The Distaff Side – Reflections

On writing the original article on my female line, I undertook to update the section on Martha Ann Gillard when I had obtained the will of her supposed first husband, Nicholas Walters. It has taken some time to carry out that proposal, but better late than never, and I have extended this into a new article as there were a couple of interesting points that occurred to me on looking into the line again.

In the first instance, it is now obvious that Martha and Nicholas never married. Despite their son’s baptism showing the parents as Nicholas and Martha Ann Walters, this was just a convenience  for the register. I haven’t obtained a birth certificate for Charles Henry Walters to see how his parentage is described there, but there is no evidence of any marriage. Nicholas’ will refers to Charles Gillard and his mother, Martha Gillard with no reference to any relationship. Despite this, Martha describes herself as a widow with the name Martha Walters in the 1861 Census, and the same on her marriage to George Street in 1863.

Nicholas’ will is interesting in many ways. It was a carefully constructed document, clearly establishing what Nicholas wanted to happen to his estate. The total value was under £50, not a huge sum, but obviously enough to require precise instruction. Nicholas appointed as Trustee (and Executor) his brother-in-law, Edward John Hatherley (husband of Nicholas’ sister Mary Ann). Edward was to obtain, on trust, all of Nicholas’ estate and give the same to Nicholas’ mother, after the death of his father; should his mother decide to separate from her husband (‘through unkindness on his part’) then Edward should pay her a monthly allowance until the capital was exhausted. Should his mother die before his father, then the estate was to be shared equally between Nicholas’ brother and two sisters. The brother was also to receive all Nicholas’ clothes and his watch chain, rings etc. He further directed his doctor’s bills to be paid and his funeral expenses covered by his ‘Club’. Finally he leaves £2 to Charles Gillard, to be paid to his mother Martha at the discretion of Edward as Trustee and Executor. No mention of any relationship between them.

The will was drawn up in September 1859, a full six months before Nicholas death; it would be interesting to know what the total of the estate was by that time, as one assumes he would not have worked during that time

On studying the female line once again, two things stood out, which I had not noticed before. The first is simply the fact that the six individuals, from Susannah (b c.1779) to my mother, Joan (born 1919) all had different given names, an unusual occurrence when family names were often handed down generation after generation. The second fact is that from Eliza Williams (b.1811) to Elizabeth Gibbs (b.1893) every one of my female ancestors was born not only in Bristol, but in the parish of St James within that city. It may be that Susannah Williams was too, and certainly my mother would have been, had she been born at home instead of in an Infirmary. Certainly women moved around less than men in the 19th century, but I have seen many who did, and it was remarkable to see a line extending over so many generations that stayed in one fixed locality.

When Parish Registers stop (revisited)

All Saints, Shorncote

I always attempt to visit the sites associated with my ancestors, where they survive, and on a recent trip to the Cotswolds I travelled to Shorncote to see for myself the church and hamlet from which the Hawkes family appear to have originated.

It is indeed very insignificant place, no more than a few (very nicely restored) houses and the small Norman church I had seen photos of on the internet. It is a far more attractive than its Anglo-Saxon name (a dwelling in a mucky place or dung-hill) implies, although on the day I visited it was overcast and then raining. It has always been a small parish – Domesday Book lists 11 men; there were 25 inhabitants in the 14th century, and it has remained about the same ever since. Nevertheless the church yard has some 18th and 19 the century headstones and inside a few wall memorials exist for earlier local bigwigs.

The nave

The Font

My photographs show the interior which is very simple and retains its Norman font where, no doubt, my Hawkes ancestors were baptised in past times. What was a revelation though were the two ledger stones, one in the chancel and one in the nave that belong to the Hawkes family. Frustratingly, the nave one is almost wholly indecipherable, most of the wording worn away by centuries of parishioners’ footfall. However, the name Hawkes can be seen in one place, and a late 17th century date elsewhere. The chancel stone is clearer and records the burial of Robert, the son of Robert and Ann Hawkes who was buried September 29th 1698.

Ledger stone of Robert Hawkes

There are two Wiltshire wills for a Robert Hawkes, dated 1702 and 1717 respectively. Both left widows named Ann, but the earlier one was a resident of Shorncote, whilst the other was of Ashton Keynes, so I believe the 1702 Robert is the father named on the stone. Sadly neither helps connect me to my ancestor John Hawkes who died in 1712; this John had a brother Robert, alive at the time of John’s death, so the second one may be his sibling

Hawkes ledger stone in the nave

So no process on tracing the family back any further, but I feel more inclined to deduce from the evidence of later wills and registers that the Hawkes family originated in Shorncote in the 17th century and spread out to neighbouring parishes in the early 18th.