ANOTHER LONG ENGAGEMENT
I was interested to read Sue Wicker’s letter in your January issue. My 3x great uncle Joshua Franklin, who lived in Inkpen, Berkshire, eventually married Eliza May (neé Hill) in 1874 at the age of 67. Eliza’s husband, Timothy May, had been transported to Australia in 1831 on the convict ship the Eleanor for taking part in the Berkshire Swing Riots, when impoverished agricultural labourers smashed farm machinery for fear it would take away their livelihoods.
Eliza and Timothy had two children and Eliza and Joshua then went on to have at least eight children together, the first being born in 1833. They eventually married in 1874 when both were in their 60s, although Timothy May didn’t die until 1877 in Australia.
I found this branch of my family tree an interesting one to research because I had never heard of the Swing Riots until then. Timothy May was accompanied by a fellow convict, Alfred Darling, on his long voyage to Australia. Alfred was the uncle of the wife of my 2x great uncle, John Franklin.
Although some readers might not like to find out that their ancestors were involved in criminal activity, I am proud of my ancestors for trying to stand up for themselves in the face of such impoverished conditions that had led to agricultural labourers in many counties taking things into their own hands and machine-breaking. Having also traced the line of one of my great uncles, I found that he was distantly related to the Tolpuddle Martyrs. Now I know why I have a bit of a rebellious streak in me!
Pauline Larder, Wantage, Oxfordshire
EDITOR REPLIES: History really does come alive when we can connect it to our family.
Alan Crosby’s ‘Off the Record’ column in the February issue about notes in the margins of parish registers reminded me of one such interesting incident.
While researching my Cubitt ancestors in the Worstead area of Norfolk, I came across the burial entry for the sister of my 5x great grandmother Mary Cubitt. Hannah Cubitt married Rudd Turner in 1830, but died 15 months later. Her burial document showed that her son William Turner died the same day. Not unusual, one would think,
in those days. But in the margin, the local vicar had written: “Both murdered by the husband and father, John Rudd Turner.”
This led me to an article in the Norfolk Chronicle dated 6 August 1831, reciting the terrible account of how, following a quarrel, Rudd Turner took a gun and shot his wife and son while they were asleep in the same bed. He was later found to be insane and removed to Norfolk Asylum, where he died the following year.
If it wasn’t for that entry in the margin, I would have entirely missed this interesting, if gruesome, find.
Sandy Foreman, by email
EDITOR REPLIES: What a shocking discovery Sandy. Notes like this never make it into transcriptions – one reason why you should always try to see an image of the original register.