Eavon as a village/town - is this the same as Avon?

[Regorian]

I presume the documents you have supplied are Marriage contracts between Quakers. Avon was not a town or village. It refers to the River Avon in Hampshire. So best guess at location is Godshill, Fordingbridge area. The Avon running north to south is nearby to the west. The main road is the A338 from Salisbury to Bournemouth crossing the A31 near Ringwood. Godshill was associated with the Quakers and still is.

Christian Malford is a little east and south of the Junction 17 M4. Again the River Avon is a little to the west.

Added: If you contact www.quaker.org.uk/fordingbridge and email your documents, not only will they be very interested, they may be able to tell you more. They kept very good records.   

[davierj]

Not at all, this was precisely the period when Devizes was an important centre for making serge cloth.   In fact a grat deal of woollen spinning and weaving was taking place across north Wiltshire in places such as Chippenham, Corsham, Melksham, Bradford on Avon etc. and the villages in between.

Dave

[davierj]

As a matter of interest Regorian in fact refers to 2 different River Avon.   The first flows from Pewsey to Christchurch and the second from Acton Turville to Bristol.   The latter flows through Chippenham, Bradford and Bath before reaching the sea at Bristol.   There are a number of other River Avons in the UK the most well known being the Warwickshire Avon flowing through Stratford on Avon.

The name derives from the Welsh for river, which is 'afon'.   As the Welsh alphabet has no letter 'v' the sound is represented by a single letter 'f'.   So in reality the rivers are called river river 

Dave

[davierj]

There is also a settlement called Avon in Hampshire north of Sopley on the B3347.   Can be seen on Google Earth.   The plot thickens.............

Dave

[Regorian]

OK but the documents mention Godshill and Christian Malford. Unless you've got a better idea, my first action would be to contact Quakers Fordingbridge website. They may have records of the principals concerned. Nothing lost and perhaps something to be gained. 

[Regorian]

There is also a settlement called Avon in Hampshire north of Sopley on the B3347.   Can be seen on Google Earth.   The plot thickens.............

Dave

I missed that. Perhaps the OP should add Avon (as a place name) with Sopley and Godshill to an email to Quakers/Fordingbridge.   

[davierj]

I heartily agree that the best course would be initially to see if the Quaker records can throw any further light on  it.   It seems that we could be seeing an example of people moving possibly to find work.   In the first document  the husband is from Godshill, Wiltshire and the bride is from Eavon also in Wiltshire.   The village of Avon near Godshill is in Hampshire.   They are married in Charlcutt which is near to Christian Malford mentioned in the second document.   

The record office at Chippenham may also throw some light on it.

Dave

[davierj]

Thomas may have moved from Godshill to north Wiltshire and married Lydia from the tything of Avon, at Charlcutt.   The second document is entirely north Wiltshire referring to Lacock, Notton, Christian Malford.   At this time in the early C18 this part of Wiltshire was a most important area For the production of woollen cloth and would be just the place for a serge maker.   This is, however, speculation.

Dave

[Regorian]

All logical Dave. Westy is in Australia, that's why I gave some geographical locations. An email to Quakers Fordingbridge won't cost anything. Wiltshire CRO is now in Chippenham instead of Swindon where I now live. Otherwise I would have offered to go into Town and have a looksee. WCRO will charge to look up records.