A Family history about my mother, Lavinia Fuller’s family in Devon, England.

I wish to dedicate this chapter of my family history to Ingrid Curwood, an experienced, dedicated and talented researcher. Without Ingrid’s help and collaboration, this part of my family tree would have remained unsolved.

I want to thank the two Lavinia Chrystal’s, my sister and my niece, intrepid researchers in the field for their enthusiasm in visiting so many villages, churches and graveyards, recording their June 2015 visit to England taking so many wonderful photos, many of which are now in this chapter. In September 2016, I too, will visit Devon with my husband Geoff for a holiday to celebrate my 60^th birthday. I will continue the ancestry trail as I hope other family members will do in the future. We will also travel to Kelly in Devon where some members of the Rundle family are still living today.

Virginia Rundle

Below, Ingrid Curwood and Lavinia Chrystal Jnr.,  in the cemetery surrounding the Church of  St Mary, Plympton, where they found the grave of Robert and Christian Dodridge, my 3 x great grandparents.

THE DODRIDGE AND GALSWORTHY FAMILIES OF DEVON

A trip to the South Island in New Zealand was part research and part holiday for my husband Geoff and me in 2012. I was looking forward to visiting some family research Libraries in both Christchurch and Lyttelton, both towns still trying to cope with the devastating earthquakes that had destroyed so much of their quaint and historic Victorian English styled architecture in September 2010, and again in February 2011. In many cases, almost a year after the destruction, some suburbs of Christchurch were still without water, electricity and transport. A more recent trip to Christchurch in February 2015, Geoff and I again visited these same suburbs and to our surprise all of these homes had been razed to the ground, and all that remains are the pretty walled flowering gardens lining the banks of the Avon River, which flows through Christchurch’s city centre.

Lyttelton, the port of Christchurch has suffered much the same fate, as rows of homes and shops have been razed to the ground. London Street, the main street of Lyttelton has very few original shops left, in a street that was once recognised historically as a perfectly preserved Victorian town of strip shops. The weatherboard homes and shops had folded under the intense quakes, roadways had opened up on the hillsides around the town, and little progress has been made.

It was in London Street in Lyttelton in 2012 that Geoff and I visited the local Library, and accessed the transcribed Parish records of the local churches. I can remember the documents were sprawled across a desk in the Library, and Geoff was helping me to photocopy as many as possible, in the really short time frame we had. Amongst the documents I found were the Baptisms of most of William and Elizabeth Northey’s daughters, who curiously hadn’t been Christened in their birth town of Kenwyn in Cornwall, England. I also found the death and marriage records of other members of the Northey family. William and Elizabeth were my great great grandparents, who had migrated to Lyttelton from Cornwall, in 1873 aboard the Mary Shepherd. It was there amongst the marriage records that I found the transcription of my great grandmother, Lavinia Northey’s marriage to George Moar on 24 Dec 1884. Most of the information regarding these documents I have dealt with before, and can be found in the chapter The Northeys of Lyttelton, New Zealand.

It was one of those incredible moments during my family research that led to the discovery of the maiden name of Elizabeth Northey. There written on the page was the name Dodebridge, it was a shock to see this unusual name, and I knew at that moment that this was a significant and most exciting find, in this tiny Library in Lyttelton, on New Zealand’s south island which was to be my most significant breakthrough to date in the Northey family. It is incredible that just one maiden name can unlock the past, as it did for me that day, and I knew it was this name would take me back to Cornwall and Devon in my quest to place our family back into their country of origin.

It has taken me three years of research to finally be in a position where I feel I can finally begin to write up The Northeys of Cornwall and The Dodridge and Galsworthy Families of Devon. I have been helped by many kind researchers who have given me their time and expertise to help unlock a long forgotten past. The internet has opened up search engines that allow access to amazing and in many cases original handwritten records and documents. It is a time consuming obsession, which does necessitate caution about which records to collect, deciding which ones are our family, and painstakingly working through parish records, carefully accepting those that are correct. I think of it as a jigsaw puzzle, the pieces are all there, it is just finding out how to connect them.

The document on the next page is the marriage transciption record of my Great Grandparents Lavinia Northey and George Moar from Lyttelton, New Zealand on 24 December 1884. We are extremely lucky that the New Zealand government introduced new disclosure requirements in 1880 for their Registry Offices. This meant that the full names of parents and places of birth were now compulsory information on birth, death and marriage certificates. Without this document I doubt I would ever have been able to locate Lavinia Northey’s parents.

ST CHARLES, PLYMOUTH, DEVON

After finding George and Lavinia Moar’s marriage record at Lyttelton Library in New Zealand, I now had the surname Dodebridge, the name I hoped would help me find the marriage record of Lavinia’s parents William Northey and Elizabeth Dodebridge. This key name unlocked another branch in the family history. The only other piece of information that I knew about Elizabeth came from the English census from Devon for 1851, 1861 and 1871 which stated that Elizabeth was born in Plympton St Mary in Devon. Finally Elizabeth’s death notice in New Zealand stated that she died on 20 August 1891, aged 74. Therefore, I needed to look for a baptism for an Elizabeth Dodebridge who was born in Plympton St Mary’s around about 1816/17. The one gift to me was the unusual name of Dodebridge. An unusual name is a boon to the family researcher, and not since the unusual name Cranwill in my father’s Irish ancestors in Dublin had I found such a rare surname to help me.

It took me possibly half an hour to find William and Elizabeth’s marriage record, I firstly started on ancestry.com without success and resorted to another very reliable and free family research website called www.familysearch.org and whilst Elizabeth’s surname was not spelt the same I eagerly accepted this record and noted that a photograph of the original document was available on another website called Find My Past, a subscription family research organisation. Knowing that the Society of Australian Genealogists subscribed to this webite I would have to wait for my return to Sydney and an opportunity to visit their Library in the city.

William Northey

England, Devon, Parish Registers

Name:	William Northey
Event Type:	Marriage
Event Date:	1836
Event Place:	St Charles, Plymouth, Devon
Spouse’s Name:	Elizabeth Dodridge

Digital Folder Number: 004634484

Plymouth was badly bombed during World War II and sadly the church of St Charles, Plymouth received a direct hit, and the church was completely gutted by fire. However amazingly the shell of the building remains as a major tourist attraction in the heart of Plymouth.

For those in our family planning to visit Devon and Cornwall I decided to place the information about our family into these townships where our families were christened, married and buried. In Devon I have found quite a lot of headstones which are in graveyards next to the old churches where our families worshipped. Not all of the Dodridge/Doddridge headstones are our direct line, however they are all related, and I have endeavoured to explain their relationship to our direct ancestors. Where possible, I will show some charts for your referral. As I write this chapter, my sister Lavinia Chrystal and her daughter Lavinia are on their way to both Devon and Cornwall. I have not been to these areas yet and they are my tireless “researchers in the field” and will be taking photos for me to update these chapters.

The record on the next page is the original marriage record for William and Elizabeth Northey from Find My Past. It is incredible to be able to look at this record and see the handwriting of Elizabeth Dodridge who was able to read and write, as she signed the record with her signature. Her husband William on the other hand, was unable to read and write, and signed his mark against his name with a cross. This fact would explain why it was that Elizabeth Northey was one of the authors of the Northey Letters, and not her husband. At times during the writing of these letters Elizabeth would complain that her husband was irritated with her and felt that she was being secretive in her writings back to Cornwall, and that he was being left out of things!

Marriage Record for William Northey and Elizabeth Dodridge, 23 December 1836, St Charles, Plymouth. Thomas Bond and May Nutcam are witnesses to their marriage. Marriages at Christmas are always popular because it is a time when families get together and celebrate Christmas. It is possibly the one time of the year when families will travel to other Parishes to all be together. Honeymoons were not common, and these couples were using the Christmas break, where they got time off from work to marry. It was also common for couples to marry on a Sunday in the 19^th Century, as this was the only day off during their working week.

This chart for Elizabeth Dodridge, my GG Grandmother shows both sides of her family. I will concentrate on Elizabeth’s ancestry in this chapter showing various charts, supported by copies of original records from the Parish Books. For ease I have placed each of these Baptism, Marriage and Death records into their Parishes.

Marriage of David Foster and Susanna Hendrick of Wembury on 17 June 1698 at St Charles, Plymouth

David and Susanna Foster are my 7^th Great Grandparents. See the middle column six dates from the bottom of the page for their names. More on the Fosters later. The Fosters are off the chart on the previous page, however their daughter Christian Foster is there on Elizabeth Dodridge’s maternal side. Christian married William Frost in Plymstock on 24 February 1722. In turn the Frost’s daughter married John Beer and named their daughter Mary. Mary Beer married John Galsworthy and continuing the Christian name they named their daughter Christian Galsworthy.

St Charles, Plymouth, right in the heart of the city, this popular tourist attraction amid a roundabout.

SAINT MARYS AND ALL SAINTS, PLYMOUTH

Headstone of John Dodridge, 7 June 1870, his wife Sarah at Saint Marys and All Saints Plymouth.

Also a granddaughter Louisa Coleman. John Dodridge is the son of Ephraim Dodridge and Mary Sherwill. Ephraim Dodridge was the son of Thomas Dodridge and Mary Bunker. Thomas’ brother Robert Dodridge married Mary Lang and they are the grandparents of Robert Dodridge who married Christian Galsworthy.

ST ANDREW, PLYMOUTH

Baptism of William Hake, son Nicholas Hake of 5 May 1644 St Andrews, Plymouth

This Baptism for William Hake is one of the earliest records in my family history of the Galsworthy Family and is has been an incredible adventure to be able to go back so confidently in my family tree and capture these wonderful images of original church records from Devon. Ingrid Curwood, a Galsworthy family researcher very kindly invited me to her ancestry.com family tree which was full of amazing early original records and she told me she was happy for me to collect these records to my tree. Her kind invitation included records from the Galsworthy, Finch, Hake, Devorall and Warren families.

My research, before I encountered Ingrid had developed slowly, however once I had established that Robert Dodridge had married Christian Galsworthy, a new area of research immediately opened simply because there were just so many other Galsworthy researchers collecting the same records as I was. I was able to peruse many ancestry.com trees and it seemed that all their records seemed to lead to a tiny coastal village in Devon called Wembury. I can remember Googling Wembury to discover the beautiful church of St Werbugh perched on a cliff top just to the east of Plymouth Harbour in Devon, England. A more beautiful sight cannot be imagined on a sunny summers day, however, it is apparently an even more magnificent sight when a storm develops and large waves crash onto the tiny beach below the church, sending the sea spray up to the cliff tops and over the cemetery walls.

The first really early record I found in my ancestry.com family tree came from another Galsworthy researcher, Martin Summers, who was a researcher on ancestry.com and who had uploaded a lot of very early original records, which he was kind enough to share. It was fairly late one evening when I first found his ancestry.com tree and although he had added original records he challenged other family researchers to study these records and decipher the scribes medieval writing to find their relatives. I actually messaged Martin online and to my surprise he returned my message almost instantly and we enjoyed a short correspondence. I am indebted to Martin for his wisdom and for his lesson telling me not to accept just any record, but to take the time to read them and with that comes the excitement of finding your ancestor amongst all the other names on these early parchment pages. Martin opened up a “new world” to me and after this experience it became obvious that I would be only be happy to collect original records and this is in part how my family history evolved to the point that I began to write up my family chapters. I can clearly remember the very first record I opened, the baptism of Rebecca Hake of 15 April 1677 from Wembury, Devon. Rebecca’s

William Hake married Mary Devorall are my 7 x Great grandparents and on 18 January 1672 at St Werburg’s Church in Wembury and was also buried in Wembury 17 September 1718. It was their son John Hake Snr who married Rebecca Finch 7 December 1707. Rebecca being the daughter of William Finch and Susanna Warren who also married at Wembury on 5 September 1669. Susanna Warren’s baptism at St Andrews, Plymouth is below.

Baptism of Susanna Warren, daughter of William Warren and Judeth Pike, 5 February 1642 St Andrew Plymouth

Susanna Warren married William Finch at Wembury, Devon on 5 September 1669. William and Susanna Finch were the parents of Rebecca Finch born at Wembury 15 April 1577. It was Rebecca Finch who married John Hake Snr and also named one of their daughters Rebecca. Rebecca Hake married John Galsworthy. See Wembury, Devon for this information. Enlarge this image to find this Baptism of Susanna’s, on left hand side just above the ink smudge.

William and Susanna Finch are my 7^th GG Grandparents. Susanna’s parents marriage is on the next page.

Marriage of William Warren and Judith Pike 11 April 1638 at St Andrew Plymouth

This is the second marriage of the day in the church of Plymouth, St Andrew. The surname Warren being spelt Warrine. This marriage date is amongst the earliest records I have found for the Dodridge/Galsworthy line.

ST MARY, PLYMPTON

Images of St Mary Plympton Church and interior are courtesy of Lavinia Chrystal Snr.

I joined the Devon Family History Society in my quest to find out more about the Dodridge family of Cornwall, and from here I was able to buy the PDF transcriptions for Births and Marriages from the Devon Parishes that concerned our family. They are restricted by dates, as the work they are undertaking is still only partially completed.

At about the same time I found a most incredible resource in Devon from Online Parish Clerks who volunteer their time to search the Parish Records for your ancestor if you send in a request. It is quite incredible that these people exist and are so helpful.

I headed my online request “Births in Devon for Dodridge, most probably St Mary Plympton”.

Information from Wayne Shepheard, Devon OPC in an email sent on 31 Oct 2012 after my request:

“I cannot help you with the marriage record for William and Elizabeth. They were not married in any of my parishes. This is probably Elizabeth’s family (all baptisms in Plympton St. Mary parish) 

1810 October 12 Mary Ann d/o Robert & Christian Doddridge of Plympton St Mary 

1816 May 5 Elizabeth d/o Robert & Christian Doddridge of Colebrook Plympton St Mary blacksmith born 1816 April 17

1805 December 26 William s/o Robert & Christian Dodridge of Plympton St Mary 1805 October 6

1808 January 29 Mary Ann d/o Robert & Christian Dodridge of Plympton St Mary

1814 July 29 Robert s/o Robert & Christiana Dodridge of Colebrook Plympton St Mary blacksmith 1812 May 1

1814 July 29 Maria d/o Robert & Christiana Dodridge of Colebrook Plympton St Mary blacksmith

1818 April 12 Silas s/o Robert & Christiana Dodridge of Colebrook Plympton St Mary blacksmith

1821 October 28 Samuel s/o Robert & Christiana Dodridge of Colebrook Plympton St Mary blacksmith

I have not found a marriage for the couple.

The burials for the couple are likely these:

1831 October 9 Christian Dodridge 53 of Colebrook Plympton St Mary

1853 May 1 Robert Dodridge 79 of Colebrook Plympton St Mary”

All this information was incredible, not only had I possibly located Elizabeth’s baptism, but found her entire family. I keyed this information into my ancestry tree, eager to determine if this information was correct. I was prepared to remove it all if I later found out it was not the correct Elizabeth Dodridge. Luckily for me it was our Elizabeth. I also gained information about the marriages of Elizabeth’s siblings and found that Christian Galsworth’s line was well researched by many others before me. It was amazing to see her family going back many generations. There was extensive online information also about the Galsworthy family.

1841 English Census for Robert Dodridge, aged 60, blacksmith, St Mary Plympton

Robert, now a widower and living in the home of Thomas Bond. Keen observers may have noted that on William and Elizabeth’s marriage record the witness was named Thomas Bond. I was very excited by this fact, and thought it very probable that Robert Dodridge was indeed Elizabeth’s widowed father.

The same visit to the SAG Library to find William and Elizabeth Northey’s marriage record allowed me to sit for some hours and find Elizabeth’s Baptism and that of all her siblings at Plympton St Mary, Devon.

Baptism record for Elizabeth Dodridge, daughter of Robert and Christian, of Colebrook, ink smudges and all!

Elizabeth was Baptised on 5 May and Born on 17 April 1816, a date that coincided with her death information.

Burial of Robert Dodridge of Colebrook, aged 79, 1 May 1853 at St Mary Plympton

Burial of Christian Dodridge of Colebrook, 9 October 1831, aged 53 years, at St Mary Plympton The next page is a summary page from researcher George Nicolle and it gives cemetery directions to the Dodridge grave in the churchyard at Plympton St Mary.

George Nicole is a grave researcher in Devon who tours cemeteries and photographs headstones, he listed Robert and Christian Dodridge’s grave at St Marys Plympton online. This was another incredible piece of information waiting to be found out about the Dodridge family. After viewing the website I emailed the owner, George Nicole, and for a small amount I was able to purchase a Headstone photograph of The Grave of Robert and Christian Dodridge, see next page. George requested acknowledgement when I reproduce his photo.

These charts for the Dodridge Family will help understand the relationships in this chapter.

Headstone of John Dingle Doddridge, son of James and Ann Doddridge, 8 Dec 1916, St Mary Plympton

Also John’s wife Betsy, died 1816. His father James Doddridge, was the son of Thomas Doddridge and Maria Pope. Thomas was the brother of Robert Doddridge who married Christian Galsworthy. Also Catherine Higman Doddridge, daughter of James and Ann (nee Dingle) Doddridge who died 21 August 1908. Also blacksmiths.

Headstone for John E Doddridge, died 3 Jan 1916 and his wife Elizabeth died 19 Feb 1908, St Mary Plympton

Headstone also includes their son Francis Henry and daughters Louisa Sarah and Emma. John E Doddridge’s parents were John Doddridge Snr and Elizabeth Avery; Elizabeth being a distant cousin to John’s mother Sarah Avery. John Doddridge Snr’s parents were Ephraim Doddridge and Mary Sherwill. The headstone for John E Doddridge brothers Samuel and Thomas Doddridge is also in the churchyard at Plympton St Mary.

Headstone for Samuel and Thomas Doddridge, sons of John Doddridge and Sarah Avery, St Mary Plympton.

Samuel died 20 November 1871 and Thomas died 3 January 1878. John Doddridge is the son of Ephraim and Mary Sherwill and he is buried at St Marys All Saints, Plymouth, Devon. Samuel and Thomas Doddridge’s brother John E Doddridge is also amongst the headstones in the churchyard at St Mary Plympton.

ORESTON IN DEVON

Headstone of John Pope Dodridge, died 29 Sept 1858, and his wife Elizabeth Willing, in Oreston Cemetery.

Elizabeth Dodridge nee Willing, the wife of John Pope Dodridge died 17 September 1869, and their daughter Priscilla Mary Dodridge who died 24 February 1853.

John Pope Dodridge is the son of Thomas Dodridge and Maria Pope. Theirs is another family of blacksmiths.

Thomas Dodridge was the elder brother of Robert Dodridge who married Christian Galsworthy.

ST MARY AND ALL SAINTS, PLYMSTOCK

Marriage of Robert Dodridge and Christian Galsworthy 16 Jun 1799 at Plymstock

I now had a surname Galsworthy for Christian’s surname, which would lead to some of my most fascinating research. Robert and Christian were married on a Sunday, this was commonplace for many people worked six days a week and only had Sundays off, and it is probable that Christian was working before marrying.

St Mary and All Saints, Plymstock. Images courtesy of Lavinia Chrystal Snr.

Baptism of Christian Galsworthy daughter of John and Mary Galsworthy on 10 September 1779 Plymstock

John and Mary Galsworthy had four other children, named John, Robert, William and Silas.

Marriage of John Galsworthy, a hellier, and Mary Beer on 12 July 1776 at St Marys and All Saints Plymstock

Baptism of Mary Beer daughter of John Beer 18 August 1754, All Saints Plymstock Devon

John Beer married Christian Frost in 1752 in Plymstock, a record available only on Boyd’s Marriage Transcription. Mary Beer, their daughter married John Galsworthy, the parents of Christian.

Baptism of Christian Frost on 26 December 1725 daughter of William Frost at All Saints Plymstock

Boyd’s Marriage Index 1538-1840 Transcription

First name(s)	Christian
Last name	Frost
Birth year	–
Marriage year	1752
Spouse’s first name(s)	Jn
Spouse’s full first name(s)	John
Spouse’s last name	BEERE
Supplied first name(s)	Xtian
Supplied last name	FROST
Place	PLYMSTOCK
County	Devon
Country	England
Record set	Boyd’s Marriage Index 1538-1840
Category	Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Record collection	Marriages & divorces
Collections from	Great Britain

Marriage record, above, for Mary Beer’s parents, John and Christian Beere, 1752 at St Mary Plymstock

Mary Beer married John Galsworthy and they were the parents of Christian Galsworthy who married Robert Dodridge.

Headstone of Grace Eliza Dodridge, died 25 Nov 1878, wife of John Dodridge, died 26 Jan 1899 in Plymstock John Dodridge was the son of Robert Dodridge and Mary Ann Stadden. Robert Dodridge was the son of Thomas Dodridge and Maria Pope. Thomas was the elder brother of Robert Dodridge who married Christian Galsworthy. It is so interesting to find so many surviving Dodridge graves in Devon.

Baptism of Thomas Dorridge (sic), son of Robert, 11 June 1749 at St Mary Plymstock

The  image below is the Marriage of Ephorim Doridge and Honnor Colings (sic) 30 September 1713 at St Mary Plymstock, followed by the Baptism of their son Robert in 1717.

 

Baptism of Robert Dodridge 2 June 1717 son of Ephraim Dodridge and Honour Collons St Mary Plymstock

Baptism of Ephraim Dodridge 9 April 1680, son of Joseph Dodridge at St Mary Plymstock

BRIXTON IN DEVON

Baptism of Robert Dodridge, son of Thomas Dodridge and Mary Dyer, 1 Jan 1779 at Brixton

This document is very hard to read and it was this problem that stalled my research for many months.

Robert Dodridge’s Baptism in Brixton to my knowledge has not been reproduced before by any transcriber and this is a first. Well to be honest I can’t really take the credit, because I was helped amazingly in the Dodridge line by the super sleuth skills of another dedicated family researcher, Ingrid Curwood.

If you look at Robert’s Baptism you will see under 1779 the entry in the Brixton Parish Book. It is clearly Robert, son of Thomas however the surname is not very clear. Ingrid found this record and when enlarged you can just make out the name Dodridge. Ingrid has spent many hours searching through these records and it is an absolute credit to her skills that she found this record for our family. I am so grateful to Ingrid for her help.

Ingrid Curwood’s family comes down the same line of the Galsworthy and Hakes of Wembury, Devon. Her ancestor Mary Galsworthy married William Currey. Mary Galsworthy’s parents were Robert Galsworthy and Rebecca Hake. Mary’s brother John Galsworthy is our direct ancestor, and he married Mary Beer.

When my research on the Dodridges came to a halt with Robert, I found a book listed with the Devon Family History Society named the Dodridge Blacksmiths of Devon. Knowing that Robert Dodridge was a blacksmith my interest was immediately piqued by this book. Almost immediately I found an online website called Devon Blacksmiths, listing pages of names, and among them was ‘our’ Robert Dodridge. There were a lot of Dodridge blacksmiths named, and I knew they were possibly related, but I did not know how. I hoped some were close relations, and I placed them into my ancestry family tree in the hope of getting a connection with another researcher. Nothing happened…

I then decided to release all these Dodridge blacksmiths and allow them to float around my tree unconnected to Robert Dodridge for the time being. It was at about this time that Ingrid Curwood found my “nest of Dodridges Blacksmiths” and placed a curt note asking me what in the hell was going on in my tree! I did laugh, and I told her so, she told me that so often when she writes curt remarks people get offended, and won’t write back to her, but for me it was quite the opposite reaction, and a lucky decision too. I replied to her, and since then she has dedicated the most amazing amount of time to our Dodridge family, worked out who was who and helped me place nearly all of the Dodridge Blacksmiths into my tree very correctly and with amazing original records. I am so grateful for her help and for the incredible amount of knowledge she imparted to me, as I became her student and she set me almost daily homework! It’s been a most interesting experience.

At the same time I found a connection to another Australian Dodridge researcher who lived in South Australia. This information came through George Nicole who had photographed Robert and Christian Dodridge’s grave in Plympton St Mary. George explained that he met John and Sandra Doddridge who were looking at cemeteries in Devon. I “cold called” Adelaide one evening and spoke at length with Sandra Doddridge. It turns out that she also had visited Brixton and had photographed other surviving Dodridge graves who are our ancestors. It is incredible really. Sandra was pleased to have the Baptism of Robert Dodridge. Sandra’s husband John Doddridge had by now died, but she was very happy to pass on information. Their link is with Robert and Christian Dodridge’s son William Dodridge, born 1805, who married Thirza Germain in 1836 at East Stonehoue, Devon, a month before they migrated to Adelaide aboard the South Australian. As a matter of amazing coincidence Elizabeth Dodridge, William’s sister and our direct ancestor, who married William Northey, was a witness at their wedding.

I don’t consider the spelling of names like Dodridge/Doddridge in different ways a problem, this is all about the development over many years of different spellings in the family, and so often they could not read or write. Many people had no idea what spelling was being placed on their documents by scribes, and many signed their names with a cross. In this instance both the scribe and the family had to rely on phonics to pass these names down from one generation to the next. One of the first lessons I learned in English research was during searches of the English census, and had I not allowed all possible spellings of the name Lavinia in the search engine, I would never have captured Levenia on the Northey census of 1861.

It is exciting that the two Lavinia’s are to visit Devon and will meet up with Ingrid Curwood who lives in Plymouth. Ingrid knows Plympton St Mary well, as her own children were christened there and, as a matter of coincidence she and her family actually lived at Colebrook where Robert and Christian Dodridge and their family lived. I am hoping that Ingrid can be their guide and hopefully find out more about where they lived.

This chart for Robert Dodridge is a matter of great pleasure for me, when you consider that for many months I had absolutely no idea of his parentage. There is still a way to go, however Dyer and Lang are more common names in Devon and this will make finding their families much more difficult.

Marriage of Thomas Doddridge and Mary Dyer, 30 May 1769 at Brixton Devon

Thomas Doddridge is listed as a blacksmith. Note that Thomas is literate and can sign his name, and that Mary Dyer signs her mark. The witness is Mary’s father John Dyer who also signs the record with a cross as his mark.

Thomas’s sister Thomasius’s marriage to Richard Algar is on the same page. The witness is Mary Doddridge nee Lang, Mary’s mother.

Burial of Thomas Dodridge of Elburton on 13 February 1831 at Brixton. Thomas’ age is given as 81 years.

Headstone of Mary Dodridge nee Dyer, who died on 26 June 1791 aged 42 years, in Brixton’s churchyard – Photographed by John and Sandra Doddridge with a note explaining it was leaning against the back wall.

Thomas Dodridge (1749-1831) was born in Plymstock, Devon and died in Brixton, Devon. He married firstly Mary Dyer (1749-1791) in Brixton on 30 May 1769 and they had four children, Thomas Dodridge (1771- ), Robert Dodridge (1778-1853), William Dodridge (1780- ) and Elizabeth Dodridge (1784- ). Mary Dodridge nee Dyer died on 26 June 1791.

A year after Thomas Dodridge’s wife Mary Dyer died, he married Mary Symons in Brixton, Devon on 24 July 1792 and they had seven children, Thomasine (1793- ), William Dodridge (1796-1845),  Amy Dodridge (1798-1873), Ann Dodridge (1800- ) Maria Dodridge (1801-1858), Susanna Dodridge (1803- ) and Christian Dodridge (1806- ).

With the advent of DNA connections quite incredibly our family have had matches with two lines of Dodridge descendants from Thomas Dodridge’s children from his second marriage to Mary Symons. These are down lines from their daughters, Maria Dodridge and Amy Dodridge. Maria Dodridge married Thomas Elford on 23 September 1827 in Plymstock, Devon and Amy Dodridge married Hugh Brown on 7 September 1821 in Plymstock, Devon.

Gravestone of Thomas Dodridge, died 7 Feb 1831 and his second wife Mary Symonds, died 31 March 1839

Note that his first wife Mary Dyer is also listed. This grave is also in the church graveyard at Brixton, and John and Sandra Doddridge lifted the headstone to photograph the epitaph, as it was partially obscured by the grasses. A close up view gave Thomas’ date of death and his age of 81 years, which corresponds with his death record information.

Brixton Cemetery photographs courtesy of John and Sandra Doddridge

This photograph taken by John and Sandra Doddridge in Brixton cemetery gives quite a good idea of the location of the Dodridge graves.

Marriage of Robert Dodridge and Mary Lang, 28 August 1745 at Brixton

Robert is my 5^th Great Grandfather.

Robert is the father of Thomas Dodridge, born in 1749. Thomas is the father of Robert Dodridge, born 1779.

WEMBURY IN DEVON

Wembury is located on the coast of Devon, just east of Plymouth Harbour. Our Galsworthy ancestors farmed in this area for centuries. The Forsyth Saga, a best selling novel written by John Galsworthy is based on a family from Dorset, but in reality he was inspired by his own family connections to Wembury. John Galsworthy’s grandfather John Galsworthy was a brother of Christian Dodridge nee Galsworthy. He married Maria Start in Modbury, Devon 1811 and he and his family moved to London. The 1851 English census show him living in Paddington, London, describing him self as a proprietor of houses and a shipowner. We are lucky with this connection for two reasons, John Galsworthy was interested in his past and secondly due to his fame, many other researchers have delved into the Galsworthy ancestry. John Lerwill has been able to trace the Galsworthy family back prior to the Norman Conquest of 1066AD, a link below to an article of great interest.

http://www.lerwill-life.org.uk/history/galsworthy.htm

“Galsworthy spent some thirty years pondering over the history of his family. As long ago as 1903 he addressed a query to Devon Notes and Queries which shows that he was even then giving thought to the problem of his Devonian ancestry, for he knew that his grandfather had left Devon for London in the 1830s.

Galsworthy’s enquiries into his family’s past history were apparently confined, so far at least as the earlier generations went, to research into the parish registers of Wembury and Plymstock, parishes to the east and south-east of Plymouth. But the surviving Plymstock registers do not begin until 1591, and those of Wembury not until 1611, so that the earliest ancestor known to him was Edmund Galsworthy, farmer, who died at Plymstock in 1598. For the next eight or nine generations the Galsworthys farmed in Plymstock and Wembury, down to John Galsworthy great-grandfather of the novelist who died in 1811 and whose prone and broken tombstone may be found in Plymstock churchyard.” John Lerwill

It will be interesting to visit the Plymstock churchyard and see if this grave can be found. The following is a poem written by John Galsworthy as a tribute to the famous cliff Church of St Werburgh, Wembury.

THE CLIFF CHURCH: WEMBURY

HERE stand I,
Buttressed over the sea!
Time and sky
Take no toll from me.

To me, grey —
Wind-grey, flung with foam —
Ye that stray
Wild-foot, come ye home!

Mother, I —
Mother I will be!
Ere ye die,
Hear! O sons at sea!

Shall I fall —
Leave my flock of graves?
Not for all
Your rebelling waves!

I stand fast —
Let the waters cry!
Here I last
To Eternity!

John Galsworthy 1867-1933

Baptism of William Foster, son of Silvester and Johan Foster on 26 Oct 1643 at St Werburgh Wembury

William Foster is the 8^th Great Grandfather of Lavinia and Virginia Robson.

The following chart shows the direct descendant line for William Foster:

William Foster (1643 – )

is your 8th great grandfather

David Foster (1675 – )

son of William Foster

Christian Foster (1699 – 1763)

daughter of David Foster

Christian Frost (1725 – 1773)

daughter of Christian Foster

Mary Beer (1754 – 1811)

daughter of Christian Frost

Christian Galsworthy (1778 – 1832)

daughter of Mary Beer

Elizabeth Dodridge (1816 – 1891)

daughter of Christian Galsworthy

Lavinia Northey (1859 – 1928)

daughter of Elizabeth Dodridge

Lavinia “Winnie” Moar (1887 – 1983)

daughter of Lavinia Northey

Lavinia “Vena” Fuller (1921 – )

daughter of Lavinia “Winnie” Moar

Virginia Irene Robson

daughter of Lavinia “Vena” Fuller

 

It is incredible that four generations of Galsworthy children were baptised at St Werburgh Church, Wembury, and they are all our direct ancestors. It is an amazing and significant piece of our family history. Starting from youngest being John Galsworthy who is my 4^th Great Grandfather.

John Galsworthy baptised 1752

Robert Galsworthy Jnr 1709

Robert Galsworthy Snr 1673

Edmund Galsworthy 1630

St Werburgh Church, Wembury, Devon, England

“The main part of the present church was built by the Normans in 1088, replacing an earlier Saxon wooden building. In the 1880’s there was a substantial restoration, significantly funded by the Corys of Langdon Court. There are a number of interesting items of stained glass and woodwork which contribute to the spirituality of the church. These include the St Werburgh Window dating from 1886 (this can only be seen by looking up from the front of church), the East Window and the Fisherman Window in the south aisle, both from the early 20^th century, the Good Shepherd Window installed in the south aisle in the 1980’s and the Millennium Window in the east end of the south aisle installed in 2004. The nave roof, a traditional Devon Wagon Roof, has a variety of carvings and five of the bosses represent St. Werburgh and the four gospel writers. Parts of the roof of the south aisle are original medieval timbers.

Our organ came to the church in the 1960’s replacing a smaller chamber organ. It had been built in Huddersfield in 1915, and was moved here having served other churches and has had a number of upgrades since its installation. The church tower was the last part of the building to be completed, early in the 15^th century.  The 1552 Inventory records three bells.  The bells was increased to five in 1909 when they were recast to repair cracks. A sixth bell was added in 1948 in memory of parishioners who died in World War II.

We don’t know why St Werburgh was chosen for the dedication of Wembury Church as there is no record of her having any contact with Devon. She was the daughter of King Wulfere of Mercia, but wished to become a nun rather than a royal bride. However, when her father became the first Christian king at his conversion in 673 he acceded to her requests. In due course she was given control of all the convents in Mercia, and after her death Chester Cathedral grew up around her shrine. There are just four churches in the country dedicated in her name.

Visitors to the church will see the Australian and Western Australian flags in the south aisle, presented to the church in 1979 to commemorate the fact that the British flag was first raised in Western Australia by Major Thomas Lockyer, son of the owners of Wembury House.”

St Werbergh, Wembury Church website

John Galsworthy married Mary Beer on 12 July 1776 at St Marys and All Saints, Plymstock. Their daughter Christian Galsworthy married Robert Dodridge.

Baptism of John Galsworthy, son of Robert Galsworthy and Rebecca Hake, 16 February 1752 at Wembury

Baptism of Robert Galsworthy Jnr 24 February 1709, son of Robert Galsworthy, St Werburgh, Wembury

At this stage there is no record to be found for the name of Robert’s mother. This may be solved in the future if a marriage record for his father, Robert Galsworthy can be found. Robert may have married a woman from another parish and it was common to marry in the wife’s parish, however it does make it a harder record to find. Robert Galsworthy, born 1709 married Rebecca Hake, and it was their son John Galsworthy who was the father of Christian Galsworthy who married Robert Dodridge.

This Wembury Parish record is most interesting as it shows the Baptism of three of our direct ancestors:

Baptism of Robert Galsworthy Snr, son of Edmund Galsworthy and Julian Beere 3 Sept 1673.

Baptism of John Hake the son of William Hake and Mary Devorell 6 August 1676.

Baptism of Rebecca Finch, daughter of William Finch and Susanna Warren, 15 April 1677.

Rebecca Finch married John Hake Snr on December 7, 1703, and their daughter Rebecca Hake’s baptism is shown later in this chapter.

Baptism of Edmund Galsworthy 31 October 1630, son of Edmund and Constance Galsworthy in Wembury

Note also the baptisms of his sisters Marie 1626 and Agnes 1628 on the same page in the Parish Records.

Wembury Rate Book for 1676 mentioning Edmund Galsworthy who was married to Julian Beere.

Some trees give his death date as 1680 however this is not a confirmed date.

On the next page I have done a descendant chart starting with Edmund’s grandfather, also Edmund Galsworthy which takes the family back 12 generations in Devon.

12 GENERATION DESCENDANT CHART FOR EDMUND GALSWORTHY

Edmund Galsworthy (1576 – 1646)

is your 9th great grandfather

Edmund Galsworthy (1602 – 1670)

son of Edmund Galsworthy

Edmund Galsworthy (1630 – 1680)

son of Edmund Galsworthy

Robert Galsworthy (1673 – 1724)

son of Edmund Galsworthy

Robert Galsworthy (1709 – 1768)

son of Robert Galsworthy

John Galsworthy (1752 – 1811)

son of Robert Galsworthy

Christian Galsworthy (1778 – 1832)

daughter of John Galsworthy

Elizabeth Dodridge (1816 – 1891)

daughter of Christian Galsworthy

Lavinia Northey (1859 – 1928)

daughter of Elizabeth Dodridge

Lavinia “Winnie” Moar (1887 – 1983)

daughter of Lavinia Northey

Lavinia “Vena” Fuller (1921 – )

daughter of Lavinia “Winnie” Moar

Virginia Irene Robson

daughter of Lavinia “Vena” Fuller 

England, Select Marriages 1538 – 1973:

Name:	Susanna Waringe
Gender:	Female
Marriage Date:	5 Sep 1669
Marriage Place:	Wembury, Devon, England
Spouse:	William Finch
FHL Film Number:	917553

William and Susanna Finch were the parents of Rebecca Finch who married John Hake Snr. In Wembury on 7 December 1703 and also named their daughter Rebecca. Rebecca Hake married Robert Galsworthy in Wembury on 27 February 1735

Baptism of Jelian Beere, 20 April 1638, daughter of John and Jelian Beere at St Werburgh Wembury

Jelian Beere married Edmund Galsworthy at Wembury, Devon in 1664, they were the parents of Robert Galsworthy.

Whilst I have original Baptism I only have transcriptions of the marriages at Wembury. Note the changes in the spellings of the names, which is very commonplace. Most people couldn’t read and write and it was the rectors and vergers who were writing down these names over many decades that created these changes to the spellings of names.

Devon Marriages Transcription

First name(s)	Constance
Last name	Rous
Marriage year	1619
Marriage date	29 Apr 1619
Parish	Wembury
Place	Wembury
Spouse’s first name(s)	Edmund
Spouse’s last name	Galsery
County	Devon
Record set	Devon Marriages
Category	Life Events (BDMs)
Record collection	Marriages & divorces
Collections from	United Kingdom

England, Select Marriages 1538 – 1973:

Name:	Julyan Bere
Gender:	Female
Marriage Date:	20 Sep 1664
Marriage Place:	Wembury, Devon, England
Spouse:	Edmond Galsworthy
FHL Film Number:	917553

Burial of Robert Galsworthy Snr 13 December 1724 at St Werburgh Wembury

Boyd’s Marriage Index 1538-1840 Transcription

First name(s)	Rebecca
Last name	Hake
Birth year	–
Marriage year	1735
Spouse’s first name(s)	Rob
Spouse’s full first name(s)	Robert
Spouse’s last name	GALSWORTHY
Supplied first name(s)	Reb
Supplied last name	HAKE
Place	WEMBURY
County	Devon
Country	England
Record set	Boyd’s Marriage Index 1538-1840
Category	Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Record collection	Marriages & divorces
Collections from	Great Britain

Burial of John Hake 20 Oct 1735 and wife Rebecca Hake nee Finch 28 June 1735 at St Werbugh Wembury

Baptism of Mary Devorell, daughter of Nicholas Devorell and Hannah Martin, 23 January 1644 at Wembury.

Mary Devorell married William Hake and it was their son John Hake who married Rebecca Finch in 1703. John and Rebecca Hake’s daughter Rebecca married Robert Galsworthy in 1735. Robert and Rebecca’s son John Galsworthy married Mary Beer in 1776. Rebecca Hake’s Baptism in 1712 at Wembury is on the next page.

Baptism of Rebecca Hake, daughter of John Hake and Rebecca Finch, 30 November 1712 at Wembury.

Rebecca Hake married William Galsworthy at Wembury on 27 February 1735, see their marriage transcription record on the next page. I have been unable to find their original marriage record.

Boyd’s Marriage Index 1538-1840 Transcription

First name(s)	Rebecca
Last name	Hake
Birth year	–
Marriage year	1735
Spouse’s first name(s)	Rob
Spouse’s full first name(s)	Robert
Spouse’s last name	GALSWORTHY
Supplied first name(s)	Reb
Supplied last name	HAKE
Place	WEMBURY
County	Devon
Country	England
Record set	Boyd’s Marriage Index 1538-1840
Category	Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Record collection	Marriages & divorces
Collections from	Great Britain

Boyd’s Marriage Index 1538-1840 Transcription

First name(s)	Mary
Last name	Devorell
Birth year	–
Marriage year	1672
Spouse’s first name(s)	Wm
Spouse’s full first name(s)	William
Spouse’s last name	HAKE
Supplied first name(s)	Mary
Supplied last name	DEVORELL
Place	WEMBURY
County	Devon
Country	England
Record set	Boyd’s Marriage Index 1538-1840
Category	Life Events (BDMs)
Record collection	Marriages & divorces
Collections from	United Kingdom

William Hake and Mary Devorell were the parents of John Hake Snr. Who married Rebecca Finch. It was their daughter Rebecca Hake who married Robert Galsworthy in 1735, their marriage document was shown on the previous page.

UK, Extracted Probate Records 1269-1975:

Name:	Deverall, Nicholas
Dates:	1692
Place:	Wembury, Devonshire, England
Book:	Burials. (Burial)
Collection:	Devon and Cornwall: – Wills and Administrations proved in the Bishop of Exeter, 1559-1799
Volume:	Here begins the Alphabetical Calendar of Original Wills.
Chapter:	1692.
Text:	Deverall, Nicholas, Wembury W. 1692

Nicholas Devorell was the father of Mary Devorell, he married Hannah Martin, 10 October 1641 in Wembury.

Mary Devorell married William Hake in 1672 at Wembury and their son John Devorell was born in Wembury in 1676.

England, Select Plymouth and West Devon Parish Registers 1538-1912:

Name:	Nicholas Devorell
Marriage Date:	10 October, 1641
Marriage Place:	Wembury, Devon
Spouse:	Hannah Martin

I wrote this chapter for my sister and niece, Lavinia Chrystal Snr and Jnr, over the Queen’s Birthday Weekend in 2015 for their trip to Devon. It is by no means complete, however I think it will give them both a greater understanding of our ancient family ancestry in England. My first connection with the Galsworthy family came through the Baptism record for John Galsworthy, who was born in Wembury in 1752. He was the father of Christian Galsworthy who married Robert Dodridge, a blacksmith from Colebrook Farm near to Plympton St Mary, where they baptised all their children. This also excitingly is where I found that a grave still exists of our 3^rd Great grandparents Robert and Christian Dodridge. John Galsworthy was a hellier, defined as a tiler, slater, or shingle splitter. His ancestors the Hakes and the Devorells all lived in Wembury and were all farmers.

It will be exciting when the two Lavinias visit Devon and take photos as my “researchers in the field”. I hope they enjoy their holiday and have a wonderful time with my friend Ingrid Curwood, whose family comes down the same ancestral line from the Hakes, Galsworthy and Devorells in Wembury, and who so kindly helped with my research on the Dodridge family. Indeed, without Ingrid’s research skills and her access to the Plymouth and West Devon Records Office I would never have found Robert Dodridge’s family in Brixton.

Thanks must also go to Sandra Doddridge of Adelaide, and George Nicole and John Lerwill from Devon.

Virginia Rundle

8 June 2015, updated 19 August 2016

Email: virginia@arundle.com

BA Fine Arts, Sydney University; Certificate of Research in Genealogy, Society of Australian Genealogists