The surname Knight has been by far and away the commonest name in Badsey records for three centuries since the 18th century. Whist there are a few incidences of the name in Wickhamford records, these are minimal compared with Badsey and are mainly Badsey Knights marrying in the neighbouring village. But now the reign of the Knights in Badsey is nearing an end. A hundred years ago, Badsey Council School boasted many Knights on the register; today, in 2019, there are none. There are still a few people by the name of Knight living in the village today, but it is no longer a top surname.
The name first occurs in the 16th century (see Knight Families 1 & 2), but it was not until the arrival of Joseph Knight (see Knight Family 3) at the end of the 17th century that the name proliferated in the village.
Knight Family 1 – John Knight, Roger Knight (16th century)
John Knight is the first Knight to be mentioned in Badsey records. He died in May 1561, but we have no idea of his age.
Fifteen years later, Richard Knight was baptised in 1576, the son of Roger Knight. It is possible that Roger Knight may have been the son of John Knight, but we have no way of confirming this. Roger was probably born around the 1540s, but this does not appear to have been in Badsey. There was a Roger Knight who was buried at Wickhamford on 23rd October 1649, but this is unlikely to have been the same person as he would have been around a hundred at the time of death.
Roger’s son, Richard, was baptised on 6th October 1576; Richard died aged just a few weeks. Roger had another three children baptised at Badsey: Anthony (1577), Agnes (1579) and Alice (1581). No further information is known about the family.
Knight Family 2 – Francis Knight (17th century)
The next incidence of the name Knight in Badsey does not occur until just over 70 years later. Thomas Knight, son of Francis, was baptised in 1653 and died the following year.
The Wickhamford Manorial court records for 7th January 1647-8 record that Francis Knight and his son, Richard, now 14 years old, were granted land called “Yeates” and “Julians”. The records for 30th April 1650 state that Francis Knight and his wife and son surrendered the whole of their estate. It is possible that Francis and family moved to the neighbouring village of Badsey where baby Thomas was born and died.
Francis may also have had a son, James Knight, who married Mary Lea at Badsey in 1659; this is the first incidence of the name Knight to appear in the Badsey marriage register.
At Wickhamford in 1672, Mary Knight married John Baylis.
Francis Knight may possibly be the Francis Knight who was baptised at Bretforton in 1590 (see Knight Family 3 below, 2nd paragraph).
Knight Family 3 – Joseph Knight (c1660-1727) and Descendants
Joseph Knight (c1660-1727)
From the 1680s, the name Knight appears regularly in Badsey parish records when Joseph Knight was living in the village and had many children baptised. It is from Joseph Knight that most of the Knights who lived in Badsey in the 19th and 20th centuries are descended.
It is likely that Joseph is the Joseph Knight who was baptised at Bretforton (the neighbouring village to Badsey) on 23rd April 1663, the eldest of six children of Thomas Knight and his wife, Mary/Margaret (née Tandy). The baptism record gives his mother’s name as Mary, but the baptism records for all his siblings, and the marriage record for his father, all say Margaret. At the end of the 16th century and beginning of the 17th century, there had been a family of Knights living in Bretforton. John and Elizabeth Knight had eight children: Francis (1590-?), John (1592), Anthony (1595-1595), Philip (1596), Michael (1599), Elizabeth (1601), Thomas (1606-1672) and Valentine 1608). Whilst is has not been possible to establish a definite connection, it is possible that the Joseph Knight who established the Knight dynasty in Badsey was related in some way to the above Francis Knight (see Knight Family 2).
The first we hear of Joseph is on 15th November 1685 when Joseph Night (sic) married Jane/Joan Darke at Wickhamford. They then settled in Badsey (or possibly Aldington – the Badsey baptism register for that period does not specify address) where six children were born: Thomas (1686-1723), William (1686), Alice (1688), Joseph (1690-1731), Margaret (1693) and John (1695).
Jane/Joan died in November 1697. On 14th August 1698, Joseph married Eleanor Richardson at Wickhamford. From 1699 to 1715, eight children of Joseph and Eleanor Knight were baptised at Badsey: Henry (1699-1769), Samuel (1700-1783), Francis (1702), Edward (1704), Benjamin (1705), James (1707-1711), Valentine (1708) and James (1715-1715). The baptism register gives their address as Aldington.
Joseph died at Aldington in September 1727, but Eleanor appears to have survived to a grand old age, not dying until August 1760, but it is likely that she may have been a lot younger than her husband.
The Knights living in Badsey and Aldington in the 20th century are descended from two of Joseph’s sons: Thomas (1686-1723) from the first marriage (see Knight Family 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d) and Samuel (1700-1783) from the second marriage (see Knight Family 3g). Joseph (1690-1731) from the first marriage (see Knight Family 3f) and Henry (1699-1769) from the second marriage (see Knight Family 3h) also produced heirs, but their branch died out in Badsey or Aldington in the 19th and 18th century respectively.
Knight Family 3a – Thomas Knight (1686-1723), son of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729) from his first wife, and descendants
Thomas Knight (1686-1723), son of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
Thomas Knight (1686-1723), one of twins, was born at Badsey in 1686, the eldest of six children of Joseph Knight and his first wife, Jane/Joan (née Darke). He married Ann and it was their descendants who remained living in Badsey until the 20th century. Thomas and Ann had seven sons and one daughter, all born at Aldington: Joseph (1707), Thomas (1709), Henry (1712-1778), Ann (1714), David (1715), John (1717), William (1721) and James (1723-1729). Only Henry, the third son, appears to have married, produced children and remained in the village. Thomas Knight died at Aldington in 1723 and Ann in 1728.
Henry Knight (1712-1778), grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
Henry Knight (1712-1778), the third of eight children of Thomas and Ann Knight, was born at Aldington in 1712. He married Elizabeth Taylor at Wickhamford in 1736. They had five sons and five daughters, all born at Aldington: Hannah (1736-1738), Ann (1737), Thomas (1739), William (1741), Sarah (1744-1744), Elizabeth (1745), Henry (1747), Joseph (1749-1828), Mary (1752) and James (1760-1814). Henry Knight died at Badsey in 1778. His widow, Elizabeth, described as a pauper, died in 1791. Only Joseph (see Knight Family 3b) and James (see Knight Family 3c), the two youngest sons, appear to have remained in the village, marrying and producing children.
Knight Family 3b – Joseph Knight (1749-1828), great-grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729) from his first wife, and descendants
Joseph Knight (1749-1828), great-grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
Joseph Knight (1749-1828), the eighth of ten children of Henry Knight and his wife, Elizabeth (née Taylor), was born at Aldington in 1749. He married Elizabeth Mustin at Badsey in 1772; he signed with a cross. They had six sons and nine daughters: Mary (1772), Elizabeth (1773), Joseph (1775-1799), Sarah (1777-1780), William (1779), Sarah (1780-1841), Hannah (1782), Jane (1784), Charles (1786-1872), Hannah (1788), Henry (1790), Richard (1793), Abigail (1794), James (1796-1797) and Ann (1799). Both Joseph and Elizabeth died at Badsey in February 1828, Elizabeth being buried three days after her husband. Whilst Richard (1793-?) remained briefly in the village, and had two children, Joseph and Mary, baptised at Badsey in 1817 and 1819 respectively, he was gone by 1841. Only Charles married and produced a long line of children to carry on the Knight name in Badsey.
Charles Knight (1786-1872), great-great-grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
Charles Knight (1786-1872) was born at Badsey in 1786, the ninth of 15 children of Joseph Knight and his wife, Elizabeth (née Mustin). Charles married Sarah Morris at Badsey in 1811. They had eight sons and four daughters: Henry (1812-1887), Joseph (1813-1814), Joseph (1816), Sally/Sarah (1819-1893), Hannah (1821), Charlotte (1823-1879), Charles (1825), William (1828-1878), Anne (1830-1908), John (1833-1878), George (c1835) and Richard (1837-1891). Charles and Sarah lived at Aldington until at least 1821 when Hannah was born. By 1823, they were living in Badsey. By the time of the 1841 census, they were living in a cottage at the back of Brewers Lane (present-day No 20, Greystones), where they lived for the rest of their lives; their seven youngest children were living with them, the four eldest (Henry, Joseph, Sarah and Hannah) all having married by then. In 1851, they had the five youngest still at home, Charlotte and Charles both having married by this time; their grandson, Samuel Ingles Knight (Charlotte’s seven-year-old illegitimate child, was also staying with them, as Charlotte had married just a short time before). By 1861, only William, who never married, was still at home; plus their daughter, Anne Done, whose husband had recently died. Charles and Sarah still had their children, William Knight and Anne Done, with them in 1871, plus Anne’s two illegitimate children, and their grandson, Samuel Ingles Knight. The previous year, Samuel had been charged with being drunk and disorderly and fighting with John Wheatley; in the fracas, Sarah was accidently struck. Charles died at Badsey in 1872, aged 86, and Sarah in 1879, aged 84. Their widowed daughter, Ann Done, kept on the tenancy of Greystones for a short time as she was still there in 1881. Whilst many of their children remained in Badsey, it was only the youngest son, Richard, who was to carry on the name in Badsey.
Children of Charles Knight (1786-1872), great-great-great-grandchildren of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
Henry Knight (1812-1887), the eldest of 12 children of Charles Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Morris), was born at Aldington in 1812. He married Maria Boulter at Fladbury in 1831 and moved away from the village. Henry died at Churchill in 1887.
Joseph Knight (1816), the third of 12 children (and second son named Joseph, an older brother having died in infancy) of Charles Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Morris), was born at Aldington in 1816. He married Edna Hirons at Badsey in 1836. They had five sons, all born at Badsey: Charles (1837), William (1839), Henry (1841), George (1843) and John (1846-1846). They were living in Badsey in 1841. In April 1845, an article appeared in The Evesham Standard concerning Joseph stealing a sheep skin and being sentenced to a total of 28 days’ imprisonment. Joseph had died by 1851 and Edna had remarried, to Birmingham-born John Edwards, and moved with him to Birmingham. Edna lived at Tennant Street with her new husband, four sons by her first marriage and a newborn son from her second marriage.
Sally/Sarah Knight (1819-1893), the fourth of 12 children of Charles Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Morris), was born at Aldington in 1819. She married William Hartwell at Badsey in 1840 and remained in Badsey for the rest of her life, dying there in 1893, aged 74.
Hannah Knight (1821-1883), the fifth of 12 children of Charles Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Morris), was born at Aldington in 1821. She married William Robbins at Badsey in 1839 and remained in Badsey for the rest of her life, dying there in 1883, aged 62.
Charlotte Knight (1823-1879), the sixth of 12 children of Charles Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Morris), was born at Aldington in 1823. Charlotte had an illegitimate child, Samuel Ingles Knight (1843-1918), in 1843. It is possible that the father was Richard Ingles, the publican at The Round of Gras; he was the only male Ingles living in the village at that time. Charlotte married Samuel Godden at Badsey in 1851 and went on to have seven children with him. They lived in Badsey to begin with but then moved to Bengeworth about 1862 where Charlotte died in 1879.
Samuel Ingles Knight (1843-1918), was born at Badsey in 1843, the illegitimate son of Charlotte Knight. His father may have been Richard Ingles, the publican at The Round of Gras; he was the only male Ingles living in the village at that time. At the time of the 1851 census, Samuel, was staying with his grandparents; his mother had married Samuel Godden just three weeks earlier. Samuel Knight was back living with his mother, step-father and half-siblings in 1861. They lived in a house close to the present-day Hither Green and one of their nearest neighbours was Richard Ingles at The Round of Gras. The Goddens had moved to Bengeworth in about 1862, but Samuel Knight was living with his grandparents in 1871 on Brewers Lane. In June 1870, together with his first-cousin-once-removed, John Wheatley, he was charged with being drunk and disorderly. After the death of his grandparents, Samuel continued to live with his widowed aunt, Anne Done, firstly at Brewers Lane in 1881 and then at The Alley in 1891 and 1901. He was an agricultural labourer and did not marry; by 1901 he was a market gardener’s labourer. Samuel died at Badsey in 1918, aged 75.
Charles Knight (1825-1894), the seventh of 12 children of Charles Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Morris), was born at Badsey in 1825. He was baptised in St James Church, Badsey, on Boxing Day 1825. He appears in the baptismal register as Elizabeth Knight, but the Vicar appears to have made an error and muddled two babies baptised on the same day. He wrote Charles Hartwell and Elizabeth Knight, when he really meant Elizabeth Hartwell and Charles Knight. Charles, an agricultural labourer, married Mary Walford at Bretforton in 1849. In 1851, they were living in a house on the site of 28 High Street (demolished 1860s). By 1861, they were living at Sharps Row (one of the new cottages built in the 1840s). Charles and Mary lived in the first one; his siblings, Sarah Hartwell, Hannah Robbins and Richard Knight and their families lived in adjoining houses. Charles and Mary had five sons and two daughters, all born at Badsey: Thomas (1852), Oliver (1854), Selina (1854-1854), John (1855), George (1858), Alfred (1866) and Sarah Ann (1866). In June 1863, Charles and a friend were summoned for attempting to take fish from the brook at Aldington. In July 1865, Charles and his younger brother, George, were accused of stealing a ham from Mrs Fanny Wright. Charles and Mary were still at Sharps Row in 1871. By 1881 they had left the village and were living in Birmingham where Charles was a road labourer. Charles died in Birmingham in 1894 and Mary in 1897.
William Knight (1828-1878), the eighth of 12 children of Charles Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Morris), was born at Badsey in 1828. William did not marry. He was an agricultural labourer and remained in Badsey all his life, living with his parents at Brewers Lane. He died there in 1878.
Anne Knight (1830-1908), the ninth of 12 children of Charles Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Morris), was born at Badsey in 1830. She married Thomas Done at Badsey in 1852. By 1861, Ann was a widow, and living with her parents, Charles and Sarah Knight, but how or when Thomas died is not known. After her husband Thomas’ death, Ann gave birth to two illegitimate sons: Thomas William Done (1863) and John Done (1867). Ann and children still lived with her parents in 1871 at Brewers Lane. After the death of her parents, Ann was still in the same house in 1881, together with her nephew, Samuel Ingles Knight. In 1891, Ann was living at The Alley with her younger son, John. Ann died in 1908.
John Knight (1833-1878), the tenth of 12 children of Charles Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Morris), was born at Badsey in 1833. He was still living at home with his parents at Brewers Lane in 1851. He had married by 1861, but on census night 1861, he was a Private on board a vessel. His wife had died by 1871 and he was working as an agricultural labourer back in Badsey. He lodged in the home of Dinah Malin in Sharps Row (close to where his siblings, Charles Knight, Sarah Hartwell and Richard Knight also lived). His marital status was given as unmarried but, when he married Dinah at Badsey in 1875, his marital status was given as widower, which confirms that he had definitely previously been married. Also in the household in 1871 were Dinah’s two young sons, aged six and three. George had been born in 1864 and Walter Frederick (who later assumed the name John) in 1867; in the baptism register, they were described as the illegitimate sons of Dinah Malin, spinster. John Knight died in June 1878. After John’s death, Dinah had five more children with her partner, George Hartwell. They never married, so the children’s surname was Knight. These five children – William George Hartwell Knight (1879-1945), David Hartwell Knight (1880), Thomas Hartwell Knight (1882-1918), Alice Hartwell Knight (1883-1918) and Charles Hartwell Knight (1884-1961) – thus are not descended from the Knights of Badsey [see Family 3e below]. Dinah died at Badsey in 1926.
George Knight (c1835-1880s), the 11th of 12 children of Charles Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Morris), was born at Badsey in about 1835. He was still living at home with his parents at Brewers Lane in 1851, working as an agricultural labourer. George married Rosamond Pardington in 1857 in the Evesham area. Their first-born child, Elizabeth, was born at Badsey in 1858; she died, aged five months in January 1859. George and Rosamond, who went on to have seven more children, then moved away from the village firstly to Winchcombe, then Stonehouse. Although no longer living in the village (but presumably on a home visit to parents, in July 1865, George and his older brother, Charles, were accused of stealing a ham from Mrs Fanny Wright. George died some time between 1881 and 1891.
Richard Knight (1837-1891), great-great-great grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
Richard Knight (1837-1891), the youngest of 12 children of Charles Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Morris), was born at Badsey in 1837. He was the only one of their children to carry on the name Knight in Badsey. Richard was still living at home with his parents at Brewers Lane in 1851, working as an agricultural labourer. Richard married Jane Mowbray at Badsey in 1857. They had four sons and four daughters: Mary Ann (1858), Charles (1861-1944), Richard (1865), Sarah Jane (1867), Sam (1871-1920), Emma (1872), Henry (1874) and Ellen (1877). In 1861, 1871, 1881 and 1891 they lived at Sharps Row (along with other members of Richard’s family). Richard was an Agricultural Labourer for the early part of his working life, but was then a Market Gardener by 1881. Richard died in 1891 and Jane in 1902. Probate of Richard’s will was granted to his widow, Jane. By 1901, Jane, was living in a new house at 15 Chapel Street. It is possible that the Knights may have bought the land when it came up for sale when the previous owner, William Byrd, ran into financial difficulties.
Children of Richard Knight (1837-1891), great-great-great-great-grandchildren of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
Mary Ann Knight (1858-?), the eldest of eight children of Richard Knight and his wife, Jane (née Mowbray), was born at Badsey in 1858. She was working as a cook at The Vicarage, Hallow, Worcestershire, in 1881. In 1891, described as “living on her own means”, she was visiting the Hutchings family in Paddington, London; Sarah Hutchings was her younger sister. Mary Ann’s whereabouts after this are unknown.
Charles Knight (1861-1944), the second of eight children of Richard Knight and his wife, Jane (née Mowbray) – see below.
Richard Knight (1865-?), the third of eight children of Richard Knight and his wife, Jane (née Mowbray), was born at Badsey in 1865. He was still at home at the time of the 1881 census, working as an agricultural labourer. He left home in 1890 for a new job in Eccles, Lancashire, working as a labourer at the Ship Canal Works. He was fatally injured in an accident at work in April 1891, as reported in The Evesham Standard. His body was brought back to Badsey; a large number of people were present at the funeral.
Sarah Jane Knight (1867-1943), the fourth of eight children of Richard Knight and his wife, Jane (née Mowbray), was born at Badsey in 1867. In 1888 at St Mary’s, Paddington, she married George Nations Hutchings. George was a police constable in Paddington. George died in 1896; Sarah returned to her native village where she remained for the rest of her life, dying in 1943.
Sam Knight (1871-1920), the fifth of eight children of Richard Knight and his wife, Jane (née Mowbray), was born at Badsey in 1871. He never married and remained living at home, working as a gardener’s labourer. Following the death of both parents, he lodged with his sister, Emma Collett, and family at Chapel Street, where he was at the time of the 1911 census. He died at Badsey in 1920.
Emma Knight (1872-1947), the sixth of eight children of Richard Knight and his wife, Jane (née Mowbray), was born at Badsey in 1872. Emma married John Collett at Badsey in 1891. Following the death of her parents, her brother, Sam Knight, came to live with them at 15 Chapel Street. Emma remained in Badsey for the rest of her life, dying there in 1947. A descendant of Emma Knight contacted the Badsey website in July 2005.
Henry Knight (1874-?), the seventh of eight children of Richard Knight and his wife, Jane (née Mowbray), was born at Badsey in 1874. He married Ann-Maria Wilkes at Badsey in 1894. They had four daughters, all born at Badsey: Jane Elizabeth (1895), Violet Ellen (1896), Ada Winifred (1898-1973) and Daisy May (1899-1971). In 1901, they lived on Sands Lane at 7 Cotswold Terrace. Henry was a Market Gardener. The children all attended Badsey School. Ann-Maria died at Evesham Nursing Home in 1903. She was buried in the churchyard at Badsey but the burial register notes that it was a non-conformist funeral. Presumably their mother was ill for a year or two, as both Violet and Ada left the village for a short time (according to the school register), in the early years of the 20th century. They had gone from the village by the time of the 1911 census.
Ellen Knight (1877-1962), the youngest of eight children of Richard Knight and his wife, Jane (née Mowbray), was born at Badsey in 1877. She married Thomas James Bearcroft at Badsey in 1902. Thomas was a letter carrier and they moved first to Ilkeston, Derbyshire, and then to Redditch, where they were at the time of the 1911 census; Ellen’s niece, Emma (daughter of her brother, Charles) was visiting. They still lived in Redditch in 1939. Ellen died in the Bromsgrove district in 1962.
Charles Knight (1861-1944), great- great-great-great grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
Charles Knight (1861-1944), the second of eight children of Richard Knight and his wife, Jane (née Mowbray), was born at Badsey in 1861. He was working as an agricultural labourer and boarding with the Moulbery family at Silk Mill Cottages at the time of the 1881 census. He married Mary Ann Collett at Badsey in 1882. They had three sons and six daughters: Mary Ann (1884-1903), William (1887-1973), Emma (1888-1972), Charles (1890-1970), Richard (1892-1960), Charlotte (1894-1970), Jane (1897-1971), May (1900-1932) and Edith (1901-1973). In 1891, they lived at Sharps Cottages, next-door to his aunt, Anne Done (by this time, four of the cottages had been demolished). The children all attended Badsey School. They lived at Asparago House, Brewers Lane (1901); Summerfield Cottage, Badsey Fields Lane (1906-1916 at least). Their six youngest children were at home on census night 1911. The Valuation Survey of 1912 reveals that Charles owned 1000 square yards of land on Badsey Fields Lane. The Knights then lived for four years in Worcester. By 1924 they were back in Badsey living at Hinton Villa, 9 Chapel Lane (1924). Charles was a Market Gardener. He was also a bell-ringer. Mary Ann died on 19th February 1939, aged 74, and Charles on 20th October 1944, aged 84. Charles died at a period when the ageing Vicar neglected to keep the burial register up-to-date, but a monumental inscription in St James’ Churchyard confirms Charles’ death date. There was also a tribute to him in the Evesham Journal.
Children of Charles Knight (1861-1944), great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
Mary Ann Knight (1884-1903), the eldest of nine children of Charles Knight and his wife, Mary Ann (née Collett), was born at Badsey in 1884. She died at Birmingham General Hospital in 1903.
William Knight (1887-1973), the second of nine children of Charles Knight and his wife, Mary Ann (née Collett) – see below.
Emma Knight (1888-1972), the third of nine children of Charles Knight and his wife, Mary Ann (née Collett), was born at Badsey in 1888. She married George William Cole at Badsey in 1912. She died in 1972, aged 88.
Charles Knight (1890-1970), the fourth of nine children of Charles Knight and his wife, Mary Ann (née Collett), was born at Badsey in 1890. In WWI, Charles enlisted with the Worcestershire Regiment; he appears on the Absent Voters’ list of 1918, by which time he was a member of the Labour Corps. Charles never married and remained living with his parents and then was looked after by his sister, Charlotte Haines. He died in a home for the elderly at Pershore in 1970. A report of his death appeared in the parish magazine of April 1970.
Richard Knight (1892-1960), the fifth of nine children of Charles Knight and his wife, Mary Ann (née Collett), was born at Badsey in 1892. He married Agnes Grove in 1912. They had two sons, George Edward (1913) and Charles William (1915), both born in Badsey, but they seem to have left the village by the time the children were of school age because they did not enrol at Badsey School. They probably moved to Evesham as Richard and Agnes were buried at Waterside Cemetery, Evesham, in 1960 and 1968 respectively.
Charlotte Knight (1894-1970), the sixth of nine children of Charles Knight and his wife, Mary Ann (née Collett), was born at Badsey in 1894. She married William H Capener at Gloucester in 1913. At the outbreak of war, William signed up immediately and was killed in action on 26th September 1914. A posthumous son, William Arthur, was born the following January. Charlotte married again in 1919 at Badsey to Charles Henry Haines and had another son. She remained in Badsey for the rest of her life, dying there in May 1970.
Jane Knight (1897-1971), the seventh of nine children of Charles Knight and his wife, Mary Ann (née Collett), was born at Badsey in 1897. She married John Andrews at Worcester in 1919. Jane died at Worcester in 1971, aged 73.
May Knight (1900-1932), the eighth of nine children of Charles Knight and his wife, Mary Ann (née Collett), was born at Badsey in 1900. She married Charles Alfred Seabright at Badsey in 1919. May died at Badsey in 1932, aged 32.
Edith Knight (1901-1973), the youngest of nine children of Charles Knight and his wife, Mary Ann (née Collett), was born at Badsey in 1901. She married John Frederick Ford in 1920. They had three children: Edith M A (1921), Daisy G (1922) and Thomas (1925). Edith and John celebrated their Golden Wedding in 1970. They both died at Badsey in 1973 and were buried in St James' Churchyard.
William Knight (1887-1973), great-great-great-great-great grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
William Knight (1887-1973), the second of nine children of Charles Knight and his wife, Mary Ann (née Collett), was born at Badsey in 1887. He married Frances Selina Annie Jarrett in 1911. At the time of the 1911 census, they were living at Lindwood Villas on Chapel Street. William was a market gardener’s labourer; in 1914 he took over his father’s 9½ acres of land. They had three sons and two daughters: William Charles (1911-2001), Frances Mary (1913-1995), Selina Annie (1916-2002), Kenneth George (1922) and Richard John (1923). During the First World War, William appeared before a military tribunal and was granted conditional exemption. They were living on Badsey Fields Lane in September 1916 when William started at school (presumably Summerfield Cottage), but were at Hinton Villa by July 1917. They left the village in February 1919 and moved to Rainbow Hill, Worcester, where William was engaged in the greengrocery trade; Kenneth and Richard were born at Worcester. William and Frances returned to Badsey in January 1931 when the two youngest children enrolled at school. They were then living at Doralade on Bretforton Road. By 1933 they were living at Hinton Villa again. The National Farm Survey of 1941 records that William Knight of Hinton Villa, Badsey, occupied land at Badsey. In 1971, William and Frances celebrated their Diamond Wedding. William died in the Evesham area in 1973 and Frances in 1982.
Children of William Charles Knight (1911-2001), great-great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
William Charles Knight (1911-2001), the eldest of five children of William Knight and his wife, Frances Selina Annie (née Jarrett), was born at Badsey in 1911. William was a market gardener down Badsey Fields Lane. The National Farm Survey of 1941 records that William Charles Knight of Hinton Villa, Badsey, occupied land at Badsey. In 1940 he married Marjorie Knight, a very distant relative (Marjorie was actually his fifth cousin – the daughter of George and Kate Knight – but it is unlikely that they were aware of the relationship). It is thought that he is the Bill Knight pictured outside Wickhamford Manor during WWII in an article about the 4th Worcestershire (Evesham) Battalion Home Guard. He was Secretary of the Flower Show Committee for a time. Marjorie died in 1998 at Seward House. William died in 2001 at Old Post Office Lane, aged 89.
Frances Mary Knight (1913-1995), the second of five children of William Knight and his wife, Frances Selina Annie (née Jarrett), was born at Badsey in 1913. She married Prinsloo Leslie Banks in 1931 at Badsey. Prinsloo died in 1981 in Worcester and Frances died in 1995 in the Evesham area.
Selina Annie Knight (1916-2002), the third of five children of William Knight and his wife, Frances Selina Annie (née Jarrett), was born at Badsey in 1916. She married Leslie John Woodhouse in 1945 at Badsey. Leslie died in 1991 in the Bideford area of Devon and Selina died in 2002 in the Torridge area of Devon.
Kenneth George Knight (1922), the fourth of five children of William Knight and his wife, Frances Selina Annie (née Jarrett), was born in the Worcester area in 1922. He firstly attended Rainbow Hill Boys’ School, Worcester, until 1931 and then Badsey Council School from 1931-1936. There is a photo of him as a schoolboy in the football team at Badsey School and he was Head Boy at Badsey School 1934-1935. At the time of the 1939 register, he was assisting his father in his market gardening business.
Richard John Knight (1923), the youngest of five children of William Knight and his wife, Frances Selina Annie (née Jarrett), was born in the Worcester area in 1923. He firstly attended Rainbow Hill Boys’ School, Worcester, until 1931 and then Badsey Council School from 1931-1938. In 1933, whilst a pupil at Badsey School, eight-year-old Richard wrote a letter about life in a market gardening community. He was Head Boy at Badsey School 1936-1937 and 1937-1938.
Knight Family 3c – James Knight (1760-1814), great-grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729) from his first wife, and descendants
James Knight (1760-1814), great-grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
James Knight (1760-1814), the youngest of ten children of Henry Knight and his wife, Elizabeth (née Taylor), was born at Aldington in 1749. He married Sarah Jefferies at Badsey in 1785; James signed with a cross. They had two sons and four daughters: Sarah (1785-1798), Thomas (1788-1856), Elizabeth (1790-1794), Elizabeth (1796), Mary (1799) and James (1802-1812). James Knight died at Badsey in 1814. Only Thomas appears to have remained in the village, marrying and producing children.
Thomas Knight (1788-1856), great-great-grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
Thomas Knight (1788-1856) was born at Badsey in 1788, the second of six children of James Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Jefferies). Thomas married Elizabeth Read at Badsey in 1810. They had seven sons and one daughter: George (1810), James (1812-1876), Charles (1814-1877), Joseph (1817-1895), John (1820-1898), Mary (1823-1827), William (1825) and Edwin (1827). Thomas and various members of his family lived at Sharps Row at the time of the 1841 and 1851 census. In 1841, Thomas, Elizabeth and two of their sons (the fifth and the seventh), John and Edwin, lived there. They probably moved out soon after (possibly to New Pool Farm at the end of Badsey Fields Lane where Thomas was to be found working as a shepherd in 1851), as in a deed of 1842, Charles Knight (1814-1877), the third son, is listed as the occupant, and in a further deed of 1843, Joseph Knight (1817-?), the fourth son, is the occupant. Elizabeth died at Badsey in 1850 and Thomas in 1856. Only Charles, the third son, remained in Badsey to carry on the line of Knights.
Children of Thomas Knight (1788-1856), great- great-great-grandchildren of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
George Knight (1810-1860s), the eldest of eight children of Thomas Knight and his wife, Elizabeth (née Read), was born at Badsey in 1810. He married Eliza and moved away from the village. In 1841 he was living in Peopleton; he then moved to Fladbury where he was the miller. He died at Fladbury in the mid 1860s.
James Knight (1812-1876), the second of eight children of Thomas Knight and his wife, Elizabeth (née Read), was born at Badsey in 1812. He married Ann Gisborne at Bretforton in 1832; they had seven children. He remained in Bretforton for the rest of his life, dying there in 1876, aged 64. The connection with Badsey was broken for a couple of generations, before some of James and Ann’s descendants came to live in the village (see Knight Family 3d below).
Charles Knight (1814-1877), the third of eight children of Thomas Knight and his wife, Elizabeth (née Read) – see below.
Joseph Knight (1817-1895), the fourth of eight children of Thomas Knight and his wife, Elizabeth (née Read), was born at Badsey in 1817. He married Elizabeth Bates at Bretforton in 1838; they had seven children. The first three children were born at Bretforton, but then they moved to Aston Subedge where the rest of the children were born. Elizabeth died at Aston Subedge on 8th April 1895 and Joseph the next day. A descendant of Joseph Knight contacted the Badsey website in February 2002.
John Knight (1820-1898), the fifth of eight children of Thomas Knight and his wife, Elizabeth (née Read), was born at Badsey in 1820. He married Ann Mason at Badsey in 1850. They had no children. In 1851, they were living in a house on the site of 28 High Street (demolished 1860s) with Ann’s widowed father, Robert Mason. By 1861, Robert Mason had died, and John and Ann Knight were living at Vine Cottage on Chapel Street. By 1871, they were living at the end of Badsey Fields Lane, at the present-day Orchard End. Ann died in 1874. John then married Eliza Rogers (née Dyer) at Badsey in 1876. Eliza was the widow of Thomas Rogers, by whom she had three children: Jane Sophia (c1849), Julia (c1850) and George (1854-1880). John had been an agricultural labourer for most of his working career but, by 1881, he was a Market Gardener. In 1881 and 1891 they were living at The Little Cottage, High Street, where Eliza had been living in 1871 with her family. Eliza’s widowed daughter-in-law, Elizabeth, also lived there with her young children. The Knights and Rogers continued to live there until the early 1890s. John and Eliza Knight moved soon after the 1891 census, as they went to live at a newly-built (later named Sandford House) on Badsey Fields Lane, which was erected in 1891. John Knight had bought one acre of land in 1890, as a result of the sale of William Byrd’s land. John died in 1898. Probate of his will was granted to his wife’s grandson, William Stanford. The Valuation Survey of 1912 reveals that Eliza owned Sandford Villa. Eliza died in 1913.
William Knight (1825-1907), the seventh of eight children of Thomas Knight and his wife, Elizabeth (née Read), was born at Badsey in 1825. He married Elizabeth Hartwell at Badsey in 1848, and lived at Sharps Row. William and Elizabeth had two sons and one daughter: John (1849-1912), Edwin (1855-1926) and Ann Elizabeth (1863-?). No job was listed for William in 1849 when John was baptised, in 1855 he was a labourer and in 1863 a carter. By 1861, they had moved to “Badsey Field”, where they lived with their two sons, John and Edwin, and Elizabeth’s brother, Charles. They were living in one of the cottages adjoined to Greystones, Brewers Lane, in 1871. In 1872, their eldest son, John, left Badsey for a new life in America. William and Elizabeth and their other two children, Edwin and Ann, decided to join him in America in 1874. Elizabeth died in Michigan in 1885 and William died in Michigan in 1907.
Edwin Knight (1827), the youngest of eight children of Thomas Knight and his wife, Elizabeth (née Read), was born at Badsey in 1825. He was still in Badsey in 1851 when he lived with his widowed father at New Pool Farm, Badsey Fields Lane. In 1852, 24-year-old Edwin set sail from Liverpool for a new life overseas. He arrived in New York on 22nd November 1852, in the company of 19-year-old Mary Knight. This was his fiancée, Mary Marshall, whom he married on 15th February 1853 once they had settled in Bainbridge Township, Geauga County, Ohio. He is thought to have been the first of many Badsey residents to emigrate to America. In 1872, his nephew, John, emigrated; in 1874, his brother William (father of John) emigrated with the rest of his family. Edwin spent much of his life in Ohio, but ended his days at Greenbush, Clinton, Michigan where he died on 24th July 1898.
Charles Knight (1814-1877), great-great-great-grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
Charles Knight (1814-1877), the third of eight children of Thomas Knight and his wife, Elizabeth (née Read), was born at Badsey in 1814. In 1837 he married Ann Marshall from Hinton-on-the-Green. They had five sons and five daughters: Joshua (1838-1866), Charles (1840-?), Mary (1841-1919), Edwin (1844-1929), William (1846-1934), George (1847), Harriet Marshall (1849-1866), Emma Elizabeth (1852-1911), Elizabeth (1854-1855) and Sarah Anne (1856). Charles was an agricultural labourer. In 1841, Charles and family were living on what appears to be Old Post Office Lane. They were certainly living on Old Post Office Lane in 1851 when they lived at Oakleigh Cottage; Ann’s widowed mother, Sarah Marshall, also lived with them. By 1861, they appear to have moved to what is now the present-day No 11 Old Post Office Lane; the three eldest children had left home by this time. By 1871, Charles and Ann lived in one of the new cottages at the old Silk Mill, all their children gone. All their children had left home by this time, although their daughter, Mary Bell, lived next-door with her family, and Edwin and family also lived at the Mill cottages. Charles died at Badsey in 1877, aged 63. His widow, Ann, was still living at Silk Mill Cottages in 1881, working as a laundress. Her youngest daughter, Sarah Anne, was still living there until her marriage in 1883. Ann died in 1888, aged 76. Charles was the only one of Thomas and Elizabeth’s eight children to produce the next generation of Knights in Badsey.
Children of Charles Knight (1814-1877), great-great-great-great-grandchildren of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
Joshua Knight (1838-1866), the eldest of ten children of Charles Knight and his wife, Ann (née Marshall), was born at Badsey in 1838. He had left Badsey by 1861, whereabouts unknown. He died at Badsey in 1866, aged 28.
Charles Knight (1840-?), the second of ten children of Charles Knight and his wife, Ann (née Marshall), was born at Badsey in 1840. He was a plough boy in 1851, still living at home. Charles was still in Badsey in November 1859 when, along with four others, he was accused of stealing apples. By 1861, Charles was no longer living in Badsey, whereabouts unknown. In 1865, he emigrated to Brisbane, Australia, on the Samarang. He married Emma Turner at Toowoomba and had twin sons, born in 1867. Charles died at Lithgow, Australia. A descendant of Charles Knight contacted the Badsey website in December 2002 and November 2017.
Mary Knight (1841-1919), the third of ten children of Charles Knight and his wife, Ann (née Marshall), was born at Badsey in 1841. She married Edwin Bell at Badsey in 1863 and remained in Badsey for the rest of her life, dying there in 1919, aged 78.
Edwin Knight (1844-1929), the fourth of ten children of Charles Knight and his wife, Ann (née Marshall) – see below.
William Knight (1846-1934), the fifth of ten children of Charles Knight and his wife, Ann (née Marshall) – see below.
George Knight (1847-?), the sixth of ten children of Charles Knight and his wife, Ann (née Marshall), was born at Badsey in 1857. He was still at home in 1861, but his whereabouts after this are unknown.
Emma Elizabeth Knight (1852-1911), the eighth of ten children of Charles Knight and his wife, Ann (née Marshall), was born at Badsey in 1852. In 1871 she is thought to have been the Emma Knight who was working as a servant in Offenham. In 1881 she was a cook in the home of 92-year-old Elizabeth Davis and her two unmarried daughters, in High Street, Evesham. She is thought to have been back in Badsey in 1891, working as a laundress, and living in a cottage at the Mill, next-door to her brother, William. A month later, in May 1891, Emma married Colin Harley in Caerphilly, Glamorganshire, where he was working. At the time of the 1911 census they still lived in Caerphilly. Emma died there two months later; a brief obituary appeared in the Badsey parish magazine.
Sarah Anne Knight (1856-1933), the youngest of ten children of Charles Knight and his wife, Ann (née Marshall), was born at Badsey in 1856. She worked as a laundress. Sarah Anne married William Keen (a neighbour at the Mill) at Badsey in 1883 and remained in Badsey for the rest of her life, dying there in 1933, aged 77.
Edwin Knight (1844-1929), great-great-great-great-grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
Edwin Knight (1844-1929), the fourth of ten children of Charles Knight and his wife, Ann (née Marshall) – see below, was born at Badsey in 1844. He married Sarah Daubney at Badsey in 1868. They had five sons and four daughters: Charles (1869-1927), Fanny (1870), Edith (1872), Eliza (1875), John Edwin (1876-1959), Thomas (1877-1930), Ann (1879-1885), George Henry (1882-1948) and Joseph (1884-1927). Their first married home was one of the new cottages at the old Silk Mill. The three eldest children were born at Badsey, the next four at Barcheston, Warwickshire, and the two youngest at Honington. The family was living at Knowland, Honington, Warwickshire, by the time of the 1881 census. The children went to school at Shipston in Warwickshire. The Knights returned to Badsey in 1890, when the two youngest children enrolled at Badsey National School in October 1890. In 1891, they were living at “The Green”, in the present-day Bramley Cottage, No 22 Brewers Lane. Four of the boys were still living at home: John and Thomas working with their father as market gardener’s labourers, the two youngest being at school. By 1901, Edwin and Sarah were living at Silk Mill Cottages, Edwin now working for himself as a Market Gardener. Thomas was no longer at home but John, George and Joseph, all worked with their father as Market Gardeners. In 1911, they were still at the Mill, with Charles, Edith and Joseph at home. Charles and Joseph worked for their father as market gardeners. The Valuation Survey of 1912 reveals that Edwin owned 962 square yards of land on Brewers Lane. Sarah Knight died in 1922. Edwin was still living at Mill Cottages in the 1924 Electoral Register. In 1927, Edwin, aged 83, who shared a birthday with Sir Julius Sladden, joined in the celebrations for Sir Julius’ 80th birthday; he is thought to appear in a photograph taken on the occasion. Edwin died at Badsey in 1929. An obituary appeared in The Evesham Standard. Probate of his will was granted to his son-in-law, George William Emms, and to Charles Arthur Binyon, JP. All of Edwin’s sons remained in the village, the four youngest all producing the next generation of Knights. A descendant of Edwin’s branch of the family contacted the Badsey website in February 2004.
Children of Edwin Knight (1844-1929), great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
Charles Knight (1869-1927), the eldest of nine children of Edwin Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Daubney), was born at Badsey in 1869. In the mid 1870s, the family moved to Barcheston, and then to Honington, Warwickshire; they were back in Badsey by 1891. Charles did not marry. He remained living at home at Mill Cottages for the rest of his life, though he actually died at Powick on 24th July 1927. Probate was granted to his father, Edwin Knight.
Fanny Knight (1870-1927), the second of nine children of Edwin Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Daubney), was born at Badsey in 1870. In the mid 1870s, the family moved to Barcheston, and then to Honington, Warwickshire; they were back in Badsey by 1891. Fanny married Charles Reeves, a railway official, at Badsey in 1896. After marriage, they moved to Manchester, and then Liverpool.
Edith Knight (1872-1952), the third of nine children of Edwin Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Daubney), was born at Badsey in 1872. In the mid 1870s, the family moved to Barcheston, and then to Honington, Warwickshire; they were back in Badsey by 1891. She married John Jeffries in 1939; John was the widower of Edith’s cousin, Sarah Anne, who had died in 1837. John died at Evesham in 1948 and Edith at The Hospital, Powick, in 1952.
Eliza Knight (1875-1948), the fourth of nine children of Edwin Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Daubney), was born at Barcheston in 1875. They then moved to Honington, Warwickshire and were back in Badsey by 1891. Eliza married George William Emms at Badsey in 1908. She remained in Badsey for the rest of her life, dying there in September 1948.
John Edwin Knight (1876-1959), the fifth of nine children of Edwin Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Daubney) – see below.
Thomas Knight (1877-1930), the sixth of nine children of Edwin Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Daubney) – see below.
George Henry Knight (1882-1948), the eighth of nine children of Edwin Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Daubney) – see below.
Joseph Knight (1884-1927), the youngest of nine children of Edwin Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Daubney) – see below.
John Edwin Knight (1876-1959), great-great-great-great-great-grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729), and children
John Edwin Knight (1876-1959), the fifth of nine children of Edwin Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Daubney), was born at Barcheston in 1875. They then moved to Honington, Warwickshire and were back in Badsey by 1891. John married Emma Elizabeth Stanley in 1903 and they had three children: Frances (1909), Ruth (1912-1982) and Frank (1914-1998). Emma’s mother, Eliza Stanley, was the midwife for the birth of all three children. In 1911, they were living at Fair View cottages on Brewers Lane. They then moved to a new house in the High Street. Fairview was built in 1913, and it is assumed the family lived there right from the beginning. They were certainly living there in April 1914 when Frances started school. John served with the Worcestershire Regiment during the First World War, quickly being promoted to Lance Corporal. He is mentioned on five occasions in the parish magazine of the war years. John was wounded at the end of 1915 and was sent to hospital in Manchester. The January 1916 magazine reported he was making slow progress. John is mentioned several times in Charles Binyon’s diaries. He was also one of the key people in the creation of a Recreation Ground for Badsey in 1920. Emma died at Badsey in 1928, aged 50; probate was granted to her widowed husband. John became a Manager of Badsey Council School in 1929 and served until 1955. In a catalogue relating to the sale of the Wickhamford estate in 1930, J E Knight is listed as being one of the tenants. During WWII, John was an inspector for the National Farm Survey. John Knight died at “Fairview” in 1959 and was buried at Badsey. An appreciation of his life appeared in the parish magazine of May 1959. Probate of his will was granted to his son, Frank Edwin Knight.
Frances Knight (1909-1999), the eldest of three children of John Edwin Knight and his wife, Emma Elizabeth (née Stanley), was born at Badsey in 1909; her grandmother, Eliza Stanley, was the midwife who delivered her. She was a pupil at Badsey Council School from 1914-1925. Frances married William George Harwood at Badsey in 1942. Frances died in the Hartlepool district in 1999.
Ruth Knight (1912-1982), the second of three children of John Edwin Knight and his wife, Emma Elizabeth (née Stanley), was born at Badsey in 1912; her grandmother, Eliza Stanley, was the midwife who delivered her. She was a pupil at Badsey Council School from 1916-1923 and then attended Prince Henry’s Grammar School, Evesham. Ruth married Wilfred Jelfs at Badsey in 1933. At the time of the 1939 register she and Wilfred were living at Branscombe, Evesham, with their children, and Ruth’s younger brother, Frank, and his new wife. Ruth died at Bretforton in 1982 and Wilfred in 1989.
Frank Edwin Knight (1914-1998), the youngest of three children of John Edwin Knight and his wife, Emma Elizabeth (née Stanley), was born at Badsey in 1914; his grandmother, Eliza Stanley, was the midwife who delivered him. Frank became a schoolmaster. He married Joyce Nancy L Hampton in 1939. At the time of the 1939 register, the newly-married couple were living at Branscombe, Evesham, with Frank’s older sister, Ruth Jelfs, and family. They later moved to a new house built at The Ridge, Knowle Hill (the actual address is Evesham, but part of the land is in Wickhamford). Frank served as a Manager/Governor at Badsey School from 1975-1983. He wrote of his sadness and reluctance to end his formal association with the school, having been a pupil and Governor, and his father had been one for many years. “I am sure the school is now in good hands and the pupils who attend now just as lucky as I was to have Badsey First School as their stepping-stone to life,” he wrote in his letter of resignation.
Thomas Knight (1877-1930), great-great-great-great-great-grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729), and children
Thomas Knight (1877-1930), the sixth of nine children of Edwin Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Daubney), was born at Barcheston in 1877. They then moved to Honington, Warwickshire and were back in Badsey by 1891. Thomas married Fanny Elizabeth Bennett at Badsey in 1904. They had one son and three daughters: Reginald Edwin (1906-1993), Vera Gwendoline (1908-1998), Phyllis Edna (1915) and Jean Muriel (1920-1997). Reginald was born at Badsey, but they then moved to Great Malvern where they were at the time of the 1911 census, Thomas working as a fruiterer’s assistant. Gwendoline was born at Great Malvern in 1908. They returned to Badsey in October 1917, when the two oldest children enrolled at Badsey School (having previously been at school in Cradley). A further daughter, Phyllis, had been born in 1915, and Jean was born in 1920 on their return to Badsey. They lived at 11 Cotswold View and remained living there throughout the 1920s. A photo of Thomas and Fanny and two of their children shows them standing outside Cotswold View. Thomas died in July 1930. The burial register gives the place of death as Ilmington, whereas in the index of wills and administrations, it states that he died at the County & City Mental Hospital, Powick. His youngest daughter, Jean, left Badsey School on 30th May 1930 and then re-enrolled at Badsey School on 8th July 1930. Presumably she came to stay with relatives during the last few weeks of her father’s life; Thomas was buried at Badsey on 29th July 1930. His widow, Fanny, died at 20 Synehurst in 1956.
Reginald Edwin Knight (1906-1993), known as Reg, the eldest of four children of Thomas Knight and his wife, Fanny Elizabeth (née Bennett), was born in 1906. The 1911 census, when living at Great Malvern, says that he was born at Badsey, but his birth was actually registered in the Upton upon Severn district (the district which Malvern is in). Reg started school at Cradley, then attended Badsey Council School and Prince Henry’s Grammar School, Evesham, on the family’s return to Badsey in 1917. There is a photo of Reg standing outside Cotswold View with his parents and another one with his friends. A photo of him with his sister, Vera, who worked at Wickhamford Manor, also appears in A Pictorial Record of the Lees-Milne Family and Staff at Wickhamford Manor. Reg married Daisy Grace Spiers in 1929 in the Evesham area. They moved to Higher Compton, Plymouth. Daisy died there in 1991 and Reg in 1993.
Gwendoline Vera Knight (1908-1998), known as Vera, the second of four children of Thomas Knight and his wife, Fanny Elizabeth (née Bennett), was born at Great Malvern in 1908. Vera started school at Cradley, then attended Badsey Council School on the family’s return to Badsey in 1917. There is a photo of Vera standing outside Cotswold View with her parents. Vera worked at Wickhamford Manor during the 1920s/early 1930s. Three photos of Vera appear in A Pictorial Record of the Lees-Milne Family and Staff at Wickhamford Manor. Vera married William Alfred George Martin in 1934. She died in 1998.
Phyllis Edna Knight (1915-2015), the third of four children of Thomas Knight and his wife, Fanny Elizabeth (née Bennett), was born at Great Malvern in 1915. She returned with her family to Badsey in 1917. She was a pupil at Badsey Council School from 1919-1926 and then attended Prince Henry’s Grammar School. Phyllis married Wilfred George Jelfs at Badsey in 1940. Phyllis died in 2015, aged 100.
Jean Muriel Knight (1920-1997), the youngest of four children of Thomas Knight and his wife, Fanny Elizabeth (née Bennett), was born at Badsey in 1920. She was a pupil at Badsey Council School from 1924-1934, with brief interludes at Ilmington and Forest Row, Sussex. In 1933, whilst a pupil at Badsey School, 12-year-old Jean wrote a letter about life in a market gardening community. Jean was Head Girl at Badsey School from 1934-1935. Jean married Arthur Cyril Rouse at Badsey in 1941. In 1949, Jean emigrated to Australia with her husband and daughters. She died in Tasmania in 1997.
George Henry Knight (1882-1948), great-great-great-great-great-grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729), and children
George Henry Knight (1882-1948), was born at Barcheston in 1882. He married Florence Perkins from Bretforton and moved into 7 Belmont Terrace where they remained for the rest of their lives. George and Florence had two sons and one daughter: Dorothy Freda (1905), George Edgar (1908-1977) and Ernest Ronald (1916-1994). In a catalogue relating to the sale of the Wickhamford estate in 1930, G H Knight is listed as being one of the tenants. The National Farm Survey of 1941 records that George Henry Knight of 7 Belmont Terrace, Badsey, occupied land at Wickhamford. The Badsey Society Archive has an order book from the 1940s which belonged to George. The last entry is for 12th June 1948. George died a month later, aged 66. Probate of his will was granted to his widow, Florence. Florence survived until 1976, dying aged 91. A report of her death appeared in the parish magazine of February 1977.
Dorothy Freda Knight (1905-?), the eldest of three children of George Henry Knight and his wife, Florence (née Perkins), was born at Badsey in 1905. She was a pupil at Badsey Council School from 1909-1918. Dorothy married David Cotton at Badsey in 1930. They moved to Ledbury, Herefordshire, where Dorothy died in 1989.
George Edgar Knight (1908-1977), the second of three children of George Henry Knight and his wife, Florence (née Perkins), was born at Badsey in 1908. He was baptized at St James’ Church, Badsey, on 19th July 1908. George entered Badsey Council School in August 1912 aged 4 and left in March 1923, aged 14. He married Dorothy A Andrews in 1935 in the Evesham area. At the time of the 1939 Register, they were living at Lidcombe, Albert Road, Evesham. George was Deputy Surveyor for Evesham Rural District Council. He was also head of ARP Repair Services. George died in 1977. An entry in the Visitors’ Book in June 2018 refers to an Austin 7 car once owned by George.
Ernest Ronald Knight (1916-1994), known as Ron, the youngest of three children of George Henry Knight and his wife, Florence (née Perkins), was born at Badsey in 1916. He was baptised at Badsey on 16th April 1916. Ron is pictured at the King George VI Coronation Party, 1937, held in the school playground. The National Farm Survey of 1941 records that R E Knight of 7 Belmont Terrace, Badsey, occupied land at Badsey. The Badsey Society Archive has an order book from the 1940s which belonged to Ron’s father; after George’s death in 1948, Ron used up the last of the pages. Ernest married Phyllis May Clarke in 1941. Ron died in 1994, aged 78. His widow, Phyllis, died in 2003, aged 87. They are both buried in St James’ churchyard. Whilst the burial record appears as Ernest Ronald, on the headstone, he appears as Ronald Ernest.
Joseph Knight (1884-1927), great-great-great-great-great-grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729), and son
Joseph Knight (1884-1927), the youngest of nine children of Edwin Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Daubney), was born at Barcheston in 1884. They then moved to Honington, Warwickshire, where Joseph started at Shipston School. In 1890 the family moved back to Badsey and Joseph was a pupil at Badsey School until 1898. A report in the parish magazine of April 1898 reveals that Joseph was highly commended in Standard VII. Joseph followed his father into market gardening; he was still living at home at Silk Mill Cottages, Badsey, at the time of the 1911 census. Later in 1911, Joseph married Minnie Amelia Clarke. He served during the First World War and is mentioned on two occasions in the parish magazine of the war years. After the war, Joseph returned home and a son, Albert (1921-1999) was born. Joseph and Minnie were living on Brewers Lane at the time of the 1924 electoral register. Joseph died in 1927. Minnie and her son left Badsey in October 1929, presumably to go and live in Bengeworth, Evesham, where they were living at the time of the 1939 register at 27 Northwick Road. Minnie later married George D Penson in 1948, and remained living in Bengeworth. Minnie died in 1970.
Albert Knight (1921-1999), the only child of Joseph Knight and his wife, Minnie Amelia (née Clarke), was born at Badsey in 1921. He enrolled at Badsey Council School in January 1926. Albert was aged only five when his father died in 1927. In October 1929, Albert left Badsey School when he and his mother left the village, presumably to go to Bengeworth, Evesham, where they were living at the time of the 1939 register at 27 Northwick Road. Albert’s occupation was described as “General Assistant, Market Gardening, Farming and Fruit Growing”. He worked for a farmer called George Witts not far from Evesham, where he met his future wife, Patricia Jarvis, a Land Girl. They married after the war and Albert took a smallholding in Patricia’s home county of Essex. They had two children. Albert died in the Southend on Sea district of Essex in 1999. Albert’s son contacted the Badsey website in December 2002 and his son-in-law contacted the Badsey website in February 2004.
William Knight (1846-1934), great-great-great-great-grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
William Knight (1846-1934), the fifth of ten children of Charles Knight and his wife, Ann (née Marshall), was born at Badsey in 1846. He married Eliza Crane at Wickhamford in 1868. They had four sons and two daughters: William (1868), George (1870), Charles Ernest (1872), Sarah Anne (1874), Thomas Henry (1879-1969) and Ethel Mary (1882). The eldest three children were born at Wickhamford and the youngest three at Badsey. At the time of the 1871 census, they were living in Wickhamford, but they were back in Badsey by 1881, living in one of the Silk Mill Cottages (his widowed mother lived in another of the cottages). The children attended Badsey School. By 1891, still at Silk Mill Cottages, William was a market gardener; the four youngest children were still at home, plus Eliza’s widowed father was staying with them. In 1901, they were living at the newly-built Belmont Terrace on Willersey Road; only their son, Thomas, and grandchildren, Elsie and Cecil Jefferies (the children of their daughter, Sarah Anne), were at home. From at least 1911, they lived at Asparago House, Brewers Lane. The Valuation Survey of 1912 reveals that William owned two houses on Brewers Lane (the present-day Rusholme, No 29, and Asparago House, No 31); he lived in Asparago House and rented out the one next-door. William died at Asparago House, Badsey, in 1934, aged 88, and Eliza in 1938, aged 89. Both are buried in St James’ churchyard, the burial plot marked with a kerb. William left a will, with probate to his sons, William and Charles Ernest. A descendant of William Knight contacted the Badsey website in October 2010.
Children of William Knight (1846-1934), great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
William Knight (1868-1954), the eldest of six children of William Knight and his wife, Eliza (née Crane), was born at Wickhamford in 1868. In 1884, he enlisted in the Rifle Brigade at Worcester. During his time in the army, he served in Gribraltar, Egypt, South Africa and India. He married Rosa Jane Jinks at Badsey in 1893. In 1901, they were living at South View Terrace. They had no children. By 1911, they were living at 97 Port Street, Bengeworth; William was a market gardener. In 1939 they lived at 97 Elm Road, Evesham. William died at Powick Hospital in 1954; Rosa died at Mendip Hospital, Wells, Somerset, in 1961.
George Knight (1870-1945), the second of six children of William Knight and his wife, Eliza (née Crane), was born at Wickhamford in 1870. In 1890 he married Harriet Drinkwater from Offenham. They had two sons and five daughters, all born at Badsey: William Cecil (1891), Edith Annie (1892), Hilda (1894), Gertrude Elizabeth (1895), Mildred (1897), Martha Mary (1900) and Albert (1902). In 1891, George and Harriet and their six-day-old baby who had not yet been given a name (this was William), were living in one of the cottages at the back of Brewers Lane, close to George’s uncle Edwin. In 1894, George, together with George Jelfs, was summoned for being disorderly and refusing to quit The Wheatsheaf Inn. By 1901, they had moved to Silk Mill Cottages, and lived next-door to Uncle Edwin. George was an agricultural labourer in 1891 and a market gardener’s labourer in 1901. The children attended Badsey School until January 1903 when the family moved to Worcester and the children went to Worcester Crown East School; a son, Arthur, was born at Worcester in about 1906. They were back in Badsey by January 1906, living at The Leys, when the five youngest children re-enrolled at Badsey School, but they left the village again in March 1907. At the time of the 1911 census, they were living at Horn’s Hall, Tardebigge, Bromsgrove, where George was farm bailiff; they had two more daughters, Ethel (c1908) and Irene (1911) by this time. They remained at Tardebigge for the rest of their lives, George dying there in 1945.
Charles Ernest Knight (1871-?), the third of six children of William Knight and his wife, Eliza (née Crane), was born at Wickhamford in 1871. He was still living at home in 1891 but then moved to Birmingham where, in 1893, he married a widow, Mary Ann Robinson (née Bate), ten years his senior and mother of three young children. Charles was then a porter on the railway. Charles and Mary Ann had three daughters. By the end of the 19th century, they were living in Luton, Charles still with the railway, but in 1901 he was a railway policeman and a platform foreman for the Midland Railway in 1911. Charles and Mary Ann were still in Luton in 1939 but it is not known when they died.
Sarah Anne Knight (1874-1937), the fourth of six children of William Knight and his wife, Eliza (née Crane), was born at Badsey in 1874. She married John Jeffries at Badsey in 1893. In 1901, Sarah was working as a cook for Arthur Savory at Aldington Manor, whilst her children stayed with her parents. She then went out to South Africa where her husband had gone and had more children. She returned to live in Badsey, dying there in 1937. Two years later, her cousin, Edith Knight, married John Jeffries.
Thomas Henry Knight (1879-1969), the fifth of six children of William Knight and his wife, Eliza (née Crane), was born at Badsey in 1879. He was named after the Vicar, the Reverend Thomas Hunt, and was known as Tommy, or by his nickname, “Diddymus”. He married Mary Ellen Davies at Badsey in 1907. They had one daughter, Miriel Joan (1910-1998), who was delivered by midwife, Eliza Stanley. In their early married life they lived on High Street, Badsey, where Tommy ran The Stores; he advertised in the parish magazine on a number of occasions. They then lived at 37 Synehurst from 1923 until the end of their lives. Tommy was very involved with the local community, particularly the church and football. He was the church organist for a time and often organised entertainments. He is mentioned in Charles Binyon’s diary of January 1918. In a catalogue relating to the sale of the Wickhamford estate in 1930, T H Knight is listed as being one of the tenants. The National Farm Survey of 1941 records that Thomas Henry Knight of 23 Synehurst, Badsey, occupied land at Wickhamford. Mary Ellen died in 1965; probate of her will was granted to her widowed husband. A report of her death appeared in the parish magazine of February 1966. Tommy Knight died at Badsey in 1969; his will was proved at Oxford. An obituary appeared in the parish magazine of May 1969.
Miriel Joan Knight (1910-1998), the only child of Thomas Henry Knight and his wife, Mary Ellen (née Davies), was born at Badsey in 1910; midwife, Eliza Stanley, attended her birth. She was a pupil at Badsey Council School from 1914-1922 and then attended Prince Henry’s Grammar School. Miriel married Frank William Warren at Badsey in 1936. She later married Roy Harman in 1952. Miriel died in 1998 in the Evesham area.
Ethel Mary Knight (1882-1966), the youngest of six children of William Knight and his wife, Eliza (née Crane), was born at Badsey in 1882. She was working as a housemaid for Arthur Savory at Aldington Manor in 1901. Ethel married Harry Field at Badsey in 1908 and remained in Badsey all her life. She died at Avonside Hospital, Evesham, in February 1966, just over two months after her husband.
Knight Family 3d – James Knight (1812-1876), great-great-great-grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1727), and descendants
James Knight (1812-1876), the second of eight children of Thomas Knight and his wife, Elizabeth (née Read), was born at Badsey in 1812. He married Ann Gisborne at Bretforton in 1832 and had seven children: William (1833), Henry (1836-1854), George (1839-1925), Ann Elizabeth (1841), Charles (1843-1906), Mary Anne (1847) and Harriet (1850). He remained in Bretforton for the rest of his life. None of their children ever moved to Badsey (with the exception of George who moved to Offenham – the area of Offenham in which he lived later became part of Badsey, some years after his death). The connection with Badsey was thus broken for a couple of generations, before some of James and Ann’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren came to live in the village.
George Knight (1839-1925), great-great-great-great-grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1727)
George Knight (1839-1925), the third son of James Knight and his wife, Ann (née Gisborne), was born at Bretforton in 1839. He married Sarah Anne Nash from Cropthorne in 1866 at Offenham. They had eight sons and three daughters, all born at Offenham: Mary A (1867), Emma (1872), Lizzie (1873), Henry (1874), George (1876), James (1877), William (1879), Charles Nash (1880), Albert (1884-1953), Edwin (1885-1929) and Fred (1889). George first appears in the Offenham census in 1871 when he was described as a Carter, and is believed to have been living in a cottage near the railway. By 1881, he was Farm Bailiff and seems to have been living at The Old Farmhouse (in Blackminster which, since 1949 has been part of Badsey), but in 1891 and 1901 it seems as though he was living at Bennetts Hill. He was still a bailiff in 1911; four of his adult sons were still at home, working as labourers on the farm (still thought to be Bennetts Hill Farm). In April 1916, George and Sarah Anne celebrated their Golden wedding. George died in 1925, aged 86, and Sarah in 1929.
Children of George Knight (1839-1925), great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren of Joseph Knight (c1660-1727), and descendants
George Knight (1875-1951), the fifth of 11 children of George Knight and his wife, Sarah Anne (née Nash), was born at Offenham in 1875. In 1901, he was boarding at Corner House, Blackminster (this was then in Offenham but, in 1949, this area south of the railway line transferred to Badsey). He married Kate Emms in the Evesham area in 1903. They had three sons and two daughters: Ronald Charles (c1910), Marjorie (1912-1998), Frank (1916-1988), Harry (1918) and Sarah (1921), and two children who had died by 1911. They lived at South Littleton for the rest of their lives, George dying there in 1951.
Marjorie Knight (1912-1998), the second of five children of George Knight and his wife, Kate (née Emms), was born at South Littleton in 1912. In 1940 she married a very distant relative, William Charles Knight of Badsey (William was actually her fifth cousin – the son of William and Frances Knight – but it is unlikely that they were aware of the relationship). They lived in Badsey for the rest of their lives, Marjorie dying in 1998 at Seward House Nursing Home. William died in 2001 at Old Post Office Lane.
Frank Knight (1916-1988), the second of five children of George Knight and his wife, Kate (née Emms), was born at South Littleton in 1916. Frank, a grocer’s assistant, married Hilda May Reeves in 1940 at Badsey; they had no children. In the Second World War, Frank served with the RASC in North Africa and Burma; his war-time medals have been donated to the Badsey Society archive. He was an active member of Badsey, Aldington & Wickhamford Royal British Legion, serving as Chairman from 1966-1982 & Branch President from 1975-1988. Frank died in 1988 and Hilda in 2010. They were cremated and are commemorated on the monumental inscription for Hilda’s parents and grandparents in St James’ churchyard, Badsey.
James Knight (1876-1958)
James Knight (1876-1958), the sixth of 11 children of George Knight and his wife, Sarah Anne (née Nash), was born at Offenham in 1876. He married Lydia Alice Huins in 1903 in the Bromsgrove area. They had three sons and two daughters: Edwin Nash (c1903), Douglas James (1905-1993), Horace George (c1906), Gladys Mary (1911) and Margaret A (1913). In 1911 they were living at South Littleton; James was by this time a market gardener. By 1917 they were living at Corner House, Station Road, Blackminster (then in Offenham, but transferred to Badsey in 1949); they were still there at the time of the 1939 register. Lydia died in 1946 and James in 1958.
Douglas James Knight (1905-1993) was the great-grandson of James and Ann Knight and the second of five children of James Knight and his wife, Lydia Alice (née Huins). He was born at South Littleton in 1905 and married Eveline Ruth Morris in 1934 in the Christchurch district of Hampshire. Eveline died at South Littleton in 1986. She was cremated, but her ashes were buried in the same plot as her mother, Mildred Morris (née Geden) in St James’ Churchyard, Badsey.
William Knight (1878-1945)
William Knight (1878-1945), the seventh of 11 children of George Knight and his wife, Sarah Anne (née Nash), was born at Offenham in 1878. He was still single and living at home in 1911, working as a waggoner on the farm. He married Elizabeth Hemming in the Bromyard district of Herefordshire in 1913. They had at least two sons: Victor George (1916) and Leslie Albert (1923). They were living at Blackminster in 1925 when Victor enrolled at Badsey School, having previously been at school in Littleton. In 1927, they left the area to move to Ombersley, but were back again in March 1930 when the boys started at Badsey School; they were then living at The Leys. They were still in Badsey when Leslie left school in 1937 but had moved to South Littleton by 1939. William is thought to have died in 1945.
Victor George Knight (1916-1983) was the great-grandson of James and Ann Knight and the elder of two children of William Knight and his wife, Elizabeth (née Hemming). He was born at South Littleton in 1916 and was living at Blackminster in 1925 when he enrolled at Badsey Council School, having previously been at school in Littleton. In 1927, the family left the area to move to Ombersley, but were back again in March 1930 when Victor started at Badsey School; they were then living at The Leys. They were still in Badsey when Victor’s younger brother, Leslie, left school in 1937 but had moved to South Littleton by 1939; he was then working as a lorry driver’s mate. Victor died in the Cheltenham area in 1983.
Leslie Albert Knight (1923-1999) was the great-grandson of James and Ann Knight and the younger of two children of William Knight and his wife, Elizabeth (née Hemming). He was born at South Littleton in 1923 and was living at Blackminster in 1925 when his older brother started at Badsey Council School. In 1927, the family left the area to move to Ombersley, but were back again in March 1930 when Victor started at Badsey Council School; they were then living at The Leys, Badsey. They were still in Badsey when Leslie left school in 1937 but had moved to South Littleton by 1939. Leslie died in the Cheltenham area in 1999.
Charles Nash Knight (1880-1934)
Charles Nash Knight (1880-1934), known as Charlie, the eighth of 11 children of George Knight and his wife, Sarah Anne (née Nash), was born at Offenham in 1880. He was still single and living at home in 1911, working as a farm labourer. He married Cissie Jones (c1885-1965) in 1912. They had two daughters: Alice (1914) and Edna Nash (1919-2008). In the 1920s and 1930s, they lived at The Leys, Bretforton Road, Badsey. Charlie died at Badsey in 1934. Cissie lived for most of her life at The Leys and is mentioned in an article about John Bird’s paintings of Bretforton Road; she was affectionately known as “Granny Tata” by all the local children. Cissie died at 51 Synehurst (now Synehurst Crescent) in 1965. A report of her death appeared in the parish magazine of October 1965. She was buried in St James’ churchyard. In 2008, the ashes of her daughter, Edna Nash Porter, were placed in the same plot.
Alice Knight (1914-1994) was the great-granddaughter of James and Ann Knight and the elder of two children of Charles Nash Knight and his wife, Cissie (née Jones). Alice was born at Badsey in 1914 and was a pupil at Badsey Council School from 1919-1928. She married Charles Henry Whiting at Badsey in 1936. At the time of the 1939 register they were living at 4 The Leys, Badsey, in a cottage just three doors away from her widowed mother. Alice died in 1994 in the Evesham area.
Edna Nash Knight (1919-2008) was the great-granddaughter of James and Ann Knight and the younger of two children of Charles Nash Knight and his wife, Cissie (née Jones). Edna was born at Badsey in 1919 and was a pupil at Badsey Council School from 1924-1933. She married Reginald A Porter in the Pershore district in the last quarter of 1939. Edna died in 2008 in the Evesham area. Edna was cremated and her ashes were placed in the same plot as that of her mother in St James’ churchyard, Badsey.
Albert Knight (1884-1953)
Albert Knight (1884-1953), the ninth of 11 children of George Knight and his wife, Sarah Anne (née Nash), was born at Offenham in 1883. He was still single and living at home in 1911, working as a farm labourer. He married Ellen Waite in 1926. They had two sons: Albert Henry (1928) and Harold George (1932). They lived at Blackminster and the boys went to Badsey School, Albert then going on to Blackminster (he was in the first cohort admitted in 1939) and Harold to Stratford Grammar School. At the time of the 1939 register they lived at Bolstrodes, South Littleton. Albert died in 1953.
Albert Henry Knight (1928) was the great-grandson of James and Ann Knight and the elder of two children of Albert Knight and his wife, Ellen (née Waite). Albert was a pupil at Badsey Council School from 1933-1939 and then was in the first cohort of pupils at Blackminster School which opened in September 1939. He married Joan Willis in the North Cotswold district in 1953. They lived at Bolstrode Cottage, Blackminster, and their children attended Badsey School.
Harold George Knight (1932-2001) was the great-grandson of James and Ann Knight and the younger of two children of Albert Knight and his wife, Ellen (née Waite). Harold was a pupil at Badsey Council School from 1937-1943 and then went to Stratford Grammar School in 1943. He died in the Cheltenham area in 2001.
Edwin Knight (1885-1929)
Edwin Knight (1885-1929), the tenth of 11 children of George Knight and his wife, Sarah Anne (née Nash), was born at Offenham in 1885. He was a market gardener in 1901 and married Lilian Jones in 1908. They had four sons and one daughter: Ernest George Knight (1908), Reginald (1911-2001), Frederick D (1916), Cyril E (1920) and Mildred (1922). In 1911 they were living at Blackminster (present-day Rose Cottage) where Edwin was a lime burner. The children did not attend Badsey School. Edwin died in tragic circumstances at Littleton in 1929, aged 43.
Ernest George Knight (1908-1994) was the great-grandson of James and Ann Knight and the eldest of five children of Edwin Knight and his wife, Lilian (née Jones). He was born at Littleton in 1908. His father died in tragic circumstances in 1929 and Ernest was a witness at the coroner’s court, as reported in The Evesham Standard. Ernest married Alice Elizabeth Brookes at Badsey in 1933. Alice died at 54 Willersey Road, Badsey, in 1985 and Ernest in 1994. Descendants of this branch of the family still live in Badsey to this day.
Reginald Knight (1911-2001), known as Reg, was the great-grandson of James and Ann Knight and the second of five children of Edwin Knight and his wife, Lilian (née Jones). He was born at Littleton in 1911. Reg married Kathleen Geden at Badsey in 1933. During WWII, Reg was a member of the 4th Worcestershire (Evesham) Battalion Home Guard and appears in a photo outside Wickhamford Manor. Kathleen died at Hawthorn Nursing Home in 1992, aged 82, and Reg died in 2001, aged 90. They are both buried in St James’ churchyard.
Children of Charles Knight (1843-1906), great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren of Joseph Knight (c1660-1727), and descendants
Charles Knight, the fifth of seven children of James Knight and his wife, Ann (née Gisborne), was born at Bretforton in 1843. He married Louisa Hall at Bretforton in 1866 and had seven children: Charles Henry (1866-1937), James (c1870), Horace (1871-1930), Lilly (c1874), Edwin (c1876-1928), Laura (c1879) and Herbert (1881-1925). Charles lived all his life in Bretforton, dying there in 1906.
Horace Knight (1871-1930), the third of seven children of Charles Knight and his wife, Louisa (née Hall), was born at Bretforton in 1871 He married Kate Delia Jarman in 1892, had seven children, and spent all his life in Bretforton. However, one of his sons, Ernest, settled in Badsey after WWI.
Ernest Knight (1894-1936), the second of seven children of Horace Knight and his wife, Kate Delia (née Jarman), was born at Bretforton in 1894. During the First World War, Ernest served with the Worcestershire Regiment, but was discharged in April 1917 with wounds; he was awarded the Silver Badge. Later that year he married Kathleen Maud Midwinter. They had a son and daughter: Kathleen Patricia Mary (1919) and Horace Lionel (1924-2011), known as Lionel. They settled in Badsey and both children attended Badsey Council School. Ernest never recovered from being gassed during the war died in 1936; he was buried at Bretforton. Kathleen died in 1981.
George Knight (1897-1946), the third of seven children of Horace Knight and his wife, Kate Delia (née Jarman), was born at Bretforton in 1897. George lived at Bretforton all his life but owned land in Badsey, according to the 1924 electoral register. He died at Bretforton in 1946.
Geoffrey Knight (1899-1962), the fourth of seven children of Horace Knight and his wife, Kate Delia (née Jarman), was born at Bretforton in 1899. Geoffrey married Prudence Helen Malin at Badsey in 1928 and moved to Chelmsford, Essex. Geoffrey died at Chelmsford in 1962.
Edwin Knight (1876-1928), the fifth of seven children of Charles Knight and his wife, Louisa (née Hall), was born at Bretforton in 1876. Edwin lived at Bretforton all his life but owned land in Badsey, according to the 1924 electoral register. Edwin married Anne Elizabeth Porter in 1900 and had four children. Edwin died at Birmingham General Hospital in 1928 and was buried at Bretforton.
Freda Knight (1911-1993), the youngest of four children of Edwin Knight and his wife, Anne Elizabeth (née Porter), was born at Bretforton in 1911. Freda married Douglas Austin Jelfs at Badsey in 1933 and settled in the village. She later married George E Lester; she died in the Evesham area in 1993.
Herbert Knight (1881-1925), the youngest of seven children of Charles Knight and his wife, Louisa (née Hall), was born at Bretforton in 1881. He married Annie Maria Howles in the West Bromwich district in 1911. They had two sons and a daughter. Ronald was born at Bretforton and Cyril at Badsey, though both were baptised at Bretforton. They lived on Bretforton Road, Badsey. Ronald started at Badsey Council School in 1918 and Cyril the following year. Cyril was only at the school for a short time, however, as the family had to move to Wednesbury when Herbert became ill. Herbert died at Wednesbury in 1925 and was buried at Bretforton. His widow died in 1970 and was also buried at Bretforton. Cyril’s daughter contacted the Badsey website in November 2002 and his grandson in November 2019.
Knight Family 3e – Dinah Knight (1844-1926), widow of John Knight (1833-1878), and descendants
In September 1875, Dinah Malin, a single mother with two young sons, married John Knight at Badsey. John died less than three years later. After John’s death, Dinah had five more children with her new partner, George Hartwell (her nephew by marriage, his mother being Sarah Hartwell, John Knight’s older sister). They never married, so the children’s surname was Knight. Thus these five children – William George Hartwell Knight (1879-1945), David Hartwell Knight (1880), Thomas Hartwell Knight (1882-1918), Alice Hartwell Knight (1883-1918) and Charles Hartwell Knight (1884-1961) – are not descended from the earlier Knights of Badsey but William, the eldest son, went on to start a new line of Knights.
Children of Dinah Knight (1844-1926)
William George Hartwell Knight (1879-1945), the eldest of five children of widow Dinah Knight (née Malin) by her partner, George Hartwell, was born at Badsey in July 1879; he was sometimes known as “Shiner”. He married Lucy Brotherton from Evesham in 1901. They had six sons and four daughters, all born at Badsey: Violet Helen (1902-1947), Thomas George (1904-1976), William Henry (1906-1968), Albert Charles (1907-1958), Alice Mary (1909-1909), Emily Mary (1910-2001), Gwendoline Mary (1912-1994), James (1915-1961), Walter Ernest (1917-1962) and Lawrence David (1922-1981). The children attended Badsey School. In 1906, when Violet started at Badsey School, they were living in Badsey, but by 1909, they appear to have been briefly living in Wickhamford. By 1911, they were living on Old Post Office Lane, Badsey. By 1922, they were living at 8 Synehurst. William was a Market Gardener. He is listed in Smith’s Household Almanack up until 1940 (the last year we have); it is thought he died in 1945. Lucy then went to live at 14 Synehurst. She died in hospital in December 1964, aged 83; her will was proved the following year. A report of her death appeared in the parish magazine of January 1965. Lucy was buried in the same plot in St James’ churchyard as her son, Walter Ernest, who had died nearly three years earlier.
David Hartwell Knight (1880), the second of five children of widow Dinah Knight (née Malin) by her partner, George Hartwell, was born at Badsey in September 1880. He was still living at home in 1911, aged 30, working as a market gardener’s labourer. His whereabouts after this are unknown; he is not listed in the 1924 electoral register.
Thomas Hartwell Knight (1882-1918), the third of five children of widow Dinah Knight (née Malin) by her partner, George Hartwell, was born at Badsey in January 1882. During WWI, he enlisted the Worcestershire Regiment and is mentioned on five occasions in the parish magazine of the war years. Thomas was killed in the last week of the First World War and is remembered on the War Memorial in Badsey Church and at Badsey School.
Alice Hartwell Knight (1883-1918), the fourth of five children of widow Dinah Knight (née Malin) by her partner, George Hartwell, was born at Badsey in February 1883. She married William Sandford in 1901, who had been lodging with the other Knights (Eliza Knight, the widow of John Knight) at the time of the 1901 census. Alice remained in Badsey for the rest of her life until her untimely death in the flu epidemic of 1918.
Charles Hartwell Knight (1884-1961), the youngest of five children of widow Dinah Knight (née Malin) by her partner, George Hartwell, was born at Badsey in May 1884. He was still living at home in 1911, aged 25, working as a market gardener’s labourer. In WWI he enlisted with the Worcestershire Regiment and is mentioned on two occasions in the parish magazine of the war years. He was discharged from the army in August 1917 and was awarded the Silver Badge. Charles married Alice Taylor in the Evesham area in 1918. At the time of the 1939 Register, Charles was a patient at the Worcester County & City Mental Hospital, Powick. He died at Powick in 1961.
Children of William George Hartwell Knight (1879-1945), son of Dinah Knight (1844-1926)
Violet Helen Knight (1902-1947), the eldest of ten children of William and Lucy Knight, was born at Badsey and educated at Badsey Council School. She gave birth to a son, Ernest Knight, in 1936, who attended Badsey School for a time. Violet was an inmate at the Public Assistance Institution, Martley (formerly the Workhouse) in 1939. She is believed to have died there in 1947.
Thomas George Knight (1904-1976), the second of ten children of William and Lucy Knight, was born at Badsey and educated at Badsey Council School. He was still single and living in the parental home in Badsey in 1939, working as a market gardener’s labourer. He died in the Evesham area in 1976.
William Henry Knight (1906-1968), the third of ten children of William and Lucy Knight, was born at Badsey and educated at Badsey Council School. He married Edith Lily May Johns in 1934. They had four sons and five daughters. William was living at 14 Synehurst at the time of his death in 1968.
Albert Charles Knight (1907-1958), the fourth of ten children of William and Lucy Knight, was born at Badsey and educated at Badsey Council School. He was still single and living in the parental home in Badsey in 1939, working as a market gardener’s labourer. He died at the General Hospital, Evesham, on 23rd January 1958; his home address was 8 Synehurst, Badsey. Albert was buried in St James’ churchyard. Probate was granted to his mother, Lucy.
Emily Mary Knight (1910-2001), the sixth of ten children of William and Lucy Knight, was born at Badsey and educated at Badsey Council School. For a time she worked for the Wheatley family at The Poplars, High Street, as described in Ted Wheatley’s memoirs. Emily married Richard Tombs at Badsey in 1935 and died in the Evesham area in 2001.
Gwendoline Mary Knight (1912-1994), the seventh of ten children of William and Lucy Knight, was born at Badsey and educated at Badsey Council School. She married Wilson A J Staite in 1937 and died in the Evesham area in 1994.
James Knight (1915-1961), the eighth of ten children of William and Lucy Knight, was born at Badsey and educated at Badsey Council School. He was still single and living in the parental home in Badsey in 1939, working as a market gardener’s labourer. He married Muriel Grace Ballard in 1942 (she was the sister of Phyllis M Ballard who had married his younger brother, Lawrence, in 1940). They lived at 8 Synehurst and had two children. James died at 8 Synehurst in September 1961. A notice of his death in the parish magazine of October 1961. A month or two after James’ death, Muriel married again, to Malcolm D Bull.
Walter Ernest Knight (1917-1962), the ninth of ten children of William and Lucy Knight, was born at Badsey and educated at Badsey Council School. He was still single and living in the parental home in Badsey in 1939, working as a market gardener’s labourer. Walter died at 8 Synehurst on 4th January 1962, aged 44, and was buried in St James’ churchyard. Probate was granted to his mother, Lucy Knight. Lucy was buried in the same plot nearly three years later.
Lawrence David Knight (1922-1981), the youngest of ten children of William and Lucy Knight, was born at Badsey and educated at Badsey Council School. There is a photo of him as a schoolboy at Badsey School from 1927-1936. His whereabouts at the time of the 1939 register are unknown, but his fiancée, Phyllis M Ballard, was living with his parents at 8 Synehurst, Badsey, working as a household assistant. The couple married in 1940. Lawrence died in the Evesham area in 1981.
Knight Family 3f – Joseph Knight (1690-1731), son of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729) from his first wife, and descendants
First Generation
Joseph Knight (1690-1731) was born at Badsey the fourth of six children of Joseph Knight and his first wife, Jane/Joan (née Darke). He married Sarah and had five children, all baptised at Badsey: Henry (1721-1722), Thomas (1723), Joseph (1726), Elizabeth (1728-1737) and William (1731). Joseph died in November 1731; his youngest son, William, was born posthumously.
Second Generation
William Knight (1731-?), the youngest of five children of Joseph and Sarah Knight, was born posthumously in 1731. He married Elizabeth and they had a son, John (1759-?).
Third Generation
John Knight (1759-1826), the son of William and Elizabeth Knight, was born at Badsey in 1759. He married Elizabeth and they had three sons and four daughters born at Aldington and baptised at Badsey: Joseph (1789-c1855), Ann (1791), Hannah (1793), Mary (1795-1830), Sarah (1800), John (1804) and George (1807-1864). They then moved to the neighbouring village of Offenham where a daughter, Caroline was born (c1812-1834). John died at Offenham in 1826 and Elizabeth in 1838.
Fourth Generation
Joseph Knight (1789-1858), the eldest of eight children of John and Elizabeth Knight, was born at Aldington in 1789. In about 1810, Joseph’s parents and siblings moved to the neighbouring village of Offenham. It was in this year that Joseph married Rebecca Andrews at Wickhamford on 13th October 1810. They then moved to Cropthorne. By 1841, Joseph was a widower and living with his son, Francis, at Cropthorne. He was still living with Francis in 1851, both working as a carpenter. On the window of the house where he lived in Cropthorne, he inscribed the words, "Joseph Knight, the Cropthorne Slasher, 1841". Joseph died in 1858 at Cropthorne.
Knight Family 3g – Sons of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729) from his second wife, and descendants
Joseph Knight had eight children by his second marriage to Eleanor Richardson: Henry (1699-1769), Samuel (1700-1783), Francis (1702), Edward (1704), Benjamin (1705), James (1707-1711), Valentine (1708) and James (1715-1715). Whilst Henry, the eldest son, married twice and had a total of 14 children, it was only Samuel, the second son, who produced children who remained in the village.
Henry Knight (1699-1769) the eldest of eight children of Joseph Knight by his second wife, Eleanor (née Richardson), was born at Aldington in 1699. Henry’s first wife was Sarah who bore him four sons: Joseph (1725), Samuel (1726-1726), Samuel (1732) and Henry (1735). Henry at that time owned the house now known as Sherwood Cottage. Henry, leased the family home for a year in 1730 to his younger brother, Samuel, of Badsey, and John Cooke of Bengeworth. Sarah died in 1736 and Henry remarried two years later, to Rebecca Glading of Bengeworth. As part of a marriage settlement of 1738, Henry gave the cottage to his wife-to-be in return for a dowry of £30. Henry and Rebecca had six sons and four daughters: Benjamin (1738), Hannah (1742-1819), Thomas (1742), William (1744), Malachi (1746-1747), Sarah (1747), Elizabeth (1749), Malachi (1751), Edward (1756-1760) and Lois (?-1758). Henry died in 1769 and Rebecca in 1785. In her will, she left the property to her youngest son, Malachi, a carpenter of Great and Little Hampton, and money to her other children, Benjamin Knight, Hannah Pethard, William Knight and Elizabeth Hughes. During Henry and Rebecca’s time in the property, it seems to have been extended, with the addition of extra rooms and a small garden: “All that new built messuage or tenement with the plot of ground thereunto adjoining and also a small garden belonging to the said messuage or tenement … together with all houses, outhouses, edifices, buildings, barns, stables, gardens, orchards, hedges, ditches, mounds, trees, ways, waters, watercourses, commons, common of pasture …”. Malachi Knight did not want to live at Sherwood Cottage, so he leased the property to Thomas Grove, weaver, of Aldington, in 1785 and then later sold it to him. With the exception of Henry’s daughter, Hannah, who married Thomas Pethard at Badsey in 1763, none of his children by his two marriages appear to have remained living in the village.
Samuel Knight (1700-1783), the second of eight children of Joseph Knight by his second wife, Eleanor (née Richardson) – see below.
Benjamin Knight (1705-?), the fifth of eight children of Joseph Knight by his second wife, Eleanor (née Richardson), was born at Aldington in 1705. He was apprenticed in 1723 to Francis Pinchin, a smith in Bricklehampton.
Samuel Knight (1700-1783), son of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
Samuel Knight (1700-1783), the second of eight children of Joseph Knight by his second wife, Eleanor (née Richardson), was born at Aldington in 1700. Samuel married Ann Jones around 1732 (not in Badsey). Samuel and Ann had seven children: Joseph (1733-1782), Samuel (1735), James (1738), Ann (1739-1774), Mary (1743), Valentine (1745-1758) and Francis (1749-1798). Ann died in November 1771 and Samuel in October 1783. It was Samuel’s descendants who remained living in Badsey for several generations.
Children of Samuel Knight (1700-1783), grandchildren of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
Joseph Knight (1733-1782), the eldest of seven children of Samuel Knight and his wife, Ann (née Jones) – see below.
Ann Knight (1739-1774), the fourth of seven children of Samuel Knight and his wife, Ann (née Jones), was born at Badsey in 1739. She married Richard Roberts at Badsey in 1764, and remained in Badsey for the rest of her life, dying ten years later, aged 35.
Francis Knight (1749-1798), the youngest of seven children of Samuel Knight and his wife, Ann (née Jones) – see below.
Knight Family 3h – Joseph Knight (1733-1782), grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729) from his second wife, and descendants
Joseph Knight (1733-1782), grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
Joseph Knight (1733-1782), the eldest of seven children of Samuel Knight and his wife, Ann (née Jones), was born at Badsey in 1733. He married Ann Clifton on 18th April 1757 at Badsey (Ann was not born in Badsey; her family had moved to the village around the 1740s); both signed their names. Joseph and Ann had seven children: Mary (1758), Valentine (1759-1795), William (1761-1806), Thomas (1765-1841), Ann (1769-1769), Joseph (1770-1791) and Ann (1772-1774). Joseph died in January 1782, aged 49, and Ann died two years later in January 1784, so Joseph pre-deceased his father by one year.
Valentine Knight (1759-1795) was born at Badsey in 1759, the second of seven children and eldest son of Joseph Knight and his wife, Ann (née Clifton). Valentine married Elizabeth Simpson at Badsey in 1785; they had no children. He was a carpenter and became heir to his grandfather, Samuel Knight’s estate. In 1787, he took out a mortgage of £30 on the messuage and gardens which had been left him by his grandfather. It is described as being between the land of Henry Seward and Joseph Robarts, which would seem to indicate that it is The Laurels, High Street. It is probable that the house came to them through Valentine’s grandmother’s family. Samuel Knight had married Anne Jones, who was the daughter of Mary Grove. The Groves had been substantial landowners in Badsey, and bachelor Francis Grove owned a considerable amount of property and land in Badsey at the time of his death in 1755. It is possible that this property was the one named in his will as Harwood’s House and which he willed to Piercy Jones (Valentine’s great-uncle) and permitted his sister Mary (Valentine’s great-grandmother) to have the use of the parlour and room over it and the buttery. Valentine died at Badsey in 1795.
William Knight (1761-1806) was born at Badsey in 1761, the third of seven children of Joseph Knight and his wife, Ann (née Clifton). William married Susannah Newitt at Badsey in 1783; they had no children. William died at Badsey in 1806. Susannah died at Norton in 1850 but was buried at Badsey.
Thomas Knight (1765-1841), great-grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
Thomas Knight (1765-1841) was born at Badsey in 1765, the fourth of seven children of Joseph Knight and his wife, Ann (née Clifton). Thomas married Badsey-born Ann Simpson at Badsey in 1790; Thomas could sign his name, but Ann signed with a cross (five years earlier, Thomas’ brother, Valentine, had married Ann’s half-sister, Elizabeth). Thomas and Ann had eight children: Joseph (1791-1847), William (1793-1849), Betty (1796-1839), Valentine (1799-1849), Mary (1802-1864), Ann (1804-?), Thomas (1809-1811) and Charlotte (1812-1833). When the Badsey Enclosure Commissioners made their awards in 1815, the area where four cottages now stand at the corner of High Street and Mill Lane was an old enclosure described as a house and garden owned by Thomas Knight. Thomas was a builder and probably divided the house and added on the extensions (the present-day Field Cottage and Number 50 High Street) to accommodate his large family. Thomas’ great-great-great-granddaughter, Lucy Sweeting, has in her possession a tambourine which, according to family legend, was made by Thomas Knight. Ann was buried on 20th January 1838. Thomas features in the 1841 census, aged 76, living alone, described as a builder. He died later that year in November 1841 and left a will.
Children of Thomas Knight (1765-1841), great-great-grandchildren of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
Joseph Knight (1791-1847), the eldest of eight children of Thomas Knight and his wife, Ann (née Simpson) – see below.
William Knight (1793-1849), the second of eight children of Thomas Knight and his wife, Ann (née Simpson) – see below.
Betty Knight (1796-1839), the third of eight children of Thomas Knight and his wife, Ann (née Simpson), was born at Badsey in 1796. She married Joseph Webb at Badsey in 1816 and had four children. The baptism register for 1819 lists the baptism of Priscilla Knight, daughter of Joseph Knight, labourer, and his wife, Betty. It seems that the Curate mistakenly put down the mother's maiden name (they definitely had a daughter, Priscilla, as she was living with her widowed father at the time of the 1841 census). Betty remained living in Badsey for the rest of her life, dying in October 1839.
Valentine Knight (1799-1849), the fourth of eight children of Thomas Knight and his wife, Ann (née Simpson) – see below.
Mary Knight (1802-1864), the fifth of eight children of Thomas Knight and his wife, Ann (née Simpson), was born at Badsey in 1802. She married James Aldington at Badsey in 1832. She remained living in Badsey for the rest of her life, dying in September 1864.
Ann Knight (1804-?), the sixth of eight children of Thomas Knight and his wife, Ann (née Simpson), was born at Badsey in 1804. She married Charles Stratton at Badsey in 1831 and left the village, whereabouts unknown. A descendant of Ann Knight contacted the Badsey website in March 2014.
Charlotte Knight (1812-1833), the youngest of eight children of Thomas Knight and his wife, Ann (née Simpson), was born at Badsey in 1812. She never married and died at Badsey in February 1833, aged 20.
Joseph Knight (1791-1847), great-great-grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
Joseph Knight (1791-1847), the eldest of eight children of Thomas Knight and his wife, Ann (née Simpson), was born at Badsey in 1791. Joseph married Elizabeth Pratt from Salford, Warwickshire, in 1811 at Wickhamford. In the early years of married life, they are thought to have lived at Cropthorne where a daughter, Elizabeth (1812-1837) was born and then at Bretforton where Rebecca (1814-1851) was born. They then returned to Badsey where six more children were born: Joseph (1818-1871), Anne (1821-1851), Thomas (1824-?), Samuel (1827-1886), Mary (1829-?) and Edward (1832-?). Joseph was a carpenter. Joseph and Thomas had left home by 1841. It is thought that Mary may have died in infancy, as she is not recorded with the family in the 1841 census, though there is no burial record for her. In 1841, Joseph and Elizabeth lived next-door to Joseph’s brother, William, on what is believed to be Old Post Office Lane; Anne, Samuel and Edward were at home, plus Anne’s daughter, Mary Ann Ballard Knight (1840). In 1842, Joseph bought two cottages from Stephen White (the present-day Gladstone Cottage, 11A High Street, and one at the rear, since demolished). In the 1840s, Joseph (or possibly his son, Joseph, also a carpenter), added an extension to the cottage nearest the High Street making a far more substantial dwelling and with a door opening on to the street. The name KNIGHT can clearly be seen on a photograph of 1968. It is possible that this was added to the extension on the High Street in the 1840s; however, it may have been an early 20th century addition as Mike Hewlett (1927-2010), who grew up in Badsey, recalls a man by the name of Knight living there in the inter-war period and he had the sign “Painter & Glazier” outside. When Gladstone Cottage was extended, the cottage at the rear had been adapted and two further ones built, with a fourth being built at some time in the 1850s (these were later to become known as The Alley). Joseph died at Badsey in 1847. In 1851, Elizabeth lived in a cottage in The Alley with her youngest son, Edward, and her granddaughter, 12-year-old Mary Ann Knight (the illegitimate daughter of Anne Knight), plus two lodgers. Elizabeth lived there alone in 1861. In 1871, Elizabeth, described as Annuitant, was living in Offenham with her youngest son, Edward. She died at Evesham Union in 1875 and was buried at Badsey.
Elizabeth Knight (1812-1837) was born at Cropthorne in 1812, the eldest of eight children of Joseph Knight and his wife, Elizabeth (née Pratt). She married Richard Oldaker at Badsey in 1835. Elizabeth died at Badsey in 1837, aged 24.
Rebecca Knight (1814-1851) was born at Bretforton in 1814, the eldest of eight children of Joseph Knight and his wife, Elizabeth (née Pratt). She married David Walker at Badsey in 1836. Rebecca died at Badsey in 1851, aged 37.
Joseph Knight (1818-1871) was born at Badsey in 1818, the third of eight children of Joseph Knight and his wife, Elizabeth (née Pratt). He married Sarah Cotterill from Cropthorne in 1842. He was a master carpenter. They had three sons and two daughters: Ann Elizabeth (1843-1922), Joseph (c1845), Sarah Sophia (1847-1895), Charles Frederic (1849-1929) and Alfred Edmund (1851-1851). They were living in Conderton when the eldest three were born and in Badsey when the youngest two were born. It is possible that they may have returned to Badsey following the death of Joseph’s father in 1847 (Joseph Knight the father died in February; Joseph’s children, Joseph and Anne were baptised at Badsey in April). They moved into the cottage which had been bought by Joseph’s father in 1842, and possibly Joseph, rather than his father, may have carried out the renovations. Sarah died at Badsey in October 1851, eight months after the death of her youngest child. Joseph then married widow Esther Cook (née Crump) at Badsey in 1852. Esther was a grocer at the house that is now known as The Wheatsheaf Inn, Badsey. Two months after his wedding to Esther, Joseph held a housewarming dinner at The Wheatsheaf. In the late 1850s they emigrated to Ontario, Canada and Joseph became a farmer. Joseph died there on 6th May 1871.
Anne Knight (1821-1851) was born at Badsey in 1821, the fourth of eight children of Joseph Knight and his wife, Elizabeth (née Pratt). Anne never married but gave birth to a daughter, Mary Ann Ballard Knight, in 1840. Anne died at Badsey in 1851, aged 30.
Thomas Knight (1824-?) was born at Badsey in 1824, the fifth of eight children of Joseph Knight and his wife, Elizabeth (née Pratt). Thomas was lodging in Aston, Birmingham, in 1851, working as a journeyman plumber. On 7th May 1857 he married Esther Homans in the Parish Church, Edgbaston, Birmingham. Four months later, possibly when Thomas had taken his new bride home to introduce her to the family, a fracas occurred between Thomas and Esther and Thomas’s brother, Samuel, and wife, Emma, as reported in the local newspapers. The result was that Thomas and Esther were convicted of assaulting Emma and Samuel was convicted of assaulting Esther. By 1861, Thomas and Esther were living in Harrow, Hertfordshire, where Thomas was an engine driver and plumber and Esther was a dressmaker. They had two children: George E (c1863) and Mary Jane (1865). Mary Jane was baptised in Esther’s home village of Salford, Warwickshire. The family’s whereabouts at the time of the 1871 census are known. Thomas had died by 1875, as Esther had married again to William Glasbrook and settled in Vine Street, Evesham. Esther died in 1884.
Samuel Knight (1827-1886) was born at Badsey in 1827, the sixth of eight children of Joseph Knight and his wife, Elizabeth (née Pratt). Samuel married Emma Haines at Badsey in 1848. In 1857, Samuel and Emma were involved in a fracas with his brother, Thomas, and new wife, Esther, as reported in the local newspapers. The result was that Thomas and Esther were convicted of assaulting Emma and Samuel was convicted of assaulting Esther. Samuel and Emma had seven sons and six daughters: William Henry (1850), Fanny Matilda (1851), Albert Edward (1853), Ralph Blomfield (1855), Frederick Theodore (1856), Owen Haines (1858), Winifred Emma (1859-1859), Herbert Rupert (1860), Eliza Elizabeth (1862), Rose Emma (1863), Alfred Ernest (1865), Alice Helena (1867) and Kate Ellen (1868). In 1851, they were living on Old Post Office Lane, at what appears to be No 15; by 1861, they were living at what is now The Spar. Samuel was a gardener (domestic, not market). All the children were born at Badsey with the exception of Kate, the youngest, who was born at Cropthorne. Samuel was innkeeper and market gardener at The Farmers Arms, Cropthorne, in 1871 and at The Bell Inn in 1881. Samuel died at Cropthorne in 1886.
Edward Knight (1832-1911) was born at Badsey in 1827, the youngest of eight children of Joseph Knight and his wife, Elizabeth (née Pratt). He married Vina Stephens in 1852 and settled in Offenham where they had three sons and two daughters: Oswald (c1854-1906), George Edward (c1856-?), Mary (c1860-?), Alice L (c1862-?) and William Ewart G (1869-?). They emigrated to America in 1871. Edward died at Henrico County, Virginia, USA in 1911.
William Knight (1793-1849), great-great-grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
William Knight (1793-1849), the second of eight children of Thomas Knight and his wife, Ann (née Simpson), was born at Badsey in 1793. He married Catherine Webb at Childswickham in 1817. They had five sons and two daughters: James (1817-1873), John (1820-1848), Caroline (1821), Emanuel (1824-1885), Sally (1826-1847), Solomon (1829-1882) and Joshua (1832). James was born at Childswickham just a month or two after his parents’ marriage, but all the other children were born at Badsey. William was a carpenter. In 1841, he was living next-door to his brother, Joseph, on what is believed to have been Old Post Office Lane; their three youngest sons were at home. It is thought that their daughter, Sally, was working at Aldington as a servant in the household of Thomas Byrd (she appears as Sarah); Sarah died in 1847. William died at Badsey in 1849. In 1851, Catherine was living in a cottage owned by the Byrds in the High Street (demolished about 1869, site of 20 & 20A High Street); James and Solomon were both at home. All three were described as agricultural labourers. Catherine had gone from the village by 1861. Her son, Solomon, was ordered to help support her in 1879; she died in the Evesham area in 1881.
James Knight (1817-1873), the eldest of seven children of William Knight and his wife, Catherine (née Webb) was born at Childswickham in 1817. The family returned to his father’s native Badsey when James was a baby. In 1850, James was convicted on a charge of striking a person. James was still at home in Badsey in 1851 working as an agricultural labourer. He married Hannah Manders at Badsey in 1852. They had two children, Elizabeth (1859-1859) and Richard (1861-1861), who both died in infancy. In 1861 they were living at Sharps Row. James was an agricultural labourer. James died at Badsey in 1873 and Hannah at Aldington in 1874.
Emanuel Knight (1824-1885), the third of seven children of William Knight and his wife, Catherine (née Webb) was born at Badsey in 1824. He married Sarah Perks at Bretforton in 1849. Ten years later he married Sophia Freeman at Bretforton. He remained in Bretforton for the rest of his life, dying there in 1885.
Solomon Knight (1829-1882), the sixth of seven children of William Knight and his wife, Catherine (née Webb) was born at Badsey in 1824. He was still at home in Badsey in 1851 working as an agricultural labourer. In 1861, he was on a vessel in Portland Roads, Dorset. He married Jane Halford in 1879 who was over 30 years his junior; Jane had two children, Charles (c1871) and Emma (c1873). Solomon and Jane had one daughter, Ada (1879-1965), born at Bretforton (birth registered with the name Halford, but later became Knight). In 1881, Solomon, Jane, Ada, his two step-children, lived at Lower End, Bretforton. At the County Petty Sessions in 1879, Solomon was ordered to contribute to the support of his elderly mother. Solomon died at Bretforton in 1882.
Joshua Knight (1831-?), the youngest of seven children of William Knight and his wife, Catherine (née Webb) was born at Badsey in 1832. He was at home with his parents in Badsey in 1841, aged 11 and working as an agricultural labourer. His whereabouts after this are unknown.
Valentine Knight (1799-1849), great-great-grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
Valentine Knight (1799-1849), the fourth of eight children of Thomas Knight and his wife, Ann (née Simpson), was born at Badsey in 1799. He was a carpenter. He married Badsey-born Sarah Houghton at Badsey in 1823; both were able to sign their name. Valentine and Sarah had ten children: Anne Phillis (1823-1892), Valentine Orson (1824-1848), Fanny Caroline (1826-1844), Sophia Letitia (1827-1845), Malachi (1828-1891), Arthur Richard (1830), Charlotte (1833-1802), Sarah (1835), Elizabeth (1837-1851) and Thomas (1840). All the children were at home in 1841, with the exception of Fanny. They lived at what is now 46 & 48 High Street. For some reason, Fanny was not baptised as a child, but was baptised in 1842; she died two years later, aged 17 years 10 months. Valentine died in 1849 when his youngest child was only eight years old. By the time of the 1851 census, his widow, Sarah, was described as a pauper living in The Street, with four of her children: Anne, Malachi, Sarah and Richard, all grown-up. Anne, the eldest at 27, was deaf and dumb, but working as a gloveress, as was her sister, Sarah; 22-year-old Malachi was a carpenter. 20-year-old Richard was a farm labourer and he and his young wife, Eliza, were lodging with Sarah; they had recently had their first child, Fanny Elizabeth. Ten years later, in 1861, Sarah still had Anne, Malachi and Sarah at home. No job was given for Anne, but Malachi was still a carpenter and young Sarah was now employed as a servant. Richard and Eliza and their young family were living in a separate household. Sarah Knight, Valentine’s widow, died in October 1866, aged 66.
Anne Phillis Knight (1823-1892), the eldest of ten children of Valentine Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Houghton), was born at Badsey in 1823. She was deaf and dumb and worked as a gloveress. She lived with family members all her life and died at Badsey in 1892, aged 69.
Valentine Orson Knight (1824-1848), the second of ten children of Valentine Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Houghton), was born at Badsey in 1824. He became a carpenter. He never married and died at Badsey in 1848, aged 24.
Fanny Caroline Knight (1826-1844), the third of ten children of Valentine Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Houghton), was born at Badsey in 1826. She never married and died at Badsey in 1844, aged 18.
Sophia Letitia Knight (1827-1845), the fourth of ten children of Valentine Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Houghton), was born at Badsey in 1827. She never married and died at Badsey in 1845, aged 18.
Malachi Knight (1828-1891), the fifth of ten children of Valentine Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Houghton) – see below.
Arthur Richard Knight (1830-1862), the sixth of ten children of Valentine Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Houghton) – see below.
Charlotte Knight (1835-1902), the seventh of ten children of Valentine Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Houghton), was born at Badsey in 1833. Charlotte married William Houghton in 1860 and spent the rest of her life in Harvington where she died in 1902. A descendant of Charlotte Knight contacted the Badsey website in March 2005.
Sarah Knight (1835-?), the eighth of ten children of Valentine Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Houghton), was born at Badsey in 1835. Sarah married Wilson Roberts at Badsey in 1861 and left the village.
Elizabeth Knight (1837-51), the ninth of ten children of Valentine Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Houghton), was born at Badsey in 1837. She died at Badsey in February 1851, aged 14.
Thomas Knight (1840-1923), the youngest of ten children of Valentine Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Houghton), was born at Badsey in 1840. He had left Badsey by 1861 and was working as an under gardener in Wellesbourne, Warwickshire. He married Esther and had five sons and three daughters. He died in the Dudley district in 1923.
Malachi Knight (1828-1891), great-great-great-grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
Malachi Knight (1828-1891), the fifth of ten children of Valentine Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Houghton), was born at Badsey in 1828. He was a carpenter. According to the family, he was a wheelwright as well, making farm carts. He lived at the family home on the corner of High Street and Mill Lane, Badsey. His brother, Arthur Richard died in 1862; Malachi then became the partner of his brother Arthur’s widow, Eliza, who had four young children (in those days, it was against the law to marry your brother’s widow, even though no blood relative). They lived together, however, as common-law husband and wife, and Eliza is described in the 1871 and 1881 census returns as wife of Malachi. Malachi and Eliza had three children together: Arthur Edward (1865-1868), Allan (1867-1920) and Clara (1869). By 1871, the Knight family lived at Silk Mill Cottages, which had been converted into housing in 1864. The family unit in 1871 comprised of Malachi, Eliza, a gloveress, living with him as his wife; their two young children, Allan and Clara; Eliza’s children, Fanny and Valentine; and Malachi’s spinster sister, Ann. They were still at Silk Mill Cottages in 1881. Malachi appeared on the Electoral Roll for 1891 but died in April 1891, shortly before the census (or possibly even on the day of the census which was taken on 5th April, as he was buried on 9th April). A lovely piece of oral history has come down through the family about Malachi’s last day. According to his great-great-niece, Lucy Sweeting (née Knight), Malachi was keen on playing his fiddle, which he kept in a green baize bag. One night, he stopped playing, broke the violin across his knee saying, “Liza, I shan’t be needing this again.” He went to bed and never woke up. At the time of the 1891 census, the family had moved to Village Street. Sixty-one-year-old Eliza was then described as a Market Gardener, and had four of her children living with her plus her deaf and dumb sister-in-law. Eliza was still at the same address in 1901. She was described as a shopkeeper and was living in undoubtedly what is now the current Post Office. Eliza and her daughter, Bertha, were summoned to Evesham Court in 1895 for selling half a pound of adulterated butter. Eliza died at Badsey in 1906.
Allan Knight (1867-1920), the second of three children and eldest surviving child of Malachi Knight and his wife, Elizabeth (née Moysey), was born at Badsey in 1867. He was still living in the family home in Badsey in 1901 working as a gardener’s labourer. He married Isabel Gardner in 1906; they had one child who had died by 1911. At the time of the 1911 census, they were living at Knowle Hill, Evesham. Allan died at Knowle Hill in 1920 and was buried at Badsey.
Clara Knight (1869-1956), the youngest of three children of Malachi Knight and his wife, Elizabeth (née Moysey), was born at Badsey in 1869. She married William Hiden at Badsey in 1892 and moved to Bengeworth, Evesham. Clara died at Evesham in 1956, aged 86.
Arthur Richard Knight (1830-1862), great-great-great-grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
Arthur Richard Knight (1830-1862), the sixth of ten children of Valentine Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Houghton), was born at Badsey in 1830. Arthur Richard was a farm labourer and married Elizabeth Moysey at Badsey in 1850; Arthur signed with a cross but Elizabeth signed as Eliza Moysey. In some records he appears as Arthur and some as Richard. At the time of the 1851 census, Arthur and Eliza were living with Arthur’s mother (at the family home, 46-48 High Street), but by 1861, they were living at the Silk Mill (this was before it was bought and refurbished for accommodation). Arthur was working as a shepherd in 1861. Arthur and Eliza had five children: Fanny Elizabeth (1851), Sarah Ann (1855), Charlotte Sophia (1857-8), Bertha Maude (1859) and Valentine Orson (1862-1937). Arthur Richard died in an agricultural accident (according to family memories), aged 32, and was buried at Badsey in November 1862. His widow later became the partner of his brother, Malachi.
Bertha Maude Knight (1859-1906), the fourth of five children of Arthur Richard Knight and his wife, Elizabeth (née Moysey), was born at Badsey in 1859. She was aged three when her father was killed in an agricultural accident. Bertha was working as a nursemaid at Glebe Cottage, Mill Lane, in 1871 but was back at home with her mother in 1881, 1891 and 1901. Bertha and her mother were summoned to Evesham Court in 1895 for selling half a pound of adulterated butter. Bertha never married and died at Badsey in 1906.
Valentine Orson Knight (1862-1937), the youngest of five children of Arthur Richard Knight and his wife, Elizabeth (née Moysey), was born at Badsey in 1862. He was less than a year old when his father was killed in an agricultural accident. According to his obituary, Valentine worked as a page to the Reverend Thomas Hunt and went with him when he left the village. After leaving Reverend Hunt’s employment, he worked in private service for the next 20 years at Leamington, Bromyard, Manchester and London. Valentine was back home in Badsey in 1891, living with his mother and siblings in what is now the Spar. He was a market gardener, like his mother and brother. Valentine married Amelia Jessie Lock (from Bristol) in 1893 in Barrow in Furness district, Cumbria, but then returned to live in Badsey. Valentine and Amelia had four children, all born at Badsey: Valentine Sidney (1895), Arthur Orson (1896-1971), Adelaide (1898), Lawrence Richard (1899). Valentine and Amelia and their family lived at Blenheim Cottage, which in the 1890s had briefly been the first village post office. Amelia was mentioned in a letter of February 1917 written by Mela Brown Constable to her fiancé, Cyril Sladden, as Cyril was in the same regiment as Amelia’s son, Sydney. They were still there at the time of the 1924 electoral register but by 1929 wer living at Blackminster. By 1931 they had moved to 1 Council Houses, Aldington, where they remained for the rest of their lives. Valentine died in June 1937 and Amelia in November 1937.
Sydney Valentine Knight (1895-1985), the eldest of four children of Valentine Orson Knight and his wife, Amelia Jessie (née Lock), was born at Badsey in 1895. He attended Badsey Council School from 1899-1909 and was confirmed into the church in February 1911. He was a market gardener at the time of the 1911 census. During the First World War, Sydney appeared before a military tribunal in March 1916. His employer, Mrs Emma Knight (wife of John Edwin Knight), applied on his behalf as her husband was away at war and she only had Sydney and one other to help her. However, the application was refused and Sydney joined the 9th Worcestershire Regiment. He enlisted at Drakes Broughton and was posted to Mesopotamia. He was mentioned in three letters written by the Sladden family, as Sydney served in the same regiment as Cyril Sladden. He is mentioned on two occasions in the parish magazine of the war years. Sid took part in the battle to relieve Kut-el-Amara where he was wounded. This photo shows a dented clip of bullets (now in the possession of Lucy Sweeting); they saved her father’s life as they were in his ammo pouch and deflected a Turkish sniper’s bullet (the Parish Magazine mentions him being wounded and this may well have been the occasion). As Sid showed the initiative to learn Arabic, he was selected to instruct local volunteers in fire-fighting. He was sent to Ashar in Iraq, then Basra, to form fire services. This shows Sid (left) and his fire crew of Arabs. It was and is their custom to show their respect for their superiors by bringing them little gifts. They gave him a cruet set – then another one – then another one! It transpired that they were being “acquired” from the local hotel. Needless to say, they were all returned by Sid. Sid stayed on with the fire services after the war, rising to the rank of Company Sergeant Major, returning to the UK in 1920. Sydney appeared on the Absent Voters’ list for 1918 as he was still serving with the Northumberland Fusiliers. He then took up the traditional Vale trade of horticulture. After his marriage in 1923 to Ellen Mary Jane Willetts, the family lived in Cropthorne until moving to North Wales in 1947. Sid died in North Wales on 25th January 1985. Sydney Valentine Knight’s daughter contacted the Badsey website in July 1901 and December 2002.
Arthur Orson Knight (1896-1971), the second of four children of Valentine Orson Knight and his wife, Amelia Jessie (née Lock), was born at Badsey in 1896. He attended Badsey Council School from 1899-1910. Arthur served in France in WW1 with the Worcestershire Regiment. He is mentioned on four occasions in the parish magazine of the war years and a brief report in The Evesham Journal of May 1917. He suffered severe shrapnel head wounds. Shrapnel remained embedded in his skull for the rest of his life and his mind “shut down” from the moment of impact. Although he lived for a further 54 years (he died in November 1971 and his funeral was held at Badsey), he never recognised the passing of time. He was frightened by any sudden loud noise, like a thunderstorm, and would barricade the door because “the Germans were coming”. He was discharged from the army in February 1918 and was awarded the Silver Badge. Charles Binyon visited him on two occasions and mentions him in his diaries of November 1917 and January 1918. He remained hospitalised for the rest of his life. At the time of the 1939 Register, Arthur was a patient at the Worcester County & City Mental Hospital, Powick. Arthur died at Powick in 1971 but was buried at Badsey. A report of Arthur Orson Knight’s death appeared in the parish magazine of December 1971.
Adelaide Knight (1898-1981), the third of four children of Valentine Orson Knight and his wife, Amelia Jessie (née Lock), was born at Badsey in 1898. She married Walter Howley at Badsey in 1921. She died in 1981 at 6 Hyde Close, South Littleton.
Lawrence Richard Knight (1899-1978), the youngest of four children of Valentine Orson Knight and his wife, Amelia Jessie (née Lock), was born at Badsey in 1899. Lawrence was a pupil at Badsey Council School from 1903-1913; on leaving school, he took up market gardening. During the First World War, when he became of age for active service, Lawrence appeared before a military tribunal, his employer, Mrs E Hall & Sons, appealing on his behalf. Lawrence was still living with his parents at Blenheim Cottage at the time of the 1924 electoral register. At the time of the 1939 register he was living in Manchester, working as a market gardner. He died in the Warrington area in 1978.
Knight Family 3i – Francis Knight (1749-1798), grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729) from his second wife, and descendants
Francis Knight (1749-1798), grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
Francis Knight (1749-1798), the youngest of seven children of Samuel Knight and his wife, Ann (née Jones), was born at Badsey in 1749. He married Ann Stephens, known as Nancy at Wickhamford in 1773. He was a carpenter by trade. Francis and Nancy had three sons and 11 daughters: Joseph (1774-1843), Ann (1775-1778), Mary (1777-1791), Elizabeth (1778), Nancy (1780-1796), Hannah (1782-1783), Sarah (1783-1802), Jane (1785), Francis (1788), Martha (1791-1796) and Samuel (1794-1795). Nancy died at Badsey in August 1796, four months after the death of her daughter, Martha, and two months after the death of her daughter, Nancy. Francis died at Badsey in 1798. Only their eldest son, Joseph, went on to continue the line of Knights in Badsey.
Joseph Knight (1774-1843), great-grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
Joseph Knight (1774-1843), the eldest of 11 children of Francis Knight and his wife, Ann (née Stephens), was born at Badsey in 1774. He married Sarah and had four children: Robert (1806-1875), Charles (1808), Harriet (1811-1899) and William (1813). The 1831 Land Tax of Badsey shows that Joseph Knight was listed as tenant farmer at Glebe Farm in 1831. A conveyance of 1837 shows that Joseph bought the nearby former parish cottages which dated back to at least the 1770s and had been used for housing the poor, and then took out a mortgage. After the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 and the building of Evesham Union Workhouse in 1837, there was no longer any need for the cottages. Probably at about the same time, he bought Rose Cottage on Chapel Street. At the time of the 1841 census, Joseph lived at Glebe Farm with three of his children, 38-year-old Charles, 25-year-old William and 27-year-old Harriet Sharp. Charles and William were both unmarried and described, like their father, as farmers. Harriet, who had married Thomas Sharp in 1832, was working as a servant in the household and had her children, seven-year-old Selina and five-month-old Alfred staying with her. Joseph Knight died in 1843 and in his will left his eldest son “All that my freehold cottage or tenement with the garden and appurtenances thereto belonging situate in Badsey in the County of Worcester and now in the occupation of John Roberts and all my wearing apparel”. To his other children, he left the poor law cottages (later to be known as Sharps Row).
Children of Joseph Knight (1774-1843), great-great-grandchildren of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
Robert Knight (1806-1875), the eldest of four children of Joseph and Sarah Knight – see below.
Charles Knight (1808-?), the second of four children of Joseph and Sarah Knight, was born at Badsey in 1808. Charles was still living in Badsey in 1841 with his father and younger brother, William. They farmed at Parsonage Farm (also known as Glebe Farm, demolished in the 20th century). After the death of their father in 1843, Charles and William, inherited two of the four cottages which Joseph Knight had bought in 1837, which they then sold. Three years after their father’s death, they decided to leave the farm, and auctioned off their crops on 24th July 1846. Charles married Anne Mary Bishop at Badsey in 1849. In 1851 they were living at Cropthorne where Charles was described as a farmer. Anne died in November 1851 and was buried at Badsey. In July 1852, Charles married Elizabeth Dingley at Cropthorne. They had three children: Rosa Bessie (1853-1869), Susan M (1854-?) and Herbert (1863-?). On 10th March 1884, Charles, Elizabeth and Susan arrived in New York having set sail from Liverpool; Herbert also emigrated to the States. They were following in the wake of Charles’ nephews, William and Thomas Knight (sons of his older brother, Robert, who, along with several other Badsey families, had emigrated to America in the 1870s). It is not known when Charles and Elizabeth died.
Harriet Knight (1811-1899), the third of four children of Joseph and Sarah Knight, was born at Badsey in 1811. She married Thomas Sharp at Badsey in 1832. In 1841 she was working as a servant in the household of her widowed father in Badsey and had her children, seven-year-old Selina and five-month-old Alfred staying with her. After the death of her father in 1843, Harriet inherited two of the four cottages which Joseph Knight had bought in 1837. Her husband was a builder and converted the Poor Law cottages which became known as Sharps Row; they took out a mortgage with Henry Workman in 1844. Harriet died at Bengeworth in 1899. A descendant of Harriet Knight contacted the Badsey website in November 2002.
William Knight (1813-?), the youngest of four children of Joseph and Sarah Knight, was born at Badsey in 1813. William was still living in Badsey in 1841 with his father and older brother. They farmed at Parsonage Farm (also known as Glebe Farm, demolished in the 20th century). William served as a parish constable in 1842. After the death of their father in 1843, Charles and William, inherited two of the four cottages which Joseph Knight had bought in 1837, which they then sold. Three years after their father’s death, they decided to leave the farm, and auctioned off their crops on 24th July 1846. William’s whereabouts after this are unknown. Information on Ancestry indicates that a William Knight, born in England, was naturalized as a US citizen at Cuyahoga, Ohio, in 1860. Given that a good number of people from Badsey emigrated to Ohio, including several members of the Knight family, it is possible that it may be this William. However, he has not been found in American census records (nor in UK census records).
Robert Knight (1806-1875), great-great-grandson of Joseph Knight (c1660-1729)
Robert Knight (1806-1875), the eldest of four children of Joseph and Sarah Knight, was born at Badsey in 1806. He married Mary Dowsil (1811-1889) at Badsey in 1832. They had three sons and eight daughters: Ann (c 1832), Elizabeth (1834-1916), Abigail (1836-1909), Joseph (1838-1915), Sarah (1840), Mary Ann (1842), Harriet (1845-1931), William (1846-1912), Julia (1850-1872), Emma (1851-1932), Thomas (1855-1928). Ann was born at Campden, Gloucestershire (possibly before her parents were married), but the others were all born at Aldington. Robert was living in Aldington (believed to have lived in the thatched cottage on Main Street which was demolished in the 1920s) at the time of his father’s death, in the employment of Richard Ashwin, and continued to live there for some time (he appears in the 1841, 1851 and 1861 census returns for Aldington). In 1851, all the children were still at home, except two of the older girls, Ann and Abigail. By 1861, just Joseph and the four youngest children were still at home with their parents. By 1871, Robert and Mary and their youngest son, Thomas, had moved to Badsey and were living in Rose Cottage (which he had inherited from his father in 1843), which had previously been let to the Roberts family. It is believed that, during the 1840s, Robert had bought a house in Evesham and had it transported to Badsey and built alongside Rose Cottage (the new place was later called Vine Cottage), backing on to some new cottages which were built by his sister, Harriet, and her husband Thomas Sharp. Robert Knight died suddenly on 5th June 1875, aged 68. Probate of his will was granted to his son-in-law, John Sharp. Mary remained living at Rose/Vine Cottage. In 1881 she was described as an annuitant. Her daughter, Abigail Sharp, was visiting with her husband, John, and two sons, John and Albert. Both her husband and eldest son were carpenters, so it is possible that they were working on the cottages called Sharps Row (three of which were pulled down between 1871 and 1881). Mary died at Badsey on 6th April 1889; probate of her will was granted to her son, Joseph. Both Robert and Mary were buried in St James’ churchyard where there is a headstone. The Valuation Survey of 1912 reveals that R Knight & Sons owned 13 acres of land called Knights’ Ground, on the south side of Bretforton Road, and about 12½ acres of land at Badsey Fields. This is assumed to be the estate of Robert Knight as, in the Poor Rate Book of 1890, Robert then (even though he had died in 1875) was shown as the owner of just over 12 acres. It is assumed that his son, Joseph, carried on his father’s business, trading under the name, R Knight & Sons.
Ann Knight (1832-?), the eldest of 11 children of Robert Knight and his wife, Mary (née Dowsil), was born at Broad Campden, Gloucestershire, in 1832, and moved with her parents to Aldington whilst still a baby. In 1851, she was working as a Kitchen Maid in the home of John Clark, who lived at Lanesfield House, Greenhill, Evesham. In 1861 she was working as Cook to siblings, Sarah and William Byrd, who lived at The Poplars, High Street, Badsey; her younger sister, Harriett, was a House Servant. By 1871, Ann had left the village, and Harriet had become the Cook and younger sister, Julia, had become a Housemaid. Ann’s whereabouts after this are unknown.
Elizabeth Knight (1834-1916), the second of 11 children of Robert Knight and his wife, Mary (née Dowsil), was born at Aldington in 1834. She married Thomas Cotterill in 1860 and lived at Aldington at Thatch Cottage for the rest of her life. Elizabeth died in 1916.
Abigail Knight (1836-1909), the third of 11 children of Robert Knight and his wife, Mary (née Dowsil), was born at Aldington in 1836. She was working as a servant in Edgbaston, Birmingham, at the time of the 1851 census. Abigail married her first cousin, John Sharp (1836-1905), a carpenter, at Birmingham in 1858; he was the son of Abigail’s father’s sister, Harriet. John and Abigail died at Bengeworth in 1905 and 1909 respectively.
Joseph Knight (1838-1915), the fourth of 11 children of Robert Knight and his wife, Mary (née Dowsil) – see below.
Sarah Knight (1840), the fifth of 11 children of Robert Knight and his wife, Mary (née Dowsil), was born at Aldington in 1840. She was working as a servant in the home of retired merchant, Ferdinand Field, in 1861 in Evesham. She was working as a servant in Bradford when she married Charles Henry Beard at St Andrew’s, Bordesley, Warwickshire, in August 1864. She was widowed a few months later. A daughter, Anne Lizette, was born the following year at her parents’ home in Aldington; Anne was baptised at Badsey in June 1865. The whereabouts of mother and daughter after this are unknown, although they may have emigrated to America in 1881, following in the footsteps of two of Sarah’s brothers. A Mrs Beard, aged 38, and her 17-year-old daughter, Annie, sailed from Liverpool on 5th March 1881 bound for New Orleans.
Mary Ann Knight (1842), the sixth of 11 children of Robert Knight and his wife, Mary (née Dowsil), was born at Aldington in 1842. Mary Ann married Edward Brown on Boxing Day 1870 at St Philip’s Church, Birmingham. Her whereabouts after this are unknown.
Harriet Knight (1845-1931), the seventh of 11 children of Robert Knight and his wife, Mary (née Dowsil), was born at Aldington in 1845. She was working in 1861 as a house servant to siblings, Sarah and William Byrd, who lived at The Poplars, High Street, Badsey; her elder sister, Ann, worked there, too, as cook. By 1871, Ann had gone and Harriet was now the cook to 82-year-old landowner, Sarah Byrd (William Byrd having died); her younger sister, Julia, was the housemaid. Harriet married William Emms at Badsey in 1879. In 1895, her brother, Joseph Knight, sold Rose Cottage, which he had inherited after the death of his parents, to Harriet. Harriet died at Badsey in 1931.
William Knight (1846-1912), the eighth of 11 children of Robert Knight and his wife, Mary (née Dowsil), was born at Aldington in 1846. He was still living at home in Aldington in 1861, working as a plough boy. In 1868, William emigrated to America. He married Annie. In 1880 he was living in Parkman Township, Geauga County, Ohio. When his mother died in 1889, William, jointly with his younger brother, Thomas, inherited Vine Cottage, Badsey. As they were both living overseas by this time, they sold Vine Cottage to their sister, Emma Knight. In 1910 they were living in Farmington Township, Trumbull County, Ohio.
Julia Knight (1850-1872), the ninth of 11 children of Robert Knight and his wife, Mary (née Dowsil), was born at Aldington in 1850. She was working as housemaid to 82-year-old landowner, Sarah Byrd, in 1871; her elder sister, Harriet, was the Cook. They lived at The Poplars, High Street, Badsey. Julia died at Badsey in 1872.
Emma Knight (1851-1932), the tenth of 11 children of Robert Knight and his wife, Mary (née Dowsil), was born at Aldington in 1851. She was living in Port Street Bengeworth, Evesham, in 1871, working as a general servant. In 1881, she was living with her sister, Harriet Emms, and family, in Birmingham. She was acting as nurse to Harriet’s nine-day old twin daughters, Ruth and Naomi. In October 1889, just under six months after the death of their mother, Emma bought Vine Cottage from her brothers, William and Thomas. Just over two months later, on Boxing Day 1889, Emma became the fourth wife of Edward Wilson (former Lord of the Manor of Badsey until he sold the title), some thirty years her senior. She went to live with him at the Manor House and continued to rent out the cottage. Emma died at Badsey in 1932.
Thomas Knight (1855-1928), the youngest of 11 children of Robert Knight and his wife, Mary (née Dowsil), was born at Aldington in 1855. He was the only child still living at home in 1871; he worked as a carter. In 1873, Thomas emigrated to America. He married Susan, an English girl, in 1878. At the time of the 1880 Federal Census, he was living at Troy, Geauga, Ohio, with his wife, Susan, his aunt and uncle, William and Elizabeth Howes, his cousin, George Howes, and Charles Harris who was helping on the farm. When his mother died in 1889, Thomas, jointly with his older brother, William, inherited Vine Cottage, Badsey. As they were both living overseas by this time, they sold Vine Cottage to their sister, Emma Knight. In 1900 and 1910, Thomas and Susan lived at Trumbull, Mesopotamia, Ohio. It is not known when they died.
Joseph Knight (1838-1915),
Joseph Knight (1838-1915), the fourth of 11 children of Robert Knight and his wife, Mary (née Dowsil), was born at Aldington in 1838. He was still living at home in Aldington in 1861, working as an agricultural labourer. He married Hannah Dowdeswell in 1869 in the Shipston on Stour district and had a son, Jesse Dowdeswell (1870-1939). They lived initially at Blackminster Lane, Offenham, but then bought a plot of land at Badsey in 1888, just across the road from Rose Cottage and Vine Cottage owned by his widowed mother. They were still in Offenham in 1891. After the death of his parents, Joseph inherited Rose Cottage. Joseph is listed as the owner of Rose Cottage in the Poor Rate Book of 1890; he also owned land at Sand Garden which he had recently bought at auction. In 1895, Joseph Knight sold Rose Cottage to his sister, Harriet Emms. In the 1890s (possibly in 1895 after selling Rose Cottage), Joseph had a house, Ivy House, built on the land which he had bought in 1888, on what is now Chapel Street. On a number of occasions in the 1890s, he stood unsuccessfully for both the Parish Council and Urban & Rural District Council, but ultimately gained a place on the District Council. The Valuation Survey of 1912 reveals that Joseph owned two houses in Badsey (the present-day Ivy House, 25 Chapel Street, where he lived, and Summerfield Cottage, 14 Badsey Fields Lane, which he rented out). Joseph died on 17th July 1915. His death was mentioned in a letter written by Julius Sladden to his wife the following day. A report of his death appeared in The Evesham Journal and in the parish magazine. Probate of his will was granted to his sister, Emma Wilson. Hannah died in January 1916. Both Joseph and Hannah are buried in St James’ churchyard.
Jesse Dowdeswell Knight (1870-1939), the only son of Joseph Knight and his wife, Hannah (née Dowdeswell), was born at Offenham in 1870. In the 1890s, he moved with his parents from Offenham to Ivy House, Badsey; he was a market gardener like his father. The Valuation Survey of 1912 reveals that Jesse owned just over half an acre of land next to his father’s home, Ivy House. This was sold to Jesse’s cousin, Albert Henry Sharp. Jesse married Louisa Ann Whitfield in 1913 in the Evesham area. They lived in Worcester where Jesse died in 1939 and Louisa in 1941.
Knight Family 4 – Mary Stanley (previously Knight) and descendants of Stanton and Buckland
In the 1870s, a different Knight family moved to Badsey. This was Mary Stanley (previously Knight, née Dyer) and her new husband, George Stanley, and Mary’s son, Charles Knight (1849-?). In the late 1880s they were followed by Mary’s son, John Knight (1845-1929).
Mary Stanley, previously Knight, née Dyer (c1821-1910)
Mary Stanley (née Dyer) had married Thomas Knight (born about 1820 at Sedgeberrow) at Dumbleton in October 1841 where they were both living. They had four sons and four daughters, the five eldest baptised at Stanton, Gloucestershire, and the three youngest at Buckland: George (1842-?), Caroline (1843-1910), John (1845-1929), Charles (1849-?), Elizabeth (1852-1859), Ann (c1854-?), William (1857-1859) and Mary Elizabeth (1859-?). At the time of the 1851 census, the family was living in Stanton, where Thomas was an agricultural labourer; by 1857 they had moved to Laverton in the parish of Buckland. Thomas Knight died at Laverton in 1862. Mary married George Stanley in 1870 at Buckland. At the time of the 1871 census, they were living in Buckland; Mary’s son, John, and his wife were staying with them.
Some time in the early 1870s, Mary and George Stanley moved to Badsey. George Stanley died at Badsey in 1876 and was buried in the churchyard. At the time of the 1881 and 1891 census, widow Mary Stanley and her son, Charles Knight, were living in Field Cottage, Mill Lane (Charles’ whereabouts in 1871 are unknown). Mary Stanley continued to live in Badsey until her death in 1910. Her son, Charles, also remained with her. In 1911, Charles was living alone at Sharps Row, Badsey, working as a market gardener. It is not known when he died.
John Knight (1845-1929)
John Knight (1845-1929) was born at Stanton, Gloucestershire, the third of eight children of Thomas Knight, an agricultural labourer, and his wife, Mary (née Dyer). He was aged 16 when his father died in 1862. At the time of the 1871 census, John was still at home in Laverton with his mother, new step-father, and younger sister, Ann. John married Mary Ann Howes (1855-1885) at Buckland in 1877. They had three daughters born at Laverton, Gloucestershire: Emma (1879-1970), Jane Elizabeth (1882-1883) and Ellen Jane (1884-1951). In 1881, they were living at Buckland, Gloucestershire, John working as a general labourer. Close by, just a house or two away, lived Kate Howes (Mary Ann’s younger half-sister), who was working as a servant in the home of the Hall family. Mary Ann (born at Stratford on Avon in 1855) and Kate (born at Birmingham in about 1865) were the daughters of Abraham Howes.
Mary Ann died at Laverton in July 1885 when the children were young. After the death of his wife, John Knight’s sister-in-law, Kate, came to look after the children. Kate, whose full name was Kathleen Lucy (sometimes spelt Catherine Lucy or Katherine Lucy), was some ten years younger than her half-sister. John and Kate fell in love and planned to marry. According to their grandson, Les Grinnell, the banns were actually called at Stanton Church, but they were unable to marry as, in those days, it was against the law for a man to marry his dead wife’s sister. Unfortunately it has been unable to verify this as, although the Marriage Banns register still exists (and may be viewed on Ancestry), there are many years missing. It is likely that they hoped to marry just a year or two after Mary Ann’s death. Kate gave birth to two daughters at Laverton: Mary Knight Howes (1886-1886), who died aged 7 days) and Ilot Mary Howe (1887-1945) – who later became known as Hilote. The family felt that they had to leave the area and decided that it would be good to move to Badsey as John’s mother and youngest brother were already living there. They arrived in Badsey in the late 1880s and Ellen (John’s youngest daughter by Mary Ann) started at Badsey School. Soon after their arrival, John Thomas Howe (1890-1943) was born.
Family legend has it that Kate was a gypsy, but there is nothing in the records to back this up (both her father and grandfather were recorded as labourers). The 1891 census records that 45-year-old widower John and his two daughters lived with Kate Howes, his wife’s sister, and her children, three-year-old Mary Howes (this was Hilote Mary) and one-year-old John Howes, at Old Road, Badsey. Although the census gives their name as Howes, by October 1891, when Hilote Mary started school, she was registered as Knight and from thenceforward the name Knight appears to be used.
Following the move to Badsey, seven more children were born: Edith Annie (1892-1966), Albert Edward (1895-1930), Annie Elizabeth (1897-1966), Myra May (1900-1976), Lily Blanche (1903), George (1906-1906), Frederick George (1910-1941). Albert, born in January 1895, was the first child in the family to be registered with the surname Knight, and was baptised the following month at St James Church, Badsey, with the surname Knight. In May 1895, John and Edith were also baptised at Badsey with the surname Knight. John and Kate were not married at Badsey and no record has been found of them marrying elsewhere, but it certainly seems as if by 1895 their partnership was accepted.
In 1891 the family had been living on Old Road (current-day Old Post Office Lane) but by April 1897, when John enrolled in the Mixed Department, the address was given as Mill Cottage; this is the current-day Field Cottage, which had previously been lived in by John’s mother, Mary Stanley, and brother, Charles Knight. In August 1907, when Myra enrolled in the Mixed Department, their address was given as The Mill, though this may just mean Mill Cottage. In June 1912, the family’s address was given as Wickhamford. By November 1913, when Myra re-enrolled at Badsey School, having lived in Moreton for a while, the family was living at 10 Cotswold View; Kate was still there in 1939 with her two unmarried sons.
Emma Knight (1879-1970), the eldest of three children of John Knight and his wife, Mary Ann (née Howes), was born at Laverton in 1879 and baptised at Buckland Church in March 1879. She was six years old when her mother died in 1855. Emma’s aunt, Kate Howes (Mary Ann’s younger half-sister) came to help look after Emma and her sister. Kate then became John’s partner (the laws at the time did not permit a man to marry his dead wife’s sister). Emma moved with her father and aunt/step-mother to Badsey in the late 1880s. She does not appear to have attended Badsey School, although she is listed in the 1891 census as a scholar (she arrived in the village at a time when the school was going through a financial crisis and was closed for months at a time; it only became compulsory to keep a school register in 1890 and so perhaps she was omitted). By 1901, Emma was living with her mother’s brother, Samuel Howe, and his wife, a Badsey girl, Myra (née Rogers) in Moreton-in-Marsh, where she worked as a steam laundress. Emma married James Baldwin at Moreton-in-Marsh in August 1901 and had seven children. She died at Moreton-in-Marsh in January 1970.
Ellen Knight (1884-1951), the youngest of three children (and second surviving child) of John Knight and his wife, Mary Ann (née Howes), was born at Laverton in 1884 and baptised at Buckland Church in December 1884. She was less than a year old when her mother died in July 1885. Ellen’s aunt, Kate Howes (Mary Ann’s younger half-sister) came to help look after Ellen and her sister. Kate then became John’s partner (the laws at the time did not permit a man to marry his dead wife’s sister). Ellen moved with her father and aunt/step-mother to Badsey in the late 1880s. She attended Badsey School from at least 1890 to 1897 (she may have started earlier, but it only became compulsory to keep a school register from 1890). Ellen was still living with her family in Badsey in 1901. At the time of the 1911 census, she was visiting the Ellis family in Derby. Also staying there was Albert Parkinson whom she married on 15th April 1911 (13 days after the census) at St Augustine, Derby. Ellen remained in Derby for the rest of her life, dying there in 1951.
Hilote Mary Knight (1887-1945), the second of ten children (and oldest surviving child) of John Knight and his common-law wife, Kathleen Lucy (Kate) Howes, was born at Laverton in 1887 and baptised at Buckland Church in November 1887. There was obviously quite a lot of confusion about here unusal forename; in the birth register she is down as Ilot Mary, in the baptism register as Ida Mary, but she was ultimately known as Hilote Mary. Hilote’s mother was also her aunt who had moved into the household to look after her older half-sisters after the death of their mother. Kate then became John’s partner (the laws at the time did not permit a man to marry his dead wife’s sister). Hilote moved with her parents to Badsey in the late 1880s. Hilote attended Badsey School from 1891 to 1900 and then became a servant (according to a note in the margin in the school admissions register, pencilled in at a later date). Hilote married Richard Frederick Cole in 1909 and had two children: Kathleen Hilda (1910) and William John (1913). Richard was killed at Ypres during the First World War and is commemorated on the Menin Gate. Hilote married a second time, to George Redgewell, by whom she had two sons: Bernard (1925-2003) and Norman (1928-1928). Hilote died at Badsey in 1945.
John (Jack) Thomas Knight (1890-1943), the third of ten children (and oldest son) of John Knight and his common-law wife, Kathleen Lucy (Kate) Howes, was born at Badsey in 1890. Jack attended Badsey School from 1894 to 1903. He later became a labourer and never married. Jack lived in the family home at Cotswold View, Willersey Road, and worked for Arthur Sadler. Jack died on 31st October 1943, aged 53, and was buried in St James’ churchyard, in the same plot as his brother-in-law, George Redgewell.
Edith Annie Knight (1892-1966), the fourth of ten children of John Knight and his common-law wife, Kathleen Lucy (Kate) Howes, was born at Badsey in 1892. She attended Badsey School from 1895 to 1906, with a brief spell in 1899 at Moreton-in Marsh. It is likely that she stayed with her Howes’ relatives; her grandparents were dead but her Uncle Sam, now married to a Badsey girl, Myra Rogers, still lived in Moreton (or possibly she stayed with Eliza Stanley, née Robins, whose mother, Elizabeth Hardiman and family were neighbours of the Knights). In 1911 Edith married Francis Robert Wheeler, a blacksmith, and lived at Sharps Rows, Badsey, before moving to 33 Synehurst. They had three children: Frances (1912), Doris (1915) and Muriel (1924). Edith remained in the village for the rest of her life, dying at Badsey in 1966.
Albert Edward Knight (1895-1930), the fifth of ten children of John Knight and his common-law wife, Kathleen Lucy (Kate) Howes, was born at Badsey in 1895. He was baptised Albert Herbert but subsequently appears as Albert Edward. He does not initially appear to have attended Badsey School, although he was living in Badsey at the time of the 1901 census. However, it is probable that he is the “William Knight”, son of John Knight, who attended from 1898 to 1908. Albert married Isabel Smith at Badsey in October 1916 when back on home leave as he was serving as a soldier in WWI. He could possibly have been on sick leave, as the Parish Magazine of September 1916 reported: “Pte A E Knight has been wounded. He narrowly escaped with his life, the bullet entering by one cheek and passing out the other.” He is mentioned on three occasions in the parish magazine of the war years. Albert appeared on the Absent Voters’ list for 1918 as he was still serving with the Labour Corps. Albert and Isabel had four sons and three daughters: Gladys May (1918-1996), John Richard (1920-1995), Irene May (1922), Eunice Norah (1925), James Edward (1926-2005), Alan Frederick (1927-2004) and Derrick Francis King (1930-1997). Albert and Isabel lived at Sharps Row. Albert died on 16th January 1930 aged only 35 and was buried in the same plot at St James’ Church, Badsey, as his father. When new Council Houses were built at Synehurst Crescent in 1933, Isabel moved to No 5. Isabel died at Old Post Office Lane on 7th May 1982, aged 82. She was buried in the same plot as her husband who had died over 50 years earlier. Albert was the only one of John Knight’s children to produce children to carry on the name of Knight in Badsey.
Annie Elizabeth Knight (1897-1966), the sixth of ten children of John Knight and his common-law wife, Kathleen Lucy (Kate) Howes, was born at Badsey in 1897. She attended Badsey School from 1900 to 1911. She married Harold Grinnell at Badsey in 1920 and had five sons and one daughter. Annie and Harold also lived in Sharps Row and then moved to Synehurst Crescent in 1933. Annie remained in Badsey for the rest of her life, dying there in 1966, aged 69.
Myra May Knight (1900-1976), the seventh of ten children of John Knight and his common-law wife, Kathleen Lucy (Kate) Howes, was born at Badsey in 1900. She attended Badsey School from 1903 to 1914, with brief spells at Bengeworth and Moreton-in-Marsh schools in 1912-1913. Myra married William John Heritage at Badsey in 1921. Myra and William also lived in Sharps Row and then moved to Synehurst Crescent in 1933. Myra remained in Badsey for the rest of her life, dying there in 1976, aged 76.
Lily Blanche Knight (1903-1927), the eighth of ten children of John Knight and his common-law wife, Kathleen Lucy (Kate) Howes, was born at Badsey in 1903. She attended Badsey School from 1906 to 1917, with a brief spell at Derby in the summer of 1912. Lily married Albert William Emms at Badsey in 1927 and moved to Littleton. On her death, her husband married again and emigrated to Tasmania.
George Knight (1906-1906), the ninth of ten children of John Knight and his common-law wife, Kathleen Lucy (Kate) Howes, was born at Badsey in 1906. He lived for just seven hours. He was born, baptised and died on 21st July 1906.
Frederick George Knight (1910-1941), the youngest of ten children of John Knight and his common-law wife, Kathleen Lucy (Kate) Howes, was born at Badsey in 1910. He attended Badsey School from 1913 to 1924. He never married and lived in the family home at Cotswold View. His nephew, Les Grinnell, remembers Uncle Fred (nicknamed “Stokes”); Leslie used to go and help his uncle as a young boy. He worked for Arthur Sadler and Sears. Fred died in 1941, aged 30 and was buried in St James’ Churchyard. When his mother died two years later, she was buried in the same plot.
Children of Albert Edward Knight (1895-1930)
Gladys May Knight (1918-1996), the eldest of seven children of Albert Edward Knight and his wife, Isabel (née Smith), was born at Badsey in 1918. Her father died when she was 11 years old. Gladys attended Badsey Council School from 1921-1932. At the time of the 1939 register, she was in domestic service at Bunks Hall, Pershore district. Gladys married Isaac John Clifton at Badsey in 1940. Gladys died in the Worcester area in 1996, aged 77.
John Richard Knight (1920-1995), known as Jack, the second of seven children of Albert Edward Knight and his wife, Isabel (née Smith), was born at Badsey in 1920. His father died when he was nine years old. Jack attended Badsey Council School from 1923-1934. In 1933, whilst a pupil at Badsey School, 12-year-old John wrote a letter about life in a market gardening community. He was still living at home at Synehurst Cresecent, Badsey, at the time of the 1939 register; he was a market gardener’s labourer. Jack married Madge Grove in 1942. He died on 14th April 1995. Jack was cremated, but his ashes were placed in a vase on the plot where his parents were buried.
Irene May Knight (1922), the third of seven children of Albert Edward Knight and his wife, Isabel (née Smith), was born at Badsey in 1922. Her father died when she was seven years old. Irene attended Badsey Council School from 1925-1936. She was still living at home at Synehurst Cresecent, Badsey, at the time of the 1939 register; she worked as a wooden crate maker in a factory. Irene married Harold P Johnston in 1941.
Eunice Norah Knight (1925), the fourth of seven children of Albert Edward Knight and his wife, Isabel (née Smith), was born at Badsey in 1925. Her father died when she was four years old. Eunice attended Badsey Council School from 1928-1939. She was involved in car accident in December 1935. She left school in April 1939, but was not at home in Badsey at the time of the 1939 register. Eunice married Walter G Robinson in 1944 in the Evesham area.
James Edward Knight (1926-2005) the fifth of seven children of Albert Edward Knight and his wife, Isabel (née Smith), was born at Badsey in 1926. His father died when he was three years old. James attended Badsey Council School from 1929-1939 and the new Blackminster School when it opened in September 1939. James was still living at home at Synehurst Cresecent, Badsey, at the time of the 1939 register. James married Bessie Davidge Hartley in 1949. Bessie died on 27th April 2000 at Woodlands Nursing Home and was buried in St James’ churchyard. James died on 4th February 2005, aged 78; he was cremated but his ashes were placed in the same plot as his wife.
Alan Frederick Knight (1927-2004), fsixth of seven children of Albert Edward Knight and his wife, Isabel (née Smith), was born at Badsey in 1927. He married Brenda Green in 1961. They had one son, Ian Frederick (1962). They lived at 72 Synehurst Crescent when Ian started school in 1967. Alan died in 2004; there is a plaque in the Garden of Remembrance in memory of him.
Knight Family 5 – Peter Knight (1801-1858)
For a few years in the late 1820s, a young married couple, Peter and Mary Knight, lived at Aldington.
Peter Knight was born at Birlingham in 1801, the son of John Knight and his wife, Sarah (née Yeats). He was baptised at Birlingham on 26th July 1801.
Peter married Mary Barnett on 26th June 1826. They were living at Aldington by September 1827 when twin daughters, Sarah and Anne were baptised in St James’ Church, Badsey. Sarah died just a few months later and was buried at Badsey in December 1827. The Badsey parish register records the baptism of Reubina Knight, daughter of Peter and Mary, on 12th October 1828. However, it is thought that the Curate muddled up this entry with the previous entry where, on the same day, there was the baptism of George Pugh, son of John and Sarah. The Pughs definitely had a daughter with the unusual name of Reubina and the Knights definitely had a son, George, who died in 1835 at Bengeworth. Peter was an agricultural labourer at the Parks Farm, Aldington.
Peter and Mary Knight had moved from Aldington by 1831 when a daughter, Elizabeth (1831-1914), was born at Birlingham. They then moved to Bengeworth where two more children were born: Richard (1832-1911) and William (1834-1885). From there they went to Norton where Sarah (1835-1899) and Mary (1837-1838) were born.
By 1841, they were living in Charlton and by 1851 in Cropthorne. Peter died at Cropthorne in 1858 and Mary in 1869.
Knight Family 6 – of Willersey and Childswickham
In the 1830s and then again in the 1860s, some members of the Knight family of Willersey (a neighbouring village to both Badsey and Wickhamford) appear in Badsey and Wickhamford records.
In October 1834, Elizabeth Knight (1812-1894) married Bonner Sears at Wickhamford. Elizabeth had been born at Willersey in 1812, the daughter of William and Elizabeth Knight. After Bonner’s death, Elizabeth married again to Henry Barnfield. She died at Evesham in 1894.
On Christmas Day 1838, Richard Knight (1814-1874) married Mary Cook at Wickhamford. He was the son of William Knight and it is thought that he was the sister of Elizabeth who had married in 1834. They had two sons and two daughters: Elizabeth (1939), George (c1841), John (c1845) and Eliza Ann (1851). They lived for a short time in Badsey where Elizabeth was born (she was baptised at the Wesleyan Methodist Church, Evesham), but were living in Willersey by 1841, where they remained for the rest of their lives. Richard was a silk throwster in 1841, an agricultural labourer in 1851, a machinist in 1861 and, by 1871, he was described as a machinist and farmer of 30 acres. Richard died at Willersey in 1874.
In the 1860s, another family of Knights originating from Willersey also lived at Badsey and at Wickhamford for a short time when brothers, Henry and Thomas, lived there with their respective families. They were the sons of Richard Knight (c1783-1853), who may have been the brother of the above William Knight. Henry (1830-1915) and Thomas (1834-1907) were both born at Willersey, the sons of Richard Knight by his second wife, Ann Restall. They were living in Willersey in 1841 but had moved to Frog Lane, Childswickham, by 1851, both the boys working as agricultural labourers, like their father. Richard Knight died at Childswickham in 1853.
Henry Knight married Ann Stanford in 1853 in the Evesham area. They had one son, William Henry, born at Bengeworth, Evesham, in 1854. Henry worked as an agricultural labourer all his life and moved on several occasions. In 1861 they were living at Wickhamford. They had gone from Wickhamford by 1871, but it is not known where they were living. In 1881 they lived at Prestbury, Gloucestershire, and by 1891 they were living in Winchcombe. Henry died at Winchcombe in 1915.
Thomas Knight was still living at home in Childswickham in 1861 with his widowed mother. In December 1861 he married Elizabeth (Betsey) Wilkins at Childswickham. They had nine sons and three daughters: Elizabeth Ann (1863-1923), Fanny Payton (1864-1929), Richard (1866-1912), William Thomas (1867-1938), Henry Wilkins (1869-1929), John Evans (1871-1898), Sarah Sophia (1872-1891), George Albert (1874-1961), Robert Howard John (1876-1898), Thomas Edward (1878-1900), Samuel Spurling Francis (1881-1958) and Edward Frank (1886-1971). The three eldest children were born at Childswickham. They then lived for a short period in Badsey where William was born and baptised. They then moved to Offenham where Henry was born and to South Littleton where John was born. They were living in a farm cottage at South Littleton at the time of the 1871 census. In 1872, when George was born, they were living at Childswickham. In 1874, Thomas, Betsey and eight children emigrated to New Zealand. On 24th July 1874, they arrived at Lyttleton, Christchurch, New Zealand, from London on board the ship "Peeress", bound for Timaru. Four more children were born in New Zealand. Betsey died at Waimate, Canterbury, South Island in 1905 and Thomas died there in 1907.
Knight Family 7 – Ethel May Knight (1885-1968) and Henry Knight (1891-1900)
From 1897-1899, a totally different Knight family (whose roots were Surrey and Hampshire) was connected with Badsey, when two children, Ethel and Henry Knight, enrolled at Badsey School.
Ethel May Knight had been born at Fladbury in 1885, the eldest child of Henry John Knight, who had married Fanny Matilda Gilbert at Fladbury in 1881. Henry’s father, William Knight (c1835-1899), was a farm bailiff who had been born in Surrey; and his father, James, had been born in Surrey. Henry married Sarah West and had six children, the first being born in Middlesex, but the rest in Empshott, Hampshire, where Henry was born in 1864. The family had moved to Fladbury by 1881.
Henry, like his father, was a farm bailiff. In 1891, Henry, Fanny and young Ethel were living at Suckley in Martley district. A son, Henry William, was born in December 1891. Fanny died in the middle of 1896. What happened to her widowed husband, Henry, after this is unknown, but the children went to live in Wickhamford with their aunt, Amy Lilian Bailey (Henry’s sister), and her husband, Joseph and three sons. Ethel enrolled at Badsey School on 17th May 1897, having previously been at school in Shelsley; Henry enrolled in the infant department. Their last date of attendance was given as October 1899. This would have been when the Baileys moved from Wickhamford to Bengeworth, where they were living at 4 North Road at the time of the 1901 census.
Henry tragically drowned in the River Avon at Evesham in September 1900. Newspaper reports of the time recorded the incident:
A BOY DROWNED – Henry William Knight (8), who lived with his uncle at 4 North Road, Bengeworth, was drowned in the Avon on Thursday. In a field opposite the swimming bath he was pushing part of a tree into the river when he fell in. James Gardner (12) tried to catch him and called for help, and deceased’s uncle (Joseph Bailey) arrived and got into the river but was unable to save deceased, whose body was recovered from 6 ft of water about six yards from the bank.
Ethel remained living with her aunt and uncle until her married to Francis Welland at Evesham in 1906, by whom she had nine children. Ethel had earlier given birth to a son, Francis William Knight, in 1904, who later took the name Welland. Ethel died at Evesham in 1968.
Knight Family 8 – William John Knight (1902-?)
William John Knight (known as Jack) was born at Evesham in 1902, the elder of two children of Albert Thomas Knight and his wife, Edith (née Winwood). He lived at Rynall Street, Evesham, in 1911. By the 1930s, the family was living at 45 Albert Street, Evesham.
Jack married Ethel Liversidge (known as Betty) at Badsey in 1935. There appears to be no previous connection with the Knights of Badsey. Jack was an agricultural engineering contractor and Betty was a trained nurse. They went to live in one half of the Manor House, Badsey, which, at that time, had not been divided into two. Betty’s younger sister, Winifred, had married John Kelland Jones in 1932 and was already living at the Manor House.
Jack and Betty had two sons, Michael John W (1936) and Richard W (1938-1938); Richard died of a cot death aged six months.
After the death of Jack’s mother in July 1940, Jack’s father, Albert, came to live with them at the Manor House. Albert died at the Manor House on 10th May 1941; he was buried at Waterside Cemetery, Evesham. Probate of his will was granted to his daughter, Dorothy.
The National Farm Survey of 1941 records that William John Knight of Old Manor House, Badsey, occupied land at Badsey.
The family left Badsey in the summer of 1944 and moved to Bristol. It is not known when Jack died, but Ethel died in the Trowbridge district of Wiltshire in 1987.
Knight Family 9 – Jean Knight, Land Army
Totally unrelated to the Knights of Badsey was Jean Mary Knight who came to Wickhamford as a member of the Land Army during the Second World War.
During her time at Wickhamford, Jean met her future husband, Peter Sutton, the son of George and Annie Sutton of Pitchers Hill. They married in Birmingham in 1947.
Statistics
Position in League Table: 1 (Badsey top ten 1800s, 1900s)
Name variants: Night
Name origin: The name Knight is from the Old English criht, meaning youth or serving lad. Originally it may have been an occupational name for a domestic servant. It was later extended to mean a tenant bound to serve his lord as a mounted soldier and therefore a man of some importance and substance. Later still, with the changes in the social structure of medieval England, the term "knight", (Middle English "knyghte") meant an honourable estate conferred by the king on men of noble birth who had served him well. The Knights of today, however, are far more likely to be descended from a servant in a knight's household or from someone who played the part of a knight in a pageant or won the title in some contest of skill. There is an early recording of the surname from this source in Worcestershire, that of William Knight in 1221.
Total number of Badsey baptism records: 311
Total number of Badsey marriage records: 75
Total number of Badsey burial records: 163
Total number of Badsey census records: 460
Badsey 1841 55
Badsey 1851 57
Badsey 1861 56
Badsey 1871 46
Badsey 1881 29
Badsey 1891 46
Badsey 1901 68
Badsey 1911 60
Badsey 1939 43
Total number of Wickhamford baptism records: 2
Total number of Wickhamford marriage records: 10
Total number of Wickhamford burial records: 1
Total number of Wickhamford census records: 8
Wickhamford 1841 1
Wickhamford 1861 3
Wickhamford 1871 4
Guild of One-Name Studies: The name Knight is listed on the Guild’s website
The British Surname Atlas produced by Archer Software gives distribution maps for all the surnames found in the 1881 census of England, Scotland and Wales.
Within Worcestershire, Knight was ranked 51, with a total of 881 people bearing the name (the top surname in Worcestershire was Smith with 7,243 people).
From the figures given above for Badsey census records, there was a blip for 1881, with several Knight families having emigrated to America or Canada. Nevertheless, at 29 people with the name Knight, it was still the commonest name in Badsey in 1881.
Mentioned in Publications
A Brief History of Badsey and Aldington – p 71, District Council representative; p 81, 1920 class photo of Albert Knight; p 95, Charles Knight, Badsey Fire Brigade; p 105, photo of Private Reg Knight in 1944; p 108, photo of Tommy Knight; p 111, Mrs Valentine Knight, winner of flower garden competition; p 113, photo of H Knight Badsey Rangers c1894; p 114, J E Knight, vice president of cricket club.
Heads and Tales: A History of Badsey Schools – p 31, Thomas William Knight & William George Hartwell Knight in punishment book; p 36, John Knight, member of School Board; p 52, John Knight appointment as Sanitary Cleaner; p 70, John Knight no longer required as Sanitary Cleaner; p 78, Alice Knight in class photo, 1924; p 79, Emily Knight & Frances Knight in class photo, 1929; pp 82, 83, 88, Lionel Knight memories; p 89, Ronald Knight in football photo, 1928; p 93, Lionel Knight in class photo, 1931; p 95 Ron Knight in “Living Whist” photo, 1928; p 110, John Edwin Knight, School Manager; p 114, Ronald Knight in class photo, 1963; p 121, Stephen Knight in football photo, 1967; p 150, Mary Knight, Cleaner-in-Charge; p 167, Fanny Bennett (later Knight), pupil teacher; p 168, Edith Beatrice Knight, pupil teacher; p 170, Mary Knight, caretaker 1978-2001; p 172, father and son, John and Frank Knight, both School Managers; p 173, Charles Knight Manager 1901-1902, Frank Knight Manager c1973-1983, John Knight Manager 1929-1955, Joseph Knight Manager 1896-1902; p 175, names on Honours Board, Frank E Knight 1925, Joan M Knight 1922, P Edna Knight 1926, Ruth Knight 1923; p 181, Jean Knight Head Girl 1933; p 182, war memorial, Thomas Knight.
Digging for a Living – p 96, George Henry Knight; p 50, John Edwin Knight; p 90, John Knight; p 89, Tommy (Diddymus) Knight.
Peace, War & Remembrance: The Great War in Badsey, Aldington & Wickhamford – p 86, Amelia Jessie Knight; p 151, Arthur Orson Knight; pp 98 & 151, Charles Knight; p 46, Charles Henry Knight; pp 22-23, Charlotte Knight; pp 88-89, Dinah Knight; p 14, Edwin Knight; p 136, Emma Elizabeth Knight; p 124, George Knight; pp 25, 42, 46, 56, 81, 148, John Edwin Knight; p 87, Joseph Knight; pp 85-86, Sidney Valentine Knight; pp 88-89, Thomas Hartwell Knight; pp 38 & 146, Thomas Henry Knight; p 124, W “Dublin” Knight; p 70, William Knight.
