20 Apr 2023

Since we have expanded the Tew tree a lot recently I thought I’d look to see if there are any new DNA connections. There are two that connect to Corbett Tew. I evaluated them briefly.

“JD” (4th-6th cousin, 20 cM shared):

She thinks she is descended from Sarah Watts (formerly Tew) born 1808, daughter of John Tew and Mary Bull. She gives a birth date of 30 Dec 1807 in Adstock, Bucks for Sarah, and a baptism on 10 Jan 1808 in Stretton on Dunsmore, both of which seem erroneous¹. The baptism is linked to a record that shows parents of Thomas and Mary Tew. However the birth is linked to an assisted immigration record for Sarah Watts, born 1812, who travelled to Adelaide, Australia with her husband John Watts and children². The record transcription states she was Gloucestershire but this is actually a transcription error and she is from Bucks, probably Adstock (hard to be sure). There is a burial record for her on Find a Grave³ in Eltham Cemetery, Eltham, Nillumbik Shire, Victoria, Australia , with the following biographical information:

Sarah Tue / Tew. Married John Watts at Shalstone, Buckinghamshire England in 1832. John and Sarah came to Australia 1848 on the ship Adelaide, with their children: Maria (Rendall), Anne (Southby), Betsy, Robert and Thomas. They had another child Sarah (Jones) soon after arrival. After John passed away in 1860 Sarah Watts remarried to Robert Meadows in 1867.

There is no source for this information and it seems likely that it is someone’s family history research. We could look up this information to confirm. We have a Sarah Tew baptised in 1813, daughter of Corbet Tew and Martha Tapping. Maybe this is a match? However, on Joan Dean’s tree there is a comment attached to the death of Sarah: “On her Death certificate it states a John Tue and Mary as her parents”⁴.

“VR” (5th – 8th Cousin, 8 cM shared):

She doesn’t have any Tews in her tree, the closest relative being Valentine Holman, born 1892 in Buckinghamshire. Ancestry is using other trees to infer the connection. These other trees seem to agree that the connection s Louisa Coxhill (formerly Tew) baptised 7 Mar 1841 in Gawcott, daughter of William and Mary Tew.⁵

“VR” appears to be a more distant DNA relative than “JD”, so perhaps the common ancestor is event further back. We could try and trace William Tew from Gawcott and see where he connects.

Something else is strange about these two DNA connections: they don’t share any common ancestors. There are very few shared matches between them and L and oddly where a maternal/paternal side is shown, both are on L’s maternal side. Could it be that the Tew name connection is just a concidence and that these are connections from the Rogers side of L’s family?

I wrote to the Buckinghamshire Archives to reserve a microfilm reader for our planned visit on Monday and Tuesday. I ordered two films:

• M 13/193 (Parish Registers, Shalstone)
• M 13/195 (Parish Registers, Westbury)

While browsing the archives site I ended up on the Buckinghamshire Record Society website. I used their search for Tew and found nothing much, but by accident I came across a PDF of “The Buckinghamshire Posse Comitatus, 1798 (1985)”⁶ which is:

A military census of able-bodied men between the ages of 15 and 60, not engaged in any military capacity, made during the Napoleonic Wars. Contains over 23,500 names arranged under places, giving occupations. Also given are owners and numbers of horses, waggons, and carts and details of wind and water mills.

The entry for Shalstone contains some Tues, some Pennells and a Feters:

Farmers: Daniel Burman, Job Burman (Constable), William Hoot, James Powell, William Powell, Samuel Strange

Carpenters: Edward Barnet, Simon Hopcraft

Servants: John Barnet, Richard Cox, Benjamin Durren, James Garner, William Jarvis, Richard Keys, George Pennell, Richard Perkins, Joseph Stockford, John Tue, Thomas Tue, James Williams

Labourers: Thomas Church, William Elliott, John Feters, John Fox, John Garner, William James, John Keys, James May, John Pennell, Thomas Pennell, John Perkins, John Perkins, Robert Sterring, Corbey Tue, William Tue, William Warner, John Williams

The entry for Westbury has no Tews but mentions a James Whitehead, a John Russell and two Thomas Russells.

The index puts Tues under the name Tew:

• Corbey Tue: Shalstone, Labourer; p116
• John Tue: Shalstone, Servant; p116
• John Tue: Gawcott, Labourer; p97
• Thomas Tue: Shalstone, Servant; p116
• Thomas Tue: Twyford, Labourer; p122
• William Tew: Grendon Underwood, Farmer; p60
• William Tew: Grendon Underwood, 6 horses, 2 waggons, 2 carts; p 85
• William Tue: Shalstone, Labourer; p116

There are two Hinsons:

• William Hinson: Little Brickhill, Taylor; p300
• William Hinson Jr: Little Brickhill, Taylor; p300

There are several Whiteheads:

• Edward Whitehead: Leckhampstead, Labourer; p105
• George Whitehead: Leckhampstead, Labourer; p105
• James Whitehead: Dorton, Servant; p77
• James Whitehead: Westbury, no description; p123
• John Whitehead: Beachampton, Farmer or Dairyman; p103
• John Whitehead: Thornborough, Victualler; p110
• John Whitehead: Beachampton, 2 horses, 2 carts; p124
• John Whitehead: Bow Brickhill, Labourer; p301
• John Whitehead: Simpson, Servant; p311
• Samuel Whitehead: Nash, Labourer; p209
• Samuel Whitehead: Iver, Servant; p350
• Thomas Whitehead: Biddlesden, Farmers Servant; p104
• Thomas Whitehead: Stony Stratford, Cordwainer; p313
• William Whitehead: Leckhampstead, Servant; p105
• William Whitehead: Hanslope, Labourer; p307

I took at my chambers tree on Ancestry, which I haven’t really worked on since I transcribed it from my old written records. I think it’s wrong!

It was always confusing having so many people named Joseph Chambers and the main source of our information back then was the IGI. I don’t think we ever looked directly at the original registers. Now I have better transcriptions available I think I can do a better job.

This is what I currently have on Ancestry

▪ Joseph Chambers 1= Mary Edwards
    ▪ Joseph Chambers 2 (1691) = Mary Hill
        ▪ Joseph Chambers 3  (1714-1807) = Elizabeth Gooch (-1810)
            ▪ Joseph Chambers 4 (1767-1857) = Sarah Meen (?-1820)
                ▪ James Chambers (1793-1854) = Mary Ann Martyn (1801-1873)

I have labelled them as 1-4 for reference.

I have the marriages from the Hoxne and Dunwich deaneries from 1754-1812 and these are the Joseph Chambers mentioned

• 13 Oct 1788, marriage of Joseph Chambers, of St James, and Susanna Botwright, in Wisset
• 28 Jul 1766, marriage of Joseph Chambers and Elizabeth Gooch, in Metfield
• 25 Jul 1785, marriage of Joseph Chambers, widower, and Sarah Meen, in Fressingfield
• 17 Jan 1787, marriage of Joseph Chambers, widower and Frances Brundish, widow, in Fressingfield

Frances Brundish might have been Frances Morley, formerly Frances Meen:

• 4 Dec 1766, marriage of William Brundish, widower, and Frances Morley, widow, in Fressingfield
• 24 Apr 1753, marriage of Daniel Morley, of Weybread, and Frances Meen, of Weybread, in Mendham

The fact that Joseph Chambers was a widower when he married Sarah Meen suggests he is older than Joseph 4

The baptisms I can find (Hoxne 1650-1812, Dunwich 1754-1812):

• 27 Jun 1680, baptism of Joseph, son of Joseph Chambers, of Fressingfield, in Fressingfield
• 1 May 1767, baptism of Joseph, son of Joseph and Elizabeth Chambers, in Fressingfield
• 4 Jul 1765, baptism of Joseph, son of Mary Chambers, in Cratfield
• 8 Jan 1797, baptism of Joseph, son of Joseph and Susan Chambers, late Botwright, born 19 Nov 1796, in Wisset

So, no sign of the 1714 or 1691 baptisms. However, Findmypast has the following from its “England Births & Baptisms 1538-1975” collection, which I believe is based on the old IGI:

• 27 Jun 1680, baptism of Joseph, son of Joseph Chambers, in Fressingfield
• 1 Mar 1691, baptism of Joseph, son of Joseph Chambers, in Fressingfield
• 6 Oct 1714, baptism of Joseph, son of Joseph Chambers, in Fressingfield
• 26 Dec 1738, baptism of Joseph, son of Joseph and Elizabeth, in Fressingfield.
• 1 May 1767, baptism of Joseph, son of Joseph and Elizabeth, in Fressingfield

It’s a mystery where the 1691, 1714 and 1738 baptisms have come from. I have an old printed copy of the IGI for sufffolk from 1988 and they appear there too.

I have these burials from the suffolk indexes:

• 29 Aug 1676, burial of Joseph Chambers, in Bardwell
• 14 Jun 1684, burial of Joseph Chambers, infant, in Fressingfield
• 26 Mar 1694. burial of Joseph Chambers, son of Joseph, in Fressingfield
• 6 Jul 1765, burial of Joseph Chambers, son of Mary, in Cratfield
• 16 Aug 1777, burial of Elizabeth Chambers, in Fressingfield
• 21 Feb 1782, burial of Elizabeth Chambers, wife of Joseph, in Fressingfield
• 11 Oct 1807, burial of Joseph Chambers, in Fressingfield
• 21 Mar 1815, burial of Joseph Chambers, age 79, in Fressingfield
• 3 Dec 1854, burial of Joseph Chambers, age 85, in South Elmham

The 1815 burial indicates a Joseph born in 1736, between Joseph 3 and Joseph 4

There must be a Joseph Chambers born around 1736, but he wasn’t baptised in Fressingfield. I suspect the entries in the IGI were simply made up to cover an inconvenient gap between 1680 and 1767. The gaps between 1691, 1714, and 1738 are 23 and 24 years, so perhaps they look like obvious generation gaps.

There is a cluster of children born to Joseph in Fressingfield. Sometimes a mother, Mary, is shown:

• 16 Oct 1676 Mary, mother Mary
• 26 Oct 1676 Mary, mother Mary
• 27 Jun 1680 Joseph
• 24 Sep 1682 Elizabeth
• 11 Dec 1684 Jeremy
• 21 Dec 1685 Sarah

There are actually very few Chambers families in the Hoxne Deanery at this time.

Several decades later we see a cluster of children born to Joseph and Elizabeth Chambers in Fresssingfield:

• 10 Dec 1762 Martha
• 1 May 1767 Joseph
• 4 Feb 1769 Mary
• 14 Mar 1771 John
• 13 Nov 1772 Elizabeth
• 8 Mar 1775 Sarah
• 29 Dec 1776 Rose
• 27 Dec 1778 Christobell
• 27 Dec 1778 Sarah
• 22 Feb 1780 Maria

A Joseph Chambers married Elizabeth Gooch in 1766. I don’t know how Martha Chambers fits in, but the other children look to be the children of Joseph and Elizabeth Gooch. She probably died in 1782 (as above list of burials). He then marries Sarah Meen in 1785 which fits the second group of children:

• 6 Aug 1786 Thomas
• 23 Dec 1787 Sarah
• 4 Oct 1789 John
• 27 Nov 1791 Sarah
• 11 May 1794 James

There are no children of Joseph and Frances Brundish, which would fit with her being past childbearing age when they marry. If she was the Frances Meen who married Daniel Morley, then these are their children in Fressingfield:

• 1 Oct 1754 Daniel Morley
• 5 Mar 1756 Elizabeth Morley
• 25 Mar 1759 James Morley
• 13 Oct 1760 John Morley

There are a group of children belonging to Joseph Chambers and Susannah Botwright in Wisset and Spexhall. The registers show her maiden name against the baptism:

• 25 Jan 1789 Francis
• 25 Apr 1790 James
• 26 Feb 1792 Mary Anne
• 25 Aug 1793 Susan
• 15 Feb 1795 Elizabeth
• 8 Jan 1797 Joseph
• 14 Oct 1798 John
• 29 Mar 1801 James, in Spexhall
• 17 Apr 1803 Anne, in Spexhall
• 3 Mar 1805 Sarah, in Spexhall
• 27 Apr 1806 Henry, in Spexhall

I could also try to determine the ages of the wives in the marriages.

From above, Frances Brundish appears to be getting married for the first time in 1753, perhaps born in 1730 as Frances Meen? There isn’t an obvious baptism that fits. There is one in nearby Redenhall on 31 Dec 1714, daughter of Richard and Bridgett⁷ (with an image on Findmypast⁸)

Elizabeth Gooch was perhaps born around 1745 in Metfield. Again I can’t find her in the Suffolk indexes. There is an Elizabeth Gooch baptised 4 Feb 1746 in Beccles, daughter of James and Elizabeth⁹, and on on 9 Jan 1743, again in Redenhall, daughter of William and Sarah¹⁰ (with image¹¹). There are a few others further afield.

The only Sarah Meen I can find is Sarah Meen, baptised 20 Mar 1751, dau. of Thomas and Mary, in Laxfield. There doesn’t seem to be a burial before the marriage in 1785. There is another Sarah Meen marrying Daniel Sunstread in 1778, in Bungay, which is quite some distance away. It’s possible that Sarah was married to a Meen and was a widow, but this would most likelyhave been recorded.

I dug out a tree I drew in 1988 which looks better, but still includes the 1738 baptism that doesn’t seem to exist.

I think I need to delete everything above James Chambers (1794) from Ancestry and start again.