Allen Family History

Sources of Information: 1. Parish Registers of Barnwood, Gloucester, England (FHL #991298) 2. Bishop's Transcripts of St Mary de Lode, Gloucester, England (FHL #427798)

Notes:

ROBERT ALLEN RESEARCH REPORT

[Meadows092005 / 0346] 6 October 2005

The objective of this research project was to extend the pedigree of John Meadows, christened 5 February 1769 at Barnwood, Gloucester, England. Since our last project, we have received the results of several searches by correspondence. First, through a search of Twining, Gloucester parish registers, we discovered an additional child of John and Sarah (Farmer) Meadows, and have also made additions and corrections to birth and christening information for their other children [document #1]. We have also verified John was not born at Twining, as no Meadows individuals were in the parish registers from 1760 to 1808 [document #2]. We have verified John=s year of birth through his death certificate: he died in January 1841 at the age of 71 [document #3]. His wife, Sarah, died in February 1855 at the age of 84 [document #4]. It appears their grandchildren were present at their deaths and gave the death information. Perhaps they were living with the family of their daughter, Mary (Meadows) Green. Our main goal during this project was to find the marriage record of John=s parents, Thomas and Hannah Meadows, and find their parental information. At the outset, we knew Thomas and Hannah had children christened 1762B1780 at Barnwood, Gloucester. As described in our previous report, we searched the marriage records of many nearby parishes whose records were not found in the International Genealogical Index [see meadowsoverbury011405, page 9]. This effort was continued, and we searched marriage records from 1755 to 1762 in the parishes of: St. Catharine, Gloucester; St. Nicholas, Gloucester; Upton St. Leonard; Churchdown; Down Hatherly; Brockworth; and Whaddon, but no Meadows marriages were found. Even though the marriages at Barnwood are found in the International Genealogical Index, these were also searched, and we found the following [document #5]: 30 July 1758: Thomas Meadways Batchelor & Hannah Reeve Spinster both of the Parish of Barnwood were married by Banns in the Church of Barnwood

Searching Barnwood christenings, we found Thomas and Hannah had two additional children [document #5-6]: 3 December 1758: Mary daughter of Thomas Meadwars and Hannah his Wife 12 October 1760: Thomas son of Thomas Meadways and Hannah his Wife

After the christenings of his first two children, Thomas= surname was consistently written as AMeadows@ in the christening records of all his other children [document #7-8]. It is important to note AMeadows@ and AMeadways@ are indexed as different surnames in the International Genealogical Index and must be searched separately. This is why Thomas= marriage was not found in this index under AMeadows.@ The search for the christening of Thomas Meadways/Meadows began. We learned the surnames were apparently interchangeable because AMeadways@ was found in several AMeadows@ families. One possibility for Thomas= christening was found as AMeadway@ at St. Leonard=s Upton, just south of Barnwood [document #9-10]: 8 March 1719: Thomas, son of George Medway and Elizabeth This Thomas was not buried as a child at St. Leonard=s Upton. However, this christening is unlikely to be ancestral because Thomas named none of his children George, and he would have been 29 when he married Hannah and over 60 when his last child was christened. What makes this christening possible is the fact George and Elizabeth christened their last four known children at Barnwood, from 1725B1731 [document #11]. As discussed in our previous report, two other possible christenings for Thomas were found in parishes very near Barnwood [document #12-13]: 8 December 1734, St. Mary de Lode, Gloucester: Thomas son of Thomas & Mary Medows 1 January 1744/1745, St. Leonard=s Upton: Thomas son of Thomas and Hesther Meadows

Thomas and Mary Meadows had the following children christened [document #14-15b]: 11 February 1732, St. Mary de Lode: Elizabeth Meadows 8 December 1734, St. Mary de Lode: Thomas Medows 13 February 1736, Barnwood: John Medway 20 March 1738, Barnwood: James Weight Medway

In 1741, two Medways were buried in Barnwood [document #16]: 8 June 1741: Thomas Medway 26 June 1741: James Wait Medway

There is no mistaking the second burial was the child of Thomas and Mary Meadows, christened in 1738, but was the first burial the Thomas christened in 1734? If so, we can eliminate the1734 christening as ancestral. This may have been the case, because two other Thomas Meadows were buried later in Barnwood [document #16]: 13 April 1789: Thomas Meadows 17 February 1805: Thomas Meadows

It is most likely the Thomas buried in 1789 was the husband of Mary, and the Thomas buried in 1805 was the ancestral Thomas, husband of Hannah, although the later burial could have pertained to the ancestral Thomas= son, born in 1760, or the Thomas born in 1719, son of George and Elizabeth Medway. Evidence the Thomas christened 1734 may be ancestral is the family was in Barnwood (the place of Thomas= marriage), his year of christening fits very well with his 1758 marriage, and at their marriage, a Thomas Wait signed as a witness [document #5]. It is likely Mary, wife of Thomas Sr., had the maiden name Wait/Weight since they gave a child that name as a middle name, and Thomas could have been an uncle. The Meadows family of St. Leonard=s Upton had the following children christened [document #14]:

20 September 1743, St. Leonard=s Upton: Hesther Medows 1 January 1744/1745, St. Leonard=s Upton: Thomas Medows 29 March 1747, Quedeley: George Meadows 20 February 1748, Quedeley: Willm Meadow

The couple was married 3 May 1740 at St. Leonard=s Upton [document #17-18]. The only way this Thomas= christening could be ancestral is if he was actually born before Hester was christened in 1743, since he was married in July 1758. It is unlikely Thomas would not have been christened when his sister was christened had he already been born, although it is interesting the ancestral Thomas named two daughters Hester. Since Meadows is a rather uncommon name, we thought it possible Thomas Sr. was a widower when he married Hester, and Mary had been his first wife. Burial records in several parishes were searched, however, and this was not found to be the case, especially as the Thomas and Mary family had children buried at Barnwood in 1741, and Thomas married Hester 1740 at St. Leonard=s Upton. In summary, it appears most likely the ancestral Thomas was christened in 1734, the son of Thomas and Mary. This is due to the fact the christening date fits very well with the ancestral Thomas= marriage, the family later resided at Barnwood, and a Thomas Wait witnessed Thomas= marriage (Mary=s maiden name was likely Wait/Weight). Although a Thomas Medway was buried at Barnwood in 1741, this could have been Thomas Sr. rather than the Thomas christened in 1734, and this christening fits better than any other possibilities. Some time was spent searching for the parentage of Hannah Reeve, who married Thomas Meadways/Meadows 1758 at Barnwood. A Stephen Reeve had children christened in 1744B1755 at Barnwood [document #27]. Although this is too late for Hannah=s birth, he may have been a relative. We learned he was christened in 1718 at St. Leonard=s Upton [document #28]. This family had an Anne christened there in 1720, but this too early for our Hannah [document #29]. We found several possibilities for the ancestral Hannah=s christening in the International Genealogical Index, but additional research is required before one may be proven as ancestral [document #30]. It is a pleasure to assist you in researching and documenting your family history. We look forward to continuing research according to your instructions. _2005 Price & Associates, Incorporated JMT/dr