas and William all married and settled down in Harringworth, working mainly as agricultural and general labourers, and producing large families. Unfortunately, by the time of the 1871 census, James was living in the Leicester Borough Lunatic Asylum at Humberstone, Leicestershire. At the moment, their sisters' lives remain to be researched.

Joseph Saddington (1804) married Amy ? before 1828 and probably in her home town of Loughborough. Their first son, William, was baptised in Harringworth on 13 April 1828. William was followed by Ann, baptised on 3 October 1830, Hannah, baptised on 22 April 1833, and Mary, baptised on 14 September 1834. Then came Joseph, baptised on 26 February 1837, and John, baptised on 9 June 1839. This long family was completed by Thomas, baptised on 1 May 1842, and Robert, baptised on 4 August 1844.

Of these eight children, William moved to Uppingham, where he married Rebecca Boon and their first child was born. The family then moved to Sheffield, Yorkshire, where there may still be descendants today. Hannah died in infancy. Mary married George Gore at Oakham on 29 May 1853 (information about her descendants is available). Ann, Joseph, John and Robert remain to be researched. But Thomas appears to have been married three times, firstly to Mary A ? of Oakham, Rutland before 1869, the mother of his two sons, secondly to Caroline Whyment of Wakerley, Northamptonshire, in 1874, and thirdly, after Caroline's death in 1885, to Mary ?, born in Chelsea, London.

There will be more posts about the Saddingtons of Harringworth, but if any of these names figure in your family tree, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Happy New Year - Blog Update for 2008

2009-01-01T20:17:00.014Z

Happy New Year to all of you, and may you find all of your missing ancestors in 2009!

As per this time last year, this is a quick update on how the Saddington One Name Study and its associated blog has fared.

During 2008, a number of people have contacted me in relation to their Saddington ancestry or their knowledge of Saddington data. As a result, I have not only been able to assist people with further information about their families, but also I have been able to update previous posts on the blog with additional information. Throughout the year, I have continued to collect Saddington data, including making several trips to Archives and Record Offices in relevant counties. The information collected is slowly making its way into my database, and connections have already been made between families living in different counties.

For me personally, I have been contacted by two further descendants of my own Great Bowden Saddingtons as a result of the blog, and have had the great pleasure of meeting one of them and her family.

I have, however, failed in my resolution to write four posts a month on this blog. In fact, my monthly average was 2.67. This is due to work, study, the arrival of my second niece, and losing internet access for three weeks at the beginning of the year. I will try to do better in 2009, although I am still studying, but distance learning this time, which requires more self discipline. My New Year's resolution is to attempt to write three posts a month during 2009.

2008 has been the first full calendar year of the Saddington Family History blog. Comparing the Statcounter figures for 2008 to the figures for the first actual year of the blog (16 May 2007 to 16 May 2008), there has been a significant increase in traffic on the blog.

Between 1 January and 31 December 2008, there were 4015 page loads, an average of 335 per month. There were 2398 unique visitors, an average of 200 per month. Of these, 2097 were first time visitors, an average of 175 per month. There were also 301 returning visitors, an average of 25 per month. These figures, apart from the returning visitors, are all almost double the figures for May 2007 to May 2008. The number of returning visitors has increased by two thirds.

November 2008 was the month with the most page loads (532) and the most unique visitors (300). The month with the most returning visitors was July 2008 with 36.

Of the last 500 visitors to the blog, 56.26% (256) were from the UK, 14.73% (67) were from the USA, 9.01% (67) were from Australia, and 6.81% (31) were from Canada. Other recent visitors were from Ireland, South Africa, France, the Netherlands, Finland, the Philippines, New Zealand, Pakistan and Belgium.

But some things remain the same. The most popular post on the blog is still Saddingtons who died in World War One, originally posted on 31 July 2007. Not far behind is British Army World War One Pension Records 1914 - 1920, originally posted on 20 February 2008.

Unfortunately, the Saddington DNA Project has not progressed since my update post of 5 March 2008. We still only have two participants, one each from the Appleby Magna and Great Bowden branches of the Saddington family. For 2009, it would be very nice if more people would come forward to participate in this project.

So, onwards and upwards for 2009. Any comments on the contents of the blog, or what you would like to see included in the blog, would be very gratefully received. If I don't know what you want, I can't post it.

Saddingtons of Houghton on the Hill, Leicestershire

2008-12-30T21:03:00.014Z

Apologies for my general failure to post over the past couple of months - life has been somewhat busy in the run-up to Christmas. Although this will be a shortish post, I do have more in-depth posts in the pipeline for the New Year.

The Saddingtons of Houghton on the Hill, Leicestershire, consisted of a single nuclear family.

The father of the family was John Saddington, born around 1808ish in Foxton, Leicestershire, according to the various censuses. There is a christening on 30 April 1806 at Foxton for a John Saddington, illegitimate son of Elizabeth Saddington, which might be relevant, but further research needs to be done on this.

The mother of the family was Frances, born around 1808 in Billesdon, Leicestershire, also according to the censuses. There was a marriage between a John Saddington and a Frances Barsby on 10 April 1832 at the Parish Church of St Margaret, Leicester, which also might be relevant, but which also requires further research.

John and Frances Saddington are known to have had six children, five of whom are known to have survived at least into their teenage years.

These were John, baptised 9 February 1834 at Houghton, Thomas, baptised 22 May 1836 at Houghton, Frances, baptised 10 September 1837 at Houghton, Daniel, baptised 31 January 1841 at Houghton, Emma, baptised 7 April 1850 at Houghton, and Elizabeth, baptised 7 November 1852 at Houghton.

John and Thomas both make their last known appearance with the family in the 1851 census, aged 17 and 15 respectively. They were both enumerated as farm servants. Further research needs to be done to discover what happened to these two.

A death reference for Daniel Saddington in the Billesdon Registration District (which covers Houghton on the Hill) in the March quarter of 1841 indicates that Daniel did not long survive his baptism; Daniel being an uncommon name amongst the various Saddington families, and therefore easier to track down.

All three of John and Frances' daughters are known to have married, although more is known about the eldest daughter than the other two.

The eldest, Frances, married Reuben Mayfield on 5 May 1857 at Houghton on the Hill. However, there is evidence to suggest that they had jumped the gun slightly. Also occurring on 5 May 1857 is the baptism of Henry Mayfield, son of Reuben Mayfield and Frances Mayfield late Saddington. Reuben is described as being a labourer of Ashby Folville, Leicestershire.

It is unclear whether Henry was known as Mayfield or Saddington. Certainly he does not appear with his mother and his two younger siblings, Emma and William, on the 1861 census, when they were shown staying with John and Frances Saddington at Houghton on the Hill. Neither is he with his father, Reuben, at the family home in Barsby, Leicestershire. There is a birth reference for a Henry Saddington born in the Billesdon Registration District in the September quarter of 1856, and a death reference for a Henry Mayfield in the Melton Mowbray Registration District (which includes both Ashby Folville and Barsby) in the March quarter of 1858. As usual, more research is needed.

Frances the younger did not have a long life. Although I have yet to find the family on the 1871 census, Reuben remarried in the March quarter of 1877 to a lady called Sarah Beadle from Barsby, possibly a widow as she had a daughter of her own according to the 1881 census. There is a possible death reference for Frances in the Melton Mowbray Registration District in the September quarter of 1871, but it gives the deceased's age as 23, which is about 10 years out. This could be a mistranscription, and requires checking in the Barsby parish registers.

The second daughter, Emma, married Thomas Allen, a labourer from Houghton, on 20 May 1872 at Houghton. The witnesses were her father, John, and her sister, Elizabeth.

The youngest daughter, Elizabeth, married William Fox, a gardener from Burton Overy, Leicestershire, on 18 April 1876 at Houghton. Her father was one of the witnesses.

John and Frances lived on in Houghton for the rest of their long lives. Frances died in the June quarter of 1890, aged 83. Her husband,John, lived on until the September quarter of 1894, dying at the age of 88, having spent all his working life as an agricultural or farm labourer.

If you are related to this branch of the Saddington family, I would be delighted to hear from you.

Saddington DNA Project - Seasonal Special Offer

2008-11-26T18:23:00.005Z

I have today received an email from FamilyTreeDNA, which hosts the Saddington DNA Project, regarding their seasonal special offer on test kits.

From today until December 31st 2008, DNA test kits purchased through the Saddington DNA Project will be priced as follows:

Y-DNA (37 markers) - $119 - at today's exchange rate, about £78
Y-DNA (37 markers) + mtDNAPlus - $199 - about £130
Y-DNA (67 markers) - $218 - about £143
Y-DNA (67 markers) + mtDNAPlus - $308) - about £202
mtDNAPlus - $139 - about £91
Full Genomic mtDNA - $395 - about £258
SuperDNA - $613 - about £401

For further information about these various test kits, please go to the Family Tree DNA test description webpage.

Please note that there is a small sum in the Project Fund, which I can allocate towards the cost of a test kit. If you are a male Saddington, or are related to a male Saddington, who would be interested in joining the Saddington DNA Project, please contact me on saddington@one-name.org.

Update - Eaton Saddington (circa 1831 - 1892)

2008-11-26T17:58:00.006Z

This post is an update to my post on Eaton Saddington, originally written on 10 August 2007 and updated on 14 August 2007.

This further information has kindly been supplied by Jamie Richards in Michigan, USA, to whom I am very grateful.

Susanna Saddington, Eaton's mother, died on 3 February 1883, at the age of 74 years, 7 months and 19 days, and is buried in the Pine Grove cemetery in Davison, Genesee County, Michigan. Also buried there is Eaton's younger brother, Thomas, who died on 24 April 1866, aged 20 years, 6 months and 2 days.

Thomas Saddington had joined the 30th Regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry, part of the Union Army (the Army of the North), at the age of 18. He was a member of Company I, which was stationed in Detroit, Michigan. The role of the 30th Regiment was to "render the frontier of Michigan secure from the incursion of the disaffected in Canada". He was a Private throughout his time in the Regiment, and died shortly after his discharge from the Union Army. According to Ancestry, his military record can be found on Roll 36 of Film M545 - US Civil War Soldiers 1861-1865.

Eaton's sister, Eliza, is now known to have been born on 11 April 1839 in Denford, Northamptonshire, and died in Davison, Genesee County on 4 February 1883. She was married to Richard Richards, who died in 1906. They are also buried in the Pine Grove cemetery.

Eaton's other sister, Elizabeth, was known in the family as Betsy. She was born on 25 August 1841 in Denford, Northamptonshire and died on 14 August 1921 in Davison, Michigan. She married Sidney Miller, who died in May 1909. They are also buried in the Pine Grove Cemetery.

Eaton and his wife, Emma Jane, had a number of daughters, including one called Mary. This may be Ida May, enumerated in the 1870 US Census, or it may be a later child as yet unlocated. Anyway, Mary married Charles Evans, and had three daughters, Nettie, Pearl and Grace. Unfortunately, both Mary and Charles died from an as yet unknown illness, and their daughters were raised by Mary's sister, Betsy, who I presume is the 1 year old Elizabeth enumerated in the 1870 US Census.

If you are related to this family, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Shoreditch Registration District Marriages - Part 1

2008-11-14T21:00:00.007Z

The following two marriages come courtesy of Part 1 of Howard Benbrook's Shoreditch RD Marriage Challenge. Hopefully, further marriages will appear at the conclusion of Part 2.

No. 84
Parish Church of St John the Baptist, Hoxton, Middlesex

24 December 1840

Henry Allwright, of full age, Bachelor, Hearth-Rug Maker, Margaret Street, Samuel Allwright (deceased), Beadle
Ann Saddington, of full age, Spinster, -, Margaret Street, Thomas Saddington, Blacksmith

The marriage took place after banns, and was performed by Thomas T Storks, BA, Curate

Both bride and groom signed the register.

Witnesses - George Devine x his mark, Wm Ballard

***********************************************

No. 307
Parish Church of St Mark, Old Street, Middlesex

July 8th 1854

William Tansey, full age, Bachelor, Labourer, 6 James Street, William Tansey, Labourer
Mary Ann Saddington, full age, Spinster, -, 3 James Street, William Saddington, Shop-keeper

The marriage took place after banns, and was performed by Dudley Hart, Curate

Both bride and groom signed the register.

Witnesses - Mary Marsh, Charles Howard

***********************************************

If either of these marriages refer to someone in your family, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Anderson - Saddington Marriage - 22 February 1888

2008-10-18T21:59:00.009+01:00

This marriage certificate comes to you courtesy of Terry Silcock and Sian Plant's Marylebone Marriage Challenge.

The marriage took place at the Parish Church in the Parish of Holy Trinity, Marylebone in the County of Middlesex

No. 140
22nd February 1888

Alfred Laker Anderson, 21, Bachelor, Dispenser, 152 Great Titchfield Street, William Anderson, Teacher of Music

Naomi Saddington, 21, Spinster, -, 152 Great Titchfield Street, John
Saddington, Gardener

The marriage took place after banns

Both bride and groom signed the register.

The witnesses were Annie Saddington and Eliza Lucy Haton. Annie was probably one of Naomi's elder sisters.

Just a little extra information on the Saddington side of this marriage.

Naomi Saddington was born in the December quarter of 1867 in Wyton, Huntingdonshire, one of the seven daughters of John Saddington and Mary Johnson (Hephzibah, Betsey, Eliza, Ann, Ruth, Naomi and Edith). She also had four brothers (Samuel, William, Charles and Herbert).

At the time of the 1871 census, she was living with her family at Wyton Hill, Wyton, Huntingdonshire. But at the time of the 1881 census, she was visiting her older, married sister, Hephzibah (now Mrs Arthur Tombleson) at her mother in law's home, 11 St Paul's Road, London.

Naomi's father, John, was born circa 1829 in Little Stukeley, Huntingdonshire, the eldest of the seven children of Samuel Saddington and his wife, Mary.

If you are descended from Naomi or any of her siblings, I would be delighted to hear from you.

Saddington Marriages at Foxton, Leicestershire

2008-09-30T20:49:00.010+01:00

This post gives details of Saddington marriages found in the register of the Parish Church of St Andrew, Foxton, Leicestershire between 1837 and 1942 (on microfiche at Leicestershire and Rutland Record Office - ref: DE3378/1).

January 22 1846
Thomas Watson, ?, Bachelor, Farmer, Great Wigston, John Watson, Farmer
Martha Saddington, ?, Spinster, -, Foxton, William Saddington, Butcher

Both bride and groom signed the register.
Witnesses - William Saddington, Martha Watson

September 9 1847
William Saddington, full age, Bachelor, Butcher, Foxton, William Saddington, Butcher
Ann Ravens, full age, Spinster, - Foxton, Matthew Ravens, Servant

Both bride and groom signed the register.
Witnesses - Mary ?, Anne ?

April 6 1874
Thomas Bosworth, full, Widower, Tailor, Lambeth, Surrey, Titus Bosworth, Tailor
Frances Saddington, full, Spinster, -, Foxton, John Saddington, Blacksmith

Both bride and groom signed the register.
Witnesses - John Saddington, Sarah Saddington

November 26 1874
Septimus Frederick Wood, full, Bachelor, Engineer, Broughton, Northants, John Wood, Engineer
Frances Ann Saddington, full, Spinster, Schoolmistress, Foxton, William Saddington, Butcher

Both bride and groom signed the register.
Witnesses - ?, Louisa Simons

June 18 1883
Charles Henry Saddington, ?, Bachelor, Clerk on M[idland] Railway, Foxton, William Saddington, Corn Factor
Clara Banks, ?, Spinster, -, Swadlincote, Derbys, Nehemiah Banks, Earthenware Manufacturer

Both bride and groom signed the register.
Witnesses - Nehemiah Banks, M J Hogg

October 16 1884
Joseph Saddington, 23, Bachelor, Blacksmith, Foxton, Thomas Saddington, Blacksmith
Sarah Susan Peake, 24, Spinster, -, Foxton, Thomas Peake, Labourer

Both bride and groom signed the register.
Witnesses - Joseph Peake, Harry Marshall

August 31 1905
Edmund Ivens Spriggs, 33, Bachelor, Doctor of Medicine, Foxton, Joseph Spriggs, Merchant
Alice Mary Watson, 26, Spinster, -, Foxton, Thomas Saddington Watson, Grazier

Both bride and groom signed the register.
Witnesses - Thomas Saddington Watson, Elizabeth Ivens Spriggs

August 4 1923
John Saddington, 33, Bachelor, Blacksmith, Foxton, Joseph Saddington, Blacksmith
Mary Elizabeth Downes, 27, Spinster, -, Foxton, James Downes, Groom

Both bride and groom signed the register.
Witnesses - James Downes, Thomas Saddington

Now, a little extra information to round out the names and dates.

Martha Saddington (born 1812), who married Thomas Watson in 1846, was a daughter of William Saddington (1765-1844) of Foxton and his wife, Mary Austin. A second daughter, Elizabeth (born 1810), married John Watson (probably Thomas' brother, as both were born in Scarrington, Notts) in 1831. Her son, Thomas Saddington Watson, was the father of Alice Mary Watson, who married Edmund Ivens Spriggs in 1905.

Martha and Elizabeth's brother, William (1817-1898), married Ann Ravens in 1847, and their daughter, Frances Ann (born 1850), married Septimus Frederick Wood in 1874, while their younger son, Charles Henry Saddington (born 1861), married Clara Banks in 1883.

Frances Saddington, who married Thomas Bosworth in 1874, was born in Great Bowden in 1814, a daughter of John Saddington (born 1767) and Frances Goward. The witnesses, John and Sarah Saddington, were her bachelor brother and her spinster sister.

Joseph Saddington (1861-1910), who married Sarah Susan Peake in 1884, was Frances' great nephew, being a son of Thomas Saddington (1830-1901), the eldest son of Frances' brother, Thomas (1800-1883) and his wife, Hannah Deacon (1811-1851).

Finally, John Saddington (1890-1969), who married Mary Elizabeth Downes in 1923, was the younger son of Joseph Saddington and Sarah Susan Peake.

To fit all these elements together, it remains only to say that William Saddington of Foxton (1765-1844) was a first cousin of John Saddington of Great Bowden (born 1767), their fathers, Thomas (circa 1734-1810) and John (1737-1799) respectively, being the sons of John Saddington (1710-1780) and Elizabeth Bates of Foxton.

If you are related to these families, please get in touch.

Saddingtons who died in World War Two

2008-09-24T21:52:00.005+01:00

Having previously posted on those Saddingtons who gave their lives for their country in World War One, this post is about the Saddingtons who made the ultimate sacrifice in World War Two. There are considerably fewer of them, but their role was just as important as that of their predecessors.

The brief information below comes mainly from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, with some additional information from other sources.

Ernest Richard Saddington - Leading Seaman, P/JX 445019, HM Landing Barge Water 8, Royal Navy - sailed from Poole Harbour to Omaha Beach, Normandy as part of D-Day invasion - born 1906 - died Wednesday 14 June 1944 (D-Day plus 8), age 37 - buried at Bayeux War Cemetery, Calvados, France.

George Saddington - Lance Corporal, 2978436, 1st Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders - born 1910 - died Saturday 17 June 1944, age 34 - buried at Assisi War Cemetery, Italy.

George Edgar Saddington - Flying Officer, 37945, 77 Squadron, Royal Air Force - bomber squadron, then based at RAF Driffield - awarded the Czechoslovak War Cross - born 1918 - died Friday 12 April 1940, age 22 - commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial, Surrey, UK.

Harold William Saddington - Private, 2825673, 2nd Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders - born 1915 - died Friday 3 January 1941, age 25 - buried at Hedon Road Cemetery, Hull, Yorkshire, UK.

Reginald Ernest Stanley Saddington - Driver, T/852822, Royal Army Service Corps - born 1921 - died Tuesday 19 June 1945, age 23 - buried at Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Germany.

Samuel Saddington - Chief Engine Room Artificer, C/MX 48499, HMS Veteran - destroyer, sunk by U-Boat torpedo whilst escorting convoy across North Atlantic - loss of 160 officers and crew, no survivors - awarded the Distinguished Service Medal - born 1905 - died Saturday 26 September 1942, age 37 - commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial, Kent, UK.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

From "For the Fallen" by Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)

If any of these brave men belong to your family, I would be delighted to hear from you.

Special Offer on DNA Tests

2008-08-18T21:26:00.004+01:00

Just a quick post to let you know that I have had an email from FamilyTreeDNA to say that they are doing special offers on Project DNA Tests until the end of August.

For example, a 37 marker Y-DNA test, which is the test which I would recommend as providing the most useful amount of information at the moment, is $119 instead of $189. That equates to about £63.80 instead of about £101.38.

In addition to that, the Saddington DNA Project also has about $18 in its General Fund, which I can allocate towards the cost of a test. This is thanks to a kind donation from a Saddington descendant. I am afraid that it will be first come, first served as far as this is concerned.

If you are interested, please visit the Saddington DNA Project, read through the information, and then send me an email at saddington@one-name.org to see if there is still money in the General Fund.

If there is, I will sort out allocating it to you. If not, and you still want to play, then we will take it from there. Also, please let me know where your Saddingtons are from, so that I can slot you into the right place in the jigsaw.

Please note that, in order to participate, you will either need to be a male Saddington or, if you are a female Saddington, have a male Saddington willing to take the test on behalf of your branch of the family.

I shall have limited access to the Internet from Wednesday 27 to Sunday 31 August, so if you do want to participate, please contact me as soon as possible.

Pettit - Saddington Marriage - 22 May 1899

2008-08-14T18:24:00.009+01:00

This marriage certificate comes to you courtesy of Shelagh Mason's Eastry Registration District Marriage Challenge.

The marriage took place at St Leonard's Parish Church, Deal, Kent as follows:

No. 459
May 22nd 1899

James Thomas Pettit, 22, Bachelor, Seaman R.N., Royal Naval Barracks, Sheerness, Charles George Pettit, Cooper

Rose Amy Alice Saddington, 20, Spinster, -, 181 Middle Street, Deal, Charles Saddington, Licensed Victualler

The marriage took place after banns, and the ceremony was taken by Alfred Butler.

Both the bride and groom signed their names.

The witnesses were: Thomas Burgess, Edwin Cowin Pettit, Lucy Charlotte Norris and Edith May Sutton

Just to add a little to the picture, this Saddington family had moved quite a way from their roots. Looking at the 1881 census, when the family were living at 100 Clark Street, London, it shows that Charles, the head of the household, was a 35 year old engineer's labourer from Cranford, Northamptonshire. His wife, Louisa, also 35, was born in Marylebone, Middlesex, as was his eldest daughter, Louisa Isabell. His second daughter, Ada Jane M., was born in St Pancras, MDX, and Rose Amy Alice was born in Stepney, MDX. [RG11/474, Folio 20, Page 33]

There were a number of Saddington families living in Cranford St Andrew and Cranford St John, Northamptonshire, and they will get a post of their own in due course.

If this family belongs on your family tree, please get in touch.

And just to let you know, I passed both the exams that I sat in June!

A Trio of Saddington Marriages

2008-08-05T06:59:00.004+01:00

As the following three marriage certificates have all landed on my desk from different people in the last couple of days, I thought that I would just post them all together in the hope that someone might find them of use.

The first one comes courtesy of the bride's great great grandson, who descends from the Saddingtons of Harringworth, Northants.

No. 266
May 29th 1853
Parish Church, Oakham, Rutland
George Gore, 21, Bachelor, Labourer, Oakham, George Gore, Labourer
Mary Saddington, 19, Spinster, -, Oakham, Joseph Saddington, Labourer
After Banns
x George Gore His mark
Mary Saddington
Witnesses: William Love, Ann Saddington

The second certificate comes courtesy of Terry Silcock and the Marylebone Marriage Challenge.

No. 185
1st Dec 1862
Holy Trinity, Marylebone, London
Samuel Saddington, full age, Widower, Coachman, Williams Street, Samuel Saddington, Coachman (Deceased)
Jane Matthews, full age, Spinster, -, Trinity District, William Matthews, Labourer
After Banns
Samuel Saddington
Jane Matthews
Witnesses: Edward Speller, Dinah Cheshire Rea

The third certificate comes courtesy of Peter Copsey and the Lambeth Marriage Challenge.

No. 422
26th December 1898
St Barnabas, Kennington, London
Robert Saddington, 22, Bachelor, Carman, 43 Simpson Street, Charles Saddington (dec), Bricklayer
Louisa Snewing, 21, Spinster, -, 43 Simpson Street, Joseph Snewing, Labourer
After Banns
Robert Saddington
Louisa Snewing
Witnesses: Phoebe Smith, Edward Smith

If any of these happy couples belongs to your family, please let me know.

Double Suicide - A Saddington Family Tragedy

2008-07-24T08:27:00.009+01:00

I found the following article from The Morning Chronicle in an on-line collection of 19th century newspapers. The newspaper concerned was dated Saturday 25 February 1860, and the article itself had been culled from The Stamford Mercury.

"DOUBLE SUICIDE - An extraordinary case of double suicide occurred on Tuesday night at Easton, a small village near Huntingdon. An aged couple named Saddington, both upwards of seventy years of age, who had lived many years in the village, were found drowned in a pond opposite their cottage, having nothing on but their night dresses. The policeman of the village, being on duty about eleven o'clock, heard a scream, and with another man proceeded in the direction, but were some time before they could discover anything; they, however, succeeded at last in finding the man in the pond, and after further search, discovered the woman; both were quite dead. An inquest was held the following morning before Mr Mellor, coroner, when it was stated that the deceased had been, on the previous Saturday, to the guardians at Huntingdon for relief, which it is believed was refused out of the house, but were told they might go into the union. This, it is supposed, preyed so much upon their minds as to cause them to commit suicide. It appears it was a premeditated act, as on the previous day they had disposed of their few articles of furniture, and paid off some debts owing in the village. The coroner having summed up, the jury returned a verdict, found drowned. - Stamford Mercury"

On checking the GRO indexes, I found death references in the March quarter of 1860 in the Huntingdon registration district for a George Saddington and a Mary Saddington with the same volume and page references (Vol 3b, Page 180).

As this tragedy had occurred the year before the 1861 census, and the article said that the couple had lived in the village for many years, I went back and checked the 1851 census.

Living in the village of Easton, Huntingdonshire, on the night of the 1851 census were George Saddington, age 51, a pauper and agricultural labourer, born in Stow, Huntingdonshire, and his wife, Mary, age 60, born in Dean, Bedfordshire [HO107/1748, Folio 401, Page 8, Sch No 31].

Going back a further ten years, the 1841 census for Easton contained George Saddington, age 40, Agricultural Labourer, born in Huntingdonshire, Mary Saddington, age 55, born outside Huntingdonshire, and Mary Saddington, age 15, born in Huntingdonshire [HO107/450, Book 12, Page 1]. The second Mary could be either a daughter or a granddaughter.

So now that we know who the tragic couple were, why did they commit suicide? Well, it would have been one thing to receive out relief from the local Poor Law Union, i.e. receiving money whilst remaining in their own home, but to have to go into the union or workhouse would have been considered shameful. Only the undeserving poor who lacked the moral determination to survive outside went into the workhouse. In addition, this elderly couple who had been married for many years would have been separated from each other.

For details of workhouse life, I recommend that you visit The Workhouse Website, which contains a wide variety of information about the Poor Law system in this country, and about specific workhouses. There is a page relating to the Huntingdon Workhouse, which is the one in which George and Mary Saddington might have ended, which can be found under Workhouse Locations - English Poor Law Unions - Huntingdon.

It should also be noted that suicide was still a civil crime in 1860 - it was not decriminalised until 1961. If the jury had given a verdict of suicide, rather than "found drowned", the Saddingtons would have been denied Christian burial, i.e. they would not have been allowed to be buried in the churchyard, because suicide was also considered to be a sin against God. They might even have been buried at the local cross roads, possibly with a stake through them to prevent them from rising.

It appears that there is quite a lot of information surviving about the Huntingdon Workhouse, so I hope to be able to find further details about this tragic event. If George and Mary are your ancestors, please do get in touch.

Lewis Bryan Saddington, the Habitual Criminal (1860 - ?)

2008-07-08T20:47:00.012+01:00

This is a work in progress post about Lewis Bryan Saddington, previously mentioned on the Old Bailey post.

Lewis Bryan Saddington was born in the December quarter of 1860 in Wantage, Berkshire. His parents were William and Jane Saddington. William was born in Sutton, Northamptonshire, while Jane was a Berkshire native, born in Abingdon.

In the 1861 census, the family were living at the Crown Inn, Market Place, Wantage, Berkshire. William's occupation was 'Innkeeper', and he employed three servants who lived on the premises. The family consisted of William and Jane, their daughter, Matilda (6), and their three sons, George (2), William (1) and Lewis (6 months). The family had obviously moved around a bit, because Matilda was born in Weybridge, Surrey, George was born in Brighton, Sussex, and the youngest two were born in Wantage. [RG9/736, Folio 36, Page 36]

Over the next ten years, there were major changes in the family's life. Jane Saddington appears to have died at some point, and William has remarried. In the 1871 census, William and his new wife, Julia (born in London), are living at 17 Albert Street, Paddington, London, sharing the house with three other households. William is described as an 'Agent'. Living with their father are William, age 9, and Bryan, age 8. Both sons' ages are wrong, William's birthplace has changed from Wantage to Abingdon, and Lewis is now using his second name. [RG10/8, Folio 57, Page 31]

Things then go down hill. As yet I do not know what crime Lewis had committed, but in the 1881 census, Bryan Lewis Saddington,age 18, a Carman, born in Wantage, Berkshire, was a prisoner in Holloway Prison, London. [RG11/248, Folio 81, Page 13]

I have been unable to find Lewis in the 1891 census under either of his names, but, judging by his behaviour over the 20 years after that, I believe that there is a fair chance that he was in prison somewhere, perhaps under another name.

According to the transcript of Lewis' trial at the Old Bailey in 1911, on 2 October 1893, he was sentenced to three months imprisonment at the Court in Clerkenwell for stealing a watch; on 4 March 1895, he was sentenced to six months imprisonment, possibly again at Clerkenwell, for stealing linen.

On 20 November 1900, at the North London Sessions, Lewis Saddington (38) and his accomplice, William Taverner (27), were sentenced to four and three years' penal servitude respectively for stealing cheques. According to the Times of 21 November 1900, "On the evening of October 26 the prisoners were arrested in the act of attempting to get letters out of Messrs. Speirs, Morton and Murray's letter-box by means of a leaden weight covered with bird-lime and attached to a piece of string, which they put into the box and pulled up again. Detective-sergeant Darby said that nearly 40 similar thefts had recently been committed in the City, and there had been numerous complaints from Clerkenwell, the West-end, and other neighbourhoods. Since the prisoners' arrest no such case had occurred. Their practice was to erase the crossing on the cheques, and then cash them at the banks on which they were drawn."

Lewis had pleaded Guilty to three indictments: stealing a letter containing a cheque for £52 13s from the Paris Optic and Clock Company, Clerkenwell-road; stealing a letter containing a cheque for £6 6s from Arthur Douglas Gardner; and attempting to steal letters from the letter-box of Messrs. Speirs, Morton and Murray, Bucknall-street, Bloomsbury.

As a direct consequence, the 1901 census found Lewis Saddington, age 38, a Painter's Labourer, born in Wantage, Berkshire, residing at His Majesty's Prison, Lewes, Sussex.

But Lewis was incorrigible. On 24 February 1904, Lewis pleaded Guilty at the North London Sessions to attempting to steal letters belonging to John Halsey, along with his accomplice, John Daymer (25). According to the Times of the same date, "on January 31, Detective Sharp saw the two prisoners go to the letter-box of a house in Carlisle-street, Soho, and attempt to draw letters out of a letter-box by means of a piece of wire with some adhesive substance on the end of it. He arrested Daymer, but Saddington escaped. Saddington was arrested on February 4, and in the meantime two cheques which had been stolen from the prosecutor's box had been cashed, but the bank clerk was unable to identify Saddington as the person who cashed them." As the only crime that could be proven was an attempt, Lewis was sentenced to two years' hard labour, rather than penal servitude. Daymer got 21 months hard labour.

Lewis didn't change. On 14 August 1906, he was sentenced to eighteen months' hard labour for larceny at the North London Sessions. On 31 October 1908, he was sentenced to three years' penal servitude at the York Assizes for altering and forging a banker's cheque in the sum of £90 10s.

Having been released from prison on 24 February 1911, he was back in the dock on 28 March, this time at the Old Bailey, where he was found Guilty of 'feloniously uttering, knowing the same to be forged, a cheque for £80 14s'. Lewis was indicted as being a habitual criminal, a very dangerous criminal and letter-box thief, and one who had been repeatedly seen in the company of well-known thieves. He was sentenced to three years' penal servitude and five years' preventive detention.

So, at the age of 50, having spent a minimum of 11 years and three months of his life behind bars, Lewis was sent down again for at least another five years and possibly eight, depending on how his sentence was to run.

What happened to Lewis Bryan Saddington after this, I do not know. He does not appear to have married, but there may be descendants of his brothers and sister out there. If this black sheep belongs to your family, please let me know.

Thomas Saddington the Bigamist (circa 1826 - ?)

2008-06-30T21:58:00.010+01:00

This is a work in progress post about Thomas Saddington the bigamist, who featured in the Old Bailey post back in May.

Courtesy of the Times Archive, the Times newspaper, dated 14 February 1866 (most appropriate!), reported the matter as follows:

"At Lambeth, Mr. Thomas Saddington, an inspector on the London, Chatham and Dover Railway, was charged with feloniously intermarrying with Jessie Kempton, his former wife, Caroline, being then and still living. Mr. Inspector Henry Meath, of the L division of police, said he apprehended the prisoner on the evening before at his residence in the Old Kent-road. On telling him the charge, his reply was "Yes, that's quite right." The witness produced two certificates of marriage of the prisoner, the first with Caroline Talkington, at St. Pancras Church, on the 19th of April, 1849, and the second with Jessie Kempton, at St. Mary's, Newington, on the 9th of September, 1865. Both wives were present, and the last, who is very young, gave evidence of her marriage, and said that while paying attentions to her the prisoner had always represented himself as a widower. The prisoner was fully committed for trial."

Courtesy of the GOONS Marriage Challenge, I can bring you the contents of Thomas and Caroline's marriage certificate.

St Pancras Church
No. 121

19 April 1849

Thomas Saddington Full Bachelor Soldier Edward Street Thomas Saddington Tavern Keeper
Caroline Talkington Full Spinster - Edward Street John Talkington (decd) -

After banns.

Both bride and groom signed their names.

The witnesses were John Wilson and Sara Wilson.

As yet, I do not have further details of Thomas' marriage to Jessie Kempton, but it is still listed in the General Register Office indexes in the September quarter of 1865 in the Newington Registration District (Vol 1d, Page 271).

I will add to this post as I find out more about Thomas and his wives. If he belongs to you, I would, as usual, be delighted to hear from you.

Dennis Saddington (1854 - 1915)

2008-06-26T19:59:00.011+01:00

Apologies for the lack of posts so far this month - I have been sitting exams and also awaiting the arrival of my beautiful new niece, who was a week overdue.

Anyway, the subject of this post is Dennis Saddington, a brother of Laura Saddington. I have chosen to post on Dennis, because I noticed that a number of people had arrived at this blog, having googled "dennis saddington". This is a work in progress post, and as I discover more about Dennis, I will edit it accordingly.

According to information provided by the late Jim Saddington of Philadelphia, USA, Dennis Saddington was born on 12 November 1854 at Little Stukeley, Huntingdonshire. His parents were Charles Saddington (born circa 1821 at Woodwalton, HUN) and Elizabeth Colbert (born circa 1827 at Little Stukeley, HUN). Dennis was the third son and fourth child of the seven children known to have been born to Charles and Elizabeth.

In the 1861 census, the family were living at Little Stukeley, HUN, and Charles was an agricultural labourer (RG9/975, Folio 130, Page 11, Sch. 57). In the 1871 census, the family were still living at Little Stukeley, HUN, and Charles was now a bricklayer's labourer, as was Dennis (RG10/1527, Folio 95, Page 6, Sch. 24).

Somehow Dennis made his way to Norfolk, where he married Annetta Elizabeth Howard on 6 June 1876 in her birthplace, Flitcham. From Norfolk, the happy couple soon moved to Nottingham, where their first child, Henry Charles was born in Bulwell in the September quarter of 1876.

Their second child, Dennis Howard, was born in Bulwell in the September quarter of 1878, whilst their third child and first daughter, Annetta Elizabeth, was born in Hyson Green in the September quarter of 1880. The family then moved to Radford, Nottingham in time for the 1881 census, living at 19 Gladstone Terrace, where Dennis was enumerated as a bricklayer (RG11/3345, Folio 144, Page 39).

The year 1882 brought both joy and sorrow. Florrie Agnes was born in the September quarter, whilst Dennis Howard died at the age of 4 in the December quarter. Dennis and Annetta's fifth child, Arthur Dennis, was born in Radford on 2 December 1885.

Sometime after Arthur Dennis' birth, the family moved to Humberstone, Leicester, where Frederick William was born in the March quarter of 1889, followed by Albert George in the September quarter of 1890. In the 1891 census, Dennis and Annetta, and their six surviving children were living at 10 Haslings(?) Road, Humberstone, Leicester, and Dennis was working as a bricklayer (RG12/2495, Folio 109, Page 22,& Folio 110, Page 23, Sch. 107).

Dennis and Annetta moved house not long after the census, because when little Albert George died at the age of 1 in the September quarter of 1892, he did so in the Leicester Registration District. The children born in Humberstone had been registered in the Billesdon Registration District.

The arrival of Percy Robert in the March quarter of 1894, followed by Ethel May, born in the December quarter of 1895, increased the number of mouths to feed once more.

Then tragedy struck the family again. Annetta Saddington died in the December quarter of 1898, aged 44, leaving her husband, Dennis, with seven children to look after, the youngest three being all under 10 years of age. The eldest child, Henry Charles, now 21, had been contributing for some years now, having been enumerated as a shoemaker in the 1891 census at the age of 14.

Unlike many men who had been left in that position at this period of history, Dennis did not marry again. The 1901 census shows him living at 37 Percival Street, Leicester, with six of his seven surviving children. He was working as a bricklayer, Henry (now 24) was working as a shoe rivetter, Florrie (18) was a tailoress and Arthur (15) was a printer compositer, while the three youngest had no given occupation (RG13/3000, Folio 77, Page 20, Sch. 117).

Dennis' eldest daughter, Annetta Elizabeth, had married John William Taylor in the December quarter of 1899, and was working as a tailoress machinist in Leicester in the 1901 census. Florrie Agnes married in the March quarter of 1902 to either James Manning or William Walter Smith. Henry Charles married in the June quarter of 1905 to either Maud Facer or Alice Merrick. Arthur Dennis emigrated to the United States in 1907, and married Marion E Hilton on 27 June 1908 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ethel May married John Jones in the March quarter of 1914. Frederick William married Lily A Platts in the December quarter of 1915, whilst Percy Robert married Gertrude M Lowe in the same quarter.

Dennis died in the September quarter of 1915, aged 60, in Leicester, so would have lived to know that all of his surviving children were or were about to be married. I hope that he died happy, despite the early loss of his wife and two small sons.

If you are one of Dennis' descendants or are descended from any of his six brothers and sisters, I would be delighted to hear from you.

Some Saddington Bankrupts

2008-06-11T21:08:00.005+01:00

As well as names, dates and places, I have always wanted to know more about the actual people that I research - what they did, what their beliefs were, what their interests were, what life altering events they experienced and so on.

Increasing debt and the possibility of bankruptcy are problems affecting many people today as a result of the current economic slowdown. However, they are not new problems. Our ancestors faced them too, and for them, debt and bankruptcy could lead to imprisonment.

In this post, you will find the names, addresses and occupations of some Saddingtons who found themselves experiencing bankruptcy over the past two centuries. The information is taken from the London Gazette, the archives of which are now online. The dates are those of the issue of the Gazette in which the information was found. Please note that the names of anyone who goes bankrupt today or went bankrupt in the past will be or has been published in the London Gazette, and in either a local or national newspaper, or in both.

10 October 1812

John Saddington, corn-dealer, dealer and chapman - living at Kennington Common in the Parish of St Mary, Lambeth in the County of Surrey

17 June 1815

Thomas Saddington, salesman, dealer and chapman - living at Sutton Bassett in the County of Northampton

5 April 1859

Daniel Saddington, blacksmith - living at Kings Cliffe in the County of Northampton

22 January 1864

William Saddington, innkeeper and horse dealer - formerly living at Wantage in the County of Berkshire, and now living at Wallingford in the County of Berkshire

27 September 1872

William Saddington, grocer - living at 39 Park Street in the town of Northampton

31 January 1873

Joseph Saddington, hair dresser, perfumer and agent for the sale of tea - living at 7 Snow Hill, Wolverhampton in the County of Stafford

14 January 1879

Rosina Saddington and Annie Saddington, hosiers, milliners and outfitters, trading as R. and A. Saddington - living at 135 Oldham Street, Manchester in the County of Lancaster

25 August 1908

Harry Saddington, horse dealer - living at Side Hollows, Appleby Magna in the County of Leicester

21 July 1939

Frederick Marshall Saddington, Director of a limited company - living at 5 Litherland Road, Sale in the County of Chester

30 September 1941

Mabel Bower Saddington and Gwendoline Jessie Brooks, infants' nursery and convalescent home proprietresses, trading as Redlees Infants Home - living at "Redlees Infants Home", South Road, Portishead in the County of Somerset

If any of these unfortunate people belong to you, I would be delighted to hear from you.

Saddingtons of Diseworth, Leicestershire (Edited 21 June 2008)

2008-05-31T21:08:00.012+01:00

This is just a quick post, building on two marriage certificates obtained courtesy of Sue Horsman.

The first relates to the marriage of Thomas Pratt Saddington, baptised on 30 December 1838 at Appleby Magna, LEI, a son of William Saddington and Elizabeth Pratt.

The wedding took place in Diseworth Parish Church, as follows:

No. 129
August 21 1871

Thomas Pratt Saddington 32 Bachelor Brickmaker Appleby William Saddington Farmer
Mary Pountain 32 Spinster Domestic Servant Diseworth John Pountain Gardner

Both bride and groom signed their names, and the witnesses were the groom's brother, William Pratt Saddington, and one Sarah Ann (surname unclear).

In the 1881 census, Thomas and Mary were living at Clements Gate Street, Diseworth, with their 7 year old son, Thomas Pratt Saddington, and two male indoor servants, Charles Harris, 21, from Barrow on Soar, LEI, and Bentley Jordan, 20, from Tonge, LEI. Thomas is described as a farmer of 114 acres, employing one labourer and one boy.

In the 1891 census, Thomas and Mary were living at Cross Farm, Diseworth, with their 17 year old son, Thomas Pratt Saddington, and one servant, George H Baker, 16, from Repton, DBY. Thomas is described as a farmer.

The second marriage certificate relates to the marriage of Thomas and Mary's son, Thomas Pratt Saddington. He was also married in Diseworth Parish Church.

No. 200
October 17 1898

Thomas Pratt Saddington 24 Bachelor Farmer Diseworth Thomas Pratt Saddington Farmer
Minni Bicket Ferguson 21 Spinster - Isley Walton Hugh Kerr Ferguson (deceased) Farmer

Both bride and groom signed their names, and the witnesses were the bride's brother, Bryce Ferguson, one Alfred Edward Stretton, E P Saddington (probably the groom's cousin, Elizabeth Pratt Saddington) and Mary Orr Ferguson (possibly the bride's mother or a sister).

Mary Saddington died in the March quarter of 1897, aged 66 (Shardlow RD, Vol 7b Page 312). The 1901 census tells us that the TPS II family had moved in with the widowed TPS I at Lady Gate, Diseworth, LEI. The household consisted of TPS I, a farmer, TPS II, a civil engineer, TPS II's wife Minnie (born in Dalry, Ayr, Scotland, where her grandfather, Bryce Ferguson, was farming 106 acres in the 1881 census), their daughter, Mary, age 2 and born in Isley Walton, LEI, and two male farm servants, Louis Orion, 21, a horseman from Diseworth, and David Wain, 16, a cow boy from Long Wharton, LEI.

Anyway, Thomas Pratt Saddington I died on 18 December 1908, at the age of 70, having moved back to Appleby Magna. Probate was granted to Thomas Pratt Saddington II on 10 March 1909. The gross Estate was worth £3076 7s 2d. In 2007 (which is the closest I can currently get), this would have been £229,815.70.

Thomas Pratt Saddington I had lived to be a grandfather 5 times over. According to the GRO Indexes, the following Saddington children were born in the Shardlow Registration District after the marriage of Thomas Pratt Saddington II and Minnie Bicket Ferguson:

June quarter 1899 - Mary Orr Saddington - Volume 7b, Page 518
September quarter 1901 - Sarah Elizabeth P Saddington - Volume 7b, Page 524
December quarter 1903 - Marion Ferguson Saddington - Volume 7b, Page 535
March quarter 1906 - Margaret Kathleen Saddington - Volume 7b, Page 515
September quarter 1908 - Thomas Pratt Saddington - Volume 7b, Page 548

Not that many years later, on 30 December 1911, Thomas Pratt Saddington II made his Will. As Executors, he appointed his brother in law, Bryce Ferguson, farmer of Diseworth, and his friend, John Harris, farmer of Diseworth. They were each to receive £10 free of duty, and were to be guardians of his children, should his wife die before they reached their majority (at this date, the age of 21).

The Will stated that his wife, Minnie Bicket Saddington, was to be the guardian of any infant children, was to have the use of all furniture, books, household effects etc during her widowhood, and was to continue in business as a farmer during her widowhood and receive all the profits. However, if she remarried, she was to receive a third of the income from the farm for her life only.

The Will went on to say that his son, Thomas Pratt Saddington III, had been provided for by his late father, Thomas Pratt Saddington I.

After the death of his wife, the Estate was to be shared equally between his children on reaching the age of 21, or if the child was a daughter, immediately if they were married by the time their mother died. The distribution of the Estate was not to include Thomas Pratt Saddington III.

Thomas Pratt Saddington II died on 23 March 1929 at the General Hospital, Nottingham. His address was 35 Cromwell Street, Nottingham. His Will was probated on 17 October 1929 by his brother in law, Bryce Ferguson. The gross Estate was worth £1202 5s 6d. In 2007, this would have been £52,401.06.

There is evidence to show that the Saddingtons may have been living in Nottingham, or at least spending time in Nottingham, for a number of years. According to the GRO Indexes, three of TPS II and Minnie's daughters got married in the Nottingham Registration District.

September quarter 1922 - Mary O Saddington - Alonzo Knight - Volume 7b, Page 752
March quarter 1927 - Marion F Saddington - John A Abbott - Volume 7b, Page 479
June quarter 1927 - Margaret K Saddington - Frederick E Miller - Volume 7b, Page 849

And finally, the year after his father's death, Thomas Pratt Saddington III married a Miss Hinds in the Shardlow Registration District - possibly back in Diseworth (Volume 7b, Page 1323).

I would be delighted to hear from you if you are related to this branch of the Saddington family.

Loughborough Registration District Marriages

2008-05-17T15:34:00.010+01:00

Courtesy of Sue Horsman's Loughborough Marriage Challenge come the following marriages:

18 March 1849 - Parish of Shepshed, Leicestershire

John Saddington, of full age, framework knitter, son of Edward Saddington, framework knitter, married Mary Hollis, of full age, framework knitter, daughter of William Hollis, framework knitter

26 October 1868 - Parish of Shepshed, Leicestershire

Joseph Saddington, age 19, f w knitter, son of John Saddington, f w knitter, married Eliza Thorpe, age 17, daughter of William Thorpe, f w knitter

24 November 1873 - Parish of Shepshed, Leicestershire

William Hall, of full age, f w knitter, son of John Hall, f w knitter, married Eliza Saddington, of full age, daughter of William Thorpe, f w knitter

1 July 1907 - Parish of Loughborough, Leicestershire

Robert Saddington, age 27, railway servant, son of Thomas Saddington, labourer, married Ada Jane Foster, age 28, daughter of Charles Foster, ostler

Further to the Shepshed marriages, Joseph Saddington, son of John and Mary Saddington was baptised at Shepshed on 15 July 1849, and a Joseph Saddington, age 22, died in the Loughborough Registration District in the September quarter of 1872 (Volume 7a, Page 86). So John and Mary of the 1849 marriage were probably the parents of Joseph of the 1868 marriage, and Eliza of the 1868 marriage was definitely the same Eliza as the 1873 marriage. A male Saddington child was born and died in the Loughborough Registration District in the December quarter of 1868, which may have a bearing on the marriage of Joseph and Eliza.

If any of these people are ancestors of yours, please do drop me a line.

A Year of Blogging Saddington Family History

2008-05-17T15:12:00.005+01:00

Yesterday was the first anniversary of this blog, but I was babysitting my niece, so couldn't post - living family comes before dead family, I'm afraid.

So, how have I done?

According to StatCounter, over the past year, this blog has achieved 2398 page loads, averaging 184 page loads per month. There have been 1252 unique visitors (averaging 96 per month), of whom 1058 were first time visitors (averaging 81 per month) and 194 were returning visitors (averaging 15 per month).

The month with the most page loads was February 2008, with 336 separate page loads. March 2008 took the prizes for month with the most unique visitors (199) and month with the most returning visitors (35).

Of the last 500 visitors, 219 came from the UK (48.9%), 93 came from Australia (20.8%), 58 came from the USA (12.95%), 38 came from Canada (8.5%)and 14 came from New Zealand (3.1%). Other visitors came from Austria, Republic of Korea, China, Bulgaria, Ireland, Poland, South Africa, and that popular destination, Unknown.

I have posted 38 separate posts, at an average of 3.17 per month, so have fallen behind my average as of 1 January 2008, but will try to do better once my exams are out of the way in mid June.

The most popular post so far is "Saddingtons who died in World War One", posted on 31 July 2007.

So, your views would be gratefully appreciated. What do you want to see more of, and what would you like to see less of? Do you have any suggestions for posts? Has something that I have posted been of assistance to you?

All comments gratefully received!

Saddingtons who appeared at the Old Bailey, London's Central Criminal Court

2008-05-05T18:30:00.018+01:00

Following the completion of The Proceedings of the Old Bailey (1674 - 1913), this post is intended to give a snapshot view of those Saddingtons who appeared at the Old Bailey, either as defendants, as prosecutors, as members of the jury, as witnesses, or who were in any other way mentioned in criminal cases. The entries will be presented in date order.

3 September 1766

Bateman Saddington was the prosecutor in the trial of Alice Weaver for "stealing a pair of shoes, value 4s". Verdict - Not Guilty.

6 September 1769

Bateman Saddington was a witness in the trial of Joseph Simpson for highway robbery. Verdict - Guilty. Punishment - Death.

13 April 1774

Robert Saddington sat on the Second London Jury for the Proceedings on the King's Commission of the Peace, Oyer and Terminer, and Gaol-Delivery, held for the City of London.

6 December 1775

Bateman Saddington was a character witness for Richard Baker, when he was tried along with John Radcliffe and Elizabeth White for coining offences. Verdicts: Baker - Guilty, Radcliffe - Guilty, White - Not Guilty. Punishments: Baker - Death, Radcliffe - Death.

10 September 1777

William Barnard, "assistant to Mr Saddington, a surgeon and apothecary in Fleet-street", was a witness in the trial of John Knutt for murder. Verdict - Not Guilty.

13 January 1790

William Saddington, of the Pied Bull in Islington, was the prosecutor in the trial of Joseph Pollard for housebreaking. Verdict - Guilty of stealing sheets, but not of breaking out of the house. Punishment - Imprisonment.

7 December 1791

William Saddington, of the Pyed Bull, was a witness in the trial of George Banks and Robert Barnes for grand larceny. Verdicts: Banks - Guilty, Barnes - Not Guilty. Punishment - Transported for 7 years.

1 December 1819

John Castle, "clerk to Saul and Saddington, who are wine and brandy merchants", was a witness in the trial of Thomas Broom, Thomas Harrison and Richard Brooks for grand larceny. Verdicts - Not Guilty.

23 October 1822

Joseph Saddington, "foreman to a working jeweller", was a witness in the trial of Edward M'Williams for burglary. Verdict - Guilty of stealing in the dwelling house, but not of breaking and entering. Punishment - Death.

15 June 1835

John Saddington, "governor of the Poor House, and vestry-clerk of Woodford [Essex]", was the prosecutor in the trial of John Hawkins for stealing from his master. Verdict - Guilty. Punishment - Transported for 7 years.

16 December 1844

William D. Saddington sat on the Fourth Jury for the Proceedings on the Queen's Commission of the Peace, Oyer and Terminer, and Gaol Delivery for the City of London, and Gaol Delivery for the County of Middlesex, and the parts of the Counties of Essex, Kent and Surrey within the Jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court.

24 October 1853

George Smith, alias William Saddington, age 36, pleaded Guilty to the theft of 1 mare and 1 collar, value £18 and 17d, the property of Henry Edmonds. Punishment - 4 years Penal Servitude.

15 June 1857

James Saddington, age 24, was tried with Alfred Barker for robbery on William Forsyth, and stealing from his person 1 key and £12 in money, and William Quin for feloniously receiving the same. Verdicts: Saddington and Barker - Guilty, Quin - Guilty. Punishment: Saddington and Barker - Confined for 2 years, Quin - Confined for 6 months.

26 February 1866

Thomas Saddington, age 40, pleaded Guilty to feloniously marrying Jessie Kimpton, his wife Caroline being alive. Punishment - Confined for 18 months.

28 May 1877

Joseph Saddington, who kept "the Eagle in Farringdon Road", was a witness in the trial of Henry Jones for unlawfully uttering counterfeit coin. Verdict - Guilty. Punishment - 15 months imprisonment.

19 October 1885

Ellen Saddington Woods, the illegitimate daughter of Mary Ann Woods and a potman named Saddington, was the victim and a witness in the trial of her mother for "feloniously cutting and wounding Ellen Saddington Woods, with intent to murder her" and "wounding her with intent to do her some grievous bodily harm". Verdict - Guilty. Punishment - "Strongly recommended to mercy by the Jury on account of her previous good character, and the trials to which she had been subject." - 7 years' Penal Servitude.

11 January 1886

Joseph Saddington, who kept "the Eagle public-house, Farringdon Road", was a witness in the trial of Frederick Maskell for "unlawfully uttering counterfeit coin, having another in his possession." Verdict - Guilty. Punishment - 18 months' Hard Labour.

8 March 1886

Elizabeth Saddington, who was "employed at the Tiger Tavern, Sidney Road, Hackney", was a witness in the trial of William West for "feloniously uttering counterfeit coin". Verdict - Guilty. The prisoner then pleaded Guilty to a previous conviction at the Old Bailey on 11 March 1878. Punishment - 18 months' Hard Labour.

16 May 1904

Charles Saddington, "a guard in the service of the London and North Western Railway", was a witness in the trial of Frederick Langham for arson. Verdict - Guilty. The prisoner then pleaded Guilty to a conviction of felony at Chester on 26 July 1884. Punishment - 10 years' Penal Servitude.

28 March 1911

Lewis Saddington, age 50, an agent, was prosecuted for "stealing one banker's cheque, the goods of William Elkane and others and feloniously receiving the same; feloniously uttering, knowing the same to be forged, a cheque for £80 14s, with intent to defraud". Verdict - Guilty of uttering. The prisoner then pleaded Guilty to a conviction of felony at York Assizes on 31 October 1908. In total, he had five previous convictions. Punishment - 3 years' penal servitude and 5 years' preventive detention.

10 September 1912

Mabel Saddington, 'manageress, "Railway Hotel"', was a witness in the trial of Frederick Ernest Clark for "feloniously demanding with menaces from William Alfred Clark, 3s 4d, one check, and one knife, with intent to steal the same". Verdict - Guilty. The prisoner pleaded Guilty to a previous conviction of felony at Thames Police Court on 24 November 1902. Punishment - 9 months' hard labour.

This last entry was a great find for me, because it refers to the Railway Hotel, Silvertown, which is the public house which my great grandfather, William James Saddington, ran for many years. He would have been the manager at the time of this event, and Mabel Saddington is probably his sister, Mabel Gertrude, who should properly have been described as Mabel Brown, as she married in 1909.

If any of these entries relate to members of your family, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Saddingtons buried in Abney Park Cemetery, London

2008-05-05T16:58:00.013+01:00

The majority of information in this post comes courtesy of The Abney Park Cemetery Index, which has been created by The Abney Park Trust.

Abney Park Cemetery was opened in May 1840, and was a commercially owned cemetery specifically for Non Conformists (e.g. Methodists, Baptists, Congregationalists, Quakers etc). It was intended to contain some of the ever increasing population of London, who could no longer be accommodated in the existing churchyards of the city. The cemetery is located in Stoke Newington and covers about 32 acres.

The intention is to list the graves in date order of the first Saddington to be buried in it. Where non-Saddingtons are buried in the same grave, this will be indicated.

Grave B05 013938

Thomas Saddington, aged 82, of 8 John Street, Commercial Road East - buried 2 August 1855 (1773 - 1855)

Ann Saddington, aged 77, of 12 Arborn Square, Commercial Road - buried 14 May 1856 (1779 - 1856)

[Thomas and Ann were husband and wife. Also buried in this grave is Susannah Bradford Watson 1801 - 1866]

Grave K06 015341

Mary Saddington, aged 17, of 129 St John Street, Smithfield - buried 14 March 1856 (1839 - 1856)

Caroline Ann Knight, aged 29 - buried 28 March 1862 (1833 - 1862)

Samuel Saddington, aged 71 - buried 4 July 1872 (1801 - 1872)

[Caroline Ann Saddington married William Knight in the September quarter of 1861 in the Clerkenwell Registration District - Volume 1b, Page 799. Both Mary and Caroline Ann were daughters of Samuel Saddington, who shares their grave.]

Grave F07 017574

Joseph Saddington, aged 66 - buried 4 February 1857 (1791 - 1857)

[This is probably a public grave, and contains 8 other persons, buried between 30 January 1857 and 7 February 1857.]

Grave D02 015346

Elizabeth Saddington, aged 56, of St John Street - buried 21 April 1859 (1803 - 1859)

[I believe this to be Elizabeth, nee Scrivener, the first wife of Samuel Saddington, who died in 1872 and is buried in Grave K06 015341.]

Grave K06 025025

Elizabeth Saddington, aged 18 - buried 11 April 1860 (1842 - 1860)

[This could be Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel (Grave K06 015341) and Elizabeth (Grave D02 015346), who I last found in the 1851 census, aged 9, and living with her parents and an older brother at 129 St John Street, St Sepulchre. She does not appear with the family in the 1861 census at 25 Arundel Square, Islington.]

Grave B06 044129

Sarah Saddington, aged 21 - buried 20 August 1869 (1848 - 1869)

[This is a public grave, containing 7 other persons buried between 16 August and 20 August 1869.]

Grave K06 045607

Ann Saddington, aged 65 - buried 28 March 1870 (1805 - 1870)

Sarah Saddington, aged 64 - buried 7 September 1881 (1817 - 1881)

[Ann and Sarah were the spinster sisters of Samuel Saddington in Grave K06 015341.]

Grave B04 046395

Sarah Saddington, aged 1 - buried 11 August 1870 (1869 - 1870)

[This is a public grave, containing 13 other persons buried between 6 August and 20 August 1870.]

Grave K06 068848

Mary Ann Saddington, aged 36 - buried 3 February 1881 (1845 - 1881)

Grave M07 082157

Ellen Saddington, aged 36, of "The Eagle", 143 Farringdon Road, EC - buried 16 August 1888 (1852 - 1888)

Joseph Saddington, aged 49, of 143 Farringdon Road, EC - buried 13 May 1890 (1841 - 1890)

Herbert Charles Saddington, aged 26, of 59 Hazelbourne Road, Balham, SW - buried 6 February 1906 (1880 - 1906)

[Ellen and Joseph were husband and wife, and Herbert Charles was one of their four children.]

Grave G04 101234

Frederick Priestman Saddington, aged 47 - buried 2 April 1900 (1853 - 1900)

[This is a private grave, shared with two members of the Williamson family of 23 Bayston Road, Stoke Newington. Clifton Ernest Williamson, aged 10, was buried on the same day as Frederick Saddington. Alfred Ebenezer Williamson, aged 45, was buried on 29 June 1900.]

Grave K06 105069

Samuel Saddington, aged 65, of 164 Lordship Road, Stoke Newington - buried 27 August 1902 (1837 - 1902)

[Samuel was the son of Samuel (Grave K06 015341) and Elizabeth (Grave D02 015346), and the brother of Mary and Caroline Ann (Grave K06 015341).]

Grave L07 113353 - possibly renumbered as 3353

Susan Saddington, aged 56, of 20 Kersley Road, Stoke Newington - buried 14 January 1908 (1852 - 1908)

[This is probably a public grave, containing 23 other persons buried between 10 January 1908 and 13 February 1908.]

Grave No K04 128074 - possibly renumbered as 18074

Winifred Saddington, age unknown - buried 26 April 1917

[This is a public grave, containing 18 other persons buried between 19 April 1917 and 9 May 1917. Winifred is probably Winifred G Saddington, born in the March quarter of 1917 in the Hackney Registration District, Volume 1b, Page 691, and died in the June quarter of 1917, also in the Hackney Registration District, Volume 1b, Page 513. Her mother's maiden name was Asser.]

Grave C02 142714 - possibly renumbered as 32714

John Saddington, aged 32, of Middlesex County Tuberculosis Hospital, Isleworth - buried 1 May 1925 (1893 - 1925)

[This is a public grave, containing 11 other persons buried between 29 April 1925 and 18 May 1925.]

Grave C04 145336 - possibly renumbered as 35336

Ellen Catherine Saddington, aged 25, of 48 Hyde Road, Shoreditch - buried 22 December 1926 (1901 - 1926)

[This is a public grave, containing 8 other persons buried between 17 December and 22 December 1926.]

Grave A04 156196 - possibly renumbered as 46196

Frederick John Saddington, aged 50, of 230 High Street, Homerton - buried 3 April 1933 (1883 - 1933)

[This is a public grave, containing 8 other persons buried between 21 March 1933 and 3 April 1933. I believe that 230 High Street, Homerton is likely to be the official address of the Hackney Union Workhouse - see The Workhouse website.]

Grave C05 161131 - possibly renumbered 51131

Marjorie Jean Saddington, aged 12, of Eastern Hospital, Homerton - buried 26 October 1936 (1924 - 1936)

[Marjorie was born in the December quarter of 1923 in the Hackney Registration District, Volume 1b, Page 695, and her mother's maiden name was Asser.]

If you are related to any of the people mentioned above, I would be delighted to hear from you.

Some Saddingtons in St Albans, Hertfordshire

2008-04-19T21:06:00.009+01:00

Most of the information in this post is courtesy of Anni Berman's St Albans Marriage Challenge. Please note that the first family mentioned is the same Saddington family mentioned in William Edward Saddington of London, England and Banff, Alberta, Canada 1870-1950.

I will start with a marriage certificate:

Married on 8 June 1918 in the Parish Church of St Peter, St Albans, Hertfordshire

George Cooper Saddington, age 49, Widower, Solicitor's Managing Clerk, living at 4 Priory Park Villas, Approach Road, son of George Saddington, Gentleman

to

Lily Maud Smith, age 49, Spinster, of no given occupation, living at 4 Priory Park Villas, Approach Road, daughter of Joseph Smith, Gentleman, Deceased

The death of George Cooper Saddington's previous wife, Elizabeth Jane Beszant, was commemorated on a family gravestone in the St Albans Cemetery, Hatfield Road, St Albans.

The front of the gravestone reads as follows:

IN LOVING MEMORY OF/ELIZABETH JANE/WIFE OF G.C. SADDINGTON/BORN MAY 30TH 1883 DIED FEB 11TH 1916/
FRANK GORDON SON OF THE ABOVE/BORN JULY 6TH 1911/DIED DEC 31ST 1911/
HARRIETT BLOUD SADDINGTON/BORN NOV 29TH 1844/DIED JAN 2ND 1912

On the side of the gravestone, it reads:

GEORGE COOPER/SADDINGTON/BORN FEB 7TH 1869/DIED APRIL 6TH 1938

Thus the gravestone records the lives and deaths of George Cooper Saddington, his first wife, an infant son and his mother, Harriett. Please note that Harriett's middle name has been misspelled on the gravestone, and should read BLOND.

George Cooper Saddington was an older brother of William Edward Saddington, about whom I have posted previously.

........................................

A second marriage certificate, which as yet has no known connection with the first:

Married on 14 July 1871 in the Abbey Church at St Albans, Hertfordshire

James Saddington, age 27, Bachelor, Coffee-house keeper, living in Abbey Parish, son of James Saddington, Groom

to

Annie Marshall, age 24, Spinster, of no given occupation, living in Kingswalden, daughter of George Marshall, Schoolmaster

If either of these families are related to you, I would be delighted to hear from you.

Saddington - Barton Marriage - 28 December 1901

2008-04-14T20:54:00.010+01:00

This post comes to you courtesy of David Horwill's Poplar Registration District Marriage Challenge, and links to three other posts in this blog. These are Richards-Saddington Marriage - 11 March 1906, Family of James and Frances Saddington of Wapping, London and Saddingtons who died in World War One.

The common link is David Thomas Saddington, the sixth known child and third known son of James Edward Saddington, a lighterman of Wapping, London, and his wife, Frances.

Married on 28 December 1901 at the Church of St Michael and All Angels, in the Parish of Bromley, in the County of London

David Thomas Saddington, age 22, Bachelor, Labourer, living at 6 Cook Street, the son of James Saddington, Lighterman, deceased

to

Elizabeth Barton, age 22, Spinster, of no given occupation, living at 6 Cook Street, the daughter of Robert Henry Barton, Tailor

The marriage took place after the publication of banns, and was performed by G C Battercombe, Vicar.

Both the bride and groom signed their names.

The witnesses were G Briant (?) and Amelia Rosetta Saddington, one of the groom's sisters.

If you are related to James and Frances Saddington of Wapping by any of their eight known children, I would be delighted to hear from you.

Sir Robert de Sadyngton (? - circa 1361)

2008-03-30T12:13:00.009+01:00

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to say that we were descended from Sir Robert de Sadyngton, Lord High Chancellor of England in the reign of King Edward III?

Sorry, folks, but it isn't going to happen! Although I am led to believe that some Saddington researchers in the past have tried to claim descent from Sir Robert, it isn't true, so this post is a cautionary tale, which you can pass on to anyone who tries to tell you otherwise.

Sir Robert de Sadyngton probably did come from Saddington in Leicestershire, and is believed to be a son of John de Sadyngton, who was a valet of Queen Isabella, wife of Edward II, and custos (principal justice of the peace) for the Hundred of Gartree, an administrative area of Leicestershire, which includes places such as Billesdon, Foxton, Laughton, Market Harborough and Saddington.

Robert was a professional lawyer, who was listed in the records as an attorney as early as 1317, and appeared as an advocate in the year-books from 1329 to 1336. He was a Knight of the Shire (Member of Parliament) for Leicestershire in 1327 and 1328. He sat on various Royal commissions and fulfilled a number of judicial roles from 1329 onwards.

He was knighted in 1336, and on 20 May 1337, Sir Robert was appointed Chief Baron of the Exchequer, which meant that he was the top judge in the common-law court of the Exchequer of Pleas. He became a member of the King's Council in 1340, and on 29 September 1343, he was appointed Lord High Chancellor of England, a post which he held for just over two years, until 20 October 1345. He became Chief Baron of the Exchequer again on 8 December 1345, and held that office until 1 February 1349, when he was effectively permitted to retire, having "served the king long time and without intermission".

Despite retiring from the King's service, Sir Robert remained a Justice of the Peace for Leicestershire until at least 1357. The last record of him is on 25 April 1361, when he was the principal witness to a charter relating to Noseley chantry college.

So that is who he was and what he did out of the way. Now comes the important bit for Saddington researchers. Robert de Sadyngton married Joyce de Martivall, possibly a sister or a niece of Roger de Martivall, Bishop of Salisbury, in or around 1334. Robert's daughter and sole heir, Isabell, married Sir Rafe (or Ralph) Hastings in or around 1352. On her father's death, she inherited lands at Saddington, Laughton, Humberstone, Gilmorton, Scraptoft and Noseley. However, it appears that she did not have any children, and died before 1385. Her lands went to her husband, and passed down to the children of his second marriage to Maud Sutton, daughter of Sir Thomas Sutton of Holderness, High Sheriff of Yorkshire.

And there we go! Sir Robert de Sadyngton had one daughter, Isabell, who died without issue. This means that nobody by the name of Saddington or who is descended from a Saddington can claim to be descended from Sir Robert! And if anyone tells you otherwise, then they are wrong.

Sources for this post include: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography; "The Itinerary of John Leland the Antiquary" (pub. 1745, OUP) ; "A Political Index to the Histories of Great Britain and Ireland" by Robert Beatson (pub. 1806);"A Topographical History of the County of Leicester" by John Curtis (pub. 1831); "The Origins of the English Gentry" by Peter R Coss (pub. 2003)

Frederick William Saddington (1899 - 1918)

2008-03-25T20:56:00.011Z

This is one of the posts that I have been holding back until I had more information. It relates to the life and family of Frederick William Saddington, whose Death Penny I purchased on Ebay back in February.

Frederick William Saddington was born Frederick William Pearson Saddington on 23 November 1899 at Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire. He was the illegitimate son of Frances Emily Saddington, a clothing machinist, also of Burton Latimer.

Frederick and his mother appeared on the 1901 census in the household of his grandmother, Frances, and her second husband, Arthur Henry Pearson,

RG13/1446, Folio 39, Page 3
Registration District - Kettering, Sub District - Kettering, Enumeration District - 3
Schedule No. 14 - Kettering Road, Burton Latimer, Northants (living in 4 rooms)

Arthur H Pearson Head M 34 Baker Worker Northampton Irthlingborough
Frances do Wife M 38 Clothing machinist do do Tilbrooke [should be Bedfordshire]
Walter H do Son S 4 - - do Burton Latimer
Emily F Saddington Daur S 18 Clothing machinist do do do
Alfred A do Son S 16 Heel Builder (Boot) do do do
Frederick W P do Son S 1 - - do do

In the June quarter of 1902, Frances Emily (or Emily Frances) married either Walter James Freestone or Harry Stephen Hedges (Volume 3b, Page 368). As yet it is unknown whether her son, Frederick, went to live with her and her new husband, or whether he remained with his grandmother.

Frederick's life then becomes a blank sheet until his death on 28 September 1918. We know from "Soldiers Died In The Great War" that he enlisted in Northampton, although he was living in Burton Latimer. We know also that initially he was Private 25573 of the East Kent Regiment. We know that he was transferred to the 20th Battalion, The Duke of Cambridge's Own, otherwise known as the Middlesex Regiment, where his Army number changed to G/62045.

Frederick was killed in action on Saturday 28 September 1918, aged 18 years. This was the first day of the Battle of Flanders, a successful Anglo-Belgian attack along a 23 mile front from Dixmude to Ploegsteert under the command of King Albert of the Belgians. On this first day, the Allies captured part of Houthulst Forest and over 4000 German prisoners.

Frederick is buried in Grave J.15, Plot XIII of Voormezeele Enclosure No. 3, 4 kilometres south west of Ieper (Ypres), West Flanders, Belgium. According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Plots XIII to XVI were created after the Armistice on 11 November 1918 by concentrating burials from isolated graves and smaller cemeteries. This means that Frederick was probably buried somewhere behind the lines after he fell, and then reinterred where he now rests after the end of the War.

Despite knowing relatively little about Frederick himself, I know more about his family. His mother was baptised Emily Frances Saddington on 7 January 1883 in the Parish Church at Burton Latimer. Her parents were Allen Dickins and Frances Saddington, and her father's occupation was "Laborer". Her brother, Alfred Allen, was baptised on 4 January 1885, also at Burton Latimer.

Emily's parents, Allen Dickins Saddington and Frances Johnson, were married in the Parish Church at Burton Latimer on 26 June 1882, after banns. Allen Dickins came from Cranford St John, Northamptonshire, and was a labourer. His father, Joseph Saddington, was also a labourer. Frances Johnson was the daughter of John Johnson, also a labourer. Neither the bride nor the groom could sign their names. The witnesses were William Wilford and Eleanor Saddington, who was a sister of the groom.

However, the marriage did not last long. The Burial Register for Burton Latimer shows Dicken Allen Saddington being buried on 13 November 1886, leaving Frances, his wife, with two children under 5 years old to bring up.

Frances Saddington went home to Mum and Dad. The 1891 census shows the young widow and her children living with her parents.

RG12/1215, Folio 20, Page 5
Registration District - Kettering, Sub District - Kettering, Enumeration District - 2
Schedule No. 35 - Osbourne's Row, Burton Latimer, Northants

John Johnson Head M 58 Farm Labourer Empd Tilbrook, Norths
Sarah do Wife M 54 - - Catworth do
Charles do Son S 19 Farm Labourer Empd Tilbrook do
Arthur do Son S 16 do do do Denford do
Frances Saddington Daur Wid 25 Machinist do Tilbrook do
Arthur do Grandson - 9 Scholar - Norths Burton Latimer
Fanny do Granddaur - 5 do - do do

[There are a number of inaccuracies in this census return. Tilbrook was in Bedfordshire at the time, and Catworth was in Huntingdonshire. Arthur Saddington should be Alfred Saddington, and he and his sister have had their ages swapped round.]

In the September quarter of 1896, Frances Saddington (nee Johnson) remarried to Arthur Henry Pearson (Volume 3b, Page 418). Their son, Walter Henry Pearson, was born on 28 February 1897 at Burton Latimer and was baptised in the Parish Church there on 18 April 1897. The family was then living on Meeting Lane, Burton Latimer.

In the March quarter of 1905, Frederick's uncle, Alfred Allen, married Emily Whiting (Volume 3b, Page 256). Their first child, also Alfred Allen, was born on 6 June 1906 and was baptised on 5 August 1906 at Burton Latimer. Their second child, and first daughter, Rose Lily, was born on 13 July 1908 and was baptised on 4 October 1909. Their third child, Daisy Violet, was baptised on 5 March 1911, but died not long afterwards. Their fourth child was also named Daisy Violet, and was baptised on 1 September 1912.

Frances Pearson (formerly Saddington) (nee Johnson) died on 14 December 1943, and is buried in the Public Cemetery at Burton Latimer. Her headstone reads as follows:

In loving memory of my dear mother Frances Pearson who passed away Dec 14th 1943 aged 82 years. 'Peacefully sleeping.' Also Pte. F.W. Saddington G/62045 20 Bn. Middlesex Reg. killed in action 28th Sept 1918 aged 18 years. Buried Voormezelle Enclosure Belgium.

Frederick is also remembered on the Burton Latimer War Memorial. However, he is not listed on the Roll of Honour, but this is accepted as being incomplete.

"At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them."
Laurence Binyon - "For the Fallen"

Sources for this post include: Burton Latimer: A Sense of Place; Commonwealth War Graves Commission; First World War.com ; "Soldiers Died In The Great War"

Horace Claude Saddington (1884 - ?)

2008-03-18T20:19:00.011Z

I have a confession to make - I am a perfectionist. Quite often, the reason why I haven't posted for a while is because I am still trying to locate that last piece of information which will complete the story of the person that I want to post about. It has occurred to me that this is foolish - I just don't have the time or the resources to do this for every post. Besides, you, the readers of this blog, would probably rather have more posts and perhaps do some detective work yourselves to fill in the gaps. I can always do an update post at some point in the future.

So, this post contains everything that I currently know about Horace Claude Saddington. The name might seem familiar, and that is because he is listed amongst the Saddingtons whose names are mentioned in the post about World War One Army pension records.

Horace Claude Saddington was born in the December quarter of 1884 in Leicester (Volume 7a, Page 203). His parents were probably the Joseph Saddington and Sarah Ann White who married in Leicester in the December quarter of 1881 (Volume 7a, Page 492).

In the 1891 census, the family are living at 23 Frank Street, Leicester, which is in the Parish of St Margaret.

RG12/2528 - Folio 8, Page 9, Schedule Number - 53
Registration District - Leicester, Sub District - East Leicester, Enumeration District - 31

Joseph Saddington Head M 35 Railway Ganger Employed Northants Geddington
Sarah Ann do Wife M 34 - - Rutland Caldecott
Horace C do Son - 6 Scholar - Leicester
Edward Holt Boarder Single 25 Railway Labourer Employed Leics Denford

A ganger was responsible for the actual railway tracks - the points, the sleepers etc - making sure that they were all in good condition.

Ten years later, in the 1901 census, the family are still living at 23 Frank Street, and Horace has joined his father on the railway. Perhaps the house was owned by the railway company.

RG13/2999 - Folio 179, Page 34, Schedule Number 198
Registration District - Leicester, Sub District - North East Leicester, Enumeration District - 40

Joseph Saddington Head M 45 Railway Platelayer "Ganger" Worker Npton Geddington
Sarah A do Wife M 44 - - Rutd Caldecot
Horace do Son S 16 Railway Labourer Worker Leicester

According to his pension records, Horace married Florence Emily Biddles in Leicester on 5 August 1905 (September quarter 1905, Volume 7a 551). A Florence Emily Biddles born in the Aston Registration District in the September quarter of 1886 (Volume 6d, Page 319) appears to be a likely candidate for Horace's wife.

Horace's pension records state that he and Florence had four children; Beatrice Florence May (1904), Joseph Harry (1909), Violet Ada (1912) and George Albert (1914), all of whom were born in Leicester.

By January 1917, the family were living at 4 St Peters Cottages, St Peters Lane, Leicester. Horace was employed as a railway platelayer, just as his father had been before him.

On 15 January 1917, Horace enlisted into the Royal Flying Corps as a Third Class Air Mechanic. He was 31 years and 6 months old, and was classed as having B (ii) Two Fitness. If anyone can tell me what this means in plain English, I would be very grateful, as I cannot find an explanation on the Internet.

However, Horace's career in the RFC did not last very long. On 15 March 1917, just two months later, he was discharged as being "no longer physically fit for War Service".

As this lack of fitness boiled down to the partial loss of his right hand, which had happened in 1907, one wonders why the Enlisting Officer had not taken this into account before signing him up!

To be precise, Horace's medical notes state that the first, second and third fingers on his right hand were missing, and that the fourth finger was contracted. The movement of his thumb was limited due to scarring, but there was no wasting (presumably of the muscle). His wrist movement was fairly good, but less than 20%!

The most likely cause of this damage is an accident at work, which would be understandable with him working on the railway. However, I am told that another possibility would involve some macho dare game for railway workers i.e. who can leave their finger on the line longest before the train comes along! Your guess is as good as mine - I just hope that he was left handed!

If Horace Claude and his family are relations of yours, as usual, I would be delighted to hear from you. Also, if you have any additional information about any of the topics mentioned in this post, please do drop me a line.

DNA Project Update - March 2008

2008-03-05T22:29:00.013Z

Well, the results are in!

The Saddington DNA Project now consists of a 12 marker Y-DNA result for the Appleby Magna Saddingtons and a 37 marker Y-DNA result for the Foxton/Great Bowden Saddingtons.

Of course, at the moment, it is only possible to compare the first 12 markers for these two tests, and these are as follows:

Appleby Magna 13 24 14 11 11 14 12 12 12 13 13 30
Foxton/Great Bowden 13 24 14 12 11 15 12 12 12 13 13 30

Taking the Appleby Magna results as the base, you can see that two of the Foxton/Great Bowden markers are one number different from their Appleby Magna equivalents. This is technically known as having a genetic distance of 2 between the two people tested.

A genetic distance of 2 generally means that the probability of those two people being related is not high. The fact that research into the paper records shows that the two Saddingtons that have been tested so far are definitely not related in the male line at any point during the last 9 generations makes the probability even lower. In fact, based on these 12 markers, the probability that these two men share a common ancestor in the last 33 generations is only 52.79%.

However, all is not lost, my friends.

Increasing the number of markers tested could also increase the probability of a common ancestor. Testing other members of these two branches of the Saddington family could also increase the probability. This is because different DNA markers mutate at different rates, and so mutations in different markers change the probabilities of sharing a common ancestor.

What must also be taken into account is that Saddington is what is known as a locative surname, i.e. it is a surname adopted from a placename, in this case, the village of Saddington in Leicestershire. Locative surnames only tend to occur when the original person moves away from the place whose name they later adopt. For example, if a man named John moved away from Saddington to a nearby village, where there was already at least one other man named John, it would be likely that his new neighbours would refer to him as John from Saddington. In time, this could become John Saddington, and the new surname might then be passed on to his children and to their children.

So, with a locative surname like Saddington, DNA testing can show one or both of two options. Either that all branches of the family come from a single common ancestor, or that each branch comes from a different ancestor, or that some branches share a common ancestor and others don't.

This means that all is still to play for - we just need more male Saddingtons willing to be tested! Ladies, although this is not something that we can do ourselves, we can encourage the Saddington men in our lives to have a test done!

As usual, any comments or queries gratefully received.

British Army World War One Pension Records 1914-1920

2008-02-20T22:08:00.004Z

This post relates to the pension records located in Series WO364 at The National Archives. These records have now been digitised and can be found on Ancestry.co.uk, but for those of you without access, here is a brief rundown of the Saddingtons who can be found in WO364. The amount of information available on each man varies, but I do intend to do some more in-depth pieces on some of these men later on.

Albert Edward Saddington - enlisted on 1 June 1918, aged 23 years and 11 months - Aircraftman 2nd Class in the Royal Air Force, No. 190612 - next of kin: Mrs Louisa Saddington, 165 Garvary Road, Custom House, London - discharged as no longer physically fit.

Edwin Alfred Saddington - enlisted on 30 March 1917 - Corporal in the Army Pay Corps, No. 12606 - address given: 38 Cambridge Street, Wellingborough, Northants.

Henry Saddington - born circa 1879 - enlisted on 31 January 1918 - Private in the Labour Corps, No. 525839 - previously a greengrocer - address given: 9 Leenside, Nottingham - next of kin: his mother, Mrs P Saddington, Wool Alley, Barker Gate, Nottingham - discharged as physically unfit.

Horace Claude Saddington - born circa 1886 - enlisted 15 January 1917, aged 31 years and 6 months - Air Mechanic, 3rd Class in the Royal Air Force, No. 58356 - previously a railway platelayer - next of kin: his wife, Florence Emily Saddington, 4 St Peters Cottages, St Peters Lane, Leicester - discharged as no longer physically fit for War Service.

James Saddington - born circa 1885 - enlisted 3 July 1916, aged 31 years and 11 months - Private in the Army Service Corps, No. 193558 - previously a traction engine driver - next of kin: his wife, Mrs Phoebe Saddington, South Green, Coates, Whittlesea - discharged as surplus to military requirements.

James Saddington - enlisted 5 July 1915 - 3/8 R. War R., Territorial Force, No. 4092 - address given: 22 Slade Road, Erdington,Birmingham - next of kin: his wife, Mrs Fanny Saddington, 138 Church Street, Fenton, Stoke on Trent.

Joseph Edward Saddington - born circa 1894 - enlisted 9 January 1911, aged 17 years and 8 months - Territorial Force, then 4th East Yorkshire Regiment, No. 1149 - previously a labourer at the Hull Oil Manufacturing Company - next of kin: his father, Joseph Saddington, 14 Withernsea Street, Wilmington, Hull - discharged as time expired.

Penry Saddington - born circa 1890 - enlisted 17 August 1914 - Sapper, Royal Engineers, No. 40384 - previously a bricklayer - next of kin: his wife, Emily May Saddington, 18 Palmer Street, Middlesbrough - discharged as medically unfit and not being likely to become an efficient Soldier.

Robert Saddington - born 10 April 1902 - enlisted 2 September 1920 - Territorial Force, 3rd Home Counties Brigade, RFA, No. 7229922 - previously a labourer - next of kin: his father, John Saddington, 4 Churchfield Cottages, Margate - discharged having joined the Royal Navy.

Thomas Saddington - born circa 1877 - enlisted 29 February 1916, aged 39 years - Army Service Corps, Forage Department, No. F27745 - address given: Coates, Whittlesea - discharged as his services being no longer required.

Thos Wm Saddington - born circa 1897 - enlisted 22 April 1915 - Royal Defence Corps, No. 61725 - previously a bootmaker - address given: Chelveston Road, Raunds, Northamptonshire - discharged as no longer physically fit for War Service.

Walter Saddington - [this man has three sets of pension records, two as Walter and one as Walter Frederick, and I will be doing an in-depth post on him at some point] - born circa 1865 - first enlisted 20 October 1883, aged 18 years and 10 months - Corporal, Derby Regiment, No. 668 - previously a clerk - discharged at his own request on 31 December 1912, having served for 29 years and 73 days - re-enlisted as Walter Frederick Saddington on 1 January 1913, aged 47 years - 8th Sherwood Foresters, No.1677 - discharged 24 March 1915 under Kings Regulations Section 392 (XXV) - re-enlisted as Walter Saddington on 28 May 1915, aged 49 years - Notts and Derbys Regiment, No. 26571 - finally discharged 30 December 1919 - address given: 26 Crown Street, Newark.

Walter Edward Saddington - born circa 1891 - enlisted 15 August 1916, aged 26 years - Private in the Labour Corps, 363rd Reserve Employment Company, No. 492472 - previously an omnibus conductor - address given: 354 High Road, Chiswick, London - discharged as no longer physically fit for War Service.

If any of these men are members of your family, I would be delighted to hear from you.

Joseph Saddington of Great Bowden, LEI - Farmer and Grazier (c. 1761 - 1843)

2008-02-13T20:28:00.006Z

This post consists of an extracted version of the Will of Joseph Saddington, farmer and grazier of Great Bowden, Leicestershire. Joseph was possibly the son of John Saddington and Susanna Clark, baptised on 29 October 1761 at Great Bowden, but as yet there is no definite proof of this. Nor is it known whether he married, but certainly there are no children or grandchildren mentioned in the Will.

Joseph's Will can be found on microfiche at Leicestershire and Rutland Record Office. The microfiche series is called Probate Records Wills & Inventories. Joseph's Will is on Fiche 64 and 65 of 88 for 1843 and the reference is PR/T/1843/124. The Will was far too long to transcribe in full, so I have extracted all references to individuals.

Joseph described himself in his Will as a farmer and grazier of Great Bowden. This indicates that there was a recognised difference between the two occupations. It is unclear what sort of farming Joseph did, but the term 'grazier' is defined as 'one who grazes cattle or sheep for market'. Whether Joseph raised the animals himself, or whether he bought them in and just fattened them up, it is impossible to say.

Starting at the beginning of his Will, Joseph left his 'wearing apparell and cloaths' to John Day, the son of Henry Day of Great Bowden, currier. His household goods were left to Hannah Day, the wife of Henry Day.

Joseph's cousin, John Sharman, a lunatic, was 'to be accommodated'.

John Cort of Great Bowden, grocer and cordwainer, was left 19 guineas.

John West of Great Bowden, baker, Thomas Mansfield of Great Bowden, cattle dealer, and William Russell of Great Bowden, innkeeper, were appointed as Joseph's Trustees and were to receive 19 guineas each for their trouble.

Joseph's own messuage (the house that he lived in, its outbuildings and surrounding land) was to be held in trust for the natural life of Joseph's cousin, John Sharman, lunatic, 'who resides with the testator'. The Trustees were to appoint a suitable person to care for John Sharman.

Upon John Sharman's death, the messuage was to pass to William Russell, one of the Trustees, but £50 each was to be paid to William's brothers, John and Thomas Russell of Great Bowden, higglers.

The messuage occupied at the time of Joseph's death by Thomas Hobie was left to Joseph's housekeeper, Sarah Patrick, for her natural life as long as she remained single and unmarried. When she died, it was to pass to John Hart, the son of Edward Hart of Laughton Lodge.

Two other messuages in Great Bowden, occupied by William Williamson and William Seal, were also left to John Hart, but he had to pay £29 to the Trustees within 12 months of Joseph's death.

Sarah Patrick was also to receive £10 per annum for the rest of her life.

Two further messuages in Great Bowden, occupied by Henry Day and John Plant, and the 6 acres of land adjoining them were left to Hannah Day for her life, and then were to be divided between the children of Henry and Hannah Day.

The Will then mentioned an Indenture of Settlement relating to a messuage etc in Marston Trussell, Northamptonshire, which was to be held in trust for John Sharman the lunatic. The parties to the Indenture were John Sharman and Elizabeth his wife, Joseph Saddington, William Higgs and Thomas Geordon(?). The Will states that Joseph Saddington was the nephew of John Sharman the elder.

Then came the monetary bequests.

£100 to Matthew Ravens of Wilbarston, Northamptonshire, horse dealer
£100 to Edward Ravens of Hallaton, Leicestershire, yeoman
£50 to Elizabeth Coleman, wife of Benjamin Coleman the Elder of Foxton, Leicestershire, grazier
£50 to Sarah Edens, wife of John Edens of Medburne, Leicestershire, gardener
These last three were described as the brother and sisters of Matthew Ravens.

£50 to Daniel West of Great Bowden, baker
£50 to Mary West of Great Bowden, spinster

£50 to Joseph Saddington, son of Hannah Saddington of Market Harborough, widow
£50 to Sarah Saddington
£50 to Mary Saddington
These last two were described as daughters of Hannah Saddington.

£200 to Benjamin Coleman the Younger of Marston Trussell, butcher
£50 to Thomas Coleman of Foxton, miller

19 Guineas to Mary Seal, wife of Thomas Seal of Great Bowden, baker
19 Guineas to Elizabeth Wymant of Great Bowden, widow

The witnesses to the Will were John Plant of Great Bowden, framework knitter, Charles Carter of Great Bowden, grocer, and Robert Lowe, Clerk to Mr Adams, Attorney of Market Harborough.

Joseph Saddington died on 20 January 1843 and was buried in Great Bowden Churchyard on 23 January 1843, apparently aged 81 years. His gravestone is visible in the Churchyard today.

As yet I do not know what relationships existed between Joseph Saddington and his beneficiaries, other than John Sharman, who was certainly living with his cousin and the housekeeper, Sarah Patrick, at the time of the 1841 census. If anyone has any information or suggestions regarding the people mentioned in this post, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Update - Saddington Museum, DNA Project

2008-02-09T15:23:00.000Z

The wanderer returneth, or rather, normal service is resumed. After nearly three weeks without internet access, there are a number of posts to be blogged, but I will start with the first artefact to enter the new Museum of Saddington Family History.

Please forgive the poor photography, but the picture to the left shows the World War One Death Penny bestowed upon the grieving family of Frederick William Saddington, whose name appears in my July 2007 post on those Saddingtons who were killed in the First World War. This enters the Museum courtesy of Ebay, following a brief bidding war. The previous owner informed me that he had had it for a long time, but did not know any more about it, other than that he thought that Frederick William may have come from Kettering. My intention is to make a trip to the Northamptonshire Record Office in the not too distant future to do some in-depth research on Frederick William and his family.

The second item of news relates to the Saddington DNA Project. If you go down to the bottom of the page, you will see that we have our first set of results! This is a 12 marker YDNA test for a descendant of the Appleby Magna Saddingtons. What we now need is for another direct line male descendant of that branch of the family, preferably as distantly related from our existing tester as possible, to have a test done to check that the results are compatible.

In addition, the first test for the Foxton/Great Bowden Saddingtons is currently at the lab being analysed, and I hope for results in the not too distant future.

Any queries on either of these subjects will be gratefully received.

Explanation and Apologies

2008-02-04T13:29:00.000Z

Hi all,

Please accept my fervent apologies for falling behind on my New Year's Resolution regarding posting. Unfortunately, I have had no access to the Internet at home for over 2 weeks now, and am posting this at work.

Hopefully, once my new modem arrives, I should be back on-line by the end of the week, and will then be able to post the various items that have accrued in the meantime.

If you have emailed me in the last couple of weeks, and I have not replied to you in depth, I do apologise, but as I have only been able to access my email at work and in the public library, I have not had my research to hand. As soon as I am back on-line at home, I will respond to you with whatever information I have regarding your enquiry.

Wishing you all the best with your research,
A very frustrated Rowan with Internet withdrawal symptoms!

Saddingtons in the Navy - ADM/188

2008-01-10T20:47:00.000Z

Following on from my August 2007 post entitled "Herbert was a bad lad!", this post contains basic details of the other Saddingtons whose Naval records can be found in under ADM/188 at The National Archives (see Documents Online). They are listed in order of their ADM/188 number. I would eventually like to post on each one in more detail.

Sidney Edward Saddington - born 25 September 1866 at Dulwich, Surrey - former occupation was Groom - joined the Navy on 9 September 1887 for a 12 year term - invalided to Chatham on 6 June 1889 - Naval No. 142601 - ADM/188/200

James George Saddington - born 24 May 1881 at Fulham, London - former occupation was Wood Cutter - joined the Navy on 24 May 1899 for a 12 year term - appears to have joined the Royal Naval Reserve on 26 August 1905 - reenrolled 8 October 1910 to serve to 25 August 1915 - appears to have served throughout World War One and to have finally been demobilised on 6 June 1921 - Naval No. 194046 and/or 305957 - ADM/188/334

Ernest Joseph Saddington - born 16 September 1878 at Clerkenwell, London - former occupation was Carpenter - joined the Navy on 7 September 1917 for the duration of hostilities (World War One) - last date mentioned is 1 April 1918 - Naval No. F37388 - formerly Royal Naval Voluntary Reserve Y17783 - ADM/188/629

Charles Reginald Saddington - born 27 December 1900 at Birmingham, Warwickshire - former occupation was Turner - joined the Navy on 27 December 1918 for 4 plus 4 years - appears to have transferred to the RAF - Naval No. F47012 - ADM/188/639

William Saddington - born 25 March 1899 at Barking, Essex - former occupation was Platelayer - joined the Navy on 25 March 1917 for a term of 12 years - invalided to Chatham on 20 October 1926 - Naval No. J33652 - ADM/188/714

Thomas Saddington - born 3 March 1895 at Canning Town, Essex - former occupation was Seaman - joined the Navy on 6 July 1915 for the duration of hostilities - demobilised on 24 March 1919 - Naval No. J42064 and/or 381785 - ADM/188/731

Frederick Henry Saddington - born 5 July 1895 at Birmingham, Warwickshire - former occupation was Factory Labourer - joined the Navy on 17 November 1915 for the duration of hostilities - demobilised on 24 February 1919 - Naval No. J46623 and/or 329157 - ADM/188/740

John Saddington - born 4 September 1891 at Bow, London - former occupation was Iron and Brass Moulder - joined the Navy on 6 September 1909 for a term of 12 years - invalided on 3 March 1920 - Naval No. K4206 - ADM/188/875

John Frederick Saddington - born 15 January 1895 at Battersea, London - former occupation was Shop Porter - joined the Navy on 15 January 1913 for a term of 12 years - last date mentioned is 6 April 1917 - is reported to have deserted from the Royal Navy and joined the Canadian Forces - Naval No. K17493 - ADM/188/901

David Saddington - born 13 June 1892 at Custom House, West Ham, Essex - former occupation was Dock Labourer - joined the Navy on 17 November 1915 for the duration of hostilities - demobilised on 18 March 1919 - Naval No. K29209 and/or 146150 - ADM/188/925

Fred Sadington - born 11 June 1899 at Leeds, Yorkshire - former occupation was Miner - joined the Navy on 10 August 1917 for the duration of hostilities - demobilised on 25 April 1919 - Naval No. K44996 and/or 256254 - ADM/188/956

Harry Saddington - born on 22 August 1894 at Leicester - former occupation was Farm Servant - joined the Navy on 1 October 1912 for 5 plus 7 years - demobilised on 23 August 1919 - joined the RFR (?) on 24 August 1919 - demobilised on 6 June 1921 - Naval No. SS112928 and/or 364422 - ADM/188/1118

Robert Edward Saddington - born on 10 April 1902 at Margate, Kent - former occupation was Builders Labourer - joined the Navy on 6 January 1921 for 5 plus 7 years - demobilised 5 October 1938 - Naval No. SS125678 - ADM/188/1131

If any of these seagoing gentlemen belong to your branch of the Saddington family, I would be delighted to hear from you and to share information with you.

Happy New Year! - Blog Update

2008-01-01T12:53:00.003Z

Here's wishing all of you a very Happy New Year! May it be an improvement on the last year in every way conceivable - more peaceful, healthier, and so on and so forth. On the family history front, I hope that you all find the relevant sledge hammers for your individual brick walls.

I felt that today would be a suitable time to review the Saddington One Name Study, this blog and the Saddington DNA Project, and to set myself some objectives for 2008.

The Saddington One Name Study has only been official since 2006, but I feel that significant progress has been made over this last year with the help of this blog. Like most of you, family history has to take its place alongside work, study and my commitments to my own family, so research and the inputting of information into the database has to be done as and when.

This blog has been running now for six and a half months, in which time there have been 1006 page loads, 446 unique visitors and 65 returning visitors. As might be expected, the majority (84.58%) of those visitors have come from the UK. But 6.25% are from the USA, 4.79% from Australia and 1.25% from New Zealand. The remaining visitors came from Germany, Canada, Argentina, Jamaica, Poland, Netherlands, Bulgaria, Ireland, Japan and Malaysia. Not bad for a blog dedicated to a very minority interest!

I have written 24 posts in that time, an average of 3.69 posts per month. As a result, I have been contacted by a number of people with Saddington connections, and have provided information and suggestions for research as appropriate, as well as receiving valuable information on a number of branches of the family.

The newest element of the Saddington One Name Study is the Saddington DNA Project, which now has two members. One member is the senior representative of my own branch of the Saddington family, and will be the initial guideline for the Foxton/Market Harborough Saddingtons. The other member is based in the USA and I believe that he may be a descendant of the Appleby Magna Saddingtons. All interested parties are invited to contact me via email (saddington@one-name.org).

So, for 2008, the aim is an average of 4 posts per month from me, and also attempting to get the piles of information that I already have input into the Saddington ONS database. From you, I would be grateful for more comments and feedback, either on the blog or via email. This would help me to improve the content of the blog, which will hopefully attract the attention of your second cousin twice removed, who you haven't seen or heard of in 40 years :-)

All the best,
Rowan

Wanted! - Descendants of John Jonathan and Jane (nee Hewlett) Saddington

2007-12-23T21:11:00.000Z

Firstly, please accept my apologies for the lack of posts this month. Full-time job, part-time study, family commitments and getting ready for Christmas have all got in the way of research and posting.

Secondly, I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year full of successful research. If there is anyone out there who is planning to attend the Family History Conference at University of Essex, Colchester at the end of August 2008, let me know and we can arrange to meet up.

Now to the post itself. Following the creation of the Saddington DNA Project last month, I am now looking for direct male line Saddingtons from my own Saddington family tree. The ideal is to test two distant males from each tree to validate the common ancestor. So my current plan is to work backwards through the generations in the hope of finding distant Saddingtons in my own tree that will agree to be tested.

John Jonathan Saddington (1831-1912) and his wife, Jane Hewlett (1839-1899) are my 2x great grandparents. They had 10 children, 5 sons and 5 daughters. Of these, 4 sons and 4 daughters had children. For some reason, my line lost touch with the majority of the rest, so what I am hoping is that descendants of the other children may have kept more in touch.

So, taking the children from the top, here goes:

Elizabeth Ann (1861-1912) married Simeon Cundy, and had three children: Elizabeth Clara (1893), Simeon (1894) and Jenny Louisa (1897). Elizabeth married Len Woods, Simeon married Nellie Pamplin and Jenny married Cecil Roberts.

John George (1862-1928) married Bessie Allen, and had five children: George Henry (1893), Winifred (1896), Frank Alan (1898-1905), John Philip (1905-1934) and Maisie. George married Mary Elizabeth Price.

Clara Jane (1864-1950) married Robert Henry Whitaker, and had four children: Robert Henry Hewlett (1891), Thomas John (1893), Clara Elizabeth (1895) and Grace Jane (1899). Robert married Ruby Florence Lane, Thomas married Mabel Bentley, Clara married Harold Higginbottom, and Grace married Harold Turnbull.

Joseph Walter (1866-?) is believed to have married, but to have died without issue.

John (1868-1947) married Mercy Simpson, and had nine children: John Charles (1892-1901), Elsa Mabel Grace (1893), William Edwin (1894), Elizabeth Amelia and Sarah Jane (1897-1897), Mercy Gwendoline (1898-1902), Robert Crispin (1899-1899), Lilian Blanche (1900), and Frederick Archibald (1905). Elsa Mabel Grace married (1) Thomas Anthoney and (2) Henry Cowland, Lilian Blanche married Philip Marshal Hall. William Edwin married, but his wife's name is as yet unknown.

Albert Edward (1872-1949) married Rosa Crush, and had five children: Albert E (1895), John (1896), William T (1899), Constance (1901) and Clara (1909-1926). Constance married a Mr Bailey.

William James (1874-1973) married Emma Leonard, and they were my great grandparents.

Sarah Jane (1877-1906) married John Thomas Moore, and died without issue.

Grace Maud (1879-1921) married Alexander Brown, and had three children: Alec (1908), Cyril (1909) and Peter Kinnear (1914).

Mabel Gertrude (1883-?) married David Brown, and had two children: David (1909) and Mabel (1915).

So, if any of these names are familiar to you, do please get in touch - there's no such thing as too many relatives!

Announcing the Saddington DNA Project!

2007-11-30T20:57:00.001Z

Proving whether your Saddingtons are connected to my Saddingtons!

One of the most frequent questions that I am asked by the people who contact me about the Saddington family is whether their Saddingtons are connected to my Saddingtons. Sometimes I can tell them that, yes, they are connected and that our common ancestor is X. More often, I have to say that, at the moment, I do not have sufficient evidence to prove a connection.

As one way of providing a more informative answer to this question, I have established the Saddington DNA Project at Family Tree DNA, and it is ready for participants to join and order a test kit.

Ideally, the goal is to have two distant line males test for each family tree. Being female and only a quarter Saddington, my family tree will need to be represented by other descendants of my great grandfather.

The Y DNA test tells you about your direct male line, which would be your father, his father, and so on back in time. You must be male to take this test and you should be a Saddington. If you believe that there is a Saddington in your direct male line, although you have a different surname, you are also welcome to participate. If you are female like me, you will need to find a direct line male to participate (father, brother, uncle, cousin etc) to represent your family tree.

If possible, it is recommended that you order a Y DNA test with 37 markers. If you order fewer markers, it is possible to upgrade later, though this will cost a little more. Ordering your test through the Saddington DNA Project means that you will get a discounted rate from the normal retail price.

Participating is an opportunity to uncover information not provided in the paper records, which will help with your research of your family tree. Together, we will also discover which family trees are related. As the project progresses, the results for the various family trees will provide information about the origin and distribution of the Saddington surname.

The goals of the Saddington DNA Project are:

* To discover information to help with our family history research
* To discover which family trees are related
* To discover information to help with brick walls
* To confirm any surname variants
* To validate family history research
* To get on file a DNA sample for trees at risk of extinction of the male line
* To discover information about our distant origins

The Saddington DNA Project also includes a General Fund, which will accept donations in any currency via credit card. These funds will be held at the testing company and will be used to help sponsor test kits for key males who are unable financially to participate. Should you wish to make a donation, click on the link to the Project and then click "Contribute to the Project General Fund" on the left to make a donation. Please specify "Saddington Project General Fund" in the top box of the Donation Form.

If you have any queries about DNA testing, Family Tree DNA has a Frequently Asked Questions section, which should be able to provide the answers.

I look forward to sharing this new method of family history research with you, and look forward to hearing from you all.

Ashby de la Zouch Registration District Marriages 1837-1881

2007-11-27T19:16:00.000Z

Courtesy of Part 1 of Sue Horsman's Ashby de la Zouch Marriage Challenge, here are a number of Saddington marriages, predominantly in Appleby Magna, LEI, but some in other nearby parishes.

August 16 1838 - John Saddington, son of Bateman Saddington, married Ann Litherland, daughter of Samuel Litherland, at Appleby Magna

November 29 1844 - John Byard, son of Thomas Byard, married Elizabeth Saddington, daughter of Joseph Saddington, at Appleby Magna

September 7 1868 - Thomas Saddington, son of Thomas Saddington, married Ann Gregson, daughter of Charles Gregson, at St Helens, Ashby de la Zouch

October 13 1868 - Thomas Taylor, son of Thomas Taylor, married Eliza Noon Saddington, daughter of Edward Saddington, at Appleby Magna

October 13 1868 - Josiah Orme, son of Michael Orme, married Emma Saddington, daughter of Edward Saddington, at Appleby Magna

September 6 1870 - John Saddington, son of John Saddington, married Mary Ann Ison, daughter of George Hayfield Ison, at Donisthorpe

February 2 1871 - Walter Satchwell, son of James Satchwell, married Ann Maria Saddington, daughter of John Saddington, at Appleby Magna

November 4 1875 Edward Saddington, son of Edward Saddington, married Frances Bowley, daughter of William Bowley, at Appleby Magna

February 1 1876 - Walter Woodcroft, son of John Woodcroft, married Clara Saddington, daughter of Thomas Saddington, at St Stephen, Woodville

February 19 1878 - William Pratt Saddington, son of William Saddington, married Sarah Anne Harrison, daughter of John Harrison, at Appleby Magna

January 12 1880 - Walter Baker, son of Walter Baker, married Frances Saddington, daughter of Thomas Saddington, at Hugglescote

October 4 1881 - George Ball, son of John Ball, married Ann Saddington, daughter of Edwin Saddington, at Measham

And also a couple of welcome extras, one which should be in Part 2 of the Marriage Challenge and one from Shardlow Registration District:

January 17 1906 - Ernest Saddington, son of Edwin Saddington, married Ada Amelia Allsop, daughter of Joseph Allsop, at Appleby Magna

June 25 1863 - John Saddington, son of John Saddington, married Harriet Hurst, daughter of William Hurst, at Breedon

Many thanks to Sue for all her hard work, and please contact me if you have any queries, information or comments.

Corporal James Saddington MM, No. 587, 40th Battalion, Australian Infantry, Australian Imperial Force (1893 - 1918)

2007-11-16T21:13:00.001Z

James Saddington was born on 31 July 1893 at Waratah, Tasmania, Australia. He was the second son and third child of Frederick Joseph James Saddington and his second wife, Mary Annie King.

James enlisted in the Australian Army at Claremont, Tasmania, on 4 April 1916. His attestation paper states that he was 22 years and 11 months old, worked as a labourer, and had previously been rejected for military service on account of his teeth. He is described as being 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing 154lb, having a fair complexion, yellowish eyes, and brown wavy hair. He had scars on his left wrist and on the tip of his left ear. He was a Roman Catholic by religion. James' next of kin was listed as his mother, Mrs Mary Saddington, then living in Natone, Tasmania.

During his first few months as a soldier, James would have been drilled and trained relentlessly. On 10 June 1916, whilst still stationed at Claremont, he was brought up on the charge of having been "insolent to a non-commissioned officer on parade in that he behaved in a manner contrary to military discipline when ordered to fall in at the 12.00 parade" on 7 June 1916. The witness to his unmilitary behaviour was one Company Serjeant Major Baldwin, and James was fined 5 shillings.

On 1 July 1916, James Saddington embarked on the HMAT Berrima at Hobart, Tasmania for the journey to England, arriving at Devonport (Plymouth), Devon on 22 August 1916, having been at sea for 53 days. At this point, he was part of the 4th Training Battalion, but was transferred to the 15th Infantry Battalion on 9 September 1916. On 1 October 1916, he was taken on the strength of the 40th Battalion. The 40th Battalion was Tasmania's contribution to the war effort. Both of these battalions were based in villages near Amesbury, to the north of Salisbury. A couple of months later, on 23 November 1916, James found himself, with his battalion, in Southampton being processed for embarkation to France.

By December 1916, the 40th Battalion was serving in the trenches with all that that entailed - mud, rats, trench foot - all the horrors that you can think of. Despite the unfortunate incident back home in Claremont, James made a good soldier, receiving a field promotion to Lance Corporal on 9 February 1917. However, it did not appear to be to his liking because he reverted to the rank of Private at his own request two months later on 13 April 1917.

In June 1917, the 40th Battalion took part in the Battle of Messines, an attack on the Messines Ridge planned as a precursor to the Third Battle of Ypres, better known as Passchendaele. The battle commenced with heavy shelling of the German positions from 23 May to 7 June 1917, and a key feature was the detonation of 19 huge mines under the German trenches. The Battle of Messines was a complete success, accomplishing all of its objectives in less than 12 hours, with only 17,000 casualties in total out of 216,000 men participating.

On 4 October 1917, the 40th Battalion took part in the Battle of Broodseinde Ridge, part of the Battle of Passchendale. Around 36,500 Australians were killed during the two main elements of Passchendaele, which took place between 12 October and 10 November 1917. James would have lived in a world of mud (in which men drowned), water, shellholes (1 million in a square mile), and the constant sight and stench of death - a Hell which drove men insane.

Towards the end of this horror, on 3 November 1917, James was promoted to the rank of Temporary Corporal. Two weeks later, on 17 November 1917, he went on special leave to England. He was back in France on 1 December 1917, so I hope that he made the most of his fortnight back in Blighty.

On 14 January 1918, James Saddington made his Will, leaving everything he owned to his mother, Mary. The Will was witnessed by Lieutenant H J Dell and Corporal Ernest E Best, both of the 40th Battalion. Five days later, James was promoted to Corporal.

On 8 February 1918, Corporal James Saddington was awarded the Military Medal. The citation reads that he received it "For conspicuous gallantry in action East of YPRES on 4th October 1917. Throughout the Operation both during the attack and afterwards he set a wonderful example to his Section of which he was leader for most of the time. His utter disregard for danger and his fine spirits were an inspiration to the whole of his Section." His award had been gazetted in the London Gazette on 28 January 1918, and was gazetted in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette on 27 June 1918.

However, Corporal James Saddington was killed in action at Messines on 21 February 1918, at the age of 24. In the Australian Red Cross Society Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau Files for World War One, there are 13 accounts of how he died, all slightly different. It seems that C Company, 40th Battalion, were holding the line near Warneton, in the Belgian province of Hainault, when James, who was acting trench Quarter Master, and his Sergeant, a man by the name of Woolley, were killed when a shell exploded outside his dugout. He was initially buried at Ploegsteert Wood, with the service being taken by one Father Howie.

Ploegsteert Wood became known as the Chateau Rosenberg Military Cemetery, but unfortunately James was not to be allowed to rest in peace. After World War One, the owner of Chateau Rosenberg returned and wanted the two cemeteries on his land, the Military Cemetery and its Extension, to be removed. Even a personal request from the King of the Belgians had no effect on the owner's intransigence.

So, in June 1930, more than 12 years after her son's death, Mary Saddington received a letter saying that her son's body had been exhumed from his resting place and reburied "with every measure of care and reverence" in Plot 2, Row B, Grave 55 of the Royal Berks Cemetery Extension, a permanent British military cemetery. Finally, Corporal James Saddington MM was laid to rest alongside nearly 900 fellow soldiers, casualties of the War to end all Wars.

"And at the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them."

[The information for this post is courtesy of National Archives of Australia, Australian War Memorial website, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Waratah - Birthplace of Tasmanian Mining website, and Wikipedia.]

Cornelius Saddington (?1637 - ?)

2007-11-07T20:40:00.000Z

The aim of this post is to bring together a number of different sources which appear to relate to the same individual with the objective of providing a basis for future research.

The individual concerned is one Cornelius Saddington. Cornelius is an unusual first name in the first instance, and even more so for Saddingtons to the best of my knowledge.

The IGI documents the baptism of a Cornelius Saddington on 5 September 1637 in the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Lutterworth, Leicestershire. He was the son of Henry Saddington and his wife, Anne. There are also references to an Anne Saddington, daughter of Henry, baptised 13 July 1628; a Nathaniell Saddington, son of Henry, baptised 24 August 1632; a Sara Saddington, daughter of Henry, baptised 15 November 1633; a Joseph Saddington, son of Henry, baptised in 1634; and a Ruth Saddington, daughter of Henry and Anne, baptised 19 May 1639. Six baptisms over an 11 year period seems quite reasonable for a family of that period.

The first few years of Cornelius' life remain a blur. The Civil War was being fought, with the Battle of Edgehill (about midway between Stratford upon Avon and Banbury), the first major battle in the Civil War, taking place in 1642, when Cornelius was between 4 and 5 years old, and the execution of King Charles 1 in 1649, when Cornelius was about 12 years old.

According to the minutes of the Society of the Apothecaries of London, when Cornelius was probably about 14 years old, he was apprenticed to an apothecary in Coventry, one Thomas Pigeon, of whom nothing more is currently known. His apprenticeship would have lasted for 7 years, during which time he would have lived in his master's household and learned the trade of apothecary.

On 30 September 1661, according to the IGI, Cornelius married Mary Gregory, daughter of Loveisgod Gregory of Stivichall, Warwickshire, at Holy Trinity Church, Coventry. He would then have been about 24 years old. The Gregorys of Stivichall were a well known local family with quite considerable estates, so Cornelius must have been doing well for himself, or come from a similar background, to be able to marry into such a family.

In January 1662/63, Cornelius was living in Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire, described as a mercer and apothecary, which is an unusual combination of trades. However, on 14 March 1664, he was baptising his son, Cornelius, at the Church of St Andrew, Holborn, London. Yet, less than a month later, on 5 April, he is back in Ashby de la Zouch, described as an apothecary only, signing a receipt relating to his wife's inheritance.

The following year, by 27 October 1665, the family has moved to London, where Cornelius is still described as an apothecary, and is signing a quitclaim and an acquittance in relation to his wife's marriage portion, which appears to have amounted to £400, which would be just under £46,000 at 2006 prices. This was the year that the Great Plague started in London and then spread throughout the country.

The family survived both the plague and the Great Fire of London of 1666. Cornelius and Mary's son, Samuell, was baptised at St Andrew's, Holborn on 18 July 1667.

Then on 15 September 1668, Cornelius Saddington was examined as to his fitness to be an apothecary by Thomas Wharton, censor. He then presented himself to the Society of Apothecaries of London on 22 December 1668, with an "order" from the Lord Mayor of London, in which was indicated his desire to become a Freeman of the Society by Redemption, in the same way as Bateman Saddington of Appleby Magna, Leicestershire, did in 1758 (see my post on 31 August 2007). Unfortunately, the Society were not impressed and told him to go away and "better himself".

When Cornelius returned to the Society on 2 March 1670 for re-examination, he was "approved and found qualified to sell medicines". However, he was not made a Freeman of the Society, which seems to indicate that he was not considered completely up to scratch by the experts.

The last that is currently known about Cornelius Saddington is the baptism of his son, Grigory, at St Andrew's, Holborn, on 2 December 1670. At this point, Cornelius would have been 33 years old, and would have lived through some of the great events in British history. A lot of research remains to be done on Cornelius Saddington, his background and his family.

The information contained in this post has been amassed from the following sources: International Genealogical Index, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Records Office (records of the Gregory Family of Stivichall, Warwickshire), Society of Apothecaries of London, and "The History of Medical Education in Britain", edited by Vivien Nutton and Roy Porter (specifically the article entitled 'An Examined and Free Apothecary' by Juanita Burnby), for access to which I thank the British Library and the Inter-Library Loan System.

William Pratt and Sarah Ann Saddington of Appleby Magna, Leicestershire

2007-10-17T22:17:00.000+01:00

In Loving Memory of
Sarah Ann
Wife of William Pratt Saddington
Who Passed Away Dec. 8 1921
Aged 71 Years
Also of William Pratt Saddington
Who Passed Away March 5 1928
Aged 88 Years

[This memorial was difficult to read and photograph, because the majority of the lead lettering had fallen off, and the lower steps of the memorial had been covered over by grass.]

William Pratt Saddington was born in Appleby Magna, LEI in the March quarter of 1841, the son of William Saddington, a maltster, and his wife, Elizabeth (nee Pratt). He appears to have had one brother, Thomas Pratt, born in the December quarter of 1838.

In the 1851 census, William the father is described as a maltster and bricklayer, employing two labourers. In 1861, William is just a maltster again, and his sons are described as maltster's sons. By 1871, Elizabeth has died and William is described as the owner and farmer of 20 acres. Both his sons are described as brickmakers.

On 19 February 1878, William Pratt Saddington married Sarah Anne Harrison in the Parish Church at Appleby Magna. William P was described as a butcher, while his father was described as a maltster. He claims to be 35 years old [should be 37] and she is 27 years old.

William P and Sarah Ann's first child, Elizabeth Pratt, was christened on Christmas Day 1878 in the Parish Church. Their second child, Lilian Kate, was born in the June quarter of 1880. Her birth must have taken place around the time of her grandfather's death, as William Saddington the elder died intestate on 17 May 1880 in Appleby. William P was granted administration of his father's Personal Estate on 20 November 1880, and is described in the National Probate Calendar as a butcher.

In 1881, William P is described as a butcher. His next child, Eleanor Harrison, was born in January 1882. John William Pratt Saddington followed in the Spring of 1884, and Mary in the Summer of 1885. Tom Harrison Saddington was born in the Spring of 1888, and William P and Sarah Ann's last child, Vincent Charles, was born in the Autumn of 1889.

In 1891, William P is described as a butcher and farmer, and the family is living in Overstreet, Appleby Magna. Tragedy then strikes the family with the death of Eleanor Harrison Saddington in December 1892; her burial taking place on 30 December 1892.

In 1901, William P is described as a farmer and butcher. Of his daughters, Elizabeth Pratt is living in Muston, LEI, managing a dairy, Lilian Kate is in Bulkington, WAR, working as a ladies help, and Mary is at home with her parents. Of his sons, John William Pratt is living in Lambeth, London, working as a clerk and the other two, Tom and Vincent, are at home with their parents.

On 8 December 1921, Sarah Ann Saddington dies at her home, Bateman House, in Appleby Magna. Her will is probated on 28 June 1922 by her husband, William P, who is described as a farmer, and her Estate amounts to £215 2s 8d. She is buried in the cemetery over the road from the Parish Church.

On 5 March 1929, William Pratt Saddington dies at Appleby Magna. His will is probated on 15 January 1930 by his three sons, John William Pratt and Tom Harrison, civil servants, and Vincent Charles, school master. His Estate amounts to £942 13s 1d. He is buried in the same grave as his wife, Sarah Ann.

Saddington graves at Appleby Magna, Leicestershire

2007-10-07T10:54:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, my parents and I went to Appleby Magna in Leicestershire to see what could be found in the way of Saddington graves. According to the records, Saddingtons lived and died in Appleby Magna for around 200 years, although there are none living there now.

Our first stop was the Parish Church of St Michael and All Angels. It is a charming place with box pews and a gallery, but in need of some restoration. Unfortunately, there were no memorials or other references to Saddingtons within the church, not even on the Roll of Honour.

Outside, we were somewhat dismayed to find that the churchyard had been cleared and that the majority of the gravestones had been laid flat around the perimeter of the church. However, we did manage to find three Saddington gravestones and both recorded the inscriptions and took photographs. The most recent of these stones was dated 1869.

Over the road from the church is the small local cemetery, well kept and still in use. Here we had more luck, locating seven Saddington graves. These were also recorded and photographed. However, these graves commenced in 1905, which leaves a period of about 35 years unaccounted for. I do not yet know when the churchyard was closed and the cemetery opened, so am unsure which location holds the burials for these missing years.

The ten graves located contained a total of 21 Saddingtons, and the inscriptions mentioned a total of 25 Saddingtons, including husbands and parents of the deceased.

My intention is to use the inscriptions and photographs of the gravestones as a basis for posts on that particular section of the Saddington family in Appleby Magna. Please note that the clarity of the photographs will depend very much on the age and condition of the gravestones themselves.

Saddington sex change shock - Richard becomes Laura!

2007-09-28T15:55:00.000+01:00

On the whole, Saddington men are generally called John, Thomas, Joseph, William or Samuel (a sweeping statement, I know), so when I thought that I was on the hunt for a Richard Saddington, I was delighted as he should have been easy to find. I was wrong - you can't find someone who doesn't exist!

Why was I looking for Richard Saddington? Well, taking advantage of the free access to Ancestry now available at Nottinghamshire County Libraries, I came across the 1907 marriage of Emma Jane Saddington to William Brown in Huntsville, Muskoka, Ontario, Canada. Emma claimed to be 31 years old, born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England, and the daughter of Richard Saddington and Laura Colbert. One of the witnesses was a Kate Saddington, also of Huntsville.

So I went looking for Emma born circa 1876 in Wolverhampton in the various censuses on-line. The first to pop up was a 1891 census reference, but when I checked it out, my hopes of finding Richard Saddington died a death, as you will see:

RG12/1237 Folio 70 Page 19
Sch No 124 - London Street (3 rooms), Godmanchester, Huntingdon
Laura Saddington Head S 36 Laundress Employed Hunts, Stukeley
Emma Saddington Daur - 15 - - Staffs, Wolverhampton
Kate Saddington Daur - 10 - - Huntingdon

No Richard, but Laura instead! Well, Laura is an uncommon name for a Saddington, so she shouldn't be too hard to find either. I was wrong again! No Laura Saddington in 1871, 1881 or 1901! However I did locate a birth reference and a reference for the 1861 census.

Laura Saddington was born in the September quarter of 1852 in Little Stukeley, which is just outside Huntingdon, and is within the Huntingdon Registration District (3b 229). In 1861, she was living with her family in Little Stukeley, as below:

RG9/975 Folio 130 Page 11
Sch No 57

Charles Saddington Head M 39 Labourer ag Hunts Woodwalton
Elizabeth Saddington Wife F 34 - Hunts Lt Stukeley
Charles Saddington Son M 9 - Hunts Lt Stukeley
Laura Saddington Daughter F 8 - Hunts Lt Stukeley
Dennis Saddington Son M 6 - Hunts Lt Stukeley
Elma Jane Saddington Daughter F 5 - Hunts Lt Stukeley
Emily Mary Saddington Daughter F 2 - Hunts Lt Stukeley

Using this information, I tried the 1871 census, but without success - Laura was not at home with her family, and her whereabouts remain a mystery. However, a bit of experimenting with search terms located Laura in 1881. Mistranscribed as Haddington, Laura and her little family were in the Huntingdon Union Workhouse, as below:

RG11/1604 Folio 53 Pages 37 and 38

Laura Saddington Inmate Unm 28 Cook Domestic Serv Hunts Little Stukeley
Elizabeth J Saddington Inmate - 5 Scholar Staffordshire Wolverhampton
Alfred G Saddington Inmate - 3 Scholar Hunts Huntingdon
Kate Saddington Inmate - 1 - Hunts Huntingdon

I believe that Elizabeth J and Emma Jane are the same person. As yet, however, I have been unable to find birth references for any of Laura's 3 children, even though all of them were born after the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1874 came into force in 1875. But I did find a marriage reference for Laura Saddington in the September quarter of 1896 (Huntingdon, 3b 574), which explained why I couldn't find her in the 1901 census.

By 1901, Laura had started a new family with her husband, one Richard Binge, in the St Mary's district of Huntingdon.

RG13/1475 Folio 90 Page 29
Sch No 191 - 25 East Street, Newtown

Richard Binge Head M 35 Bricklayers Labourer Worker Huntingdon
Laura Binge Wife M 47 - - Hunts, Little Stukeley
Richard Saddington Binge Son - 1 - - Huntingdon
Emma Measures Boarder S 73 Living on Own Means - Leicester
James Allen Horner Boarder S 66 Grocers Labourer Worker Hunts, Alconbury

But there was no sign of Emma, Alfred or Kate anywhere in 1901. I did, however, finally have a Richard Saddington, but he was only a baby and his surname was Binge!

So I went back to the Ontario marriages, and spotted a marriage for one Kathleen Laura Saddington in 1908, also in Muskoka, Ontario. Was this Kate, and was she perpetuating her sister's cover-up?

With the kind assistance of fellow Guild members, I was able to discover that the answer to both of my questions was Yes! Kathleen Laura Saddington, age 27, claimed to be the daughter of Richard Saddington and Laura Colbourn! The cover-up continued, but it had to, because Kathleen Laura, or Kate, married her brother in law's brother, Charles Brown!

Further information supplied from the 1911 census of Canada tells me that Emma Jane was born in March 1876, emigrated to Canada in 1906, and that she and William had, by 1911, one son, Clarence S (born May 1908), and one daughter, Jessie B (born March 1911). Kate was born in June 1881, emigrated to Canada in 1907, and she and Charles had one daughter, Hazel, born February 1910.

Are you descended from Emma Jane or Kate Saddington? I would be delighted to know what happened to them after 1911, so please get in touch.

Searching for Sarah's Nieces or In Praise of Maiden Aunts

2007-09-14T19:41:00.000+01:00

The following post is a bit of a cheat, because it is actually an article I wrote which appeared in the December 2006 edition of the Leicestershire & Rutland FHS Journal. However, the reasoning behind the article remains sound. Please note that I am now back at college two nights a week, and forgive me for any shortcomings in the number of posts made.

In Praise of Maiden Aunts or Why every family historian should have at least one! – A work in progress.

"The phrase ‘maiden aunt’ sounds terribly old-fashioned and Victorian, and fits in with those other similar phrases such as “left on the shelf” and “ape-leader”, and that word more familiar to a family historian, “spinster”.

She’s the end of the line, nowhere to go from here, or so it may seem. However, every family historian should search out and treasure their maiden aunts, both living and long gone. The chances are that she is the child that stayed at home and looked after her parents in their old age, and who carried on living in the family home; the one who accumulated and treasured family papers; the one who knew all the family stories. Just because she never got married doesn’t mean that the juicy bits of family gossip passed her by!

But the best thing is that, should you be fortunate enough to have a maiden aunt who left a Will, it is likely that she will have left various parts of her estate to various different branches of the family, male and female. And this is where your research benefits. Often, family heirlooms and other bits and pieces end up in with a family, which appears to have no connection with yours whatsoever, and that you know nothing about, because they were passed down to a niece or great niece, who married into a different family. Your maiden aunt’s Will might well give her female beneficiaries’ married names, and possibly their addresses!

These thoughts are what occurred to me a couple of years ago, whilst waiting for a lecture to start at the Federation of Family History Societies’ Conference at Loughborough in 2004. I had some documents with me, foolishly thinking that I might have the time to do some active research, and amongst those documents were some Wills.

The Wills included that of Sarah Saddington of Foxton, who died on 12 June 1906. She had written her Will on 30 November 1894, and added a codicil on 24 July 1899. Sarah was born circa 1820 in Great Bowden, the 11th and youngest child of John Saddington and Frances Goward. From the censuses, I already knew that she had spent most of her life keeping house for her elder brother, John, a blacksmith and coal dealer in Foxton, and a bachelor who had died in 1889, leaving her his entire estate.

When I first received Sarah’s Will from the Probate Registry, I had read through it and copied the relevant information onto one of the useful forms previously supplied by Allen and Todd. Then I put it to one side. It wasn’t until I was flicking through my folder before the lecture at Loughborough when it occurred to me that, although I knew exactly who all the men mentioned in the Will were and how they fitted into the family tree, I could only identify two of the eight women listed as beneficiaries. This was a serious failing on my part, so I set out to track down Sarah’s nieces.

The women listed (in the same order as in the Will) were Sarah Rusby (niece), Elizabeth Saddington (wife of Thomas Saddington), Ann Archer (niece), Mary Farthings (niece), Ann Taylor (niece), Sarah Warton (niece), Fanny Laxton (niece) and Fanny Cooper (great niece).

I already knew that Elizabeth Saddington (nee Smith) was the wife of Sarah’s nephew, Thomas, also mentioned in the Will, and the eldest son of Sarah’s eldest brother, Thomas, my 3x great grandfather, and his wife, Hannah Deacon. I also knew that Ann Archer (nee Saddington) was the younger of Thomas Saddington the elder’s two daughters. But who were the other six women, and whose daughters were they?

Two years down the line, I know that Mary Farthing, Fanny Laxton and Sarah Wharton are the daughters of Joseph Saddington and Mary Lawrance; Joseph being Sarah Saddington’s youngest brother, and only 4 years older than her. I also have a fairly solid theory that Sarah Rusby is actually Sarah Busby (nee Lewin), and the daughter of Hannah Saddington and Benjamin Lewin of Wellingborough, Northants; Hannah being the eldest of Sarah’s five sisters. As to the final two, Ann Taylor may also be a daughter of Joseph Saddington and Mary Lawrance; they baptised a daughter called Ann in 1848. But Fanny Cooper still remains a mystery, for the time being.

So what have I learned so far?

I have learned that even your maiden aunt doesn’t necessarily know how to spell your married name; that it is easy to lose someone, even on the 1881 census, if their unexpected and unfamiliar birthplace is transported to a different county (Gilmorton in Worcestershire, anyone?), and that, even after 20 years research, the chances are that there are still things about your family history that you don’t know.

Two generations and fifty years down the line, Sarah Saddington’s great niece, Emily Ann Saddington, spinster daughter of Thomas Saddington and Elizabeth (nee Smith) left a Will, which mentioned seven nieces and a great nephew! Didn’t I say that every family historian should have at least one maiden aunt!"

Bateman Saddington, apothecary of Fleet Street (1728 - 1804)

2007-08-31T18:56:00.000+01:00

Over a period of time, I have accumulated various pieces of information about Bateman Saddington, and the time has come to put them together and try to get a proper view of the man.

Bateman Saddington was baptised on 1 September 1728 at Desford, LEI, the third of six children of Joseph Saddington and his wife, Faith Fellow (IGI). Bateman is an unusual first name, but one which continued to appear in this branch of the Saddington family until the end of the 19th century. As yet, it has not been possible to discover the origin of the name's use as a first name.

Not much is known about Bateman's childhood. His father, Joseph, was a tailor at Desford. He is known to have taken on at least one apprentice, and to have served his turn as churchwarden. Joseph must have been reasonably prosperous as two of his sons became butchers and Bateman was apprenticed to an apothecary. At some point after completing his apprenticeship, he then moved to London.

According to the records of the Society of Apothecaries of London, Bateman served a 7 year apprenticeship with one John Marshall, apothecary of Mountsorrel, Leicester. On April 4 1758, he attended the Society's Private Court, seeking admission to the freedom of the Society by redemption, i.e. by payment of a lump sum. This was necessary because, having qualified as an apothecary outside London, he was classed as a "foreigner". Bateman was examined by the Private Court, which was comprised of the Master and two Wardens, who gave their approval of his admission.

Having paid a Fine of £11 14s 0d (£1,432.73 in 2006), an additional 40s (£244.91) towards the Society's Physic Garden at Chelsea and other fees, Bateman was "sworn", i.e he recited the Oath of a Freeman, and was made free by Redemption of the Society of Apothecaries. He became a member of the Yeomanry, the lower ranks of the Society, and was then entitled to seek to become a Freeman of the City of London. His place of residence or shop was given as Fleet Street, and he remained at that address for professional purposes for the rest of his life.

Turning from Bateman's professional life to his private life, it appears that he had married a lady called Elizabeth - the details of their marriage and her surname are as yet unknown. The IGI states that their daughter, Elizabeth, was christened at Saint Andrew, Holborn on 31 December 1758, and her sister, Mary, was christened there on 8 October 1760. Whether Bateman and Elizabeth had any other children remains to be discovered.

On 3 September 1766, Bateman appeared at the Old Bailey as a witness for the prosecution in the case of Alice Weaver. Alice was accused of stealing a pair of shoes belonging to Bateman, valued at 4s (£18.88 in 2006), on or about July 13 1766. Bateman said that they were new shoes, never worn, and that he had identified them by his name written in them. Alice was subsequently acquitted, mainly because the prosecutor could not remember what she had said when charged with the crime by Sir John Fielding, the blind magistrate who sat at Bow Street.

Returning to his professional life, in 1770, having become a Freeman of the City of London, Bateman was promoted to the Livery, or upper ranks of the Society. On 1 September 1790, he took on an apprentice, William Westwood, for the term of 8 years and a consideration of £150 (£13,439.84 in 2006). This was not the first time that he had had an apprentice. On 21 July 1757, when living in St Giles, he had illegally taken on one Joseph Redmond as an apprentice for a term of 7 years and a consideration of £30 (£3,139.15 in 2006). This had been illegal, because, at that time, he was not a Freeman of the Society of Apothecaries and should not have been trading, let alone taking on an apprentice.

In 1796, Bateman was promoted to the Court of Assistants, which was the Society's governing body. On August 13 1802, he was elected Renter Warden, which was the junior of the two Wardens. The following year, on August 12 1803, he was elected Upper Warden, and would have been elected Master of the Society of Apothecaries in August 1804, had he not died in the February. His role as Upper Warden was taken over by Mr Augustine Towson, the then Renter Warden, for the remainder of the term, and a new Renter Warden, Mr A Moore, was chosen.

The final piece of the jigsaw is Bateman's Will, which was proved on 16 February 1804 at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. Bateman wrote his Will on 16 March 1800, and it was witnessed by Sarah Myers and John Hurst. As the Will is very long, I will just pick out the highlights.

Bateman's wife, Elizabeth, appears to have predeceased him, as the first beneficiary is "my daughter Elizabeth Hodgson but who is known as Elizabeth Saddington", a description which seems to indicate a possible marriage to a Mr Hodgson, maybe of short duration. Elizabeth inherits her father's three houses at Canterbury Place, Walworth, Surrey, and his house (No. 28) at Manor Place during her lifetime. She also inherits "all [his] Stocks standing in [his] name in the Company of Apothecarys with the dividends due on the Navy [?] and Laboratory Stocks that may become due at the time of [his] decease".

The next set of beneficiaries are, shall I say, of as yet unknown provenance. They consist of Sarah Dismore of No. 22 Balburns Gardens, and her three sons, Thomas Spicer Dismore, Joseph Dismore and George Dismore, all three of whom appear to be under 21 in 1800, when Bateman's Will was written. Sarah inherits any monies in his name in the 5% Navy Stock at the Bank of England, together with any dividends due. The three boys each inherit £200 (£9,977.63 in 2006) of the £600 that he has in the 5% Irish Stock in the Bank of England, to be paid to them when they reach 21, less £50 each to be used to apprentice them as their mother sees fit, and she to have the dividends for their support and maintenance during their minority.

Thomas is also to inherit No. 28 Manor Place when Elizabeth Hodgson/Saddington dies. Joseph Dismore will inherit No. 3 Canterbury Place, and George Dismore will inherit No. 1 Canterbury Place, also after Elizabeth's death.

Then the Will turns back to family, specifically to Joseph Jenkins, "my Grandson who I have brought up". My theory is that Joseph Jenkins is the son of Bateman's other daughter, Mary, so another marriage needs to be located and the matching burials. Joseph inherits No. 2 Canterbury Place, where Bateman is living at the time that he makes his Will, after his aunt Elizabeth's death. Joseph is also to receive £100 "to be paid by my Partner John Anderson my aforesaid daughter Eliz for the Lease of my House in Fleet Street deducting five pounds for every year from the sale of the aforesaid Lease to the time of my decease for the time elapsed". I am not sure from this just how much money Joseph actually received.

The Will concludes by leaving Charlotte Anderson, the sister of his Partner, John Anderson, £100 "to be paid out of my Book debts and Effects at my House in Fleet Street"; John Anderson inherits "what other debts may be coming to me", but only after Bateman's debts and funeral expenses have been paid; and finally he leaves £5 (£249.44 in 2006) to his brother, Thomas Saddington, for mourning.

A codicil names his Executors as his nephew, John Lister, and John Hart of the Stamp Office. The precise nature of his relationship with John Lister is unknown. Bateman had two sisters, Elizabeth and Maria, but nothing is known about them. Alternatively, John Lister could have been his wife Elizabeth's nephew.

So, although a lot is known about Bateman Saddington, a lot remains to be discovered. Who did he marry, when and where? Who did his daughters marry, and what more can be found out about their lives? Who are the Dismores, and what is their relationship to him? Where was he buried? And so on and so forth.

My thanks go to Dee Cook, Archivist at the Society of Apothecaries of London, to Stanley Saddington, author of "Some Saddington Families", and to Shelagh Mason's Mum, who transcribed Bateman's Will for me. The monetary calculations were done at Measuring Worth.

For those of you descended from the Appleby Magna Saddingtons, Bateman's brother, John, was the founder of this branch.

Any further information on Bateman Saddington, apothecary of Fleet Street, or any of his descendants or relations will be most welcome.

Herbert was a bad lad!

2007-08-22T21:03:00.000+01:00

Herbert Saddington was born on 31 January 1884 in Chorlton upon Medlock, Lancashire. (GRO ref: March quarter 1884, Chorlton Registration District, Vol 8c, Page 813). His parents are currently unknown.

On 5 April 1891, Herbert was living at 6 Rosamund Place, Chorlton upon Medlock, Manchester, the adopted son of Samuel Hartwell, Carter, aged 63, born in Derbyshire, and his wife, Anne, also aged 63, born in Cheshire (RG12/3183, Folio 59, Page 4). However, as Herbert was only 7, it seems to me that there must have been some kind of connection for two such relatively elderly people to have taken in a small boy.

According to his Continuous Service Record (ADM188/355), Herbert joined the training ship, HMS Impregnable, as Boy 2nd Class on 28 April 1899. He became Boy 1st Class, and served on the Impregnable in that capacity from 1 February 1900 to 26 September 1900. His conduct was described as VG [Very Good].

On 27 September 1900, Herbert transferred to the frigate,HMS Agincourt until 6 November 1900, moving to the battleship, HMS Nile, on 7 November 1900. On 31 March 1901, according to the census index, Herbert was in Devonport, Devon, and his occupation was Boy 1st Class. He was still serving on board HMS Nile, and remained there until 28 June 1901.

On 29 June 1901, Herbert moved to another battleship, HMS Magnificent, and his conduct was again described as Very Good.

Indeed, Herbert was still on board HMS Magnificent when he enlisted for a 12 year stretch in the Royal Navy on 31 January 1902. His occupation was described as OS [Ordinary Seaman], "Arethusa", although there is as yet no evidence that he trained on the Arethusa. For further information on the "Arethusa", please see here.

When Herbert enlisted in January 1902, he was 18 years old, 5 foot 4 1/2 inches tall, with light brown hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion. He also had an anchor and a bracelet tattooed on his left wrist.

However, this was when things began to come apart at the seams. Between 31 January 1902 and 24 February 1902, his conduct was only described as Good, and he spent 7 days in the cells for an unspecified reason. During the period 4 March 1902 and 7 December 1902, his conduct was described as Indifferent.

On 8 December 1902, Herbert was court martialled and sentenced to 12 months hard labour for (1) "Using threatening & insulting language & behaving with contempt to his Superior Officer" and (2) "Striking his Superior Officer being in the execution of his office". It is likely that Herbert would have served his sentence at one of the two naval prisons at Bodmin in Cornwall or Lewes in Sussex.

However, less than 12 months later, on 31 October 1903, Herbert is back on board ship, this time on HMS Viva II as an Ordinary Seaman. He remains on board until 15 December 1903, and his conduct is again Indifferent. On 16 December 1903, he transferred to the cruiser, HMS Bonaventure, where he was promoted to Able Seaman. He stayed with HMS Bonaventure until 14 February 1904, when he spent another 7 days in the cells, before being transferred to the destroyer, HMS Griffon, which was to be his last ship.

Herbert served on board HMS Griffon from 21 February 1904 to 6 June 1904. He then spent a further 14 days in the cells, returning to duty on 21 June 1904. It is unclear from his Record what Herbert did wrong next, but he is not counted as serving between 28 August 1904 and 27 November 1904. Herbert is then back on board HMS Griffon, but he does not stay long. The last date given for service is 12 January 1905, and in the Remarks section of Herbert's Continuous Service Record, it says "13.2.05 Approves discharge - services no longer required".

It all started out so well, but only 3 years into a 12 year enlistment, Herbert was discharged from the Royal Navy, having spent 35 days in the cells and about 10 months in a naval prison. As yet, I do not know where Herbert went and what he did with the rest of his life, but it will be very interesting to find out. I also hope to make further enquiries into his various misdeeds whilst in the Navy. Any further information on this bad lad will be gratefully received!

Eaton Saddington (circa 1831 - 1892) [Updated 14 August 2007]

2007-08-10T21:18:00.000+01:00

Another piece about a Saddington who crossed the Herring Pond to find a new life.

Eaton Saddington was born in Denford, Northamptonshire, circa 1831, son of Samuel and Susan Saddington. There is a possible record of his christening, in that the IGI has a reference to a Stanton Saddington, son of Samuel and Susannah, who was christened in Denford on 18 December 1831, but this needs to be looked into in more detail.

The first definite reference that I have to Eaton is in the 1841 census for Denford - HO107/803, Folio 8, Page 9, Schedule No. 43.

Samuel Sadington 34 Labour Y
Susan do 3 - Y [incomplete age on original image]
George do 11 - Y
Eaton do 9 - Y
Elizabeth 2 - Y

According to the 1851 census, the family has moved to Leicester, and is living at 8 Barbers Yard [?], Belgrave Gate in the parish of St Margaret (HO107/2089, Folio 144, Page 15, Schedule No. 51).

Samuel Saddington Head Mar 44 Laborer Northants Denford
Susannah do Wife Mar 42 - do Woodford
Eaton do Son U 17 Laborer do Denford
Eliza do Daur - 12 At Home do do
Elizabeth do Daur - 10 do do do
Thomas do Son - 5 - do do

However, Samuel and Susannah did not stay in Leicester. On 25 September 1851, the family set sail out of Liverpool on the "Ashburton", bound for New York. The passenger list shows that some amendments have been made to the family's ages, perhaps to make them more acceptable to the authorities on the other side of the Atlantic.

Saml Saddington 40 M Laborer Eng
Susan Saddington 39 F - Eng
Eaton Saddington 16 M - Eng
Eliza Saddington 10 F - Eng
Elizabeth Saddington 7 F - Eng
Thos Saddington 5 M - Eng

[New York Passenger Lists 1820-1957 - Ancestry.co.uk]

In 1857, according to the IGI, Eaton marries Emma Jane Rich in Lapper [Lapeer], Lapeer County, Michigan. He has been indexed as Ealon at this time.

The 1860 United States federal census, taken on 13 August 1860, indicates that the whole family has migrated to Michigan, and are now living next door to each other in Davison, Genesee County. The two amounts listed for Samuel and Eaton relate to the value of their real estate and personal estate respectively.

Samuel Sidington 54 M Farmer 300 200 England
Susannah do 52 F - - - do
Thomas do 15 M do Labr -- do

Eaton do 28 M do do 300 100 do
Emogine do 18 F - - - NY
Rosina do 3/12 F - - - Mich

[Roll M653_544, Page 0, Image 310]

On 8 June 1870, the federal census shows the two families still living next door to one another in Davison, Genesee County, Michigan. For some reason, Samuel has been enumerated as Eaton - this might relate to what questions were asked and who answered them. "W", in this instance, stands for "White".

Sidington Eaton 64 M W Farmer 300 175 England
do Susannah 62 F W Keeping House - - England

Sidington Eaton 39 M W Farmer 400 280 England
do Emma Jane 28 F W Keeping House - - New York
do Susannah 8 F W At School - - Michigan
do Ida May 4 F W - - - Michigan
Sidington Elizabeth 1 F W - - - Michigan

In 1880, according to Family Search, the federal census shows Eaton's family still in Davison, Genesee. The last two pieces of information given indicate the birthplaces of the person's father and mother in that order. There is therefore some issue with the mother's birthplace given for the three daughters, as they should all read NY if Emma Jane is their mother, which must be the case.

Eaton Saddington Self M Male W 49 ENG Farm Laborer ENG ENG
Emma J Saddington Wife M Female W 38 NY Keeping House NY MI
Mary E Saddington Dau S Female W 11 MI At School ENG MI
Betsey L Saddington Dau S Female W 8 MI - ENG ENG
Lilly Saddington Dau S Female W 5 MI - ENG ENG

Eaton lived out the rest of his life in Genesee County, Michigan. Most of the 1890 federal census was destroyed in a fire in 1921, so there is no record of the family at that point. However, the Flint Genealogical Society's Genesee County Death Index indicates that Eaton died on 20 September 1892.

A reference in the Dibean Marriage Index for Genesee County seems to show Eaton's daughter, Lilly, marrying only 3 months after her father's death.

SADDINGTON, LILLIE - BURTON, GEORGE H - GENESEE - 28 DEC 1892

Please could anyone with any additional knowledge about Eaton Saddington, his birth family or the family he created in Michigan please contact me.

Saddingtons who died in World War One

2007-07-31T21:17:00.003+01:00

Hopefully, this is a forerunner of more detailed posts in honour of the 21 Saddington men who fought and died in World War One.

The information given here is taken from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website and "Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914-1919". This latter was an 80 volume set of books published in 1921 by HM Stationery Office, which recorded details of all the soldiers who died in World War One. Each regiment had its own volume. Officers who died in World War One were listed in a separate volume.

So, in alphabetical order by name:

Ben Saddington - Private 50630 - 10th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment - formerly Private 3448 of the Northamptonshire Regiment - died of wounds on Thursday 14th June 1917 in France - aged 23 years - buried in Longuenesse (St Omer) Souvenir Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France

Claridge Saddington - Private 18845 - 3rd Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment - died on Tuesday 14 March 1916 in England - aged 24 years - buried in Holy Trinity Churchyard, Denford, Northamptonshire

Charles William Saddington - Private 30618 - 7th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment - killed in action on Thursday 3 May 1917 in France - remembered on the Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France

Charles William Saddington - Private 202906 - A Company, 1st/4th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment - formerly Private 3639, Leicestershire Yeomanry - killed in action on Sunday 22 April 1917 in France - aged 29 years - buried in Mazingarbe Communal Cemetery Extension, Pas de Calais, France

David Thomas Saddington - Lance Corporal G/14206 - 19th Battalion, The Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment) - killed in action on Thursday 3rd October 1918 in Belgium - aged 39 years - buried in Bedford House Cemetery, Ypres, Belgium

Frederick Saddington - Sapper 256465 - 260th Railway Construction Company, Corps of Royal Engineers - killed in action on Monday 10th December 1917 in Belgium - aged 26 years - buried in Oxford Road Cemetery, Ypres, Belgium

Frederick William Saddington - Private G/62045 - 20th Battalion, The Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment) - formerly Private 25573, East Kent Regiment - killed in action on Saturday 28th September 1918 in Belgium - aged 18 - buried in Voormezeele Enclosure No. 3, Ypres, Belgium

George Frederick Saddington - Corporal 283 - 21st Battalion, Australian Infantry, Australian Imperial Force - killed in action on Monday 24th April 1916 in France - aged 22 years - buried in Y Farm Military Cemetery, Bois-Grenier, Nord, France

George Herbert Saddington - Serjeant 240289 - 2nd/5th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment - died of wounds on Friday 28th September 1917 in Belgium - buried in Nine Elms British Cemetery, Poperinge, Belgium

George Henry Saddington - Serjeant G/1435 - 7th Battalion, Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) - awarded the Military Medal - killed in action on Friday 12th October 1917 in Belgium - aged 24 years - remembered on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Zonnebeke, Belgium

George Henry Saddington - Private 24954 - 1st Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment - killed in action on Friday 15th September 1916 in France - remembered on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France

Harold James Saddington - Private 495595 - 13th (County of London) Battalion (Princess Louise's Kensington Battalion),London Regiment - killed in action on Wednesday 28th August 1918 in France - aged 19 years - buried in Queant Road Cemetery, Buissy, Pas de Calais, France

James Saddington - Corporal 587 - 40th Battalion, Australian Infantry, Australian Imperial Force - awarded the Military Medal - killed in action on Thursday 21st February 1918 in Belgium - aged 24 years - buried in Berks Cemetery Extension, Comines-Warneton, Belgium

Joe Saddington - Private 1319 - 1st/5th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment - died of wounds on Monday 31st May 1915 in France - buried in Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension (Nord), Nord, France

Joseph Robert Saddington - Private 8971 - 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment - kiled in action on Thursday 27th July 1916 in France - remembered on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France

John Thomas Saddington - Lance Corporal 11255 - 6th Battalion, The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry - killed in action on Monday 9th April 1917 in France - buried in Beaurains Road Cemetery, Beaurains, Pas de Calais, France

John William Saddington - Gunner 74541 - 114th Battery, 25th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery - killed in action on Sunday 20th September 1914 in France - remembered on the La Ferte-Sous-Jouarre Memorial, Seine-et-Marne, France

Nathan Saddington - Private 7583 - 5th Dragoon Guards (Princess Charlotte of Wales'Own) - killed in action on Saturday 31st October 1914 in Belgium - remembered on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Ypres, Belgium

Thomas Saddington - Private 16/1498 - 24th Battalion (Tyneside Irish), Northumberland Fusiliers - killed in action on Monday 9th April 1917 in France - remembered on the Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France

William Henry Saddington - Private 306959 - 2nd/7th Battalion, Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) - killed in action on Thursday 3rd May 1917 in France - aged 20 years - remembered on the Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France

William James Saddington - Private 265241 - 2nd/6th Battalion, Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) - died of wounds on Saturday 12th May 1917 in France - aged 25 years - buried in Achiet-le-Grand Communal Cemetery Extension, Pas de Calais, France. For further information, please see the Craven's Part in the Great War website.

"And at the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We shall remember them."

From "For the Fallen" by Lawrence Binyon (1869-1943)

If any of these brave young men belong to your family, I would be delighted to hear more about them from you.

Queries about Obed and Eunice Saddington of Denford, Northamptonshire

2007-07-25T20:05:00.000+01:00

Eunice is not a common forename, especially not in the Saddington family. The only Eunice that I know of so far is the Eunice Marriott, born 1828 in Tilbrook, Bedfordshire (daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth), who married Obed Saddington (son of John and Anne) on 13 September 1847 in Denford, Northamptonshire.

Obed and Eunice produced eight children, the eldest of whom was Selina Augusta, baptised in 1849 in Tilbrook, BDF - it not being unusual for young wives to go home to Mum when giving birth for the first time.

So, when I was pottering through the 1851 census on Ancestry and spotted a reference to Uness Saddington, my immediate thought was of Obed and Eunice. When I viewed the record, I was most surprised to see reference made to Frances, Uness and Deliner Saddington. On viewing the image (HO107/2095, Folio 33, Page 34), my confusion increased. Lodging with Thomas Blake and family at Blakes Lodge in the parish of Creeton in South Lincolnshire were the following:

Frances Saddington Lodger Mar 26 Rail Lab Northampton Denford
Uness Do Do Mar 24 Do Do Wife Bedford Tilbrook
Seliner Do Do - 2 - Northampton Denford

This had to be Obed, Eunice and little Selina Augusta, but why was he calling himself Frances? If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.

My second query is as follows:

In the 1881 census, Obed (or Abed as he is enumerated) is living in the Sevenoaks Union Workhouse at Sundridge in Kent. He describes himself as a Railway Labourer, which fits in with other information known about him, and as a widower! See RG11/0909, Folio 119 Page 4.

Funny that! In 1881, Eunice Saddington is living at 58 Benwell Road, London, keeping house for her elder brother, Ambrose, and a young niece, Eunice H Bawn. And she is describing herself as a widow! See RG11/0268, Folio 49, Page 30.

Just what is going on? If you are descended from Obed and Eunice, and know what happened or have additional information on this family, please enlighten me!

John and Susannah Saddington of Hull, Yorkshire

2007-07-16T22:36:00.000+01:00

Many thanks to Ann Bore (nee Saddington) for the additional information that she has given me, relating to the descendants of John and Susannah Saddington of Hull, Yorkshire.

According to the censuses, John was born in Market Overton, LEI circa 1840. His wife, Susannah, probably nee Medd, was born in Fimber, YKS circa 1844. They are believed to have married circa 1864, and raised 9 children in the Hull area, with the last being born in 1889. The children were John William, Joseph, George Richard, Fanny Louisa, Charles Ernest, Jane Ann, Amos, Tom and Elizabeth.

So far, I have information relating to the descendants of 4 of these children. If there are any other descendants of John and Susannah out there, I would be delighted to hear from them.

William Edward Saddington of London, England and Banff, Alberta, Canada 1870-1950

2007-07-03T20:52:00.000+01:00

Just a quick snapshot of a life.

William Edward Saddington was born in Marylebone, London on 4 March 1870, the second of 4 known sons of George Saddington and Harriett Blond (nee Fear). In 1881, he was a scholar, living with his parents and siblings in Kensington, London.

However, in the late 1880s, he and his brother, Arthur Nathaniel, emigrated to Canada, specifically to Banff, Alberta. According to the book 'Pioneer Families of Southern Alberta', William arrived in Banff in 1888.

However, by 1901, he was back in England for a short time, having travelled home via South Africa and the Boer War. In the 1901 census for Great Britain, William and his father, George, are visiting William's aunt, Emma Fear, in St Albans, Hertfordshire. His occupation is given as 'Trooper - Strathcona Horse'. This is a shortened title for Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians).

Lord Strathcona's Horse had been the Third Contingent of Canadian forces to sail for South Africa, leaving Halifax on 11 March 1900 on the SS Monterey, and arriving in Cape Town on 11 April 1900. William was in "B Squadron".

The 1901 census for Canada took place on 31 March 1901, the same day as the census for Great Britain. Somehow, William managed the amazing feat of being on both sides of the Atlantic at the same time. As you will see from this transcription, William was also lodging with his brother, Arthur, in the home of George M Fear, who was probably an uncle or cousin on his mother's side.

In 1903, again according to 'Pioneer Families of Alberta', William married Emily Mary Burton in Ottawa, Ontario, and eventually became the father of three children, George, Marion and Elsie.

However, William's military days were not over yet. With World War One well under way, on 24 March 1916, William signed up for the Canadian Over-seas Expeditionary Force. His Attestation Form can be seen at the head of this post and can be accessed via the Soldiers of the First World War section of Library and Archives Canada. The form states that he fought in South Africa with the Strathcona Horse.

We know that William came home safely, as 'Pioneer Families of Alberta' states that he died in Banff in 1950, his wife, Emily, having predeceased him by two years. But does anybody know any more about William Edward Saddington? Any information gratefully received.

Thomas Saddington of Market Harborough, Leicestershire - Banker's Clerk - died 1833

2007-06-26T22:01:00.000+01:00

From The National Archives - Catalogue Reference: Prob 11/1814 - transcribed by me, with a little help from the Private Client Department at my place of work.

This is the last Will and Testament of me Thomas Saddington of Market Harborough in the County of Leicester Bankers Clerk being of sound mind memory and understanding ffirst I give and bequeath unto my daughter Mary the wife of John Webb the sum of twenty five pounds to be paid by my Executrix hereinafter named to and for her sole and separate use outright And I do declare that the receipt of my said daughter Mary Webb alone shall be a sufficient discharge to my said Executrix notwithstanding her coverture nor shall the same be liable to the debts engagements control or intermeddling of the said John Webb and all and singular my household goods and furniture plate linen and china and all my monies securities for money money in the public stock or funds and all other my personal Estate and Effects whatsoever and wheresoever and where I have power to dispose I give and bequeath unto my daughter Anna Saddington to and for her own use and benefit absolutely she paying thereout all my just debts funeral expenses the said legacy and testamentary charges and I do hereby nominate and appoint my said daughter Anna Saddington sole Executrix of this my Will hereby revoking and making void all former and other will and Wills by me at any time heretofore made and do declare this and this alone to be and contain my last Will and Testament in witness whereof I the said Thomas Saddington the testator have to this my last Will and Testament set my hand and seal this fifth day of March in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twentynine - Tho Saddington

Signed sealed published and declared by the above named Thomas Saddington the testator as and for his last Will and Testament in the presence of us who in his presence at his request and in the presence of each other have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses - Felix Falkner, Wm Andrews Solr Harborough

Proved at London 9th October 1833 before the Judge by the Oath of Anna Saddington Spinster the daughter and sole Executrix to whom Admon was granted having been first sworn by Grantor duly to administer.

Leicestershire and Rutland Record Office - Market Harborough Parish Registers
DE1587/11 - Marriages 1801-1812

No. 103
John Webb of the Parish of St Martin Borough of Leicester Bachelor & Mary Saddington of this Parish were Married in this Chapel by Licence this sixth Day of Decembr in the Year One Thousand eight Hundred and seven by me E Dardy Minister

This Marriage was Solemnized between us - John Webb, Mary Saddington
in the Presence of - Sarah Bats(?), Geo Webb, Henry Martin

If these events relate to your family, please let me know.

Family of James and Frances Saddington of Wapping, London

2007-06-24T21:24:00.000+01:00

Having finally escaped from the nightmare which is exams, this entry is a follow up of sorts to the marriage certificate mentioned in my 29 May 2007 entry.

Firstly, the family of James and Frances Saddington of Wapping, London as per the 1891 census.

RG12/290 Folio 81 Page 2 and Folio 82 Page 3

Schedule No. 11 - 248 High Street, Wapping, London

James Saddington Head M 51 Lighterman Employed Huntingdon St Neots
Frances Saddington Wife M 51 - London City
Frances Saddington Daur S 27 Dressmaker Employed London St George's E.
Amelia R Saddington Daur S 20 Chemical Packer Employed London Wapping
Samuel H Saddington Son S 19 Wharf Labourer Employed London Wapping
Elizabeth Saddington Daur S 16 - London Wapping
David T Saddington Son S 11 - London Wapping
Edith G F Saddington Daur S 9 - London St George's E.
Violet B Saddington Daur S 7 - London St George's E.

Then two marriage certificates, courtesy of Howard Benbrook's Stepney Marriage Challenge:

Married on 1 August 1897 at St Paul's, Shadwell, London, after Banns

Samuel Henry Saddington, 25, Bachelor, Ship's Checker, 386 Cable Street, James Saddington (deceased), Lighterman
Rose Emily Elliott, 26, Spinster, -, 386 Cable Street, Robert Elliott, Pier Master

Witnesses: Robert Elliott, Miriam Jane Elliott, James William Edward Saddington

and then:

Married on 3 April 1899 at St Paul's, Shadwell, London, after Banns

James William Edward Saddington, 34, Bachelor, Lighterman, 386 Cable Street, James Saddington (deceased), Lighterman
Margaret Theresa Blake, 28, Spinster, -, 386 Cable Street, William Blake, General Labourer

Witnesses: G Stubley?, Georgina Alexander

Any further information on this family would be gratefully received, including any ideas as to where Amelia was packing chemicals and what sort of chemicals they might have been.

Saddingtons in Brooklyn, New York (Part 2)

2007-06-12T20:26:00.000+01:00

Apologies for the gap in postings, but Real Life, in the form of my sister moving house and a temporary loss of Internet access, have intervened.

Following on from my first post on this subject, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle newspaper also had a number of references to a second Saddington family.

This was the family of William S Saddington, and his wife, Jennie. According to the 1880 United States census, William was an Englishman, who had emigrated to the States, and Jennie's parents were both English. It is likely that Jennie's maiden name was Adams, as the household contains one Phoeby S Adams, a single woman, who is described as 'SisterL', and whose parents were also both English.

This Saddington family were also involved in the social life of Brooklyn, but perhaps to a less publicised extent.

The Brooklyn Eagle tells us that, in July 1896, William S Saddington was installed as Noble Grand in the Principle Lodge, No. 48, I.O.O.F. - I believe that this is likely to be some kind of fraternal society like the Foresters or the Freemasons.

In September 1896, William was appointed as a delegate of the Twenty-Sixth Ward Prohibition Association to attend the County convention to be held the following month. The article states that the members of the Association 'take considerable interest in the party of their choice', which leads me to believe that the County convention would be either a Republican or Democrat political convention.

The William S Saddingtons attended the Bedford Avenue Congregational Church, as evidenced by a reference to Mrs William Saddington hosting a cake sale to raise money for the building fund in the autumn of 1897.

The last reference to the family to be found in the on-line archive tells us that Miss Lillian M Saddington, daughter of Mr and Mrs Wm. S. Saddington has become engaged to a Mr Frank B Kerby. As the notice is dated 26 December 1901, perhaps Miss Lillian found a diamond ring under the Christmas tree that year.

If anyone can confirm, correct or add to any of the above information, please let me know.

Leicester Registration District Marriages 1837-1871

2007-06-04T21:25:00.001+01:00

Again courtesy of Jenny Reeve, this time via her Leicester Registration District Marriage Challenge, I have copy certificates for 14 Saddington marriages, as follows:

30 April 1840 - Joseph Brown, son of William Brown, married Ann Saddington, daughter of Joseph Saddington, at St Margaret, Leicester

29 June 1840 - John Saddington, son of Thomas Saddington, married Mary Goodwin, daughter of Francis Hardy, at St Margaret, Leicester

27 March 1842 - Joseph Saddington, son of John Saddington, married Susanna Richards, daughter of William Richards, at St Margaret, Leicester

31 August 1846 - Joseph Saddington, son of Joseph Saddington, married Maria Snaithe, daughter of Thomas Snaithe, at St Margaret, Leicester

22 November 1846 - William Frost, son of John Frost, married Mary Saddington, daughter of John Saddington, at St Margaret, Leicester

22 April 1848 - Daniel Saddington, son of Joseph Saddington, married Frances Ann Siddons, daughter of William Siddons, at St Nicholas, Leicester

28 February 1849 - William Saddington, son of John Saddington, married Mary Ann Herbert, daughter of Thomas Herbert, at St Margaret, Leicester

15 September 1849 - John Hurdborough, son of John Hurdborough, married Elizabeth Saddington, daughter of Thomas Saddington, at St Margaret, Leicester

24 November 1855 - Thomas Moore, son of Thomas Moore, married Hannah Elizabeth Saddington, daughter of John Saddington, at St Mary de Castro, Leicester

23 November 1856 - Thomas Saddington, son of John Saddington, married Maria Matts, daughter of William Matts, at St John the Devine, Leicester

8 November 1857 - William Saddington, son of Thomas Saddington, married Ann Shipley, daughter of Joseph Shipley, at St Margaret, Leicester

28 March 1863 - James Wright, son of Thomas Wright, married Leah Saddington, daughter of John Saddington, at St Margaret, Leicester

8 September 1864 - William Page, son of Isaac Page, married Elizabeth Ann Saddington, daughter of Joseph Saddington, at St Margaret, Leicester

31 October 1870 - Joseph Taylor, son of Henry Taylor, married Ann Saddington, daughter of Joseph Saddington, at St Margaret, Leicester

Points to note - 1840 John and his bride were both widowed, 1842 Joseph and his bride were both minors, 1848 Daniel came from Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire, and 1863 Leah and her groom were both minors, as were 1864 Elizabeth Ann and her groom.

For anyone with Saddington ancestry in Great Bowden, Leics, 1857 William was the third son of Thomas Saddington (1800-1883)and Hannah Deacon (1809?-1851) of Great Bowden. William and his wife later moved down to London. In addition, 1870 Ann's father, Joseph, was the youngest brother of Thomas Saddington (1800-1883). 1846 Joseph was also from Great Bowden. His parents were Joseph (1788?-1819) and Hannah (1791?-1866) Saddington.

If anyone has an interest in any of these marriages, please let me know.

Richards - Saddington Marriage - 11 March 1906

2007-05-29T21:02:00.000+01:00

Fresh in today, courtesy of David Horwill's Poplar Registration District Marriage Challenge:

Married on 11 March 1906 at All Hallows Church, East India Dock Road in the Parish of Bromley, London

William Charles Richards, age 28, Bachelor, Billiard maker, living at 32 Portree Road, father - William Charles Richards, potman

to

Edith Grace Frances Saddington, age 24, Spinster, living at 32 Portree Road, father - James Edward Saddington (Dec'd), lighterman

Both the bride and groom signed their names, and the witnesses were Edward Aaron Harm and Annie Elizabeth Richards.

If any of these people belong to you, please let me know.

Saddingtons in Brooklyn, New York (Part 1)

2007-05-23T20:55:00.000+01:00

Searching the Brooklyn Daily Eagle (1841-1902) website was a good lesson in how much information about people's lives can be found in their local newspaper.

The first item that I came across was an obituary for Mrs Lucinda Saddington, who died on Thursday 10 January 1901 at her home, 265 Jefferson Avenue. It told me what she died of and who her doctor was. It also told me when and where she was born, and how long she had lived in Brooklyn. Also mentioned were the churches that she had attended and the main charity that she had supported. On the family history side of things, it stated that she was the widow of Thomas Saddington, and that she was survived by two sons and four daughters - although, unfortunately, it only gave the daughters' married names, e.g. Mrs Edwin Ives, Mrs George H. Pettit, Mrs E.L. Tarbox and Mrs Frank H. Adams.

Further items told me that one son, John F. Saddington, was a well known local builder, specialising in residential property, and that the other son, Thomas B. Saddington, was sued by a tenant in 1876 for assault and battery. Both sons were unfortunate enough to lose a daughter in infancy, but Thomas B. Junior is reported to be cruising with friends in their 30 foot yacht in 1894, and one of Thomas B.'s other daughters, May, is hosting a meeting of the Eccentric Social Club in 1896.

Also in 1896, John F. Saddington and his wife set sail for a trip to Europe, during which they intended to visit the Paris Exposition, the Rhine, Baden Baden, Vienna and Holland. The families also show up regularly in the newspaper, attending numerous family weddings.

It was therefore possible for me to draw up a rough family tree for this Saddington family, with a fair understanding of their social status and religious leanings, using only the information in the newspaper. If anyone knows any more about this family, please let me know.

Information from the 1880 census of the US, found on the Family Search website, in which the family are transcribed as 'Laddington', shows that the late Thomas Saddington was born in England, and that Lucinda's parents came from Scotland, which indicates that the family were relatively recent immigrants to the United States.

Northampton Registration District Marriages

2007-05-18T16:40:00.000+01:00

Courtesy of Jenny Reeve and her Northampton Registration District Marriage Challenge, I now have copy certificates for 11 Saddington marriages in Northampton.

These are as follows:

29 October 1839 - William Saddington, son of John Saddington, married Elizabeth Whitmore, daughter of John Whitmore, at All Saints Church, Northampton

5 July 1840 - William Saddington, son of William Saddington, married Ann Haddon, daughter of James Haddon, at St Sepulchre, Northampton

5 February 1850 - James Saddington, son of William Saddington, married Jane Parsons, daughter of Thomas Parsons, at St Sepulchre, Northampton

17 April 1853 - Thomas Gibson, son of Thomas Gibson, married Elizabeth Saddington, daughter of William Saddington, at All Saints, Northampton

15 May 1859 - William Saddington, son of William Saddington, married Sarah Kightley, daughter of William Kightley, at St Edmund, Northampton

9 March 1862 - John Saddington, son of James Brown (sic), married Jane Soden, daughter of Joseph Soden, at St Katherine, Northampton

4 October 1868 - Nathaniel Coleman, son of William Coleman, married Mary Ann Saddington, daughter of Robert Saddington, at St Sepulchre, Northampton

19 October 1871 - James Saddington, son of William Saddington, married Susan Harris, daughter of William Harris, at St Sepulchre, Northampton

16 December 1886 - Richard Wilson, son of Richard Wilson, married Emily Jane Saddington, daughter of James Saddington, at St Edmund, Northampton

14 December 1890 - James Brown Saddington, son of John Saddington dec'd, married Elizabeth Ellen Johnstone, daughter of Charles Johnstone dec'd, at St Edmund, Northampton

1 December 1895 - Thomas Gudgeon Haddon, son of John Haddon dec'd, married Susan Saddington, daughter of William Harris dec'd, at St Michael, Northampton

I need to do more research into these marriages, but my initial theories are that the 1850 James and 1853 Elizabeth are siblings, that 1862 John and 1890 James Brown are father and son, and that 1871 Susan is the same person as 1895 Susan.

If anyone has an interest in any of these marriages, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

When Mabel and David got married

2007-05-16T20:53:00.000+01:00

I thought that I would begin this blog with a snippet from my own branch of the Saddington family.

The photo shows the wedding of Mabel Gertrude Saddington and David Brown, held on 3 June 1909 at the Presbyterian Church, Newland Street, Yale Road, Silvertown, Essex.

Mabel was the 10th (and youngest) child and 5th daughter of John Jonathan Saddington and Jane Hewlett. She was 26 at the time of her marriage, and her husband, David Brown, son of Alexander Kinnear Brown, was 32 years old.

The guests shown in the photograph are as follows:

Top row (left to right): Mrs Sophia Ferguson (sister of Simeon Cundy), Simeon Cundy (bride's brother-in-law), Mrs Elizabeth Ann Cundy (bride's eldest sister), John Jonathan Saddington (bride's father), William James Saddington (bride's brother), Mr and Mrs Alexander Kinnear Brown (groom's parents);

Middle row (left to right): Mabel Saddington (bride's niece), Elizabeth Clara Cundy (bride's niece), Mabel Gertrude Saddington (bride), David Brown (groom), Mabel Brown (groom's sister), Clara Elizabeth Whittaker (bride's niece);

Bottom row (left to right): Grace Jane Whittaker (bride's niece), Maggie Napier (groom's niece), Jenny Louisa Cundy (bride's niece).

The witnesses to the wedding were William James Saddington (my great grandfather) and Elizabeth Clara Cundy (known in the family as 'Lily').

The groom was a marine engineer living at 86 Oriental Road, Silvertown, and his father was a joiner. The bride was living at 2 Connaught Road, Silvertown, which was actually The Railway Hotel, a public house run by her brother, William James, and her father was a blacksmith.

Strangely enough, this was not the first Brown - Saddington wedding. Five years previously, on 7 July 1904, Alexander Brown, son of Alexander Kinnear Brown, had married Grace Maud Saddington, daughter of John Jonathan Saddington and Jane Hewlett at the Presbyterian Church on Newland Street, Yale Road, Silvertown. Unfortunately, I do not have a photo of that wedding.