Tantan you are an absolute star! I'd be grateful for any help you may be able to give me.
Here are my main links to the Bathes:
My grandmother was Martha Bathe, b 24 Feb 1870 in Wroughton. My research leads me to believe that her parents were: William Bathe bapt 1834 in Elcombe and Sarah. The only Sarah I can trace marrying a William Bathe at about the appropriate time was Sarah Bathe in 1862 reg Highworth Dec qtr. I wonder if they were cousins? If my research is correct, Sarah Bathe was the daughter of Mary Bathe b abt 1811 an unmarried ag lab who also had a son Robert b abt 1828. These three were living in Wroughton in the 1841 census. In the 1851 I believe the same Sarah was a pauper in the Highworth and Swindon Workhouse. In the 1861 census she was a servant in High Street Swindon which would tie in with her marrying in the Highworth reg district.
I believe William Bathe's father to have been Joseph Bathe bpt 1799 in Wroughton and his mother to have been Mary Buckland b abt 1806.
I am unfamiliar with Wroughton/Elcombe and surrounds and have been confused by my ancestors who seemed to swap nearby parishes in the BMDs and censuses. The Bathes seem to have moved into the surrounding area but each generation kept naming their children after grandparents. It's been a nightmare to untangle and I have to admit I had decided to give them a rest. Perhaps a fresh eye will help unscramble the families. I am also inclined to believe there were two main branches of the Bathes; one wealthy and the other not. I'm descended from the latter!
I should be grateful for a contact address for your school friend if you have one so that I can write direct to her. I have absolutely no information about my grandmother and her family. She was dead before I was born and my father never talked of his parents. Unfortunately I only have one living cousin from this side of my family and she is unable to provide any information.
Thank you for taking the trouble to post a message for me. I look forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes.
imt