Help to Find Rayward Ancestors

[ozzieconxtion]

Hi Everyone,
I'm hoping someone here might be able to steer me in the correct direction. I seem to have come to a complete stumbling block in my Family History Research.
My 3rd Great GrandFather - James RAYWARD was born in Slaugham 10-10-1786, he died in Cuckfield 7-1-1870. He married Frances GRAIMES in Poynings 8-9-1811. I seem to be able to trace back Frances Graimes family okay.
But I can't find any information on James Rayward's Birth, and being new to Family research, I'm just stuck. I tried different spellings of his surname etc
Any suggestions and help will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

[artifis]

Welcome to RootsChat.

There's no baptism for him in Slaugham transcripts in the Sussex Family History Group records and nothing's showing up in Ancestry, FamilySearch or FindMyPast.

He is in the 1841, 51 and 61 censuses if you haven't found him.

His burial is recorded as 20 Jan 1869 at Slaugham aged 82.

If you have a lot of Sussex ancestors and haven't joined them yet the SFHG site is well worth the membership fee of £15 per year for unlimited baptism and burial searches and their Sussex Marriage Index CD is worth buying.

[ColC]

James and Frances burials on Freereg + the baptisms of their children but not James.

James RAYWARD   Burial   20 Jan 1869   Sussex   Slaugham : St Mary   Age 82

Frances RAYWARD   Burial   16 Dec 1860   Sussex   Slaugham : St Mary   Age 73

Colin

[ozzieconxtion]

Hi
Thanks Artifis and ColC
I Joined Ancestry, Family Search and Find my past. I'll sign on to SFHG now as well.
James RAYWARDs parents seem to be ghosts. Is there a way to try and find his birth certificate from a Parish directly. Which fingers crossed would give me His Mother and Father etc.
He was a Shopkeeper/Grocer. I thought I'd seen his name mentioned with working 9 lots for farming, one of which was a Rev Sergison, but I can't seem to find that website again.
His sons seemed to carry on the Grocers and a Post office.
It's frustrating that I can seem to trace his wife's family further back but his stops dead in it's tracks. Like a stork just dropped him into Sussex and left.
I guess that's part if the joys of being a family researcher.  😃

[solidrock]

There is this from a past RootsChat post, it does'nt mention James but may give some clue's...

"What is interesting is in the 1841 and 1851 and 1861 censuses, Mary Ann Walder and her family lived a couple of cottages down from the Rayward family in Warninglid, Sussex. Several of the Rayward children Abraham and Thomas wed in Brighton in 1856 and 1862 then returning to the Slaugham area. They were grocers by trade and one of the Rayward brothers lived in Viaduct Terrace in Brighton in the 1871 census, but also resided mainly in Clayton several miles north. What is ironic is that before Thos Roberts moved to London in 1864, he lived at Viaduct Terrace in Brighton.

The Raywards must have been good friends of the family as another sibling, Henry H Rayward registered the death of Mary Ann Walders mum, Mary Ann Walder wife of John in 1845. Henry was in Brighton in 1851 and died in the Slaugham area in 1860. So these Raywards did fluctuate between Brighton and Slaugham. I reckon maybe Mary Ann Walder met Thomas Roberts through the Raywards."

[solidrock]

James is mentioned here.  Shop keeper.  Also Rev. William Sergison,

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&ved=2ahUKEwjJ0JfRn5DkAhXJ3mEKHQuWCOYQFjADegQIBBAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fspecialcollections.le.ac.uk%2Fdigital%2Fapi%2Fcollection%2Fp16445coll4%2Fid%2F354066%2Fdownload&usg=AOvVaw1oioQgg4QzMeZ9qWAE_SR-

[ozzieconxtion]

Thanks Solidrock
Yes Abraham and Thomas are a few of James children.  Abraham Warden RAYWARD being my GGGGrandfather.
Cheers for the link, the page I saw had lot numbers like 901, 904 etc,  showed who owned the lot and who using the lot. And I was surprised to see James Raywards name. Abraham Warden Raywards wife was Jemima Cooke, daughter of Elizabeth ROBERTS and Matthew COOKE.
The middle name Warden intrigues me as it seems to carry down after James children.  So I'm wondering if there was any cross over with Warden Sergison etc. The Sergisons and Wardens seem very well off,  and maybe the Raywards supplied them with groceries etc. I can't see them as being friends with the difference in status.

[solidrock]

The Sergisons and Wardens do seem to be well off, there quite a bit about them here...

https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/sussex/vol7/pp147-163

Also

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/8615f8a2-cb98-4495-869a-a6b9cce7a92c

https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1715-1754/member/sergison-thomas-1701-66

Still nothing about James, where did you get his birth from, Slaugham 10-10-1786?
James was the enumerator for the 1841 census.

[solidrock]

I saw had lot numbers like 901, 904 etc

"The name listed before Wells is James Rayward who lived at the two plots 960 in the Slaugham Lane, and the name listed after Arnold is Stephen Archer who lived at plot 995."

http://www.slaughamarchives.org/picture/number268.asp