Tag: southminster

~ Suzi ~ 1 Comment

I'm currently taking part in the MIND initiative, RED January - the purpose of which is to do some form of exercise every day to raise awareness of mental health issues and how exercise affects the mental health. While I'm doing that, I'm also going to take a look at some ancestors whose mental health … Continue reading

Henry Bishop: The Alternative Deacon

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Henry Bishop is another example of a very distant non-blood relative who has grabbed my interest.  He was my 5th great aunt husband's brother, and lived alongside my Downing Ancestors in Southminster.  I find building a picture of 19th century Southminster, the key figures in the village and how they all interacted with each other … Continue reading Henry Bishop: The Alternative Deacon

Samuel Downing: Man Overboard!

~ Suzi ~ 2 Comments

For a long time I believed that Samuel Downing, the first son of Southminster patriach Joseph Downing, had died in infancy.  It seemed the logical conclusion - there was no sign of him in any of the Southminster records or anywhere else in England for that matter and the parish register from the relevant years that would show his burial had been destroyed.  His mother and sister had also disappeared in this period, and his mother was clearly dead, as Joseph had remarried and described himself as a widower.Read more...

Joseph and Hannah Downing: The Oldest Couple in Essex

~ Suzi ~ 3 Comments

My grandfather, Aubrey Downing, passed away last year at the grand old age of ninety-six, and I had the privilege of giving the eulogy at his funeral.  Of course, I just had to sneak a bit of family history into it by telling the congregation that it was no surprise to me that my grandfather had lived so long - he came from a long line of long-lived Downings.   The average life expectancy for a man born in the 1700s was about 35.  Our three Downing ancestors born in that century far exceeded that.   John Downing  (my 5th gg) lived to 88, Joseph Downing (my 6th gg)  lived to 77, and Samuel Downing (my 7th gg) lived to 73.  However, Joseph Downing junior (my 4th gg) took it a step further and made headlines with his old age. Read more...

Joseph Downing: How My Family Came To Essex

~ Suzi ~ 6 Comments

My majority of my research has centred on my mother's family, the Downings, who lived in Southminster, Deepest Essex (and later Southend-on-Sea).  This lively family were always up to mischief and rarely off the pages of the Chelmsford Chronicle.  But I knew they weren't always from Southminster.  Every Downing that I had researched was descended from the same man, Joseph Downing.  According to his burial record, Joseph was 77 when he died in 1819, meaning he had been born around 1742.  But there was no baptism for Joseph in Southminster, or indeed of any other Downings prior to him.  Where did he come from, and why?