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.

Saddingtons who died in World War Two

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

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

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

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

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 - ?)

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.