Hello, this is all new to me but I would welcome any information on the HODGES. I am having difficulty tracing them beyond Benjamin b1781 who married Sarah PEPLOW b1784 Wentnor.They were living at Totterton. It maybe that they are related to George buried 13/12/1709 at More who married Joice b1661. But that could just be a big shot in the dark by me. Any help would be gratefully received. Thankyou.
Steve
So sorry for not including a little more information on my ancestors. You are correct in the Totterton connection then Broadway. A big thankyou for the information you have provided, especially as I hadn't got the baptism dates of Benjamin and Sarah's children. This also confirms that there was a Sarah born within the family. Her son is William (father unknown) mentioned in the 1851 census. She goes onto marry an Edward BOUNDS of Aymestry. It's the previous generations of Benjamin's that I am struggling with.
I have tried to put a tree together based on the information on ancestry.co.uk and there is a George HODGES who married Joice c1687 at More. They had a son George Baptised 13/02/1694 who married Elizabeth. They in turn had a son Benjamin baptised 20/01/1733 who married Susannah and they had a son Richard baptised 12/02/1759. Could this be my Benjamin's father???? or am I just wishful thinking?? This line is all recorded happening at More church.
Any further help or direction would be great
Sara
Steve
Me again. On further reading of your reply and updating my info I had no record of the following children;
Richard 1807
Thomas 1809
Elizabeth 1811
Mary 1817
Martha 1821
This would explain the long gap between the marriage and a 1st children. Would any of these of been infant deaths. It looks like back to the research to see where they went to in life.
Thankyou again and any help would be great.
Sara
But I do have a Benjamin 1829 and Harriet 1834 who of couse are mentioned in the census.
Hi Sara
It's certainly possible that some of the children who were baptised died in in fancy or childhood. Sometimes FamilySearch shows a death (actually a burial) along with a baptism if the burial of the child occurs not long afterwards, but this is not always the case.
It is indeed tempting to link the Benjamin Hodges who died in 1850 and was born abt 1779, with Richard Hodges who was baptised 1759. At the moment however there just isn't the evidence, in the form of a baptism for Benjamin, with which to make a connection. I wouldn't discard what you have on those earlier generations as evidence may yet turn up, but at present I would be very hesitant to conclude that those earlier generations were ancestors of Benjamin.
Ancestry's extracted PRs for Shropshire seem to come mainly from the Shropshire Parish Register Society PR transcripts, but the coverage is far from complete and so caution must be used when building family trees based on that record set (it can also be difficult to know exactly which parish some of the records actually relate to because of the manner in which Ancestry has indexed them). FamilySearch should be used alongside Ancestry's records to fill in some of the gaps, but even then there are lots of holes. Look for other sources too such as wills, and the documents held by Shropshire Archives which are well catalogued and searchable online.
Steve
I suggest that Sara approaches Mr Chris Potter for searches of his computer index of Shropshire Wills proved at Hereford. Chris is a member of SFHS but this is a private and huge initiative, so a fee will be payable. Close up the gaps on this e-address - cfrptter @ clara.co.uk.
I may look out a cd for Montgomeryshire, such as Churchstoke, for missing bap of Benjamin - but have to close down all systems to change a disc!
No Hodges or variant in BTs of Churchstoke or Forden, per Bill Barker's cd of "Families of Montgomeryshire"; but such BTs or the films thereof cannot be taken as exhaustive or complete. Adjacent Hyssington and Snead not covered. Original registers of all three parishes are at Shropshire Archives and have been transcribed by David Petley-Jones for publication by Montgomeryshire Genealogical Society. Check that site for latest on publication.
The coverage by IGI of parishes, many as Steve hints, unprinted, is good across south Shropshire.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hi Sara
A bit more detail on what you already know would be a great help in trying to pinpoint the people you are looking for. There is for example a Benjamin Hodges who was baptised 3 Apr 1781 at Condover (FamilySearch), but you haven't specified where your Benjamin was born. (By the time I get to the end of this, I understand why!)
Benjn Hodges, age 60, a farmer, is shown on the 1841 census living at Totterton township in the parish of North Lydbury (= Lydbury North) with Sarah Hodges (age 55), and the following members of the Hodges family who were probably children and/or grandchildren of Benjamin and Sarah: Willm (age 20), Elizth (age 15), Benjn (age 12) and Harriett (age 9), plus Martha Peplow, age 5, which I think pretty much clinches things and makes this your family of interest. All were born in Shropshire.
The 1851 census shows a Benjamin Hodges, a widower and master butcher, living in Walker Street, Wellington; his place of birth given as Condover (tying in with the baptism above). He was living with Lettice Roberts, described as his "Un Sister" (whatever that might be!), aged 73 and unmarried, a housekeeper born in Worthen. There was also a lodger.
However, the 1851 census also shows a Sarah Hodges, age 65, a widow and a farmer of 22 acres, born at Wentnor, living at Totterton with son William (36), daughter Hariot (20) (both born at Totterton), and grandson William Hodges (8, also born at Totterton).
In 1861 the Benjamin Hodges from 1851 (by then aged 80 and still working as a butcher; his place of birth given as Lyth Hill which is right on the border of Condover parish) was living with his daughter and son-in-law, Harriet and James Jones (age 50 and 52 respectively, and both apparently born in Wellington), plus that couple's children, in New Street, Wellington. The death registration of Benjamin Hodges at Wellington, Shropshire in the December quarter of 1864 (volume 6a, page 543) is likely to relate to this Benjamin although no age is given in the index.
The Sarah Hodges from 1851 was also still alive in 1861 (aged 77), and still living at Totterton in Lydbury North although her son William (44, farmer of 51 acres) was by then the head of the household. His sister Harriet (age 27 and working as a dairymaid) was also part of the household.
FamilySearch shows Benjamin marrying Sarah Peplow on 1 Dec 1806 at Shrewsbury St Mary, and Hodges children born to parents Benjamin and Sarah baptised in Shropshire after this date (all but the first two in Lydbury North) as follows:
Richard bap, 28 Jun 1807 (Norbury - just to the west Wentnor)
Thomas bap. 23 Jul 1809 (Norbury)
Elizabeth bap. 9 Sep 1811.
William bap. 2 Nov 1814
Edward bap. 14 Sep 1815.
Mary bap. 18 May 1817.
Sarah bap. 10 Oct 1819.
Martha bap. 11 Jul 1821.
Elizabeth bap. 6 Jul 1823.
The Benjamin Hodges who turns up on the 1851 and 1861 census returns is evidently a red herring. I have seen husband wife alive at the same time and calling themselves widower and widow (probably because they could not afford a divorce, or simply because one of them did a bunk). However Ben abd Sarah's daughter Harriet was very unlikely to have been living with both parents at the same time (1861 census day), single at one location and married with children at the other. The family at Totterton is the one that fits best with what information you have given, in which case it seems most likely that the death registration for a Benjamin Hodges at Clun (which includes Lydbury North), in the September quarter of 1850 (volume 18, page 43), relates to your Benjamin. Sadly this means that we don't get to find out where he was born as he did not quite make it to the 1851 census (a story I'm all too familiar with, as I have exactly the same situation with my own direct ancestor). Benjamin may have left a will, which could include names of relatives, but if he did it does not seem to be a PCC will available through the National Archives site, so if it survives it would likely be with the Herefordshire wills (not indexed as far as I know).
We can, from the above, almost certainly rule out the Condover baptism (and the earlier one in that parish on 21 May 1775, as that Ben was buried on 25 Aug 1776); also Ben Hodges from Condover appears to have married Susannah Roberts on 7 Jan 1806 at Condover). That leaves us looking for the baptism of a Benjamin Hodges, probably in south Shropshire in the Wentnor / Norbury / Lydbury North area, around 1776-1781 (given that his age on the 1841 census could have been rounded down). I'm not finding anything on FamilySearch, or on Ancestry's extracted Shropshire PRs, but maybe the above might help someone else to find something.
Steve
PS - I have also found the following Monumental Inscription transcriptions from Lydbury North:
In memory of BENJAMIN HODGES (late of Totterton) who died Sept 23 1850 aged 71 years. Also SARAH, wife of Benjamin HODGES, who departed this life December 21st 1866 aged 79 years.
In loving memory of WILLIAM HODGES of Broadway Hall, Churchstoke, who died March 9 1905 aged 90 years. Also of JANE wife of the above, who died Feb 25th 1906, aged 68 years.
From the latter I can understand your reference to Broadway Hall.