The Hampshire Family Historian | Volume 50 No.2 | Sept 2023

Hampshire Family Historian The

Volume 50 No.2 September 2023

Journal of the Hampshire Genealogical Society

Andover Museum – See back cover for more info

Also inside this Issue A Portsmouth house painter • The Eagles Family • The Hatcher brothers

PLUS: Around the groups • Members’ Surname Interest • Research Room

Hampshire Genealogical Society

HGS OFFICE , Hampshire Genealogical Society, Hampshire Record Office, Sussex Street, Winchester. SO23 8TH Open Tues and Thurs 10am-4pm This address should be used for all post to the society and officers Registered Charity 284744

Telephone: 07769 405195 Email: society@hgs-online.org.uk Website: http://www.hgs-familyhistory.com

PRESIDENT Dr Nick Barratt

OFFICE MANAGER Sue Stannard Email: office@hgs-online.org.uk

CHAIRMAN Tony Sinclair Email: chairman@hgs-online.org.uk

BOOKSTALL Fiona Ranger Email: bookstall@hgs-online.org.uk

VICE CHAIR Kay Lovell Email: vicechairman @hgs-online.org.uk

MEMBERS’ INTERESTS Keith Turner Email: membersinterests@hgs-online.org.uk RESEARCH CENTRE MANAGER Lorraine Whale Email: researchmanager@hgs-online.org.uk EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE AND TRUSTEES: John Bowman Margaret Bowman Phil Brown Terry Gilmour Kay Lovell Jane Painter Fiona Ranger Ann-Marie Shearer Tony Sinclair Sue Stannard Keith Turner Angela Winteridge

SECRETARY Jane Painter Email: secretary@hgs-online.org.uk

TREASURER Ann-Marie Shearer Email: treasurer@hgs-online.org.uk

MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY Margaret Bowman Email: membership@hgs-online.org.uk

GROUP ORGANISERS – See Group Reports Pages

SUBSCRIPTION RATES: ALL MEMBERS £15

EDITOR Stephen Pomeroy Email: editor@hgs-online.org.uk

This journal is designed and laid out by Grey Cell Studios Southampton Telephone 023 8023 5780 Email: info@greycellstudios.co.uk

Hampshire Family Historian The

Contents

Editorial

58

by Stephen Pomeroy Chairman’s Report

59

September 2023

by Tony Sinclair HGS News

Vol 50 No.2 • ISSN 0306-6843

61 HGS News – The Value of Volunteering 66 by Anthony Sheppard My experience of working on the BDO 67 Farewell 68 Surnames Featured in this Issue 69 Searchers 70 A Portsmouth house painter 72 and his family by James Dewey The Eagles Family and Liss Forest 77 by David Lindsell

Page 88

Deadline Material for possible inclusion in the December 2023 Family Historian should be received strictly by October 23rd 2023 . All contributions are, however, appreciated as early as possible. The deadline applies to regular features only. Disclaimer The Hampshire Family Historian is the official publication of the Hampshire Genealogical Society. Material is copyright of the Society and may not be reproduced without written permission. The Hampshire Genealogical Society does not accept responsibility for personal views expressed in this publication, or in any articles. Submission of material The editor welcomes articles, feedback, letters or searchers requests for the journal. Text should be typed in black, with illustrations if appropriate. Send to the HGS Office at the address on the inside front cover marked for the attention of the editor. Please enclose a SAE for return of any photos or other items. Items can also be sent by e-mail to editor@hgs-online.org.uk as Word documents. In this case please send any photos or illustrations as separate image files rather than embedded in the document. You can have them in the document to indicate where they should appear or use placeholders. Images degrade when they are imported and resized when embedded. HGS reserves the right to reproduce submissions in publicity materials and on the society website. Please ALWAYS include a telephone contact — and if a member your membership number. To comply with data protection requirements please state what contact details you want printed in the journal or website, e.g telephone number and/or e-mail and/or address.

Page 70

News from the Hampshire Archives

80 85 88

Members’ Surname Interests

The Hatcher brothers

by Richard Backhouse Local Group Programmes

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Membership

IBC

57

Editorial

Message from the editor Welcome to our September issue of the Historian. This issue includes some notes on the Conference Day and AGM and new appointments; so those like me who were unable to attend can read what the day involved. The society has managed to fill the essential positions on the committee. However, you may notice the New Milton, Christchurch, Portsmouth and Romsey Groups no longer appear in the journal. Sadly no one has stepped forward to take these on. Hopefully in time they will restart like the Winchester Group which was absent for a while. Articles on this issue include: Richard Backhouse’s researches into the Hatcher family which started as a ‘lockdown’ project to investigate Alfred and Rosina Hatcher and shows the various records which can be used to trace the family. This year

further information has come to light with

connections to Australia! Regular contributor James Dewey has researched his house painter relations who lived in Portsmouth with connections to Liverpool and Cornwall; and then Canada and the USA. Finally David Lindsell writes about the Eagles family who moved from Portsmouth to Liss in 1941 returning later and asks whether anyone

can help fill in the gaps. Stephen Pomeroy Editor

Membership Renewal If your subscription is due for renewal please see the inside of the back cover and the insert in the centre of the journal. For all the latest news visit… www.hgs-familyhistory.com

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HGS News

Chairman’s Report This is the first time I have had the very real privilege of writing to you, as your recently-elected Chairman, in “The Hampshire Family Historian”, more commonly referred to as “The Journal”. By the time you read this article, the 2023 Summer is almost over! However, back in the Summer, I was formally elected at our June 17th AGM, by all the members present (thank you all for that!), and my first action as Chairman was to oversee the elections / re-elections of our Trustees, including our new Vice Chair Kay Lovell, our new Secretary Jane Painter, and the remaining Trustees, including our two newest Trustees, Sue Stannard and Terry Gilmour. The front inside cover of this September 2023 issue of “The Journal” shows you the details of HGS’s new Officers, plus all the Trustees for the coming twelve months. We have all known each other for some time and I know we will all be pulling together for the benefit of the Hampshire Genealogical Society as a whole. Following my election in June the first task I was very pleased to perform, at end of the AGM, was to present retiring Trustees with ‘thank you’ gifts from the Society. As the AGM itself took only thirty minutes, there was ample time to say a sincere ‘goodbye’ to the three retiring HGS Officers: Paul Pinhorne (retiring Chairman), Gwen Newland (retiring Secretary) and Christine Pavey (retiring Vice Chair, Research Manager,

de facto Office Manager and de facto Sales Manager!) On behalf of the Society, I proudly thanked Paul for his

longstanding contribution to HGS, including leading the Ringwood Group for several years, then - as Chairman - masterminding and overseeing the successful move of our Research Centre from Cosham to Winchester during 2021 and for guiding the Society through the various ‘Covid 19 lockdowns’ during 2020 and 2021. The very supportive contribution played by his wife, Eileen, was also gratefully acknowledged and, together, they were presented with their gifts and a bouquet of flowers.. It was then the turn for Gwen Newland and her husband John to receive thanks from a very grateful team of Officers and Trustees who had known them both for several years. Gwen was our Secretary for the last few years of her time with HGS and her invaluable expertise and knowledge will be greatly missed, as will the support of her husband John who was a visible presence at many HGS functions over the years. They were presented with their gifts and a bouquet of flowers..

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HGS News

Finally, it was time to say ‘goodbye’ to Chris Pavey – HGS’s ‘Jill of all Trades’! – and her husband Geoff. Chris was officially our Vice Chair and Research Manager during her last few years with us. However, somehow over the years, she also ‘morphed’ into being the Office Manager and our Sales Manager after the Research Office moved from Cosham to Winchester. This was clearly not supposed to happen but it didn’t change largely because Chris, being physically in the new HGS Office, carried out all those functions cheerfully and perfectly well! Her successor will not carry such a burden in the future but, in grateful thanks and acknowledgement of all that Chris has done for HGS over the years, strongly supported by her husband Geoff (the HGS Official Photographer for Conference Day!) she was presented with two large ornamental shrubs / trees for her garden, together with her gifts and a bouquet of flowers.. Now that the 2023 AGM is behind us and, having now recovered from the turmoil we found ourselves in just a few months earlier - which you were all made fully aware of at the

time - we now have a full complement of Officers and Trustees again. Consequently, we are all looking forward very much to working together to ensure the future successful operations of our Society. Along with our Vice Chair and Secretary, plus another Trustee John Bowman and our IT / Web Co-ordinator Richard Backhouse, I have been putting together a new “HGS Organisation Chart”. This Chart sets out all the Roles and Responsibilities that HGS has to carry out on a regular basis and, much to my relief, we found we could now put names in all the boxes! Having named individuals, who will be responsible for one particular Role each within the Organisation, will be a great help in avoiding the pressure put on previous individuals in the past - however unintentional it was - who then took on other people’s responsibilities to such an extent that it began to damage their own mental and physical health. We cannot allow that to happen again and we will do our utmost to ensure it doesn’t. Tony Sinclair Chairman

Have your Query published in the journal Please email it to: searchers@hgs-online.org.uk

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HGS News

2023 Conference Day/AGM Report

The 49th Annual Conference Day and AGM of the Hampshire Genealogical Society was held on Saturday June 17th, 2023. It was a very warm and sunny late Spring day and, very early that morning, a number of HGS Trustees and Volunteers arrived at our venue – Littleton Hall just north of Winchester City Centre. From about 8.00am people were in the Main Hall, setting out chairs for the attending members, with a stage and further chairs for the President, Chairman, Vice Chair, Treasurer and Minute Taker, plus the tables and chairs for the HGS Exhibition Stand, known as “The Bookstall”, run by Fiona Ranger and her three Volunteers: Lorraine Whale, Sue Butterworth and Sue Wheatley. Further chairs and tables were set up in a room that would be used as the “Dining Room” for the day and, in the Foyer, Jane Painter erected the stands that contain the HGS Display Boards that had spent two months in the Foyer of Hampshire Record Office back in January / February. These boards can still be read on the HGS website. The Kitchen and Servery were being set up to serve teas / coffees / soft drinks by Jill Lee and further Volunteers Sue Atrill, Helen Walton, Jackie John and Karen Dunford (which they subsequently did ALL DAY!) While this was going on, Volunteers Lawrence Daniell and Steve Cull were outside, putting up “direction signs” showing the way to the Car Park from Littleton Main Road, and then acting as “Marshalls” in the Car Park, guiding our arrivals to parking spaces. Margaret Bowman and Chris Pavey were

sitting by the front door, taking down details of members arriving, giving out their name badges and Voting Cards to those eligible to vote. Volunteer Brian Prowting was then guiding members into the Foyer for a tea / coffee / soft drink. By 10.00am, everybody was present and sitting down, so the day began with Interim Chairman, Tony Sinclair, welcoming everyone and giving out the usual “housekeeping” information, before inviting our President Dr Nick Barratt to say a few words and to officially open the proceedings. Then, Angela Winteridge introduced our first Speaker of the day. This was Andrew Skinner from Southampton City Council, who gave a remarkably interesting presentation on conspiracy theories surrounding the sinking of RMS Titanic in April 1912, entitled simply “A Titanic Conspiracy.” He asked, “Was the sinking of Titanic an elaborate insurance scam, did poor quality rivets sink her or was a raging fire responsible for her sinking?” He showed us evidence that the suggestion of an such insurance fraud was most likely not the case. Members listened attentively and, once Andy had finished, several members asked detailed and intelligent questions of him. We then adjourned for a short while and subsequently returned to the Main Hall for the Society’s 49th Annual General Meeting. AGMs are a legal necessity for Charities such as ours. They can be a rather dry affair so we tried making the meeting as quick as possible! Our President, Nick Barratt, conducted the proceedings by, firstly, covering the Minutes of our 48th AGM held in June 2022 and having

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HGS News

them adopted as a true record of last year’s meeting. During this part, Tony Sinclair had to leave the Hall! Then, as Interim Chairman, Tony Sinclair came back in to give the “Chairman’s Annual Report” which was a description of Paul Pinhorne’s last year in office. This can be read in full within the Members’ Area of the HGS Website, on the page containing details of this year’s Conference Day and AGM. Tony then left the Hall again! Then, our Treasurer, Ann-Marie Shearer, gave the Trustees’ Report for the year 2022, followed by the Accounts for the year which showed that the Society is in an extremely sound financial state. The Trustees’ Report and Annual Accounts are also available in the Members’ Area within the HGS Website. The Annual Accounts were formally adopted, followed by the formal appointment of Morris Crocker as our Auditors. There then followed a series of Elections, led initially by Nick Barratt. Tony Sinclair was still outside the Hall at first and, in his absence, was formally elected as HGS Chairman for the following twelve months. Upon his return, Tony then supervised the Elections of the three other Officers of the Society, namely, Kay Lovell as Vice Chair, Jane Painter as Secretary and the re-election of Ann-Marie as Treasurer. The following Trustees were re-elected: Fiona Ranger, Phil Brown, Angela Winteridge, Margaret Bowman, John Bowman and Keith Turner. HGS can have a maximum of thirteen Trustees but our final two Trustees, making it

twelve for now, were newly-elected Sue Stannard and Terry Gilmour. All Officers and Trustees were warmly applauded by those present. There being no items under Any Other Business, the AGM was adjourned until next year. After presentations to three ‘retiring’ HGS Officers, we adjourned for a quite delicious cold buffet lunch, which many members ate outside together in the sunshine. (The presentations to the three ‘retiring’ Officers are set out in full as part of the Chairman’s Report on Page 59 of the September Journal.) Our day resumed after lunch with Angela Winteridge introducing us to a character some of us had met before. Jane Glennie came dressed in 20s/30s fashion and, in character, talked to us as ‘Violet’, who was a Stewardess in First Class on the Titanic’s maiden voyage. She gave a gripping account of “Violet’s Titanic Escape”, explaining in great detail what happened to her as she survived the liner’s sinking. The audience was enthralled, as was evidenced by the number and quality of members’ questions and expressed views afterwards. We then adjourned again for another ‘Comfort Break’ and a chance to obtain a hot or cold drink, plus one or two cakes from a fine selection provided by the Caterers. On our return to the Conference Hall it was time to hear from our third and final Speaker, Lucy Browne. Following our Titanic and Merchant Seafarers’ theme, Lucy’s presentation was entitled “Rock and Tempest,

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HGS News

Fire and Foe” and gave us lots of hints and advice about our ancestors who went to sea. She explored Merchant Seafarers during wars and peace time; identifying, tracing and finding out more information about her ancestors in published, online and archival sources. She described exploits of her own seafaring ancestors over a period spanning the heyday of steam ships, two world wars and the advent of satellite navigation. Despite Lucy’s being the last presentation of the (very warm) day, members had quite a number of questions to ask of her and, unsurprisingly, she answered

every query as well as receiving some ‘food for thought’ arising from members’ own research! Finally, on time, Nick Barratt and Tony Sinclair both made their closing remarks, with Tony thanking the speakers and everyone for attending, then thanking all those Trustees and Volunteers who had helped to make the whole day go as well and as smoothly as it did. Nick Barratt then formally closed the day’s proceedings and wished everyone a safe journey home.

HGS Local Groups 2022

6

3

2

1

1 Alton 2 Andover (Weyhill) 3 Basingstoke

9

4

4 Fair Oak 5 Fareham 6 Fleet and 7 Gosport 8 Ringwood 9 Winchester

5

Farnborough (Fleet)

7

PLUS via Zoom National and International Groups Details later in the journal

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HGS News

HGS visit to York for family history show "Newly-elected HGS Chairman, Tony Sinclair, together with the also-newly

Terry had also brought along some "Yorkshire Parkin", which is similar to Jamaican Ginger Cake, but Yorkshire Parkin is made with oats. It was very tasty and went down well with a cup of tea! During the day, we were very pleased to meet HGS members who live in Yorkshire but who saw on Facebook that we were going to be there; a very pleasant surprise for all of us. One HGS member couple, Mr and Mrs Cullum, brought along a Death Certificate for Andrew Cullum's mother, Edith Annie Noakes, who had sadly died in Knowle Hospital in 1967. He was quite young at the time but remembers family members coming to take his mother's body away for burial elsewhere. He hadn't been able to track down the grave so far. We took his details, plus those from the Death Certificate, and promised him our resident expert on Knowle Hospital - Jane Painter - would look into it for him and send him a reply in due course. Another couple, Mr and Mrs Whittaker (of the 'royal' Whittakers, apparently!) approached us with a query about a Hampshire ancestor who, rather amazingly, actually ENJOYED his National Service as an Engineer at Liss. I think Mr Whittaker was saying that his ancestor worked on the MoD railways that served the Camp that used to be there. Again, we promised that someone from HGS would look into it and get back to him in time. He was so impressed with our offer to help him that he joined HGS there and then! His details have been passed to our Membership Secretary, Margaret Bowman, and she has very kindly offered to research Mr

elected Vice Chair, Kay Lovell, drove up to York Racecourse on the morning of Friday June 23rd, en route to the Racecourse for the "'Discover your Ancestors' Family History Show", set for the following day. We arrived in plenty of time that Friday afternoon to set up the HGS Bookstall / Exhibition Stand before leaving to find our hotel for the night. Setting up the previous afternoon meant that, on the morning of Saturday June 24th, we could sit back and relax with a cup of tea while watching the other Exhibitors continue to arrive and unpack as quickly as possible before the Show's start! We soon realised that, coming from Hampshire, we were the only representatives of a 'southern' Family History Society! However, it worked in our favour because so many other Exhibitors and visitors commented positively on our presence, remarking on us having come such a long way to be there. We were soon joined by two HGS members who live in Yorkshire: Pauline Witton and Terry Knight. They had kindly volunteered to help us on the day and they were both soon talking to visitors to our Stand. Pauline was originally from Berkshire but lives in Yorkshire so her accent was quite soft. Terry, on the other hand, is 'reet Yorksher' (can I say that?!) and his accent was a bit harder to follow, especially when he was talking to fellow Yorkshire people who had come to our stand!

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HGS News

HGS Vice Chair Kay Lovell, Pauline Witton (Volunteer helper member from Yorkshire), HGS President Nick Barratt, Terry Knight (Volunteer helper/member from Yorkshire) and HGS Chairman Tony Sinclair.

Whittaker's story herself while she is in the Hampshire Record Office on the HGS Help Desk. Another visitor was HGS member Anita Moore, who said she follows us on Facebook and on Twitter! So that was also worthwhile finding out. Our President, Dr Nick Barratt, was also at the Family History Show. He was there all day, committed as one of the "Ask the Experts" present, as well as giving a Talk himself on tracing our house history. He was extremely busy all day, with hardly a break, but he did find the time to join us on the HGS Exhibition Stand and to pose for a photograph with the two Yorkshire Volunteer helpers, plus Kay and me. The Show was quite well attended, showing that more people are, at last, venturing out to

take part in activities outside their homes. As the Show ended, Kay and I packed the Exhibition Stand away into my car and made our way back to the hotel for a second night - too exhausted, after two days' preparation and attendance at the Show - to drive the 250 miles that evening back to our starting point in Winchester. The weekend was well worth the time and trouble for the networking Kay and I could do whilst we were there, the reception we received from the local Family History Societies, as well as the visitors who were HGS members who had seen the event on Facebook and Twitter and whose queries we could answer. We were also showing the welcome public face of Hampshire Genealogical Society to others from around the north of the country.

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HGS News

The Value of Volunteering This review was received from a visitor to our help desk at Hampshire Record Office and highlights the rewards of

find no trace of his shop being there in the local directories. This resulted in me as the family Grandfather deciding to give myself the task of finding out as much as I could about our Master Baker. I returned the following Thursday morning and Sue showed me how to start my investigation by using Ancestry UK and Find My Past, who both offer free trials, and I was hooked!

being a volunteer. HGS is still in need of more volunteers. If you would like to help, please contact Sue Stannard – HGS Office Manager. Email: office@hgs-online.org.uk HGS office Telephone 07769 405195. It all started when my daughter and her husband visited the Hampshire Record Office during the Winchester Heritage Open Weekend. Whilst there they met a volunteer, Susan Stannard, a member of the Hampshire Genealogical Society. Their volunteers have a table in the Record Office to give help to visitors exploring or searching the past. Following this encounter, I visited their table with my daughter and was introduced to Sue who helped us to try and find a relative called Edward WASSELL – a Great Grandfather who was a Master Baker born in Martyr Worthy near Winchester. He had two shops in Winchester and Southampton and was also a lay preacher in the Baptist Church. Although we had taken birth certificates of two of his daughters born in Winchester, which confirmed his occupation as a baker, we could

Edward Wassell

I went back the following Thursday morning with my results and dead ends and Sue, and her patient and kind colleagues helped me. In all I have had five visits (it may be more) and we found Great Grandfather WASSELL and his bakers shop in Southampton, and lots more about him besides!! The service that this charity-based Society gives at Hampshire Record Office is quite unique with their table just inside the door with their volunteers available to help visitors to research the past. An additional joy is that it gives the volunteers as much pleasure as the visitors when the past is uncovered. The Hampshire Genealogical Society’s ‘Table’ is an absolute gem, and it is a great addition

to the Record Office. Anthony Sheppard

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HGS News

My experience of working on the BDO

I was late to the “party” (December 2022) but, with good guidance from John Bowman, I was soon (“rocking and”) “rolling” on the British Deaths Overseas records (BDO)! Transcribing death records, you might think it will make you sad. To be honest, at times it does. From those in the East India Company who died of disease, those in the Boer War who also died from disease but also died from their wounds or killed in action to more recent conflicts in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan. There are also incidences of Britons, including missionaries and their families, both in distant and recent times, being murdered. Other sad events include accidents (skiing, climbing, drowning, falling off balconies) whilst on holiday. Two sisters, aged 19 and 22, being killed in a motorcycle accident in Greece, made my heart wrench for their divorced parents. Another tragedy, again recent times, was a father, his 2 teenage sons and 1 teenage daughter being killed in a car accident. Coming across Britons who had died in the “Herald of Free Enterprise” ship sinking was particularly poignant for me – hearing about it at the time made me wonder if any of my fellow Merchant Navy colleagues were involved. So, yes it can be hard, but there are many transcriptions where you can celebrate achievement, courage, bravery and long life. Something we will all be aware of are the World War 2 brides who emigrated to their husband’s home country – Canada and America predominantly. You have to admire their courage and not knowing if they would see their families again – transport, travel and

communication not being as accessible as it is now. (I remember my aunt, uncle and cousins moving to America in 1967 and, as a young child, thinking I would never see them again – I did!). I would like to think they had a happy and fulfilling life – some had quite a few children i.e. 6, 7, 9 so it certainly would have been a busy time! One of my friend’s mother did it in reverse – an American who came over to marry a British man. Remaining with the World War 2 theme, one transcription was for an ex WAAF who was awarded the George Cross for rescuing an airman from a crashed plane. This is where distraction can come in – I had to find out about the full story! What a heroine she was. In 1852, two young sisters applied for assistance to emigrate to Australia – there was no mention of other family or family in Australia. I have to admire that courage in taking a big leap to emigrate to the other side of the world. I hope they found their sea legs as it was a long journey (no Suez Canal then to shorten the journey!). There were others who were assisted by unions to emigrate to Australia including a pauper, who I hope was enabled to enrich his life. You may have heard of the 1820s Settlers to South Africa. On one transcription, the male was listed as an 1820 settler, travelling with wife. Unfortunately, he died at sea. The wife arrived in South Africa and remarried the following year. It wouldn’t have been easy for her to remain on her own – and in a strange country! Still in South Africa – the Cape 1817, a gunner in the Royal Artillery died leaving his wife and children destitute. Again, she remarried the following year. I think positive

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HGS News/Farewell

that the two women were content in their second marriages. An interesting comment on one transcription was of a male born June 1919 and emigrated 1921 to Canada with his maternal relatives. Where was his mother? Where was his father? Was he born out of wedlock? I can feel another distraction coming to answer my own questions! He lived to a good age though. On the subject of age, it was interesting to note how many did live well into their nineties and a few who reached 100 and above. Another interesting comment on a transcription was of a woman, who was a pioneer estate agent in Canada for 40 years. On occupations, there was a vast variety of occupations including a NASA engineer. I also came across a few reasonably well known showbusiness personalities – ok, I had to google some when I saw occupation of actor! Having a road map book of America and

Canada has increased my knowledge of the geography of these 2 countries. It is said every day is a learning day. I have looked for any of my own family who were overseas. I mentioned America but also had relatives in Canada, South Africa and Australia. I haven’t come across any yet. John (Bowman), who I mentioned in the first paragraph, now gives us transcribers a monthly update on progress made, which is encouraging. I am reaching 2,000 transcriptions (rain in the UK has helped me achieve that!). But there is still plenty more to be transcribed. Maybe I have whetted your appetite. If you are interested in being part in the transcription work, please contact John at bowman92@btinternet.com Am I glad that I participated, even being late to the “party”? You bet I am!

Oxfordshire Family History Show Please note that Oxfordshire Family History Show on 7th October has been cancelled.

FAREWELL Wendy Hobbs of Shirley, Southampton

With the deepest regret we wish to inform readers of the death of the following HGS members:-

Member #893. With her husband Michael they ran the New Forest Group. (2011-2018) Peter Jacobs of Horndean Member # 3931 Beryl Whale of Andover Member #4449

"Beryl, my beloved wife, died at home suddenly and unexpectedly this morning (31st July). She, like me, joined HGS in 1989 but had not attended any meetings for around twenty years but previously we both attended many varied group meetings. We were married for sixty-one years.” Rodney Whale

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Surnames Featured

Some of the surnames featured in this issue (with page number) BACKHOUSE . . . . . . .88 BERRYMAN . . . . . . . .79 BONE . . . . . . . . . . . . .79 BULEY . . . . . . . . . . . .94 CASELY . . . . . . . . . . .78 DENYER . . . . . . . . . . .70 DEWEY . . . . . . . . .72/73 DRAG . . . . . . . . . . . . .75 DYER . . . . . . . . . . . . .76 EAGLES . . . . . . . .77-79 ELLIS . . . . . . . . . . . . .75 FORD . . . . . . . . . . . . .73 GOODALL . . . . . . .78/79 HATCHER . . . . . . .88-95 HUNTER . . . . . . . . . . .90 JUGGINS . . . . . . . . . .72 KEMP . . . . . . . . . . . . .73 LINDSELL . . . . . . .78/79 MARWOOD . . . . . . . . .75 NEWMAN . . . . . . . . . .79 PARTINGTON . . . . . . .90 RICHMOND . . . . . . . .74 SAINSBURY . . . . . . . .72 SMITH . . . . . . . . . . . .76 SPIERS . . . . . . . . . . .79 STONE . . . . . . . . . . . .90 STRIDE . . . . . . . . . . .73 TAYLOR . . . . . . . . . . .94 TRUSCOTT . . . . . . . . .74 WADGE . . . . . . . . . . .74 WASSELL . . . . . . . . . .66

Do you follow our

page?

A few reasons why you should • There is at least one post every day • There are hints and tips • There are notifications of HGS events and meetings • There are opportunities to share your information • You can ask for help

• Our Saturday Smiles make you do just that • Our Sunday Snippets may make you think …and much more…

Follow us here: https://www.facebook.com/HGSfamilyhistory

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Searchers

Searche If you would like your request to be included in this section, please submit a brief, but specific, email or letter of enquiry or send a 'Word' based article with relevant names (and particularly your own name and address) detailed in BLOCK CAPITALS to Editor, Hampshire Genealogical Society, Hampshire Record Office, Sussex Street, Winchester. SO23 8TH. Please advise what contact details you want printed in the journal along with your query – email, telephone number, postal address, or via HGS Office, research@hgs-online.org.uk Please be patient as acknowledgement or reply

will not be made except through this journal. Photographs and illustrations are gladly accepted: – 300 dpi resolution jpegs by email attachment or on CD are welcome or laser colour photocopies (never ordinary ones) or black and white original pictures. All can be returned if you request it and supply an SAE. If sending original photographs through the post, please use a protective board envelope. EMAIL: searchers@hgs-online.org.uk and please always quote a full postal address for those without computers. If this is not done, your request may well be disregarded.

Abbreviations used: b = born, bap = baptised, bd = buried, c. = circa, C = Century, d. = died, mrd = married. Members are reminded that these pages are compiled from letters etc. that may have been written months beforehand, so postal addresses should always be checked for up to date changes.

Denyer

I am trying to find out the school(s) my grandfather Percy Howard DENYER b 1901 and his brother Ernest James DENYER b 1900, would have attended. I would also like to know if the school/s still exist. My great-grandfather Ernest Jesse DENYER was in the Royal Navy, and their address was 61 Daulston Road, Buckland, Portsmouth.

Two of my stories about great grandfather Ernest Jesse DENYER in the Navy were previously published in the HFH: A Seaman's Journey; Vol 47 No 1 June 2020 The Czar Visits England; Vol 47 No 3 Dec 2020 Overleaf is a photo of the boys in school. Doris Richardson (Member #14935) dorisr58@hotmail.com

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‘The Mystery’

Way, way back I was searching for my birth Father and thanks to DNA I have traced him. Although born in Scotland he left to join the Navy in 1939. He served during the war, left about 1958, I think, and then worked in Portsmouth Dockyard. Interestingly, the granddaughter (who is now 65) of the lady he married in 1961, has informed me that he never lost his Scots accent ginger hair or freckles, and that he

used to drink in the pub in Southsea, called The Mystery . Are there any members who worked in the dockyard, or anyone who drank in The Mystery pub who recognise any of his details? He died in Pains Road, Southsea. I would be ever so grateful for anyone at all, who has ever heard of him, to contact me. Priscilla Breakspeare (Member #7432) priscillabreakspear0@gmail.com

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A Portsmouth house painter and his family

The house painter, Charles DEWEY, was the eldest brother of my great grandfather, William, known in the family as Will DEWEY. Charles was born in Buckland in 1828 and baptised at Widley Church on 29th June. The church had stood on the site since the 12th century and was renovated in the 18th and 19th centuries. Had he been so inclined he could have traced his own Dewey ancestors almost entirely in Wiltshire and Hampshire back to 1623 with certainty, and with a considerable degree of probability, back another hundred years. He had other priorities including setting up a home with his wife Eliza SAINSBURY , a dressmaker by trade. She had been born in 1827 in Landport, Portsmouth as were their children. Charles and Eliza married in Buckland Chapel according to the rites and ceremonies of the Independents. Buckland Chapel was built around 1820 [Opened 22 Apr 1822 – Ed] in Kingston Road and replaced in 1869 by the church on the corner of Kingston Road and Queens Road. An interesting detail in their marriage certificate relates to the profession of Charles’s father. He is not referred to as a ‘Government Labourer’ as he was on the certificate for my great grandfather in 1866. On the certificate for Charles and Eliza he is recorded as an ‘Officer in Ordnance Department’! It is worthy of speculation. Was this evidence of social distancing? To support such a possibility, it may be significant that the two witnesses of the marriage come from the bride’s family. Incidentally the Naval Ordnance Department in Portsmouth has a base on the Tipner peninsular on the western

side of Portsea Island. From 1796 there was a purpose-built gun powder magazine on site. At the time of his wedding, Charles, was living at 10 Landport View and Eliza, in the next street, 4 Pye Row, later Pye Street, both off the north side of Charlotte Street. By 1861 Charles and Eliza were living at 8 Brighton Street. Eliza died in 1865 before she had reached 40. By 1881 he was living with two of his three surviving children, Alice Eliza and William George at 37 Glidden Street. Alice was working in the local corset making industry which provided much employment, particularly for women at the turn of the 20th century. William George, then a labourer, married Ellen Mary JUGGINS in 1891 at St Mary’s. In the following year they had a son, William Alfred Henry. Subsequently Wiliam George joined the army because in the 1901 census he is recorded as a private serving in the Hampshire Regiment at the age of 40 in the holding battalion in Winchester. The First Battalion was in India in the 1890s and later in South Africa in the Second Boer War. It seems, however, unlikely that Willam George ever served abroad during his service with the army. By the 1911 census he is recorded as a civilian working as a fitter’s mate. What he did during WWI is not known but it seems he continued to live with his wife at 144 Hertford Street near Sultan Road until she died in 1938. At the time of William George’s death on 11th July 1940, as a result of the first air raid on Portsmouth in WWII, he had been living at 51 Farlington Road, with his son’s widow Florence Emily Mary. She had married William Alfred Henry, William George and Ellen Mary’s only child. Florence survived the

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war and died in the Royal Hospital, Portsmouth, at the age of 55 on 28th February 1948. She was buried at Christchurch, Widley. Before her death she had lived at Hordean. She left two daughters, Doris May who married in 1947 and Irene Beryl, still unmarried at the time of her mother’s death. How Florence came to meet William Alfred Henry remains a mystery because she was born in Liverpool. Her father had Welsh roots but had been born in Liverpool as had her mother. In 1911, Florence was a labourer working in a rubber factory in Liverpool. It is possible that better jobs were available in Portsmouth as a result of so many men there responding to the call to serve the nation. Whatever, the reason, she moved south, met her husband to be, avoided the influenza pandemic, married and had a son all before the end of 1918. How close William Dewey was to members of Charles and Eliza’s family is also difficult to establish, but a faint clue is provided by the fact that in the early 1890s, Alice Eliza is listed as china and glass dealer. Could my great grandfather be instrumental in some way establishing her dealership? The 1881 census reveals that William’s father-in-law, Henry KEMP , who moved from Bures St Mary on the borders of Essex and Suffolk, was living at 22 Barbara Street, Islington. He was recorded as being an invalid, but his occupation was given as a china dealer! It is also noted that Alice Eliza married William Henry STRIDE , a mattress maker, some thirteen years her junior relatively late in life in 1897. She had been born in 1856 but in the 1891 census she claimed to be only 28! Perhaps this was a slip

of the pen. She must have been something like Susan Tall in Hardy’s ‘Far from the Maddening Crowd’ who was a ‘lady calling herself five and twenty, looked thirty, passed as thirty five, and was forty’. At the time of her wedding, Alice Eliza gave her age as 39, when she and her husband to be were living at 100 Newcome Road, Fratton in Portsmouth. There also remains a mystery of how Charles, the house painter, happened at the age of 59 in 1887 to die in Portsea Island Union Workhouse (later to become St Mary’s Hospital). Notice of his passing appeared twice in local newspapers. Firstly, on 24th September and then a week later on 1st October. The only other event that has so far come to notice about Charles is that in 1848 with a ten year old boy, he gave evidence in court regarding the theft of a hand of pork from a William Good, a butcher in Landport [Union Road, later Commercial Road -Ed]. Charles Ambrose, the house painter’s eldest son and named after his two grandfathers, was a hammerman in HM Dockyard. In 1879 he married Harriet Sarah FORD at Kent Street Baptist Chapel in Portsea, thus maintaining the nonconformist connection. They lived initially at 23 Cressy Road, Portsmouth. In the following year their first child, Ernest Charles Ford DEWEY , hereinafter mentioned as Ernest C, was born. Where he was born is not certain because one return indicated that it took place in Dunfermline, while in another place it is shown as Portsmouth. It is just possible that Ernest C was born in Scotland, because from time to time workers in the dockyard in

Portsmouth were moved from one establishment to another. Charles

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Ambrose whose work in the dockyard earned him the award of the Imperial Service Medal in 1914, could have been in Rosyth during part of WWI. Another son, Sidney Bertram, was born on 12th August 1886 when the family were living at 28 Longs Road in Landport. Unhappily he died early in the following year. Just as an aside, it is interesting to note that the forename Bertram is to occur again; in this instance in the family of George Dewey a more distant relative. Leonard Bertram, George’s son, a Chief Engineering Room Artificer, who had lived at 65 Crofton Road in North End, had at least two sons, Lawrence Betram born 1923 and Kenneth George, born 1927. Does this indicate a possible link between more distant parts of the family at the end of the 19th century? There was even an illegitimate child baptised Alfred Bertram Charles Dewey on 4th February 1866 in Funtington, West Sussex, but no familial connection has been established with this Dewey! Incidentally Lawrence Bertram married Kathleen RICHMOND in Birmingham in 1949. They had at least one daughter, Marion H, who was born in Chatham. Lawrence Bertram died in Coventry in 2000. Ernest C married Florence Rose WADGE at St Mary’s, Portsea in 1902. By trade at the time he was a hosier. Florence’s father was an electrician. The young couple were living at 90 Drayton Road in North End in 1909. So far it has not been possible to establish with any certainty the abundance of the fruits of this union but they had at least three children, all born in Portsmouth; William Ernest Wadge in

1906 who died in infancy; Ernest C F in 1910 and Rene(e) in 1915. At the time of the wedding, Ernest C’s father was living at 8 Byron Road and he appears to have stayed there until his death in 1918. Ernest C’s mother, Harriett, was alive in 1921 still at the same address and seems to have stayed there throughout her widowhood. Ernest C’s wife’s family found its origins in Cornwall, where Wadge appears to be a highly localised surname, with significant concentrations on the edge of Bodmin Moor, between Launceston and Callington. Two adjacent parishes seem to be notably significant, namely Altarnum and Lewannick. Florence Rose could trace her ancestry back to Joseph Wadge whose father married a Mary TRUSCOTT , the surname of whom would appear to be locative, derived as it just happens, from a place in the parish of St Stephens by Launceston. This parish is not far from Altarnum and Lewannick. Florence’s great great grandfather, Josiah, the nephew of the miller, Truscott WADGE , a cordwainer by trade. Josiah left Cornwall in the second part of the 18th century and moved eastwards to be buried in Portsea in 1817. Other branches of the Wadge family left Cornwall after 1750 to find work in other parts of England. Some of the family moved to Lancashire there to find employment in the coal mines and cotton mills. While others went to work in the coal industry in County Durham, others, like so many in Cornwall at this time emigrated. Some did stay and one of these, a descendent of Truscott Wadge suffered a cruel fate. Selina or Selena Wadge

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born in 1852, was christened in Altarnun on 18th June of that year. Her father, Thomas Coombe Wadge, was the son of Truscott Wadge and had been born in 1825. In 1861 he was a copper miner. Copper mining was then in serious decline in the county, and therefore it is not surprising to find at the time of the 1881 census that his occupation was no longer recorded as copper miner. His daughter, Selina or Selena, who was a distant cousin of Florence Rose, never married but had at least two children. Life must have been hard for an unmarried servant girl in her late 20s. In 1878 she threw her two year old son, Harry, down a well and he drowned. On 15th August 1878 she was hanged for this offence. According to the plaque in the museum now housed in the former jail in Bodmin “ MARWOOD , the hangman, carried out the dread sentence of the law. At 8am the black flag was hoisted and Selina was launched into eternity. Her last words were ‘God deliver me from this wicked world’.” Erenst C’s early years of marriage appeared to be in a constant state of change. In terms of employment, not only was he referred to as being a hosier, but also an outfitter and a clothier. At some time during WW1, he apparently made his living as a hotel clerk. His wife during the war seemed to be frequently on the move without her husband. Either just before the war or at its beginning, it seems Ernest C had left Portsmouth on his own for North America. One record shows that Florence with her son, Ernest Barnes, sailed from Liverpool to arrive in New York on 30th August 1914. From there she travelled to

Canada to stay with a friend at 55 Augusta Street in Ottawa. She then sailed on to arrive in Quebec City on 13th October 1914. This second record revealed that Ernest C F was already in the USA. No record has yet been found to indicate when he actually left England. In 1915, Florence, with her son returned from New York to arrive in Liverpool and thence to 25 Westbourne Road in Portsmouth where Rene(e) was born. Ernest C and his family actually returned to North America but by 1920, having entered the USA from Canada, the whole family was living in rented accommodation in Detroit in Michigan. His occupation in the US census of 1920 was given as ‘road builder’. By 1930, he was in the auto industry working as an inspector. He died in the USA on 11th February 1936. His son Ernest Barnes, known as Jim, in the summer of 1935 married Detriot born Norma DRAG in Aplena on Lake Huron in Michigan relatively near the Canadian border, just under a year before his father’s death in Detroit. His daughter Rene(e), her second e was added after the family had emigrated, like her brother married an American. Her husband was James L ELLIS and he was born in Tennessee. Brother and sister had at least one child, both sons, and contact by email was established only briefly with Ernest Barnes’s Tom, who was born in 1939. Before ending this account, it is necessary to return to the two granddaughters of William George Dewey, namely Doris May and Irene Beryl. Their mother, Florence Rose, had been a widow since 1934 and by 1939 was running a wool shop in Portsmouth [102 Fawcett Road,

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Southsea – Ed]. Then living, probably as a lodger, in her house in North End was Rodney Alfred DYER . He was 26 and his occupation in 1939 was recorded as theatre painter! It was he who married Doris May in 1947 and obviously explains how they met. Rodney had been born in Portsmouth on 13th December 1912 some five years before Doris May. His father was Alfred Dyer and he was born in Berwick St James in Wiltshire, thus sharing a common descent with the young woman his son was about to wed in 1947. Alfred Dyer’s mother was Eliza Dewey, born in 1855 in Salisbury but her Dewey roots were in Fovant in the Nadder Valley in Wiltshire. Whilst Fovant is quite close to East Knoyle in the county where Charles, the house painter’s roots are to be found, no connections between the Dewey families have been discovered until now. Doris May died in 2006 and her death was registered in Gosport but her husband lived until he passed the hundred mark and he

died on 31st December 2013 with his death registered in Southampton. Irene Beryl, Doris May’s sister, married after her mother’s death in 1952. Like her sister, her marriage was registered in Petersfield. Her husband was Jack P SMITH and he was 56, she was 31! He had been previously married but was a widower when he married Irene Beryl. His first marriage was in Portsmouth but his wife died in 1938. In the 1939 register Jack P Smith’s occupation was recorded as a milk salesman. He was then sharing accommodation with a Daisy May L Dewey. This relationship evidently ended before he married in 1952. Jack P Smith died in Southampton in 1960. Irene went on to live until 2006, the same year her elder sister died. Her death was registered in Portsmouth but in marriage she is likely to have lived in Southampton. James Dewey (Member #11167)

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