The Gilding Family

Last time I wrote about my step-grandfather's first wife, Jean Alden and her family. Jean's mother was Mollie Joan Alden, daughter of Robert Alden and Emily Gilding. This blog post is dedicated to the Gilding family.

Emily Gilding was born in Bungay in 1871. She was one of eight* children. The census returns for that year were taken on the night of 2 April and Emily is listed as being two months old. Her parents, Jacob Gilding and Sarah Ann (nee Rogers) were then residing in Beccles Road, in Bungay.

Emily's father Jacob Gilding was a Wherryman/Waterman by trade, in the counties of Norfolk and North Suffolk - this being stated in the 1851, 1861 & 1871 census returns. By 1881, however, Jacob was a Railway Labourer, as part of the General Eastern Railway (G.E.R). Jacob and his wife and children were by that time residing in Beccles.

Jacob Gilding was born on 6 June 1838 in Smallburgh, county Norfolk. He was the son of Benjamin Langley Gilding and Mary, nee Cork. On 2 July 1838 Jacob was baptised at St Peter's Church, Smallburgh. In 1851 the Gilding family lived at Broad Fen in Dilham. Benjamin, Jacob's father was a Waterman by trade. I like to imagine him rowing his way through the Norfolk Broads on an early Spring day, chewing on a piece of reed.

Picking Water Lillies
http://www.theslideprojector.com/

Jacob left the county of Norfolk some time before 1860 and took up residence in Bungay, county Suffolk. Jacob married Sarah Ann Rogers, daughter of William Rogers, at Bungay Holy Trinity Church on 3 April 1860. Both signed the marriage register with an "X". The Rogers family were from Loddon, county Norfolk. William Rogers' first wife Mary Ann (nee Harris), Sarah Ann's biological mother, died in 1845 and William later married Amy Harris in 1849. Any relation?

Jacob and Sarah Ann's first child, George, was born in August 1860 but he did not thrive, and died on 3 September 1860. His burial service was held at Bungay Holy Trinity Church. Jacob and Sarah had only been married for five months. They went on to have eight more children:

Frederick George Gilding

George Rogers Gilding

Benjamin Gilding

Harry Gilding

Emily Gilding

Ernest William Gilding

Ellen Mary Gilding

Anne Gilding

They remained in Bungay until some time before 1881 when they moved with their children to Beccles: Emily, aged 10. Ernest William, aged 8. Ellen Mary, aged 6 and Anne, aged 5. What I find especially intriguing about the 1881 census return for the Gilding family is two-fold: 1) Jacob and Sarah Ann's sons George, then aged 16 and Benjamin, then aged 14, were "Inmates" (Students) at a Boys Reformatory School in Thorndon All Saints (near Eye); and 2) Jacob and Sarah Ann have an extra adopted child: Jeremiah Sturman, aged 1.

Upon further investigation, Jeremiah Sturman was born in Skelton in North Riding, county Yorkshire. He was the illegitimate son of Rebekah Sturman, a Domestic Servant. What I found to be even more intriguing was that the 1891 census return puts Jeremiah back with his mother Rebekah (along with a half-brother Harry and another Jeremiah Sturman aged 87) but this time they are all Inmates of the Loddon and Clavering Union Workhouse, in county Norfolk. This begs the question: What happened to the Sturman family and why did the Gilding family have temporary care of Jeremiah?

The 1901 census return has Jacob and Sarah Ann Gilding living at Knights Yard, Ravensmere with a grandson, Walter Belward Gilding. Walter was then aged 12, born to one of Jacob and Sarah Ann's children but which one? (Walter was living with the family in 1891 as well, when they resided at Northgate Street). He remained with his grandparents even in 1911, when he was aged 22. I don't believe he ever married. Another grandson appears on the 1911 census with Jacob and Sarah Ann: Ernest Alden, aged 18 (He was Mollie Joan Alden's eldest brother). What is interesting to note is that the 1911 census states Jacob and Sarah Ann had eight children, seven living and one who had died. But I know that they had at least nine children because I found George Gilding who was baptised and died in 1860, in Bungay. Why did they claim they had eight children instead of nine?

Jacob Alden, 1911 census return
(click on image to enlarge)

Jacob Gilding died in 1914, aged 75. Sarah Ann Gilding died in 1930, aged 94.

My next blog post will concentrate on my step-grandfather's SAMPSON family heritage.

ADDENDUM
The British Newspaper Archive brings up several previously unknown articles in regards to Jacob Gilding who was frequently brought up before the Beccles Petty Sessions in the 1880s because he repeatedly refused to pay the ordered one shilling per week in payment of his son at Thorndon Reformatory School. For example: The Ipswich Journal of Tuesday 25 January 1881 reported that Jacob Richard Gilding was "causing much trouble" from neglecting to make payments for his sons and was "22 weeks in arrears". Jacob's wages as a Railway Labourer at that time was stated in the paper as being 18 shillings 6 pence per week and that he had "five other children to provide for".

(In July 1879 The Ipswich Journal reported that brothers George Gilding and Benjamin were caught stealing fruit from a garden in Ravensmere, the property of Edward Masters. This was the reason they were sent to Reformatory School. They had previous convictions of stealing at Gillingham.)
In January 1885 Jacob Gilding was fined five shillings for neglecting to send his daughter Ellen Gilding, regularly to school

Family History Through The Alphabet Challenge : R is for...

I've decided to write this Alphabet Challenge post about two of my family lines that start with this week's letter - R. My 4 x great-grandfather was Zachariah Rudd and my 4 x great-grandmother was Sarah Rivett. Both of these families are from my father's side.

 

 

 

 

Sitting down to write this post brought home the startling reality that I know very little about these two families. I owe what I do know to my second cousin Terry, who was researching his family tree long before I got serious about it. He was able to determine that the Rudd family originated from Thelveton in Norfolk before moving to Loddon and Beccles. The Rivett family lived in the villages of Ringsfield and Shipmeadow, in Suffolk (both of which are located between the market towns of Beccles and Bungay).

 

Zachariah Rudd (born about 1778) was recorded in the census returns as a cotton weaver, a jobbing gardener, and a boot and shoe maker. Every ten years his address appears to change from Beccles in 1841 (Smallgate Street)  to Loddon in 1851 (with his daughter and son-in-law William Leman, who I posted about a few weeks ago) and then back again to Beccles (Old Market in 1861 and Northgate in 1871). Zachariah Rudd died in 1871 at the ripe old age of 94. I wonder what his secret to long life was back then!

 

Sarah Rivett (born about 1780) in Shipmeadow, Suffolk. Today there is scarcely nothing to the village of Shipmeadow. It has no shop, public-house or church (the latter was made redundant in 1980) but its parish workhouse still stands today, as a testiment to its history, even if it has been converted into modern housing and flats. Sarah married Issac Turrell in 1807 and they had at least six known children. They lived in nearby Ringsfield but unfortunately the census returns of 1841 and 1851 does not give an actual street address. Ringsfield was a small village with over 1,000 acres of agricultural land and farm-houses; today it has a primary school, a village hall and a public-house. The church of All Saints is a Grade II listed building and the churchyard contains the grave and memorial of Napoleon Bonaparte's  great-niece Princess Caroline Murat.

 

Ringsfield Church, a sketch from 1819



Ringsfield Church, 2011

Princess Caroline Murat's Memorial Gravestone

 

Interior of Ringsfield Church, 2011

Ringsfield Hall
http://www.ringsfield-hall.co.uk/

The Three Horseshoes, Ringsfield
Photo courtesy of Tony Green
http://pubshistory.com/Suffolk/Ringsfield/ThreeHorseshoes.shtml

 

I do not know who either Zachariah Rudd or Sarah Rivett's parents were. There is more work to be done on these family lines. It takes a blog post like this one to make you notice the gaps in your genealogy research. Turns out this post had more to do with Ringsfield, which is probably just as well as it still covered the letter R for the week!

 

 

Family History Through The Alphabet Challenge : L is for...

This week I present to you another alphabet blog challenge double whammy. A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about my 3xgreat-grandfather Josiah Jolly, and this week I am writing all about my ancestors, the Leman's of Loddon.

My ancestors - the Leman's (pronounced like the fruit, lemon) lived in the county Norfolk market town of Loddon in the 1700s through to the early 1900s. Situated about 12 miles from Norwich, Loddon is thought to mean muddy river (Celtic meaning). The Norfolk Broads is connected by the river Chet that runs through Loddon. In the past Loddon was largely agricultural but nowadays it is a commuter settlement for those who work in Norwich, Lowestoft and beyond.

My 4xgreat-grandfather William Leman was born about 1767 and lived in Loddon until his death in 1839. Writing this post has brought to my attention that I know nothing else about him, not even his occupation (I will order his death certificate, pronto). He may have had a brother, John Leman, who died in Loddon in 1843. John can be found in the 1841 census as 'Independent', living in The Grove. There is also William's son, John Leman, who was a Grocer & Draper on the High Street. William's youngest son, born in 1814 was my 3xgreat-grandfather.

Leman's Grocer & Draper Store (right)
Image courtesy of Before Your Time: http://www.loddonhistory.org.uk

William Leman was a Saddler & Harness Maker by trade. He was listed in various Trade Directories such as Kelly's and Pigot's. In 1838 William married a local girl from Thelveton (more about her family will be written in my letter R post). They had at least seven known children, including twin daughters. One of those twin daughters was my 2xgreat-grandmother. It is not entirely clear who introduced the Methodist faith to the Leman family but sometime in the 1800s they were known for this religious practice both in Loddon and surrounding districts, such as Beccles.

William's brother John Leman, mentioned above, had a son John Spence Leman. He carried on the grocer & draper business in the High Street for many years, until his death in 1908, when his son Ernest Spence Leman carried on the trade. Of the two brothers, John Leman seemed to have faired better, business-wise. William Leman's humble, yet important for the time, trade of Saddler was not carried on by any of his sons. In fact, they followed in their uncle John's footsteps and became Tailors, Clothier Assistants and Drapers.

Leman's Universal Stores
Image courtesy of Before Your Time http://www.loddonhistory.org.uk

The Leman family owned land right up both sides of the High Bungay Road as well as several other throughout the village. On the Tithe Map of 1838, John Leman owned some property in The Pits, while he owned and occupied The Grove - the cottage right on the point between High and Low Bungay Road. Today this Grove is called Leman Grove which intersects with Leman Close and High Bungay Road.

"Leman's Universal Stores sold everything from bacon to best hats. The first floor rooms were only 5' high and were used as a mini sweat shop with girls and ladies sewing the orders in the shop below. The rails outside supported a blind which pulled out to shade the articles in the window and shelter window shoppers if it rained. The Leman family were ardent Methodists and were extensively involved in the community."

Source: http://www.culturegrid.org.uk

My small claim-to-fame is that my auntie used to play tennis with the sister of Davy Jones (of Monkees fame) during the 1960s. Davy and his family lived in Loddon for a time. Also, my mother met an Irish pop group in Loddon, called The Bachelors. The photographs in her collection are so sweet, the boys are sat at a table with cups of tea whilst they meet and greet the fans!