The Mystery of Anne Hughes

A number of years ago, as the Online Parish Clerk for Cornwood Parish in Devon, I was asked if I could find information on an individual by the name of Anne Hughes Phillips. The family believed she was related to their mother, Jessy Blight. They thought Anne’s father was named Roger Charles Phillips who apparently had been a resident of a place called Colza Farm. That seemed relatively straight-forward.

I did a quick look through my parish records and found the family, including the baptisms of the two sons of Jessy Anne (Phillips) Blight, Bennett Clive and Roger Stanley. In fact, I was able to find several generations of the Phillips family in the parish registers. Anne Hughes Phillips turned out to be a great-aunt of Jessy, who had been baptized as Jessy Anne Hughes Phillips. This also opened up the story of a namesake of them both.

There is a story in the Phillips family lore about an Anne Hughes who married a Phillips man in Cornwood parish, against the wishes of her own family. As a result, according to descendants, “she was disinherited and only allowed to take with her six silver teaspoons, engraved with her initials, and a small teapot and sugar bowl. It is assumed from their nature and value that the spoons were a Christening present which would explain why they were retained. The hallmarked date for the spoons seems to be 1802 or 1803.”

 

Set of six spoons engraved with initials AH presumed to have belonged to Anne Hughes of Cornwood, Devon

Bowl and Teapot presumed to have belonged to Anne Hughes of Cornwood, Devon

It was speculated that Anne was born in or around Cornwood parish about 1800, near the hamlets of Yondertown or Lutton or possibly near Sparkwell, in adjacent Plympton St. Mary parish. She was apparently held in high esteem and at least two members of the family, mentioned above, bear the name Anne Hughes as part of their own: Anne Hughes Phillips, born in 1839 in Cornwood; and Jessy Anne Hughes Phillips, born in 1911, also in Cornwood.

Having found several Phillips family members, I was then asked if I could find any reference to Anne Hughes, herself, to confirm the story. Her name was not in any records for Cornwood, Plympton St. Mary, Plympton St. Maurice, Harford or Ermington parishes although all of them had many representatives of the Phillips family. In fact, there were no Hughes families living in the area at all during the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries; so that was a dead end.

The only individual close in name was Anne Frances Hayes, daughter of Treby Hele Hayes, Esq. and his wife, Susanna, a major land-owner and occupant of Delamore manor. It certainly would have been frowned upon by this family had their daughter married one of the “common” people. But Anne Frances ended up marrying another nobleman by the name of William Mackworth Praid in 1831. So that was another dead end.

It is possible that Anne Hughes was born in a parish far removed from Cornwood, however, no marriage between an Anne Hughes and a man with the Phillips has yet been found for the relative time frame anywhere in Southwest Devon.

This is one of those family stories that cannot, or at least has not yet been supported by documentation. While they may yet be found a connection for the time being the existence of Anne Hughes will remain a mystery.

Wayne Shepheard is a volunteer with the Online Parish Clerk program, handling four parishes in Devon, England. He has published a number of articles about various aspects of genealogy and is a past Editor of Chinook, the quarterly journal of the Alberta Family Histories Society. Wayne also provides genealogical consulting services through his business, Family History Facilitated.

Family Dynamics Revealed From Parish Registers and Other Records

Often what is on baptism records tells you a lot about family dynamics. Take the family Hannah Edwards (nee Dodd) in Shropshire. She was the 2^nd great-grandmother of a friend of mine who I was helping with family history research.

The 1851 England census, for Wenlock parish, Shropshire, showed that Hannah Edwards, age 40, was a widow with three young children still living at home: Mary, age 8; Richard, age 6; and John, age 1. A brother, Richard Dodd, also was in the same house. All of the individuals had been born in Wenlock parish. From this record we had indications of Hannah’s year and place of birth, her maiden name and the possible time of her marriage (before 1843) if they had not had any children prior to Mary. We could also assume that her husband had died within a year or so, given the age of the youngest child. I did, in fact, find death and burial records for the husband and father, Richard Edwards. He died at the age of 41, on March 21, 1851, just a week before the census was taken, and was buried in Wenlock on March 25^th.

 

Portion of 1851 England census for Wenlock parish showing family of Hannah Edwards, widow 

(image accessed from Ancestry October 19, 2013, copyright The National Archives)

But what other information could we find about Hannah, her parents and siblings, her marriage and her children.

Ancestry had other census records. FamilySearch and FreeBMD were helpful in identifying possible birth, marriage and death records. From that information pertinent BMD certificates for post 1837 events could be ordered from the General Record Office. Fortunately many of the Shropshire parish records are now available on FindMyPast courtesy of the Shropshire Council. I was able to find the images for the baptisms of most of Hannah’s children.

Hannah’s first child, Elizabeth, was baptized on December 4, 1841. The baptism entry showed the surnames of both Richard and Hannah; so there was a question about whether they were, in fact, married at the time. Elizabeth does not appear to be listed on the 1851 census and may have died prior to when the census was taken.

The baptism record for daughter Mary has not yet been found. Son Richard was baptized on December 30, 1844 although the entry shows his mother’s name as Susannah, not Hannah. The date does fit with the 1851 census information, however, so this entry may be the right one and the name recorded for the mother may have been an error. Another son, Nicholas, was baptized on January 24, 1847 but apparently died in 1849. John, the youngest child, was baptized on November 11, 1849 which information fits with the 1851 census of him being only one year old on his last birthday prior to when the census was taken on March 30^th. His father was shown on the baptism entry indicating he was probably alive at the time of the baptism.

I did end up finding their marriage information – December 23, 1844, just a week before Richard Junior’s baptism. It appeared they had two children together prior to their marriage – almost three!

 

Marriage certificate for Richard Edwards and Hannah Dodd, December 23, 1844 at Linley parish, Shropshire (certificate acquired from General Record Office)

Hannah Edwards appeared on the 1851, 1861 and 1871 England censuses, living in Much Wenlock parish, Shropshire although on the last one she is shown aged 50, rather than 60. I am quite sure this is the same person, though. She died in 1879 and was buried in Much Wenlock.

Finding other personal information for Hannah also posed some problems. The marriage record did not show her father’s name so it was not known whether he was alive, dead or estranged at the time of the marriage. Other information would be needed. The censuses all indicated she was born in Wenlock. A search was made for a Hannah Dodd, born about 1811. The only data that fit was an 1812 baptism in the Much Wenlock Parish register for a base child born to Sarah Dodd, a widow. This precise wording on the baptism entry establishes important facts about the family. The status of Hannah’s birth is entirely missing from indexes of the event.

Later searches revealed that Richard Dodd had married Sarah Browne in 1796 and that they had at least five children: Joseph, born in 1796; William, born in 1799; Anne, born in 1798; John, born in 1803; and Richard, born in 1804. The eight-year gap between Hannah and the last child is interesting. With Sarah indicated as being widowed, along with the illegitimate designation for Hannah, the possibility is raised that her mother was perhaps involved with someone other than Richard Dodd at the time of Hannah’s conception and may explain why Hannah chose to not show a father's name on her marriage record. There is a burial record for a Richard Dodd in Much Wenlock parish dated October 14, 1803, which is five months before the birth of Richard Dodd Junior. The baptism record for Richard Junior does not indicate the father was deceased but this is the only record of death in the parish for someone of that name and that fits the time frame.

Lots of questions still surround the life of Hannah (Dodd) Edwards but I believe I have found much of the pertinent information. The question that may never be answered is who her father actually was.

Wayne Shepheard is a volunteer with the Online Parish Clerk program, handling four parishes in Devon, England. He has published a number of articles about various aspects of genealogy and is a past Editor of Chinook, the quarterly journal of the Alberta Family Histories Society. Wayne also provides genealogical consulting services through his business, Family History Facilitated.

Old Homes and Homesteads – Part 10 – Alberta and British Columbia, Canada

As I indicated in a previous post, my grandfather, James Pearson Shepheard, was born in Torquay, Devon, England on March 12, 1891 and came to Canada in 1907. He spent a short time working on a farm in Ontario, presumably to pay off his fare over to Canada, and then moved west to settle in Alberta.

With his familiarity with horses – he had helped out with his uncle’s dairy business in Torquay, Devon and Taunton, Somerset – he ended up as a ranch and farm hand in Eastern Alberta. As my cousin, Betty Thompson wrote in the family memoirs in 2005, “Jimmy was a respected and locally renowned horseman, also noted for becoming the master over any and all mean broncos. He was hired during the first years the family was at Keoma, enjoying a good life as one of Newton [Isaac Thompson]’s cowboys. Whether Jimmy or Newton’s daughter, Carrie [Jane Thompson], had eyes for the other one first, is lost in history, but whichever way the romance started, the attraction grew into love and they were married on April 8, 1914.”

Carrie was, at the time of their marriage, living at home in Irricana. She was the local “Central” which title was later changed to Telephone Operator. Jimmy worked farms in a number of areas in the Irricana-Keoma area. With the help of his friends, neighbours and brothers-in-law he built a new farm house for his family on lands originally purchased by his father-in-law, Newton Thompson just east of Keoma – the Northeast of Section 17, Township 26, Ranges 26, West of the 4^th Meridian.

 

The Shepheard farm house east of Keoma, Alberta, ca 1923

Carrie and Jim had five children, all born in the Irricana area. Unfortunately two little died in infancy and are buried in the Irricana town cemetery. Surviving children were Bill (born 1914), Ted (born 1916) and Ethel Mae (born 1935).

 

Shepheard “men” at work on their farm near Keoma, Alberta, with a steam driven tractor and threshing machine – left to right: James Shepheard (1865-1940), James Pearson Shepheard (1891-1965), Edward Newton Shepheard (1916-1997) and William Calvin Shepheard (1914-1983)

Carrie and Jimmy were both active in the community. He had a large part in developing school and community facilities, served on the local school board for many years and was a member of the Oddfellows Lodge. He was a great singer and entertainer and headlined many shows for fund-raising events. Besides running his farm, Jimmy and some of his neighbours spent time hauling grain to market using a train of wagons hitched to multiple teams of horses – up to eight pairs abreast. Carrie assisted with activities organized by the local ladies group and for the local Red Cross during the First World War.

In 1944 Jimmy retired and they moved to Nanaimo, British Columbia. Carrie died on August 29, 1959 and Jimmy on September 12, 1965. Both are buried in Port Alberni, BC.

 

Shepheard home in Nanaimo, British Columbia, 1945

Wayne Shepheard is a volunteer with the Online Parish Clerk program, handling four parishes in Devon, England. He has published a number of articles about various aspects of genealogy and is a past Editor of Chinook, the quarterly journal of the Alberta Family Histories Society. Wayne also provides genealogical consulting services through his business, Family History Facilitated.