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The Gilkes Family and their links in South Northants and Banburyshire

MANY NEW CONNECTIONS ADDED - CHECK ON SURNAMES BELOW AND USE THE SEARCH PAGE Click People 2 A CONNECTION IN NEW ZEALAND My direct line comes through John Thomas Gilkes, born in 1844 in Farthingstone. His father, Thomas, married twice; his first wife Susannah died when their daughter Anne was about a year old and he soon married Mary Ann Dew, from Hinton, and they stayed married until her death in 1885. Thomas had nine surviving children. The first daughter, Anne, married in 1850 to James Tubb of Catesby. They left for Canada on the Henry Clay, arriving in New York on 21 April 1857. They eventually went to Michigan, where they farmed. Most of the rest of the family were quite easy to trace, except for Jane, who married John Dickins in Daventry in 1854 and Maria, who married Benjamin Thomason in Farthingstone in 1850. I later found that Jane moved to Shropshire with John, who was working on the railways, but of Maria Thomason I could find no trace. I tried Canada, the US and Australia and had nearly given up when I was contacted by a Thomason from New Zealand. Benjamin, Maria and their threee children left London March 9th 1856 and arrived in Nelson, New Zealand on June 23rd 1856, on the Emma Colvin – a ship of 560 tons. I found that there was a passenger list for this trip and immediately saw that Benjamin’s brother and family were also onboard. I looked through the passenger list and felt that some of the names listed sounded somewhat ‘familiar’ and so I used Ancestry and Free BMD to search for the names and after some work found that the a large percentage of the passengers came from the southern part of Northamptonshire. Perhaps someone might be able to tell me, but it seemed that a ‘travelling recruiter’ must have inspired a large number of groups of families to embark on what must have been a long – 15 or so weeks – and dangerous journey. Benjamin and Maria had three further children in Nelson and as yet I have found out very little about them. Benjamin and Maria are buried in St Paul’s Church, Brightwater, Nelson, New Zealand, the church shown in the picture. As usual, I’m really pleased to have found this information as it is one more small part of the picture completed. And I hate 'losing' people! I have made a table of the passengers that I have found that are linked to villages in southwest Northamptonshire. To see that, click on the link. On that page is also a link to the Emma Colvin on that particular voyage. I am unable to find a picture of the ship - or a 'sister' ship - but have run out of ideas of where to look. Any suggestions? Passenger List SURNAMES IN MY TREE Adson, Allen, Allum, Aspin, Auger, Aveston, Baldwin, Ball, Barrett, Barsby, Bates, Bazeley, Beauchamp, Bellamy, Bennifer, Biggs, Bodley, Boffin, Botterill, Bowman, Boys, Branson, Brown, Bruce, Bucknell, Burch, Burgess, Burrows, Burton, Butler, Cable, Carvel, Chambers, Clarke, Clayton, Clemson, Cole, Collier, Collins, Constable, Coombs, Corby, Cox, Crawford, Crips, Cross, Curtis, Davis, Day, Denton, Dew, Dickins, Dobbs, Dowling, Drewitt, Duk, Dyke, Eakins, Eales, Eden, Edington, Edmunds, Elkington, Entwhistle, Essen, Farnham, Farnhan, Fathers, Faulkner, Fitter, Fitz Hugh, Fitzgerald, Flowers, Frear, Frost, Gardner, Gayton, Gilkes, Gilliflower, Gordon, Gray, Greening, Grindley, Hawtin, Hazel, Hemmings, Henn, Henson, Hewins, Higginbottam, Hirst, Hoare, Holden, Hollowell, Holt, Hopley, Horsman, Horton, Howes, Hoy, Humphrey, Humphries, Hurlston, Innes, Insley, Irving, Irwin, Jackman, Jamieson, Jeffs, Jenkins, Johnson, Johnston, Jones, Juffkins, Kew, Kightley, Kimball, Kimberley, Knight, Lardner, Lawman, Littlewood, Lovell, Mare, Markham, Martin, Masters, Matthews, Maxwell, McRae, Meakin, Miller, Minns, Mitton, Mumford, Mundy, Murcott, Nash, Neall, Newbery, Norman, Norris, Pakes, Pardoe, Parish, Parr, Parsons, Percival, Perry, Pigott, Polkinghorn, Popplewell, Poulter, Prestidge, Privatt, Raven, Read, Reeve, Reeves, Reynolds, Ridsdale, Roberts, Robinson, Roddis, Roe, Rogers, Rootsey, Row, Rush, Salmons, Schofield, Siderfin, Slow, Smart, Smith, Stephenson, Stokes, Stratford, Sturrick, Sturrock, Sweezie, Tarry, Taylor, Thomason, Thompson, Tibbits, Tibbs, Troupe, Tubb, Tuckwood, Turner, Underhill, Walden, Walters, Warren, Watkins, Wats, Watson, Watts, Webb, Webster, Welch, Wells, Williams, Wolloff, Wright Truth or Myth? - I suppose all families have a sensational story that stands out from a largely ordinary background; we have ours. Read more here.... Fame and Fortune - Inside is a picture of a double bass made in 1840 by William Gilkes of London. His father Samuel made stringed instruments too and moved to the capital from the village of Moreton Pinkney. Read more here.... An Unusual Name, Gilkes - When we started to look back into our family history we realised how lucky we were compared to the Smiths. Read more here.... The Culworth Gang - The notorious Culworth Gang terrorized the region. Our family was involved in it. Read more here.... [TOP]