This week’s #52 Ancestors theme is ‘I can identify’ I thought I would write about my Grandad, Ron Pilbeam. It was his influence that encouraged me in my love of bird watching. I have written in my blogs before about Ronald Pilbeam, he was born on 17 March 1912 in Three Cups, a tiny hamlet on the edge of Punnetts Town near Heathfield in Sussex. He had one brother, Sydney, older than him and 3 sisters, Phillis, Gwen and Joan. He grew up on the farm at Rushford Farm and when my mum was a child, had a dairy herd which were milked and the milk sold daily to the locals around Punnetts Town and Heathfield. Growing up in the countryside as he did he could identify a number of the farmland and garden birds he saw daily around and about and at some point he joined the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. When I was 10 years old in the hot summer of 1976, he built a large fish pond in the front garden and he had a whole load of fish in there which all seemed to be named after his grandchildren, I remember him showing me Kerry! That summer I stayed, as I often did, for a week or two with my grandparents and remember the pond developing. It was large, square with a rim of paving slabs. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any photos of it amongst my collection. When the hole had been dug and the liner put in, all that remained was the pouring in of the water and stamping down of the liner and Grandad asked me to get into the pond to push the liner down with my feet while he poured in the water with a hose. In return for this most important job, he would buy me a member to the Young Ornithologists Club (YOC) the young arm of the RSPB. Well how could I refuse? the pond was filled with water, and I joined the YOC. He paid for my membership every year until after my 18th birthday when I graduated up to the RSPB and some point he stopped paying and I gave up birdwatching for a while. As a child I became fascinated by birds and bird watching and even now I get excited by some of the birds I attract into my small back garden on my feeders. In my 20s I became more attracted to boys than birds and gave up the birdwatching for a while, which is extremely annoying because I remember on a coach trip in Turkey with a friend, the coach driver stopped to let people get off and watch some Lammergeiers (bearded vulture) that I would kill to see now. I think I did vaguely see them but wasn’t really that excited. It wasn’t until I met my other half, Pete that I once again became a member of the RSPB and have been ever since. When my sister’s three children were young I bought them YOC membership too until they became 18 and I hope one day at least one of them will again become enthusiastic about birdwatching just like I did. Pete and I have travelled around many parts of Britain over the years and seen many different birds that we could identify with the help of various books and sometimes other birders. We’ve been to Scotland to see Divers and Skuas and Osprey, oh and a sudden stop along the road to watch a Golden Eagle. We turned the corner at the cliffs in Yorkshire called Bempton Cliffs and had 5 new birds in five minutes and I’ve had nuthatch, treecreeper and a grey wagtail in my garden amongst a lot more common ones. If it hadn’t have been for Grandad starting me off at the age of 10 I don’t suppose I would ever have become quite so excited about birds as I am. Just one of those special Grandparent/Grandchild moments!
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The theme this week for #52Ancestors is Oops and it’s a short one from me, I really didn’t know what to write then I thought of the following oops moment I found when I downloaded my great grandfather’s WW1 service record. I wonder if it was something he wanted to keep quiet! Albert John TERRY was born in Crowhurst, Surrey on 3 May 1880 to William Andrew TERRY and Mary RUSBRIDGE. Albert had a sister Ethel Mary wo was born in 1883 and unfortunately his mother Mary died of a thrombosis 4 days after Ethel’s birth. William remarried to Edith Knight two years later and together they had 11 children, Christmas dinners must be have been crowded! Albert married Emily PAYNE in 1907 at the Lingfield Mission Hall and by the time of the 1911 census the couple were living at the Post Office in Lingfield in Surrey along with Harold William, their first son who was a year old. At the time of the census Emily was expecting my grandmother, Edith Evelyn Mary who was born in October 1911. Albert was a Post Office Clerk. The family remained living above the Post Office in Lingfield until Albert’s death in 1958. When WW1 came I think Albert may have been considered to have been a Reserved Occupation, although I am not 100% sure on that and I need to research this subject further. He enlisted in June 1916 and was called up in January 1917 and he joined the Army Service Corps in the Canteen Services. His medical history on his Service Record stated he was a Sub Postmaster and expert telephonist and he had Flat Feet and varicose veins. He was rejected and that presumably is why he ended up in the Canteen Services rather than the Regular army. He was posted to Dieppe in April 2017.
The oops moment came on 13 July 1918 when he forfeited 7 days pay for the crime of hanging his kit in the kitchen contrary to EFC Standing Orders. Seems a little harsh to me but I live in an age where discipline and standards count for nothing sadly so it is hard to judge what happened over 100 years ago when standards were higher and discipline was instilled into children from an early age much more rigidly. I wonder what Emily thought when he had to explain why he was short by 7 days wages! Once again it proves to me that when finding these documents about your ancestors you should read them carefully and thoroughly because you never know what gems of information about their lives you may find which is over and above the usual information you expect to find. The theme for #52Ancestors this week is Education and I thought I would tell you about the links I have with Punnetts Town Community Primary School in East Sussex. Punnetts Town is the village where my brother and his family and my sister and her family live, my mum grew up and my grandparents and great grandparents lived. The school opened in May 1879 and at least 4 generations of my family have attended through the decades. The latest two are my two youngest nephews. During the 1940s to the 1960s one of the teachers and then Headmistress was Mrs Eva Pilbeam, my great Aunt, she was married to Sydney Pilbeam, my maternal grandad’s older brother. I don’t know the exact dates of when she was at the school but past pupils put her time there between the 1940s and late 1960s. She was a well liked teacher and Headmistress from the early 50s it is believed, so much so, they had a memorial bench erected in her memory. I believe the bench was put into place when one of my nieces was at school there. My mum remembers her as a strict but fair teacher who used to walk everyday from Rushford Farm in Three Cups to the school, which is the other end of Punnetts Town village and presumably walk home again at the end of the day. Not a huge distance but very different from these days where there is a scrum of cars outside the school twice a day, because nobody walks anywhere anymore. She taught more than one generation of children from Punnetts Town and attended a school reunion held on 11 May 1985 at the school along with a number of past pupils who had been at the school between 1928 and 1940. I was sent a picture of her cutting the celebration cake along with other past teachers. I put a call out on a Facebook group for memories of her and these are some of the comments I received back:
“She was there when I left 1967, she was a very good head although we might not have always appreciated it.” “I was there from 1953 to 1959 and Mrs Pilbeam was the main teacher. Mrs Hewitt was the secretary and Mrs Smart was also a teacher. I loved my time there!” “My 2 boys Malcolm and Steven had Mrs Pilbeam as head teacher till Miss Banner took over when Mrs Pilbeam retired, when she was older, I went to her as a home carer. She was so lovely. Mr Pilbeam gave me a big bunch of lilac from the tree by the gate. The scent was wonderful. She also taught my boys in the Rest Chapel Sunday school. So she was part of our life so much when my boys were young. Precious memories.” Precious indeed. I think I have a memory of her teaching me in Sunday School on one of the many occasions that I stayed with my grandparents during school holidays and went to the Rest Chapel on a Sunday. I didn’t meet her often during my life but I remember her as a quite short, but very sweet old lady with a broad smile. I also have a memory of a school trip to the farm when I was about 8 years old and she showed us around the farm house, including a look at the wattle and daub on the stairs. That has stuck in my mind for years. “Mrs Pilbeam’s grandson Andrew was the same age as my Steve. Andrew had to wear glasses. Mrs Pilbeam was highly amused when my gentle little Steve said to him ‘if the big boys laugh I will punch them up’, he was certainly not a fighter but Mrs Pilbeam often told me that little tale.” “Mrs Pilbeam was Headmistress during my time at PT School 1952-58. I think she must have been made Head after Mr Booth moved to Maynards Green which was in the late 1940's! I enjoyed my time there and I remember Mrs Pilbeam reading last period on a Friday "The Travels of Marco Polo". It fired my imagination for travel and over the years have travelled parts of the Silk Route, mainly in Uzbekistan and Pakistan! The Court of Kubla Khan conjures up exotic locations!” I love that last comment, how many of us can say we were inspired by a school teacher? Village schools are an important part of a community and can be important to some of the families within the community. Punnetts Town School is important to our family that has lived in Punnetts Town for some generations and as some of my blogs have proved to me, some members of my Pilbeam family have been important members of the community in their day. Long may that continue and long may the school continue! Lastly I would just like to say a big thank you to everyone who shared photos and comments on facebook. As a genealogist I feel it very important to keep the history of our families, and the places they lived in, alive by documenting our memories. Thank you! The start of a New Year and the first #52Ancestors theme is I’d like to meet. I knew instantly which of my ancestors I would like to meet. James Traies who was my Great x 5 grandfather on my Baldwin side of the family. He was one of my luckiest or unluckiest ancestors depending on your perspective as he had 5 wives! He was born in Exeter, Devon and was baptised to Samuel and Jane on 29 May 1785 in St Mary Major, Exeter. He appeared to be listed in 1803 aged 18 on an Exeter Militia list. His occupation was Tin Man. The name before his on the list was Robert Gaul, Tin Man who we find James apprenticed to in 1798 on the UK, Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices' Indentures, 1710-1811 list on Ancestry. After 1803 there is no sign of James in Exeter but he appeared in Hackney in Middlesex. The reason he was lucky or unlucky and the reason I would like to meet him was because he had 5 wives. Hannah was possibly his first although all we have for her is her burial record in 1818 on 8 March at the age of 39. The couple had 4 children, Jane in 1809 and died in 1810, Ann in 1810, and James in 1816 all baptised to James and Hannah including my Great x4 Grandfather, Samuel in 1812. No marriage has been found for James and Hannah yet and I do wonder if they married in Devon rather than London where we have been looking. In October 1818 James married Ann Sutton in St Johns, Hackney. She died in 1830 in Westminster. This means she must be the mother of Henry born about 1819 although no baptism has been found for Henry so far. Jane was born 1823, Hannah in 1826 and Emma in 1827 but again no baptism records have been found. Emma appeared to be the last child born to James. The records for Hannah and Emma in particular are few and far between, for Emma just the 1851 census where she appeared with her father and was born in Marylebone. Neither she nor Hannah were with their father on the 1841 census. Hannah married Robert Hunt in Paddington in 1853. After Ann Sutton, James married Martha Looker in 1831 in Hackney and she died in September 1842 of disease of the brain. That is a bit vague and she was aged 48. He married again just two months later in November 1842 to Jane Berry and she died in 1856, I have just ordered a copy of the death certificate as I realise I don’t have a copy and it would be interested to know how she died. The last marriage was to Mary Jones in June 1857 and she died in October 1861 of paralysis. James did not marry again and he died in 1878 and his death was registered as natural decay, he was 93 years old which is no mean feat at the time. I have never found any evidence that he was ‘doing away’ with his wives, but he does seem quite unlucky with them. But I would like to know his thoughts on his many wives, his story has always interested me and the research has excited me.
Week 51 in my quest for 52 blogs this year and as its Christmas I thought I would take a random Christmas fact from my family tree and write about some families on the tree I have not mentioned before. I looked at all the members on the tree who were baptised either on 25 or 26 December. There were 23 altogether. Charles Edward RHOADES was my 3rd Great Grand Uncle and he was born in Ashby by Partney in Lincolnshire in 1824. His parents were William RHOADES and Elizabeth GRAVES who were my Great x4 grandparents. Charles had 4 brothers, John born 1821, William born 1823, Joseph born 1831 and Smith born 1833, my Great 3 Grandfather. He had 4 sisters, Betsy born 1826, Emma born 1829, Susannah born 1835 and Mary Ann born 1840. Charles married Elizabeth Payne in 1846 and I know of 2 sons born to them. The interesting fact about Charles is that like his brother, Smith he ended up farming in Sussex. I am yet to do more research into the family and discover if any more of the siblings ended up in Sussex but these 2 did. Charles, according to the census returns I found farmed at Kents Farm in Hurstpierpoint which is in West Sussex. He died in 1886 there. Charles had already set up home in Hurstpierpoint by the time of the 1851 census when Smith was still in Lincolnshire, he was a Groom in Welton Le Marsh. By 1861 Smith had followed Charles to Hurstpierpoint. However like Charles he had met and married his wife, Maria in Lincolnshire. George Frederick TURNER and Sarah Edith TURNER were both baptised on Boxing Day, Sarah in 1823 and George in 1828. They were both born in Aldgate, London to Richard and Susannah TURNER. They were my Great x5 Grandparents. George and Sarah had 7 siblings, 4 brothers; James born 1804, my Great x 4 Grandfather, Edward born 1807 who died in 1809, Edward William born 1812 and John Richard born 1820 and 3 sisters; Sarah born 1806 died 1808, Nancy Susannah born 1816 and Margaret born 1827. The family lived in Darby Street in Aldgate, London and later Cartwright Street, Aldgate where James and Edward brought up their own families. George Frederick died in August 1830 in Cartwright Street and Sarah Edith died in June 1824, meaning that Richard and Susannah lost 4 children all under the age of 5 painting a sad picture of poor families in some of the poorest parts of London. James and his wife Eleanor DUNN married in 1826 and had 6 children, 4 of whom lived into adult life. James died at the age of 38 when he was crushed by a falling piece of wood, James was a Carman although one record stated he was a Sawyer which was the chosen job of his son James Edwin, my Great x 3 Grandfather. Lastly Henry STONESTREET was baptised on 26 December 1761 in Brightling, Sussex. He was my Great x 5 Grandfather and he was born to Samuel and Lucy STONESTREET along with Lucy born 1751, Harry born 1754, died 1756, Elizabeth born 1757, Samuel born 1759, James born 1763 and Ann born 1765. He married Sarah WATERS in 1783 in Heathfield and their seventh child was Ann born 1792 who married Thomas SINDEN alias WINCHESTER, who was my Great x4 Grandfather.
In 1823 three of Henry and Sarah’s sons were convicted of breaking into a barn while returning home from Dallington with a wagon of wheat. The trial took place at Lewes and they were all sentenced to 14 years transportation. The three brothers departed Portsmouth, England 13 July 1824 aboard the Mangles 3 which arrived in Sydney via Teneriffe on 27 October 1824. The convict indents states Moses aged 37, William aged 29 and Levi aged 23, all from Sussex and occupations listed as Reapers. They arrived well and were forwarded to Parramatta for Distribution. The three brothers were assigned to Mr J Hassall of Parramatta. I wonder how many of those families who had their children baptised over Christmas thought about the future and where the lives of those babies would be directed. These three examples of the 23 children baptised at Christmas all ended up with very different lives, some short, some having done well for themselves and some working hard, and bringing their own children into the world. These three ancestors of mine are all work in progress, I have more research to do on all of them. This week’s theme for #52 Ancestors is Overlooked. My subject this week is one that those of you who are researching your own family history may understand. Do you have a part of your family tree research that isn’t as well researched by yourself as other parts of the tree? I have! My Baldwin side of the family has been sorely under researched. There are various reasons why we might favour a certain part of our tree, it may be more contacts, it’s easier to find ancestors, or perhaps we prefer them. For me the Baldwins have proved more difficult, I can find very few people who are also researching this part of my family tree. My DNA results back this up, so far I have found no matches with my Baldwin part of the family. The Pilbeam side are extremely well represented. The Pilbeams were also based in Sussex, I know the area, the records offices are close by and there are loads of sources of Sussex records online. The Baldwins, came from Hackney and other parts of London and Middlesex, an area I don’t know at all and records have been more difficult to find. Also the fact that Corles Baldwin, my Great x 4 Grandfather came from Ireland which is much more difficult to research is a large brickwall to my research. However that is not to say that the Baldwin family are not interesting. They are! Much better travelled than the Pilbeams and coming from the City of London as they did, into which people moved from all parts of the country, the families that married into the Baldwins come from Devon, Norfolk, Ireland and Lincolnshire. Part of the Industrial Revolution of the 19th Century when poor agricultural families moved to cities for the chance of a better life. Although sadly the parts my family were found in, I’m not sure they found a better or more prosperous life! I have only found one family so far, the Turners who were in London in the 18th century, living and working not far from the tower of London. My Baldwins were dockers working on the River Thames, working with tea and sugar and I need to learn more about where and how and what this involved. During 2023 I would like to spend more time on the Baldwins. Meeting Dad’s cousin for the first time has spurred me on to find out more information to share with her, the family she never knew she had. Particularly the 20th century Baldwins, another area of research I often overlook, preferring to look further back in time. Sometimes this is easier than 20th century research which is often hampered by lack of resources because of records being closed for up to 100 years like the census. Thrulines on my Ancestry DNA results is interesting, they come up with potential ancestors based on the research where available for your matches, the couple of Baldwin matches I have, suggest a mother for Corles Baldwin, I don’t know how correct it is but it is definitely worth checking out.
I will also continue to search the British Newspaper Archive for useful and interesting articles that mention my Baldwins like the one I related a few weeks ago about my Dad’s uncle, William who died in an accident at Green Brothers Factory in Hailsham in 1950. It is amazing what nuggets of information about our ancestors lives can be found from newspapers. Next week’s blog I am writing about the research I have carried out on Thomas, eldest son of Corles and Hester whose family didn’t stay in England but travelled the Atlantic and settled in Canada. I have found at least one of his grandsons who has his name on the Menin Gate memorial in Ypres. But more of that next week. This week’s #52Ancestors theme is Ghost Story and I decided to share my own ghost story with you. I’ve always been a bit sceptical about ghosts and ghouls and things that go bump in the night but this curious incident might have changed my mind a little, then again it may have been just my imagination, and apologies if you have heard this story before. When I started my family history research 20 years ago I spent a couple of years visiting local churchyards searching for the graves of my ancestors and one gloomy October afternoon in 2007 I visited Chiddingly Church. I walked round the graveyard looking for Funnell graves and despite having walked around the graveyard a couple of times I could not find any at all. There were supposed to be loads of Funnells living in the Chiddingly in the early 1800s but I couldn’t see a single Funnell grave. You can tell that by the series of photographs I took on that afternoon, a squirrel, some fungi and some Jonathan Harmer terracottas. I had walked round 3 times and I was just deciding to head home when out of the corner of my eye I caught a movement and looked up and I saw the dark shape of a person heading across the graveyard towards the Yew tree. I hadn’t noticed anybody else in the graveyard despite having been there for some time now and for some reason felt compelled to follow the figure. I arrived at the Yew tree and the figure had disappeared, nowhere to be seen in the graveyard or the car park behind the fence which was odd. Anyway I realised that under the yew tree there were a number of graves that I had not seen on any of my 3 previous times around the graveyard and every single one of them was a Funnell.
Now you can scoff and say what you like but whatever it was I saw led me to the Funnell graves that I had been searching unsuccessfully for. I am convinced it was Funnell who got fed up of my aimless wandering and thought they would help me along! But whatever the truth is, it makes for a good memory! This week’s blog theme for #52Ancestors is Shadows and I thought I would write about someone who was constantly in the shadow of her husband, Esther or sometimes Hester Young. I have been so desperate since starting my family history to find Corles Baldwin my great x 4 grandfather that I often overlook his wife. Esther was my great x4 grandmother and this is her story as I know it so far. She was born in Cork, Ireland in about 1786. This is according to the records I have so far found for her. She married Corles Baldwin in 1811, this is according to a number of records found on Ancestry such as the Marriage Licence Bonds for the Diocese of Cork and Ross which lists Corles Baldwin and Hester Young married 1811. It appeared that Corles and Esther moved to England between 1815 and 1823. We think this because their son Thomas was born 1815 in Ireland, according to the census returns available for him. He was also a shoemaker. He married Margaret in 1839 in St Giles in the Fields and stated his father was Corles Baldwin, Shoemaker. He and his wife Margaret had a son, Corles in 1840 who died in 1844. He and Margaret and their subsequent children emigrated to Canada after 1851. There was also a Henry Baldwin born in Cork in 1812 who married Hannah Darby in Preston, Lancashire who named father as Corles but as yet he has not been definitely connected to Corles and Esther, his marriage certificate showed his father Corles as a Farmer. If you are interested in reading more about some of the research carried out on this family via a forum called Rootschat.com take a look at my Scavenger Hunt from a few years back KerryB's Scavenger Hunt...Everyone Welcome To Join In (The Common Room) Once Esther and Corles arrived in England they had 4 children all in St Giles in the Field: William born 1823, baptised on 20 February and buried on 18 April 1823 Sarah born in 1824, baptised on 14 November 1824, she married Michael Madigan in 1843. More about them in #52Ancestors - High and Low - Sussex Genealogist William Henry was my great x 3 grandfather and he was born on 6 November 1829 and baptised on 22 November 1829. He married Emma Buxton on 24 October 1852 in Bethnal Green. Lastly Henry was born in 1833 and baptised on 8 September 1833 but he died and was buried on 6 August 1834. Esther and Corles appeared with William on the 1841 census at 1 Buckridge Street in Finsbury, sharing the property with 3 other families. The only Sarah Baldwin I could find during 1841 was a 15 year old pauper in the St Giles and Bloomsbury Workhouse which is a possibility as this was a few streets away from Buckridge Street.
In 1847 Corles died after suffering after having Ashthma for 5 years and by 1851 Esther was living with William who was by now, 21 years old and working as a Gilder. They were lodging at 25 Fitzroy Place in St Pancras with Ellen Belly, also a widow and her children. Ellen was a Charwoman and Esther was a Dressmaker. Esther died on 7 April 1853 at 22 Fitzroy Place after 4 months of Phthisis. An unknown woman Elizabeth Kavanagh was present at her death. Presumably someone she had lodged with. William who had married Emma Buxton the previous October was living in Bethnal Green. I have tried to find many of these dwellings on maps but so far only have approximate places for them. For instance it would appear Buckridge Street has become Bucknall Street. Fitzroy Place is believed to be in Fitzrovia, possible on Fitzroy Street. Certainly on the 1851 census return the next street on the census after Fitzroy Place is Brook Street which does appear over the other side of what is now the Euston Road. One day I would like to find Esther or Hester in Ireland and who her family were. I have a number of questions such as whereabouts in Cork did she live? Who were her parents and did she have siblings? One day I may find the answers. This week’s theme for #52Ancestors was Organised but I am not inspired by that so I decided to write Lost2 as a sequel to last week. You may recall me telling you in a blog a few weeks ago that we have recently been reunited with one of Dad’s cousins and after having met her, I realised I do not know a great deal about the Baldwin side of the family during the 20th century and it set me on a quest to find out more. William James Baldwin was my Dad’s oldest uncle. I’ve known for a long time that he was tragically killed at Green Brothers Factory in Hailsham whilst working but beyond that I knew nothing. He was born in Hailsham on 18 March 1914 to Reuben Leonard and Ethel Mary Baldwin, my great grandparents. His brothers, Alfred Sydney (my grandfather) and Herbert Leonard were born in 1916 and 1920 and by the time of the 1921 census the family were living at 6 Sackville Road in Hailsham, a road my family lived in during my teenage years. He married Bessie Borrer in Eastbourne, November 1935 with whom he had three sons, James, Michael and Patrick. He and Alfred served during WW2 but I have not managed to find any service records as yet. By the 50s he and Alfred both worked at Green Brothers factory in Hailsham as wood machinists. I believe they had worked there before the war too, as my Grandad had worked alongside David Smith, who had brought up my Grandmother (see previous blog). He died on 19 September at Princess Alice Hospital in Eastbourne, Sussex after a tragic accident at work in the Green Bros factory. His death certificate stated that he died of shock after internal bleeding from a rupture of his right external iliac artery from a penetrating would by a piece of wood propelled by a machine saw. An inquest was carried out on 22 September 1950 where the verdict was returned as Accidental Death. The Eastbourne Chronicle on 29 September 1950 reported
“After hearing how wood machinist William James Baldwin, 36, of the Nest, Hempstead Lane, Hailsham, died from injuries received when a piece of wood shot into him from a machine he was working, Friday’s inquest at Eastbourne returned a verdict of ‘Accidental Death’. The article stated that the Jury called for a rider that an adequate Safeguard to be fitted to the offcut side of the line edging machine if possible. A fifteen year old workmate told the inquest how William had been feeding wood into the line edging machine and how half way through the piece of wood being sawed there was a bang and Bill (William) called out. First aid treatment was given on site to Bill who had pulled the piece of wood out. Safety guards were present on the machine it was stated and Safety Inspectors visited the factory and were satisfied that the machine was protected in the normal manner. Edwin Hollands, maintenance engineer for Green Bros said only on the left side, where the off cut came, was there any danger with the machines. “There was not enough body in the wood to hold the pressure of the rollers and it was rejected.” Hollands stated. No other accidents on that machine were reported. It was reported that because different kinds of work were done on that machine, it would be impossible to have a static guard on the off cut side. Alfred Baldwin, a packer at the factory, gave evidence of identifying his brother on 21 September. William was buried on 23 September 1950 at Hailsham Cemetery in Ersham Road, Hailsham. For this week’s #52 Ancestors the theme is Passed Down and I thought I would look at the twins I have on my family tree. I don’t know how unusual it is to have lots but on my tree the Twin gene has been passed down generation to generation quite successfully in our family. A quick search of duplicate baptism dates on my family tree brought me at the very least 32 sets of twins and that is only the ones I know about. My earliest set of twins were James and Mary Pilbeame who were baptised on 11 August 1615 at the Church in Ticehurst, Sussex to Robert and Elizabeth Pilbeame. Robert was my Great x 9 Grandfather and he married Elizabeth Daniell on 18 October 1614 at Ticehurst and they had 10 children, James and Mary being the eldest. The only one I have properly researched at the moment is John, the youngest, my Great x 8 Grandfather, born 1634 in Wadhurst and died 1713 in Wadhurst. In 1662 John Pilbeame paid Hearth Tax on a house in Wadhurst with three hearths and he wrote a will in 1709 which stated he was a Yeoman. I found one family, that of John Parks and Mary Beeching of Heathfield who had two sets of twins. John Parks was my Great x 7 Grandfather who was born in Heathfield in 1687 to Thomas Parks and Grace Mascall. John married Mary on 16 August 1710 in Burwash and they had 9 children including Esau and Jacob Parks both baptised in Heathfield on 4 December 1720 and Barbara and Richard Parks baptised in Heathfield on 24 November 1723. Some of John and Mary’s offspring went on to have twins of their own including Esau who married Elizabeth Hope on 4 September 1748 in Heathfield and was noted of Waldron. He and Elizabeth had 9 children including Elizabeth and Mary Parks both baptised on 16 May 1750 in Heathfield, their firstborn children. Those two examples are both on my maternal side of the family, there are twins on my paternal side too. There is Henry and George Cruse both baptised in Chailey on 15 November 1752 to Thomas and Ann Cruse. Sadly though, Henry died and was buried on 20 November and George buried on 26 November 1752. This sad family was mentioned in a previous blog ‘High and Low’. There are a number of sets of twins in my Harmer family including Reuben Lewis and Charles Harmer who were baptised on 16 August 1807 in Ashburnham, sons of Samuel Harmer and his wife Phoebe. They had 12 children in all, they married on 22 June 1790 at Ashburnham. Their eldest son, Samuel was born in 1791 in Ninfield and was transported for life, to Australia, in 1812 after conviction for illegally stealing a chestnut gelding at Icklesham, with his harness and a cart the property of Jacob and Lewis Carey. They may have been his uncles but I have not researched that yet. He and twelve other prisoners were capitally convicted and received a sentence of death. The Chief Baron, humanely reprieved all the capital convicts before he left the court. (How kind of him!) Thus Samuel received a sentence of transportation for life. I haven’t found many sets of twins on my Baldwin side of the family apart from Emma Jane and Harriet Louisa Turner born 27 December 1840 in St Botolphs, Aldgate London to Edward Turner and his wife, Harriet. Their Uncle James was my Great x4 Grandfather and they all lived in Cartwright Street in Aldgate which was very near to the Royal Mint and the Tower of London.
Lastly there was Joseph and Mary Willey baptised on 23 February 1792 in North Somercotes in Lincolnshire to William and Ann Willey. William was my Great x5 Grandfather and he married Ann Smith on 19 May 1791 in North Somercotes, Joseph and Mary were their first children. They went on to have 10 children altogether, all of whom lived to adulthood and marriage. William was a Joiner according to the 1841 census as were some of his sons. That is a small sample of some of the twins in my family tree, looking at the spread, they do seem to be more prevalent on the Pilbeam line which ends with the Pilbeam twins of Punnetts Town, my mum, Hilary and her twin sister Davina Pilbeam born in 1943 in Worthing Hospital in Sussex. To find out more about them read my previous blog called Sisters written in March 2022. |
AuthorKerry Baldwin Archives
September 2024
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