A Buckinghamshire Smith Family
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Introduction
Peter and Samantha Smith (generation 8) are
descended from a long line of agricultural labourers
who lived in and around north Buckinghamshire area.
Their dad is Ralph Smith and in 2019 Ralph asked me
to look into his family history as he had no knowledge
of anyone previous to his father, who had died young.
Thanks to the fact that the family barely moved more
than 10 miles in every generation and that they
conformed by getting christened, married and buried
in their parish churches I have been able to track this
hard-working family back to about 1720. And they
have moved less than 20 miles in 300 years
Your forebears were poor and consequently at this
point we have no photographs of any of them.
Hopefully as more of the wider Smith family members
come to see this book (Ralph’s siblings) we may get
some.
Please note that this is a work in-progress and it is
now up to the current generation of Smiths to give me
any information that they may find or wish to be
included.
Christopher Dixon, Katherine, Australia. Email:
cjadixon@hotmail.com
“Ow doo, moi name is Jon Smif and oi were born
about 1715 but oi dunno fir sure and moi biografa
Chris Dixon ain’t bin able to foind me birf details. I
made account to 'a' told you bout me family ‘istry
afore it be gorn farever. Au roight, this ‘istry as bin
put tagever by Chris Dixon an ee be wroitin it in ‘is
English!” (ed: my attempt at writing in a
Buckinghamshire accent).
Generation 1: John Smith 1751 - 1827
“Moi name be John Smith and moi wife, she were that
lovely Ann Matthews of Simpson, wot oi now believe
to be under that there Milton Keynes. We was marrid
in the village church in the village.”
John Smith’s village is located south of the centre of
Milton Keynes, just north of Fenny Stratford, near
Walton. The Manor Field allotments are on top of the
old manor where your ancestors would have
laboured. “Loif was ‘ard in them days. But it weren’t
that bad really cos it were all we knew.”
We don’t know where or when John was born. Can
you imagine the difficulty of looking for a John Smith?
It was doubtless in Buckinghamshire which brings the
possible matches to 31. We think he was born about
1705.
So, our earliest record is John’s marriage to Ann
Matthews in the St Thomas’s church in Simpson (see
the picture above) on 10 Apr 1732 – a spring wedding!
Ann was born in 1710 in Simpson, which is a village in
Milton Keynes.
. Wikipedia tells us that “In the mid 19th century the
village was described as "in appearance, one of the
most wretched of many miserable villages in the
county". According to Sheahan, until about 1830
"during the wintertime, the main road [London–
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Northampton] was generally impassable, without
wading through water three feet deep, for a distance
of about 200 yards"; he goes on to state that "chiefly
through the exertions of Mr. C. Warren, the road has
been raised by 3 and a half feet". Charles Warren was
the owner of Simpson House and was a substantial
landowner and contractor. It would have been in his
interest to alleviate flooding in the village, although
there is no other documentary evidence that he was
directly involved in the improvement works.
I have let John take up the story again. “Oi took me
wife Ann back to me village of Woughton on the
Green where oi worked as an agricultural labourer
sometimes at the Rectory Farm and sometimes at the
Manor Farm.“
Farm labourers were known as Ag Labs in the census
records. The 1851 census records 1,460,896 people
working as an ag lab, farm servant or shepherd –
more than in any other field of employment.
The “ag lab” was often a family man who lived locally
or rented a cottage on the perimeter of the farm. He
would have been paid weekly and had fixed hours of
employment. He might have had better wages and a
more secure job than the "farm servant" who was
often a teenage boy employed from the Hiring Fair,
usually for around a year, and boarding with the local
family. He was supposed to be available for work at all
times. His wages included board and lodging so he
was often paid a lot less than a labourer.
Note: The farm labourer had considerable skill
if his tasks included ploughing, harrowing,
rolling, sowing seed, tending and weeding a
variety of crops, harvesting with scythe, sickle
and spade, and laying up and threshing during
the winter. The animals had to be herded and
milked, and the shepherds needed skilled help
at lambing and shearing times. There was
cutting, drying and stacking hay, as well as
trimming and laying hedges or building
drystone walls, fencing and making gates,
making or mending roofs of thatch, tile or slate,
and pointing brickwork. Ditches, culverts,
drains, ponds, farm roads and tracks all had to
be made and maintained. In autumn stubborn
invasive weeds needed to be skilfully eradicated
by fire, and every item needed in his home had
to be constructed on days when the weather
was too poor to work outside. Not every
agricultural labourer possessed, or needed, all
of these skills but the seasonal nature of most
work demanded that he be versatile and,
naturally, the more capable he was the better
wages he could command.
So everyone worked very hard in the fields through
summer and winter. Can you imagine the village folk
getting together at the local pub after work and on
Saturdays. John and Ann and their mates would have
gathered at the Swan Inn in Wroughton (below).
The Old Swan Inn at Wroughton became one of the
haunts of 18th-century highwayman Dick Turpin,
when he changed the scene of his activities from the
Great North Road to Watling Street. The legend was
that at the Old Swan, Turpin reversed his horseshoes
in order to escape pursuit.
Turpin was said to travel to and from his exploits by
an unfrequented route running over ancient tracks.
This route led down the track way known as Bury Lane
in Wroughton, past the Old Swan and down what was
known as the Roman Road, across the patch of scrub
covered waste known as No Man's Land, and so on to
Watling Street. Tradition said that Turpin's ghost was
still seen on dark nights riding a phantom horse along
Bury Lane. Whenever Turpin is seen, he is riding the
legendary Black Bess, without whom his ghost would
be scarcely recognizable.
A gloomy and unlighted room in the centre of the
building was once known as the prison room, and was
where prisoners traveling in custody were confined
for the night. Tradition, however, said that many a
wanted man was hidden there by the landlord until
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the hue and cry died down. Extract from British
Folklore webpage.
If only the walls could talk! As it is, we can walk in
their footsteps, because the Swan Inn is still there,
300 years after John and Ann were here.
The whole family’s efforts were required to gain even
a subsistence living. John’s wife was traditionally
responsible for their own poultry, brewing and dairy
produce and she would accept paid work of this kind
outside her considerable domestic duties whenever
she could. This might also include picking stones,
weeding vegetables, fruit picking or binding sheaves
and stooking at harvest. The children would scare
birds, pick stones, plait straw, and weed fields. The
older girls were expected to assist their mother in
handicrafts, cooking, cleaning, raising chickens and
other household chores, whilst boys from about the
age of seven would work beside their father in the
fields. Schooling, except for an hour of Sunday School,
was almost unheard of for labourers until at least
1870, as even if a charity school existed, they could
not be spared to attend it.
John would hardly recognise Wroughton today, so
much has changed.
Men working on the farm traditionally wore linen
smocks, a dress-like garment with plenty of fullness
allowing movement. They were made in a number of
colours, and often had elaborate embroidery on the
sleeves and neck openings. The smock was an outer
garment worn over a shirt (which doubled as a night
shirt), waistcoat and breeches fastened with a button,
buckle or tape beneath the knee. Stockings, boots,
sometimes gaitors and a hat completed the ensemble.
Until about 1840 long trousers were only worn by
sailors and very poor shepherds.
Every Sunday, the Smith family, indeed the whole
village would have attended the church in Wroughton
and all their children would have been christened
there. We rely on parish registers to trace our
ancestors. Sadly, the registers for Wroughton for the
years 1653 –1692 have been lost. The church font has
been in use since the thirteenth century. We only
know of the following children that John and Ann had
•
Martha Smith christened 16 Feb 1735
Woughton on the Green. No further
information.
•
Elizabeth Smith christened 20 Mar 1737
Woughton on the Green. No further
information.
•
Ann Smith christened 17 Jun 1739 at
Woughton on the Green, Bucks. No further
information.
•
James Smith christened 21 Aug 1748 buried 8
Mar 1749 at Woughton on the Green, Bucks.
No further information.
•
James Smith christened 20 Jan 1751 at
Wroughton on the Green, Bucks – see
Generation 2
At some stage in his life, and probably because quite
often agricultural labourers (ag labs) weren’t
guaranteed a tied job, he found work and moved to
Gawcott near Buckingham - 14 miles west. The family
didn’t return to the Milton Keynes area until the
twentieth century.
John died and was buried 9 Jul 1827 and Sarah died
13 Feb 1834 in Bledlow (25 miles south).
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Generation 2 James Smith 1751 - 1827
James Smith was born in Woughton on the Green and
christened on the 20 January 1751 in the parish
church. The family moved to Gawcott, a tiny village,
one and a half miles southwest of Buckingham and
this is where James married Sarah Slaughter on 27 Jan
1772. Sarah was born in Hedgerley 6 Dec 1747. Her
parents were Thomas and Sarah Slaughter.
James and Mary Smith had the following children:
•
William Smith christened 7 Jun 1772
Buckingham
•
James Smith christened 25 Dec 1774
Buckingham
•
Joseph Smith christened 12 Oct 1777
Buckingham
•
Jane Smith christened 6 Oct 1782 in
Buckingham
•
Joseph Smith christened 20 Mar 1785 in
Buckingham He stated on a census that he
was born in Gawcott. He moved to Barton
Hartshorn in Buckinghamshire. See
Generation 3
•
Sarah Smith christened 22 Jun 1788 in
Buckingham
•
Rebecca Smith christened 5 Jan 1794 in
Buckingham
We don’t know much about the family and what they
got up to, or even where they were baptised, so here
is some background on the area that they lived in.
Gawcott is a village about 1.5 miles (2.4 km)
southwest of Buckingham. There is not much info
about this tiny place, although Sir George Gilbert
Scott, the architect of the Midland Grand Hotel at St
Pancras railway station in London (and numerous
other buildings), was born in Gawcott (Wikipedia).
The oldest parts of the Village, which have remained
largely unchanged over the years, extend principally
along Main Street, Church Street and Back Street
The centre of the Village consists of mainly two-storey
terraced houses and cottages fronting directly onto
footpaths which run the length of Main Street. These
buildings, the majority of which are eighteenth and
nineteenth century in origin, are constructed mostly
of brick, with some of roughcast and colour-washed.
The few older sixteenth and seventeenth century
properties are of rubble stone, some with newer brick
facings. Despite its small size, the almost continuous
line of brick and stone buildings along Main Street
gives it an urban character, distinguishing it from the
rural feel of surrounding villages. There is a fine
collection of listed buildings close to the junction of
Main Street and Radclive Road, particularly Red Lion
House, Westcott House and Old Eagles Farmhouse.
The centre of the Village and its buildings are
protected by Conservation Area status established in
1990.
The foundations for the Holy Trinity Church were first
laid in 1802, with the chapel and burial ground being
consecrated in 1806. The Reverend Thomas Scott was
the first vicar and was the father of George Gilbert
Scott, the renowned architect. Unfortunately, the
original church became unsound following a long spell
of dry weather in the early 1800s and had to be
demolished, being replaced with the current building
in 1827.
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Gawcott used to have five Public Houses, four of
which are now private residences, including the
former Red Lion, The Royal Oak and The Cuckoo’s
Nest. The latter opened as the Chequers in 1742
before becoming the New Inn and finally the Cuckoo’s
Nest. The original Crown Inn was known to be trading
in 1737 but became a private house in 1805.
However, in the same year a new Crown public house
was opened in the current premises.
It is likely that James drank in the Crown at Gawcott.
The 1881
census confirms that the majority of residents were
agricultural workers, a situation that would have
prevailed for generations. From the 1700s, perhaps as
many as a quarter of village womenfolk were involved
in lace making, Gawcott was well-known for the
making of black lace. In good times the trade paid
one shilling to one shilling and threepence a day;
much better than the wages of agricultural labourers.
But they had to work damned hard. Lace making as a
cottage industry continued throughout the nineteenth
and into the twentieth century. As late as 1951, lace
was still being made in North Buckinghamshire.
“ There is scarcely a door to be seen, during Summer,
in most towns, but what is occupied by some
industrious pale-faced lass; their sedentary trade
forbidding the rose to bloom in their sickly cheeks.“
Thomas Pennant – “The Journey From Chester to
London 1779.”
Cowper wrote in a letter to Joseph Hill, dated 8th July
1780: ‘I am an Eye Witness of their poverty and do
know that Hundreds of this little Town are upon the
Point of Starving and that the most unremitting
Industry is but barely sufficient to keep them from it…
there are nearly 1200 lace makers in this Beggarly
Town.’
For more info about lacemaking and its hardships see
here.
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Generation 3: Joseph Smith 1785 – 1868
Joseph Smith was christened 20 Mar 1785 in
Gawcott, Buckingham. There being no other work
available for a young boy, he followed in the family
tradition and would have been helping his dad in the
fields from a very early age. As an ag lab he would
have needed to move away from home to get work.
And so it was that Joe moved to Barton Hartshorn in
Buckinghamshire. This village is 3 miles from Gawcott.
Wikipedia tells us Barton Hartshorn is a civil parish
about 4 miles (6.4 km) southwest of Buckingham in
the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire.
"Barton" is derived from the Old English for "Barley
Farm" and is a common place name in England. In the
11th century it was recorded as Bertone. In the 15th
century it was recorded as Barton Hertishorne and
Beggars Barton, and in the 16th century it was Little
Barton. "Hartshorn" comes from a separate hamlet in
the same parish and is thought [ to refer to the shape
of the land locally: it lies in the shape of a deer's horn.
Barton Manor is recorded in the Domesday Book of
1086 and the early lords of Barton took their name
from the place. The manor was first called Barton
Hartshorn in a grant of 1421. In about 1629 the manor
was sold to Thomas Lisle, whose initials T.L. are
thought to be those carved on the north‐west gable of
the house along with the date of 1635. His heir,
Fermor Lisle, held it at his death in 1742 when it was
left in trust for the use of his sister and her heirs. By
1813 the site comprised a yard, garden and orchard
belonging to William Lisle and Charles Bowles, along
with separate ownership of several other nearby
cottages and parcels of land, adjoining a road running
from west to east. The entrance to the house from
the road lay through this cluster of buildings, with the
church to the north‐east. No significant changes
occurred until about 1899 when it was acquired by
Lieut. Col. Charles Trotter, possibly coinciding with the
opening in 1899 of a railway line to London, with a
station about 1.2km away.
The parish's common lands were enclosed by an Act
of Parliament passed in 1812.
Looking at the map I can’t see any of the cottages that
mention where the families lived.
So we know that Joseph was born in 1785 and was
baptized on the 20 March 1785 in Buckingham. And
we know that he married Elizabeth (called Eliza)
Tyrell who was born in 1796 in Laughton, Bucks. In
1861 they were living at the manor house in Barton
(there were 63 people living at the manor!
Known children of Joe and Eliza:
•
Ann Smith b 1815
•
Susannah Smith b 1826 (may have married
James Stratton in Langley Bucks 10 May 1846)
•
Joseph Smith b 1826 d 1884 – see Gen 4
•
Mary Smith b 1830. In the 1851 census she is
a lace maker. She married Henry Ibell b 1825
Barton Hartshorn (his dad was a gardener at
Chetwode Priory) and he was an ag lab. They
decided that a new life in the USA was a
chance not to be missed and in 1852 they
migrated to
Hartford,
Connecticut
USA. Henry died
in 1879 and
Mary died in
1910 in
Hartford,
Connecticut.
They had 8
children.
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Generation 4: Joseph Smith 1821 – 1884
Joseph was born circa 1824 in Barton Hartshorne. He
too was an ag lab from the age of 12 and he lived all
his life in Barton Hartshorn. He worked as an
agricultural labourer and carter,
He married Susannah Batchelor.
The 1881 census informs us that there was a Fred
Smith aged 1 and he was one of the daughter’s
children – born out of wedlock? The only daughter
living at home at that time was Annie.
Children:
•
William Smith bc 1846 Barton. Don’t know
much about William but by 1901 he was
widowed and living with his mother in Barton
with his 12 year old son Harry Smith who was
born at Buckingham Union.
•
Sarah Ann Smith bc 1847 Barton.
•
Thomas Smith bc 1849 Barton started work as
a plough boy at the age of 12 and then an ag
lab. He married Eliza Wise 9 Jun 1875 and
they had a daughter Fanny May Smith b 31
Mar 1889. After their marriage they lived with
Eliza’s parents Ben and Elizabeth Wise and
their younger children in Chetwode. They
moved to Godington, where Fanny Smith was
born. Sadly Tom died at Barton Hartshorn
before Fanny was born. Eliza married again 15
Feb 1905 to Jacob Jeacock. Eliza died in 17 Jan
1931. Fanny married Harry Bull, farm
manager and they lived at Sunflower Farm
•
Elizabeth Smith bc 1851 Barton d 1931
Buckingham. She worked as a dairymaid Oaks
Farm, Whaddon, Bucks. Married William
Ridgway (b 1850 Nash, Bucks – d 1938
Doncaster) in 1873 in the Winslow district.
Ridgway (and name change Ridgewell) family
is in Yorkshire. He was an ag lab in his younger
days and Elizabeth was a laundress. They lived
at Naburn, York. By 1911 they were living
alone at Thorpe in Baln at Askern, Doncaster.
They had had 7 children, 6 of whom were still
alive. William aged 61 was working as a
roadman for the rural district council.
•
Rebecca Smith bc 1853 Barton d 1934
Bedford. Married 1, William Inwood (1850-
1913). William was an ag lab and they moved
to Great Woolstone. William died and
Rebecca remarried to James Bellamy in 1923
in Bedford.
•
Joseph Smith bc 1855 Barton
•
Mary Smith bc 1856 Barton
•
Annie Smith bc 1860 Barton/Gawcott married
Joseph Blencow, ag lab in 1882 and had issue.
They lived their lives in Gawcott.
•
Jane Smith bc 1861 Barton
•
Maria Smith bc 1862 Barton, d 1939 North
Bucks. Married Frederick Thomas Lee Biggs b
Wroughton-on-the-Green circa 1864, died
1936 North Bucks. He was a farm labourer.
Their son (1911) was Oliver Biggs, also a farm
labourer born circa 1895.
•
Joanna Smith bc 1872 Barton
•
William Smith bc 1875 barton
•
John Smith bc 1876 Barton. See Generation 5
•
Ellen Eliza Smith bc 1870 Barton. In 1891 she
was in service as a general domestic servant
in Wicken, Northants. Her boss was Thomas
Shakeshaft, a carpenter. In 1901 she is
married to Thomas J Percival a butcher’s
assistant in Padbury, Bucks and by 1911 the
family consists of sons William, Ralph, John
and daughter Annie. Ellen died aged 73 in
1943 in St Albans, Herts.
Joseph died in 1884 but Susannah soldiered on.
looking after her grandchildren and great
grandchildren. In 1901 there she is in Barton with son
William and grandson Harry.
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Generation 5: John Smith 1867 –
With the other generations it has been easy to find
their stats. John presents problems. He is lurking in
history and doesn’t seem to want to be drawn into
the light.
He was born in Barton Hartshorn in about 1867. He
was working as an ag lab in Barton at the age of 14. I
can’t find him in 1891 but he pops up again in 1901
where he is working as a cattleman on a farm and
living in Steane Lodge, Northamptonshire.
He “married” to Ellen Wise bc 1871 in Chetwode. (4
miles southwest of Buckingham. Ellen was the
daughter of Benjamin Wise, an ag lab of Chetwode
and Eliza his wife. At this stage (2017) I have been
unable to find any record of a marriage. Note that
Benjamin Wise was on the committee of the Barton
Hartshorne and Chetwode Friendly Society and was a
keen gardener winning many prizes for his vegetables
grown in his allotment. He died 16 Dec 1908 at
Buckingham workhouse. They lived at 22 Nelson
Street, Buckingham.
John and Ellen had the following children:
•
Unknown child probably died young.
•
Elsie Ellen Smith baptised 1 Jul 1894 Newton
Purcell (less than a mile from Barton
Hartshorn) buried 29 Sep 1897 aged 6 weeks.
•
Margaret Mabel Smith baptised 28 Aug 1896
Newton Purcell died 1897 Bicester.
•
Raymond Percy Smith baptised 23 Aug 1896
Newton Purcell. Note that later Raymond was
known as Raymond Percy. In the Buckingham
Advertiser & Free Press 27 Mar 1920 we learn
that Raymond (Percy) died on 13 Mar at 5
Houston Road, Bronsover, Rugby.
•
Gladys Annie Smith baptised 19 Feb 1899
Newton Purcell probably died young.
•
Sydney Redvers Smith baptised 24 Jun 1900
Newton Purcell. With a name like that you
would think he would be easy to find. But
there is a JR in Dulwich who joined the RN,
another in Australia – but no trace of our JR.
There is a JR who died 20 Apr 1901 in
Grantham, Lincs.
•
Edgar Roby Smith 1901 – 1965 married Annie
May Burgess 1913 - 1971
Steane Park
John worked at Steane Park near Brackley at the end
of the nineteenth century. In 2017 while Pamela and I
were staying with Ralph and Christine we discovered
this fact and Lady Connel very kindly opened up her
garden so that we could walk in John’s footsteps.
Information about Steane Park Gardens here. John
and Ellen lived at Steane Lodge, known locally as the
“threepenny bit”.
Note: The groom (or ostler in a coaching inn) was
always male. In the stables of a gentleman, there
would be a head groom, several under-grooms
and also a stable boy or two. Often the head
groom would be responsible for teaching the
daughters of the house to ride and thereby
frequently held a position of respect and licence.
He was usually provided with a cottage on the
estate, invariably sited near the stable yard and
his charges. He was responsible for the smooth
running of the stables, from hiring and firing staff,
to ordering feed and sending horses to the farrier.
These were walked to the blacksmith by an under-
groom, sometimes as far as the next village.
Below: Ralph in the very stable where his
grandfather was the head horse honcho
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The groom’s day was long. It would begin early, in
order that the horses could be fed, mucked out
and groomed before the household required their
mounts or carriage horses. The stables and yard
would thus be immaculate by the time the master
ventured forth and the horses would have had
opportunity to digest their food prior to work.
After work the groom would rub the horse down
to remove sweat and any mud or dirt and walk
him around to cool off (no fancy sweat rugs to
remove moisture then!) The horse was then
groomed thoroughly. Unless allowed out to
pasture, all the horses had to be fed and watered
three or four times a day as well as having their
hay replenished at regular intervals. Where there
was a hayloft above, the forage was forked via
trapdoors into the wooden or iron mangers
below. Water buckets and troughs within the
stable were scrubbed meticulously every day, as
horses require fresh, clean water at all times. The
stone trough in the yard received less frequent
attention. Water becomes tainted by standing in
the stable for too long; horses are finicky and may
well refuse to drink, and while they can live
without food for a month, they can only survive
for forty-eight hours without water. In addition,
rugs and harness needed mending and/or
cleaning, the muck heap had to be ‘squared off’ to
limit flies and smell, and all paths swept. It is little
wonder that grooms were often small, wiry men,
since their workload ensured there was always
plenty to be done with little room for idleness! At
the end of the day the head groom took a late
check around, just before retiring, to ensure all
was well. Sources 1 and 2.
Stean Park was owned by Captain Alcock who bought
it in 1890. He sold it in 1914. John was there, but I am
not sure how long he stayed there. He was definitely
there in 1901.
Steane Park used to be a stately home and was once
the seat of Lord Crewe but now it is a shadow of its
former self. It had been sold to the Spencer family
(Lady Di’s ancestors, but they allowed it to deteriorate
and most of it was taken down in the mid eighteenth
century). Still gorgeous though.
John was dead by 1911 because Ellen lists herself as a
widow. She states that she has had 8 children but only
4 are still living. Looking for a death certificate for a
John Smith with no other information is well ……!
So in 1911 Ellen is living at 14 Hunter Street,
Buckingham with sons Raymond, a paper boy and
Sydney and Edgar are both at school. Ellen is working
hard as a laundress.
14 Hunter Street is still there, but from Google Maps I
can’t identify which house it is. Next door at 13 there
was a livery stables. There were 5 rooms in this house
which would have been fantastic for this family of
battlers.
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Generation 6: Edgar Roby 1901 – 1965
Edgar was born in Steane Lodge, Brackley 25 July 1901
while dad was working as a cattleman at Steane Park.
Sadly his dad died and by 1911 he was living at 14
Hunter Street, Buckingham and attending school –
probably the same school in Wells Street that Ralph,
his son went to!.
Edgar married Annie May Burgess (b 1913) in 1934 at
Buckingham. Annie was born in Oct 1813 in
Buckingham. Her parents were Joseph and Annie
Burgess and they lived at 5 Stratford Road,
Buckingham. Joseph was a chimney sweep.
I don’t know much about Edgar.
He made the Buckingham Advertiser and Free Press
Saturday 6 May 1933 when Annie May Burgess of
Nelson Street applied for a paternity order of four
shillings a week. Edgar was living at Bristle Hill,
Buckingham.
There was an Edgar Smith who was knocked down by
a car while cycling on the London Road in rough
weather. The 1939 census taken just before the
outbreak World War 2 shows us that he was a
bricklayer living at 11 Westfield Road, Buckingham.
And in 1941 there is this article in the same
newspaper dated 27 Nov 1941:
Filling kettle caused light
When Edgar Robey Smith of 11 Westfields,
Buckingham, was summoned for unlawful display of
light from a roofed building, PC Stonebridge stated
that at 630pm he saw a bright light showing from the
scullery window. It came from the living room, the
door of which was open. There was only a thin curtain
which had not bene drawn. Defendant wrote
apologising for absence on account of Government
work, stating that his wife went to the scullery in
which the bulb had been removed. If any light was
showing, it was not much more than that of a cycle
lamp and it was only showing for a few seconds.
The newspaper does not give us the result of the
court case.
However we know that Edgar committed suicide in
1965. The National Probate Calendar quote:
“SMITH Edgar Robey otherwise Edgar Roby of 11
Westfields, Buckingham who was last seen alive on
the 18 May 1965 and whose dead body was found
on
the
19
May
1965
at
Buckingham.
Administration Oxford 15 September to Annie May
Smith, widow. Effects £390.”
The rest of the information here has been provided by
Ralph Smith
Edgar and Annie Smith had the following children:
•
Peter Joseph Smith b 1932 Amersham. Killed
in a motorcycle accident 16 Jun 1979
Buckingham. Probate report: “SMITH, Peter
Joseph of 11 Westfields, Buckingham died 16
Jun 1979. Probate Oxford 23 November.
Effects £4519.”
•
Raymond Smith b Dec 1935 married Rita G
Turpin in Apr 1958 (Rita b 10 Nov 1934 d Feb
2005). Rita loved to entertain and was
involved school plays that helped raise money
during the war. Issue Paula Smith and
Jeanette Smith .
•
Sydney A Smith b 1942 married Janet and has
Mark Smith and Cheryl Smith.
•
Dorothy Smith married Tom W Tulip in the
autumn of 1958 and had Pauline Tulip and
Christine Tulip.
•
Kathleen Smith b 1944 married Ken Smith –
no children
•
Joan Smith married Peter Davis and has
Lorraine Smith and Michaela Smith.
•
Ralph Smith b 1950 married Christine Wylde
nee Smith – see Gen 7
•
Jack Smith married Julia Smith