Research Forum

I need a second (or third) opinion!  One of my 4 x great grandfathers was a Benjamin OGBORN, s/o Richard and Mary OGBORN and baptised in Nempnett Thrubwell in 1760.  There is a marriage of a Richard OGBORN to a Mary PARKER in Winford on the 3 Jan 1756. But Mary PARKER was a widow.   What was her maiden name?  

I hope that someone can help me with information. I have seen a photo of "GALLOP's tea gardens, Dundry" (in the Philip Gallop Collection) which I guess was taken circa 1920's. Can anyone tell me where the tea garden was, who in the GALLOP family ran it and between what dates. Trying to locate the property from the photo, using the school bell tower as a guide, I think that it may have been located in Hill Road. 

Adrian Edwards

I've been looking at the people who lived in Burlington Street, Weston-super-Mare over the years. This is in preparation for a talk I hope to give to the Society next year.   Names such as VOWLES, PRIDDLE, ADDICOTT, WINDEATT, LORING, GIDDINGS, SPOONER etc. etc. including of course the PAYNE family. of Clara's cottage fame. If any of your families lived there at any time please can you share your information and any photos you may have. Thank you. As before please do not give details of living people without their permission.

I posted this on the Facebook Group because I thought that more of them might have Weston connections and have had some useful replies - some privately and two on the Group but I would value any help you can give.

It is sometimes difficult to identify exactly where people lived.  The house numbers changed in about 1908 and Street Directories and Censuses do not always agree.  Sometimes Poplar Place (next to the Chapel) is numbered as if it was a continuation of Burlington Street and where the Museum now stand were variously called Mews.   We have electoral rolls for the more recent years - but all of these are only correct on the day the information was collected.

Know your Place provided a map from about 1884 which shows the buildings on the south side of Burlington Street before the Gas Co took over. Clara's Cottage is next but one to the Chapel. It's all highlighting the problems in identifying exactly where an ancestor lived but what is interesting is the different lives being led by the residents.  I hope that our members will be able to add some detail to my research.  Thank you.

I received an old postcard from Peter Lander (Birnbeck Pier Regeneration Trust) showing damage caused by the 1903 storm at Weston, on the reverse of the card is some information about a family, are you researching these names?

According to UK and Tasmanian Criminal and Court records that I have seen, George HILL was:

• born in Langford c1810-1812
• a labourer
• tried for Burglary (entering the house of Matthew TAVERNOR and stealing 40 Sovereigns) on 2 January 1831 at Wells Sessions
• found guilty and sentenced to death (commuted to transportation for life)
• moved from Shepton gaol to Ilchester on 6 August 1831
• transferred to the Captivity Hulk Devonport on 12 September 1831
• transported to Van Diemens Land arriving on 24 August 1833.

I am interested in George because I am a DNA match to one of his descendants. 

I am a direct descendant of John HILL and Mary WHITE who were married in Churchill on 31 March 1806. They had numerous children all of whom were baptised in Churchill from 1806 (my 3x GGF John) and 1821 (Sarah). There was no George as far as I can tell. Nor can I find any George HILL baptised in Churchill from 1800 to 1820.

Any thoughts on when, where and to whom George was born would be appreciated, please.

One possibility is that he was the son of John Porter HILL who was baptised in Wrington on 26 September 1790. I don't think he was the John HILL who married Mary WHITE in 1806. I believe John Porter HILL was living in Bedminster in 1841 and 1851 with wife Mary and children Thomas, Mary, Charlotte and Elizabeth. "My" John HILL stayed in Churchill. I haven't found a marriage for John Porter HILL or baptism records for his children.

When William ELLY and Martha GRANT, my 3 x great grand parents were married on the 6th Dec 1803 at Swainswick near Bath they were both described as Sojourners.  I took this to mean that neither had been born in Swainswick.  

However there is a baptism of a William ELLY in Swainswick in 1782 s/o Isaac & Susannah ELLY.  As William & Martha's first child was a Susannah and they also had an Isaac I am inclined to believe that this is my Wiliam ELLY. 

William was buried in Swainswick in 1832 but Martha lived until 1865.  On the 1851 and 1861 censuses her birth place is also given as Swainswick.  I can find no suitable baptism for Martha GRANT - Can anyone help me find her birth?