Hi,
Here's what I've got on the family of John Levis and Rachel Southwell so far (on top of what has already been mentioned in this thread up to this point):
- There's a Charles Levis born Abt. 1817 Sawtry Huntingdonshire, who married Lydia Stapleton in 1837 and had a family with many descendants. I cannot find the link between Charles Levis and the suspected parents John & Rachel (baptism?), so I ordered (and am waiting for arrival of) the marriage cert from the GRO to find their names. Notably his son Simon Levis b. 1850 Sawtry Huntingdonshire marries an 'Ann Wright' born 1847 Woodwalton Huntingdonshire, and has many children two of which have been registered with GRO and baptized around Spalding, Lincolnshire: Mary Elizabeth Levis b. 1875 in Gosberton, Lincolnshire and Minnie Levis b. 1877 in Holbeach, Lincolnshire. Both baptized 1877 in Holbeach. I suspect my own Levis ancestors have links with Gedney Hill, near Holbeach (insufficient records to prove anything so far). This raises the questions: What's the link of Simon Levis and Ann Wright with the villages around Spalding? Is Ann Wright related to Robert Wright (who married Rachel Southwell after the death of John Levis)?
- son John Levis b. Abt. 1822 Sawtry Huntingdonshire is single on the 1841 census and widower on the 1851 census. GRO records show potential related entries for a Phoebe Levis b. 1846 mother maiden name FINEDON, d. 1849, Phoebe Levis b. Abt. 1808 d. 1848 and Eliza Lewis b. Abt 1818 d. 1847 ; Assuming Phoebe who died in 1848 is the mother, it this means she was 14 year older than John. Not likely, but still possible. I have been unable to find a marriage record (parish or GRO) for a 'FINEDON' or 'FINDON' marrying a 'Levis'. Next step would be ordering the GRO birth/death records of these people to find out more.
- No trace of assumed son William Levis, other than the criminal records of his punishments (previously mentioned in this thread) and the link with Robert Wright
- son Thomas Levis, born Abt. 1808 reports to come from Stanion, Northamptonshire. Does this mean that one of his parents had family living there? In case John Levis b. Abt. 1784 is from Stanion, then he could be the child of Aaron John Levis and Elizabeth Weekly/Weekley who got married in Wadenhoe in 1781 (about 8 miles from Stanion). Finding a baptism record for John 1784 would be essential to go with this assumption.
- to add to this complexity, there's also a John Levis b. Abt. 1783 who claims to come from Northamptonshire on the 1851 census, living with his family on 10 Wolverly street, Bethnal Green (London). His descendants have a history of going in and out of workhouses in London, and there are many stories to read (have not read through all of them yet). Perhaps there's something more concrete in these stories about where they hail from, or maybe there's a marriage record with more details.
I'll look into the GRO records, unfortunately I'm not much good on baptism records if they're not on Ancestry/FamilySearch/FreeReg