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Belinda Templeton - 13th February 2020 - 12:58

Thank you to Bronwen Reeve for all the hard work you have put into researching our family history.

Margaret O’Brien - 12th February 2020 - 11:50

Your site is a treasure trove for my research into the Brown Constable family. Thank you!

I am a descendant of David Constable 1725-1778, younger brother of George Constable, the purchaser of Wallace Craigie, and of Mathilda who married Laurence Brown.

Sue Daniels - 29th January 2020 - 13:47

Was Badsey affected by the Spanish flu. Researching my family tree of the Tovey family?

Admin - 29th January 2020 - 16:24

In reply to by Sue Daniels

Yes, very much so - see pages 147-148 of Peace, War & Remembrance:  The Great War in Badsey, Aldington & Wickhamford.  However, if you look at the Index of People on this website, you will see that there are no Tovey burials.  From what I can gather, there were just two Tovey families living in the village during the WWI period:  Charles & Mary Tovey, and Charles' brother, Richard, and family.  Richard had an adopted son, Alfred Webb, who died aged 12 in June 1920.  Wikipedia gives the pandemic as lasting from January 1918 to December 1920, so Alfred could possibly have died of flu, but you would need to purchase the death certificate in order to find out.

Sue Daniels - 12th February 2020 - 18:06

In reply to by Admin

Thank you for the information she was Ann Tovey who married Charles Jones - they both died in 1914.

Glenn Cox - 11th January 2020 - 18:55

This is another superb piece of research by the Badsey society. The levels of detail and accuracy indicate that considerable effort and great care must have been required. Congratulations and thanks to all concerned. Badsey and the neighbouring villages are very fortunate to have this excellent website containing so much valuable local history (not just this article of course). Badsey seems to be a leader in this field and sets a splendid example to other villages.

Mrs Janette Horton - 10th January 2020 - 23:10

I am researching Muzio Clementi and any links to Dr Johnson and trying to find out if ever they met.
I am interested in the article: “Miss Marjorie Clementi pianist seeks Muzio`s last home” which was published on 15th October 1955. (Badsey Society copy made 2003 of the 1955 document)
In this article it states that :
“At 28 he had taken London Society by storm with his conducting of the Italian opera at Covent Garden; and had stirred Dr Johnson.” Where did this quote come from? I really need to find the original source of this quote. I note that the provenance was an article from the Evesham Journal copied from file at Evesham Library. However where did this actual statement come from? Can anyone help me please?

Valerie Harman - 11th January 2020 - 8:54

In reply to by Mrs Janette Horton

I am a member of the Badsey Society as well as being a member of The Vale of Evesham Historical Society. I suggest you contact Richard Ball of the VEHS at
richardfball@aol.com
I am almost certain the society has done some research into Clementi so may be able to help you.
Val Harman

Mrs Janette Horton - 11th January 2020 - 22:15

In reply to by Valerie Harman

Thank you Val. I am most grateful to receive your suggestion and I will follow it up and contact Richard Ball.
Many thanks. Janette Horton of Lichfield Staffordshire.

Admin - 11th January 2020 - 11:27

In reply to by Mrs Janette Horton

If you log on to the British Newspaper Archive website, there are a lot of references to Muzio Clementi.  You might be able to track down from there the origin of the quote.

Sharon Beatty nee Cox - 10th January 2020 - 6:33

Wow I’ve been tracing my family back to Richard Cox and beyond and was amazed to read this thank you

Admin - 10th January 2020 - 11:08

In reply to by Sharon Beatty nee Cox

I'm impressed that you found the article so quickly - we only published it on the web yesterday!  I'm glad that the Cox family has been useful - it was quite a useful exercise in pulling together all the various references to Cox on our website.  If you have any Cox family photos etc that you think might be useful, we would love to see them.

Graham Woodman - 7th January 2020 - 15:02

I'd like to comment on the family of my 3x great grandparents Thomas Sharp & Harriet Knight (of Sharps Row in Badsey), in particular about Harriet's brother's line. He was Robert Knight born c1806 in Badsey and married to Mary Dowsil.

Of Robert & Mary's children I am currently looking for the whereabouts of their son William Knight who was born 1846, but my problem being that another William Knight was born the same year which had presented me with a dilema.

My reason for writing is because I have been looking at two persons named William Knight born at the same place & year and I have made a mistake in following my line which is in fact incorrect. I have made a common error in looking at the many trees on Ancestry and taking information without positive proof. I am usually very careful what to include in my tree and check as much as possible but in this case there are many tree's that were just showing incorrectly. Many people are in danger of adding 2 plus 2 and coming up with 5.

I'd like to thank Maureen Spinks & the Badsey Society for helping me with my Knight connections, especially proving that my William Knight was the son of Robert Knight & Mary Dowsil and the fact that this William was the one who emigrated to Ohio.

Many thanks for your kind comments, Graham.  As Knight was the commonest surname by far in Badsey for three centuries, it is inevitable that many names were duplicated, so it is a case of looking logically through all the baptism, marriage, burial and census records to confirm the correct line of descent.  It is extremely frustrating when we see incorrect family trees published on Ancestry.

A pivotal point regarding your William Knight came when I realised that a significant number of people from Badsey emigrated in the latter half of the 19th century to the small town of Auburn, Ohio, USA.  William Knight seemed to have "disappeared" from the UK census so, as other Badsey folks, including several members of the Knight family, had gone to America, I started looking for him in America - and, bingo, there he was in the 1870 census for Auburn!

Thank you for taking the time to write and hope that you continue to enjoy looking at the Badsey website - new articles are being added all the time.

Alexandra Woodall - 15th December 2019 - 21:14

I’ve just come across your site. I’m a Woodall, interested in family history. I’m descended from the youngest of Sir Corbet Woodall’s 10 children (of the Gas, Light and Coke Co). I’m not sure of the exact connection here but would love to know more. Thank you. Alex

Thank you for your comment.  The person by the name of Woodall who lived in Wickhamford was Alfred Woodall (1875-1966) who was born in Staffordshire, the son of William and Caroline Woodall.  Having checked on Ancestry, William Woodall was born at Shrewsbury in 1843, the son of John and Elizabeth Woodall.  John Woodall was born at Shrewsbury in about 1808.

I see that Corbet Woodall was born in Liverpool in 1841, but older siblings were born in Shrewsbury, as was his father, William (born about 1804), so there would appear to be some kind of family connection.  It is possible that William Woodall (father of Corbet) and John Woodall (father of William and grandfather of Alfred) may have been brothers.  The Shropshire parish records do not appear to be online, so you will need to pay a visit to Shropshire Record Office to check this out.  Hope this helps.

Peter Stewart - 16th December 2019 - 19:54

In reply to by Alexandra Woodall

Corbett's father, William, was born abt.1795 and married Martha Ann Basson 13 Aug 1829 and had four children. William's father, John, married Martha Harris at Shrewsbury 15 Jan 1805. They had six children, including John Woodall, who was born 25 Jun 1807 in Shrewsbury. This appears to be the connection.
Peter Stewart

David Norman - 28th November 2019 - 17:35

Hello. I am another person decended from Joseph Knight (my mother was called Jennifer Knight, and her father grew up around the area). I notice that one of your pages (https://www.badsey.net/past/knight3.htm) refers to a huge family tree of the Knights. I wonder if i can see that information?

Maureen Spinks - 21st December 2019 - 23:18

In reply to by David Norman

Thank you for your email and many apologies for the delay in replying but I have been busy updating and article about the Knight family which I have added to the Top Ten Names section - https://www.badseysociety.uk/top-ten-names. The family tree which you refer to was produced some 17 years ago for a display at the school fete. I’m afraid it no longer exists in print format (from memory it was about 22 sheets of A4 stuck together) as it was getting extremely tatty and, more importantly, corrections and new information needed to be added. I hope that this article on the Knights will help you understand the various family relationships.

Christine Dalton - 12th November 2019 - 15:42

A very well laid out website and also interesting. I happened on it when searching about my family history (Broadway/Willersey area) and I can see that a lot of thought and effort has gone into it. I will browse it again in future. Regards, Chris Dalton (nee Andrews)

Adam - 27th October 2019 - 20:44

I just bought Victoria Cottage in Station Road and was surprised by it’s history. Thank you for sharing the information about it on this website.

Thank you for your kind comments - we are glad that you have found the website useful. In 2022 the 1921 census will be available for public viewing, so we shall have a team of volunteers in action doing the transcribing, the results of which will be put on the website. You will thus be able to see who lived at Victoria Cottage then. At the same time, we plan to do a further comprehensive photo survey of the village in 2022.

paul mason mason - 15th October 2019 - 19:14

Good Evening! Firstly I would like to say what a fantastic website! IT has helped me trace my family back to my 8th Great Grandfather Robert Mason who was Church Warden at Wickhamford in 1699! His Direct family line are the Mason family of Birlingham Pershore! The Mason family were staunch Royalists and were granted a coat of Arms by King Charles for their exploits in the Battle of Worcester! After the defeat to Cromwell some the family fled to America and eventually one of the Family George Mason of Gunstan Hall Virginia wrote Americas "BILL OF RIGHTS" He was great friends with George Washington ! This is where I am convinced the Washington family have links to Wickhamford! I hope this proves of interest! A lot of research into my family has been done by Roger Whitworth a local Historian and Genealogist. Kind regards Paul Mason

Hi Paul
It's great you have sent the information on the Mason family and the connection between George Mason and George Washington.
It's almost certain that our forbear Robert Mason who came to Wickhamford some time before 1700 would have known Penelope Washington who resided at Wickhamford Manor and was a distant relative of George Washington.
Keep up the research.
Val

Hi Val as you are aware my search of our families past is a daily ongoing task for me! You are also aware that I use my DNA results to link our family to places and people! So today I have matched a DNA link to the name of SANDYS and the location of Worcestershire and I have a match to a Margaret Sandys Born 1588 Worcestershire!
This is really cementing my research! I just need to uncover the documented sources! I will keep you and the fantastic Badsey website updated as and when!

Hi, not sure if you are based in Worcestershire but if you are, we live in Badsey and are in possession of an original large framed photo of George Mason on his horse. This photo was the property of Celia Barnard (his fiancé) and inherited by Celia’s younger sister. This is now owned by Celia’s nephew. Unfortunately it is too fragile to be sent as a parcel. Kind regards Marion

Hello Marion
Thank you for letting us know about the photo of George Mason on horseback. Am I correct in thinking that it is the same one as is featured in the article “The Mason brothers of Elm Farm – pictorial study” (https://www.badseysociety.uk/world-war-one/the-mason-brothers-elm-farm-…) and also on page 89 of Peace, War & Remembrance: The Great War in Badsey, Aldington & Wickhamford?
I assume you are the daughter-in-law of Cecilia’s sister, Evelyn. The Badsey Society is most definitely based in Worcestershire, in Badsey itself. I was not sure from your comment whether you are offering to donate the framed photo to The Badsey Society archive. If that is your intention, then yes, we would love to receive it. Details and a copy of the item will be placed in our online catalogue (https://www.badseysociety.uk/archive) and the photo will be stored in our Archive at Badsey Remembrance Hall and used from time to time in exhibitions. Please email me directly at history@badsey.net to confirm your intentions.
Kind regards.
Maureen Spinks, Chairman, The Badsey Society

Hi Maureen just for your info I have spoken to Marion this evening and I have arranged to pick up the photo with a view to it going on display in the Worcester Regimental Museum ! I will be contacting the curator tommorow! This I feel should be its home and where it will be of most interest to serving and veterans of the Regiment! Kind Regards Paul Mason

Hi Maureen I am just in the throws of collating all the info on George from the fantastic Badsey website!! I will take this info along with me to the Museum! Yes you are correct that it is now the Mercians which is a result of the disbandment of the Prince of Wales Division ( to my disgust) I served with the Staffordshire Regiment also POW division! I aim to ensure that the photo along with his story takes a place of prominence within their displays! However if I felt that it was going to be tucked away out of sight and mind then the photo will stay in the MASON family and passed down through history! I having served 12 years also as a infantry soldier feel that George would agree my course of action! Once again a very big thank you to all of you who have spent endless hours uncovering the past of Badsey/Wickhamford! I don't think there is a local historical/ factual website to match it!! Kind regards PM

Clinton Slayton - 9th October 2019 - 23:02

Years ago, I encouraged Michael B. Sladden, descendant of the Badsey bunch, I presume, to contribute a yDNA sample to our surname study of Sladen and Sladden. (He was in New York when first contacted.) The good news is that he did it, the bad news is that he sampled with a British service that has since shut down. He has since moved to London. I never received a printout of his results, this result is the only Sladden male tested that we are aware of. He was under the impression that I would besable to get access to his results online, but since the firm closed and he moved, I have never been able to do so.
I do not seek direct contact information. I do not wish to invade anyone's privacy, and I do not participate in FaceBook or Twitter, where his daughter Chloe was once a company officer. I simply would like for my e-mail info to be forwarded to Mr. Sladden (or his daughter Chloe or son Mark, so that they can contact him regarding this matter.)
He was interested enough to pay for the sampling, so I assume he would like to know how he compares with the other 50 men in the study. Thanks for any attention you might be give to this matter.
Clinton Slayton
admin Slaton Slatton Slayden Family & DNA Project

Admin - 10th October 2019 - 8:15

In reply to by Clinton Slayton

Thank you for your email.  I don't have Michael's email or that of his children, but I am in contact with his sister, Patsy, so I have forwarded to her.