FOWLERs of Cudworth and Cricket St. Thomas, Somerset

[Peter Ferreira]

Hi Folks,

Greetings from snowy and frozen Toronto, Canada.

The first thing that I know of my ancestor, Robert FOWLER (c1757 - 1848) is that he married, by licence, Mary PHELPS of Shepton Beauchamp, Somerset, in 1781.  The ceremony took place in Cricket St. Thomas, Somerset, and Robert was described as "of this parish".  Family witnesses named in the PR were John FOWLER and Jane FOWLER. 

Robert and Mary FOWLER lived in Cudworth, where four children were baptized between 1782 and 1787.  Their last child, Anna FOWLER, was baptized in Shepton Beauchamp in 1792, when Robert was described as "of Maiden Newton.  By the early 1800s, Robert lived in Abbotsbury, where his wife, Mary, died and was buried in 1811 and where he was churchwarden in 1812.  By the 1841 census, Robert was living in Winterborne Whitchurch, Dorset, in the household of his son, Joseph FOWLER, yeoman farmer, of that village;  Robert was described as aged 84 and "independent".  He died in Winterborne Whitchurch in 1848 and was buried in Abbotsbury. 

I would appreciate any assistance on the ancestry or siblings of my Robert FOWLER (c1757 - 1848).  I know quite a bit on the ancestry and laterals of his wife, Mary PHELPS (1760 - 1811).   

I am descended from Robert and Mary FOWLER's fourth known child, Joseph FOWLER (1787 -  1855) yeoman farmer of Abbotsbury and Winterborne Whitchurch, Dorset. 

Are there any researchers or cousins of any of these FOWLERs, out there? 

Best wishes.


Peter Ferreira.

[Brambletye]

Hi Peter,

My husband's 4 x gt grandfather was John Fowler - no chr. yet, but his marriage at Cricket St Thomas is:
John Fowler Yeoman otp m. 30.8.1770 m. Rebecca Sibley of Winsham. They lived at Horn Farm at Forton, nr. Chard, in 1775. John died at Horn and was bur. 2.12.1776 at C St T.

On the 1775 schedule for the land holdings in Chard (Somerset RO, ref. DD\CHG/19) there is a Robert Fowler holding plots G1 to G5, called late Tuts - house and garden, 3 closes of land, also in Forton. So, I wonder whether, given the geographical proximity, this  Robert has a common ancestor with John.

Between 1782-87   Robert Fowler and an Isaac Fowler paid Poor Rates for land in Forton; by 1790 Isaac has dropped out, but Robert paid for land there until 1797. There is an Isaac Fowler in the C St T PRs, as a witness to the marriage of Sarah Fowler otp and William Glyde of Winsham.

C St T PRs are not good, but I have extracted what I can from the fiche - do you already have these, or will I post them up?
no chr. there so far for your Robert though, unfortunately, I will look at some point to see if there are any BTs.

[Peter Ferreira]

Hi Brambletye,

Thank you very much for your response.  What a wonderful surprise to "meet" another Fowler descendant, from this area!  I am delighted to make contact with you. 

I have already extracted Fowler and other bmd from: 

Cricket St. Thomas & Crewkerne  -  both on Mormon film #1526587
Cudworth  -  Mormon film #1796120  and
Shepton Beauchamp  -  Mormon film #1526729 

I would be delighted to share my findings, which are on Excel spreadsheets, with you.  I wonder if I can attach one of them to this message  -  I will try, just to determine what Rootsweb can handle.  If this does not work, you and I just may have to exchange attachments off-list. 

On my Mormon film, for the PR of Cricket St. Thomas, I noted huge gaps in the records, eg 1643 - 1687 records are missing, as are those for 1707 - 1724.

I just wonder if there is any connection between the Robert Fowler that you mention and my ancestor! 

Brambeltye, I do look forward to hearing back from you.

Best wishes.


Peter Ferreira.

[Peter Ferreira]

Hi, again,  Brambletye,

It looks like my attachment worked.  I could not send an Excel spreadsheet, but it worked when I saved it as a text document.  Now, here, for your information, are some more of my bmd extractions.  Happy browsing!

Best wishes.


Peter.

[Brambletye]

Hi Peter,

Many thanks for the info., the text documents came over OK...

I have some additions on the Cricket marriages, from FreeREG:

28.1.1774 James Fathers of Crewkerne m. Hannah Fowler otp by Licence, witnesses John Hilton, Charles Sh???
20.9.1780 Henry Dyer of Church St Michael m. Elizabeth Fowler otp by Licence, witnesses Robert Fowler, Robert Dare
28.2.1781 Robert Dare of Hawkchurch m. Mary Fowler otp by Licence, witnesses Sarah Fowler, Francis Kentesber

...and one where there's just a Fowler witness -
6.7.1816 Samuel Warren m. Mary Syms, witnesses William Glyde Fowler, Charles Guppy Smith

I also have Baptisms at Cricket (from PRs):
Sarah 1765, Henry 1769, Mary 1771 -
all children of Henry & Ann Fowler

and Burials at Cricket (from PRs, except * from FreeREG):
1743   Henry Fowler   son of John & Hannah
7.8.1744   Hannah Fowler   wife of John
1764   Henry Fowler   son of Henry & Ann
1767   Susanna Fowler   dau of Henry & Ann
(Susanna was chr. 9.5.1767 at Winsham)
2.12.1776   John Fowler   of Horne in the parish of Chard
26.11.1781   Henry Fowler
21.4.1795   Mary Fowler   of Grange Farm, Thorncombe*
15.9.1795   Hannah Fowler   of Chard

As it's so close, I also had a look at Crewkerne Marriages (on FreeREG again), but so far it's just a list of names, no witnesses etc. Did you find anything there that looked useful?

Next time I am at Somerset Records Office, I will have a look to see what else they have for Cricket & Cudworth other than PRs - if there are any Land Tax or Poor Rate records etc., I'll see what I can dig up...!

[Peter Ferreira]

Hi Brambletye,

I only seem to be able to send one attachment with each message, so this is going to be a little cumbersome.

Here are the Cudworth Marriages which I extracted. 

Best wishes.


Peter.

[Peter Ferreira]

 . . . . . . .  and here are the Cudworth burials.


P.

[Peter Ferreira]

 . . . . . . . . . and here is my listing of baptisms in Cricket St. Thomas.



P.

[Peter Ferreira]

 . . . . . . . . .  and here is my listing of Cricket St. Thomas burials.

Happy browsing!!


P.