52 ancestors in 52 weeks # 2 Joseph Swadling and the Swadlings from Englefield

When I registered the name of Swadling with the Guild of One Name Studies in 2003. I was unaware of the many benefits my Guild membership would bring me. One longstanding benefit is a Guild project called Marriage Challenges. Marriage Challenges is a project in which guild members volunteer to search for marriage entries in Parish Registers for a particular registration district for a time period between 1837 and 1911. Guild members submit the know entries for their registered name and hopefully receive details of any marriages for their name once all the available registers have been checked for that particular area.

Earlier this year I was the grateful recipient of information from seven marriages that had taken place in the registration district of Bradfield in Berkshire. The earliest certificate was dated 11^th August 1838. The groom was George Swadling and his residence was Englefield in the county of Berkshire. His bride was Elizabeth Wise and her residence was Burghfield.

I checked the 1841 census and found George and Elizabeth and their two daughters Charlotte and Mary living with George’s parents, Joseph and Jane in Englefield. Also living in the house were George’s older brother Richard and his younger brother Thomas.

Joseph Swadling was born in Brightwell in Berkshire in 1781 and was the son of Thomas and Phoebe. He married Jane Sims in 1804 in Tilehurst and they had five sons and 1 daughter between 1804 and 1815.

John was born in Tilehurst in1804 and baptised on 8^th April 1804. He moved to London before 1828 when he married Mary Ann Millard. In 1841 John and Mary Ann were living in Doris Street, Lambeth with their two sons William and George. Sadly John died in 1845 and Mary Ann died in 1846. In 1851 William and George were still living in Doris Street but were now lodging with Sarah Pearn and her daughter. William married in 1860 but George died in 1853 at the age of 20 and was buried at St Mary Lambeth.

 

William was born in 1806 in Englefield. He also seems to have moved to London and on the 1851 census he was living on Margaret Street and was employed as an officer in a House of Correction. The census also states that he was married to Margaret who was three years older than him. I cannot find any record of their marriage. William probably died in 1856, as there is a death registration for a William Swadling in the March quarter of 1856 in the Clerkenwell district. I can’t find any trace of Margaret after 1851.

Martha was born in 1809 in Englefield and there is a slight possibility that she married a William Higgs and had seven children. There is a death registration records for a Martha and William Higgs in 1853 in the Bradfield registration district. On the 1861 census their children are being cared for by various relatives.

Richard was born in 1810 and baptised in Englefield along side his brother William and sister Martha on the 17^th June 1810. Richard was still living at home in 1841 but by 1851 he had also moved to London. He was living in Southwark with his wife Elizabeth and two children, Jane and Joseph. In 1861 he was residing at Farm House Lodging House with Elizabeth, Jane and Joseph and four more children, William, Richard, Edward and Mary Ann. Between 1861 and 1869 three more children arrived, Emily, John and Thomas. I couldn’t find any of the family on the 1871 census but Richard and Elizabeth both died of Typhus within three days of each other in the Stockwell Fever Hospital in 1873. Richard was 63 years old and Elizabeth was only 53. Their youngest son Thomas was only 4 years old.

George was born in 1812 but unlike his brothers he stayed in the village of Englefield. He married Elizabeth Wise in 1838 and they had twelve children of which only five married and had children. Four of their children died as children. The other three died in their late teens and early twenties. Elizabeth died in 1862 and George married Sarah Brookman in 1867. George died at the age of 80 in 1892. Sarah survived him by 5 years and died in 1897 at the age of 81.

Thomas was born in 1815 and he also stayed near home. He married Sarah Hannah Gibbs in 1845 but while giving birth to their only daughter, Sarah Hannah died in or shortly after childbirth and was buried on the 13 April 1847. Their daughter Harriett Jane died when she was four years and 9 months. Thomas married Elizabeth Palmer in 1849 and they had one daughter Ann the following year. Ann married John Wickens in 1871. Elizabeth died in 1870 and Thomas died in the Bradfield workhouse in 1883 at the age of 69.

Joseph Swadling had moved his family from Tilehurst to Englefield before his son George’s wedding in 1838. He and Jane shared their home with not only their children but two of their daughter in laws and some of their grandchildren. Jane died in June 1852 after suffering a sudden stroke and Joseph had the medical condition of paralysis for three months before he died in August of 1852. They are both buried in the churchyard of St Mark’s church Englefield.

52 ancestors in 52 weeks # 1 Sidney Frederick Swadling

Visiting a seminar run by the Guild of One Name Studies at the beginning of a new year always inspires me to do more family history. Unfortunately like most New Year Resolutions, yes I know it's nearly the end of February, this enthusiasm wains quite quickly as there is always something else to do besides family history research.

I have decided to join the project 52 ancestors in 52 weeks because this year I am going to do more research and record my findings more carefully so that I will be able to find them in a year's time.

For my first ancestor I am going to introduce my father Sidney Frederick Swadling. Because if it wasn't for him, and my mother Joan, I wouldn't be carrying out Swadling family history.

In 1999 I was at a cross roads in my life and decided that I wanted to know where I came from. No, not the birds and bees version but who were my great great grandparents.

My parents gave me several carefully folded certificates and from these I was able to produce my first family tree. Four A4 pieces of squared paper glued onto the sides of cereal packets, secured with masking tape. Within weeks I knew who six of my eight great grandparents were and was beginning to learn about them.

So let us now take two steps forward and talk about my father. He was born in Birmingham in 1922 and his parents were Frederick Swadling and Minnie Edwards. He had an older sister Dorothy Olive who was born in 1916 but tragically died in 1937 at the age of 19 from Tuberculosis. His younger brother was born several years later.

He explained that where he lived as a young boy he had a back and front garden and in the back garden there was a "brew house". Lovely I thought, my grandfather Frederick made his own beer. No it wasn't a place to make beer it was where my grandmother Minnie did the weekly washing!

As he got older my father went to school and Sunday school. When he was fourteen the family moved into a newly built council house several miles away and my father went to work at the same engineering works as his father. Life was good until the untimely death of his sister and the threat of a second World War in Europe. Both my father and grandfather were in reserved occupations during the war as they were involved in building heavy machinery for the war efforts. My father however didn't escape National Service and it was while on leave that he met my mother at a local dance. The rest I suppose is history. They got married after a lengthy courtship and several years later my brother and I arrived.

My father continued to work at the same engineering works until he retired and he and my mother enjoyed their retirement by buying a caravan by the river so my father could indulge his passion for fishing. They also continued to go on annual holidays somewhere in Europe, as my mother was scared of flying. My father was a good friend to his neighbours and friends and was always available to help someone with vast knowledge of DIY, car maintenance and in later life cooking. As the years went on his health deteriorated and in late 2009 he fell and broke his hip. Complications set in and on the 12th of November he passed away with my mother at his side. She herself was ill and joined him on the 26th of February 2012. On that day I became an orphan and from that day I could no longer ask for help and advice from my parents. Family history was now firmly in the past.

52 ancestors in 52 weeks

At the seminar on Saturday one of the delegates mentioned a project that has been launched by Amy Johnson Crow on her blog nostorytoosmall.com. The project is to write about 52 ancestors in 52 weeks. Ideal if you want to add more posts to your blog.

I am seven weeks behind those who began on the 1st of January but as Amy says it doesn't matter when you start or even if you miss a week or two. The aim of the project is to write about your ancestors.

First ancestor very soon.



 

Guild of One Name Studies Seminar in Telford

On Saturday 15th February I attended The Guild of One Name Studies seminar entitled One Name Studies: The Next Generation.

I was fascinated by how a younger generation of One Namers, all the speakers were under the age of 40, were using a different variety of media to collect and store their data. The youngest speaker, who was only 16 years of age, explained how she had used information that she had collected to write a fictional story about a real member of her family to gain credit towards one of her qualifications.

I really enjoyed my day out and each speaker motivated me to explored other types of media when collecting data.

Swadlings through the centuries

I have asked the question where do the Swadlings originate from many times.

The Domesday Book is a record of a survey that was completed in 1086 and lists a total of 13,418 place names. Amongst these are Swadlincote in Derbyshire and Swaythling near Southampton. The name Swadling is not listed. Of the list of names Swadling is also not listed. So are we related to a place?

Early records show that Swadling(e)s were living in Sunningwell and South Hinksey in Berkshire from the mid 1500's. By the early 1600's Swadlings were also living in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Kent and Greater London. By the mid 1600's they were living in Surrey and by the early 1700's they were living in Sussex.