Comments

In a street directory for 1941 the Cardiff Arms with a Mrs E BANWELL in residence is listed at 24, Meadow Street. Weston-super-Mare.

There is this photograph of Meadow Street in 1953 which shows that end of Meadow Street - No 24 would have been on the right hand side probably just passed the car on the other side.  Perhaps someone else has access to an actual photograph of the premises.

I would support you in your theory that William LEISHMAN was the son of Boyd & Jane LEISHMAN and was probably born in Liverpool.  Is there a father's name on the marriage certificate when he married Ellen POPLE in Bristol?

The slight snag is that William appears to have had a previous family with a Catherine (possibly nee ROWE) and they can be found on the 1851 census in Bromley, Middlesex. Ref HO107/1555 Folio 511 Page 14.

Hi Dave

Thank you for your suggestions. I haven't tried FOWELES or FOULLS before - so many alternatives!

The VOWLES family that Jim Brimble and I are interested in is in Yatton, with the earliest known dates in the last decade of the 1600s. I haven't yet found any VOWLES in Yatton before then on Free Reg so it could be possible that the family came from elsewhere.

Regards

Catherine

Hi Catherine.

I have several VOWLES in my tree, the oldest (currently) being Joseph VOWLES/FOWLES who married Ann Evans in Winford, Somerset on 2 July 1700.

FreeReg have transcribed marriage records for Winford back to 1656 (earlier for baptisms and burials) and for Yatton back to 1675.

I have done a limited search on FreeReg. There is a marriage of a John VOWLES to Mary SHEPHEARD at Barrow Gurney on 22 May 1684. John was from "Wynford". Might be worth considering.

By the way I have also seen "FOULS", "FOWELES", "FOULLS" and "VOULES".

Dave Erasmus

I'm sure that there are other members of this society who know more about the POPLE family than I do but at the moment I can see no obvious connection between these families.

Maria POPLE's younger brother Alexander Henry POPLE married the sister of my great grandfather and so I have looked at the Berrow POPLE family.  As far as I can see that branch of the POPLE family were in Berrow and before that Mark from at least 1729.  There were certainly POPLEs in Wedmore from the 17th century and there could be a connection with the Mark POPLEs

Samuel's father, James POPLE was a Blacksmith in Yatton and his grandfather, another James POPLE, married Honor PARSONS in Kingston Seymour 17 April 1788 was also said to be from Yatton and a blacksmith. The banns were called in both parishes and can be seen in our transcriptions on this site.  I haven't traced him back any further yet.

You stated :

The 1861 Census lists "Charles WASHER senior & Elizabeth Washer South Road Farmer of 127 acres in Village" - the village name is not provide but it could be Berrow.

Yes, it's Berrow, the Parish Name of Berrow is omitted from this page but as it is on every other page there is no reason to suppose that it could be anywhere else.

The 1871 Census lists "Charles II Washer (23 years old) and Sarah Washer lived at Unity Farm Berrow".

This is not correct - do look at the original image. As I mentioned before, Charles WASHER is NOT at Unity Farm in 1871 (and he is aged 27).  The census transcription is inaccurate - there is no address given for Charles & Sarah WASHER.  William HARRIS is living at Unity Farm and is farming 137 acres and employing 2 men.

Interestingly in a book entitled The Story of Berrow and Brean by William St J Kemm whilst discussing life in Berrow during Victorian times he writes: 

"The number of baptisms in Berrow and Brean until modern times have always exceeded the number of burials.  Surplus children had alway had to leave the village when they grew up and this was still more the case when the agricultural depression set in after 1850.  The WASHER family in 1851 had six sons and four daughters living in what is today, Mead Farm. Presumably the daughters married. Of the oldest boys George inherited the farm, though there is no trace of him in the 1881 census;lucky Edward married Ellen TALBOT and worked her father's farm - the largest in the village, William, aged 11 in 1851, Charles aged 9 and little Alford 2 months, later all emigrated to New Zealand, Charles only dying in 1932 at the fine old age of 90.  Their descendents today are prosperous dairy and sheep farmers. James aged 5 in 1851 emigrated to California".

Unfortunately this book does not have references to its sources but it looks as if someone from your family may well have given some information, although I'm intrigued by his mention of Mead Farm.  It does describe some of the reasons for the agricultural depression.  Bad harvests coupled with the advent of the railway contributed to the hard times,  The railway allowed Somerset farmers to send their produce to market more quickly but it also allowed for imported grain, New Zealand lamb and Australian wool to be brought to Somerset - thereby harming the home market.