THE BENNETTS

notes by John & Liz Partington

 JOHN & WILLIAM BENNETT OF TORTWORTH

The Bennett family from whom we are descended were farmers for many generations in the area of south Gloucestershire between Berkeley in the north and Henbury in the south.  Of them, our earliest known ancestor is John, a seventeenth-century yeoman of Tortworth in Gloucestershire.  He seems to have had a son William, also “of Tortworth”, in about 1651.  This William married Ann Hathaway at Stone on 1 May 1687, and had at least two children:  John, baptized that same year and William, baptized in 1689.  William senior died in 1708.

THE CHILDREN OF WILLIAM  (c. 1651 - 1708)

William’s first son, John, was baptized at Tortworth on 19 November 1687.   On 23 April 1711, still at Tortworth, he married Ashfield Cullimore;  his occupation at the time was given as ‘butcher’.  They had at least six children:  John baptized in 1712, Ashfield, Sarah baptized in 1723, Joseph, William and Daniel baptized in 1726 (details below).  Ashfield died in 1737, and the following year John married a widow, Rachel Roach, at Wotton-under-Edge.  John wrote his will on 2 May 1747, leaving William rather than Joseph, the eldest son, as his sole Executor.  This will was proved on 6 April 1751.

William’s second son, William, was baptized at Tortworth on 11 December 1689. He married (name unknown), and in 1723 had a daughter, Sarah, baptized, also at Tortworth.

THE CHILDREN OF JOHN  (1687 - 1751)

John’s first child was also John, baptized in Tortworth on 25 February 1712.  Nothing further is yet known of him.

John’s second known child was Ashfield, who married John Jelfes “of Newport” on 1 January 1738.

John’s third child, Sarah, was baptized at Tortworth in 1723.  According to James Bennett in 1843, she married a Mr Luce, and one of their descendants, a Thomas Luce, was in James’ own day a butcher in Malmesbury.

John’s fourth child was Joseph.  In his family memoir of 1843, James Bennett recalled that “unlike the rest of the Bennetts generally he was idle and brought his family to comparative poverty. He was the ancestor of the Bennetts now of Stone Woodford in the parish of Berkeley”.  Indeed, in his father’s will Joseph was left only one guinea “having already given him a Fortune and Provisions”.  Joseph married Elizabeth (surname unknown), with whom he had two sons:  John and Joseph (details below).

John’s fifth child, William, was born probably between 1720 and 1725.  He married Sarah Bailey (baptized on 27 February 1720 at Cam, the daughter of Leonard Bailey and his wife, Sarah).  They had eleven children:  Isaac, John baptized in 1748, Ashfield in 1749, William in 1751, Sarah, Mary, Daniel in 1759, Leonard Bailey in 1760, James, Charlotte and Keturah in 1765 (details below).  William and Sarah farmed first at Eastwood, near Thornbury, then at “The Oakleys”, Berkeley and finally at Norton’s Farm, Henbury.  James Bennett records that both William & Sarah, his grandparents, died “at an advanced age” at Henbury.

John’s sixth child, Daniel, was baptized in Thornbury on 15 April 1726.  On 16 May 1758 he married Mary Limbrick at Thornbury, his parish at the time being given as Berkeley.  At the time of their marriage Mary already had two daughters, Hannah (born in 1755) and Mary (born in 1756):   it is not clear who their father was.   Daniel and Mary went on to have nine more children:  Isaac baptized in 1761, Daniel in 1762, Ashfield in 1764, Joseph in 1767, Joanna (date unknown), William in 1769, Mabel in 1771, Sarah in 1773 and Anne in 1775  (details below).   According to James Bennett, Daniel lived at Eastwood Green House, and indeed his gravestone describes him as “of Eastwood”.  He was left £120 by his father John.  Mary died on 24 February 1777, shortly after the deaths of her daughters Mary and Hannah, and Daniel died on 14 May 1799.

THE CHILDREN OF JOSEPH  (172? - aft. 1757)

Joseph’s first son, John, married Hannah, and had a son, Daniel, baptized in 1780 at Stone.

Joseph’s second son, Joseph, was baptized on 14 February 1759 at Stone.   He married Sarah and had a son Daniel baptized in 1799, also at Stone.

THE CHILDREN OF WILLIAM  (c.1723 - aft.1760)

William’s first child was called Isaac. Nothing further is known at present.

William’s second child, John, was born at Eastwood and baptized at Tortworth on 12 August 1748.  On 9 April 1770 he married Ann Collins at Thornbury, and they had thirteen children:   Ashfield born in 1770, Mary in 1773, William in 1775, Daniel in 1777, Ann in 1779, Hannah in 1780, John in 1783, James in 1785, Isaac in 1787, Joseph in 1789, Leonard in 1790, George in 1792 and Hester in 1794 (details below).  After his marriage John lived in his wife’s parental home at Falfield, which had been farmed by the Collins family since about 1720.   The Farm Account Book covers the period 1780 - 1804 (his death) in John’s writing:  as well as farm accounts and the birth of his children, John included payments made during his periods as churchwarden (1782-87, 97-98 & 99-1800).   John & Ann’s son James records that  “my worthy and respected father died almost suddenly on l0th August 1804 and my dear, good and affectionate mother died on 23rd May 1824”.  They were buried at Tortworth, where their grave is still to be seen.

William’s third child, Ashfield, was baptized on 6 November 1749.  It seems likely that she died in infancy.

William’s fourth child, William, was baptized at Tortworth on 24 June 1751.  He married Mary Collins of the parish of Thornbury “by licence with the consent of Hester Collins, widow” (her mother) at Henbury on 5 March 1776.  Mary was the sister of Ann Collins who had married William’s brother John in 1770.  James Bennett records that his father had left William freehold property at Falfield, but he farmed at Redland, near Bristol, and had a large family who were in 1843 living in Bristol and the neighbourhood.

James Bennett records that William’s fifth child, Sarah, married John Jones of New Park, Berkeley, and that they had two sons, John Jones of New Park and William Jones of Hill, and several daughters.

William’s sixth child, Mary, married William Davies (or Davis) on 19 October 1778 at Henbury and they had three daughters living in or near Bristol in 1843.   According to James Bennett, William was a surgeon;  but in the parish records he is a “peruke-maker” (ie wig-maker) – which illustrates an interesting connexion between barbers and surgeons at that time.

William’s seventh child, Daniel, was baptized at Berkeley on 21 December 1759.  He apparently never married, and died at Henbury sometime before 1843.

William’s eighth child, Leonard Bailey, was baptized at Berkeley on 4 February 1760.  He was evidently named after his maternal grandfather of Cam.  He was the first of the family known to have left his native Gloucestershire and the farming life.  He became a mathematical instrument-maker in London, married, and left a numerous family “of whom many are now dead” (according to James Bennett in 1843).  However, James knew of one son, Thomas, still living in London, and carrying on his father’s trade of instrument-maker.

William’s ninth child, James, died unmarried in 1829, leaving a large estate of property at Norton’s Farm, Henbury, which he had presumably inherited from his father, who had himself lived there in his later years.  William wrote a will, but James Bennett writes that there was a flaw in it , as a result of which all “his freehold estate” devolved on the heir-at-law, his nephew William (James’ older brother).  This younger William “like an honest English yeoman, sold the property and divided the proceeds equally between the nieces and nephews according to the import of the invalid will”.

William’s tenth child, Charlotte, was still unmarried when she died in 1836.

William’s eleventh child, Keturah, was baptized at Berkeley on 5 August 1765.  She married Jonathan Neal and left one daughter, who in 1843 was “married to an innkeeper in Bristol”.

THE CHILDREN OF JOHN  (1748 - 1804)

John’s first child, Ashfield, was born at Green Farm, Falfield, on 11 March 1771 and baptized at Tortworth on 16 April.  On 13 January 1793 she married her second cousin Joseph Bennett.  They lived at the Grange, Kingswood, and had ten children:  William born in 1793, Daniel in 1796, Ann in 1799, Isaac in 1802, Robert in 1803, James in 1806, John in 1806/7, Mary in 1807, William in 1811 and Charles in 1813 (details below).   Joseph died on 20 January 1835 aged sixty-seven, and Ashfield on 28 May the same year.  She was buried with Joseph, next to his parents’ grave.

John’s third child, William, was born at Green Farm, Falfield, on 4 March 1775.  He too never married, and remained on the Farm at Falfield.  He was still living there in 1843.  His signature appears in the Farm Account Book from 1804, when his father died, to about 1825.  For some unknown reason he was known in the family as ‘Colonel’.  William temporarily inherited his uncle James’ large freehold estate at Norton’s Farm, Henbury, through a flaw in James’ will, described above, which made it invalid.

John’s fourth child, Daniel, was born at Green Farm, Falfield, on 19 February 1777.  He left home on 14 February 1802 at the age of twenty-five and sailed to America, where he got a job as a farm-worker with Titus Rushmore in Albany County, New York State.  He married Titus’ daughter Abigail and founded the Bennett family there, before his premature death in 1813.  It was for one of Daniel’s sons from America that James Bennett prepared his Memorandum in 1843, but one gets the feeling he did not entirely approve of Daniel’s emigration, commenting:  “Abroad to see wonders the traveller goes, And neglects the fine things that lie under his nose”.

John’s fifth child, Ann, was born at Green Farm, Falfield, on 27 February 1779.  She never married, and remained at Falfield with William and Mary.  She too was still alive in 1843.

John’s sixth child, Hannah, was born at Green Farm, Falfield, on 17 December 1780.  She married Robert Hewitt of Stone in 1813, and they had one daughter, Elizabeth, born in about 1821.

John’s seventh child, John, was born at Green Farm, Falfield, on 24 February 1783.  He died, aged thirty, on 4 April 1813.  There is a note in the Family Papers that he “shot himself”.  He was buried at Tortworth.

John’s eighth child, James, was born at Green Farm, Falfield, on 10 May 1785.  He left the farm, was apprenticed to a printer & bookseller in Bath, lived in Gloucester for a while, becoming a Freeman of the city, and then moved to Tewkesbury in 1810, setting up his own business.  He was clearly a distinguished member of the community, being honoured with the Freedom of Tewkesbury also.  He is remembered by the local History Society, especially for his History of Tewkesbury, published in 1830, and he is also the author of a Memorandum in 1843 which gives much information about the family at that time.  He married Hannah Phillips of Berkeley in 1823; of their five sons two died in infancy.  The three sons who survived infancy were:  Henry Phillips born in 1827, Charles in 1829 and James in 1830 (details below).  James died on 29 January 1856, ten years after his wife.

John’s ninth child, Isaac, was born at Green Farm, Falfield, on 5 March 1787.  He moved to London, where he was apprenticed to his uncle Leonard Bailey Bennett, a mathematical instrument-maker.  In 1843 he was still living in London. Charles Bennett, born 1854, added a note to the James Bennett memorandum to the effect that Isaac “spent last years and died in poor circumstances at Stone”.  He died, still unmarried, on 24 November 1871 and was buried at Stone

John’s tenth child, Joseph, was born at Green Farm, Falfield, on 26 January 1789.  Baptized the following day, he died shortly afterwards.  James comments on his younger brother’s early death:  “He drooped like a star, that in a summer eve, slides in ethereal beauty to the sea”.

John’s eleventh child, Leonard, was born at Green Farm, Falfield, on 6 February 1790.  He married Ann Oldland, who died without issue, however, in 1839.  In 1843 Leonard was living “in the farm at Falfield where his ancestors have resided for generations”.  Leonard’s signature appears in the Falfield Farm account book.  He died on 5 March 1861 and was buried at Tortworth.

John’s twelfth child, George, was born at Green Farm, Falfield, on 21 August 1792 and baptized at Tortworth on 15 January the following year.   On 25 March at Stone he married Elizabeth Betty (born 16 January 1800 in Hutton, Somerset, the daughter of Joseph and Sarah née Pipe), with whom he had seven children:  William born in 1830, Annie in 1831, Elizabeth Mary in 1833, Mary in 1835, Sarah in 1839, Annis in 1841 and Emily in 1844 (details below).   In 1843 George and Elizabeth were living at Norton’s Farm, Henbury.   George died on 24 May 1851 in Stone, and was buried in the vault at Henbury church.   Elizabeth then moved to Norton House, Stone.  She died at Middle Mill, where she was being cared for by her daughter Sarah, on 17 August 1875 and was buried at Henbury.

John’s thirteenth child, Hester, was born at Green Farm, Falfield, on 12 September 1794.  She married William James, a builder at Stone, and they had two sons (both of whom, according to a note added by Charles Bennett to the Memorandum, died without leaving issue).  James apparently became bankrupt in 1847.  He died in 1880, aged ninety-five; Hester had died in 1864.

THE CHILDREN OF JAMES  (1785 - 1856)

James and Hannah had five known children, all boys, of whom two died in infancy.   The three who survived infancy are as follows: Henry Phillips born on 21 March 1827;  Charles on 23 June 1829;  and James on 10 November 1830.  (James’ own publication, The Tewkesbury Register, gives the death of “William, infant son of Mr Bennett, High Street” on 22 January 1830.)   When James wrote the Family History for his American relatives in 1843 he wrote proudly of his three surviving sons:  “Of each of these three dear boys would I say, in the words of the bard of our own Avon, Shakespeare:  ‘May he live longer than I have time to tell his years, Ever beloved and loving may his rule be.   And when Old Time shall bend him to his end Goodness and he fill up one monument’”.  The family tombstone in Tewkesbury Abbey churchyard (the stone now relocated against one of the walls) tells the sad story, however, of disappointed hopes and unfulfilled promise:   James’ wife Anna Maria died in 1846, followed by the youngest son, James, in 1849 aged just eighteen;  the eldest son, Henry, died three years later, aged twenty-five;  and James himself died in 1856 at the age of seventy.  The second son, Charles, lived only until 1860, when he died at the age of thirty-one.

THE CHILDREN OF GEORGE  (1792 - 1851)

George’s first child, William, was born at Norton’s Farm, Henbury, on 16 January 1830.  He died on 8 March 1833 and was buried in the vault under the south porch at Henbury church.

George’s second child, Annie, was born at Norton’s Farm, Henbury, on 18 October 1831.  On 11 November 1853 at Stone church she married William Cornock, by whom she apparently had seventeen children, many of whom died in infancy.  Eight are known, as follows:  Nicholas born in 1854, Ellen Elizabeth in 1855, William in 1857, George Edward in 1859, Clara Emily in 1861, Annie Catherine in 1869, another George Edward in 1872, and Margaret Mary in 1876.  Annie died at Thornbury on 16 March 1903 and was buried at Aust with her husband.

George’s third child, Elizabeth Mary, was born at Norton’s Farm, Henbury, on 29 August 1833.  She married John Cox on 16 May 1855 at Stone church.  The couple had three children:  Elizabeth Bennett (‘Bessie’) born in 1856, Annie Wetmore and George William.  Elizabeth Mary died on 12 September 1860 at Middle Mill and was buried at Stone.  John subsequently married her sister Sarah.

George’s fourth child, Mary, was born at Norton’s Farm, Henbury, on 5 October 1835, and died on 29 January 1842, being buried in the family vault at Henbury church.

George’s fifth child, Sarah, was born at Norton’s Farm, Henbury, on 3 October 1839.  She married John Cox, widower of her sister Elizabeth, and had a daughter, Octavia Sarah.  Sarah died on 20 April 1898 at the Manor House, St Michael’s Hill in Stone;  she was buried at Stone.

George’s sixth child, Annis, was born at Norton’s Farm, Henbury, on 13 January 1841.  On 26 September 1871 she married Rev John Mackie at Stone.

George’s seventh child, Emily, was born at Norton’s Farm, Henbury, on 11 November 1844.  She married Robert Wetmore on 3 August 1871 at Stone.  The couple had four children:  Christine Mary (‘Minnie’) born in 1875, John Norton in 1876, Mabel in 1878 and Robert Leonard in 1880.

THE CHILDREN OF DANIEL  (c. 1726 - 1799)

At the time of Daniel’s marriage, his wife Mary already had two daughters.  The first was Hannah, born in 1755, and the second was Mary, born in 1756.

After their marriage, Daniel and Mary had nine further children.  The first was Isaac, baptized in 1761.  He married Ann Collins at Thornbury and had at least three children – Ann, Anna and William.  .  He inherited the bulk of his father’s estate, and died in 1836.

Daniel’s second child was another Daniel, baptized in 1762.  He died in November 1788 aged twenty-six, apparently still unmarried, and was buried at Tortworth.

Daniel’s third child, Ashfield, was born in 1764.  She married Daniel Hadley of Berkeley at Thornbury on 10 November 1789 in the presence of Mable [sic] Bennett and Daniel Bennett (her father).  Nothing further is known at present.

Daniel’s fourth child, Joseph, was born on 12 February 1767 and was baptized at Tortworth.  On 13 January 1793 he married his second cousin Ashfield Bennett at Thornbury. T hey probably lived at the Grange, Kingswood.  They had ten children:  William born in 1793, Daniel in 1796, Ann in 1799, Isaac in 1802, Robert in 1803, James in 1806, John in 1806/7, Mary in 1807, William in 1811 and Charles in 1813 (details below).  He died on 20 January 1835 aged sixty-seven, and was buried at Tortworth on 5 February.  He had written his will on 21 February 1834, leaving Ashfield as executrix, but she died (on 28 May 1835) before proving the will, and administration was granted to Daniel on 16 June 1835.  Ashfield was buried with Joseph, next to his parents’ grave.

Daniel’s fifth child, Joanna, married John Webb on 8 May 1782 at Thornbury “in the presence of Daniel Bennett”.

Daniel’s sixth child, William, was born in 1769.  Nothing further is known of him.

Daniel’s seventh Daniel’s seventh child, Mabel, was born in 1771.  She  had a (presumably illegitimate) son, William, somewhen before 1798 who is mentioned in her father’s will.  She subsequently married a widower, William Brown, (possibly the brother of Anne’s husband, Charles Brown) in 1801 at Thornbury.  They had two daughters, Mary, baptized in Yate on 30 September 1801, and Elizabeth, baptised in Iron Acton on 8 May 1803.  Mabel died in Nettleton, Wiltshire, in 1840 – “widow of William, a butcher”.

Daniel’s eighth child, Sarah, was born in 1773.  She was still alive, and unmarried, when her father wrote his Will and Codicil in 1798/9 (in which she was bequeathed £250), and was a witness at her sister Mabel’s wedding in 1801.

Daniel’s ninth child, Anne, was born in 1775. She married Charles Brown in 1799.

THE CHILDREN OF JOSEPH  (1767 - 1835)

Joseph’s first child, William, was born in 1793 and baptized at Hawkesbury the following year.  He died, aged thirteen, on 13 June 1805, and is commemorated with his parents in Tortworth churchyard.

Joseph’s second child, Daniel, was born in 1796 and baptized at Hawkesbury on 12 June.  He married Hannah Hooper (born 1805/6 in Berkeley), but had no children.   They lived and farmed at Wickwar.  Daniel died in 1852 and Hannah in 1887.

Joseph’s third child, Ann, was born in 1799 and baptized at Thornbury.   She died, aged twenty-three, on 12 May 1822, and is also named on the Tortworth tombstone.

Joseph’s fourth child, Isaac, was born in 1802.  He married Ann Knight (1810-79) of North Nibley on 6 April 1833 by licence.  They had seven children:  William born in 1834, Joseph in 1837, Charles in 1838, 

in 1840, Mary in 1842, Leonard in 1846 and John in 1850 (further details on page 8).  In 1851 the family were at Nibley House:  Isaac was a “farmer of 314 acres”;  ten years later he was farming 216 acres.  In 1871 he was at Nibley Cottage, farming 30 acres;  the following year he died.  Ann died in 1879.

oseph’s fifth child, Robert, was born in 1803 and baptized at Thornbury.  He married Hannah Isaac on 15 June 1833 and had eleven children:  Isaac who “died in infancy”, Ann born in 1837, John in 1839, Esther in 1841, Mary in 1844, Hannah in 1846, James in 1848, Jane in 1850, Joseph in 1851, Rachel in 1854 and Sarah in 1858 (details below).  Of his daughters, two married members of the Isaac family and two members of the Smith family of Mudge Down, Rangeworthy.  The 1851 - 1871 censuses record the family in Wickwar, farming 120 acres, “Poplar Farm”;  by 1881 they had moved to Ivy Cottage, Sodbury Road, Wickwar, where the census records the couple with two unmarried daughters, thirty-one year old Jane and twenty-three year old Sarah.  Robert died later that year, and Hannah in 1890.

Joseph’s seventh child, James, was born in 1806/7 and baptized at Tortworth.  He married Jane Iles, who was born at Cirencester in 1801/2;  they lived at West End Farm, Wickwar, but had no children.  The 1841 - 1861 censuses record them there, farming 146 acres.  He died in 1889, and was buried at Stone.

Joseph’s ninth child, another William, was born in 1811 and baptized at Tortworth on 23 June, being given the same name as the older brother who had died in 1805.  He married Amelia Stoner and had seven children:  Emma, Sophia, William, Ella, Lewis, James and Mary (details below).  He is described by James Bennett as “of Kingswood”, where he presumably farmed with his older brother John.  William died in 1869, and in 1881 the census recorded Amelia as living with, or visiting, her unmarried sister-in-law Emma Stoner at Alma Cottage, Kingswood.  She died in 1887, aged about sixty-one.

Joseph’s tenth child, Charles, was born on 27 February 1813.  On 3 November 1846 he married Ann Smith of Mudge Down.  They had seven children: Emily, born in 1847, Lucy Ann in 1850, Annie Ashfield in 1852, twins Charles and John Leonard in 1854, Ellen in 1856 and Mary in 1862 (details below).  Charles continued on the family farm at Falfield Green throughout his working life before moving in 1887 to Falfield Villa.  By 1896 he was living at Norton House, Stone, where he died on 25 February 1899.  He was buried on 2 March at Mount Pleasant Chapel;  Ann died on 31 August the same year, being buried at Mount Pleasant on 4 September.

THE CHILDREN OF ISAAC  (1802 - 1872)

Isaac’s first child, William, was born in 1834.  In 1851 he was living at Nibley House with his family.  In April 1865 he married Pamela Hobbs at Bristol Registry Office (claiming to be a commercial traveller and giving a Bristol address, when all the time he was farming in Gloucestershire);  one month later their first child was born.  The family emigrated to Orangeburg, South Carolina, taking with them Pamela’s neice Kate Shipp.  They had five children:  Isaac (who married the Kate Shipp just mentioned and had a daughter, Annie Ruth, born on 28 June 1900), Albert born in 1867, Leonard in 1869, James in 1872 and John in 1874.  Pamela died on 30 January 1892 and William in 1913.

Isaac’s third child, Charles, was born in 1838.  In 1851 & 1861 he was living at Nibley House with his family.  He married Louisa Daw (born 1840), by whom he had four children, all born in North Nibley: Amy M, in 1874, Henry in 1876, Florence in 1877/8 and Charles in 1879/80.   Charles died in 1879, and two years later the census recorded Louisa at Nibley House in North Nibley, with the four children and her seventy-year old mother, Elizabeth:   Louisa is described as “farming 219 acres, employing five labourers and a boy”.  Her nephew Charles Bennett was also there.

Isaac’s fifth child, Mary, was born in North Nibley in 1842. In 1851 & 1861 she was living at Nibley House with her family.   In 1863 she married William Pinnell, and the 1881 census records them at Brick House Farm in Rockhampton with four children, all born in Rockhampton:  Charles born in 1866/7, Frank in 1868/9, William J in 1873/4 and Mary A in 1875/6.  William was a “farmer of 180 acres employing 4 labourers”.  An older son, Frederick W, born in 1864/5, was living, or staying, with his uncle and aunt, John & Helena Bennett, and working as an “apprentice miller”.

Isaac’s sixth child, Leonard, was born in Kingswood in 1846.  In 1851 & 1861 he was living at Nibley House with his family;  in 1871 he was with his parents at Nibley Cottage.  He married Mary Shipp Smith;  their eldest three children were all born in Cromhall:  Francis Leonard in 1876, Alice M in 1877/8 and John (’Jack’) in 1879/80 (details below).   In 1881 they were living at Cromhall Court, where Leonard was farming.  A fourth child, another Leonard, was apparently born a little after this.

THE CHILDREN OF JOSEPH  (1837 - )

Joseph’s first child, Charles, was born in 1864.  In 1881 the census recorded him with his family at Downhouse Farm in Cam.  He apparently had a son, James.

Joseph’s second child, Percy John, was born in 1866.  In 1881 the census recorded him with his family at Downhouse Farm.  He married twice.  His first wife was Marie Louise Camm (born 1870), with whom he had three children:   Francis Camm born in 1898, Mary Dorothea (‘Molly’) in 1900 and Lionel Percy in 1903.  Marie died in 1903, following which Percy married Anna Elizabeth Cowley Harris, known as ‘Bessie’ (born 1879).  Percy and Bessie had three more children:  John Graham born in 1906, Arthur Trevor in 1907 and Cyril Edward in 1908.

Joseph’s third child, Arthur George, was born in 1869, and his fourth, Edward, in 1871.  In 1881 the census recorded them with their family at Downhouse Farm.   Nothing further is known at present.

Joseph’s fifth child, Evelyn Mary, was born in 1874.  In 1881 the census recorded her with her family at Downhouse Farm.

Joseph’s sixth child, Ella Louise, twin sister of Evelyn Mary, was born in 1874.  In 1881 the census recorded her at home at Downhouse Farm.  Nothing further is known at present.

Joseph’s seventh child, Ernest, was born in 1877/8.  In 1881 the census recorded him with his family at Downhouse Farm.  He married Gertrude (surname unknown, born in 1880) and had two daughters.

THE CHILDREN OF LEONARD  (1846 - 1???)

Leonard’s first child, Francis Leonard, was born in Cromhall in 1876.   The 1881 census records him with his family at Cromhall Court.

Leonard’s second child, Alice M, was born in Cromhall in 1877/8.  The 1881 census records her with her family at Cromhall Court.

Leonard’s third child, John (known as ‘Jack’), was born in Cromhall in 1879/80.  The 1881 census records him with his family at Cromhall Court.  He married Millicent Mary Iles and had three children.

Leonard’s fourth child was another Leonard.  He married May Coomb, and had four children.

THE CHILDREN OF JOHN  (1850 - aft. 1910)

John’s first child by his first marriage, Lucy Annie, was born in Cam in 1880:  The following year, and in 1891, she was living there in the Mill House, with her family.

John’s second child by his first marriage, Arthur Leonard, was born in Cam in 1881 and his third, Joseph Garnet, in 1882.  In 1891 they were living there with their parents, and in 1901 with their widowed father.

John’s fourth child by his first marriage, Helena Grace, was born in Cam in 1886.  In 1891 she was living there with her parents, and in 1901 with her widowed father.  In 1911 she was a ‘boarder’ at The School House, Hook, Lydiard Tregoze, Wootton Bassett, unmarried and working as a “school teacher assistant”.

John’s fifth child by his first marriage, Walter John V, was born in Cam in 1887.  In 1891 he was living there with his parents, and in 1901 with his widowed father.

John’s sixth child by his first marriage, Gordon Frank, was born in 1891/2.  In 1901 he was living with his widowed father in the Mill House at Cam.

John’s first child by his second marriage,  Kenneth Isaac John, was born in 1905, his second, Percy Charles, in 1906 and his third, Mary Blanche, in 1909.   In 1911 they were living with their parents in Wickwar.

THE CHILDREN OF ROBERT  (1803 - 1881)

Robert’s first child, Isaac, apparently “died in infancy”.

Robert’s second child, Ann, was born in Wickwar in 1837.  In 1851 she was living there with her family.  She married William Morton, by whom she had at four children, all born in Charfield:  Isaac born in 1866/7, Hannah in 1868/9, John in 1869/70 and Mary.  The 1881 census finds Ann and the three eldest children in Westend Lane, Wickwar:  there is no sign of William, though Ann is described as ‘married’ rather than a widow, and Ann herself, the ‘head’ of the household, is a “farmer employing four men, one boy and two women”.

Robert’s third child, John, was born in 1839.  In 1851 he was living with his family in Wickwar.  He died, unmarried, in 1877.

Robert’s fourth child, Esther, was born in Wickwar in 1841.  In 1851 & 61 she was living there with her family.  She married Augustus William Isaac (born in Yate on 12 April 1840), by whom she had nine children, the first six born in Pewsham, Wilts, and the younger three in Yate:  Amy born in 1865, Charles in 1867, Robert in 1868, William in 1869, James Augustus in 1871, Levi in 1874, Grace in 1876, and twins Agnes and Mabel in 1879.  The 1881 census records the family at Hall End Farm in Yate:  Augustus is a “farmer of 203 acres employing four men and a boy”.

Robert’s fifth child, Mary, was born in 1844.  .  In 1851 & 61 she was living with her family in Wickwar.  She married Thomas Smith, by whom she had at least one child, Frederick, born in Yate in 1870/1.  The 1881 census records the three of them at Brinsham Farm in Yate:  Thomas is a “farmer of 227 acres employing four men and two boys”.

Robert’s sixth child, Hannah, was born in 1846.  In 1851 & 61 she was living with her family in Wickwar.  In 1867 she married Alfred Isaac, by whom she had six children, born in Yate:  Ada born in 1868, Annie in 1869, Frederick in 1873, Leah in 1876, Gilbert Jesse in 1882 and Eleanor Blanch (‘Nellie’) in 1893.  The 1881 census records Alfred, Hannah with Annie, Fred and Leah at Hillhouse Farm in Yate:  Alfred was a “farmer of 200 acres employing three men and a boy”.  Hannah died in 1888.

Robert’s seventh child, James, was born in 1848.  In 1851 he was living with his family in Wickwar.  He died in 1859.

Robert’s eighth child, Jane, was born in 1850.  In 1851 - 71 she was living with her family in Wickwar.  In 1881 she was living with her parents and sister Sarah at Ivy Cottage, Sodbury Road, Wickwar.  Somewhen after that she married Henry Stinchcombe, also of Wickwar.

Robert’s ninth child, Joseph, was born in Wickwar in 1851.  In 1861 & 71 he was living with his family there at Poplar Farm.  He married Miranda Jane Smith with whom he had six children, all born in Wickwar:  Alice Mary in 1877, Hannah in 1879, Robert in 1881, Minnie Smith in 1882, Clara in 1883 and Joseph Henry in 1884 (details below).  The 1881 census records the young family at Poplar Farm in Wickwar:  Joseph is the “farmer of 110 acres, employing one man”.  Joseph died in 1884, and Miranda in 1895.

Robert’s eleventh child, Sarah, was born in 1858.    In 1861 & 71 she was living with her family there at Poplar Farm.  In 1881 she was living with her parents and sister Jane at Ivy Cottage, Sodbury Road, Wickwar.  Later she married Daniel (David?) Robertson, by whom she had two daughters and a son.

THE CHILDREN OF JOSEPH  (1851 - unknown)

Joseph’s first child, Alice Mary, was born at Poplar Farm, Wickwar, in 1877.  In 1881 the census recorded her there with her family.  She married William Matthews Smith at Iron Acton, by whom she had two children – Evelyn Bennett born at Yate in 1905, and Mary (date unknown).

Joseph’s youngest four children were all born at Poplar Farm:  Robert in 1881, Minnie Smith in 1882, Clara in 1883, and Joseph Henry in 1884.  Nothing further is known of them at present.

THE CHILDREN OF WILLIAM  (1811 - 1869)

William’s first child was Emma, who died unmarried;  his second was Sophia;   his third was William; and his fourth was Ella.

William’s fifth child, Lewis, married L Stoner.

William’s sixth child was James;  his seventh, Mary, married F Goring.

THE CHILDREN OF CHARLES  (1813 - 1899)

Charles’ first child, Emily, was born on 23 November 1847.  The 1851 - 1891 censuses records her at Falfield with her parents.  She never married, and continued to live at Norton House after her parents’ deaths with her sister, Lucy Ann.

Charles’ second child, Lucy Ann, was born on 8 January 1850 at the Green Farm, Falfield.  was born on 8 January 1850 at the Green Farm, Falfield, where the next year’s census records her, as do those of 1861 and 1871. (In 1881 she was visiting her brother Charles at Holdenhurst) .  She remained unmarried and achieved some fame as a writer of religious poetry and hymns, and the 1891 census (when she is back with her parents at Falfield) has her as an “authoress of sacred verse”.

Charles’ third child, Annie Ashfield, was born on 18 May 1852.  The 1861 census records her at Falfield with her parents;  ten years later she was with her grandmother Hanna Smith at Grange House, Tytherington.  She died at the early age of twenty-two, unmarried, at Falfield Green on 12 November 1874 – an occasion recorded in verse by her sister Lucy Ann:  ‘In Memoriam A.A.B.’.  She was buried with her parents at Mount Pleasant Chapel.

Charles’ fourth child, another Charles, was born at Falfield on 6 August 1854, being recorded there by the 1861 census.  He trained as a pharmacist:  in 1871 he was at 23 Wine Street, Bristol – an ‘apprentice chemist’ boarding with John Stroud (pharmaceutical chemist) and his family – and ten years later he was a ‘pharmaceutical chemist’ at 27 Wellington Terrace, Holdenhurst, near Bournemouth.  In September 1885, however,  he became the tenant-farmerof Lorridge Farm, Berkeley, which belonged to Rev W Heberden and was part of the Berkeley estate.  On the twenty-second of the following month he married his first cousin Alma Shipp at Iron Acton.  The couple had five children, all born at Lorridge Farm, Berkeley:   Madeline Alma born in 1886, Charles Wilfrid in 1888, Robert Montague in 1889, Margaret Stephanie in 1894 and Sylvia Ashfield in 1899 (details below).

Charles’ fifth child, John Leonard (known by his second name), was born, the twin of Charles, on 6 August 1854.  The censuses of 1861 - 1881 record him at home on the farm with his parents.  He married Laura Jones of Walford Court, Ross on Wye and they had three children, of whom the two daughters, Lily and Gladys, died young, and the son, Gordon, who worked as a solicitor in Gloucester, remained unmarried.

Charles’s sixth child, Ellen (known as ‘Nellie’), was born on 27 September 1856.  The censuses of 1861 & 1871 record her at home with her parents;  in 1881 she was visiting her brother Charles near Bournemouth.  She married Isaac Holborow and they had one son, Isaac.

Charles’ seventh child, Mary (known as ‘Minnie’), was born on 8 March 1862.  The 1881 census records her at home at Falfield with her parents and two of her siblings.  She married James Shield Eley at Mount Pleasant Chapel, Falfield on 13 April 1896, when she was thirty-four and he was twenty-nine.  At the time of the marriage his address was given as Tortworth and he was a farmer.  They had no family.  In1900 James and Minnie were farming at Brook Farm, Tortworth. 

THE CHILDREN OF CHARLES  (1854 - )

Charles’ first child, Madeline Alma, was born on 15 November 1886;   and his second, Charles Wilfrid, on 9 April 1888.  Both were born at Lorridge Farm, Berkeley

Charles’ third child, Robert Montague, known as ‘Robin’, was born at Lorridge Farm, Berkeley on 8 August 1889;  he married Agnes Elaine Smith.

Charles’ fourth child, Margaret Stephanie, was born at Lorridge Farm, Berkeley on 5 November 1894;  and his fifth, Sylvia Ashfield, was born there on 20 July 1899 – the last known Bennett to be given the family name ‘Ashfield’.

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