A Smith

Ancestors

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Biography

A Smith was born in Oxfordshire, England.

A Smith has English ancestors.

A Smith has Welsh ancestors.

I was born in Oxford, Oxfordshire, and spent my early years living in the village of Little Coxwell, located just to the south of the town of Faringdon. My parents are both from villages close by, and most of my relatives still live in the surrounding area. Whilst I myself have spent much of my life living abroad, I too have now settled not far from where I was born, and now live about 40 miles to the west of Oxford.

My research into my ancestors has shown that the majority have long lineages that can be traced back hundreds of years not far from where my parents originated, concentrated in a few small towns and villages within a region known as the "Vale of the White Horse", encompassing the upper reaches of the Thames river valley and bordered by the Cotswold hills in the north and the North Wessex Downs in the south. The area where they originated is mostly in western Oxfordshire (including parts of what used to be northeastern Berkshire) and the northernmost parts of Wiltshire.

The majority of my ancestors are therefore English, with the exception of my Welsh great grandfather from Flintshire.

In terms of occupations, the majority of my ancestors appear to be agricultural labourers. Exceptions to this are some of my more recent ancestors who were tradespeople such as carpenters, bakers, gardeners, and chauffeurs, and even a few who are listed as paupers. Another exception is my grandmother on my mothers side who came from a long line of farmers and landowners located in Oxfordshire and Wiltshire.

My own Smith surname lineage is extremely challenging to trace back very far due to how common the surname is. Using census records confirmed by family recollections however, I have been able with some confidence to trace them back about 7 generations to a village called Wootton near Woodstock in Oxfordshire. They appear to be a well established family in the village with many descendants remaining in Wootton or in the surrounding villages. An exception is John Smith born in Wootton in 1862 who became a London Merchant, and whose daughter Gwendolyn married the son of the artist Charles Edward Rowbotham^[1]. Later records show a John Smith of Wootton acquired Ludwell farm in 1919, and a Richard Smith of Wootton owned Wootton mill until 1891^[2]. These latter Smiths farmed land that included Wootton Downs, Upper Dornford, Hordley, and Hollybank.

Research Notes

Historically, before the establishment of the shires, the area centred on the Vale of the White Horse sat within with the Kingdom of Wessex, which had its origins in this region, and was where Ælfred (Wessex) of Wessex (0849-0899) the first King of the English was born. Before this the region coincided with the southeastern edges of the Dubonni tribal territory^[3], who may be linked to the bronze age White Horse geoglyph on Uffington hill^[4][5] from which the region gets its name. In fact my ancestors are recorded as being involved in the 1857 "Scouring of the White Horse" ceremony^[6], an activity which is thought to have taken place at least every generation for the last 3000 years^[7].

The villages in this area show evidence of settlement going back thousands of years, and it is very likely that at least some of my ancestors have been in this area of a similar period. Events that they could have witnessed include the coming of the Romans, the alleged battle of Bedcanford portrayed in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as taking place in 571 between Britons and the invading Saxons, the battle of Ashdown in 871 between King Alfred of the West Saxons and the vikings, the building of Wallingford castle by the Normans, and the siege of Oxford in 1142 during the Anarchy

Mapping the last 9 generations of my ancestors shows a clear concentration between the Thames river in the north and the North Wessex downs in the south. They spread out over about 50 miles in an east-west direction, but the only place that they get north of the river Thames is at Oxford where the main river crossing is. This is really interesting as it shows the impact of a natural barrier such as a river can have on how a localised population grows.

I have yet to get a DNA test, but given the location of the majority of my ancestors, the recent study on DNA distributions published in Nature suggests that the breakdown for southern England is typically 70% pre-Roman Britons (from northern France and western Germany), 20% Anglo Saxon (from northern Germany and Denmark), and 10% Other (Norway, Belgium, Spain)^[8].

I have found a number of very distant possible gateway connections that I am currently researching, which are as follows:

• I am descended from Alfrey 'Alfred' (Hore) le Hore (1150-) of Oxford who was born in 1150, a lineage discovered through the amazing work by Malcolm Hoare and others as part of the Hoare one name study and H600^[9].
• My great Grandmother Jane Bowlby is a distant cousin of Sir Anthony Alfred Bowlby 1st Bt (1855-1929), 1st Baronet, discovered through the work of the Bowlby Family Organisation^[10]. Burkes Landed Gentry lists Jane Bowlby's earliest known ancestor as Richard Bowlby of Helmsley born in 1500. Burkes landed Gentry also states that the Bowlby family are descended from Hugo (Bolebec) de Bolebec (abt.1050-abt.1100), but without sources.
• Via the Bowlby family, I am descended from the Manners family of Helmsley, who are likely (without any proof yet!) either distant of illegitimate relatives of the aristocratic Manners of Helmsley Castle
• I appear to be descended from the Trimnell (of Bremhill) and Webb (of Bromham) Wiltshire Gentry families, who were prominent clothiers in the late 16th and early 17th century^[11]
• I appear to be a distant cousin of the Sheffield baronets via the Cox family of Stanford in the Vale
• I appear to be a distant cousin of the Briscoe baronets via the Beddow family of Flintshire
• Via my great grandfather from Hanmer in Flintshire, I may be descended from the Hanmer baronets of Flintshire and the Wynne baronets of Denbigshire
• I appear to be descended from the Bishop family of Brailes, listed in the Visitations of Warwickshire
• I am researching a possible link to the Alsop family of Alsop en le Dale, listed in the Visitations of Derbyshire
• I am researching a possible link to the Bassett family of Blore, listed in the Visitations of Derbyshire
• I am also descended from the Talbot family of Wantage and Harwell which can be traced back to the late 1400s, and are rumoured (without sources unfortunately) to be an illegitimate branch of the Aristocratic Talbots who owned The Manor of Kingston Lisle in Wantage
• Via the Talbot family of Wantage and Harwell, I am very distantly related to the Wirdnam and Jennens Gentry families of Wantage and Harwell, who are listed in the Visitations of Berkshire

Sources

1. ↑ "ROWBOTHAM, Charles Edmund 1856 - 1921"(https://suffolkartists.co.uk/index.cgi?choice=painter&pid=1891)
2. ↑ "British History Online: Wootton"(https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol11/pp259-285)
3. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobunni
4. ↑ "Article on the Uffington White Horse by Anne Marie Cromarty, David Miles, Simon Palmer and Richard Bailey"(https://eprints.oxfordarchaeology.com/6999/5/Uffington%20White%20Horse_Ch3.pdf)
5. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uffington_White_Horse
6. ↑ "THE SCOURING OF THE WHITE HORSE"(https://www.gutenberg.org/files/53241/53241-h/53241-h.htm)
7. ↑ "Article on the Uffington White Horse by Anne Marie Cromarty, David Miles, Simon Palmer and Richard Bailey"(https://eprints.oxfordarchaeology.com/6999/5/Uffington%20White%20Horse_Ch3.pdf)
8. ↑ "People of the British Isles"(https://peopleofthebritishisles.web.ox.ac.uk/population-genetics)
9. ↑ https://h600.org/wiki/HomePage
10. ↑ http://www.bowlbyfamily.org/#:~:text=Our%20primary%20purpose%20and%20mission,heritage%20of%20the%20Bowlby%20Family.
11. ↑ "Capital in the countryside: social change in West Wilt- shire, 1530-1680"(http://btckstorage.blob.core.windows.net/site10541/Historical%20Photographs/John%20Gaisford%20Thesis.pdf)

• First-hand information. Entered by A Smith at registration.