CreativeGraces.net
- GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH INDEX -
The “GRACE Matriarchal
Lines” of BOWLES, GIBBS (GIBBES), KNIGHT, LAWRENCE, SPAIN & BROWNING
Families
of C18th/C20th East Kent
- Synopsis Revised October 2017, by “The Geneal Geologist” -
The ancestral families of Mary Ann BOWLES, my 3xGGM, wife of Jeremiah GRACE and matriarch of the GRACE family lineage.
Primarily the East Kent families of BOWLES, GIBBS, KNIGHT, LAWRENCE &
SPAIN.
Join the discussion at The Family of Jeremiah
GRACE on Facebook.
BOWLES
Thomas BOWLES
was a Ramsgate Boatman, living in Strand Street, Sandwich, Kent in 1817, married
to Martha KNIGHT (1792-1866). My 4xGGPs married at Woodnesborough,
near Sandwich, in October 1816.
Research suggests that Thomas is probably
the “Thomas BOWLES of Ramsgate” who died and was buried in Dover in Jun 1818,
possibly due to a maritime accident or being a prisoner in Dover castle (aged
28, so born around 1789) since Martha BOWLES (his widow) remarried mariner William
STEED in Ramsgate in 1820. The latter is proven by William & Martha
STEED being resident with the GRACE family on the 1841 Ramsgate
census in King Street, Ramsgate. Thomas & Martha's only child, Mary Ann BOWLES
(1817, baptised at St Clement) of Sandwich married Jeremiah GRACE
on 22 Oct 1836 at Ramsgate St George (my 3xGGPs). Subsequent census confirms Martha
KNIGHT as the 1792 d/o Henry KNIGHT & Elizabeth LAWRENCE of
Wickhambreux. See below.
Of all the available BOWLES information
(including independent
research), the most interesting is probably Henry BOWLES, another mariner also residing in Strand Street,
Sandwich, at the same time as my Thomas. It is most likely that they were
brothers. This is important as Henry is shown to be born in Marylebone
(London) on the 1851 census (s/o John & Ann from baptism) and not locally
in Kent. There is a corresponding child in Marylebone to match Thomas, one
year previously.
Therefore, John BOWLES & Ann (my assumed 5xGGPs) are in Marylebone for
the few years to baptise three children, however they may be the 1780
marriage in Deal between a John BOWLES & Ann THOMAS, the area more
associated with the BOWLES name. This is not proven. Their Marylebone
children are:
· Ann BOWLES
(1788);
· Thomas BOWLES
(1790-1818), the mariner of Strand Street, Sandwich, my 4xGGF;
· Henry BOWLES
(1791-1865), mariner of Strand Street, Sandwich = Martha SPRATLING of Woodnesborough (c1794-1884 Reading) in 1811
Sandwich:
§ Richard Henry BOWLES
– abt Oct 1812, c. 8 Nov 1812 at St Clement. Richard is probably the 1846
death in Sandwich, in which case he may be the one recorded in St
Bartholomew’s Hospital, Sandwich (cabinet maker) in 1841;
§ Henry BOWLES
- 6 Aug 1815 Strand Street, c. 24 Sep 1815 St Clement. He is buried in
Reading, Berkshire in 1898. In 1848, he married Elizabeth GRIGGS (1824-79) of Woodnesborough (5 children), then
widow Susan Annabella RUMLEY nee
HARDING in 1879 Reading:
o Richard Henry BOWLES
(1850-1921), storekeeper = Elizabeth
KNIGHT in 1873 Reading. The couple lived for a time in Croydon, Surrey,
then settled in Lancashire. After Elizabeth’s death, he remarried Ellen (possibly AINSWORTH) and had a daughter
in 1891:
§ Vincent James BOWLES
(1875-1941) = Mary Ellen WALSH
(1882-1954) in 1902. Couple lived in Flintshire. Vincent died aboard the SS
Farfield (Chief Engineer);
§ Henry Charles Leonard BOWLES
(1876-1949) = Annie Ellen KEATES
in 1913. The couple lived in Crewe;
§ May Evelyn BOWLES
(1880);
§ Claude Adolphus BOWLES
(1886-1943) = Eliza HOLLAND in
1913 and lived in Latchford, Cheshire;
§ Ethel Grace BOWLES
(1891);
o Anne Elizabeth BOWLES
(1852-69);
o Henry James BOWLES
(1856-1907) = Maria COLEMAN in
1884 Reading. After Henry’s death, Maria remarried to Nelson PROWER in 1909 and moved to Canada with her surviving sons
in 1910:
§ Henry Charles BOWLES
(1885-1974) – Alberta, Canada;
§ William John BOWLES
(1887-1971) – San Diego, California;
§ Alfred Ernest BOWLES
(1890-1905);
§ Benjamin Herbert BOWLES
(1892-1980) – BC, Canada;
o Charles George BOWLES
(1859) = Jane Elizabeth GRIGGS
(1862-1916) in Sandwich, and lived in Plumstead, Kent:
§ Florence Catherine BOWLES
(1884);
§ Charles Henry James BOWLES
(1885-1951) = Selina Maria HARDEN
in 1910;
§ Henry Richard BOWLES
(1887-1905);
§ Ada Mabel BOWLES
(1889);
§ Sydney Gordon BOWLES
(1893-1912);
§ Ernest Edward BOWLES
(1895-1949);
§ Ethel Gertrude BOWLES
(1901);
o Martha BOWLES
(1861) = Amos FISHER in 1889
Reading;
§ Ann BOWLES
- 10 Sep 1817 Strand Street, c. 30 Nov 1817 St Clement. She is probably the
burial recorded in Aug 1818, aged 0;
GIBBS / GIBBES
There are over 700 connected
GIBBS / GIBBES family members in the greater East Kent family tree. My 6xGGM Sarah
GIBBS was part of the Elmstone family, who had their family seat in the
village and manor of Elmstone since the C14th. Ancestors were connected to
the court of king Richard III of England, having moved up from their original
seat in Venton, Devon. All GIBBS (or GIBBES) in East Kent appear to be
related, with all lines having similar naming patterns. Genealogical records
also indicate that members of this family settled in Somerset, Hertfordshire,
Warwickshire and the Derry townland in Donoughmore parish, County Cork, Ireland.
Venton (Fenton) Manor near Dartington, Devon
– C15th/C16th Ancestral Home of the GIBBS
The family claim Norman origins,
which is now appearing to be demonstrated by a few GIBBS men connected to the
Kent families, all providing the haplotype I-M253, with a suggested match
from a GIBBES in the US (see below); “I” being the Viking haplogroup and the
Vikings having settled in Normandy. I am collecting the Y-DNA results of any
GIBBS or GIBBS men who match I-M253 so that they can be tied in
genealogically as well as genetically. It also now reported that several HAWKINS Y-DNA participants had long
suspected that they were related to the lineage of Giles GIBBS of Somerset/Dorset, c.1600, through extra-marital
liaisons. These Y-DNA connections have been verified through conventional
genealogical sources. Please contact me on my research blog to exchange
information.
C17th Elmstone Court on the site of the old Elmstone Manor, C16th Ancestral
Home of the GIBBS family in East Kent
In the C17th, two GIBBS brothers
were involved in a Barbados sugar plantation, before moving on to settle in
the Carolina colonies. The present-day GIBBES families in South Carolina are
descendants of these brothers, including a former colonial governor and other
local notables. Present-day GIBBES in the US are included in the greater Kent
family tree.
James Shoolbred Gibbes Sr (1819-1888), my 7th
cousin 5x removed, Charleston merchant and patron of the arts, who bequeathed
the funds for the building of the Gibbes Museum, Charleston, SC.
Painted George W. Flagg
You can read more about the
history of the GIBBS family on the Ballynoe House
Blog.
KNIGHT
There are over 500 connected
KNIGHT family members in the East Kent family tree. Henry
KNIGHT (1757) is a member of the Wickhambreux and
neighbouring village Preston by Wingham (aka Preston, or Wingham, or Preston
next Wingham) KNIGHT families headed by George KNIGHT & Sarah GIBBS
(my 6xGGPs). Please contact me to discuss any
KNIGHT lines in East Kent, since the tree is a large one. Excluding
Martha, 5 other children of Henry & Elizabeth KNIGHT (my 5xGGPs)
are known at Wickhambreux:
- Sarah
KNIGHT (1786);
- George
KNIGHT (1787) = Sarah LARKIN in 1805
Wickhambreux. Children:
- James
KNIGHT (1805-73) = Mary HODGES in
1828, with subsequent children and many descendants in Wapping,
Whitechapel, Spitalfields, West Ham, St George's East (eastern
districts of present day Greater London (Middlesex/Essex));
- Richard
KNIGHT (1807-84) = Sarah Ann HODGES
in 1927, with subsequent children and descendants also in the east end
of London (St George's East & Rotherhithe);
- Henry
KNIGHT (1809-81) = Elizabeth LAYER in
1833. Their family remained in the Wingham & Staple areas of Kent;
- Mary
Ann KNIGHT (1811-71) = Thomas Gregory
SAYER and lived in Stepney, London;
- Isaac
KNIGHT (1813) = Mary HUGHES and the
couple moved to St George's East, London by 1851;
- Harriet
KNIGHT (1815) remained in Wingham and was
unmarried by 1861;
- Henry
KNIGHT (1789) = Mary GOWARS in 1819
and settled in the Dartford area of Kent. Son Henry KNIGHT (1828)
and wife Hester WALKLING have numerous descendants in the NW Kent
towns of Lewisham, Sidcup, Bexley, Bromley & Dartford;
- Elizabeth
KNIGHT (1791);
- John
KNIGHT (1794-1871) = Sarah LARKIN and
remained in the Wickhambreux area.
LAWRENCE / SPAIN
There are more than 100 connected LAWRENCE
family members via my 4xGGM Elizabeth LAWRENCE (d/o John LAWRENCE
& his first wife Sarah SPAIN). Please
contact me to discuss any LAWRENCE lines in East Kent. The original family
from Preston by Wingham & Elmstone spread out in the C19th to settle in
the Kentish towns Margate, Herne Bay, Tonbridge/Tunbridge Wells, Canterbury
and Dover, as well as the village of Littlebourne and further afield in
Birkenhead (Cheshire). The SPAIN family are closely tied with the area
immediately around Dover.
BROWNING
My connection to the BROWNING family is
through Thomas GIBBES & Jane BROWNING (my 8xGGPs). The 1679
Will of Matthew BROWNING of Chillenden,
Kent, mentions his daughter Jane, wife of Thomas GIBBES of Elmstone. Jane BROWNING
appears to be the 1741 baptised d/o Matthew BROWNING & his wife Anne
EVANS, although in this period baptisms only mention the father; wives are
only inferred from local marriages. Matthew & Anne would be my 9xGGPs.
Matthew and his son William (who also
married an Anne, and is mentioned in the same Will, along with a daughter
Alice) were living in Chillenden, a neighbouring village to Wingham, Kent,
i.e. a neighbouring village to Elmstone. Records suggest that Matthew was
born in 1617 in nearby Nonington, one of at least 4 sons of Abraham (Abram) BROWNING and wife
unknown. Abraham would be my 10xGGF.
There are 3 sons to a Christopher BROWNING
baptised in Nonington in the 1580's and it is possible Abram is his son.
Deeds show that my 9xGGF Matthew BROWNING
was a Yeoman Farmer in Chillenden, Kent. His holding is mentioned in several
deeds years after his death: "And all that messuage or tenement with the
appurtenances commonly called Chillindon Courtlodge and all buildings etc.
situate in the parishes of Chillendon, Goodnestone, Northborne and
Nonnington, late in the occupation of Matthew Browning and now of John Sole
containing by estimation 120 acres."
Court Lodge, Chillenden was held by Matthew
BROWNING, then taken over by John SOLE, who married Ann, the widow of
Matthew's son William. Matthew died in 1679. William died in 1684, with his
widow remarrying SOLE in 1685. Presumably in the intervening 5 years William
ran the farm prior to his death, as records suggest holdings transferred
directly from Matthew to SOLE.
The
outline above is indicative only and not necessarily fully correct or
complete.
The CreativeGraces family tree can be found on Ancestry
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