The Hampshire Family Historian | Volume 51 No.1 | June 2024

Hampshire Family Historian The

Volume 51 No.1 June 2024

Journal of the Hampshire Genealogical Society

Also inside this Issue 50 years of genealogy • The Life of Frank Butler 1855–1922 •The ‘Captain Swing’ Rioters

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

Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Hampshire Genealogical Society

Hampshire Genealogical Society

HGS OFFICE , Hampshire Genealogical Society, Hampshire Record Office, Sussex Street, Winchester. SO23 8TH Open Tues, Wed 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: Phil Brown Terry Gilmour Kay Lovell Tony Sinclair Sue Stannard Keith Turner Angela Winteridge Debbie Painter Jane Painter Fiona Ranger Ann-Marie Shearer

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

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

MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY Terry Gilmour 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

2

by Stephen Pomeroy Chairman’s Report

June 2024

3

by Tony Sinclair HGS News

Vol 51 No.1 • ISSN 0306-6843

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Page 39

Surnames Featured in this Issue

11 12 13

Farewell

50 years of genealogy

by Stephen Pomeroy Members’ Surname Interests

15 19

The Life of Frank Butler 1855–1922 by Colin Taylor News from the Hampshire Archives

Deadline Material for possible inclusion in the September 2024 Family Historian should be received strictly by July 21st 2024 . 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.

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From our Archives

by Tony Sinclair HGS AGM

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Page 39

The Hampshire ‘Captain Swing’ Rioters 32 by Edward Fennell Searchers 36 Local Group Programmes 38 Membership IBC HGS 50th Anniversary BC

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Editorial

Message from the editor Recalling the past, we reproduce an article from 2013 which tells of the formation of the society with initial meetings and the first journals. We hope to reproduce other articles from the early journals, which many of us will not have seen, in the coming journals in this 50th Anniversary year. I have detailed how my research has changed in the last fifty years, which many of you who have been working on family trees for a similar time will be familiar with. Newer members can see how research has been made easier, although looking at the original images online, rather than transcripts is recommended. With some knowledge you may be able to interpret the names and locations more accurately. Edward Fennell reports on the joint project between the Hampshire Records Office and

the Society on the Swing Riots. The project is ongoing and contact details are at the end of the article should you wish to

participate. You can also look at our website to see HGS projects which you may be able to assist with. Colin Taylor, an overseas contributor, has looked into the families of Frank Butler or Frank Howard and his complexities of two families with two wives. The second whilst still married to his first wife! Stephen Pomeroy Editor

For all the latest news visit… www.hgs-familyhistory.com

Membership Renewal If your subscription is due for renewal please see the inside of the back cover

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HGS News

Chairman’s Report June 2024 sees the completion of my first year as your chairman. It is also the fiftieth year since the Society first came into being which you will, without a doubt, be fully aware of already! I have more to say about the founding members later. Both events provide a time for reflection as well as celebration. In my own case, since I became Chairman and started off our fiftieth year in June 2023 with a full complement of Officers and Trustees, I feel that, together, we have achieved a good deal in our efforts to help the Society to get back up to full speed after the events of early 2023. I have previously mentioned our published “Organisation Chart”, which sets out all the Roles and Responsibilities that HGS needs to fill to help it operate efficiently. Now with only one name in the boxes, it is treated as a ‘working document’ which can be easily updated as and when Trustees and Volunteers come and go. Also, since June last year, we have set up a functioning Sales Office, whereby all requests for our merchandise (CDs, Booklets, Maps, etc.,) are promptly processed by a dedicated Team led by our Office Manager, Sue Stannard. Records held on PDF are still being sent out separately and remotely by another dedicated Volunteer. One further IT update is that we are still working to ensure all our Reports and other Documents are saved to the Cloud, thereby making them all easily accessible to all Trustees and Volunteers, rather than being

reliant on individuals using multiple Thumb Drives / Flash Drives / Memory Sticks etc., as we have been in the past. This year’s AGM is fast approaching

and you will be reminded elsewhere in this issue about how to sign-up for our Online AGM on Tuesday evening June 18th. Do please join us - from around the world this year! - to hear what the Society has been doing on your behalf over the past twelve months and to cast your important votes during the formal proceedings. Please sign up soon – time is quickly running out! You will also realise by now that the AGM has been separated from our Summer Open Day because, in this our fiftieth year, we are holding a magnificent two-day ‘Golden Jubilee Event’ which is being held over the weekend of the 6th and 7th of July. It has been widely advertised since March this year, to make sure you have had every opportunity to read about it and to arrange to join us. Hopefully, you will have signed up during April to take advantage of our ‘Early Bird’ offer for tickets at reduced prices.

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HGS News

There is, of course, still time to purchase your ticket(s) for one or both days. You will not regret buying tickets! If you have read the timetables for the two days, I’m sure you will agree that it promises to be a weekend you will remember for a long time! Looking to the future, once the 2024 AGM and our ‘Golden Jubilee Event’ have passed, your Trustees and I will continue with the work we have already identified that needs to be completed with a view to bringing all the remaining outstanding tasks and issues up to date. To that end, I have already reinstated a top tier of management within Hampshire Genealogical Society, referred to by previous Officers as The Strategy Group. This Group will comprise Vice-Chair Kay Lovell, together with Secretary Jane Painter, our current Treasurer Ann-Marie Shearer, our newly-appointed Assistant Treasurer Debbie Painter, plus myself as Chairman. This small Group will meet periodically to discuss what we think can be done, or, needs to be done, to take the Society forward. Then, we’ll take our views to our Executive Committee for a deeper discussion and agreement by the other Trustees as to what exactly needs to be done, how best it can be done and by whom it will be done. More from me in later Journals but that work will include: - 1. We need to carry out a full Review of our pricing structure so that our costs in producing what we sell are not more than the prices we then sell them on for.

2. We need to carry out a full Review of our annual Membership Fees, to bring them in line with inflation and increased costs in running the Society since the last time those Fees were reviewed several years ago. We do fully appreciate that any increase in our members’ personal outgoings is always a difficult subject to deal with but, as Trustees charged by the Charity Commissioners with looking after the Society’s finances, we cannot knowingly allow the Society to slide into a possible situation where we could make a financial annual loss. 3. We need to have a full Review of the Society’s Website since its last review which was, again, several years ago. As part of this particular Review you, our members, will be canvassed over the coming months as to your thoughts and views on what you expect or would like from your Society’s Website. While I was writing this Report to you in late April, arrangements were already being put into place for these planned Reviews to start immediately after our ‘Golden Jubilee Event’ in July. Members of the respective Working Groups / Sub-Committees have already been appointed and the dates for their respective inaugural meetings have already been set. I expect to have news for you on the above Reviews in the September issue of this Journal, The Hampshire Historian. Finally, for now, because I do like to end on a positive note, I would like to draw your attention to another aspect of it being our ‘Golden’ Jubilee Year i.e., to remind you of the people who helped to bring Hampshire Genealogical Society into existence in the first

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HGS News

place fifty years ago. Rather than take up more time and space in this Report, I would simply refer you to pages elsewhere in this Issue on which is reprinted an article from our December 2013 Issue, written by Murial Allen to mark the Society’s fortieth year – 2014. I have written a short ‘foreword’ to Muriel’s

article and I am very grateful to her for agreeing to it being reprinted in her name. In the meantime, with best wishes to you all for a glorious Summer, I shall write to you again in September. Tony Sinclair Chairman, HGS

News from the HGS Office

Our online shop continues to do well with 88 orders processed during the first three months of the year. Village booklets sent out by email in pdf format are our most popular item, but we still get a good number of orders for CDs and other items to be dispatched by post. Once again it has been necessary to increase our postal charges to bring them in line with recent Royal Mail increases. The HGS Help Desk in the Search Room is operating each Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We also hope to be available for the Saturday opening of Hampshire Archives on 22nd June. Despite the Easter holiday period being quiet, we still receive a steady stream of research enquiries. Besides those from visitors to the Help Desk, our Research Manager Lorraine Whale reports that the research team received a total of 31 online research enquiries in the first three months of the year. In addition to this one enquiry came via Facebook, and three were from visitors to our stand at the Malvern Family History Show,

others came in by post. Still more enquiries came in via our presence at the East Surrey Online Show in January and the Berkshire Online Heritage Fair in February. If you would like to know more about the service we offer please see the HGS Research Centre page on our website. In my last report I expressed concern about whether we would have sufficient volunteers to keep our Help Desk running three days a week. Despite recruiting one new volunteer for the Help Desk and one volunteer for the project team this is still a matter of concern as three of our regular Help Desk volunteers will be leaving us in June. We will of course be taking holidays during the summer which will further deplete our pool of volunteers. Therefore, if anyone is interested in finding more about volunteering for HGS please contact office@hgs-online.org.uk or phone the office on 07769 405195 and ask for your enquiry to be directed to the Office Manager. Sue Stannard HGS Office Manager

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HGS News

Free data/resources on the HGS website

There are many free family research data resources available on the HGS website (www.hgs-familyhistory.org.uk). Although we cannot make freely available commercial content like parish CMB records, monumental inscriptions and other data that we sell, we do nevertheless publish a number of useful genealogical datasets that can be searched. These datasets will generally be collections of transcriptions that have been made by HGS volunteers in the recent past. The collections are to be found in two sections; the first contains data that is open to anyone accessing the website, whilst the second set is only available to members, like yourselves, and accessed via your HGS username and password. The open datasets are found under the ‘Research’ tab and then ‘Free Data’ (www.hgs-familyhistory.com/free-data/). There are just three collections: • The Royal Observer Corps – 2,210 records for serving men and women (in Hampshire or nearby) between 1918-95. • Fleet Marriages – 22 entries from the National Archives involving Hampshire inhabitants. • Britons Dying Overseas (BDO) Ref Catalogue – displays the 270 resource documents used to create the BDO records (over 86,000) found in the Members’ Area. Of greater use to HGS members will be the collections stored in the Members’ Area of the website (www.hgs familyhistory.com/members-area/). Click on the left green menu button labelled ‘Members’

Only Data’ to find these gems; • Group Zoom presentations – current presentations are only available for between 7-10 days, so you need to be quick. We do list all previous Zoom presentations so you can see the scope of our talks. • Britons Dying Overseas – over 86,000 records of those poor souls who died overseas. This data is not available anywhere else and provides a rich source of transcribed data – and not only Hampshire but all of GB. • Quarter Session Records – 1,111 entries from the Hampshire County Assize courts of the ‘Quarter Sessions’ which were held at Easter, Trinity (Midsummer), Michaelmas and Epiphany (January). • Removals and settlements – 407 records (between 1800-34) of those families or individuals who were sent back to their parish of settlement. • Home Guard Names in the Hampshire Record Office – 80 entries of men serving in the Home Guard during WW2. • Monumental Inscriptions (Small Churchyards) – 42 pdf files of inscriptions found at smaller churches (including some Southampton and Winchester parishes). • Muster Roll of the 2nd Battalion Hampshire Regiment – containing sample names of 799 soldiers from 1889. The original documents (and others) are at the Royal Hampshire Regimental Museum in Winchester. • Wills Beneficiary Inde x – recently updated to contain 19,941 records of those individuals named in Hampshire wills – either the testator or their beneficiaries.

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HGS News

• Alton Parish Magazine 1891 – 210 entries listing surnames and events from the year of 1891 give a flavour of day to day life in the market town of Alton. (Please note that we do not provide scanned copies of any originals.) Other website resources The HGS website contains important notices, genealogical tips, forthcoming (and past) events and details of all upcoming group meetings for the month ahead. The latest quarterly ‘Hampshire Family Historian’ e journal is to be found there too (with a 10-year archive of past editions).

You can check your membership details and read important HGS policy documents. You can sign up to the 50th anniversary events and read the AGM documents (when available). And you can buy things! You can order CDs, old maps, village booklets, Eve McLaughlin guides, WEA books and spare GRO certificates that have been made available. Please do take a regular look at the website as there will be updates and new datasets. Richard Backhouse (HGS website coordinator)

HGS Local Groups 2024

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1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Alton

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Andover (Weyhill)

Basingstoke

4

Fair Oak Fareham

Fleet and Farnborough (Fleet)

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Gosport Ringwood Winchester

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

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HGS News

Britons Dying Overseas (BDO), Phase 1

Little did we realise during May of 2022, when we started to advertise for transcribers, what an enormous task we had set ourselves, e.g. to complete the transcription of 86,498 hand-written cards before the close of 2024. However from day one we welcomed new transcribers to the team and as the autumn of 2022 came upon us it became clear that our progress was exceeding our expectations. As the northern hemisphere autumn progressed into winter we noted that we might improve on our forecast completion date of late 2024. Our progress hardly faltered as spring of 2023 came around because new team members in the southern hemisphere took up the slack and compensated for those in northern climes who found gardening a tempting alternative to sitting at a computer. And so it went on as the seasons changed until towards the latter part of 2023 we were forecasting a completion date of Q1/Q2 2024. Before we realized it the New Year was upon us and our progress continued apace until we completed our last transcription early in March 2024 and uploaded the transcripts to the HGS website shortly thereafter. In addition to welcoming the daily transcripts arriving from around the world there were other benefits not foreseen when we started this project – updates on weather conditions from where members of the team lived, an

introduction to ‘ice wine’ contributed by Allen who lives high in the Rocky Mountains of western Canada, articles from Sandi and Margaret about the pleasures and temptations to research more deeply into the tragedies lurking behind the index cards they were transcribing, progress reports on various transcriber grandchildren and other family members, descriptions of journeys made by camper van as Helen and her husband toured their native New Zealand etc., etc. By now, dear reader, we hope you are asking yourself ‘Who were these heroes of BDO transcription?’ so on the next page is the complete list of all members of HGS (and two non-members) who made it possible: Not forgetting David Bowman – our data analyst who developed and showed us how to transcription progress and identify progress targets to keep all of us focused when surely there were many times during the past two years when we asked ourselves ‘Why did we become involved in this project?’ On behalf of our Chairman, Tony Sinclair, and all HGS members around the world, our heartfelt thanks and gratitude goes out to all of the above for making our BDO Phase 1 transcription project the success that it has become. John Bowman use the all-important XL formulas that allowed us to measure and report our

Are you looking for that elusive family history book? Or one on local history? Perhaps we can help – contact Fiona at bookstall@hgs-online.org.uk

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HGS News

– Transcriber Roll of Honour

Stevie Armstrong Leanne Baker Samantha Barksby Nicola Bennison Terry Bridger Wendy Calloway Angela Chapman Helen Clark Fran Cull Sandi Davis Emma Devroey Ali Dolan Sharon Dorricott

Nanette Gottlieb Marilyn Healy Christopher Hicks Mary Hogg Priscilla Holland-Smith Di Honan Ivan Hurst Phil Husbands Robbie Johnson

Rachel Murphy Heather Nixon Anne Nolan Melanie Parker Rod Pierce Julian Porter Barbara Ransom Tracy Searle Clive Smith Pat Staniforth Cedric Stone Diz Swift Tony Thornton Sue Wheatley Grace Willcox Keith Williams

Judy Kimber Barbara Lee Carol Leonard Julie Martin Michael Matthews Gillian McCorry Allen McNeil Joan Miller

Karen Dunford Hilary Gadsby Terry Gilmour Terry Gordon

HGS Office – Open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 10am to 4pm

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HGS News

We are delighted to announce an event to mark a major milestone for the Hampshire Genealogical Society, as this year we celebrate our 50th Anniversary! This two-day event is open to both HGS Golden Jubilee Event

members and non-members, so please do feel free to let your friends know. The venue is the Victoria Halls, located in the north-east of Hampshire, an excellent venue with free parking.

Saturday 6th July We are pleased to announce the following highly knowledgeable and renowned speakers: Dr Janet Few – Tulips, Topiary, Tradescanth and Thyme: seventeenth century gardens Dr Penny Walters – Ethical dilemmas in Genealogy Dr Melsia Kraftner – Routes of Roots in Multiple Diasporas: An Autobiographical DNA Journey Dave Annal – Fact from Fiction Throughout the day you will have the opportunity to visit the Exhibitors Hall, featuring family history societies and commercial stands. You can also browse the HGS Bookstall and check out the full catalogue of the HGS publications and second-hand books. Sunday 7th July The programme for the day will feature several workshops and the opportunity to ‘Ask the Experts’. Our keynote speaker is Paul McNeil , The Time Detective, best known from ITV's top-rated ‘DNA Journey’, who will describe how an unqualified kid from a slum in Peckham came to be on the telly with four million viewers We will end the day with a panel conversation on The Future of Genealogy led by our President,

Dr Nick Barratt Workshops:

Joe Saunders – Local and Family History together Jackie Deppelle – Digging into the Parish Chest Dr Sophie Kay – Mapping Alchemy for Genealogists Dr Caroline Adams – Tips on Reading Old Handwriting

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HGS News

HGS

Ask the Experts Attendees will be able to book a free personal session with the following experts: Dr Nick Barratt, Dr Sophie Kay, Dr Caroline Adams, Joe Saunders, Jackie Deppelle Booking information Please note that this is a ticket-only event. Booking is via Eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/hampshire-genealogical-society golden-jubilee-event-tickets-859589935637 Cost A day ticket costs £35 - book both days for £60 Ticket price includes a buffet lunch and refreshments. You will find full details regarding the Golden Jubilee Event, including a full programme, on our website. A N N I V E R S A R Y Some of the surnames featured in this issue (with page number) ASHLEY . . . . . . . . . . .20 BLAKE . . . . . . . . . . . .19 BUTLER . . . . . . . . . . .19 CROWLEY . . . . . . . . .24 HAGEN . . . . . . . . . . . .26 HAMBLIN . . . . . . . . . .19 HOWARD . . . . . . . . . .22 MARLOW . . . . . . . . . .37 PINK . . . . . . . . . .24/37 SILLENCE . . . . . . . . .24 SIMMONS . . . . . . . . . .19 SPIER . . . . . . . . . . . .36 TAYLOR . . . . . . . . . . .20

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

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HGS News/Farewell

HGS Bookstall

Events that the bookstall will be attending in 2024. 6th – 7th July Golden Jubilee Event, Hartley Wintney 6th – 15th September Heritage Week – venues to be confirmed 14th September Showcasing Hampshire History, Winchester 5th October The Family History Show, Kempton Park 26th October Oxfordshire Family History Fair, Oxford

If you live near any of these venues and would like to help please contact me, we would like to meet you and would appreciate any assistance. Updates to the events can be found on our website. Fiona Ranger, bookstall manager email: bookstall@hgs-online.org.uk If you live in Hampshire and know of an event where we might consider having the HGS bookstall, please let me know.

You can follow us on X at Hampshire Genealogical Society@HampshireGenea2. If you want your meetings or library help desks advertised, we will do this for you on X, X (formerly Twitter)

just email us on the address below. Watch out for our posts and when we are at events, we will include some pictures! Email: liaison@hgs-online.org.uk

FAREWELL Don Bulman of Fareham

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

Member #2714

Peter Christie of Bideford Member #8 John J Goring of St Leonards-on-Sea Member #11918 Sandra Smith of North Baddesley Member #437 Philip Warn of Ferndown Member #15257 Duncan Stewart of Bowness, Scotland Member #8795 Ernest Tully of Writtle, Essex Member #1259 Peter Penfold of Headley Down, Bordon Member #12617 Jeffrey White of Southampton Member #10894

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Member’s article

50 years of genealogy As we enter our 50th year I am reminded of how genealogy has changed in that time and noted how my own research has changed over the years. • At the start if you were lucky your parents or grandparents would have a foolscap piece of paper (pre A4) with a basic outline of per haps one or two generations of the maternal and/or paternal families put together from memories of parents, siblings, aunts, uncles which may have been roughly right. Some times hiding “family secrets” - that illegimate birth or children by mistresses. • Research involved visiting records offices or churches to view registers where you thought the family were from. Reading through them for marriages, births and burials, taking hand written notes and trying to produce family group trees. This could be very time consum ing and family recollections may not be right causing wasted hours looking through regis ters. My mother’s family were supposed to be from Brighton, with the later records below I eventually found them in Norwich! • Later you could visit or write to the local church of the Mormons to get IGI print outs for counties/names for a fee. This allowed us to see what their members had transcribed from registers they had been allowed to see. Some parishes would not give them access. Not all were transcribed if time was limited. • Computers allowed us to type up and edit notes, saving the task of updating notes. Spe cialist software could be purchased to put in formation in standard formats and even produce family trees. • The Mormons put the IGI online on their FamilySearch website which many of us still use as it is still free, although these days you have to access the site via user name and

password. They also provided a free program PAF, Personal Ancestry File, which like the paid for programs kept information in a stan dard format and could produce gedcom files to allow data to be used with other programs or shared. It also could produce various print outs of descendants or ancestors although not family trees. The program is no longer offered but if you have the download it still works, well up to Windows 10 as I still use it. Not all their data has been transcribed and some reg isters can be viewed as scanned pages if you search the latest web pages. • Many records started to be made available online with scanned images and transcrip tions. The two popular sites being Ancestry and Find My Past, accessible by subscription or sometimes free at libraries. Records are not necessarily on both. For, example Hamp shire Records Office used Ancestry, whilst Portsmouth Records Office used Find My Past. Both sites have many sources available not just parish registers or census returns, but passenger lists, rate books, society records etc. Some societies used earlier companies such as S & N for records that their members transcribed and some databases are only on alternative sites when the original records are not held publicly. So, if you do not find what you want on the two main sites it is worth searching out the other online sites and sub scribing to those. Cyndi’s List may help with sites. • Family trees ‘researched’ are often available online but need to be treated with care. Al ways check them. My great grandmother had a family of 19 on the Isle of Wight which I have researched, but Ancestry has her with another husband and large family in Scotland. Impos sible as not only did she never live in Scotland

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Member’s article

but could not have produced children a few weeks or months apart! Someone without thought has merged two families. • Perhaps the latest addition is DNA testing. This can prove family relationships, in my own case DNA proves a link to the family of Radul phus de Pomeraii who came to England from Normandy in 1066 with William the Con queror. Other Pomeroy families exist who may have come from the same village of Pomeraii but are not directly linked and others may have just adopted the name. However, even with the DNA evidence it can be difficult to

find the paper trail. Of course, DNA can prove the opposite and you may not be related to the family you have been researching for years. There may have been adoption in years gone by or the lodger may have been having more than a room in the house! • DNA is still in its infancy and more accurate testing may develop to link families more closely, allowing better collaboration. • More records will become available online Stephen Pomeroy Editor, (Member #13860)

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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Members’ Surname Interests

Members’ Surname Interests Database

Please continue to check the members’ interests webpage at http://www.hgs familyhistory.com/research-resources/me mbers-interests/ for latest details and service updates that will be announced there first. Members’ interests are published quarterly in this journal. There is a restriction in each journal of publishing a maximum of 15 entries per person to keep the journal to a manageable size. Such a constraint does not apply to the database, however, so it is possible to add further interests - within reason! Updates to your surname interests can be made online by following the examples on the page or by post. It is also possible to remove redundant entries, and this is encouraged - deletions are not notified in the journal; they simply won't remain in the database. Updates should be BLOCK printed and submitted in the format used in the following section or as shown on the form on members’ interests webpage. The county Chapman Codes are published at least once in any yearly HFH volume and should be used when submitting interests, e.g. HAM for Hampshire etc. Please note that addresses published in this section refer only to members who have submitted their interests. All enquiries and queries concerning this section should be sent by post to the Research Centre at the HGS Office (address on inside front cover), or go to www.hgs-familyhistory.com/members interests-signup, or by email to

membersinterests@hgs-online.org.uk. N. B. Changes to email addresses will no longer be noted in the journal as many are already obsolete when published. Please contact the HGS Office for a member's current details if you encounter problems But please remember to inform the Membership Secretary (membership@hgs-online.org.uk) of any changes to either your current email or home address. In the following table the interests are in groups with the members details after the names they are interested in. Notes (‘1900’ given as example of ‘date’):

1900 + = after that date; pre 1900 = before that date; c 1900

= circa (about) that date (+/- 5 yrs);

C 20 = xx th. Century; parish a = area around parish

Remember that your addresses are your contact point, so keep them up to date.

If communicating by post remember that an SAE is essential these days, as not everyone has email. Please note that HGS cannot guarantee a response to any enquiry made of a member.

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Members’ Surname Interests

Surname

County Parish

Date span Researcher

Member #

Aldridge Angliss

HAM All HAM All HAM All HAM All

1836-1920Tina Ricketts

16727 16719 16712 16719 15737 16733 16732 16716 16716 16716 16716 16716 15360 16013 16709 16740 16740 15156 16095 15910 16719 15259 16719 15958 15550 16729 16763 16763 15958 5764

Melvyn Clements Claire Annable

Ayres

Baldwin Barber

1700-2024Melvyn Clements

WILTS

Chute

Janis K Brough

Batchelor Bernard Betteridge

HAM All

1600-1920Raymond Batchelor 1700-1750Richard Bernard

HAM Ovington

WILTS

Downton

Heather J Redman

Blandy Blandy Blandy Blandy Blandy Bowles Browne Bullock Bursey Bursey Caswell

UK UK

All All All All All All All All

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Member’s article

The Life of Frank Butler 1855–1922

Background Frank Butler’s grandfather, Thomas BUTLER , was born in 1781 in Ardley, Oxfordshire, and brought up there, a small village next to the present-day M40 at Junction 10. He married Mary SIMMONS in May 1804 whilst living in Kirtlington, a larger village a few miles to the south-west, and training to be a gamekeeper probably at Kirtlington Park, a property built by the baronet Sir James Dashwood; and at that date owned by his son Sir Henry Dashwood. In about 1806 he and his wife move to Ramsbury in Wiltshire. He had obtained a post as a gamekeeper on the Ramsbury Manor estate. This was owned by Sir Francis Burdett. In 1812 he is recorded as a licensed gamekeeper on this estate. Thomas and Mary’s first child is born in 1807 and they had two further children there before he becomes employed as gamekeeper in about 1813 on the Chilton Lodge estate in Chilton Foliat, about three miles away from Ramsbury, owned by John Pearse, an MP in the area and director of the Bank of England. He then has five further children, the fourth of which was James Butler (1820–1893). In 1829 John Pearse entertains the Duke of Clarence, who becomes William IV in 1831, to a hunting party on the estate. He moves from this job in about 1836, after John Pearse dies, to another gamekeeping job on Welford Park, owned by Charles Eyre, about eight miles further into Berkshire. Thomas’s son, James, follows him as a gamekeeper and they are both registered as such in the Boxford/Welford area until he retires and moves with Mary to Britford, Wiltshire, when James obtains a post in 1848 as gamekeeper on the Longford Castle estate of the Earl of Radnor, family name Bouverie.

Frank’s life James had married Elizabeth HAMBLIN , in 1843, at Great Shefford, a village about two miles from Welford. Elizabeth is always known as Betsy and appears as such in censuses, etc. Hamblin was a common name in that area. He and Betsy have a total of eight children, one of whom, Henry, is born and dies in early infancy in the autumn of 1847 when the family are still at Boxford. Three of these were born there, the remainder in Britford. Of these eight, only one was a girl – Ann Maria, who is the child closest in age to Frank Butler after Ernest Butler drowned age two in 1860 in a stream running near the Butler home in Britford. Frank himself is born on 11 September 1855. After the death of Thomas and Mary Butler in the 1850s, James Butler remains with his family at Britford until 1865 when he obtains a position as steward to the Wingerworth Hall estate in Derbyshire, running it on behalf of the Hunloke family. He is shown on the 1871 census with his family living in Wingerworth Hall along with his wife, three of his children, one grandchild and one servant. Frank Butler is registered as 15 years old, employed as a clerk on the Midland Railway, whose headquarters were in Derby. James is listed as estate agent and Harry, one of his sons, is working for his father as estate agent’s clerk. It is an important facet of the story that most of James’s offspring worked as clerks, both commercial and financial. Frank Butler at this time would presumably be employed at Chesterfield station, about three miles from Wingerworth, but the Derby is also possible. By 1871 he would have been living in the hall for about six years and would have met Emma BLAKE whom he would later

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Member’s article

marry in 1879. She was at school in the village and was a few months younger than Frank, but the details of his schooling are unknown. In the period from about 1868 to about 1872 she is at school in Germany at Uerdingen next to Krefeld on the Rhine, having been sent there by her father whose identity is not documented and apparently not known to Emma. As far as I know, when she returns, she continues to live in Wingerworth and is able to form a relationship with Frank. They marry in Wingerworth on 26 August 1879. Emma is shown as living in Chesterfield at the time, presumably with her mother Mary, whilst Frank is listed as resident at Kew, Surrey. This is presumably the same address that the couple continue to live in until Frank’s departure in 1887. Frank’s job is shown as railway secretary’s clerk, but now working at St Pancras station about 11 miles away, now the London terminus for the Midland Railway. (Hilda Butler, daughter of George Thomas Butler, Frank’s nephew, told me that Frank was working on timetabling.) The 1881 census shows the couple living at 42 Gloucester Road, Kew, Richmond. They now have a daughter aged 8 months, Frances Emmeline, and Ann Maria Butler, Frank’s younger sister, is visiting. A son, Frank Butler junior, is born on 1 September 1882. Frank Butler registers to vote at this address until 1887. As registration takes place in the autumn of the previous year, autumn 1886 is the last known date for him at 42 Gloucester Road. By the summer of 1887 he is in a relationship with Laura ASHLEY with whom he goes through an illegal marriage ceremony at Pancras registry office on 17 June, her 24th birthday. He gives an address in the Pancras parish, 7 Granby Street, and states he is a bachelor and working as a private secretary. (A private secretary is responsible for diary

management, filing and documentation, arranging meetings, reception duties, and managing all correspondence. Likely to work exclusively for one client or family.) There are no independent witnesses for Frank at this marriage. The registrar and superintendent registrar act as witnesses, and Maud Mary Imelda Ashley, Laura’s younger sister, acts as Laura’s witness. In December 1898 Laura acts as witness for Maud’s marriage to Howard Heaton. On this occasion she gives her name as Laura Butler. It is uncertain why Frank abandons Emma and the two children, and also whether he afterwards provides funds for them. Emma is fortunate in having a private income arising from her own illegitimacy (she shows an independent income on the 1891 census). relationships with other women during his marriage and simply walked out, causing Emma Butler to carry the burden of caring for her children without male support, which for many females in the nineteenth century might well have caused severe financial distress. There is also the possibility that Emma complained to Frank about his lifestyle and forced him out. As it turns out her second child Frank junior catches diphtheria shortly after her husband marries bigamously and he dies on 15 October 1887 in Barnet. Emma moves there with her children after Frank left the address in Kew and joins up with her mother Mary Blake (as shown on the 1891 census). It is not known whether Frank’s bigamous marriage in 1887 was actually known to the rest of the Butler family. Apart from them being on the 1891 census living at 8 St John’s Terrace in Willesden (in the borough of Harrow) there is no evidence of any other Eileen TAYLOR , Frank and Emma’s granddaughter, maintained he had

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Member’s article

address for him and Laura in London. He does not seem to register to vote anywhere in London after he leaves Emma at the end of 1886/beginning of 1887, probably because the voting register is a public document available for inspection by any members of the public after publication and he would certainly have wanted to keep his exact location unknown. There is also no evidence that Emma attempted to have him prosecuted. It was very unusual at the time for criminal proceedings in such cases. And divorce was also very rare at this time, very expensive and requiring an Act of Parliament. On the 1891 census Frank and Laura are sharing a house with another couple. He is now working as secretary of a chartered association – this is MAIDIC (Metropolitan Association for Improving the Dwellings of the Industrious Classes – one of several Victorian efforts to provide better quality artisan housing in London). Their offices were near St Pancras. The address they are at in Willesden is well away from other Butler households in London, most of which are east of the centre. It is also about 13 miles to Barnet. I had several conversations towards the end of her life with Hilda Butler about Frank. Although she had some knowledge of what happened to him later, there was no mention of this first bigamous marriage, of which at the time I was ignorant. He is living with Laura in 1891, but no children are shown on the census. In fact, there is no evidence that he and Laura had any children during their relationship. Her age is shown as 25, though her true age by the date of the census was 27. She reduces her true age again at the end of the century. We are now approaching the period when a crisis might well have arisen in Frank’s life. He

has abandoned a wife and two children, married another woman illegally and is about to have to accommodate the arrival of George Thomas Butler, his nephew, at MAIDIC. George could have joined MAIDIC from about 1894/5 and is shown working there on the 1901 census. Hilda Butler said there was contact between them there. The other issue might have been Laura – did she find out as the end of the century approached that Frank had not been free to marry her? Or did her behaviour become irrational: her father Henry had had mental issues and died in his early forties in a lunatic asylum after a stay of 18 months. Maybe she was also showing instability, causing Frank to fear she might expose him if she had become aware of his real wife. At all events Laura reports herself a widow when she marries Jack DENNIS, a 25-year-old builder, born in Ireland, on 21 November 1900 in Hastings, Sussex, admitting to the age of 30 when she is in fact 37. This implies that she and Frank separated some time previously. When on 7 December 1898 she is a witness to her sister Maud’s marriage to Howard Charles Heaton at Holy Trinity Church, Brompton, she signs herself simply Laura Butler, so the state of her relationship cannot be deduced. The last certain mention of Frank in London relates to some land tax returns which show him responsible for some MAIDIC properties in Westminster which place him working for MAIDIC at least until mid 1900. However, Hilda Butler reported her father telling her that when Frank left MAIDIC he said he was leaving his job and going off to South America (no detail given), i.e. he was escaping the situation he was in by leaving the country. Unfortunately, there are no documents which help understand the sequence of events during the year of 1900, but rather than leaving

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