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A Smith
Honor Code SignatorySigned 23 Dec 2022 | 10,292 contributions | 579 thank-yous | 583 connections
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.
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:
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I see that you made several changes to relationships for William Frogley-49, daughter Amye Frogley-97 and son John Froglie-2. Do you have a source for these relationships that you plan to add?
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