Newfoundland and Dorset/Devon

My siblings and myself (5 in total thus far) have quite a few matches with people whose families emigrated to Newfoundland in the past 300 years from Dorset and Devon. Some of these matches end up looking like 2nd to 4th cousin but in reality are more distant than that since I can not match them up with my known lines. As it turns out, I know my lines in Dorset and Devon back at least to my 4x and 5x great grandparents and further in quite a few of these lines.

Some of these surnames Butt, Jeanes and others are showing up on a regular basis. The Butt line I find especially interesting as a Butt researcher (research below attributed to this researcher for the most part) has traced our mutual lines back to Robert Butt who married Susan Cantrell (baptized 18 Aug 1585 at Winterborne Stickland) 13 Apr 1607 at Winterbourne Stickland, Dorset. This couple baptized eight children at Winterborne Stickland or other as mentioned below:

William Butt baptized Sep 1610
Jane Butt baptized 17 Dec 1611
Francis Butt baptized 27 Feb 1613 and buried 13 June 1623 at Winterborne Stickland
Robert Butt baptized 22 Sep 1616
Simon Butt baptized 27 Jun 1619
Thomas Butt baptized 31 Mar 1622 at Winterborne Houghton
John Butt baptized 28 Nov 1624
Francis Butt baptized 18 Feb 1626

Thomas Butt appears to be my ancestor and he married Elizabeth (unknown). Thomas was buried 16 Jun 1668 at Winterborne Stickland and his wife was buried 15 May 1687 at Winterborne Stickland. They baptized two sons at Winterborne Stickland:

William baptized 24 Aug 1665
Thomas baptized 10 Dec 1667

William, my likely ancestor, married Elizabeth Lemon 27 Jul 1696 at Winterborne Houghton and they baptized five children at Winterborne Houghton:

William Butt baptized 28 May 1697
Mary Butt baptized 15 Nov 1700
Elizabeth Butt baptized 3 Jun 1702 and buried 3 Jun 1702 at Winterborne Houghton
Thomas Butt baptized 5 Nov 1704 and buried 6 Nov 1704 at Winterborne Houghton
 John Butt baptized 14 Apr 1707

My likely ancestor William married Susanna Foster (baptized 10 Dec 1696 at Winterborne Stickland) 31 Jan 1729 at Winterborne Stickland. William Butt was buried 29 Jun 1774 at Winterborne Stickland and Susanna (Foster) Butt was buried 17 Feb 1775 at Winterborne Stickland. They baptized five children at Winterborne Stickland:

Robert Butt baptized 15 Feb 1731 and buried 3 Mar 1731 at Winterborne Stickland
William Butt baptized 6 Jan 1732
Susanna Butt baptized 6 Sep 1734
John Butt baptized 6 May 1736
Martha Butt baptized 16 Jun 1738

My likely ancestor John Butt married Mary Rolles (baptized 15 Apr 1740 at Wimbourne Minster) 9 Aug 1762 at Winterborne Clenstone. John Butt was buried 6 Jan 1820 at Winterborne Stickland and Mary (Rolles) Butt was buried 4 Mar 1811 at Winterborne Stickland. They baptized six children at Winterborne Stickland or other as mentioned below:

Sarah Butt baptized 19 Nov 1765
Joseph Butt baptized 24 Jun 1766
John Butt was baptized 11 Dec 1771 and buried 15 Sep 1772 at Winterborne Stickland
John Butt baptized 10 May 1776 at Winterborne Clenstone
Deborah Butt baptized 8 Jun 1783
William Butt baptized 18 Nov 1786

At this point my research is added into the research of this earlier researcher (and indeed I have verified all the dates above in the records now available online). My ancestor John Butt (baptized 10 May 1776) married Jean O'Ford (baptized 27 Jun 1773 at Milton Abbas) 14 Oct 1800 at Winterborne Stickland. John Butt was buried 6 Jan 1850 at Winterborne Stickland and Jean (O'Ford) Butt was buried 3 Feb 1848 at Winterborne Stickland. They baptized seven children at Winterborne Stickland or other as noted below:

Charles Butt baptized 25 Dec 1801
George Butt baptized 16 Oct 1803
Joseph Butt baptized 11 Aug 1805 at Winterborne Clenstone
Robert Butt baptism not located
Maria Butt baptized 18 Feb 1810 at Winterborne Clenstone
Bethaniah Butt baptized 5 Apr 1811 and buried 26 Nov 1811 at Winterborne Stickland
Stephen Butt baptized 12 Oct 1815

All of the lines of these siblings have been traced down by me mostly well into the 1900s thus leading me to deduce that the Butt family which we (my siblings and I) match in Newfoundland must be descended from the earlier branches of this family.

The Winterborne villages in Dorset all lie within a few kilometres of each other. It is a very quiet beautiful piece of Dorset and when we visited there was a low hanging haze over the valley looking down from the Church of St Nicholas at Winterborne Clenstone. Rolling fields stretched away in all directions from this high point. Has it changed very much? I suspect a good deal in some ways as there were more people in this area when my ancestors were there in the 1700s and 1800s and into the early 1900s. The wars perhaps changed that a lot but along with that the mechanization of agriculture rendered all those workers to be no longer needed in the agricultural industries of this area.

Maybe one of these days I will be able to discover our matches with the many Newfoundland families in our kits. Endogamy probably plays a part making the matches seem closer.

Charles Butt was a Methodist Preacher along with his agricultural duties. My grandfather knew this great grandfather of his but mostly from a distance as Charles lived at Turnworth near the end of his life. He did however spend some time with his then over 80 year old great grandfather and shared with me a little of this man who was born in 1801. Amazing the span of years that represents. My grandfather was born in 1875 and I was born in 1945 so I had the opportunity as a child of 8 years of age (the year my grandfather passed away) to listen to stories of a man who lived at the beginning of the 1800s (144 years before I was born). My grandfather liked to talk about how life had changed from then to when he died in 1953.

The ARNOLD family of Milton Abbas, Dorset

A flurry of emails back and forth discussing the Arnold family at Milton Abbas between myself and Jill Morley who has been collecting Arnold material for over 30 years. She runs an active Facebook group on the Arnold family.

Likely Jill and I are related but she is unable to find earlier material on her direct line.

My Arnold line has fallen neatly into place back into the 1600s at Milton Abbas but I am stuck there with James Arnold married to Sibyl unknown. Sibyl was buried at Milton Abbas 28 Jul 1673. This couple baptized six children at Milton Abbas.

Henry baptized 4 Jan 1651
Mary baptized 12 Sep 1654
unmamed baptized 18 Nov 1657; buried 19 Nov 1657
Ann baptized 27 Mar 1661
James baptized 4 Oct 1663 (married Mary Hardy 1 Nov 1694 at Milton Abbas)
John baptized 4 Oct 1663 (married Melionor Leave 17 Oct 1692 at Milton Abbas)

These two younger sons trace their line down at Milton Abbas with my line being James Arnold married to Mary Hardy. They baptized six children at Milton Abbas.

Mary baptized 8 Mar 1694
James baptized 25 Feb 1697 (married Honor Lovell 26 Jun 1721 at MIlton Abbas)
John baptized 21 Apr 1702 (married Susannah (unknown) circa 1725)
Ann baptized 19 Oct 1704 (married Peter Hause)
Jane baptized 13 Apr 1712; buried 18 Aug 1712 at Milton Abbas
Jinny (Jane) baptized 4 Mar 1714

MA/4 1742 = this is the will of James ARNOLD of Milton Abbas dated 25 June 1742 Proved 8 August 1743 Mentions Wife: Mary ARNOLD Son: John ARNOLD Daughter: Mary wife of William Lovell Daughter: Ann wife of Peter House. Daughter: Jinny Appoints wife Mary as Executor

MA/3 1744 = this is the will of Mary ARNOLD (wife of the above) of Milton Abbas Mentions: son John ARNOLD Daughter: Mary wife of William Lovell Daughter: Ann wife of Peter House Grand daughter: Honor Daughter: Jinny executor

http://www.dorset-opc.com/Miscellaneous/ArnoldWills.htm

My ancestor was John Arnold married to Susannah and they baptized seven children at Milton Abbas.

John baptized 4 Aug 1725 (married to Hannah Norris 7 Jul 1751 at Milton Abbas)
James baptized 1 Feb 1726
Jane baptized 29 Jan 1728
Mary born circa 1730 at MIlton Abbas
William baptized 26 Jan 1732 (married to Ann Riggs 4 May 1755 at Cheselbourne)
Susannah baptized 19 Mar 1734
Thomas baptized 21 May 1737

My line is John Arnold married to Hannah Norris and they baptized eight children at Milton Abbas.

Mary baptized 8 Apr 1752 (married to Stephen Elford 27 Apr 1780 at Milton Abbas)
John baptized 17 Mar 1754
Jane baptized 20 Oct 1756
Joseph baptized 24 Oct 1759 (married to Susanna Best 18 Jul 1781)
Hannah baptized 18 Aug 1762 (married to John Hooper 21 Mar 1791 at Milton Abbas)
Susannah baptized 2 Oct 1765
William baptized 21 Feb 1770 (married to Elizabeth Molton 30 Aug 1793 at Milton Abbas)
Ann born circa 1773 at Milton Abbas (married James Vacher 26 Jul 1796 at MIlton Abbas)

My line is William Arnold married to Elizabeth Molton and they baptized six children at Winterborne Whitchurch and three or four children at Winterborne Clenstone

Thyrsa baptized 25 Mar 1791 (married Robert Tuffin 3 May 1814 at Winterborne Stickland)
Abel baptized 11 Mar 1792 (married Mary Lewis 6 Feb 1816 at Winterborne Clenstone)
Charles baptized 1 Dec 1793
Hannah baptized 18 Jan 1795 (married Charles Butt 26 Dec 1820 at Winterborne Clenstone)
Jane baptized 10 Jul 1796
Mark baptized 25 Mar 1798
Sarah baptized 15 Sep 1799 (married Joseph Butt 7 Jun 1824 at Winterborne Clenstone)
Elim baptized 11 Jan 1801 (married Mary Ann Cuff 24 Apr 1821 at Winterborne Whitchurch)
Ann baptized 8 May 1802

Mark baptized 15 Jul 1821 at Winterborne Clenstone (married Emma Hook)
This last baptism was said to be the son of William and Elizabeth Arnold but it is 19 years after the baptism of Ann. Not impossible Elizabeth would have been 55 years of age.

My line continues down from Charles Butt and Hannah Arnold. They baptized seven children at Winterborne Stickland.

Thurza baptized 11 Mar 1821 (married Thomas Knight 10 Nov 1844 at Turnworth)
Abel baptized 15 Feb 1823 (married Martha Knight 8 Feb 1850 at Turnworth)
Josiah baptized 15 Jan 1826; buried 24 Jan 1826 at Winterborne Stickland
Louisa baptized 27 Jan 1827 (married Samuel Knight 7 Sep 1849 at Winterborne Stickland)
John born circa 1830 at Winterborne Stickland (married Jane Gumbleton 13 Apr 1857 at Winterborne Stickland)
Arthur baptized 5 Jan 1834 (married Jane Cross sep quarter 1853 in Blandford RD)
Nehemiah baptized 15 May 1836

Samuel Knight and Louisa Butt are my ancestors. Interesting that three Knight siblings married three Butt siblings. Samuel and Louisa baptized eleven children at Turnworth including their eldest Maria Jane.

Maria Jane baptized 27 Jan 1850 (married Edward Blake 29 Oct 1870 at Upper Clatford)

This couple were my great grandparents and their son Samuel George Blake my grandfather. I have traced these lines down and only my grandfather and his younger brother Henry came to Canada with the rest of the family remaining in England. This family has kept in contact into the 2000s with my husband and I visiting the grandchildren of the youngest son of Edward Blake and Maria Jane Knight in 2008.

I did know from childhood that Charles Butt had married Hannah Arnold and that this family lived in the Winterborne area of Dorset. Going back from Hannah involved research on my part along with a cousin of mine Robert Arnold.

William Arnold (1770 - 1855)

52 Ancestor Challenge - Challenge 24

Blake, King, Coleman, Pearce, Farmer, Mary (unknown), Lambden, Sarah (unknown), Knight, Ellis, Knight, Vincent, Butt, O'Ford, Arnold, Molton, Cotterel, Bartlett, Alderman, Shepherd, Sherwood, Elizabeth (unknown), Happerfield, Collins, Rawlings, Tanner, Dove, Morgan, Lywood, Lanham, unknown, Peck, Pincombe, Charley, Rowcliffe, Pearse, Rew, Moggridge, Siderfin, Kent, Gray, Hilton, Cobb, Sproxton, Routledge, Tweddle, Routledge, Routledge, (unknown) Buller, unknown, Beard, Hemsley, Welch, Brockhouse, Cheatle, Woodcock, unknown Taylor, unknown, Harborne, Lewis, Roberts, Croxall, Lawley, unknown

William Arnold is my 4x great grandfather. He married Elizabeth Molton 30 Aug 1793 at Milton Abbas. William was baptized 21 Feb 1770 at Milton Abbas the son of John Arnold and Hannah Norris who were themselves married 7 Jul 1751 at Milton Abbas. In my last challenge I talked about Jane O'Ford who was baptized at Milton Abbas and the coincidence of a child of hers Charles Butt marrying a daughter of William Arnold this week's challenge. That coupled with the surname O'Ford only really being found on Find My Past. It has occurred to me that I should check FreeReg but again did not found an O'Ford family but did find a Durnford family at Marnhull although no Jane baptized in the 1770s. I also wondered if there were any original records online at FMP for the O'Ford family just to see this visually but I was correct in my memory that they were all transcriptions. Carrying on with the Arnold family and the siblings of William can be found below.

John Arnold and Hannah Norris baptized eight children at Milton Abbas:

Mary baptized 8 Apr 1752; married Stephen Elford 27 Apr 1780 at Milton Abbas
John baptized 17 Mar 1754
Jane baptized 20 Oct 1756
Joseph baptized 24 Oct 1759; married Susanna Best 18 Jul 1781 at Milton Abbas
Hannah baptized 18 Aug 1762; married John Hooper 21 Mar 1791 at Milton Abbas
Susannah baptized 2 Oct 1765
William baptized 21 Feb 1770; married Elizabeth Molton 30 Aug 1793 at Milton Abbas
Ann Arnold (no record of baptism, circa 1773); married James Vacher 26 Jul 1796 at Milton Abbas

William Arnold and Elizabeth Molton baptized seven children at Winterborne Whitchurch and three at Winterborne Clenstone:

Thrysa baptized 25 Mar 1791; married Robert Tuffin 3 May 1814 at Winterborne Stickland
Abel baptized 11 Mar 1792; married Mary Lewis 6 Feb 1816 at Winterborne Clenstone
Charles baptized 1 Dec 1793
Hannah baptized 18 Jan 1795; married Charles Butt 26 Dec 1820 at Winterborne Clenstone
Jane baptized 10 Jul 1796
Mark baptized 25 Mar 1798
Sarah baptized 15 Sep[ 1799; married Joseph Butt 7 Jun 1824 at Winterborne Clenstone
Elim baptized 11 Jan 1801 at Winterborne Clenstone; married Mary Ann Cuff 24 Apr 1821 at Winterborne Whitchurch
Ann baptized 8 May 1802 at Winterborne Clenstone
Mark baptized 15 Jul 1821 at Winterborne Clenstone; married Emma Hook

John Arnold (father of William) was baptized 4 Aug 1725 at Milton Abbas son of John and Susannah Arnold.  John and Susannah baptized six children at Milton Abbas:

John baptized 4 Aug 1725; married Hannah Norris 7 Jul 1751 at Milton Abbas
James baptized 1 Feb 1726
Jane baptized 29 Jan 1728
Mary baptism not found, birth circa 1730
William baptized 26 Jan 1732; married Ann Riggs 4 May 1755 at Cheselbourne
Susannah baptized 19 Mar 1734
Thomas baptized 21 May 1737

John Arnold (father of John) was baptized 21 Apr 1702 at Milton Abbas the son of James Arnold and Mary Hardy (no proof of this but generally accepted that her surname was Hardy). They baptized six children at Milton Abbas and both left a will.

Mary baptized 8 Mar 1694; married William Lovell
James baptized 25 Feb 1697; married Honor Lovell 26 Jun 1721
John baptized 21 Apr 1702; married Susannah ?
Ann baptized 19 Oct 1704; married Peter Hause by 22 Mar 1722
Jane baptized 13 Apr 1712
Jane (Jinny) baptized 4 Mar 1714

Will of James Arnold - abstract only -  will of James ARNOLD of Milton Abbas dated 25 June 1742 Proved 8 August 1743 Mentions Wife: Mary ARNOLD Son: John ARNOLD Daughter: Mary wife of William Lovell Daughter: Ann wife of Peter House. Daughter: Jinny Appoints wife Mary as Executor

Will of Mary Arnold - abstract only - will of Mary ARNOLD (wife of the above) of Milton Abbas Mentions: son John ARNOLD Daughter: Mary wife of William Lovell Daughter: Ann wife of Peter House Grand daughter: Honor Daughter: Jinny executor

James (father of John) was baptized 4 Oct 1663 at Milton Abbas son of James and Sibyl Arnold. James and Sibyl baptized six children at Milton Abbas.

Henry baptized 4 Jan 1651
Mary baptized 12 Sep 1654
Baby baptized 18 Nov 1657 (born dead); buried 19 Nov 1657
Ann baptized 27 Mar 1661
James baptized 4 Oct 1663
John baptized 4 Oct 1663

The Protestation Returns (1641-42) for Milton Abbas have the following entries:

Henry Arnold, gent
Wm Arnold
David Arnold
Henry Arnold
John Arnold

Richard Arnold  - Constable

Given that the first son of James and Sibyl was named Henry then perhaps the father of James was Henry and there are two available in the correct time frame. However, I have not yet found information to link James to his father. That can be the object of my research today along with finding marriage dates that are missing and missing wife's surnames. From the records below it could also be that this family has come from Helton parish (I suspect this is Hilton which is just 2 miles from Milton Abbas) noting William Arnold is the father of a Henry who married 6 Apr 1655 Sara Vincent at Milton Abbas. Interesting but not conclusive results and one notes that there wasn't a James Arnold listed in the Protestation Returns. To be on the returns usually the individual was 18 years of age or older so born before 1624.

A few extraneous records gleaned reading the Parish Registers at Milton Abbas:

Henry Arnold was born son of Henry and Sara Arnold 12 Apr 1650; buried 11 Jun 1650
Richard Arnold, gent, was buried 11 Feb 1652
Davee Arnold was buried 27 Mar 1653
Tobias Painter and Alace Arnold were married 2 Oct 1654
Henry Arnold (helton parish, son of William Arnold) and Sara Vincent (daughter of William Vincent) banns published three times (March 1654) and married 6 Apr 1655
Unknown Arnold daughter of Henry and Sara Arnold born 10 Jan 1655; buried 1 Feb 1655
Henry Arnold was born son of Henry and Sara Arnold 12 Apr 1657; buried 11 Jun 1657
John Arnold son of Henry and Sara Arnold 9 Jul 1658; buried 23 Dec 1658
Jone Arnold wife of William Arnold was buried 17 May 1659
Sara Arnold was baptized daughter of Henry and Sara Arnold 27 December 1663
Sibbell Arnold wife of James Arnold was buried 28 Jul 1673
Mary Arnold was buried 22 Jun 1674
Robert Arnold of Ansty, gent, was buried 27 Mar 1677
Mary Arnold was baptized daughter of Henry and Margarett Arnold 13 Oct 1678
Ann Arnold was baptized daughter of Henry and Margarett Arnold 19 Oct 1680
Avice Arnold was buried  24 Oct 1680
Mary Arnold was buried 10 Nov 1682
Joseph Arnold and Mary Roger were married 18 Apr 1687
Ann Arnold was buried 13 Mar 1688
John Arnold was buried 14 Sep 1690
Henry Arnold was baptized son of Henry and Margarett Arnold 26 Dec 1690
Jame Arnold and Joane Arnold were married 1 Nov 1693
Jane Arnold was baptized daughter of James and Joane Arnold 6 Aug 1695
Robert Arnold was baptized son of Henry and Margarett Arnold 6 Dec 1696
Elizabeth Arnold was baptized daughter of James and Joane Arnold 11 Aug 1698
John Arnold and Jone Arnold his wife were buried 6 May 1700
Ann Arnold of Henton was buried 13 Aug 1718
Henry Arnold was buried 16 Nov 1721
Mary Arnold was baptized daughter of James and Honour Arnold 11 Oct 1722
Mary Arnold was baptized daughter of James and Mary Arnold 5 Nov 1723
Honour Arnold was baptized daughter of James and Honour Arnold 29 May 1724
Thomas Arnold was baptized son of James and Honour Arnold 31 Dec 1725
Robert Arnold was baptized son of James and Mary Arnold 21 Apr 1727
Margarett Arnold was buried 5 Nov 1727
Robert Arnold was baptized son of James and Honour Arnold 9 Nov 1727
Margaret Arnold was baptized daughter of James and Mary Arnold 11 Feb 1729


The registers for Hilton are on the OPC Dorset site:

Hugh Arnold was baptized 3 Nov 1626 son of John Arnold
Joane Arnold was baptized 8 Apr 1629 daughter of Mr John Arnold of Frome Aller
Agnes Arnold was baptized 6 Sep 1629 daughter of William Arnold of Aller
Ralph Arnold was baptized 11 Sep 1631 son of John Arnold of Twin Aller
Margaret Arnold was baptized 16 Feb 1631 daughter of William Arnold of Aller
Richard Arnold was baptized 16 Aug 1635 son of William Arnold of Aller
Elizabeth Arnold was baptized 9 Mar 1635 daughter of William Arnold of Ansty
Elizabeth Arnold buried 19 May 1638 daughter of William Arnold
John Arnold and Judith Keines married at Hilton both of Aller 17 Jan 1642
Abraham Arnold baptized 30 Jul 1643 son of John Arnold of Aller
Thomas Arnold of Pecke Mill buried 3 Dec 1645
William Arnold of Aller buried 6 Feb 1660
Elizabeth Arnold buried 21 Jul 1661
Alice Arnold widow of Newton buried 10 Feb 1662
Thomas Rogers of Ibberton and Margaret Arnold of Aller married 3 Nov 1663 at Hilton
Thomas Mathews of Tinckleton and Sarah Arnold of Milton married 17 Mar 1680 at Hilton
Mrs Margaret Arnold widow of Ansty buried 18 Nov 1684
John Arnold of MIlton Abbas and Jane Parsons married 16 May 1738 at Hilton

Still no sight of James Arnold but an overall search on the OPC Dorset site yielded 132 results for "James Arnold" but none of the results added to the available information thus far on James and his wife Sibbel. This was an interesting search through the records. Many of them have been added to greatly in the past couple of years. Although I did not add any new information, looking at the Arnold family at Milton Abbas and the O'Ford family also there has led to some rather interesting blogs!

The Protestation Returns for Hilton (spelled Helton in this return) have the following:

John Arnold
Robert Arnold
William Arnold junior

William Arnold overseer (possibly senior?)

Ancestry of William Arnold:

1. Elizabeth BLAKE
2. Ernest Edward George BLAKE (b 20 Aug 1904) - Eastleigh Hampshire England
3. Samuel George Blake (b 10 Feb 1875) - Upper Clatford Hampshire England
4. Maria Jane KNIGHT (b 27 Jan 1849) - Turnworth Dorset England
5. Louisa BUTT (b 27 Jan 1827) - Winterborne Stickland Dorset England
6. Hannah ARNOLD (b 13 Dec 1797) - Winterborne Stickland Dorset England
7. William ARNOLD (b 21 Feb 1770) - Milton Abbas Dorset England
8. John ARNOLD (b 4 Aug 1725) - Milton Abbas Dorset England
9. John ARNOLD (b 21 Apr 1702) - Milton Abbas Dorset England
10. James ARNOLD (b 4 Oct 1663) - Milton Abbas Dorset England
11 James ARNOLD

Elizabeth Molton (1766 - 1838)

52 Ancestor Challenge - Challenge 9

Blake, King, Coleman, Pearce, Farmer, unknown, Lambden, Sarah (unknown), Knight, Ellis, Knight, Vincent, Butt, Durnford, Arnold, Molton, Cotterel, Bartlett, Alderman, Ann (unknown), Sherwood, unknown, Habberfield, Collings, Rawlings, Tanner, Dove, Morgan, Lywood, Canham, unknown, Peck, Pincombe, Charley, Rowcliffe, Pearse, Rew, Moggridge, Siderfin, Kent, Gray, Hilton, Cobb, Sproxton, Routledge, Tweddle, Routledge, Routledge, (unknown) Buller, unknown, Beard, Hemsley, Welch, Brockhouse, Cheatle, Woodcock, unknown Taylor, unknown, Harborne, Lewis, Roberts, Croxall, Lawley, unknown

Elizabeth Molton, another of my 64 3x great grandparents, married William Arnold 30 Aug 1793 at Milton Abbas, Dorset. For a few years I had Elizabeth's surname as Malton from a trancription of their marriage lines but a cousin of mine checked the original documents in the Dorset Record Office and found the surname was Molton. That set us off on an interesting journey. We both had found the baptism of an Elizabeth Molton 20 Apr 1766 at Winterborne Whitchurch daughter of William and Sarah Molton (and it was known that her husband William Arnold had been baptized at Milton Abbas). We could now claim Elizabeth as our own which was a rather comfortable addition as Elizabeth had been quite brickwalled for ages for my cousin and for me from the beginning of my research time in 2004.

However, we could not find a marriage for William Molton and Sarah although did find the baptism of William 2 Aug 1743 at Winterborne Whitchurch and the burial of Sarah 13 Jan 1799 at Winterborne Whitchurch. They baptized six children at Winterborne Whitchurch namely:

Thomas baptized 11 Jun 1764 and buried 10 Feb 1765 at Winterborne Whitchurch
Elizabeth baptized 20 Apr 1766
Jane baptized 24 Jun 1769 and buried 20 Apr 1771 at Winterborne Whitchurch
Stephen baptized 12 Jan 1772
Jane baptized 1 May 1774
William baptized 7 Apr 1782

Searching through Find My Past for William Molton I came across an interesting marriage at Winterborne Clenston: William Malton married Sarah Seafear 5 Jan 1764 with witnesses James Masterman and Thomas Clerk. The witnesses were often to be found on marriages at this parish (I am the online parish clerk for Winterborne Clenston but had not noticed this marriage before).

There is also a baptism at Winterborne Whitechurch 2 Aug 1743 of William Molton son of John and Elizabeth Molton. This I had found earlier.

Other children baptized by John and Elizabeth Molton at Winterborne Whitechurch

Jane baptized 2 Jun 1749
Robert baptized 29 Nov 1753
John baptized 18 Jan 1756

Again a new marriage on Find My Past and it is at Turnworth with John Molton marrying Elizabeth Durden 12 Aug 1740. John is of Winterborn Kingston (at the time of his marriage) and Elizabeth of Winterborne Whitechurch. Turnworth is close to Winterborne Clenstone and Winterborne Whitechurch.  We visited all of these sites in 2008.I had found earlier the baptism of a John Molton 20 Jul 1714 at Winterborne Whitechurch son of John and Elizabeth Molton. There was a John Molton buried at Winterborne Whitechurch 24 Jul 1784 and an Elizabeth Molton buried 18 Jun 1781 at Winterborne Whitechurch wife of John aged 67 years.

There was also a John Molton (senior) buried 29 Apr 1747 at Winterborne Whitechurch aged 64 years and an Elizabeth Molton (widow of John) buried 14 Dec 1768 at Winterborne Whitechurch. The following children are baptized at Winterborne Whitechurch children of John and Elizabeth Molton (John Molton said to be of Milton, generally thought to refer to Milton Abbas but a website on abandoned communities is giving me second thought as there was a town of Milton midway between Dorchester and Blandford).

Mary baptized 2 Jan 1710
Thomas baptized 24 Aug 1712
John baptized 20 Jul 1714
Mary bpatized 24 Jul 1721
Betty baptized 30 Jan 1723

Although in terms of generations I have not added to the Molton family I have fleshed out a few more details which was the intent of my 52 ancestor challenge!

Ancestry of Elizabeth Molton

1. Elizabeth BLAKE
2. Ernest Edward George BLAKE (b 20 Aug 1904) - Eastleigh Hampshire England
3. Samuel George Blake (b 10 Feb 1875) - Upper Clatford Hampshire England
4. Maria Jane KNIGHT (b 27 Jan 1849) - Turnworth Dorset England
5. Louisa BUTT (b 27 Jan 1827) - Winterborne Stickland Dorset England
6. Hannah ARNOLD (b 13 Dec 1797) - Winterborne Stickland Dorset England
7. Elizabeth MOLTON (b 20 Apr 1766) - Winterborne Whitchurch Dorset England
8. William MOLTON (b 2 Aug 1743) - Winterborne Whitchurch Dorset England
9. John MOLTON (b 20 Jul 1714) - Winterborne Whitchurch Dorset England
10. John MOLTON (bc 1683)

I do not know anything about Elizabeth other than her parents at baptism, her marriage to William Arnold and the children that they had and her death date. She lived in Winterborne Whitchurch all of her life it would appear although they married at Milton Abbas (the home of William Arnold). I know that her great grandparents John and Elizabeth Molton were buried at Winterborne Whitechurch and baptized all of their children there but do not have a marriage for them nor do I know their parents or where they were baptized. These furtherest back in her line on the Molton side were my 7x great grandparents. I have learned her mother's maiden name of Seafear but nothing more about her mother.

William Arnold and Elizabeth Molton would have ten children although some list the youngest Mark born 19 years after the youngest as the son of Sarah (daughter of this couple). Her daughter Hannah was my 3x great grandmother and she married Charles Butt and my last challenge was John Butt the father of Charles. 

John Butt (1776 - 1850)

52 Ancestor Challenge - Challenge 7

Blake, King, Coleman, Pearce, Farmer, unknown, Lambden, Sarah (unknown), Knight, Ellis, Knight, Vincent, Butt, Durnford, Arnold, Molton, Cotterel, Bartlett, Alderman, Ann (unknown), Sherwood, unknown, Habberfield, Collings, Rawlings, Tanner, Dove, Morgan, Lywood, Canham, unknown, Peck, Pincombe, Charley, Rowcliffe, Pearse, Rew, Moggridge, Siderfin, Kent, Gray, Hilton, Cobb, Sproxton, Routledge, Tweddle, Routledge, Routledge, (unknown) Buller, unknown, Beard, Hemsley, Welch, Brockhouse, Cheatle, Woodcock, unknown Taylor, unknown, Harborne, Lewis, Roberts, Croxall, Lawley, unknown

John Butt is one of my ancestors that I knew for quite a long time and possibly for much longer than I really realize. His eldest son Charles was known to my grandfather as a child. Charles was a Methodist Lay Preacher and an agricultural labourer. He lived to be 86 years old and it was his 80th birthday party at Turnworth that my grandfather remembered. Quite likely this was the furtherest that my grandfather had ever been away from home at Upper Clatford. He never really mentioned that but he remembered his great grandfather Charles who could tell him about life in England from the early 1800s on.

John Butt was baptized 10 May 1776 at Winterborne Clenstone. That was the main reason that I took on OPC for Winterborne Clenstone way back in 2007. He was the son of John Butt and Mary Rolles who were themselves married 9 Aug 1762 at Winterborne Clenstone. This John had been baptized 6 May 1736 at Winterborne Stickland and was the son of William Butt and Susanna Foster and they had been married 31 Jan 1729 at Winterborne Stickland. I was unable to trace back further from this point until I met a cousin at Genes Reunited and she had been into the Dorset Record Office and traced the family back much further. The father of this William Butt was also a William Butt and he was married to Elizabeth Lemon. They were married at Winterborne Houghton 27 Jul 1696 and their eldest son William had been baptized 28 May 1697 at Winterborne Houghton. The father William had been baptized 24 Aug 1665 at Winterborne Stickland the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Butt.  Thomas was baptized 31 Mar 1622 at Winterborne Houghton the son of Robert Butt and Susan Cantrell who were themselves married 13 Apr 1607 at Winterborne Stickland. Richard Cantrell the father of Susan had been buried 15 Dec 1591 Winterborne Stickland.

We traveled through the Winterborne Valley when we visited England in 2008. There was a light mist over the valley and the hills roll away from you into valleys. It was a beautiful sight standing on the knoll where the church of St Nicholas stands in Winterborne Clenstone. I was too new to genealogy to really learn as much as I would now from such a visit. I did photograph a number of the memorial stones in the small cemetery just above the Winterborne (a small river) and at the base of the hill away from the Church. The Church is a Heritage building and used for services only a couple of times a year. It is in beautiful condition and looks out loftily over the valleys and hills that surround it.

Richard Cantrell is my 10th great grandfather and the furtherest I have information for this line back.  No ideas on the father of Robert Butt my 9x great grandfather. I do not know a lot about this family although I believe they were always agricultural labourers working in this Winterborne Valley. Robert and Susan had eight children - 7 sons and 1 daughter. I have trace downs for several of the sons - Simon, Thomas and John. They remained in this beautiful valley until the mills of Lancashire beckoned some of them away in the mid 1800s and Charles (my 3x great grandfather)'s brothers went off to Australia (George and Stephen and there are thousands of descendants there) and Canada (Joseph and there are thousands of descendants here). Charles and Robert remained in England and I have lately met an ancestor of Robert's line on My Heritage. Charles had two sisters with Bethaniah dying as an infant and Maria married to James Vacher.

John Butt (1776-1850) married Jean Durnford 14 Oct 1800 at Winterborne Stickland. Jean was the daughter of Thomas Durnford and Mary Ball and for me this line remains a brickwall. Jean was baptized at Winterborne Stickland 29 Sep 1771.

There isn't a lot of information on this Butt family other than my small bit of family lore but they have spread far around the world. Surprisingly one of my mother's best friends Teresa Butt was actually my father's third cousin but he didn't know that although may have suspected it from the surname. Joseph Butt had emigrated to Canada with his wife Sarah Arnold (Charles and Joseph had married Arnold sisters). Then three of Charles' children married three Knight siblings making this quite a combination of double and triple cousins! No one, other than myself, though have tested their atDNA to my knowledge thus far. Although I do have five people on my Family Finder with the Arnold surname but none with the Butt surname.

Charles' daughter Louisa was one of my known ancestors as my father knew of Louisa (she died before he was born) probably from his great grandfather Samuel Knight whom he knew as a child. Samuel and Louisa were married 7 Sep 1849 at Winterborne Stickland and I visited their memorial stone in 2008 at St Mary the Virgin parish Church in Turnworth Dorset. Their eldest daughter Maria Jane was my great grandmother and she married Edward Blake at Upper Clatford. They had twelve children and the eldest daughter Louisa Mary lived with her grandparents at Turnworth, married there and looked after Samuel until he died. My grandfather Samuel was Maria Jane's second son.

Ancestry of John Butt

1. Elizabeth BLAKE
2. Ernest Edward George BLAKE (b 20 Aug 1904) - Eastleigh Hampshire England
3. Samuel George BLAKE (b 10 Feb 1875) - Upper Clatford Hampshire England
4. Maria Jane KNIGHT (b 27 Jan 1849) - Turnworth Dorset England
5. Louisa BUTT (b 27 Jan 1827) - Winterborne Stickland Dorset England
6. Charles BUTT (b 21 Dec 1801) - Winterborne Stickland Dorset England
7. John BUTT (b 10 May 1776) - Winterborne Clenstone Dorset England
8. John BUTT (b 6 May 1736) - Winterborne Stickland Dorset England
9. William BUTT (b 10 Dec 1696) - Winterborne Houghton Dorset England
10. William BUTT (b 24 Aug 1665) - Winterborne Houghton Dorset England
11. Thomas BUTT (b 31 Mar 1622) - Winterborne Houghton Dorset England
12. Robert BUTT (b c 1570) 

It does seem like a long way to go back in an agricultural labourer's family and I really have no ideas on this family back into the 1600s. Were they always labourers or did they at one time farm and being younger sons did not inherit any leases or the like so had to make their own way in the world? They did it very well and the Butt family is huge around the world. A couple of years before I started into genealogy (2001 I think) there was a Butt family reunion in England. I would dearly have loved to attend that reunion and perhaps one day there will be another!

Butt family at Winterborne Stickland, Winterborne Clenstone and Spetisbury

My grandfather knew his great grandfather Charles Butt when he was a young boy. Charles was baptized 25 Dec 1801 at Winterborne Stickland and he was buried 7 Dec 1886 at Turnworth (both in Dorset). He was 85 years of age when he died and he had an 80th birthday party according to my Grandfather at Turnworth as my Grandfather attended it as a child. His memory was still fairly vivid as he remembered this white haired man who was the center of attention for his six living children and fourty four grandchildren. Josiah Butt (his second eldest son) had died as an infant and I have not yet discovered what happened to Nehemiah Butt the youngest son. Three of his children married three siblings of the Ellis and Eleanor Knight family (namely Thurza married Thomas, Abel married Martha and Louisa married Samuel).

What I didn't ask my grandfather when he talked about his Butt family was how he got to Turnworth from Upper Clatford but I guess it was probably by train. My grandfather loved trains and he worked as a blacksmith for the Southeastern Railway in England (lived at Eastleigh) and then for the Grand Trunk (later CNR) here in Canada (London, Ontario) from 1914 on.

Louisa Butt was my two times great grandmother and my father remembered the stories about Louisa except he thought she was born at Spetisbury. It was actually her mother Eleanor Knight that was born at Spetisbury and Louisa was born at Winterborne Stickland.  I think that my grandfather mentioned Eleanor Knight being from Spetisbury and he thought that his great grandparents Ellis Knight and Eleanor Knight were cousins. I still haven't been able to prove that conclusively but the search of the parish registers might help me with that.

Louisa Butt married Samuel Knight 7 Sep 1849 at Winterborne Stickland. They had eleven children including two sets of twins and buried all but four of them as infants and very young children. My great grandmother Maria Jane was their eldest child. The next daughter was Elizabeth baptized 24 Dec 1851 at Turnworth and she married Charles Swyer 30 Nov 1874 and they had one son Edward Brice Swyer who was born circa 1883 in London from the census. Mary Ann baptized 20 Oct 1853 at Turnworth was the next child and I do not have any further details for her. The next child was Eliza and she died as a young child less than two years of age. The last child to survive was Samuel Knight and he was baptized 5 Feb 1858 at Turnworth and married Catherine Crankshaw december quarter 1878 at Chorley, Lancashire. They had only one son Samuel born june quarter 1880 at Withnell, Lancashire. Maria Jane and her husband Edward Blake had twelve children of whom ten survived to adulthood. My grandfather was their third eldest.

Charles (father to Louisa Butt) married Hannah Arnold 26 Dec 1820 at Winterborne Clenstone. He was just 19 years of age and Hannah was almost 25 years of age. Charles was the son of John Butt and Jean Durnford who married 14 Oct 1800 at Winterborne Stickland. They had seven children which included five sons and two daughters with Bethaniah the youngest daughter dying as an infant. Charles was the eldest and along with his brother Robert they remained in England whilst the other three brothers emigrated with George and Stephen going to Australia and Joseph going to Canada. Most Butt families in Ontario and all the way west to British Columbia are descendant of Joseph Butt and his first wife Sarah Arnold  or his second wife Ann Trewin. Sarah died in childbirth shortly after they emigrated to Canada in 1841. Joseph and Sarah had eleven children (the last child also died) and Joseph and Ann had eight children. George Butt married Charlotte Barnes and they had nine children (first six born in England and the last three born in Australia). Stephen Butt married Martha Corke and they had ten children all born in Australia (five sons and five daughters). The Butt family is very large in Australia.

John (father of Charles Butt) was baptized 10 May 1776 at Winterborne Clenstone and the son of John Butt and Mary Rolles who were themselves married 9 Aug 1762 at Winterborne Clenstone and they had six children (four sons and two daughters with one son dying as an infant). I have only traced down John (my ancestor). John Butt was baptized 6 May 1736 at Winterborne Stickland and the son of William Butt and Susanna Foster who were themselves married 31 Jan 1728 at Winterborne Stickland. They had five children (three sons and two daughters with one son dying as an infant). William was baptized 28 May 1697 at Winterborne Houghton and the son of William Butt and Elizabeth Lemon who were themselves married 27 Jul 1696 at Winterborne Houghton. William was baptized 24 Aug 1665 at Winterborne Stickland and the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Butt. I do not have a marriage for this couple and that will be my project to go through the parish registers of Winterborne Houghton where Thomas was baptized 31 Mar 1622 the son of Robert Butt and Susan Cantrell who were married 13 Apr 1607 at Winterborne Stickland. That is as far back as I am able to go with the Butt line and I need to do both Winterborne Houghton and Winterborne Stickland as they lived at both places as well as Winterborne Clenstone. These places are all close to each other as we traveled to see all of them in 2008.

The Parish Registers are available on ancestry for Winterborne Houghton from 1550 to  1812. Probably working backwards is still the best way to look for Butt family entries.

Banns
1770. Banns of marriage between John New and Mary But both of this parish were published on the three Sundays underwritten: That is to say, On Sunday, the 29 of April, On Sunday the 6 of May, On Sunday the 13th of May by me Richard Lawrence Rector.

Marriages
John New of this Parish and Mary Butt of the same married in this Church by Banns this 17th day of May in the year One thousand 7 hundred and 70 by me Richard Lawrence Rector This Marriage was solemnized between us John New, The mark of Mary Butt, In the presence of Jno Eford, Mary Seamane
John New and Frances Butt were married 20 Nov 1744
Robert Wellspring of the parish of Dewlish and Eliz: Butt of the parish of ___nton were married 25 Jul 1734
John But of Stickland and Elizabeth Thomas were married September 12th, 1719
William Butt and Elizabeth Lemon were married 27 Jul 1696

Burials
23 May 1786 Martha Butt, 74 years of age, buried Northwest side of the Church yard
1773 Mar 23 Elizabeth daughter of John and Mary New was buried
1777 19 Jun Mary, wife of John New was buried
1769 Frances New wife of John New buried
1748 Jan 14 William Butt was buried
1744 5 Dec Elizabeth Butt was buried
Susanna daughter of Francis But was buried 29 February 1714
Thomas son of William But was buried 6 Nov 1704
Elizabeth daughter of William and Elizabeth But was buried 3 Jun 1702
Elizabeth Butt widow was buried 15 May 1697


Baptisms
28 Dec 1777 John son of John and Mary New was baptized
24 Apr 1774 John, son of John and Mary New was baptized
4 Aug 1771 Elizabeth daughter of John and Mary New was baptized
1737 John son of John and Frances Butt was baptized June 6
Martha daughter of William Butt was baptized 8 June 1712
Susanna daughter of Francis But was baptized 15 Feb 1714
John son of William and Elizabeth Butt was baptized 14 Sep 1707
John son of Francis and Mary But was baptized 21 May 1705
Thomas son of William But was baptized 5 Nov 1704
Elizabeth daughter of William and Elizabeth But baptized 3 Jun 1702
Mary daughter of William and Elizabeth Butt was baptized 10 Sep 1700
William son of William and Elizabeth Butt baptized 28 May 1697

Extraction done from 1690 to 1812. Some part of the register are difficult to read. A few new items acquired.

Arnold family of Winterborne Whitchurch and Milton Abbas, Dorset

Yesterday I spent some of my research time working on the Hampshire Blake family marriages. I am now in the process of matching up the marriage partners from Free BMD. I worked on 1910 and 1911 and will now go to the 1911 British Census to see if I am able to determine which of the possible partners is the correct one. It will be a slow process but aided greatly on occasion by Marriage Challenges that are undertaken by the Guild of One Name Studies. I will also begin work on the Andover Registration District Cardinal Points in case, at some point in the future, a member of the Guild takes on the Andover Registration District Marriage Challenge. I wish I could do it but from faraway Canada that is quite impractical except for the individual Churches in the Registration District for which I have the marriage fiche. Indeed I have quite a number and intend to eventually purchase all of them. The Blake family is found extensively in this Registration District (as well as many others).

Today, is the research day for the Arnold family. Hannah Arnold (baptized 18 Jan 1795 at Winterborne Whitchurch) was the daughter of William Arnold (baptized 21 Feb 1770 at Milton Abbas) and Elizabeth Molton (baptized 20 April 1766 at Winterborne Whitchurch) and married 30 Aug 1793 at Milton Abbas all of Dorset UK. Hannah married Charles Butt 26 Dec 1820 at Winterborne Clenstone and they had seven children Thurza (baptized 11 Mar 1821) married to Thomas Knight 10 Nov 1844 at Turnworth, Abel (baptized 15 Feb 1823 at Winterborne Stickland) and married to Martha Knight 8 Feb 1850 at Turnworth, Josiah (baptized 15 Jan 1826 and buried 24 Jan 1826 at Winterborne Stickland), Louisa (baptized 27 January 1827 at Winterborne Stickland) and married to Samuel Knight 7 Sep 1849 at Winterborne Stickland (my 2x great grandparents), John (bc 1830 Winterborne Stickland) and married to Jane Gumbleton 13 Apr 1857 at Winterborne Stickland, Arthur (baptized 5 Jan 1834 at Winterborne Stickland) and married to Jane Cross Sep quarter 1853 in Blandford RD, and Nehemiah Butt (baptized 15 May 1836 at Winterborne Stickland).

Children of  William Arnold and Elizabeth Molton:

Thrysa baptized 25 Jan 1791 at Winterborne Whitchurch married Robert Tuffin 3 May 1814 at Winterborne Stickland

Abel baptized 11 Mar 1792 Winterborne Whitchurch

Charles baptized 1 Dec 1793 at Winterborne Whitchurch

Hannah (as above)

Jane baptized 10 Jul 1796 at Winterborne Whitchurch

Mark baptized 25 Mar 1798 at Winterborne Whitchurch

Sarah baptized Winterborne Clenstone and married to Joseph Butt 7 Jun 1824 at Winterborne Clenstone

Elim baptized 11 Jan 1801 at Winterborne Clenstone and married to Mary Ann Cuff  24 Apr 1821 at Winterborne Whitchurch


Ann baptized 8 May 1802 at Winterborne Clenstone


Interestingly three children of the Charles Butt and Hannah Arnold family married three children of the same Knight family. Charles Butt was known to my grandfather and is my only link back in time for the Butt/Arnold family. My grandfather could remember visiting his great grandfather Charles Butt for his 80th birthday celebrations at least that is what my memory has left me with from the eight year old who listened eagerly to her grandpa talking about his ancestors in England. He did not know anything about the wife of Charles other than her name which I did not remember from long ago but did discover when I undertook my family genealogy beginning eight years ago. It was at Gene-O-Rama in 2003 that I first noticed the National Institute for Genealogical Studies. I thought about doing a course there in Methodology because my cousin George DeKay wanted me to do a Profile for the Pincombe family (my maternal line) for the Westminster Delaware History book (now published). Not really having any ideas on how to do English Research from Canada I felt that a course in Methodology would assist me. In two months of taking the course I had signed up for all the English Record Courses and just six months later I added all the Canadian Record Courses to my portfolio (I graduated in May 2007).

When we visited Milton Abbas (briefly as a drive through) in 2008, the village lived up to its name as one of the most beautiful in Dorset with all of its thatched roofs. We drove through on a somewhat misty day although quite visible and the village had a somewhat ethereal quality (probably mostly in my mind) that lingers still if I close my eyes and remember again coming round on the road and entering the village. The Arnold family were known to be at Milton Abbas back into the 1500s with there being six members of the Arnold family on the 1641-42 Protestation Returns:

Henry Arnold, gent
Richard Arnold, constable
William Arnold
David Arnold
Henry Arnold
John Arnold

Other researchers have looked extensively at the Arnold family but I have not yet found, what I consider, a clear path back to one of these earlier Arnold members. The parents of William Arnold (father of Hannah Arnold) were John Arnold (baptized 4 Aug 1725 at Milton Abbas) and Hannah (or Ann) Norris (baptized 5 Jan 1731 at Milton Abbas) and they were married 5 Jul 1751 at Milton Abbas. They had eight children with William being the seventh child and third son. Mary (bc 1752) married Stephen Elford 27 Apr 1780 at Milton Abbas, John (bc 1754), Jane (bc 1756), Joseph (bc 1759 at Milton Abbas) married Susanna Best 18 Jul 1781 at Milton Abbas), Hannah (bc 1762 at Milton Abbas) married John Hooper 21 Mar 1791 at Milton Abbas, Susannah (bc 1765 at Milton Abbas), William (as above) and Ann (bc 1773) married James Vacher 26 Jul 1796 at Milton Abbas. I decided to check and see if I could find any baptism details for the siblings of William as it is a while since I have looked at this family.

The OPC Dorset page is an excellent resource (I have put up the Winterborne Clenstone material) and I have found that the baptismal records are now available from the Bishops Transcripts for the above mentioned children:

Mary baptized 8 Apr 1752
John baptized 17 Mar 1754
Jane baptized 20 Oct 1756
Joseph baptized 24 Oct 1759
Hannah baptized 18 Aug 1762
Susannah baptized 2 Oct 1765
William baptized 21 Feb 1770 (a good verification for the material I received from an Arnold researcher)
Ann (no new information)

Burials are not yet available for the time period 1731 to 1812. http://www.opcdorset.org/Milton%20AbbasFiles/MiltonAbbas.htm  is the website for the opcDorset material. I verified the marriages and did find them all as written above including James Vacher married to Ann Arnold (by licence) with no parents listed. I wonder if the earlier researcher has connected Ann to the correct family since she is not listed in the baptisms.

Looking at the Norris family there was an Ann Norris baptized 5 Jan 1731 child of John and Mary Norris at Milton Abbas. One other child was baptized to this family namely Joseph baptized 30 Apr 1735 at Milton Abbas. There were members of the Norris family at Milton Abbas on the 1641-42 Protestation Returns namely Christopher Norris, William Norris, George Norris, and Leonard Norris. I shall explore the Norris family next time I work on the Arnold family.

The parents of John Arnold (baptized 4 Aug 1725 at Milton Abbas) were John (baptized 21 Apr 1702) and Susannah Arnold (bc early 1700s). I did not find a marriage for them on the OPC Dorset webpage. Checking the IGI does not reveal a marriage (old and beta searches). John and Susannah Arnold baptized six children at Milton Abbas namely John (as above), James baptized 1 Feb 1726/27, Jane baptized 29 Jan 1728/29 and possibly married to William Muckell 29 Jun 1745 at Milton Abbas, Mary bc 1730 and possibly married to Robert Davis 25 Dec 1749, William baptized 26 Jan 1732, and Thomas baptized 21 May 1737.

 Researchers tend to have the parents of John Arnold (baptized 21 Apr 1702) as James and Mary Arnold. A will for James Arnold MA/4 1742 (Dorset Record Office) is abstracted online (http://www.opcdorset.org/Miscellaneous/ArnoldWills.htm) and includes the following:

"the will of James ARNOLD of Milton Abbas dated 25 June 1742 Proved 8 August 1743 Mentions Wife: Mary ARNOLD Son: John ARNOLD Daughter: Mary wife of William Lovell Daughter: Ann wife of Peter House. Daughter: Jinny Appoints wife Mary as Executor"

and a will for Mary Arnold (wife of James Arnold) MA/3 1744 (Dorset Record Office)  and includes the following:

"the will of Mary ARNOLD (wife of the above) of Milton Abbas Mentions: son John ARNOLD Daughter: Mary wife of William Lovell Daughter: Ann wife of Peter House Grand daughter: Honor Daughter: Jinny executor"

Children of James and Mary Arnold:

Mary baptized 8 Mar 1694/95 and married to William Lovell with daughter Honor Lovell

James baptized 25 Feb 1697/98 and married to Honor Lovell 26 Jun 1721 with children Mary baptized 11 Oct 1722, Honour baptized 29 May 1724, James baptized 31 Dec 1725, Robert baptized 9 Nov 1727, Henry baptized 1 Apr 1730, Ann baptized 12 May 1732 and Catherine baptized 1 Jan 1735 all at Milton Abbas

John (as above)

Ann baptized 19 Oct 1704 and married to Peter Hause with son Peter baptized 26 Mar 1722 at Milton Abbas

Jane Arnold baptized  13 Apr 1712; buried 18 Aug 1712

Jinny Arnold (probably Jane) baptized 4 Mar 1714/15

The parents of James Arnold (married circa early 1690s) are unknown as is the surname of his wife Mary. I checked the IGI including the new Beta search.

There is a James Arnold baptized 4 Oct 1663 and son of James and Sibbell Arnold (twin of John baptized same date). Interestingly they also have a son Henry and one of their grandsons is named Henry. Henry Arnold at Milton Abbas was on the Protestation Returns.

The will of Henry Arnold, gent, exists as an abstract and he has sons Robert, Henry, Richard (possibly eldest son), William.

"The will of Henry ARNOLD (Gentleman) of Bagbere in Milton Abbas, Mentions: to be buried in Milton Abbas where his mother and father were buried left £5 to the Church of Milton. Mentions, Daughter Anne Goldsbough £20 and to her five children £20 to be paid to them when they are one and twenty years old, children of Robert Goldsbough, gave to the two daughters of his son Robert ARNOLD £200 equally divided. Mentions: Brother in law Mr Thomas Rose or Rofe, John Trogenwell for rent. Son: Henry ARNOLD Son:  Richard ARNOLD Mentions George Baker. Elizabeth and Thomas Domfret? (I think these were servants) My son-in-law John Coobes and Elizabeth his daughter, two daughters of my son Henry ARNOLD and William ARNOLD my son. Sampson Biles, my son Robert ARNOLD and his brother in law Thomas Rose/Rofe. Mentions his brother John Arnold of Alton (Gentlemen) son- in-law Richard Savidge (I am not sure if this is John of Alton’s son-in -law or his) Son Robert ARNOLD rector of Melcombe who I make and appoint (I think this means son of my brother John of Alton) This will was granted to Richard ARNOLD ( I think the oldest son)"

I do not get a sense from this will that he has any grandsons from his sons. The Arnolds at Milton Abbas in 1641-42 are:


Henry Arnold, gent
Richard Arnold, constable
William Arnold
David Arnold
Henry Arnold
John Arnold
 
Henry`s will was dated 1646 mentioning his sons Robert, Henry, Richard and William. That leaves John and David Arnold as different lines at Milton Abbas and perhaps my James descends from one of these other lines. There do not appear to be any wills of these lines (at least not mentioned on the Arnold wills site). Henry does mention a brother John at Alton.

At this point I will leave any more thoughts on the Arnold family until my next research day on this family which will include a look at  the Norris family.

Genealogy as one's life work

I am distracted a bit at the moment reading a couple of books that have piqued my interest. Occasionally I mull about the reasons for my consuming interest in genealogy. I went from an interest level of zero to 100% in a rather short period of time. Enough interest that I took over 40 courses at the National Institute for Genealogical Studies then based at the Faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto. A book sitting on a pile attracted my interest and I am about one half way through the book having begun it this morning.

The book is by Leonard Mlodinow titled The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules our Lives. The book caught my eye because it talks about randomness and how events that are random affect our lives. I love the imagery in the introduction which talks about random events being like molecules moving through time and space and how they may accidentally bump into or otherwise affect each other. I see life events as being like that and these "encounters" affect how our life flows.

My own life events that led me to genealogy are one such set of random events. We, my eldest daughter and I, went to Rome for eight days in November 2001 (yes it was an interesting time to fly to Europe and be there in the days following 9/11). This was an organized visit in that we were to attend a specific religious event the invitation for which I obtained via the Anglican newslist to which I belonged. The time we spent in Rome was absolutely wonderful and I appreciate it even more now that we have had our whirlwind tour of Europe where our time in Rome (2 days) was great but can not compare to spending eight days there even with the organized tours that swept us past long lineups. But it was here that for the first time I had a concrete thought about my ancestors and what they might or might not have done in the past. As I stood in front of St Peter's Basilica for the first time I wondered, aloud, whether any of my ancestors had made this pilgrimage to Rome (for that is how I saw it). Later as we traveled to the second city of our European trip (London) I experienced even more profound thoughts on fammily and from that experience (although it took another two years) was borne the desire to learn more about my ancestors. The randomness by which I reached the project that now occupies most of my waking hours (and sometimes my sleeping ones) has constantly amazed me and so this book has entered into my realm of thoughts. The randomness of life events bounces us one way or another like molecules in nature. Trtuly there was only a 50/50 chance that I would turn to Genealogy.

Now that I am nearly half way through the book, I look once again at Genealogy and how it occupies my life - basically all my waking hours are mostly directed towards achieving the maximum number of details possible on my ancestors. Not so much that I may solve all the riddles but that I leave the material thus found in such a fashion that another family researcher can pick my material up and run with it. Solving one's past opens one's eyes to the future in a way that I had not realized before in my life. Not that one can avoid the problems of life; that is highly unlikely but one can see that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. An old philosophy always says that when God closes the door He opens a window so that one does escape but the escape may not always be viewed as success by those who view it. It is an interesting conundrum - what one person may view as failure another may see as great success.

Genealogy is where I have placed the rest of my life's efforts and I am gradually concentrating that interest in to selected surnames - Blake and Pincombe are one-name studies. I have looked at doing one place studies of Winterbourne Clenstone and Turnworth both inb Dorset. I have accumulated a lot of information on these two places and for Winterbourne Clenstone I am the online parish clerk (www.dorsetopc.com). I am gradually moving away from some of the other surnames although will occasionally check for updates and I am considering a fixed schedule for that.

Genealogy as one's life pusuit (after retiring) is a commendable idea. One we have the time to transcribe all the material that until now has been enscounced in libraries and archives and sometimes in one's attic. Two we have a lifetime of training in organizing to put all this material into a useable order. Three we may not need funding to acconmplish all this work if we have a pension (luckily I have my three pensions now - work pension, CPP and OAS). Not a large amount (technically I am below the poverty line) but with two people, my husband and I, we can survive and actually we saved money for travel as well. Although initially I thought I might work and did do so for about two years, I no longer do any genealogy work for other people unless it is part of my own genealogy although I am still the online parish clerk for Bishops Nympton which does involve queries. Eventually I will have everything online and that will then minimize the queries.

But the probability of my now being occupied with genealogy instead of the sewing, knitting, smocking, and other handicrafts that occupied me in my child bearing years was only 50/50 and perhaps considerably less because I was simply uninterested in genealogy. A life event occurred in my case which changed that percentage drastically. As we walked the streets of London, my eldest and I, I had this overwhelming feeling of being at home and yet I had absolutely no idea that my Buller, Beard, Hemsley and other families had also walked these streets and in a number of cases the exact same streets. Leaving after just a short period of time was a wrench - I really wanted to stay longer and feel that sense of belonging. That sense has brought me back twice more and I expect we will go yet another time.

Does one learn a lot when one goes back to the scene of earlier families? On the surface I am sure these places have changed so much that our ancestors would hardly recognize them but on the other hand the visual image I had of Upper Clatford (and in particular the Church) was absolutely clear to me as we approached the church and then were at the Church. That wasn't the same in Bishops Nympton where I did not have any preconceived notions or imagery to go by. However, I suspect that the changes are principally cosmetic and one can still see the place as it was when one takes the time to carefully view the particular area. When we spend our next block of time in England I will have a better idea of the truth of that statement.

More Blake Burials at Andover

Continuing with the Andover Parish Register and I have reached 4865 burials by December 1692. There are several Blake burials that I would have expected to find here and do. I have their wills and need to transcribe them but will wait until I reach the mid 1700s in the Andover Register so that I have all the Blake names in these registers.

Many of the old families are still here but there are new names and Durnford is an interesting one. My 4x great grandmother married to John Butt was Jane Durnford. She was born at Winterborne Clenstone in 1771 according to another researcher. This Durnford family is not found commonly in this Dorset area prior to this time but could they have come from the Andover area? It is an intriguing thought.

These families are tied to the land as farmers/agricultural labourers in the mid 1700s but remembering how manors work they could have been moved by the lord of the manor between his estates. The time period between 1771 and 1845 when my Edward Blake is born is not that great in terms of people remembering each other and I may just extract the Durnford entries into a chart to see if I can discover any interesting marriages. I do not know where the parents of Jane Durnford (Thomas Durnford and Mary Ball) married. As far as I can tell it was not at Winterborne Clenstone and Jane was baptized at Winterborne Stickland. Unfortunately the records for Winterborne Stickland are still not on the OPC page (I do Winterborne Clenstone for the OPC Dorset site).

I will continue transcribing the Andover Parish Registers and I am currently on the 3rd fiche of the 4th register (all burials). I should finish all four fiche by mid-week. Then I begin parish register 5 and that is the christenings and marriages from 1685 to 1701. The burial register in this case goes to 1714.

At some point in the past I thought I found the burial of a Thomas Blake in this burial register. Now that I have just two candidates in this register it would be interesting to see if I am remembering correctly. Now that I am reconsidering Thomas Blake I am realizing that Thomas b 1761 could be my ancestor and that he married when he was older so that his death in 1714 does seem somewhat more reasonable (53 years) than the death of Thomas Blake b 1785 at 29 years of age. Finding the burial again could be most interesting as sudden death at 29 years of age was not that unusual. Joseph Blake was only 37 when he died (my 4x great grandfather). Both he and his eldest son died within 11 days of each other (the father and then the son). The register doesn't say that it was an accident in either case but Joseph was a farmer and his son Thomas would have been old enough to be helping him. My ancestor, also named Thomas, was born posthumously five months later.

Results of Research at Salt Lake City - 4 April 2009

Back to working on my Salt Lake City images and I decided to move to Dorset and work on the Protestation Returns for my villages there in the Winterbourne Valley - Winterborne Clenstone, Winterborne Stickland, Milton Abbas, Turnworth, Winterborne Houghton, etc. I have the Poor Rate for these villages and I have a mixture of people from here - agricultural labourers, stone masons, carpenters, and land owners. I shall transcribe the records and see what I can learn about all of them. My great grandmother Blake was Maria Jane Knight and she was born at Turnworth early in January 1850 but I am still trying to find her death date. I have her picture and she has a quiet smile in 1898. Usually people were shy or very stiff in their pictures but she stares forthrightly at the camera with just the hint of a smile in her face. She is wearing her blond braided hair like a coronet around her head, her black dress looking neat and tidy and her shoes are highly polished. My father adored his father's mother and he stayed with them at Upper Clatford a number of times as a child. My father remembered that she had come from close to Blandford Forum (Turnworth is just to the northwest of Blandford) and the name quite intrigued him I rather think.

Maria Jane Knight's parents were Samuel Knight and Louisa Butt and two of her aunts and uncles Knight married two of her aunts and uncles Butt. They were a closely knit family and my father knew his great grandfather Samuel Knight fairly well. They used to visit him every summer by traveling through the New Forest which quite stuck in his memory. Samuel died in 1912 when my father was eight. He was a tall thin white haired man who lived with his eldest granddaughter (my grandfather's oldest sister). The Knight family were stone masons and carpenters, the Butt family were agricultural labourers (Charles (Samuel's father) was a Wesleyan Methodist Lay Preacher) mostly as far back as I can tell, the Arnolds were land owners and other surnames were: Ball, Dashwood, Durnford, Ellis, Foster, Gantrell, Lemon, Long, Malton, Norris, Rolles, Sandle, Vincent and Wellspring. Unfortunately, I am unable to purchase these parish registers and the Bishops Transcripts are quite incomplete. One day I hope to spend a few days at Dorchester reading through the register copies although, to be honest, I would rather be out visiting where they lived.

Tomorrow I shall continue with the Poor Law Rates of these little villages. It is good to be back to the Salt Lake City Records. I would like to carry on through them now until I finish.