22nd OCTOBER

1920 - James George Pitcher died and was buried two days later in Taruheru Cemetery, Gisborne, New Zealand.

(Image: copyright © Diane Oliver.)

23rd OCTOBER

1885 - Aubrey Jones Dando was born 126 years ago.

1889 - Charles Tidmarsh Dando died at Chatsworth House, Tyndalls Park, Westbury on Trym, Bristol. He was the son of my 4 x great-grandparents, Joseph Dando and Ann (nee Murch), and was aged 75 at the time of his death.

24th OCTOBER

1814 - Harriet Free (nee Rowlandson) was the first wife of my great-great-grandfather, Stephen Free. Harriet was born 197 years ago.

25th OCTOBER

1863 - James Rice Pitcher died at Uley, Gloucestershire, 148 years ago. He lived at Hodgecombe Farm and his will was proved in the following January by his brother, Timothy. James left 'under £800'.

1874 - the eldest son of my great-great-grandparents, Richard Arthur Weaver, was born in Curry Rivel, Somerset.

26th OCTOBER

1834 - Philip Martin was the eldest son of my 3 x great-grandfather, also Philip Martin, and his first wife, Maria Bate or Bote. He was born in Bradford in North Devon, 177 years ago.

1895 - Thomas Smale, was my great-great-uncle and was born on 26th October, 116 years ago. 'Uncle Tom' lived well into his nineties and I can remember him very well. He once gave me an ivory covered prayer book which had belonged to his wife, Nellie, which I've kept to this day.

1921 - Alfred Chudley was born at 13 Market Street, Stonehouse, Plymouth.

27th OCTOBER

1810 - 201 years ago, my 4 x great-grandparents, George Newbold & Ann Parker, were married in St Peter & St Paul's Church, Exton, Rutland.

30th OCTOBER

1834 - Stephen Dando was the son of my 6 x great-grandparents, John & Susanna Dando. Stephen died 177 years ago and was buried in Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, London, on the 3rd November. His obituary was published in the Evangelical Magazine in the following May and stated that "When under deep distress of feeling, occasioned by shortness of breath, he was frequently heard to exclaim, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit"...he calmly waited for his dismission from earth, and died in the Lord on Thursday morning, 30th October, 1834, in the seventy-fifth year of his age...".

1820 - Edmund Cotterill & Sarah Evans were married in St Mary's Church, Kidderminster, Worcestershire. Edmund was my 3 x great-grandfather and Sarah was his first wife.

31st OCTOBER

1814 - Emma Dando was born. She was the daughter of Nathaniel Dando, the elder, and his first wife, Hannah (nee Langston).

1815 - my great-great-grandfather, Stephen Free, was born in Hadstock, Essex, 196 years ago.

Happy Anniversary to you, Mum and Dad!

[Note: All content on the Hibbitt Family History website and blog is copyrighted. Click here for conditions of use.]

Family Tree section

• Added further footnotes for my 6 x great-grandfather, James Pitcher.
• Added my 7 x great-grandparents, Arthur Pitcher (d. 1708) and wife, Ann Ansley.
• Added Arthur and Ann's other children, Margaret, Sarah, Ann, Arthur (1696-1770), Edward & Hannah.
• Added Margaret's husband, Francis George, Hannah's husband, John Ball and Arthur's wife, Jane Marshall.
• Added Jane Higgs, the wife of James' son, Arthur (b. abt 1739).
• Added footnotes for all of the above.

Relevant place names: Aylburton near Lydney, Hawkesbury, Hewelsfield, Newland, Scatterford, Clearwell, Stow, St Briavels, all in Gloucestershire, and Ross on Wye in Herefordshire.

Resources > Biographies section

• Added a biography page for Ann Ansley (later Pitcher).

[Note: All content on the Hibbitt Family History website and blog is copyrighted. Click here for conditions of use.]

Family Tree section

• Added Mills Gwinn and son, Stephen plus footnotes. Mills was the second husband of Mary who was formerly married to James Pitcher (abt. 1691-1746).
• Added Mills' parents' names, Henry & Susan Gwyn.
• Added a few more footnotes for James Pitcher and son, William (d. 1738)

Relevant place names: Aylburton near Lydney, Gloucestershire, plus Hawkesbury and Woolaston, also in Gloucestershire.

[Note: All content on the Hibbitt Family History website and blog is copyrighted. Click here for conditions of use.]

When I was growing up I didn't have a great interest in football. My elder brother used to be, and still is, extremely enthusiastic about the sport and so I adopted a favourite team when I was about 9 years old. That team was Chelsea, picked out simply because I liked the colour they wore. Since those days, I've become an avid football fan and it's good to see the team doing so well in the last few years.

Where is all this leading, I hear you say! Bear with me, there is a genealogical point here. Back in the 1970's you may remember two footballing brothers with the same surname as me – Terry and Kenny Hibbitt. I can still see Terry in Newcastle's black and white strip and Kenny in the distinctive gold of Wolves. Hibbitt, being a relatively unusual name, particularly with this spelling, I often wondered if we were related.

So recently, I set about researching the brothers' ancestry and, to my surprise and delight, I found a connection. We are/were (sadly Terry passed away in 1994) fifth cousins. My 4 x great-grandparents, Luke Hibbit and Mary (nee Leerin/Leeson?), were Terry and Kenny's 4 x great-grandparents too. They are descended from the couple's son, Luke, whereas I am descended from their son, Amos.

My brother supports Plymouth Argyle (well it's tough but somebody has to) but his son supports Newcastle United for reasons unknown. However, it now seems my nephew's team choice wasn't so obscure after all.

[Why Talented Tuesday? This phrase has been included in the title in order to take part in Daily Blogging Prompts at Geneabloggers]

[Note: All content on the Hibbitt Family History website and blog is copyrighted. Click here for conditions of use.]

The latest offering in the Online Shop is the 1910-1911 Post Office Street Directory for Tavistock, Devon. This transcript contains more than 1000 entries. Residents are listed by street for the town of Tavistock in Devon and there's also a schedule for the Parish of Tavistock Hamlets listed in alphabetical order.

These directories contain indexes for ordinary working people. Discover who lived in your house, find out where your ancestors lived and who their neighbours were.

[Note: All content on the Hibbitt Family History website and blog is copyrighted. Click here for conditions of use.]

11th OCTOBER

1875 - my 2 x great-grandparents, William Elbert Dando & Sarah Louisa Oliver, married 136 years ago in St James's Church, Westminster. Their marriage certificate confirms that Sarah called herself Sarah Louisa Barnes and she declared herself a widow. This was not actually true - Sarah had run off to Australia with John G.W. Barnes in 1865 and had had a daughter by him before returning in 1869 with no money or friends. She looked up her old flame (she and William had previously been engaged) and the couple lived together until Sarah became pregnant, at which time they married in the church which is just around the corner from Piccadilly Circus in London.

1884 - by some strange coincidence, William chose the very same day to wed again 9 years later when William Elbert Dando & Emma Sheriff tied the knot in Manhatten, New York. The main problem with this was that William hadn't divorced Sarah and so this second union was a bigamous match! This is probably why the couple travelled to America for the ceremony.

1874 - my 2 x great-grandmother went up the aisle 137 years ago. George Oakes & Hannah Maria Cotterill, were wed in All Saints Church in Birmingham. Hannah (or Annie, as she was also known) already had 4 children by my great-grandfather, Henry Ridley, but it appears that she and Henry never married.

12th OCTOBER

1811 - Ann Rigsby, my 6 x great-grandmother, died at the age of 57 and was buried in the Churchyard at Black Torrington, Devon.

1854 - Mariana Dando, the one year old daughter of Joseph Clifford Dando (1st) and Beulah Parker, died.

1850 - retired silk manufacturer, Joseph Spiers, the elder, & Elizabeth Tisdall, were married in Hove, Sussex. Elizabeth was Joseph's second wife.

13th OCTOBER

1852 - Joseph Clifford Dando (1st) and Beulah Parker, were married in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1806 - Jane Clark was the third wife of my 3 x great-grandfather, Joseph Dando. She was born on 13th October, 205 years ago.

1914 - Molly Irene Joan Fryer was was born at 13 Upper Church Street, Chepstow, Monmouthshire, Wales.

14th OCTOBER

1891 - 120 years ago, James Smale & Emma Friend were married in the Register Office in Tavistock, Devon. James was the son of my 3 x great-grandparents, William Smale & Mary Jane (nee Moore).

1817 - the third child of Nathaniel Dando, the elder, and his first wife, Hannah (nee Langston), George Dando, was born.

16th OCTOBER

1727 - it was 284 years ago when my 7 x great-grandparents, John Longman & Agnes Tucker, were married in Merton, North Devon.

18th OCTOBER

1783 - Joseph Fyer & Hannah Woodward, wed in St Mary the Virgin's Church, Arlingham Gloucestershire. Hannah was Joseph's second wife.

20th OCTOBER

1822 - my 4 x great-grandmother, Ann Fryer (nee Jones), died in Overton in Arlingham, Gloucestershire, and was buried 3 days later in the local churchyard.

1774 - Thomas Gethen & Ann Dando were married in the Anglican Church at Dursley, 237 years ago. Ann was the daughter of my 6 x great-grandparents, John & Susanna Dando, who had very strong Non-conformist links. Nevertheless, it was often the case at that time that weddings were conducted in the Established Church.


St James the Great Church, Dursley, Gloucestershire
21st OCTOBER

1862 - my 4 x great-grandfather, Richard Fryer, died of typhoid fever and bronchitis in the City of Gloucester at the approximate age of 70.

[Note: All content on the Hibbitt Family History website and blog is copyrighted. Click here for conditions of use.]

Hodgecombe Farm was once the home of Benjamin Pitcher and his wife, Sarah (nee Rice), during the 19th century. Afterwards, the farm passed to their eldest son, James Rice Pitcher, and his wife, Ann (nee Powell).

The Online Shop now contains a 2 document bundle with information about Hodgecombe Farm...

• 1971 Auctioneer's Details - a transcript of the auctioneer's brochure when Hodgecombe Farm was advertised for sale in 1971. (4 pages)
• Hodgecombe Farm, A Brief History - a short account of the history of Hodgecombe Farm with 4 modern-day photographs. (1 page)

I've begun creating an Online Shop which contains a number of genealogy and family history documents which I've put together and made available as digital downloads. The fees are quite small and help towards the running costs of my web site. I'll be adding to the shop in the next few weeks but in the meantime, you can buy:

• Bigland Transcripts for Fretherne
• 28 page document about the Fryer Family of Overton, Arlingham, Gloucestershire

Family Tree section

• Attached Charlotte S Dando to her parents' page (Joseph Dando & Helen Sheriff).
• Added Charlotte's second husband, William A Thompson.
• Added William A Thompson's parents' names, William Thompson & Catharine Mattison.
• Added the names of my 5 x great-grandparents, Stephen Cotterell & Elizabeth Pitt.

Relevant place names: New York, USA and Kidderminster, Worcestershire.

As Christmas approaches some of you may be thinking about a genealogy gift to give to someone special or maybe you'd like to give your own family the nod about something you'd quite like them to buy you.

Last year, I posted some links to offer inspiration for the perfect gift and this is a quickie to remind you once again. Here's the link...

Christmas around the corner - genealogy gift ideas (UK)

[Note: All content on the Hibbitt Family History website and blog is copyrighted. Click here for conditions of use.]

Have you ever found difficulty in deciphering names in old parish registers written in Latin? If so, FREEREG has a useful guide to how these Latin names correspond to the spoken names which are, more often than not, the same as the names we use today. For instance, did you ever expect the Latin for Arthur would be Arcturus or Arturus? Jacobus is James, not Jacob as one might expect. Fida is Faith and Amabilia is Mabel.
Latin Names & Abbreviations

FREEREG also has a list of abbreviated Christian names which often crop up in old documents. Most are fairly obvious but you might want to be reminded that Gul. and Guliel are abbreviations of William, taken from the Latin, Gulielmus.
Real Names and Abbreviations

Next, there's a page dedicated to a few Latin words which often appear in old registers. For example, nupsit means married and parochia means parish.
Latin Words to Recognise

Lastly, there's a handy explanation of the minefield that is numbers and dates. You're shown the standard way to enter dates for genealogy records, different formats for Latin numbers and the oddity of the calendar change in 1752. To finish up, there's a brief explanation about Regnal years.
Numbers and Dates

[Note: All content on the Hibbitt Family History website and blog is copyrighted. Click here for conditions of use.]

Have you ever discovered your photographs dotted around the internet on other people's websites or family trees without so much as a courteous approach? Without accreditation, these images sometimes spread around the net and the source of the original content is lost completely. Quite often, a lot of time and effort has gone into capturing these images, not to mention the cost of travelling to some of these places to obtain the pictures. I don't know about you but I hate this level of audacity and it's something that gets right under my skin.

The family history community are, on the whole, very willing to share their efforts with others and quite often I've found it's been of mutual benefit. However, there still remain some 'leeches' out there who simply take and don't give back (or worse still, take without permission).

It only takes a minute or two to send an email and there's every possibility that in doing so, some good can come of it. For example, I recently contacted a distant cousin with whom I'd been in contact with in the past, to request permission to use her photographs for a particular project. In the course of our email discussion, she mentioned that transcripts of the parish records up to 1812 and graveyard records for Exton are now online. For anyone with Hibbitt ancestry, this will most likely be of great value as the majority of Hibbitts seem to trace back to this small village in Rutland. Many thanks, Caroline.

In an attempt to get others to play fair I've recently added a 'Copyright & Conditions of Use' page to my website. Please could I ask anyone already using any of my content from either my blog or my main website, that they add the required accreditation. Likewise, if anybody spots an image on my site that I've omitted to give credit for, please let me know and I'll readily rectify the situation asap.

Moan over!

1st OCTOBER

1888 - Pearl Vera Dorothy Dando, daughter of my great-great-grandfather, William Elbert Dando, was born in London.

3rd OCTOBER

1863 - Joseph Clifford Dando, grandson of my 3 x great-grandfather, Joseph Dando, the younger, was born in Milestown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

1721 - my 5 x great-grandparents, John Free & Esther Bowtell, were married 290 years ago in Ashdon, Essex. The parish register recorded the event as follows, "1721, John Ffree Singleman & Hester Bowtell Singlewoman were Married Octobr the 3."

1791 - exactly 70 years later, another pair of 5 x great-grandparents, John Fryer & Phoebe Taysum, were married in the Church of St Mary, St Peter & St Paul at Westbury on Severn.

5th OCTOBER

1828 - returning to Essex, my 3 x great-grandparents, Robert Ashby & Eliza Richardson, were married in St Botolph's Church in Hadstock, 183 years ago. Robert was a widower, his first wife having died almost 2 years beforehand.

6th OCTOBER

1841 - John Fryer, son of Richard King Fryer and Esther Newton, was born in Fretherne, Gloucestershire.

8th OCTOBER

1972 - it's now been 39 years since my grandpa, Charles George Hibbitt (Charlie), died in South Hams Hospital, Kingsbridge, Devon, at the age of 73.

10th OCTOBER

1844 - George Hansard & Amelia Dando were married in St Luke's Church, Norwood, Surrey. Ten or so witnesses signed the marriage register.

1775 - John Dando (the elder), my 6 x great-grandfather, died in Dursley, Gloucestershire, 236 years ago. A monument commemorating his and that of his wife, Susanna's, memory hangs on the wall to the left of the pulpit in Dursley Tabernacle.


Pulpit in Dursley Tabernacle showing the monument
to John & Susanna Dando on the left
[Note: All content on the Hibbitt Family History website and blog is copyrighted. Click here for conditions of use.]