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Topic: William Samuel Henson (1812-1888), Aviation Pioneer (Read 313 times)
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jesup
RootsChat Extra
Posts: 2
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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(duplicated from another genealogy board):
I'm researching my ancestor William Samuel Henson, the aviation pioneer and inventor of numerous items including the T-handled safety razor (he's my great-great-great-grandfather). He was apparently born in Nottinghamshire and baptized at St. Mary's on May 11, 1812 (born May 3rd per his journal). FreeREG shows his baptism and parents William and Martha; other children of a William and Martha Henson in Nottingham around that time indicate the father was apparently a framework knitter, and lived at Wright Alley. He probably later lived and worked in Chard in the lace industry (patent on lace-making in 1835 while there), and Lambeth (Surrey) and later London in the 1840's while working on aviation and light steam engines. The apparent oldest daughter of William & Martha Henson in Nottingham(shire) was named Stella (b. 1810), and William Samuel Henson's oldest daughter was named Stella, which adds another circumstantial bit of evidence. He married Sarah Ann Jones in 1847 and emigrated to America (Essex, New Jersey), where he continued to invent.
See http://en.wikipedia.com/William_Samuel_Henson
Framework knitting and lace-making involved a lot of carefully constructed machinery, which probably explains where the mechanic/inventor bit comes from.
There were a bunch of Hensons in Nottingham/Nottinghamshire around that time, including a leader of the knitters union movement, Gravener Henson (1812 was the time of the Luddite riots, etc in that area). I've also found a bunch of Hensons in a nearby village ("Bunny") who were also Framework Knitters or weavers from that timeframe.
Any info you can give me on the Hensons of Nottingham(shire) from the mid-1800's and before would be much appreciated.
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willow154
RootsChat Marquessate
Posts: 3157
Mum - Such love
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Hi jesup.
First let me welcome you to rootschat 
It certainly looks as if you have a very interesting ancestor in your family tree.
I suspect you probably already have this information - William Henson is mentioned several times in William Felkin's book, which is available to view on google books:
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0647/
* see pages 214, 283, 347 and 385.
There are even more references to Gravener Henson.
I think it might be worth contacting the Local Studies Library in Nottingham to see if they have the Henson family indexed in their index on names and places in Nottingham. This index has all sorts of references they have compiled from newspapers, books, etc.
http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1776
Hope this helps a little - still looking for you.
Paulene
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willow154
RootsChat Marquessate
Posts: 3157
Mum - Such love
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Hi again,
I've just had a quick look through the burgess lists for Nottingham and see that several Hensons, who were FWKs, are listed. I feel sure that the apprenticeship indexes held at the Nottingham Archives will tell you who William served his apprenticeship with, and also his father before him. You may be able to track them all back this way. They have two wills indexes there, too.
In Sheila A Mason's book (The History of the Woshipful Compnay of Framework Knitters) she says Gravener Henson claimed to be descended from Henry Henson who served his apprenticeship with Benjamin Mather (Nottinghamshire Court). So, it would seem that the Henson family were one of the first families involved in framework knitting in the area.
Mason, Sheila A., The History of the Worshipful Company of Framework Knitters, (Leicester; Worshipful Company of Framework Knitters, 2000).
Mason, Sheila A., Nottingham Lace: 1760s-1950, (Ilkeston; Cluny Lace Co., 1994).
When I discussed my husband's family (who were also early Nottingham framework knitters) Sheila told me that most of these early families were related in one way or another. I'm sure Sheila must know quite a bit about the Henson family - she can be contacted through the Worshipful Society of Framework Knitters, at Leicester.
Kind regards,
Paulene
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jesup
RootsChat Extra
Posts: 2
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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Thanks, I contacted the Society and they forwarded my email to her. We'll see how that goes.
I located his diary in the US Library of Congress; it's part of a large library of Aeronautical books and papers donated by the American Institute of Aeronautical Sciences (since renamed the AIAA). They have a 3 inch (~7.5cm) thick folder of his papers, letters, and letters about him, including original letters from Stringfellow (a fellow lacework engineer from Chard who worked with Henson on their Aeroplane). BTW, they and their publicist invented the term aeroplane, apparently.
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