Robins chimney sweeps coincidence or not

[LenVin]

Hi all
During my research into my GG Grandfather William Robins b cir 1826 in Guernsey CI and died in Cerne Abbas Dorset 1906 was a Chimney Sweep all his life.
I have come across 2 Robins living in Emsworth Hampshire in the 1841 51 61 census. They are Walter and Charles both born Guernsey CI and are both recorded as Chimney Sweeps. Is this just a coincidence or are they all brothers with the same trade.
William had 3 children Susan b 1854 in Allington Bridport Dorset (my G Grandmother) William Henry b 1857 also Allington and Elizabeth b 1863 in Emsworth but baptised in Allington. With the birth of Elizabeth in Emsworth were the family visiting their relatives there or is this just another coincidence or are they not related at all.
Any help is much appreciated.

Len

[annebr]

Hands up - I'm no genealogist!  However my sister-in-law is and some time ago she offered to trace my family tree.  It transpired I didn't so much have a tree as a stick!  There was no father's name on my Grandfather's birth certificate.  He was George Robins, born in Cerne Abbas in 1898 to Alice Robins.  I was brought up on stories of my Great Grandfather being a chimney sweep who had 'the contract to sweep Dorchester jail'.  However my sister-in-law established that the Chimney Sweep Robins in question had died some 18 months before my Grandfather was born so I think we can safely assume he had little to do with it!!  He died in his 30's of cancer of the scrotum which was known as "Chimney Sweep's Cancer" - remember these are all stories that children get told, who knows whether they are true or not!

Alice then married a Vardy and in the 1901 census the two families have combined and were living cheek-by-jowl in Cerne Abbas.  Just an aside - and it proves nothing - my uncle was given the name Walter but I don't remember anyone in the family being called Charles.  The integration seems to have been seamless because although I recall great aunts and uncles being referred to as 'a Vardy' I don't remember there being any distinction.

[LenVin]

Hi and welcome to Rootschat

Your grandfather George's birth was registered in the Sept Quarter of 1897. His father !! was buried in Cerne Abbas Dorset 31 Mar 1896. Maybe Alice was a naughty girl but still named him Robins as she did not marry Luke Vardy until 1900.
Your Great Grandfather William Henry Robins married Alice Mansell in 1884 and they had 6 children.
William Henry had a sister Susan my Greatgrandmother (the lady in my Avatar)
For me to send you any personal information you will need 3 posts so if we reply 2 more times this will work.

Regards Len

[annebr]

I suppose it's this aspect I would find most frustrating if I explored my family history... half a story, a few family myths, a rumour or two and NO WAY OF ESTABLISHING WHETHER THEY ARE TRUE!!

When I broke the news to my father of the gap on his own father's birth certificate he just laughed and said all those rude comments that came his way on the building site were true then!  Then the story emerged that as a child he recalled having gone to school one day and pronounced his Grandfather had been German (probably not a sensible thing to come out in the middle of WWII).  The story was that Alice had met - wait for it - the Captain of the ship which brought the steel from Germany to build Brighton Pier!!!!

My cousins were highly sceptical but then one checked the dates and well I suppose it might be possible (though what Alice was doing so far from home, goodness only knows).

[LenVin]

If you remember from my first post there were some Robins family living in Emsworth Hampshire which is not far from either Brighton or Portsmouth. Maybe she was visiting them? at the time. George was living in Cerne Abbas in 1911 with his mother and the rest of the Vardy family.
My cousin lives in Buckland Newton Dorset and her mother very often talked about the Vardy family.
George had a brother Walter John who was killed in WW1
There is a memorial in Buckland Newton
Buckland Newton War Memorial
Walter John Robins son of Alice and William Henry

Len

[annebr]

Gosh you are really whetting my appetitite for this family history business!  Thank you for that information.

George was injured in WWI and I believe my Grandmother was working as a nurse/orderly in the hospital when they met.  He had lost two or three fingers - we were fascinated as children.  I'm not sure whether his disability didn't include shell shock or something that affected his mental health too.  He had a vicious temper according to my father, not that we as grandchildren ever experienced it first hand.

So that's where the Walter comes from then.  My uncle was a twin but I believe the other was stillborn.  I think my Great Aunts Evelyn and Florence were 'a Vardy' and there was an Uncle Bill who lived in Swindon, only about half a mile from my grandparents.  He had a rented terraced house which was presumably at a peppercorn rent because there was no inside toilet and the lighting was still gas lamps, even in late 50's/early 60's.  He had a white, warlrus moustache, wore a greasy waistcoat and resided (seemingly) permanently in a chair surrounded by a nicotine fug created by his pipe, in front of an open range - he was a bit of an anachronism even when I was a child.

I have returned to the land of my forefathers and live in Dorset... well at least I thought it was the land of my forefathers, maybe it should be Hamburg!