Saddingtons of Houghton on the Hill, Leicestershire

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 Marriages at Foxton, Leicestershire

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.

DNA Project Update - March 2008

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.