Willoughby Staff (?1803-1886). My 4th great-grandmother. Willoughby Staff was from a Norfolk family that married into the Greens. Their descendants were part of my paternal family tree, ultimately coming down to the Finches. The surname may have derived from the Anglo-Saxon stæf, which means stick or pole, and could’ve referred to people who worked with or […]
Gruesome deaths
Edith Brent (1784-1871) and her soldier husband
Edith Brent (1784-1871), Charles Prigg (1782-1814) and Alexander McKenzie (c1786-1832). My 4th great-grand aunt and uncles. Edith Brent was born to Henry Brent and his wife Mary and baptised on 31 January 1784 at Holy Trinity Church in Wonston, Hampshire. The family continued to live in and around the village. She married Charles Prigg from […]
Susannah Symonds (1832-1906) and her family of mariners
Susannah Symonds (1832-1906), Henry George Martins (1828-1857) and Charles Downing (1824-1883). My 3rd great-grand aunt and uncles. Susannah was baptised on 8 October 1832 at St Nicholas’s Church in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, to parents Charles Robinson Witchingham Symonds and Susanna Waters. She was still living at home at the time of the 1851 census and […]
Mary Ann Symonds (1791-1867), died after being scalded
Mary Ann (or Marian) Symonds (1791-1867) and Ralph Newby (????-1881). My 4th great-grand aunt and uncle. Mary Ann – or sometimes Marian – was born just a few months after the marriage of her parents – James Symonds and Frances Ann Witchingham – in 1791. She was baptised at Holy Trinity & All Saints Church […]
Godfrey Weston and my other Weston ancestors
Godfrey Weston (1785-1862). My 4th great-grandfather. Godfrey Weston took advantage of a young woman and then tried to evade his responsibilities to her and the daughter he fathered out of wedlock… He was born on 14 March 1785 and baptised three days later at St Mary’s Church in Banham, Norfolk. His parents were John Weston […]
Sarah Rice and my other Rice ancestors
Sarah Rice (1791-1871). My 4th great-grandmother. Sarah was the first of the Rice family to join my family tree. She was baptised on 3 July 1791 at St Mary’s Church in Balcombe, Sussex, to parents George Rice and Mary Harman (see below). She married William Budgen at St Nicholas’s Church in Worth, Sussex, on 2 […]
Lawrence Witchingham Symonds (1804-1847)
Lawrence Witchingham Symonds (1804-1847). My 4th great-grand uncle. Lawrence Witchingham Symonds was born on 16 August 1804 and baptised on the 19th at Holy Trinity & All Saints Church in Winterton, Norfolk, but drowned while a relatively young man. His parents were James Symonds and Frances Witchingham. Lawrence married Mary Green at St Andrew’s Church […]
Harriet Symonds (1841-1899) and her struggles with alcohol
Harriet Symonds (1841-1899) and Henry Swan Chapman (1838-1904). My 3rd great grand-aunt and uncle. Harriet was born on 29 August 1841 to parents Charles Robinson Witchingham Symonds and Susannah Waters. She was baptised on 8 September at St Nicholas’s Church in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. She married young in 1858, her husband being Henry Swan Chapman […]
Frederick Elijah Wetherall (1814-1906) and his family tragedies
Frederick Elijah Wetherall (1814-1906) and Lucy Sarah Lloyd (1815-1869). My 4th great-grand uncle and aunt. Frederick was born on 30 July 1814 and baptised at St John Timberhill, Norwich, Norfolk, a day later – his parents were Thomas Wetherill and Rebecca Brooks. He grew up in the city with his family but followed them when […]
Sarah Rose and my other Rose ancestors
Sarah Rose (1817-1886).My 3rd great-grandmother. Rose is a common surname in Norfolk, which is where my branch of the family come from. The first of the Roses to join the family tree was Sarah, who married William Stoliday/Stolliday in 1835. Sarah was born in 1817 to farmer Robert Rose and his wife Hannah Holsworth (see […]
Elizabeth Maria Symonds and my other Symonds ancestors
Elizabeth Maria Symonds (1826-1911).My 3rd great-grandmother. Elizabeth Maria Symonds was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, in 1826 and baptised in St Nicholas’s Church on 24 November that year. Her parents were fisherman Charles Robinson Witchingham Symonds and Susanna Waters (see below). Elizabeth married mariner William Mark Green, a Yarmouth native, at St Nicholas’s on 29 […]
Mary Ann Green (1853-1918), widowed by a storm
Mary Ann Green (1853-1918), Frederick Rowland (1854-1881) and Daniel Robert Beales 1852-1909). My 2nd great-grand aunt and uncles. Mary Ann Green was born on 13 January and baptised on 17 April 1853 at St Nicholas’s Church, Great Yarmouth, to parents William Mark Green and Elizabeth Maria Symonds. Her first husband would drown in a notorious […]
Emmeline Louisa Wetherall (1872-1932) – widowed by a mill accident
Emmeline Louisa Wetherall (1872-1932) and Albert Robert Woods (1872-1917). My great-grand aunt and uncle. Emmeline was born on 2 June 1872 in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, and baptised in the town on 14 July at St Nicholas’ Church. Her parents were Benjamin Thomas Wetherall and Sarah Ann Elizabeth Green. Emmeline (pictured top with her children Leslie […]
Edward Charles Stolliday (1873-1966) – baker and chef
Edward Charles Stolliday (1873-1966) and Margaret Elizabeth Bowles (1876-1939). My great grand-uncle and aunt. Born on 2 March 1873 to parents Edward Stoliday and Harriet Goulty, young Edward Charles Stolliday was baptised at St Nicholas’s Church in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, on 28 February 1875. He grew up in the town’s crowded row houses, although his fisherman […]
Gertrude Wetherall (1877-1964) – war service and tragedy
Gertrude Wetherall (1878-1964) and George Albert Harvey (1882-1937). My 2nd great-aunt and uncle. Gertrude Wetherall was born on 5 December 1878 and baptised on 23 December that year at St Nicholas’s Church in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. After growing up in Admiralty Road, Great Yarmouth, Gertrude went to stay with her sister Emmeline and her family […]
Alfred Dolamore (1835-1910) – death in the canal
Alfred Dolamore (1835-1910) and Elizabeth Dolamore (1836-1904). My 2nd great-grand uncle and aunt. Alfred Dolamore was baptised on 15 February 1835 in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, to parents David Dolamore and Mary Ann Walker. He was brought up in and around nearby Leavesden. He was working as an agricultural labourer at the time of the 1851 […]
John Stoliday (1817-1896), his wife Catherine and the courts
John Stoliday (1817-1896) and Catherine Smith (1822-1910). My 3rd great-grand uncle and aunt. John Stoliday was born on 25 April 1817 and baptised on 8 June that year at All Saints’ Church in Rackheath, Norfolk, to parents James Stoliday and Mary Gay. John grew up with his parents and siblings in and around Rackheath and […]
Alice Amelia Stolliday (1877-1929) and a tale of tragedy
Alice Amelia Stolliday (1877-1929) and Robert William Feek (1875-1934). My great-grand aunt and uncle. Alice died relatively young, leaving her husband so distraught that he took his own life. She was born on 5 August 1877 in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, and baptised on 12 May 1878 at St Nicholas’s Church to parents Edward Stoliday and […]
Mary Ann Budgen (1863-1953) and her family’s brush with poverty
Mary Ann Budgen (1863-1953) and Frederick John Lunnon (18664-1932). My great-grand aunt and uncle. Born in 27 August 1863 in Worth, Sussex, Mary Ann Budgen was baptised on 4 October that year at St Nicholas’ Church. Her parents were Thomas Budgen and Maria Dolamore. At the time of the 1881 census she was living at […]
Hannah Maria Stoliday (1851-1932) – court cases and a marriage mystery
Hannah Maria Stoliday (1851-1932), James William Bull (1850-1874), William James Thurgate and John Crisp. My 2nd great-grand aunt and uncles. Hannah was born to William Stoliday and Sarah Rose and baptised at All Saints’s Church in Salhouse, Norfolk, on 19 March 1851. She ended up with three marriages to her name, experienced tragedy and lived […]