Sue Hayward RE: Gardiner Family

Susan - Having just read your message, I am wondering if there is any connection, as I am descended from the Gardiner line, and I saw your name Hayward. Apparently my Gt. Grandfather William Mason Martin married Florence Caroline (nee Hayward) in 1877. Their daughter, Florence Hayward Martin married Henry Gardiner and had two children - Doris and my father, Eric Gardiner.

It seems an earlier relative was Ralph Gardiner (Chalford, Glos. d. 18.3) and he had brothers Henry & Joseph.

Maybe the Hayward connection is just a coincidence, but....?

I hope to hear from you - Averil. amgard91@aol.com

Tanner

My Tanner Great grandparents were from Chalford, Edwin Tanner 1813 son of  Thomas Tanner and Hester Jones, . Edwin Tanner married Elizabeth Fluck in 1836 , with his family moved to London around 1871. I found his brother Thomas  who stayed and married Harriet Stevens, another brother Edward 1816 married Pamela Ridler, he moved to Somerset and then to Holdenhurst. If anyone has connection with this family please contact me.   Joan Paparo@btinternet.com

Rowles & Hook families

I have visited the village and surroundings several times whilst researching my father's family history - mainly the Rowles and Hook families. I visited the France Lynch Church a few years ago when one of the flats was for sale and noticed  my g.g.grandparents' memorial stone is still in the main hall of the building. Unfortunately the photos I took didn't come out well and I don't know who to ask to help me get some more - a digital image or two would be marvellous!!   The stone is in memory of Richard Hook born 1816 and died 28 May 1877 and his wife Eliza (previously Rowles) born 1819 and died 22 Oct 1855 as well of one of their daughters  (Elizabeth I think!).   Any ideas about a contact there who might be able to help would be appreciated.   Also any ideas on finding information regarding the Davis family - Eliza's parents were Marshall Rowles and Elisabeth Davis who married in Minchinhampton in 1817 but I cannot find any more about the Davis family apart from the fact that John Davis was her father and she had a brother called Abraham.
Kind regards Nicolette Richards - scotts.corner@fsbdial.co.uk

Phelps Family

My family lived for hundreds of years in the Bisley area including Chalford Hill, Chalford, France Lynch areas. My 3rd greatfather William, his wife Phillida and family (Mary, William, Martha, Daniel and George) moved from Chalford Hill between 1851 and 1861, they were shoemakers. The 1851 census states they lived near the Wheatsheaf Inn, this PH hasn't existed for approximately 80 years but does anyone locally know where it was located in the village (I believe in the West side). I would be grateful for any information to the pubs location or even on my family history.

I have copious amounts of information and would be willing to share this with anyone that is interested. I would dearly love to have more information which I can put to full use when I return to the area later on this year.

Michelle Davies
shelly.tony11@btinternet.com

Ridler Family

Does anyone have any information about Edward Tanner and his wife Pamela, nee Ridler? They were both born in the same year - 1816 - and married in the year 1836.

If you have any information, please contact wendy@kingslandcottages.fsnet.co.uk

RAF Pilot FLT SGT William George Workman

The above RAF pilot died 17/08/42 and is buried at France Lynch Churchyard. Any information or contact would be most gratefully recieved.

Research being done on behalf of a former classmate at Stroud School that joined with GW Workman at the same time. He is also from the Stroud area.

Contact: Andrew Green andrew.green45@btopenworld.com

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING JACKSON FAMILY AT BLOCKWELL HOUSE
(See below)

A letter from Peter Jackson indicates that the house was purchased from a Mr Balinger and that Mr Gompertz, the Clergyman, acted for him. I do not know why Peter Jackson chose to live in Chalford, although it was not for long; he died, aged 44, in November 1848 and I do not think his widow and family continued to live there. He had a successful business as a hat maker and furrier near Stockport and I have an interesting account of one of his journeys to Germnay in 1836 to buy wool and furs.

If this information jogs any memories, please contact: phl@lemare.lakesnet.co.uk

WEBB

My name is Angela Webb and I am trying to trace my immediate family.  I came across your site as my father was from Chalford and as a youngster he used to take me there.  As a family we moved away when I was very young but when I visit Gloucestershire I always have a (perilous!) drive through those narrow lanes!  I dont really have much to go on so I am hoping someone will read this and it will mean something to them!  My father, who is deceased, was called Derek Stanley Webb and was born in 1942, along with his twin brother, David Arthur Webb.  Their father, whom I never met as he died before i was born, was called Stanley Webb.  I believe my grandmother was called Winifred Webb and I was told she died when my father was about 5 years old?  As far as I know my dad lived on the High Street in Chalford.?  I have been back to Chalford recently and I know what the house looks like - it has a blue door, is a terrace and has extensive building works going on in what was my dads back garden, which evidently backs on to a stream or a brook??  There is another house next door which I believe was once a bakery and apparently my grandfather was the baker?  I also remember visiting my dads family when I was young.  From what I remember they lived in a big house on the A419 near Chalford, called "Maycroft".  It is still called that I believe.  They were called Mable and William Young, and they had family in Sapperton.  They died when I was little so I would guess that they were born around the turn of the century, maybe before??? I remember when I was little my dad used to take me and my sister to the park by the woods and I have visited and taken my own son there.  I dont know how many parks there are in Chalford but it is the one with the little wagon in it with Chalford Chairs on it, I think??? I dont really have anymore info and I now live in Cumbria so if anyone reads this and knows anything about the Webbs please e-mail me.  I have no info regarding the whereabouts of my dads twin, but I think he now lives in Yorkshire???

angela webb [angela.webb@homecall.co.uk]

VICTORIAN STEAM JOINERY WORKS

Anyone out there have any infor on the Victorian Steam Joinery Works, Chalford Hill, circa 1880? My g-g-grandpa Charles William Smith owned it before it was sold and became Chalford Chairs. G-g-granpa also owned Daneway House, just down the road and at least two large houses in Chalford. Any - all - information on Charles, his factory, or his houses would be gratefully received. Thank you - Su

email - siousie@btopenworld.com

GARDINER/ROBBINS/MILLARD

My great-great-grandfather was WILLIAM GARDINER who was born in Chalford in 1807 and married an ANN ROBBINS in Bisley in 1834.  It seems that his parents were RALPH GARDINER (born Bisley c1768) and ANN GARDINER nee MILLARD (born c.1772) who married in 1793.  If his parentage is as I believe then William's siblings were JASPER, JAMES, ANN (who became ANN SPEARING) and ELIZABETH.   I would be very interested if anyone has and information about the parentage of Ralph Gardiner or knows anything about the Robbins or Millard families.

Peter Gardiner e-mail:  peter.gardiner3@btopenworld.com

SKIVERALLS HOUSE

On looking at your site for Chalford Hill I came across Skiveralls House, I am curious to know what this house was and does it still exsist.   I am doing family history and our Gt Grandfather Albert Maisey was a blacksmith in Chalford, and when he died in 1927 his address was Skiveralls cottage, does this still exsist and where was the blacksmiths. His wife Mary also died there in 1932. I would be grateful if you could tell me about any of this.

J Bruton - JBrut2@aol.com

GLENDENE, MARLE HILL

I noticed your website on Chalford and as I lived there in the early 60's was very interested. I lived up Marle Hill at Glendene, which probably has changed its name and from the photograph I saw has had an extension. The house is the first house on the left going up the hill after Marle Hill House and it was 3 weavers' cottages knocked into one and the garden was terraced. Does anyone know when the cottage/cottages were built. The centre room at 'loom windows'.

If you have any information I would be very interested.

Nita Heaton-Harris
nitaheaton-harris@tiscali.co.uk

BAKER/HOWELL

I am interested in tracing my father's family. I know very little but do have a copy of his birth registration as follows:

HOWELL William Alfred, born 245 Chalford Hill, Chalford on FEB 03, 1911.

Parents - Francis William Howell - Railway Car Man and Elizabetj (Baker) Howell

Residence is High Street, Chalford

My father had a younger brother, Jack and 2 younger sisters, Elsie and Doreen.

My grandmother, Elizabeth Baker, had a brother, Ernest Baker and a sister Emma Townsend. I have my grandfather's war medal and a Book of Prayer that was given to my grandfather. It is inscribed, Pte. FW Howell 7658 1st Gloster Regt., and it lists the various camps he was held in as a prisoner of war in Germany 1914-1916. After the war they came to Canada and settled in the Niagara Peninsula.

If anyone has any information they could pass along, I would be grateful.

Judy (Howell) Griffin
judy.griffin@sympatico.ca

The Zulu Connection

I am researching the life of a Zulu - Gregory Mpiwa Ngcobo (1876-1931) who was sent to England in 1891 by the widow of the Bishop of Zululand, to be educated at a Sussex public school and a missionary college in Canterbury, before being returned to Zululand in 1897 to teach at his old mission station and prepare for eventual ordination. During his school and college holidays between 1891 and 1897, he lived at Firwood, Chalford, where he stayed with the Rev Christopher Smyth, the former Vicar of Bussage. It had been Smyth's own son, the Rev W.E. Smyth, a medical missionary at Isandlwana, Zululand, who had taught Gregory as a lad.

During Ngcobo's time in England, the Rev W.E. Smyth became Bishop of Lebombo. His parents at Firwood looked after Gregory and organised his education and finances, liaising with Zululand, his school & college. Smyth senior, who had retired from the Bussage living after a fall from his horse in 1891, died at Firwood in 1900. He had, in his younger days, been a noted Alpine climber and, among his achievements had been the first guideless ascent of Mont Blanc, the party including two of his brothers. Hopefully, this very accomplished Englishman is not forgotten in Chalford today.

Smyth junior, who served the malarial Lebombo diocese for 19 years, was later the first Warden of Beda Hall at Fort Hare University, where Nelson Mandela was educated. He retired to England and lived the last 19 years of his life at Firwood, worshipping at Chalford church and also creating his own chapel at Firwood, where he died in 1950.

Gregory Ngcobo, who had been the first Zulu to pass the Universities Preliminary Examination for Holy Orders, was no ordinary scholar and also took to the English way of life. He became a fine footballer and an accomplished cricketer in England. He would have been a very noticeable individual around the village and at church each Christmas, Easter and summer, as I suspect the area was not exactly full of Africans dressed as gentlemen. My reseaches have required the study of the Smyth family and I wonder what reminders there are today of these two notable former residents of Chalford? Is Firwood still standing? Did the residence remain in the hands of the Smyth family after the Bishop's death there half a century ago? Did Gregory Ngcobo, by any chance, turn out for either Bussage, Chalford or Stroud cricket clubs in the summers of 1896 or 1897? (He was good enough, believe me). Has anyone else studied this local Smyth family, perhaps at Stroud Library or in Glos Record Office? (A short memoir of the Bishop was published by a former colleague of his in the 1950s). No doubt Chalford's very early - but very personal - link with Zululand during the zenith of the British Empire is entirely forgotten today, even though it was at Firwood that his guardian frequently discovered the homesick boy poring over a map of Zululand, wondering when he would be ready to return to his people of whom he was so proud.

I'd be delighted to hear from any interested in the above, or who may be able to help my researches. I have yet to visit Chalford but hope to correct that before too long.

Many thanks,

Peter Ewart nr Canterbury, Kent. (01227) 720835

PeterEwart@aol.com

Mr C.C McDONALD

This is not a genealogy question as such, but I was wondering if anyone could give me any information on Mr. C.C. McDonald who used to (maybe still does) live at Cowcombe View Villas with his wife and son. I used to work with Mac until he retired around 1984, and occasionally visited him when business took me to the area. Unfortunately, we lost touch and I can find no listing in the telephone directory at his old address, which makes me think the worst. I would appreciate it if anyone could give me any info.

David Maxfield

david.maxfield1@btopenworld.com 

MARSH

I am trying to find out 'anything' that I can, concerning my Fathers parents, who lived on Chalford Hill.
As far as I know all their lives. My Father 'grew up' there.
They certainly lived in the house on Chalford Hill for a very long time.
They left in about 1965 to live in a bungalow somewhere? as they were 'too old' to manage?
The only 'start' I have, are some memories, from a visit I made to them when I was about 10. That was in 1961. (I'm 52 now)
My father left to join the Royal Navy when he was 16. That would have been in 1937. He went through WW2, and died in 1967 as a result of 'bad health' that started at this time.
The reason why I know very little, is embarrassing, and difficult to explain.
However, my Mother died last year, and it is about time I at least tried to'find something out.'

My Father was Harry Vivien Oliver Marsh. Born in 1920.
His Parents were Mr and Mrs Marsh. I think His Dad was called Edward, who was 'gassed' in WW1 and never worked.
His Mom, worked at the local School as a cleaner.
They lived in a council house. it was quite big?
I remember that one turned off the main road, (A419) with the canal 'running' nearby, went up a 'steep' hill for about 100yds (Maybe a bit? more) and took the first left turning that looked like a little lane. It want 'down a bit' then 'up to two houses, on the right, that were laid out differently. I think the 'lane' carried on past the front of the houses? It was all very 'old' then. No electricity. They had a 'big' 'wild' garden, Chickens, and lived by themselves As all the children had left. With the  exception of one 'unusual' person who was about my Dad's age.
His name was 'Cocker', he was I think a bit 'unusual'? and never worked. I was told that my Grandmother found him 'crying' under a bush down by 'the church', and 'took him in' when he was a boy?

Anyway the second (I think they were attached) house was my grand parents house, they were different somehow, and 'shared a common 'gate for entry just at a point where the land started to 'go up' again.
There was a young girl of about my age living in the first one.
Looking at 'the map', the first left, unmarked turning off Marle Hill, looks about right.
Commercial Road really 'rings a bell' though? But I cannot make any sense of that? and am almost certainly wrong?

I do plan to come up and visit in the spring, but I must try to find 'anything' first.
I am sure I will recognise 'the house' when I see it. Verifying the address will help me to find out more about My Fathers parents. If I get my 'detective hat' on I should be able to 'work it out'!

I am very sorry about this. I realise it is 'a long shot'. I am sure that in their time 'everyone knew everyone' But, My Dad would be 82 now, His father would have been born almost certainly before 1900.
It is unlikely that anyone living 'on the hill' now would know anything. But It is possible?

Terence Edward John Marsh

MarshtMarsh7@aol.com

PHELPS, GARDINER, PINCOTT, WORKMAN

My ancestors came out on the Layton - Henry Phelps and Ann Pincott plus family. Henry's parents were George Phelps & Esther Gardiner and Ann's parents were Daniel Pincott and Ann Workman, whose parents where Thomas Workman and Ann Jefferyes. My records show that these all originated from Chalford. I also have a freind whose ancestors were 'Parson', from Bisley - 2 brothers and their families emigrated on the Layton. I have a little unverified information going back further through the Phelps line and would be interested in hearing from anyone who is interested in any of the families mentioned above.

Wendy Nunan - nunanwe@optusnet.com.au or 12 Swain Cres, Dapto NSW, Australia 2530

JACKSON FAMILY AT BLOCKWELL HOUSE

My great grandfather, Peter Jackson, died at Blockwell House, Chalford, in 1848. I have a letter, dated Feby 1848, that he wrote to his daughter in which he speaks of the negotiations to buy the house. Also I have a small water colour painting of the house by John Wilton Shelly. The Norwich Museum has a book of paintings by him and there are several of Chalford including one entitled 'PJ's House' and another 'PJ's gate'. John Shelly was the husband of Martha Evans Jackson, Peter Jackon's sister. Although PJ died at Chalford, he was buried in the family tomb at Gatley, Cheshire.

I would be interested to know if Blockwell House is still standing and if so who now occupies it. I would be interested in any of its history.

Peter Le Mare, Greenfield House, Flookburgh Road, Allithwaite, Grange over Sands, LA117RG.

Email: phl@lemare.dial.lakesnet.co.uk

015395 32174

GENOGOLD WEBSITE

Genealogy website with searchable databases run by Paul & Jo Eveleigh in Chalford - who are keen to encompass the village and surrounding area and invite any useful information from local residents to showcase the village and its history.

www.genogold.com

Email: enquiries@genogold.com

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