Wednesday 20 February 2008

British Army World War One Pension Records 1914-1920

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.

Wednesday 13 February 2008

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

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.

Saturday 9 February 2008

Update - Saddington Museum, DNA Project


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.

Monday 4 February 2008

Explanation and Apologies

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!