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On behalf of a distant cousin I am helping out, does anyone know about a Swann family in Huntingdonshire, particularly in and around Needingworth?

Henry George Swann was born in Needingworth in Hunts abt 1847 and his wife, probably Susan Mansfield, was born in Brampton, Hunts abt 1850 (or Brentford in Essex or even Needingworth, depending which census return you look at!)  They married in 1868 in St Ives District - which takes in both villages. They then moved to London. In 1881 they were at 22 Bird Street in Lambeth, with one son, Henry, aged 9 b Lambeth. Henry Snr was a Labourer. By 1901 Susan was a widow living at 25 Cancel St with two sons at home, Henry and Edward.

I have tracked Henry George back to Needingworth in Huntingdon, and his parents were probably Henry Tomlinson Swann and Lucy Howes, who married in 1845 in Huntingdon district. In 1851 they were in Silver Street, Holywell cum Needingworth. Henry T was a master tailor born in St Benedicts, and their children were Oliver 5, Henry G 4 and Elizabeth 1. Oliver was born in Brampton, the other children in Needingworth.

From the 1841 census, Henry T, a tailor aged 20, appears to have been the son of John Swann and his wife Elizabeth and probably the grandson of Thomas Swann aged 80, who was living with the family in Huntingdon, St Benedicts in 1841. Neither John nor Thomas were born in Huntingdonshire.

Does anyone have any connections with this family? I am a Cambs Swann descendant, but this is the first time I have come across Huntingdonshire Swanns. Given that neither John nor Thomas b about 1761 were born in county, I would be interested to know their origins.

On 25 May 1783, Charles Armstrong married Sarah Larkinson in Houghton Conquest, Bedfordshire.

They had two children in Houghton Conquest - Charles b 1785 and perhaps Aolti Mira b about 1789.

They then moved to Graffham in Huntingdonshire, where they had at least 3 more children. IGI records are incomplete for Hunts, and there is nothing for Graffham but member entries. The following come from other evidence – census returns and the will of Charles b 1785.

Sarah b about 1791 who later married Christopher Smith
Thomas b about 1797
Philip b about 1801

Does anyone have Graffham PRs for this period, who could establish the above - and any others - as children of Charles Armstrong and Sarah during this time?

Many thanks
Wendy

If any kind soul has access to Ravensden marriage records, I'd appreciate a couple of lookups.

My ggg-grandfather was John Armstrong of Ravensden in Beds, b about 1800 and baptised 15 November 1802 along with two siblings, Elizabeth and Ann. Their parents are given as John Armstrong and Sarah. (IGI extraction, Batch no C148781)

The children of John and Sarah baptised in the years either side of 1800 are the earliest Armstrong records in the batch, so it's likely that John Armstrong Senior came from somewhere else.

John Armstrong Junior married twice - first to Jane, with whom had at least one child, Sarah/Sally, baptised 16 Jan 1831.

Jane was buried at Ravensden All Saints 1 July 1833 (NBI)

John then married Eleanor Green with whom he had several more children, although the Rebecca listed on the IGI as the daughter of John and Eleanor is almost certainly the daughter of John and Jane, baptised late in a job lot with 2 younger siblings.

Eleanor also died young, and was buried 20 Jun 1843 at Ravensden All Saints. (NBI)

So my queries are:

Is there a marriage for a John Armstrong and Sarah around 1790-1800 in Ravensden?

Is there a marriage listed for John Armstrong and Jane in Ravensden? Date would be around 1828-1830.

And is his marriage to Eleanor Green listed? This would have been in 1833 or 1834. I found Eleanor's maiden name from her daughter Sophia's birth certificate, so am fairly certain that it is correct.

If anyone can help I would be very grateful!

Best regards
Wendy

If anyone is willing to help I will be eternally grateful. This family has been a brick wall in every way, both during their temporary stay in Berkshire and their origins in Kent.

My gggg grandfather William Cornhill was born in Oare in Kent in about 1797 and was a soldier in the 7th Foot. He joined up in Dover aged 20 in 1817, and served briefly with the French army of occupation. He later served in the  Wokingham area, (possibly Arborfield?), where he married and had two sons, and possibly 2 daughters.

From 1826 - 1836 he was serving in Corfu and Malta. He was medically discharged in Ireland in Nov 1839 having been "worn out by his service".

He then returned to Kent and died in Faversham just 10 months later.

It seems likely that his two sons, William Jnr and Joseph returned with him, along with a Martha Cornhill, assumed to be his wife/widow, although all three of them are untraceable in 1841. They may have been in the Whitstable area where records were lost. Both sons married and raised families in Kent. Martha remarried and remained in Kent. All are trackable through the census returns, and all three state born Wokingham.

There are also two Cornhill girls - Adelaide b 1830 and Elizabeth b 1835 both in Wokingham according to the census returns. These girls were left behind when the family returned to Kent. Elizabeth - just 6 years old - was in the Wokingham Union workhouse at Wargrave in 1841. Adelaide is untraceable in 1841. In 1851 Elizabeth has graduated from the workhouse to Reading Gaol! But Adelaide is a sensible servant for the curate of Hurst. They both ultimately married - and both gave  William Cornhill as their father. Adelaide even correctly stated his rank and his regiment.

The name Adelaide is significant because (a) one of William's daughters has the name; Joseph called his eldest daughter Adelaide and his youngest daughter Martha; Elizabeth named her eldest daughter Adelaide.

I suspect that William first married an Adelaide, and later a Martha. I am not convinced that Martha was the mother of any of the four children, or she could not have abandoned the girls. There are always problems with Army life, but you still don't leave your kids to the mercies of the workhouse!  There is also an infant death - baby Richard Cornhill who died in 1840 aged 7 months, and whose death cert states that his father was Joseph Cornhill, solider. No mother's name and no birth registration that I can find, but she might have had him baptised.

So what I am looking for is the following:

1. The marriage in Wokingham of William Cornhill, a soldier in the 7th Foot, to (a) Adelaide and (b) Martha. Marriage dates likely to be between 1818 and 1825 for Adelaide, perhaps after 1835 for Martha.

2. Baptisms in Wokingham for:

Joseph Cornhill b about 1825;
William Cornhill b about 1826;
Adelaide Cornhill b about 1830;
Elizabeth Cornhill b about 1835-6
Richard Cornhill b 1840

If anyone has access to these records and can do a lookup for me I will be very grateful.

Wendy

My ggg-grandfather, John Peter Ferry, married Louisa Tessier on 5 Mar 1821 at St Lukes, Old street. (Sources: Pallots Marriage Index and the IGI.)

Louisa was of Huguenot descent, and I have traced her back 2-3 generations via the IGI.

The problem is John Peter Ferry! (Or perhaps Jean-Pierre Ferry?)

In both 1851 and 1861 John Peter Ferry, born Bethnal Green in about 1797 and living in Orange Street, was the sexton of the French Protestant Church of St Martin le Grand. In 1851 wife Louisa and his children are living with him. In 1861 he appears to have been widowed and is married to Rachel, with no children living at home. His youngest daughter from 1851, Sarah, married Charles Abbott in 1860.

I am trying to find the family in 1841, but have met with no success whatsoever, in spite of using Namex searches, and trying a few possible misspellings and mistranscriptions of my own devising.

In 1841 John Peter would have been about 44 years old. There are a number of John Ferrys listed, aged from 35 - 45 (as one would expect from 1841!). Some appear to be duplicated in my susbcription source - The Genealogist website transcript - and most are involved with the silk trade in Bethnal Green. But there is no trace of Louisa or the (by then) three children: Louisa b 1831, William b 1839 and Sarah b q.e March 1841.

A check of the various French Protestant/Huguenot Churches shows a whole rash of Ferrys in the records of the French Huguenot Church in Threadneedle street, 1600-1698.

So it's a fair bet that John Peter Ferry was of Huguenot descent and may well have been involved in the silk trade in 1841 before becoming a sexton by 1851. James Street, Bethnal Green seems to host 3 generations of silk industry John Ferrys, and there are a couple more at Mape street. But no Louisa nor any of the children.

Would someone with a better source than mine try a look-up for me, please?