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PREFACE
Written in the early 1990s
Donald Lea, at the time of writing these pages
Tracing ones ancestry is a pastime pursued by many people nowadays, both by younger and older generations. Proof of this is borne by the flourishing and ever increasing numbers of Family History Societies in every county of the country with branches extending into hundreds of towns and villages throughout the land.
I caught the bug, so to speak, after coming across an old photograph in my mother’s possession. Curiosity got the better of me and in an effort to discover a little about the picture I realised how little I knew of my past family. I also realised that it was only time, effort and interest on my part that could unravel the lives of all those in the family who had played their part on life’s stage, and now gone. I felt the time was now appropriate for a summary of the Lea family, particularly as there are relatives still alive today who were part of a wonderful way of life that no longer exists today. How fortunate for all those people yet to come in this great family chain that they were, despite their great ages, willing to portray so much of their lives and that of the family they knew so intimately.
Apart from the interest and self satisfaction, I have received searching through so many old documents dating back hundreds of years, meeting so many people who knew different members of the family, visiting so many towns, villages, churches, museums and pubs, I feel the most gratifying feelings have come from talking about the family with Aunties, Cousins and second Cousins, who have now become an extension to my own close family.
I am refraining desperately from mentioning anyone in particular who has helped me during the last two years to compile this book, as everyone has been so warm and friendly towards me I feel it would be a little unfair.
I hope all the members of today’s family will enjoy the findings of my research, and will perhaps feel a sense of belonging, as I have done. It is not easy in today’s fast and ever changing lifestyle to feel a sense of belonging, but I can assure you all that although you may not have derived from a family of great names known for their exploits in war, for their inventions that all humanity have benefited from, each generation has proved to be of a compassionate and family loving nature, the kind of people who could be relied upon. Many have been written about in their local areas for their loyalty, tenacity and inventiveness, many of their ideas having been adopted and still used today. This characteristic is reflected in our family today, who although fairly extensive in size meet on as many occasions as possible throughout the year. The highlight being a family outing on a "double-decker" bus to the seaside each summer. The latest event for much of the family get-togethers has been the return of two sisters and their husbands from Australia after a three year absence.
The census forms filled in by the populace every ten years since 1841 hold some of the most useful information for the family historian, anyone alive at the time the forms were filled in would have been recorded and it is here we find and begin to trace our family back and forward in time with John Lea.
John, the son of Thomas and Martha Lea was born in the parish of Stratton St. Margaret on the 1st April 1782 and at the age of 69 is recorded in the 1851 census as living in Ashton Keynes.
To trace the family back in time from John and before the introduction of the census returns we have to go to the parish records that held all dates of christenings, marriages and burials within its boundary. Having found John’s birth recording thus giving his parents name, we then look back maybe some twenty years or so previous for Thomas' birth and his parents names. This method, unfortunately the only one available to us, does at least let us build up our family tree, until we can no longer find the family name continuing in that parish or until the records simply run out. In the Stratton St. Margaret parish the first recording was made in 1629 and are available to anyone wishing to see them at the Record Office, County Hall, Trowbridge.
We were lucky, it would seem, that up until John Lea left Stratton St. Margaret to go to Ashton Keynes our family were fairly static and it is possible to see that our name was recorded back as far as 1634.
I copied down just a couple of these early recordings. The first Lea family mentioned was of two brothers and a sister being baptised. They were 'John Lea', baptised 16 February 1639, his brother 'Thomas Lea', baptised 19 December 1641 and their sister Deborah Lea, baptised on 14 December 1644. The only earlier mention of the name Lea is that of a Thomas Lea recorded as being a church warden in 1634. The entry reads thus;
FEBRUARY 8TH AD 1634
FRANCIS KEMBLE
JOHN CARTER
THOMAS LEA
CHURCH WARDENS
Also in 1673 a collection for a fire was made. Deborah Lea, a widow subscribed two pence as did John Lea with a number of other parishioners. These are but a few of the examples to be found in the transcripts relating to Stratton St. Margaret and early village life.
Whilst studying the entries on the family chart it will become apparent that for most generations the name John and Thomas completely dominate the ancestral line. This may cause confusion, especially later as the reader progresses through the book unless the reader keeps in mind a date for the particular person they are reading about.
It is not unusual today for a couple to name their son or daughter after either the mother or father, but it was practised with rigid regularity in days gone by. The number of names used were minimal in comparison with today. Most boys would invariably be called William, John, Henry, Thomas or Richard whilst Elizabeth, Sarah, Martha, Eliza and Anne seemed to be most popular for the girls. Other names were used of course but even then they were often followed up with one of the popular names. One other practice during the first two hundred years of recording was to give two children in the same family the same name. For example, the first would be known as William 1 and the second as William 2. I find it very interesting to note that what was once a very common name for a very common and poor girl has now been adopted by the rich and famous of today. I am of course referring to the name ‘Sarah’.
A latter recording in the church records, some thirty years later, also shows members of the Lea family involved in village affairs. This occasion being a collection for an unfortunate “Thomas Cox” of the Hamlet of Ham in the parish of Kingston on Thames, Surrey, who had suffered by fire the sum of three shillings and three pence.
APRIL 26TH
RICHARD GILLMAN 2
JOHN LEA 2
THOMAS JACKSON 3
JOHN GRUNDY 3
NICHOLAS SMITH 2
HENRY WILLIAMS 1
WILLIAM BARNET 2
THOMAS LEA 2
Coming forward from John’s birth in 1782 was a little easier and of course more positive, the introduction of birth and marriage certificates along with photography in the later half of the eighteen hundreds does of course make for a more comprehensive picture.
As much illustration has been included as possible and whenever available, to enhance a closeness and understanding of each family’s environment, but may I suggest that even these illustrations are no substitute for a personal visit to the churches where our ancestors were married as young couples, or to the villages and cottages where they spent their lives together rearing their children.
It is unusual for anyone piecing together as large a family as ours to be able to obtain as many photographs as has been available to us on this occasion, and our thanks must go to the lady who kept every photograph and newspaper cutting that ever came into her possession, Annie Lea (nee Legg) wife of Ernest Lea. Annie lived to the wonderful age of one hundred and two years until laid to rest in April 1982, and my one regret in having done this project is not having had the inclination to start some twenty years earlier, thus making it possible for me to have met her in person. Also many thanks to her only son Dennis, eighty five years old, for allowing me to use this unique collection for the purpose of assembling this family tree.
Titles Chapters: 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
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This page was last updated on 10th April 2007.
