Watts

I have a Great-Uncle FREDERICK THOMAS JAMES GARDINER who married ETHELINDA WATTS of Kewstoke/Worle on 25th May 1864. They had 3 children namely Ethelinda, Frederick and Reginald.  The family story goes that husband Frederick was killed in the BOER WAR which I have yet to be confirmed.  Is this any relative connected to you?

There are some Boer War Records on Findmypast and Ancestry but be prepared to search with fewer first names or even initials and with variants of GARDINER.  One of the casualties (an F GARDINER) was with the Gloucester Regiment which might be a possibility. But this one was posted as missing in 1899 so perhaps Ethelinda was being optimistic for his safe return when she said she was married in 1901. She said she was a widow by 1911.

I think they were probably married in 1884 not 1864 but what occupation did he give when they married?  As Ethelinda and her children were resident in a Bristol Workhouse in 1891 possibly he had already enlisted by then - if not - where was he in 1891?

Emanuel Watts from Worle (son of Thomas Watts and Susannah Fry) and Mary Ann Banwell from Kewstoke raised their family at Worle where Emanuel was a labourer and 3 of their children were baptised James on 26 Sept 1830, John on 3 Feb 1833 and Thomas on 22 March 1835. I am interested to find baptisms for their subsequent children - Mary Ann born c1836, Hannah born cdec1846-jan1847 at Weston-super-Mare. The family sailed to Australia in the Palmyra from Plymouth on 14 April 1848.

Aha .. In 1841 they were living at Regent cottage in Weston-super-Mare next to a school, the preceding locations are High street, Devonshire Inn, various cottage names, Vale, Hill, Ivy, Sea View, Weston Hill, then after more Regent cottages, Villa, Marine, Weston, then 6 and 7 East something, bvd ?, then Weston again. What would be the nearest Church ?

My husbands 2nd G.Grandfather John Banwell was born 1826 in Brean. Somerset. His marriage cert. gives his father as Joseph Banwell. Unable to trace Joseph B or his mother we commissiond the Archivist in Somerset to help. They found that he was the illegitimate child of Mary Banwell bn 1803, and sent us a copy of a Court Order dated 5th June 1826 in the Parish of Weare, showing that Joseph Melliar of the Parish of Weare to be his father. Having searched various Parish records for this area we have been unable to find any record of a Joseph Melliar at all. We have found other Melliar's or Mellier's and even Millier's but no Joseph. If anyone can help with information on Joseph Melliar it would be very much appreciated.

According to FreeReg a Joseph MELLIER was baptised in Berrow on 4 April 1805. He was the son of Joseph MELLIER and Isad DANGER who were married in Berrow on 20 May 1799.

Dave Erasmus