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!

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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.

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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
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