Wright, Little & Mott families Southchurch, Essex

[JenniferDenise]

Gt Gt Grandparents were
James Little (1801-1847) b. Essex  and Sarah Mott (1802-1861) b. Rettendon - married 1825 in Rawreth, Essex.  Sarah's parents were Thomas Mott (1759-1821) and Jane Swan (1778).
and
John Wright (b.abt 1801 Hadleigh, Suffolk) and Tamer (?) b. abt 1811 in Gt Wakering, Essex.  Sarah died Southchurch 1852 - (no maiden name on Death Cert.)

Both families lived in Southchurch for 1841 and 1851 Censi - next door neighbours.  Their children James Little b.1832 & Ellen Wright b. 1835, both in Southchurch - married, also in Southchurch in Nov 1858.....for their honeymoon they left for Australia!

Wondering if anyone has any connection to either family and particularly interested in the Wrights as have hit a brick wall there.  Have 10 children for this family from 1832 to 1850 but can't trace either John or Tamer's parents

[Diblet]

Hi JenniferDenise

The Mott/Swan/Little people are all on my family tree but not the Wrights.

I was very interested to see what became of James and Ellen Little. Quite a honeymoon!

 

[JenniferDenise]

One of James' brothers, John came to Oz with the honeymooners but haven't found him yet.  James & Ellen went to the goldmining settlement of Creswick just out of Ballarat.  He became a miner - not very sucessful.  The early days would've been miserable as it was winter & it snows there...great in a tent or lean-to!  They had 11 kids - four survived to adulthood & I have had fun chasing them down.
James also had an elder half-sister by his Mother Sarah Mott.  Have just discovered she married a John Mott (not found to be related as yet) and came to Oz abt 1851/2 & went farming in South Australia.  James' daughter ended up marrying her 1st cousin by James's half-sister.  The Motts had moved to Ballarat, Victoria by then, most likely also following the gold trail.  It was nothing for people to walk hundreds of kilometres, and across states.  There are related Motts & Littles all over Victoria & descendants in most other states.  Motts were very prevalent in South Australia as well.
On which line are your Littles & Motts?

My Wrights are difficult.  Some of the kids may have come out but have not concentrated on them yet - however, Victoria had lots of English Wrights as well in those days.  Want to find their English roots first.

[Diblet]

I actually connect genetically to your line via Jane Swan. She is the sister of my ancestor Ann Swan.

The Mott's created quite an empire here in Essex too!

Let me know if you've got any queries outstanding that I may be able to help you with. I've done quite a lot of research on the Mott and Swan lines.

 

[JenniferDenise]

have been given Thomas Mott's direct line back to 1650 although have not proven it myself & probably it's impossible - at least by me.  I imagine you already have all that.

Am really quite interested in the social history of our Mott/Little family (1780+ to 1860).  I'd like to be able to describe what sort of lives they lived and what it looked like in that period - tend to look for pictures & anecdotes etc to illustrate my stories.

Did any of your lot come to Oz?

[Diblet]

The Rettendon Mott line is fairly easy to trace back on the parish registers but I know from wills I've seen that they do connect to a line up in the Tolleshunt D'Arcy area too.
I've not traced back beyond Thomas as he's not genetically related to me but I have brought his line forward to present day.

Like you, I'm very much into the social history side of genealogy. It totally fascinates me. The trouble is, in my mind I still think all the villages look the same now. It's quite a shock when you go and see modern day reality! Only the parish churches are where you can stand in them and say "my ancestor definitely stood here" and feel a connection to the past.

I don't think any of my folk emigrated out to Oz but I don't know that for definite at the moment. It amazes me how many people did make the choice to travel thousands of miles to start a new life though. I wonder how many of them regretted the decision but couldn't afford the journey home so had to make the best of it.
I know how hot it gets in Oz. I've been out to WA several times!
 

[warncoort]

A check of 1841 & 1851 census may help to flesh things out as will PR's from ERO coming online shortly.

[jeremytrewindixon]

Hi......I am assuming this was the Sarah Mott who was, as people believed, cured of bewitchment by the famous cunning man   James "Cunning"  Murrell of Hadleigh? (The story is in the article "A Wizard of Yesteryear" by Arthur Morrison, printed in the Strand magazine 1900, you can find a copy of it on the files of the Pickingill email list http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pickingill/ and perhaps elsewhere on the web by now. The stacks of a big library may have the original, I found a copy in Melbourne University library rare books collection)

These wizards, witches and cunning folk are my interest, and I have been struck by how often the surname "Mott" turns up in connection with them. This may be just because there were a lot of Motts in Essex; but I have also been struck by how often these Motts are tailors or drapers or the like....The thing here is there was (according to the folklorist Maple) a family of traditional layers-out of the dead  in the Rochford area of Essex, whose name he gives only as "M_". Although not a wizarding family, as JK Rowling would say, they did have a numinous reputation. I am suspecting, no more than that, that this "M_" family were Motts.

You will find the Morrison article of interest in any case, as a window on 19th century rural Essex....

[Clementina Phillips]

G'day Jennifer, my name is Tina Phillips. My grandmother' s maiden name was Ruby Little from Creswick, Victoria, Australia.  We have an extensive family tree and history of the Littles and Mott's  time during the gold rush and colorful settlement in Australia.  I live between Australia and Walton on Thames in Surrey so can catch up sometime for a chat.  Cheers Tina