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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.