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I just found something else- in Avening (three miles north of Tetbury) there was a Richard Swinton who baptized two sons, Thomas and William, in 1562 (transcribed in Ancestry incorrectly as 1567). For twins to survive was a rare thing, so I would assume they were not twins and perhaps Thomas was older, and they were just baptized together. This was a case where the indexers didn’t transcribe the information correctly, they thought it was “Thomas Willn son of Richard Swinton” but in fact it was Thomas and William. I had to look at the image of the record book to see it. I think this is our Thomas Beane/Swinnerton! And his brother William who named his first son Richard (died young in 1591) after their father.

I just found another piece of information- the will of the other John Washer from Brighton, who was born in 1716 and was the second cousin of the John Washer I believe was my ancestor. His will was made in 1758 while at sea, and proved in 1762. This John Washer was a mariner on the HMS Salisbury, which was in action in the East Indies during the Seven Years’ War. Maybe wanting to go off to sea ran in the family!

Also this excerpt was pulled from My Brighton and Hove, where it was cited as coming from an unnamed reference work written in 1990:

“It has been suggested that a small creek once extended northwards from Pool Valley , and even that the area in East Street in front of the Sussex Tavern was the site of a wharf, but there is no direct evidence for either of these suggestions. Nevertheless, Brighton was always considered to be a port, forming part of the Port of Shoreham, and was named in the official lists of English sea-ports as early as 1301 and again in the mid sixteenth century when it was required to send ships and men for war fleets. In 1766 the limits of the Port of Brighton were officially marked for customs purposes by two four-foot-high stones set in the cliff top. The eastern stone, near the bottom of Ship Street , bore this inscription: ‘This and the other pillar at a distance of 600 feet westwards were erected to ascertain the boundaries of the Port of Brighthelmstone, anno 1766 by order of Sir William Musgrave, Bart, Samuel Mead, Edward Hooper and Henry Banks Esquires, Commissioners of the Customs’; it was removed when the sea-wall was constructed, but the western stone near the bottom of West Street remained until the late nineteenth century. As late as 1860 official notices referred to the Port of Brighthelmston.“

I am researching an ancestor, John Washer, who emigrated from England to the US, Boston specifically, around 1720. The story is that his mother was friends or neighbors with a ship’s captain, and signed him up as a cabin boy for a voyage to America. When they landed in Boston, he ran away and started a new life. There were various pockets of Washer families all over England at the time, so it’s hard to say for certain where he came from. My assumption is that it was somewhere coastal, near a shipping port, and in an area without a lot of prospects for a young man. Initial searches in the usual places online turn up a John Washer, son of John, baptized in Brighton in early 1712. Many researchers stop here and assume this is the one they are looking for. The problem is, there was another John Washer, son of John, who was baptized in the same parish in 1716. So maybe the first one died. I decided to comb through the digitized Brighton record books and piece the Washer family together, and I found that the two John Washers were likely born to different families- their fathers, both named John, were cousins. So, still a possibility that 1712 John Washer is the one I’m looking for. His mother had died when he was small, and his father had remarried. Perhaps he didn’t get along well with his stepmother, and was eager to get away. It also seems that Brighton was a fairly destitute place in the early 1700s, and had been ravaged by devastating storms. What I am hoping to determine is, how likely is Brighton (or Newhaven, or someplace nearby) to have been a place where ships might depart, on trade or other business, and travel to Boston, in the early 1720s? From looking at the record books, I know that there were a lot of people listed as mariners, ship carpenters, etc. at this time. Any insight or help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

In Horsley, quite near Tetbury, there are records of a William Swinington with two children- Richard who was buried in 1591, and Eleonor who was baptized 1593. There was also a Gyles who was married in 1636 in Horsley. It’s interesting that this family spelled the name Swinington. Could they be connected to the Swinnertons of Tetbury? Possibly William of Horsley was a brother of Thomas or Jesper? But we have no way of knowing.

Then there was a Christopher Swinerton with 4 hearths in the 1664 Hearth tax list. I assume with that many hearths, he must have been older and had a family, and/or multiple homes. So he was likely born in the early 1600s. Another son of Jesper and Elizabeth?

There was a Mary Swinerton who married Thomas Sharpe Sr. in Tetbury, and an Elizabeth Swinton who married John Webb (that name again) in Alderney, both in 1655. Both born perhaps in the 1620s or 1630s?

Then of course we have John (born about 1687) and George (born about 1692) Swinerton. Likely brothers or perhaps cousins. Both raised large families in Tetbury. But who was their father? I have not found any records. Both had sons named John. John had a son named Antipas, and George had a grandson named John Antipas. If I had to guess, I would suggest that they were sons of John, the son of Antipas. It has been suggested that he is the John who baptized a daughter Mary in 1686 in Axbridge. No marriage record has been found Perhaps he was also the father of John and George. The name Antipas was carried down in both their lines. But this is pure speculation, unfortunately.