Is anyone local to the parish of Meeth, North Devon?

[JaneyH_104]

I have recently found from online newspaper records that two of my great-grandfather's children were buried in the churchyard at Meeth in Devon.  Details are as follows:

Ruth Bowdler, buried May 1928 aged 10 months
Kenneth Bowdler, buried October 1929 aged 8 months

Parish records for Meeth on findmypast only go up to 1915.  The father of both of these children was my great-grandfather Oliver William Bowdler (1883-1953) who, at the time of their deaths, lived nearby at Upcott.  The newspaper reports refer to the parents as "Mr & Mrs Bowdler" but thus far in my research I have not found a marriage for them.  The mother's maiden name, to my knowledge, was Florence Maud Marjorie Brooks.

If there is anyone reading this who lives in the Meeth area who might be able to tell me whether there are any headstones, and - if so - what they say, I would be absolutely delighted.

Thanks, Janey

[pjm99]

Janey,
Oliver married his first wife, Lillian Maude Evans, in 1908 at Westbury on Seven and they had at least five children between 1908 and 1920. The first child for Oliver and Florence seems to be 1923. Therefore, the second marriage ought to be between 1920 and 1923 but as you say no sign. Oliver's first wife did not appear to die until 1952 so he was not free to marry Florence without a divorce which was not easy at that time. So I would guess they did not marry but just lived together as man and wife. I can't any likely death registrations for a Florence Bowdley in Devon but they are a couple of registrations for Florence Brooks.
HTH
Peter

[JaneyH_104]

Thank-you, Peter, but I already have plenty of information about my great-grandfather. He had nine children with Maud, six with Florence and three with Beatrice later on.  He DID divorce Maud - her death certificate refers to her being the "divorced wife of Oliver William Bowdler".

What I'm after - as per my original post - is information about the burials of Ruth and Kenneth in Meeth. 

Regards, Janey

[lumpy8]

Hi Janey

Are you still needing this information? As I'll be in Meeth today, weather permitting. (1st July 2018)

Lumpy

[JaneyH_104]

Hi Lumpy, if you have time to look for headstones for Kenneth and Ruth that would be brilliant. As I mentioned before, I know they’re buried there but have no idea if the graves are marked.

It’s possible that their mother Florence is also buried there. After a lot of detective work I’ve found that she died in Meeth in 1930. I have her death certificate and she was in fact Florence Hamilton, having married in Devonport in 1916. The death certificate has the correct details, although the newspaper refers to the death of “Mrs Bowdler”.

Anything you find will be especially welcome as I’m now in contact with a 2nd cousin descended from one of the surviving siblings of Kenneth and Ruth and he’s very interested in family history. He lives in the USA so even harder for him to visit churchyards!

[lumpy8]

Hi Janey,
Once the rain let's up, I'll venture to Meeth, the churchyard is quite small, as is Meeth, so hopefully I will have a good chance at finding the headstones. (I will endeavour to get photos, as I think you'll be wanting them.)

Lumpy

[JaneyH_104]

Thanks once again. If you could send the rain easteards to Kent that would be marvellous - we’re parched here 

[lumpy8]

Hi Janey
I'm back, but unfortunately I found none of the graves of your ancestors.
Most of the headstones are from 1800-1900 the are a few from the 1950's and then the rest are more recent.
The most common names I came across:
Madge
Brock
Cobbledick
Hookways
Some of which still have families here in Meeth, even now the village only has approx 200 residents, and it's expanded a bit since the 1920's
I may be able to ask someone at the church about the burial records, but at present there is no regular vicar, so would need to contact the church warden, I could give you her number if that's of any help?

The churchyard only has approx 100 headstones, but there are a few spaces, so maybe they didn't have one? I also looked at all the headstones near the church wall, as they were most probably moved at some point.

Good luck in your searching.
 Most of my family are from the south and south East, don't suppose you've heard of any Ransley and Lee lines?

[JaneyH_104]

Thanks for all your efforts.  My great-grandfather and his partner Florence lived at Upcott Farm, which I think is a little way out of the village of Meeth.  In terms of the names you mention, both Cobbledick and Hookways are mentioned as other mourners at the funerals of Ruth and Kenneth.  I'll drop you a private message with contact details to pass on to the churchwarden.

As to your ancestors in south-east England, we had a local councillor by the name of Brian Ransley in Paddock Wood, near here in Tunbridge Wells a few years ago. Might this be a link?