For 'Linmey' re Woodhams from Bedfordshire

[bedfordshire boy]

Just to add to the general confusion:

In 1851 William Woodham 12 b Barton was at school in Wheathamstead, where the head of household was William Trustrum 30 b Royston, a school master and his wife was Eliza 36 b Gamlingay.

I don't like coincidences!

FreeBMD has a marriage in Caxton registration district in the March quarter 1844 where William Trustrum and Eliza Savill were two of the parties on the page. But significantly the other two parties on the page were Caroline Savill and William Woodham. 

The baptism index on http://www.cfhs.org.uk/Search.html shows that Eliza (bap 1812) and Caroline Savill (bap 1821) were probably sisters, daughters of Joseph and Mary Savill who baptised 12 children in Gamlingay between 1801 and 1836, which seems too long. The last five of these show their abode as Luton and I think these were two couples as they appear in Luton in 1841 aged 38 and 36.

But who was William Woodham who married in Caxton registration district in 1844? In 1861 he and Caroline both aged 39 b Gamlingay were living in Doncaster. Was he another son of Samuel and Susannah the baptists in Gamlingay?

Whoever he was he seems to provide a link via the Savill sisters between the Gamlingay and Barton Woodham families

David

[johnP-bedford]

But who was William Woodham who married in Caxton ....... Was he another son of Samuel and Susannah the baptists in Gamlingay?

I reckon so .... On 1841 census in Gamlingay, is Susannah Woodham 1791 with Mary 1816, Sarah 1821, William 1822, Elizabeth 1826, Nodes 1829, Samuel 1831. There's a Carless family tree on Anc* with more info.... but I think is wrong - its got Samuel/Susannah's daughter as Rhoda Savill Woodham & marrying Thomas Topham !



John

[johnP-bedford]

& more info to the melting pot ...

Caxton RD marriage index Mar 1845 has a triple wedding (well they are all on the same page)
I reckon they are all children of Samuel & Susannah Woodham....

Samuel Cockings to Sarah Woodham
John Smith to Rhoda Woodham
James Topham to Elizabeth Woodham

Note 1 John & Rhoda Smith had son Robert 1850 Abbotsley, who on 1861 census is grandson to Thomas Woodham b 1790 Gamlingay. I have him as Samuel's father

Note 2 Susannah 1791 widow is in Biggleswade with daughter Mary 1819 , now Mrs Francis Cocking. 

Note 3 1851 census has James Topham & Elizabeth along with servant Samuel Woodham b 1831

Note 4 1851 in Biggleswade is Samuel Cocking & Sarah along with brother Nodes Woodham b 1829 

I'm now begining to see the Woodhams from the family trees

[Jill123]

Ah-ha! David, you have thrown something up that I know about. The young William Woodham who was a boarder at school in Wheatamstead, was MY William, the son of William Woodham b1811 Barton. I think he might have had a sister called Eliza b abt 1815 in Gamlingay.
   Could Mrs Eliza Trustram have been married to a Mr Saville beforehand, and that she was the original Eliza Woodham b 1816  Gamlingay?
     Just a thought - haven't checked.
              Love,
                             Jill

[bedfordshire boy]

The young William Woodham who was a boarder at school in Wheatamstead, was MY William, the son of William Woodham b1811 Barton.

I'd worked that out, and that's why I posted what I did, in response to your earliest posts in this thread!

Other than the 1841 census where he's shown as born in Beds, what's the evidence that William Woodham born c1811 was born in Barton? I doubt it. If he really had a younger sister Eliza born c 1815 in Gamlingay I'd have thought that William would also have been born in Gamlingay. If we assume that George who married in Barton and was living in Streatley in 1851 was a sibling of William, both sons of William b 1786 born Gamlingay also living in Streatley, then George was b c1813 at Gt Gransden. It seems pretty unlikely that William was born in Barton, followed by George in Gt Gransden, then Eliza in Gamlingay, then the whole family moved to Streatley where William b1811 married Susan Smyth.

Where have you found reference to Eliza Woodham b 1815?

Eliza and Caroline Saville were living together in Gamlingay in 1841 so I think they were sisters, but it would take the marriage cert to confirm that Eliza was a spinster on marriage to William Trustrum, rather than a widow.

David

[bedfordshire boy]

In reply #8, Orpheus gave details of the births of William and Gabriel Woodham at St Neots Baptist in 1809. I can’t see burials of either of them in St Neots, but there is a burial of Gabriel Woodham aged 7+ in Godmanchester Hunts on 18 Jun 1814. This is the only Woodham burial in Godmanchester after 1766, suggesting that the family weren’t long term residents of the parish. Whilst the age is a couple of years adrift, it would be interesting to get details from the parish register to see if he was the son of William and Sarah.

Like Orpheus, I think this 1809 birth is your William. Proving it is another matter, but there’s a fair bit of circumstantial evidence:

-   you know that William Woodham and Sarah Hutchinson who married in Graveley Cambs moved at some stage to Streatley, probably after 1817, where they were living in 1851, birthplaces Gamlingay and March respectively
-   in 1841 they had presumed sons John 25 and David 20 living with them, neither born in Beds (hence the deduced move to Streatley after 1817 as David could have been 24 in 1841), along with grandson George, son of George who was born at Gt Gransden Hunts
-   William Woodham b1811 married his first wife in Streatley, but inconsiderately died in 1849 before his birthplace could be revealed in the 1851 census
-   he was buried in Streatley, not in Barton
-   then there’s the possible connection between William b1839 and the Gamlingay Woodhams via the Savill sisters. Pretty tenuous but it’s building up the picture.

The John Woodham in 1841 in Streatley may be the same John who married Ann King in Haynes, Beds, on 11 May 1843. In 1851 he’s enumerated as John Stockley Woodham, 41 b St Neots, and in the same household is Trustram King 12, stepson b Haynes. I think Trustram may be the exception that proves the rule and it really is a coincidence. Remember the marriage in Graveley where one of the witnesses was Stockley Hutchinson? Not a coincidence I feel. The marriage cert would give his parish of residence if other than Haynes and his father’s name.

David Woodham died before the 1851 census so we’re not going to learn his birthplace.

It’s interesting that there were Woodhams in Streatley in the early 1700s.

David

[Jill123]

David - I think that when I first started researching William b 1811 nearly five years ago I made the awful mistake of assuming that, as he worked and died in Barton, he probably was born in Barton. I'm not excusing myself, but this was before I found other Woodhams in Gamlingay etc. I've checked through my hand-written file notes and have absolutely NO proof he was born in Barton - sorry. And there's no record of him in the Barton parish register.
     In my copious notes about the family this is the tentative scenario I'd come to:-
    William Woodham b abt 1781 or 1785  in, maybe, Gamlingay, Cambs. marries? a Sarah b abt 1788 March, Cambs.
     They could have had at least 6 kids - William b abt 1811; Eliza b 1815 Gamlingay (can't find where I found this info);  George b abt 1816 in Streatley? and who perhaps married a Louisa b 1816; John b abt 1816 not in Beds. Sarah? b 1821 Gamlingay and David b abt 1820/21. Then there is the Grandson, George, who was living with his G'parents on the 1851 census and b abt 1837 Barton. Shame on me! I can't find any notes saying where I found any of this info - a lesson learned!
   I am going to have to go through all the new info you've all posted and try to make sense of the 'info' I think I might have. I am now agreeing with you William b 1811 Barton was now b in either Gamlingay or, perhaps, St Neots as I've just found a William Woodham b 26 Feb 1809 Old Meeting House, High Street, St Neots - Baptists and Independants.
          Regards,
                         Jill

[Orpheus]

The link below is for the will of a William WOODHAM, butcher of Barton, dated/proved 9 February 1853 and held at The National Archives.  I'm not sure whether this is the elder William or the one born in 1811 especially as there appears to be another will for a William WOODHAM, butcher of Barton, dated/proved in 1850 and held at Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Record Service.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/details-result.asp?Edoc_Id=47325&queryType=1&resultcount=4

I've looked at the will of William WOODHAM, butcher of Barton, held at Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Record Service and it turns out not to be a will just a note saying that the actual will had been inadvertantly proved in the local Bedfordshire Court and had subsequently been sent to the PCC.  Seems that both entries are for the same will and the will is that of the William born in 1811.

I have also made a note of the burials at Streatley:

20 Dec 1838  Susan WOODHAM of Barton, aged 30 years
16 Oct 1844  David WOODHAM of Streatley, aged 27 years
19 Jun 1849  William WOODHAM of Barton, aged 38 years
5 Apr 1852  Sarah WOODHAM of Streatley, aged 63 years
24 Jun 1859  William WOODHAM of Barton, formerly of Streatley, aged 81 years
21 Feb 1872  Elizabeth WOODHAM of Barton, aged 61 years
4 Aug 1922  Thomas Smyth WOODHAM of Manor Road, Barton, aged 78 years

I found no WOODHAM burials at Barton.  Seems to me that it would be too much of a coincidence if all the WOODHAMs buried at Streatley were not related - especially as so many of them appear to have been residents of Barton.  Perhaps there are tombstones in Streatley churchyard which could prove the relationship

[Jill123]

Orpheus - many thanks for looking in the Beds Archive and finding the info about William's will. I have just ordered it from The National Archives so I hope it might throw some more light on the family. I already have copies of the Streatley and Barton parish records booklets, but if I wanted to throw more light on these Woodhams what, and where from, would you advise me to purchase next? Or where should I look? Are there Gamlingay and St Neots parish records that I could buy, do you know?
     You have been a great help; many thanks yet again. I feel that slowly, very slowly the cracks are beginning to widen.