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Thanks Cathy.

So far I've found the ROWLEY and ROWNEY families to be quite distinct. I often look at ROWLEY information "just in case" but can't remember ever finding a ROWNEY who had become a ROWLEY or the other way around. Not saying it didn't happen, or that there probably aren't some isolated records where a mistake may have been made, but I can't remember seeing many. There are quite a few variations on the ROWNEY name which do come up from time to time however - ROWNIE, ROWNY, RONEY, ROUNIE, etc., now I will look more carefully at ROWNING too, which I hadn't noticed before.

Marc

Thanks very much for that, Cathy.

I've only identified two William ROWNEYs who seem to have been alive and able for such service; one was the son of Jonathan of Potton, who married in Potton in 1766, aged 26, raised his family and died there in 1790; the other was a grandson of John and Judith of Langford, who was married in 1758 at age 27 and seems to have been living with his wife and having children at Southill between 1759 and 1775, and who died in 1797 (I'm not sure where). It would seem, if it was one of those two men, that they didn't spend too long away from home in their service, so they probably didn't go far.

I've looked a few times at A2A over the years and found a couple of very interesting ROWNEY records (including the one David mentioned - thank you David). One record (Susannah ROWNEY of Goldington) you pointed out a year or so ago, Cathy, was my ancestor, and with that land title information I was (with the help of Peter and Trevor at the Records Office) able to track down the location of her cottage (now long gone) when I visited England briefly in 2006. For that I am very thankful indeed. I'm living in Australia and was able to make some very interesting discoveries in the few days I had available in Bedford, mostly thanks to the particularly helpful staff at the Records Office there. I did get a will for Jonathan ROWNEY of Potton, but unfortunaltely it doesn't shed any light on his origins or possible connections to other families in the area.

Many thanks,

Marc

I've located who I believe to be the earliest ROWNEY name bearers in Bedfordshire OPR. The details are following, but there is a simple question at the end:

John ROWNEY with wife Judith who were having children in the parish of Langford from 1691-1711.

Mary ROWNEY who married Robert FORTESCUE (or FOSCUE) in Potton in 1686, they had two children there, then Mary was buried there in 1689.

Elizabeth ROWNEY ("wife of John ROWNEY") buried in Biggleswade in 1706.

Elizabeth ROWNEY married Henry HALL in 1708 in Biggleswade. They have three children there between 1709 and 1715.

Braunston (or Braumston) ROWNEY marr. Elizabeth HUCKLE in Sutton in 1723 and they have children there between 1723 and 1739.

Jonathan ROWNEY marr. Mary BIRD in Potton in 1729, then apparently remarries (Mrs Frances WAGSTAFF) in 1731 and they are having children in Potton up until 1740.

The naming of children suggests Jonathan and Braunston were related.

John ROWNEY marr. Elizabeth HEWITT in Blunham in 1719, they have a son in Sandy in 1721 and then John apparently dies and was buried in Sandy in 1725. Elizabeth is buried in Sandy as a widow in 1739.

Another John ROWNEY and an Elizabeth ROWNEY are both buried in Biggleswade in 1737. They are thought to have been the married son and unmarried daughter of John and Judith (above), but this is not certain.

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Looking at all of the above it seems entirely possible that a single ROWNEY family living somewhere around Biggleswade in the mid 1600's could be responsible for bringing the relatively uncommon ROWNEY surname to Bedfordshire. The parishes with known early ROWNEY presence in rough chronological order seem to be Potton, Langford, Biggleswade, Blunham (one marriage), Sandy, Sutton, Dunton, Northill, and Southill.

I was hoping that someone with access to records from the 1600's such as Poll Tax or Hearth Tax, may be able to check to see whether any ROWNEY families/households appear, and if so, where and how many? I'm not sure how the records are organized, so a search of the above parishes would hopefully be sufficient to answer the question, although a countywide result would obviously be more conclusive.

Any information at all on the very early ROWNEY families in Bedfordshire would be invaluable.

Many thanks and best wishes,
Marc Roberts

Susannah KING married Edward ROWNEY at Bletsoe on 12 Feb 1794

John HOW married Jane ROWNEY at Blunham on 31 Jan 1806

John CHURCH (of Milton Ernest) married Rebecca ROWNEY at Bletsoe on 3 Oct 1855

George CHURCH (of Milton Ernest) married Elizabeth ROWNEY in Bedford District in 1854.

Emma FENSOM married William ROWNEY (of Bletsoe) in Saint Neots District in 1871.

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Would be interested if connected to any of the above.

Thank you so much for that, Alli. It finally clarifies a long-running mystery about the fate of William CHRISTIAN (jr) for me. I'd always assumed that he must have died in infancy, and was amazed when I recently found him with a wife in the 1851 census.

Best wishes,
Marc