Great Horkesley, Essex

A narrative of the history of the Minters of Great Horkesley, Essex

by John Minter

Early generations of the family lived in the Essex village of Great Horkesley. Then as now Great Horkesley was a collection of dwellings, a few shops and businesses and three pubs built on both sides of a two to three mile-long stretch of a Roman road running north-west from Colchester. The main road through Great Horkesley is called The Causeway.

Great Horkesley area

As can be seen from the map, West Bergholt, home of the Myntars, and Boxted, where a related group of Minters lived, are only a few miles from Great Horkesley. It’s not hard to imagine that there was a good deal of movement between the villages. Other villages within easy reach were also home to groups of Minters, including Langham and Little Horkesley. It may yet be possible to establish links between all of them.

Most of the cottages in which our ancestors would have lived have been demolished but a few survive, including some in Brick Kiln Lane where some of the family lived in the nineteenth century.

Agriculture was the predominant way of life for Great Horkesley people and all the male family members who lived there were farm workers. For our branch of the family the break from rural life occurred in the mid-eighteen hundreds when George Edward Minter moved to London. But there were Minters in Great Horkesley until some time in the 1960s or 70s, the last known being Dick Minter, son of Alf Minter who used to live near the Great Horkesley Post Office.

A number of other Minter families lived within a few miles of Great Horkesley in villages such as Boxted. It’s clear that a number of marriages within the circle of these villages took place. Not surprisingly, given its proximity, Colchester was also home to some Minters and additionally a large number lived on the other side of Colchester in and around Brightlingsea. No link between the Great Horkesley and Brightlingsea Minters has yet been found.

There are still quite a few Minters in this area of Essex.

The Myntars of West Bergholt

The original version of this document suggested that that Edward Minter might have been the son of Edward Myntar, who married Elizabeth Houghton in West Bergholt on 30 November 1738. Edward Myntar junior was baptised in West Bergholt on 17 June 1739, the first of (at least) four children. The others were Mary, baptised on 16 March 1740, William, baptised on 29 August 1742 (both of whom died within months of being born) and Elizabeth who was baptized on 7 August 1743.

Further research, mainly into Parish Registers of the time, reinforces the likelihood that Edward Minter came to Great Horkesley from West Bergholt. It has now been discovered that Edward Myntar had nine brothers and sisters and that Edward appears to be the only male child to have survived: he had three brothers but all died in infancy. There is however no record in the West Bergholt Parish Registers of Edwards death or marriage. The awkward discrepancy of the surnames (Myntar versus Minter) may be answered by the fact that when Edward’s father (also called Edward) died in 1795 he was buried as Edward Minter. It seems therefore that Myntar may have been changed to Minter at some point and that when Edward appeared in Great Horkesley he went under the name Minter. There is also a discrepancy between the date of Edward Minter’s birth (given in version 1 as circa 1736) and that of Edward Myntar (he was baptised in 1739). However, no documentary evidence of the date of Edward Minter’s birth has been discovered so it is possible that the 1736 date was an incorrect estimate.

It would be misleading to say that Edward Myntar of West Bergholt was definitely our ancestor but if he is we can probably now trace the family history back to the late 1600s. Edward Myntar’s father was probably one of the children of Richard Myntar who married Rebecca Lay on 11 February 1707. They had at least four children, three daughters (Lydia, (1711), Elizabeth (1721) and Sarah (1722). A son, un-named, was baptised on 9 July 1721 (twin of Elizabeth), and the large gap between Lydia and the twins would suggest that Richard and Rebecca had other children. It seems highly likely that Edward was one of them. More speculatively, there is a record of the burials, on the same day in 1741, of John and Anne Myntar. It is possible that they were Richard Myntar’s parents, although there is no documentary evidence of this.

Edward and Susannah Minter

We believe Edward was born about 1736. Nothing is known about his parents (unless they were the Myntars mentioned above). His name does not appear in Great Horkesley Parish Records from 1685 to 1742 We know however that he married Susannah Hawkins in All Saints church, Great Horkesley on 12 November 1761, banns having been published for three weeks previously. Susannah was baptised on 7 November 1736, the daughter of John and Susannah Hawkins. She had five brothers and sisters, Sarah baptised on 2 May 1739, Mary baptised on 26 September 1741, Anne and John, twins baptised on 13 March 1744 and Elizabeth baptised on 22 April 1747.

Edward and Susannah had 8 children: of these James and Thomas produced the two main Great Horkesley Minter family groups of the nineteenth century.

Edward and Susannah’s children were:

• Susannah, baptised on 7 November 1762. On 24 November 1785 she married John Smith of Langham, a village about 5 miles east of Great Horkesley.
• John, baptised on 1 July 1764; died and was buried on 11 October 1764.
• Edward, baptised on 29 September 1765. He is believed to have moved to Boxted;
• William, baptised on 21 October 1766; died and was buried on 7 April 1768.
• John, baptised on 20 March 1768; died and was buried on 2 June 1769.
• James, baptised on 5 March 1769. He married Tamar Bramford in Great Horkesley on 25 April 1791.
• Thomas, baptised on 22 September 1771, died on 5 November 1840.
• Sarah, baptised 27 March 1774.

Edward Minter of Boxted 1765 to 1853

The Minter family of Boxted, a village only a couple of miles from Great Horkesley, is related to the Great Horkesley Minters by marriage and very probably by blood.

It seems almost certain that Edward and Susannah Minter’s second (but first surviving) son Edward, who was baptised in Great Horkesley on 29 September 1765 was the primary ancestor of the Boxted Minters. A thorough search of the Parish Records for Great Horkesley discloses no indication of Edward’s death or marriage in Great Horkesley and a similarly thorough search of the Boxted Parish Records does not show his birth. It seems extremely likely that Edward was born in Great Horkesley and moved to Boxted. The most compelling evidence of this move is that the 1851 census for Boxted includes an Edward Minter, 86 years old, born in Great Horkesley and living with his son John.

Further insight into Edward Minter's life can be found in Darren Bedingfield's narrative: click here.

Edward married Mary Johnson, born about 1766, in Boxted on 13 November 1787 and they were both living there in 1841 (Edward was described in the census as a farmer). One of the witnesses at the wedding was James Minter - probably Edward and Susannah Minter’s son and therefore Edward’s brother - further evidence that Edward moved to Boxted from Great Horkesley.

Edward and Mary had nine children:

• Maria 'Mary', born in 1788, married James Bruce on 28 January 1805, having given birth on 22 October 1804 to a son James Bruce Minter (presumably the father was James Bruce). The son was not baptised until 13 October 1822. In 1826 he was one of the witnesses at the marriage of his aunt Elizabeth to William Seaborn.

• Sarah, born on 3 July 1790, married John Elmer on 8 April 1810.

• William, baptised on 30 September 1792, married Hannah (surname unknown) and had three children, Edward (about 1823 - 1851), Hannah Maria (about 1825, married George Rudlen in 1868) and William (about 1827 - 1850).

• John, baptised on 26 October 1794. He was married twice, the first time to Ann(e) (born about 1806), who died in 1844 having produced seven children, and, in the last quarter of 1850 to Deborah Naylor (born circa 1792), who lived until at the age of 80 she died in 1872. John and Anne’s children were:

Harriet, born about 1816.

Amelia, born on 16 December 1816. She had an illegitimate daughter Mary Ann in 1842 and was married on 6 October 1844 to Thomas Chinnery, the son of Edward Chinnery. The 1861 census suggests that Amelia and Thomas had at least 5 children. Amelia’s daughter Mary Ann did not marry and died in 1869.

John, born on 23 November 1820. He married Eliza Biggs (born about 1824, died 1900) and they had three children, Mary Ann (1856) who married Charles Leach in 1880, Eliza (1858) and Maria, who was born on 6 May 1861 and died in 1861.

James, born on 25 July 1822. He married Mary Ann Surry or Gant (born about 1812 in West Bergholt) in 1848.

The confusing story of Mary Ann Surry or Gant

It took a long time to decide how this person fitted into the early history of the Boxted Minters. Her name appears on several documents as either Surry or Gant: the explanation for this may be that Mary Ann’s father was John Surry and her mother was Esther Gant and that this couple may not have been married (the West Bergholt baptismal register entry for 26 July 1812 suggest this).

Mary Ann’s first involvement with the Minters was in 1832, when she married Thomas Minter. They had 3 children (see below) before Thomas died in 1845. However, before Thomas died, Mary Ann appears to have given birth to another son, Henry Edward, whose birth certificate shows Mary Ann as the mother and Edward as the father - who this was is unknown but it could have been Thomas’s father, unlikely as that seems.

Three years later, in 1848, Mary Ann married her nephew James Minter but not before she had given birth to another child, Rosannah, in October 1846. No father’s name appears on Rosannah’s birth certificate. James and Mary Ann then had two sons, John and James. In 1851, James and Rosannah were living in Boxted with their own children, the (probably) illegitimate Henry Edward and Rosannah and the children of Mary Ann’s marriage to Thomas.

James and Mary Ann had (or at least were responsible for) four children:

Henry Edward, born on 1 January 1843. Strangely, Henry’s birth certificate shows his father’s name as Edward. Henry married Alice Nevard (born about 1851) on 20 July 1883. They do not appear to have had any children. Henry died in 1925, aged 82 and Alice in 1931, aged 80.

Rosannah, also known as Rose Annie, born on 29 October 1846, married George Page in Langham on 3 November 1870.

John, born on 6 December 1849. He married Mahala Jane Keeble (born about 1857) on 24 January 1880 and they had eight children, Gertrude Ellen (1880), Sidney George (1882, died 1887, aged 5), Joseph Walter (1888, Colchester), Minnie (1890, Colchester) who married in 1911, Ethel (1892, Colchester), Blanch (1894), Doris (1897) and Edward Thomas (24 December 1899, Wivenhoe, died first quarter, 1966). By 1901 John and his family had moved away from Boxted and lived in Tolleshunt Knights where John was a farm foreman.

James, born on 14 May 1853. He married Sarah Studd (born in Nayland, Essex in 1853) in Colchester in 1884. James was buried on 30 December 1892. Sarah died, aged 70, in 1924. They had five children:

Dais(e)y (1885).

Charles (1886), who married Edith Polley in Paddington, London in 1912 and had three daughters, Eva (1915) who married George H. Salberg in 1938 and Frederick E. Martin in 1948; Nina (1921) who married Morris B. Catchpole in 1943; and Jean who married Cecil L. Nathan in 1942. Charles and Edith are thought to have died in 1976.

George (1887), who who died in WW1.

Arthur (1889), who died possibly in early 1953 in Brentwood, Essex.

Herbert (16 May 1891). He died in infancy in the third quarter of 1892.

William, born about 1828, married Eliza Gillam in 1852 and did not have any children.

Amos, born about 1831, died in 1858.

Ann, baptised on 5 October 1834, died 12 June 1869.

• Hannah, baptised on 12 March 1797. She married James Taylor on 22 December 1815.

• Susannah, baptised on 19 May 1799.

• James, baptised on 16 August 1801 and died in 1813.

• Thomas, baptised on 15 November 1806, died 1845. He was married twice, firstly on 28 August 1828 to Elizabeth Downs , who died in 1830, and then on 9 February 1832 to Mary Ann Surry or Gant (see above), who lived until 1891 having borne three children:

William Johnson, born about 1833. He married Harriett Dobson (born in Nayland, Essex in 1835, died in 1898) on 2 October 1853 and they produced no less than 13 children and at least 20 grandchildren. The families of three of William Johnson Minter’s sons are detailed below.

George H., known as Henery, was born in 1856 and married Ellen Allen of Ardleigh on 6 January 1877. They had nine children and appear to have spent time in London, since several of the children were born there. Henery died in 1910 and Ellen in 1943. The children were:

Georgianna Clark, born about 1877: it’s not known who she was but she appears as a daughter in the 1851 census.

George Henry, born 1 February 1878 in Feering, Essex. Click here for his story.

Albert William, born in 1879 in Feering. Died in 1924.

Ellen, born in 1882 in Barking, Essex - married Frank Edward Porter in 1900.

Alice Maud, born in 1884 in East Ham, London- married Thomas Totman in 1905 and had four children.

Charles Herbert, born in 1889 in Langham, Essex. He married Minnie M. Johnson in 1911 and they had 6 children:

Frederick Charles (1912), married Connie Reynolds in 1937. Their first daughter, Christine M., born in 1938, married Peter C. G. Chester in 1962 and the second daughter, Jean N. M., born in 1940, married Michael J. Whittle in 1960.

Minnie Violet (1914), married Walter Debenham in 1936. The had 4 children, Brian, Bobby, Barbara and Ursula, known as Toots.

Monchy L. (1917) married Edward Baalham in 1947. They had a son, Tony, who married Jean Sadler and they have two daughters.

John Herbert (1920), married Sybil Harwin in 1952. Their daughter, Susan M. was born in 1960, married Mr Jones (from whom she is divorced) and has a daughter, Sarah.

William James (Bill) (1924) married twice and has a son.

Doris E. (1926) married Herbert A. B. Nunn in 1949.

Of the six children, Bill and Doris are living at the time of writing, February 2004.

Bertie Allen was born in 1891 in Langham. He married Ethel M. Bird in 1915 and had four children:

May S. E. (1916), married William F. Watling in 1941.

Lilian E. (1920), married Jack Whent (who died about 7 years ago) and lives in Manningtree, Essex. Their son George, born about 1950, is married to Christine (Moss) and they have two sons, Lee and Stephen; their daughter Susan, born about 1952, is married to John Welham, a bandleader: their son Stuart is married to Janine and they have two daughters, Grace and Ruby.

Leslie A. G. (1923) married Doris R. Trimby on 14 November 1942. They live near Manningtree and celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary in 2003. Their son Leslie T. married Joy Gladys Lilian Franklin on 15 May 1965; their son Lee married Leanne Kelli Rogers on 21 May 1994 and they have a son, Josh, born 0n 25 February 1995, and a daughter, Jordan, born on 23 March 1999. Leslie owns a number of sports equipment shops in South Suffolk and Essex.

Queenie K. (1927) married Robert W. Vernau in 1947.

May Ethel was born in 1894 and married William F. H. Bourne in 1912.

Grace Lily, the last of George and Ellen Minter’s children, was born in 1896 and married William Went in 1916.

William Johnson (junior) was born in 1858 and married Esther Elmer on 22 November 1879. They had 13 children between 1879 and 1905. In 1901 the couple lived near Noakes Farm, Boxted: William worked a farm horseman and 9 of the children were still living at home. The last child, Blanche married Charles Ernest Minter of Great Horkesley in 1925, providing a positive link between the two families.. Esther died in 1945 and William Johnson a couple of months later.

Mark Minter was the twin of Margaret, born in 1867. He must have moved permanently to the London area since in 1888 he married Emily Sewell (born 1870, died 1953) in Lewisham. They had five children, all born in the Lambeth area: William Walter (1890), who married in 1911 and died in 1952; Annie Beatrice (1892) married Mr Smythe in 1918; Ellen Charlotte (1894) married Mr Smith in 1914); Lilian Margaret (1896) married Albert J. Blake in 1917; and Charles Frederick (1898) who married Grace Hurley in 1923 and had a daughter Beryl who married Albert Cook in 1945.

By 1901, William Johnson senior was 68 and lived in Chapel Road, Boxted with his unmarried daughter Mary (25). It appears that he died in London in the second quarter of 1913, perhaps having gone to live with his son Mark. In addition to the three mentioned above, many more of William Johnson senior’s descendants married and it is hoped to discover more about them. There were Minters in Boxted in 1944, as the Home Guard picture below shows. However, the last marriage recorded in the Boxted Church Marriage Registers up to 1986 took place in 1946. A John Minter now lives in Rivers Hall, Boxted but is apparently not related to us.

George J., born about 1834, buried in 1854.

Mary Ann, born on 19 December 1839, married William George Nevard (born about 1838) in 1863

• Elizabeth, baptised on 31 January 1808. She married William Seaborn on 21 November 1826.

Population of Boxted

As a matter of passing interest, a count of the population of Boxted was done on May 27 1811 and the results noted in the Parish Register. The total population was 600, males 282 , females 318. Further counts were done in June 1821 and June 1831. The numbers were:

1821 Males 417; Females 376; Total 793

1831 Males 441; Females 392; Total 833

By contrast, the 2001 census showed the popuation of Boxted as 3475.

James Minter 1769 to 1849

James Minter was born two years before his brother Thomas, our ancestor. He was baptised on 5 March 1769 and married Tamar Bramford (born about 1766) in Great Horkesley on 25 April 1791.

James and Tamar had 9 children over roughly the same period as his brother Thomas's family; so in this period there were a great many Minters in the village.

One of James and Tamar's sons, Edward, produced a second 'line' of Great Horkesley Minters.

In their turn, two of Edward's sons, George and James, produced further generations.

Tamar Minter was buried on 1 April 1829. James Minter died and was buried in Great Horkesley on 4 November 1849. Not long before, in 1841, he could be found living with his son William, then about 35, along with Anne Polley, a servant.

In 1881 Robert and Elizabeth Minter lived by themselves in a house in The Causeway, Great Horkesley, probably the same house they'd been in since 1841, when Harriet was with them. Harriet is believed to have married (or at least lived with, there is no trace of the marriage) Ephraim Stow(e). The had at least 6 children. The birth certificate for the eldest child, Elizabeth Eliza, born on 11 January 1848, says that her mother was Harriett Stowe, formerly Brooker. Harriett appears to have been born before Robert and Elizabeth were married so perhaps Harriett kept her mother's name.

Edward and Mary Minter lived in Great Horkesley with their family until Edward's death (he was buried on 6 December 1867). Mary then went to live with her son George.

George and Hester Minter lived in Brick Kiln Lane, Great Horkesley in 1881 with a large part of their family, including George's mother Mary. They had probably been at that address since 1841. George and Hester are buried in Great Horkesley churchyard. Their headstone is scarcely readable but says: In memory of Hester Wife of George Minter Who died Jany 20th 1903 Aged 56 years Rock of ages cleft for me Let me hide myself in thee This stone was erected by her son James Bertie Minter Who died at Offa, Nigeria June 18th 1921 Also of her dearly beloved husband George Minter Who died Sept 20th 1922 / Aged 79 years "All things are possible to him that believeth"

Brick Kiln Lane - some of the few remaining old cottages

• Elizabeth, born 31 August 1791, baptised 13 September 1795. Married Joseph Stow on 2 November 1817.
• Ann(e) , baptised on 27 May 1792. Married Harry Cream on 9 November 1817. It's not known when Harry Cream died but in 1871, Ann was living as a widow in Great Horkesley with her nephew, James, and sister-in-law Mary (nee Lockwood). Ann died in the first quarter of 1875.
• James, born on 7 November 1797, baptised on 3 December 1797.
• Rebecca, born on 1 December 1799, baptised on 5 January 1800.
• Edward, born on 21 Jul 1802, baptised on 15 August 1802. Married Mary Lockwood on 27 December 1827. Edward died and was buried on 6 December 1867. Mary was born in Boxted about 1805 and died in the third quarter of 1882. They had 8 children:
  • Sarah, baptised on 21 June1829, buried on 21 October 1842.
  • Harriet, baptised on 11 April 1831. Possibly living in Boxted in 1851. Married Edward Gardiner on 7 October 1959 in Stoke by Nayland, Suffolk.
  • Robert, baptised on 10 May 1834, buried on 8 May 1859.
  • Timor, baptised on 12 March 1837. Timor was living with her parents in 1841 (as Tamer) and 1851 (as Tama) but not in 1861. It's not known what became of her.
  • George, born in the last quarter of 1842 and baptised on 5 March 1843, married Hester Dale from Hampton in Middlesex on 6 October 1868. Hester died on 20 January 1903 and George on 20 September 1922. They had 9 children:
    • Frank, born in 1867 in Hampton House, Hampton
    • Sarah Ann Mary, born in the third quarter of 1869 in Hampton House, Hampton. She married John Page from Frating, who was born about 1859, on 6 April 1890. They had 3 children, William John, born on 15 March 1890 (before the marriage), Morris (1892) and Stanley (1894). It's possible that they had a 4th child, Dora since at the time of the 1901 census, George and Hester had their grand-daughter Dora, aged 5, staying with them. This may be because Sarah had died, only 27, in the first quarter of 1897. A double tragedy really - John Page was already a widower when he married Sarah. He had a daughter, Florence in about 1883: his first wife may have been a Dobson.
    • William John, born on 5 November 1871 in Myrtle Road, Hampton, Middlesex. He married Eliza Jane Forbes (born about 1870) on 22 February 1892 and they had 2 children, Maud Charlotte (1893) who married Montague Record in 1912 and Jessie Colledge F. (1895) who married Ernest E. Boon in 1918. In a further tragedy for this branch of the family, Eliza died aged 28 in 1898. In 1901 William was living in Leyton, London with his two daughters and his sister, Lizzie (Sarah Elizabeth) and brother Berty (James Bertie).
    • Sarah Elizabeth, born in the first quarter of 1874 in Great Horkesley. She married James Richard Samuel Schofield, born about 1874 (whose father was George Schofield, a gardener) on 10 December 1903. Sarah's sister Amy was one of the witnesses.
    • Eliza Maud, born in the first quarter of 1876 in Great Horkesley.
    • Margaret Ellen, born in the fourth quarter of 1877 in Great Horkesley. She married William Hill in the last quarter of 1913.
    • Amy L.ucretia born on 6 December 1879 in Great Horkesley. She married in the fourth quarter of 1906.
    • James Bertie, born on 12 April 1882, died in Nigeria on 18 June 1921. It has been said that James Bertie was in some way associated with the slave trade.
    • Percy Archibald, born on 11 August 1884, baptised 0n 2 November 1884. He married Frances Green, 29, in Kensington on 11 April 1909. Percy was a butler at the time and Frances a domestic. Percy's sister Margaret Ellen was one of the witnesses.
  • James, born Q2 1846 and baptised on 28 September 1846, married Hannah Moore (born in 1855) in the third quarter of 1874. They had a son, William Arthur, born in the first quarter of 1875 and baptised on 1 August 1875. James died in 1922, aged 76 and Hannah in 1926, aged 70. William Arthur married Annie Marie Whipps on 24 September 1910. They had three daughters, Elsie Mildred (1911), who is thought to have married Harold E. Totman in 1931; Phyllis Mary (1916), who married Harold James Victor Green in 1936; and Ena Daphne (1921), who married George Wilfred Reynolds Jarvis on 11 September 1943. William Arthur died in 1934 (and was buried in Boxted on 18 August) and his wife in 1954.
  • Sophia, born Q11849 and baptised on 1 July 1849, buried on 13 November 1859.
  • Mary Anne, born Q1, 1851, baptised on 4 April 1851. She married Shadrack Ratcliffe in 1870 and had (at least) 6 children.
• William, born on 21 May 1805, baptised on 30 June 1805, in Great Horkesley. Married Hannah Barker of Boxted (born about 1803) on 18 February 1820. Hannah died in the last quarter of 1888. William was buried on 22 June 1871.
• Robert, born on 16 November 1807, baptised on 20 December 1807. Married Elizabeth Eliza Brooker (born around 1809 in Harwich, Essex) on 5 February 1829. Robert died in the third quarter of 1883 and Elizabeth in the second quarter of 1893. They had one child:
  • Harriet, born around 1830 in Great Horkesley.
• Jonathan, born on 14 Jun 1809, baptised on 6 August 1809. Married his sister-in-law Sarah Brooker (born on 25 Oct 1811) on 9 Jan 1832. Jonathan died on 22 June 1876 and Sarah on 23 March 1901. Although the couple evidently moved to Mile End, Colchester (they were there at the time of the 1851 census), Jonathan and Sarah are buried in Great Horkesley churchyard.

The inscription reads: In affectionate Remembrance of Jonathon Minter Who died June 22nd 1876 Aged 67 years "His end was peace" "Safe in the arms of Jesus" Also of Sarah Minter Widow of above Born Oct 25th 1811 Died March 23rd 1901 "Thy will be done"

• Tamar, born around 1816 in Great Horkesley. Married William Dixon (born around 1811 in Great Horkesley on 27 Nov 1836. Tamar died on 25 May 1867. In 1881 William was living as a lodger with Mary Garrad at The Green, Great Horkesley.

Thomas Minter 1771 to 1840

Thomas and Elizabeth & Mary Minter

Thomas was baptised in Great Horkesley on 22 September 1771. He married his first wife, Elizabeth Webb (born around 1771) on 26 October 1792 and they had two children: Mary and William. Elizabeth must have died (although no record of her death or burial has been found) and Thomas married again, on 3 October 1799, to Mary Sadler.

Thomas and Mary had 7 children. The last but one, Thomas, born in 1809, was the father of 3 sons, one of which produced Minter line to which we belong.

Thomas died on 5 November 1840 and was buried on 11 November 1840. Mary died on 31 May 1845 and was buried on 5 June.

Thomas and Elizabeth's children

• Mary, born on 2 November 1794, buried on 20 February 1797 .
• William, baptised on 11 April 1795. It's not known whether William married.

• Henry, born 6 February 1801, baptised 13 November 1803. He died and was buried on 18 July 1823 and as far as is known did not marry.
• Mary, born on 15 May 1803, baptised on 20 November 1803, married William Wenlock from Boxted on 21 May 1820. William, baptised in 1796, was the son of Sam and Mary Wenlock and had two brothers, Edward and Samuel, and two sisters, Mary and Ann. In 1841 Mary and William were living in Boxted with 5 children, William (20), Emily (20), James (15), Jacob (8) and Lucy (1). But they were no longer there 20 years later.
• Lucy, born on 15 May 1805, baptised on 9 June 1806, married Samuel Peachey, from the nearby village of West Bergholt, on 10 June 1827. Samuel was born in 1798. They had 5 children, Daniel, Samuel, Thomas, Jonas and Mahala and became grandparents to many more Peacheys. Lucy died in Great Horkesley and was buried there on 5 September 1873, having outlived her husband by four years.
• Maria, born on 7 May 1806, baptised on 21 September 1806, died and was buried on 30 July 1810.
• Edward, born on 29 February 1808, baptised on 17 April 1808. He married Mary Ann Lambirth (born about 1812) from Burnham, Essex on 6 February 1839 . The witnesses were Edward's sister Ann and her husband Joseph Sparks. They do not appear to have had any children. Edward died in 1875; his widow continued to live in Great Horkesley. In 1881 at the age of 69, Mary Ann was living in The Causeway and working as a baker. She shared her home with Emily Appleby, aged 11 from West Bergholt, who was described in the census as a servant.. Mary Ann died in 1891.
• Thomas, born 28 June 1809, baptised 4 March 1810, married Sarah Bibby on 2 November 1829. They had 3 sons, Thomas, Henry and George Edward, the last of whom became the first of the 'London Minters'. Thomas died on 26 November 1872 and was buried on the last day of that month. in 1881 his widow Sarah was living in The Causeway with her brother Joseph.
• Ann, born on 30 August 1811, baptised on 29 September 1811, married Joseph Sparks (born about 1796) on 16 November 1832. They had 6 sons, Jonathan, Josiah, Joseph, Esau, William and Charles and 2 daughters, Emma and Eliza. We don't know when Joseph Sparks died but by 1881 Ann was widowed and living at Tye Green, Great Horkesley with her unmarried son William.

Thomas and Sarah Minter

The youngest of Thomas and Mary Minter's sons, Thomas Minter was born in 1809 and baptised 9 months later. He married Sarah Bibby, a local girl born about 1813, on 2 November 1829. They had three sons. In 1871 Thomas and Sarah were living in Great Horkesley with Sarah's brother Joseph Bibby. Thomas died on 26 November 1872 and was buried in Great Horkesley on 30 November 1872. In 1881 his widow was living in The Causeway, still with her brother Joseph She was still there in 1891, evidently in poor circumstances: Joseph was on parish relief. Sarah died in the first quarter of 1897.

Thomas and Sarah's children were:

• Thomas, baptised on 28 November 1830, married Sarah Ann Munson (born around 1828) on 1 May 1853. They had 7 children and are the ancestors of a large number of descendants, many of whom are alive today. Click here for further details of Thomas's family.
• Henry, baptised on 15 April 1832. He was living with his parents in Great Horkesley in 1851 and married Jane Goldsmith from Colchester on 28 September 1857 in Stepney, London. Their daughter Ellen Sarah was born in 1858 and married William George Hall in Shoreditch, London towards the end of 1881. Henry died in 1895 and Jane, possibly, in 1920.
• George Edward, born on 11 October 1845, baptised on 16 November 1845. He married Sarah Jane Sharp and is our direct ancestor.

George Edward and Sarah Jane

After his birth in 1845 George Edward lived with his parents in Great Horkesley - he is recorded as being with them in both the 1851 and 1861 censuses.

It's clear however that within a few years of 1861 George left Great Horkesley: he and Sarah Jane Sharp were married in Chelsea Register Office on 22 October 1867. At that time, aged 22, George described himself as a barman and Sarah, 21, had no job. They both gave their address as 8 Cumberland Place, Chelsea and George gave his father's profession as gardener whilst Sarah described her father, Thomas, as a carpenter. The marriage was witnessed by Caroline Sharp, perhaps Sarah's mother or sister, and 'W J Bushell'. Sarah was born in 1849 in Croydon, Surrey and it's thought she died in Brentford in the second quarter of 1927.

When their first son, George Charles, was born in 1868 George and Sarah were living at 2 Upper Holland Street, Kensington, just round the corner from the shop they were later to occupy. For some reason their second son, Thomas, was born in Whitechapel. The family then moved to 2 Church Walk, Kensington. At the time of the 1881 census the family was living at 29 Ball Street, Kensington and George Edward was a riding master at KG school. The family subsequently moved to 63 Church Street, Kensington where they ran a newsagents shop. They were certainly there in 1891 and Thomas gave this address when he married in 1894. Shortly after the wedding George died: his widow continued to run the shop and was still there when the 1901 census was taken. In 1903 Sarah married again, to John Charles Johnson and in 1911, as Sarah Jane Johnson was running the shop at 63 Church Street as a newsagents, stationers, tobacconist and confectionery shop. She was helped by her son Rowland, by then 25 and unmarried. The whereabouts of John Charles Johnson in 1911 haven't been established.

• George Charles, born on 11 March 1868 in Kensington, married Bertha Hollingworth from Sheffield in 1888. At the time of the 1901 census they had three children:
  • Edith Annie, born in Paddington in early 1889.
  • Henry Charles, also born in Paddington, in 1892.
  • Bertram C., born in 1898 in Willesden (where the family lived in 1901).

• Thomas, born on 31 July 1869 in Whitechapel, London, our direct ancestor - see below.

• Henry John, born in the third quarter of 1871, was living with his parents in Church Street in 1891. In 1898 he married Annie May Dennis (born in 1875) in Stafford and they had several children, possible seven. Details have been found about two of them:
  • George Edward, born on 11 January 1899 in Mile End, London, married Dorothy Miriam Reeve on 1 October 1921, at which time they were living in the Portobello Road area of London. Their first child, Daphne, was born in London in 1927 and shortly afterwards the family moved to Brighton, where their son, Dennis, was born in 1929. Daphne married Harry Ellis West on 27 July 1963 in Southwick, Sussex. Dennis married Shirley Peters in 1955 and they had two sons. Nicholas J. married Gillian Catt in 1981 and had a son, James Nicholas, in 1983 and a daughter, Katie Natasha, in 1985. Dennis and Shirley's second son, Timothy D., was born in 1963 and married Deborah Guile in 1988. They have a son, Ashley born in 1989. George Edward died in October 1994, his wife Dorothy having died 30 years earlier in 1963.
  • Reginald Herbert was born on 31 December 1900 in Stepney. He married Florrie Edna Fisher (born in 1899, died in 1984) in Kensington in 1918. Reginald died in the third quarter of 1972 in Eton. There were four children:
    • Reginald Edwin G., born in 1918 in Kensington, died in Exeter in 1992. He married Edna A. L. Yates in Birkenhead in 1946 and does not appear to have had any children.
    • Alan L. was born in 1925 and died at 5 years old in 1930.
    • Edna Evelyn was born in 1928 and died in Slough in 1999.
    • Donald H. was born in 1931 in Eton. He married Pamela Grant in Eton in 1957 and they have three children, all born in Wycombe, Bucks; Jane A., born in 1959, who is believed to have married Barrie L. Wallis in Aylesbury in 1980; Stephen H., born 1960, married Tracie J. Ferguson in 1983 and has a son Mathew Henry who was born in 1985; and David John who was born in 1967.
    • Thomas O., born in 1938 in the Uxbridge area, married Vivienne J Pull in 1964. They had a son Neil Andrew in 1966 and a daughter Sarah Louise in 1969. Neil married Coleen Kerr in 1993 and they have two sons, Thomas Oliver and Harry Neil.

• Clara Sarah, born in the second quarter of 1873. She married George Thomas Bullivant in 1896 in Camberwell and in 1901 they were living in Newington, London with two children, Madeline, 3, and Edward, 7 months.

• Joseph, born in the third quarter of 1875. He married Mary Ann Elizabeth Ellis (born in Woolwich around 1875) at Emmanuel Church, Paddington on 23 June 1895. They had a son, Leslie Joseph, on 20 November 1897. In 1901 Mary Ann and Leslie were living next door to George and Sarah at 61 Church Street. Leslie married Annie Tait Wood, 36, in Stockton-on-Tees on 21 January 1920. At that time Leslie described himself as a Music Hall artiste. No trace of his career in that role has been found. Joseph Minter died in Brentford in 1944, aged 68. His widow Mary Ann Elizabeth died in Ealing in 1953, aged 78.

• Edward Alfred, born in the third quarter of 1877. He married Georgina Brock (born in 1875 in Bethnal Green) in the fourth quarter of 1897. Edward died at 42 in 1920 and Georgina at 53 in 1929. They had four children:
  • Edward Arthur Brock, born on 27 June 1899 in Mile End, who married Nellie R. Hemmings in Willesden in 1920 and had 2 children, Kathleen W. (born 1923) and Leonard E.dward (29 May 1925). Kathleen is living in Enfield: her late husband was Walter Hawkes - they had no children. Leonard died in 1983; his widow Gladys (who married Dennis Vickers in the 1990s) lives in Devon. Leonard and Gladys had three children, Patricia (1953) who is unmarried; Martin Philip (1955) who married Susan M. Russell in March 1986 in Exeter and has two daughters, Emma Louise (June 1987) and Ann Clare (September 1990); and Gillian (1959) who married Christopher J. Putt in 1979 and then Adrian S Harris. Edward Arthur Brock died in the last quarter of 1971 in Enfield, Middlesex.
  • Cecil J. Brock was born in 1900 and died aged 14 in 1914. It is said that he was a telegraph boy and was killed when knocked from his bicycle.
  • William Albert Brock was born in the third quarter of 1902. He had no children although married three times, to Louise E. Lanham (born 1901, died 1946) in 1919, to Edith M. Cumming (born 1900, died 1956) in 1950 and to Margaret A. Morgan (born 1910, died 1964) in 1960, by which time he was living in Harrow. He died there in 1961.
  • Kathleen Maud Brock (all four children inherited their mother's maiden name) was born in the second quarter of 1906. She married Alfred Douglas in 1930.

• William, born in the first quarter of 1883 in Kensington. He was single and living at home in 1901: his occupation was steward on a P & O steamer. He married a stewardess, a widow of 44 called Lilly Ellsworthy, in Croydon on 16 December 1911. The couple lived in Bexleyheath and had no children.
• Rowland was born in Kensington in Q4, 1885. In 1901 he was also living at home and working in the shop. In 1912 he married Ethel Mildred Shrimpton, born in Putney in 1889 (one of 5 children) The Shrimpton family had moved to 50 Church Street, Kensington by 1901, which explains how Rowland and Ethel met. Rowland is thought to have died in Blyth in 1960, aged 74 and Ethel in Colchester in 1963, aged 73.

Thomas and Margaret & Jessie

Thomas Minter is the person furthest back in this history that I can remember - my paternal grandfather. I can also remember my grandmother although I had no idea until starting this that she was my grandfather's second wife. My memories are of the period when they lived at 'Devoran' in Pembury, Kent.

By the time he married Margaret Turkington [qv], who came from Edinburgh, Thomas was 24 and working in the printing trade as a compositor. The wedding took place at the Kensington parish church on 13 May 1894. Margaret gave her age as 25, her address as 49 Compton Street and the occupation of her father Ezekiel Turkington deceased as boot maker. The signature of one of the witnesses is unreadable but the other was E Turkington, probably Margaret's brother.

Thomas and Margaret had three children:

• Thomas Charles (known as Charles), born 5 February 1903, who went to America and was founder of the US branch of the family.

• Harry, born in Battersea, London on 23 August 1904, my father

• Stella, born 18 November 1906 in Herne Hill, London. I remember Stella very well from the time she lived in Pembury, where she died on 16 July 1976 having never married.

At the time of the 1901 census, Thomas and Margaret were living by themselves at 16 Grosvenor Road in the parish of St Margaret and St John the Evangelist in London. Thomas was still a printer compositor and Margaret wasn't working. Margaret Minter died in the third quarter of 1914, aged 46.

The 1911 census shows that Thomas (41, compositor) and Margaret (42), together with their three children aged 8, 6 and 4, were living at 22 Peabody Cottages, Herne Hill, London SE. It had five rooms.

On 14 June 1916, Thomas married Jessie Maude McDonald. Thomas described himself as of full age, a widower and compositor of 22 The Cottages, Rosendale Road (same address as in 1911). Jessie was also of full age (she was born in the last quarter of 1874), a spinster of 21 Carver Road, Herne Hill. There were several witnesses: including Henry Richard McDonald (Jessie's father) and Ronald McDonald (her brother). The wedding took place at Holy Trinity Church, Tulse Hill, London.

Wedding of Thomas Minter and Jessie McDonald, 1916 Some of the people in this photo have been identified by Kendall McDonald: Back row, 5th from left: Ronald McDonald; 2nd from right: Harry McDonald Second row (seated): centre Thomas Minter (groom): ; Jessie McDonald (bride) . Next to bride: Stella Minter; next to Stella: Alice McDonald On ground at front: 1st on left: Charles Minter; 2nd from right: Harry Minter

Thomas and Jessie with Stella A collection of photos featuring Thomas Minter and family can be found here.

The sixth and subsequent generations - Charles and Harry

Thomas and Margaret's first son, Thomas Charles Minter (Charlie), was born on 5 February 1903. He emigrated to the USA in 1923: the manifest of crew of the Olympic, which left Southampton and arrived in New York on 15 August 1923, shows that Charles was a steward on the voyage. Charles had in fact made 24 trips as a steward on The Olympic by this time. His age was usually given as 18 (even in 1923), his height as 5'8" or 5'9", and weight between 130 and 140 lbs.

Charles at Budd Lake, NJ

In 1928 Charles married Olive Joyce Hill (qv) who was born, a twin of Miriam, in Stockton-on-Tees, England on 5 February 1907.

Charles and Olive had 3 daughters:

Edna, born on 2 February 1929 in Walkerville, Ontario, Canada. On 14 June 1958 Edna married Charles John Turpan, born on 10 December 1929. Charles's family were Armenians from Diyarbakir in Turkey; Charles's father, Peter Turpanjian, arrived in America about 1907. Edna and Charles had three children: Curtis John, born on 20 February 1960, who married Margaret Anne Murray on 11 November 1989. They have 3 sons, Connor Charles, born 18 July 1991; Michael James, born 7 July 1993 and William, born 23 July 1997 Susan Joyce, born on 31 August 1962, married Richard M Ruppert and subsequently Scott Greger (on 14 February 2000). Susan has a son, Richard James, born 19 December 1986 Peter James, born on 23 December 1967, who married Natalie Michelle Goosay on 15 November 1997. They have a son, Justin Charles, born on 11 November 2002. Charles John Turpan died on 10 May 2000 and Edna on 24 April 2018, both in Montclair, New Jersey.

Edna, 18th birthday, 1947

Janet Olive, born on 6 July 1932, married Walter Paul Casey who was born on 11 January 1929 in Brooklyn, New York, on 26 April 1953. They had 3 sons: Gary Walter, born on 19 October 1957 in Morristown, NJ, who married Sally Strattman on 24 April 1982. They have a daughter, Kelly, born on 10 March 1977 in Wilmington, Delaware, who married Sam Miller on 21 December 1993. Kelly and Sam have two children, Sara, born on 23 December 1993 and Sam, born on 27 November 1996, both in St. Lucie, Florida. Sara and Sam are the first of the youngest generation of Minters - Richard Minter is their great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather. Shawn Francis, born on 14 October 1960 in Wanamassa, NJ, married Sandy Reddington on 30 May 1987. They have two children, Nicole, born on 22 March 1991 in Port Monmouth, NJ and Ryan, born on 8 November 1992 also in Port Monmouth. Glen Thomas, born on 19 October 1964 in Neptune, NJ and married Kristin Marie Guzzi on 26 February 1994. Kristin was born in Neptune on 17 October 1965. They have three children: Caroline Louise, born on 2 June 1996 in Newton, MA; Helen Minter, born on 5 October 1999 in Livingston, NJ and Katherine Rose, born on 22 August 2001 in Livingston, NJ. Janet died on 22 September 1999; in 2003 Walter married his present wife Liz.

Janet in 1947

Gwendolyn, born on 30 January 1936 in Passic, NJ, married William Corr on 14 August 1954 then Bernard Leon Schorr on 28 April 1973. Gwen has two children: Deborah Ann, born on 16 August 1955 in Orange, NJ, married Curtis Phipps in August 1980 and later Luther Jay Jarrett. Deborah has a daughter: Jaime Melissa Corr, born on 20 December 1977 in Dover, NJ. Debbie died, only 48, on 3 January 2004. Joyce Ann, born on 8 November 1957 in Orange, NJ, married Jerry McMurtie on 26 April 1974 and Archie Hilton Cox on 16 March 1985. Joyce has two children: Jennifer Marie , born on 2 July 1980 in N.Charleston, SC and Matthew Tyler William, born 11 November 1985 also in N.Charleston. Gwen lived in South Carolina with Jaime until she died in October 2019.

Gwen in 1947

Olive Minter died in 1952 or 1953. Charles married again to May Bauer, who was born in Bergenfield, NJ in 1924. Charles died in May 1978 in New Jersey.

A collection of photos taken in America in (probably) the 1930s and 1940s and another set taken in 2004 can be found here.

Harry and Pat

Thomas and Margaret's second son Harry was born in Battersea on 23 August 1904. On 16 July 1938 he married Florence Patricia Gregory (qv) who was born in Sheffield on 29 May 1913. From their home in Orpington, Kent they moved to Birmingham in 1947. Pat continued to live in Birmingham after Harry died and later moved to Bridport, Dorset. Harry Minter died in Birmingham on 16 July 1955. Pat died in Dorchester on 14 March 1987. Pat and Harry had two children: John, born on 6 October 1939 in Redruth, Cornwall, who married Pauline Downey (qv) on 17 October 1964. Pauline was born on 22 August 1938 in Shorncliffe, Kent. They have three children: Stephanie Kay, born on 18 April 1967 in Farnborough, Kent, who married Clive Leslie Perks on 28 April 1990 and subsequently divorced. They have two children: Bronia Helen, born on 9 November 1997 in Dudley, West Midlands and Marcus Clive, born on 26 September 2002 also in Dudley. Bronia is marrying Adam Wright in June 2023. Erica Jan, born on 5 April 1971 in Southport, Lancashire. Erica married her husband John Hunsley (who was born in Nottingham on 23 September 1975) on 26 March 2011. They have two daughters, Mia Florence who was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire on 8 February 2008 and Lauren Rose also in Shrewsbury, on 20 April 2013. Simon Andrew Harry, born on 22 December 1973 in Liverpool. Simon married Alice Watanabe in 2018 and their daughter Willow Miyako Watanabe was born the following year. Helen Margaret, born on 10 December 1944 in Farnborough, Kent, who married Philip John Worley in May 2019. Phil was born in Worthing, Sussex in 1948.

Harry in RAF uniform




Helen and John, circa 1946

John and Pauline in 2001

Subsequent generations

Thomas Minter 1830 - 1897

First son of Thomas Minter and brother of our ancestor George Edward Minter, Thomas Minter is the ancestor of a large group of Minters, many of whom still live in the South Essex area around Colchester, although none now lives in Great Horkesley.

Thomas was baptised in Great Horkesley on 28 November 1830. He was living with his parents and brother Henry in 1841 but had moved to another house in the village in 1851, perhaps in anticipation of getting married. This he did on 1 May 1853, to Sarah Ann Munson (there were many Munsons in Great Horkesley at the time).

Thomas and Sarah Ann were living in Hall Lane, Great Horkesley in 1881 and 1891. Thomas died in the first quarter of 1897 and Sarah Ann in the third quarter of 1908.

Thomas and Sarah had 7 children:

• Charles, baptised on 19 June 1853. He appears in the 1881 and 1891 censuses, living as a boarder (at different addresses) in Lewisham.
• Henry, born in the second quarter of 1856
• Mary Ann, born in the second quarter of 1860
• Sarah Ann Mary, born in the second quarter of 1863
• Thomas William, born on 5 October 1865 , died on 17 January 1927. Married Esther Gentry (who was born in 1868 and died on 26 July 1942) in West Bergholt on 20 January 1887. The couple are buried in the Great Horkesley churchyard. The tombstone inscription reads:

  In loving memory Of Thomas William Minter
  Died 17th Jan 1927 Aged 61 years
  Also of his beloved wife Esther Minter
  Died 26th July 1942 Aged 74 years 'Resting'

  During their marriage Thomas and Esther had 8 children:
• George Oliver born on 15 August 1888, died on 12 September 1957. Married May Nevard (born on 6 June 1887, died on 21 December 1974) on 12 July 1910 in Chilliwack. They had emigrated to British Columbia, Canada in 1907 and had 6 children there:
  • Allan Gentry , born on 10 June 1911, married Marguerite (Rita) (born on 27 March 1913, died on 14 April 1993), died in May 1980.
  • Margaret Ellen, born on 28 May 1914, died on 11 February 1995.
  • William Earl, born on 30 June 1916, married Mona Alma Schell (born on 19 September 1917, died in Mar 1959). They had a son:
    • Brian Earl, born on 26 February 1947. He married Faye Mooney on 27 December 1967 and later, Frances Caldwell. Brian owns the Minter Garden in British Columbia. Brian has 2 children from his first marriage: Lisa Marie, born on 24 July 1972 and Erin M., born on 1 December 1977
  • Harry Glen, born on 19 May 1919 , married Jean Bugera (born on 19 November 1921) on 23 August 1950. Harry died on 14 May 1964. They had 2 children:
    • Margaret Anne, born in November 1951, married Harvey Mossop (born 10 September 1950) on 22 August 1973. They have 2 children, Michael Glen Mossop, born 24 March 1982 and David William Mossop, born 24 October 1984
    • Barbara Jean, born on 15 October 1954, married William Simors (born 15 July 1953) on 20 May 1978.
  • Kathleen, born in 1923, died in 1927.
  • Charles Robert, born on 9 April 1926, married Eileen Swartz (born 7 September 1929) on 9 July 1956. They have 2 children:
    • Michael, born on 22 March 1959, who is married to Pauline.
    • Donna, born on 25 February 1963, married Marty and has 2 children, Tyler, born in 1983 and Kayleigh, born in 1986.
• Alfred, born on 30 March 1891, married Florence Beatrice Honeyball (born about 1883, died in 1967) on 16 April 1913, died on 16 Apr 1969. Alf and Florence had a son:
  • Gerald Richard (Dick), born on 12 May 1915, married Kathleen Ida Pittock on 10 Apr 1939.
    
    Dick and his father Alf are the last Minters known to have lived in Great Horkesley
    
    Dick and Kathleen had 3 sons:
    • Alan Jeffrey, born 18 January 1942, married Ann Hipson on 3 August 1963. There are 2 children Mark A., born 4 March 1965 and David Richard, born in the last quarter of 1968. Mark married Rachel A. Peek in 1996: they have three children, Joseph Finn (1999) and twins Finn Isaac and Lucy Jane (2001). David married Amanda Homewood in 1996 in Colchester.
    • Douglas, born on 6 March 1946, married Pamela Lambert in the third quarter of 1968. They have 1 child, Emma Jane, born 12 July 1974, who married Martin R. Rayner in June 1999 in Colchester.
    • Alfred, born 24 January 1950, married Janet Diane Thorpe on 18 August 1972. One child: Nicholas John, born on 13 June 1973 in Dunstable.
• Percy Allen , born on 15 February 1894, married Constance Amy (Connie) Potter of Brightlingsea (born on 19 October 1894, died on 10 May 1970) on 18 June 1923. Percy was a master watch and clock repairer. He died on 22 May 1973. They had 4 children:
  • Peter A., born on 28 February 1926, married Dorothy Summers on 31 March 1951 and had 2 sons:, Glenn (born in the second quarter of 1955 and married Julie Smith in 1978, since divorced) and Neil (born in the second quarter of 1957, married Susan O'Donnell in 1982, also since divorced)
  • Constance Jean, born on 5 February 1928, married Desmond Wilfred Death on 2 July 1949 and had a daughter, Maureen Janice, born on 7 April 1951, married Rodney Peter Betts on 19 June 1971 and had two children, Shelly, born 28 August 1978 and Stephanie
  • Leslie O., born on 11 June 1930, married June Pettitt (born on 22 June 1931) on 2 July 1955 and had 2 children. Tracey, born on 21 July 1957, married Carol Mayhew (born on 17 June 1966): they had a daughter, India Grace in May 1998. And Mandy, born on 20 April 1960, married in May 1994 to Darren Smith (born 31 May 1967).
  • David, born on 12 August 1931, died in 1993
• Sidney, born in the third quarter of 1896, married Dora (Daisy) Ida Phillips (born 1900) of Boxted, died in 1962 and was buried in Boxted on 2 October. They had a son, William John, born on 31 December 1926, and baptised in Boxted on 13 March 1927, who died in 1956, aged 29. He was then living in Boxted, where he was buried on 8 June.
• Annie, born in 1899, died in 1902.
• Harry Gentry, born on 30 November 1901, married Lily Maude Hardwick from Boxted (born on 3 March 1900, died on 27 May 1950) in 1920. Harry died on 20 February, 1969. They had 3 children:
  • Marjorie Joyce, born on 11 March 1921. On 4 August 1945 she married Colin Donald Harper Black (born 5 November 1922) of Montreal, Canada, to where they emigrated in 1948. The couple were legally separated on 1 April 1952 in Montreal. Marjorie died on 28 August 1974 leaving two children:
    • Donald Ross Black, born on 20 April 1947, married on 2 May 1986 to Graciella Bettinalio (born 22 December 1961) from Argentina. They have 2 children, Alejandro Andres, born 23 April 1987 and Carlos Daniel, born 13 November 1990.
    • Gary David Black, born 30 November 1948, married on 14 July 1973 to Dorothy Roach (born 30 June 1950)
  • Frederick William, born on 16 July 1924, baptised on 24 May 1925, died on 10 September 1937.
  • Geoffrey, born in Boxted on 30 July 1930, married Joy E. E. (Ivy) Ranson (born 5 April 1936) in Eastbourne the third quarter of 1957. They have a daughter Susan, born on 19 April 1961, married Stephen Christmas (born 4 March 1958) on 26 August 1989. They have a daughter, Emma Louise, born on 31 March 1994.
• Charles Ernest, born on 6 February 1905, married on 31 October 1925 to Blanche Minter from Boxted (born 12 October 1905, died on 23 July 1993). This marriage links the Great Horkesley and the Boxted Minter families. Charles died on 15 August 1989. There were 4 children:
  • Vera, born on 12 July 1926, married in the first quarter of 1949 to Patty Bergin (born in 1926, died in 1984). They had 3 children, Mark, Sara and Mary
  • Gordon E., born on 25 January 1931, married on 6 July 1959 to Pauline K. Lissimore (born on 19 March 1938). They had two children:
    • Stephen, born on 14 August 1966, died on 20 October 1966
    • Lisa Jane, born on 12 February 1968, married Gary Young (born 20 August 1968) on 20 April 1990. They have 3 daughters:
      • Hannah, born on 25 February 1994; Catherine, born on 18 July 1995: Beth, born on 18 July 1995
    • Roy Edward, born on 27 November 1932, married Eva May Sharpe on 28 March 1959 in Langham, Essex. They have 4 children:
      • Heather May (born 1959, married Paul Vincent in 1977)
      • Graham Edward. (born 19 February 1961, married Karen Mullins in 1983, has 3 children, Mark Graham, Darren Edward and Tamsyn Elizabeth )
      • Wanda Eva (born in 1964, married David Cobb in 1986)
      • Claire Eva (born in1968, married Dean Souter in 1987.
    • Hazel, born on 8 July 1941, married on 12 May 1962 to Tony Clarke (born in 1941). They have 2 children, Lesley and Adrian.
  • William, born in 1909, married in the second quarter of 1935 to Lucy Harwood, in Liskeard, Cornwall, who died about 2002. They had a son:
    • Ivan William, born on 8 June 1944 and married in 1966 to Wendy Watkins (born on 10 March 1945) from Devon (but subsequently divorced and remarried in July 1993 to Carol M. Guyson.). Ivan and Wendy had 3 sons:, Neil Gregory, born on 1 March 1969, who has a daughter, Dominique Saskia, born on 13 October 1999; Giles, born on 28 December 1970; and Ralph, born on 6 February 1975, who married Rosie Brown (born on 10 June 1974) in 2003. Giles and Ralph were born in Basingstoke.
• Clara, born on 18 June 1868; died in the third quarter of 1870.
• Rose Ellen., born in the last quarter of 1873, was the last of Thomas and Sarah Minter's children. She married in the first quarter of 1906, having given birth to a daughter, Dorothy Gertrude, on 24 December 1905. Dorothy died aged 3 in early 1909.


Links to families related by marriage are listed below:
The Gregory family
The Lake and Spencer families
Turkingtons, McDonalds, Hills, Downeys and Boyles


The Gregory family

The Gregory family history is linked to the Minter's through the marriage in 1938 of Florence Patricia (Pat) Gregory and Harry Minter.

Thanks to the efforts of a number of researchers, primarily Pat Lindsay, Brendan Molloy and Ann Powell, the Gregory family has been traced back to George Gregory who was born at Cupola Cottage, Baslow, Derbyshire and baptised on 31 August 1800 at Baslow. George was probably illegitimate, his mother's name being given by the IGI as Ann. It's possible that Ann was the daughter of Joseph and Susannah Gregory who lived at Cupola cottage at the time George was born; Joseph and Susannah are thought to have married in 1782.

Cupola Cottage - a recent photograph

Some time before 1825 George evidently moved to Sheffield, Yorkshire. He married a Sheffield girl, Sarah Walker on 17 July that year, in Sheffield. George was a blacksmith by trade. He lived in Coalpit Lane which is now called Cambridge Street in a shop, across the road on Cross Burgess Street he had a workshop where he made fenders. (Coalpit Lane (Cambridge Street), Cross Burgess Street and Burgess Street form three sides of the modern John Lewis building in Sheffield). Later on George moved to the Soho Wheel on Bridge Street where he again made fenders - records for 1864 show him employing sons John and Andrew.

Round about midnight on March 11th 1864 the Dale Dyke Dam at Bradfield, near Sheffield, collapsed, releasing a torrent of water that killed some 250 people. It devastated an area that stretched from the Dam, down the Loxley Valley, through Malin Bridge and Hillsborough, to Sheffield town centre and beyond.

Following the disaster, compensation claims were made by individuals and companies against the Sheffield Water Company for loss of property and livelihood, and for injury and/or death of relatives.

George Gregory, fender maker of 82 Bridge Street, Sheffield claimed compensation of £21.4s and was awarded £14 'assessed by agreement incl costs' on 30 June 1865.

George ended his days at 35 Chapel Street where he died. A tombstone in Sheffield General Cemetery reads as follows:

In
Loving Memory
of George
son of
George and Sarah Gregory
Who Died January 15th 1829, aged 11 months
and is interred in St Pauls Churchyard
Also Thomas, Their son
Who died August 23rd 1863, aged 32 years.
Also Andrew, their son
Who died November 21st 1865, aged 28 years.
Also the above
Sarah Gregory
Who died May 7th 1868 aged 64 years.
" Full assurance of joyful resurrection "
Also Frances their Daughter,
Who Died February 26th 1870, aged 23 years.
Also the above George Gregory, who died
August 12th 1873, aged 73 years.
" They rest from their labours "
Also of their daughter, Margaret Birch
Who died April 23th 1879 aged 44 years.

George and Sarah had 12 children as far as is known. Although this narrative will concentrate on one of them, John Gregory, it's interesting to note that Brendan Molloy and his cousin Ann Powell are connected to the Gregory family via Thomas Gregory's daughter Catherine, who married Simon Heavey from Galway, Ireland.

John Gregory was born in Sheffield on 10 May 1826. He married Sarah Smith, who was born on 31 August 1827 in Handsworth, Sheffield, on 18 November 1851. John Gregory, aged 24 when he married, was living in Coal Pit Lane and gave his occupation as fender smith. Sarah's address was Burgess Street and her father's name was John Smith, a fruiterer. The marriage was witnessed by Joseph Smith and Hannah Smith.

John and Sarah's first two children were daughters:

• Mary Hannah, born fourth quarter of 1851, married William Henry Timperley in 1872 and had two children Lillian (about 1875) and Francis J (about 1877).
• Fanny, who was born in the first quarter of 1858. She didn't marry and was living with her father up to the time of his death on 13 June 1906, having been a widower since his wife died in 1882. In 1911 Fanny lived alone at 19 Yarborough Road, Sheffield; she died on 4 February 1916 by which time she was living at 16 Main Road, Handsworth.
John and Sarah's third child was a son:

John Gregory 1863 - 1939

The (second) John Gregory was born on 16 May 1863 at 30 Wilson Street, Brightside Bierlow. His father's occupation at the time was fender maker.

On 8 March 1886 John married Laura Carr Whitaker in St Thomas' Church, Crookes. John was 22, a fender manufacturer living in Rock Street and Laura, 23, was living in Barber Road. The witnesses were the couple's fathers.

John and Laura Gregory had 7 children between 1886 and 1901. At the 1901 census the family was living at 24 Thoresby Road, Nether Hallam. Ten years later they were living in a 6-roomed house at 16 Main Road, Handsworth, Sheffield; John was by then a fireguard manufacturer and employer.

Laura died, aged 68, on 26 February 1931 and John, aged 75, on 28 February 1939. At the time they died they lived at 6 Handsworth Road, Sheffield.

John and Laura's seven children were:
• Laura Edith was born on 22 August 1886 while her parents were at 12 Cleveland Street, Nether Hallam. She married Frank Staniforth from Sheffield in December 1915. They adopted one of Laura's brother Charles' children, Hugh. Hugh adopted the surname Staniforth. Laura died on 22 March 1958: she was by then a widow and living with Hugh at 54 The Drive, Ilford.

Hugh Staniforth married Jean Cuthbert, 26, in June 1943 at the Ilford Register Office. Hugh was then 22 and a mechanic living at 71 Ashgrove Road, Goodmayes, Ilford. Hugh and Jean lived at Thundersley, Essex until moving to Tredington in Warwickshire. Hugh died on 27 January 1998 and Jean on 2 January 2001. Hugh and Jean had 3 children: Christine Maureen, born in March 1944, married Allan Robert Taplin on 21 June 1965 . They have a son, Graham Brian, born on 30 June 1965, who married Jo: they have 2 children, Abby, born 1995 and Ewan, born 2002. Jennifer, born in 1948, married Anthony John Hawksbee in September 1972. They have a son, Richard Anthony, born on 10 January 1977. Hugh Ian, born in March 1953, married Kathryn Mary Johnston on 29 November 1975. They have 2 sons, Trevor John, born in 1979 and Ian James, born on 15 April 1982.

George Harry was born on 21 May 1888. By this time the family was living at 44 Burgoyne Road, Walkley. George, by now an engineer living at 20 Woodmead Road, married Amy Whitham on 14 August 1913. Amy was born on 21 March 1884: her father was Nicholas Whitham, a steel weighman, and they lived at 60 Lydgate Lane, which subsequently became George and Amy's family home and, later, the home of George's brother Charles Bernard.George died at the age of 84 on 3 February 1972 at 1 Adel Grange Close. The death was registered by his daughter Jessie Laic. Amy died four years later, in 1976.George and Amy had 3 daughters, all born at 60 Lydgate Lane: Freda was born on 16 July 1914. She married on 8 August 1942 Joseph H. Pemberton, 29, (a widower), a schoolmaster living at 17 Parkhead Road, although he came from Latchford Without near Warrington. They married at Fulwood Parish Church: Freda and her family were by then living in Tom Lane, Fulwood. Freda and Joe had a son, James, born on 24 September 1948 (by which date his parents were at 467 Greystones Road, Sheffield), who married Deidre June Scott in 1978. They had 4 daughters Ruth, born in 1980, Catherine, born in 1982, Laura, born in 1983 and Charlotte, born in 1984. Jessie, born on 11 January 1916, married Lawrence H. Laic in December 1942. Lawrence's family came from Serbia: his father was apparently a Hapsburg court hairdresser. Jessie died on 30 August 2002. They had 2 daughters: Mary Louise, born on 1 October 1949, married twice, firstly on 19 February 1972 to William Mahoney, 20, an electrician and then, after divorcing William, on 17 December 1977 to Devlin Vincent Simmonds Clarke, 34, a plasterer. Mary has 4 children, Lisa, Phillip, Matthew and Christopher. Barbara, who is married to William Carr and has 3 children, Robert, David and Caroline. Sylvia, born on 20 July 1920, married Charles Waite (born on 13 May 1919, died 3 December 2009), a commercial artist of 28 Woodland Way, Winchmore Hill, London. They have a daughter: Julia, born on 10 August 1944, was born at the then family home in Tom Lane, Sheffield. Charles at the time was a gunner in the Royal Artillery. Julia married Nalim Kumar Sutaria (born on 10 October 1945), 26, an audit clerk on 8 April 1972. At that time Julia was living in Enfield. Julia and Nalim have 2 daughters: Anita, born on 21 July 1974, married James Christopher Wiggins (born 30 September 1974). They have two daughters, Sarah Elizabeth, born on 22 November 2000 and Olivia Charlotte, born 11 January 2004. Melanie, born on 6 May 1976, who is married to Edvard Antonin Dvorak (born 1 April 1979), a descendant of the composer Dvorak. They have two children, Gabriel Thomas born 1 May 2006 and Helena Sophia, born October 2008.

• Annie Sybil was the third of John Gregory's children. She is believed to have been born on 1 July 1890 and on 16 April 1914 married Thomas (Tom) Hall who was born on 28 May 1885. Tom died aged 95 in Northallerton in 1980 and Sybil in 1983. Sybil and Tom had a daughter:
  • Mary Lea, born about 1918, married Harold Atkinson Roebuck (born 28 July 1908), in Askern Parish Church on 2 October 1943. Harold was an ARP organiser when they married. He died about 1981 in Huddersfield. There was one daughter:
    • Margaret Ann, born on 14 August 1944. Margaret has married 3 times, first on 31 July 1970 to Michael Leslie Upsall, 27, then on 6 August 1982 to Steven Malcolm Binns and finally to Eric Baines.

Charles Bernard was the fourth of John Gregory's children. He was born at 14 Barber Crescent, Nether Hallam on 12 July 1892. The house where Charles was born has been demolished to make way for student accommodation but the houses opposite are of a similar type.At the age of 20 and working as an engineer's pattern maker, Charles married Florence Lake on 13 May 1913. Florence was then 24 and living at 60 Lydgate Lane. Their first child, Florence Patricia (Pat, my mother) was born two weeks later. A second child, John Bernard was born the following year but died less than two months later. John was born in Oulton Broad, Mutford, Suffolk. We don't know how the family came to be in Suffolk but some time after, the family had moved to 81 Grove Avenue, Hanwell, West London, where Florence and Charles' 3 further children were born, between 1916 and 1921. At some time around 1920, Charles met Zoe Ellen Lawrence and a daughter, Stella Gwendoline Lawrence, was born on 10 April 1921. On 29 December 1920, Charles sailed on The Celtic from Liverpool to New York, arriving on 8 January 1921 on his way to Eldorado, Sinaloa, Mexico to work for Redo y Cio. He was 5'10'', fair complexion, brown hair and brown eyes, with an appendix scar and a scar on his chin and in good health. He claimed to have been born in Sheffield, to be single and gave as his next of kin his mother Mrs Florence Gregory of 81 Grove Avenue, Hanwell (in reality his wife). On 30 June 1924 Charles returned to England via Rotterdam. During what was to be a brief spell at home he and the family visited his relatives in Sheffield and he was apparently doing well, having hired a car for the trip. Whilst in Sheffield Charles and family stayed with Edie and Frank Staniforth in Handsworth and a number of celebratory parties were held at different relations' houses. Charles returned to Mexico via New York on the Berengaria leaving Southampton on 19 September 1924. The ship's manifest shows that he was by then a manager, spoke Spanish and had acquired a scar on his nose. He claimed to be 34 and stated again that his next of kin was Florence Gregory, his 'mother'.

Julia Sutaria & Pauline Minter Charles & Sylvia Waite

In 1926, Charles left Mexico for California and in the late twenties leased a gold mine in Antelope Valley, Kern County. He survived the depression and during the thirties had a variety of jobs including chauffeur, lorry driver on the Boulder/Hoover dam and latterly with Fluor Corp Ltd. In the late thirties he lived in Los Angeles. On 18 February 1946 Charles married Pauline Jones a divorcee from Waco, Texas. On the marriage license application Charles stated that he too had divorced, in 1944 in Juarez. Charles and Pauline lived in Los Angeles for several years , first in a regular house then in trailers, which they used extensively for holidays. Pauline died at the age of 86 on 13 October 1979. Charles survived her by nearly five years, finally dying, aged 91, on 3 July 1984 at his home at Lake Mead Trailer Park Village.

Meanwhile in England, Florence Gregory, Charles' first wife, died in Ealing on 21 February 1967.

Charles and Florence Gregory had 5 children:

Florence Patricia (Pat) was born on 29 May 1913. She married Harry Minter on 16 July 1938 at St Arthur's Church, Ealing. Details of their family may be found under Harry Minter.

Pat Gregory

• John Bernard, born on 21 August 1914 at Outon Broad, Mutford, Suffolk. He died on 14 October 1914.

Kenneth George, born on 28 July 1916. Ken married Margaret Alice Simpson (Peggy) on 15 June 1946. Ken died on 10 August 1998 and Peggy on 28 March 2004. Ken and Peggy had 2 sons: Christopher John, born in 1948, married Janet and subsequently Julie. Chris and Janet had a son, Max, born on 23 February 1979. Chris now lives in Spain with partner Stevie. David A., born in 1953, married to Jacky. They have 3 sons: Alan, Peter and Paul Anthony.

Many Gregorys at Ken and Peggy's wedding

Maurice John (Greg) was born in Hanwell on 7 May 1919. He married Betty and they had 2 children, Betty and John After WW2, Maurice returned to England with Gudie Klingler and they lived with Florence Gregory at 13 Hasting Road, Ealing, West London. After Gudie's death, Maurice married again, to Sonia Collins, nee Banham on 30 March 1972. Maurice and Sonia moved to Congresbury, Bristol, where Maurice died on 18 May 1985.

• Hugh, born on 1 June 1921, was adopted by his uncle and aunt, the Staniforths. For further details about Hugh, see above.
• Jessie Elizabeth was John and Laura Gregory's fifth child. She was born on 6 December 1897 and died aged 51 on 11 October 1949, then living with her sister Eveline at 6 Handsworth Road.
• Eveline or Evelyn was the sixth of John and Laura's children. She was born on 28 July 1899 and died, aged 83 on 2 November 1982, at which time she was living in Hampsthwaite, N Yorkshire.
• Florence was John and Laura's last child, born on 27 September 1901. She married Cuthbert Cooper, a 38 year-old manager, at Handsworth Parish Church on 2 September 1933. They had a daughter Margaret, who married John Mather.

Lakes and Spencers

The Lake family is linked to the Minters by marriage, Florence Lake being the wife of Charles Bernard Gregory, father of Pat Gregory who married Harry Minter.

The link with the Spencers comes about through the marriage of the daughter of one of Florence Lake's brothers to a member of the Spencer family.

A small diagram might help:



The Lake family

The Lake family has been traced back to the birth about 1791 in Nottinghamshire of James Lake, who married Elizabeth from Winchester, Hampshire (date unknown). They had five children and their first child Thomas, who was baptised in Nottingham on 25 July 1813, is the ancestor of the branch from which Florence Lake came. The other children were Ann (baptised at Lenton, Nottingham on 11 July 1824), Addison (born about 1826), Eliza (baptised at Lenton on 25 June 1826) and Henry (baptised at Lenton on 24 August 1828).

Thomas Lake (1813 - 1868)

Thomas was baptised in Nottingham on 25 July 1813 and married Millicent Smith from Thorpe, Leicestershire on 24 March 1834 at Lenton, Nottinghamshire. They had seven children, Alfred, Mary Ann, Harriet, Thomas, James, Elizabeth and Fanny, between 1835 and 1850. It's Thomas who provides the link to the Minter family.

Thomas Lake (1842 - 1900)

Thomas was born in the fourth quarter of 1842 at Hyson Green, Lenton, Nottingham. Although in the 1861 census, when he still lived with his parents in Nottingham, Thomas was apparently a butcher's assistant, by 1871 he had married Mary Plumb (on 4 March 1866 in Rotherham, Yorkshire), started a family, moved to Sheffield and was now a rifle barrel borer. He remained in the steel industry through the 1881 and 1891 censuses and died in Sheffield on 19 June 1900. His widow remained in Sheffield and died there on 16 April 1925. Cliff Hircock, who is linked by marriage to the Lake family provided the following inscription from a gravestone in Burngreave Cemetery Sheffield:

In loving memory Thomas Lake beloved husband of Mary Lake who departed this life June 19 1900 aged 57. Gone but not forgotten. Also Thomas Alfred Lake beloved husband of Florence Lake and son of the above who died Nov 21 1915 aged 49. Light after darkness. Also Mary Lake beloved wife of Thomas Lake who died April 16 1925 aged 80 yrs. At rest. Also Phillip beloved son of Colin and Phyllis Dunn who died Jan 30 1933 aged 15 months.

(Phyllis Dunn was formerly Palfreyman and was a daughter of Arthur P. and Louisa [Lake])

Thomas and Mary had twelve children in Sheffield:
• Thomas Alfred, born second quarter of 1866, married Florence Smith (born in 1869 in Sheffield) and had a daughter, Gladys Smith Lake, born in 1894.
• Arthur, born in first quarter of 1869, buried in Attercliffe Municipal Cemetery, Sheffield on 12 December 1881.
• Henry Herbert (Harry), born in first quarter of 1871, married Emma Bagley (born in 1875 in Attercliffe cum Darnall, Sheffield). They had a son, Lawrence, born in 1900 and a daughter, Ivy, in 1904.
• John, born in fourth quarter of 1872, married Emma Inman (born in 1875 in Sheffield). They had a daughter, Evelyn, born in 1900, and a son Wilfrid in 1903 .
• Emily, born in third quarter of 1874.
• Fanny, born in fourth quarter of 1875, buried in Attercliffe Municipal Cemetery, Sheffield on 6 February 1878.
• Herbert, born in second quarter of 1877.
• Walter, born in first quarter of 1879, buried in Attercliffe Municipal Cemetery, Sheffield on 21 December 1881.
• Ernest, born 12 May 1881. He married Florence Rose Palmer* (born on 2 June 1875 in Abergavenny) on 10 October 1910. Ernest died in the last quarter of 1954. Their two children were:
  • Margaret, born on 24 November 1911, died on 23 February 1913.
  • Winifred Jean, born on 24 March 1914. She married Arthur Spencer - see below.
• Walter Wilfred, born in first quarter of 1884, married Clara Ellen Ridge (born 1882, Sheffield) in 1909 in Sheffield.
• Louise, born in fourth quarter of 1885.
• Florence, born on 2 March 1889 - see under Gregory.



* Rose (also known as Florence Kate) Palmer was one of the 5 children of Arthur Edward Palmer, believed to have been born in Prestbury, near Cheltenham in 1845. Arthur Palmer was married in 1868 to Eliza Lodder, a descendant of the Lodder family from Stour Provost in Dorset. Three of Arthur and Eliza's other children died in infancy. By 1881 Arthur and Eliza were living with Rose and her sister Hannah at 44 George Street, Blackburn Road, Brighside Bierlow, Sheffield: Arthur worked as a railway signalman. 20 years later, Arthur had died and Eliza was living with Rose at 225 Owler lane, Brightside Bierlow and Rose described herself as a Board School teacher.

The Spencer family

The Spencer family has been traced back as far as Benjamin Spencer (dates not known) who married Hannah Myers on 15 April 1805 in Bradford, Yorkshire. It's thought they had at least eight children of whom Benjamin is the one of greatest interest to this narrative. The others were Mary (1806), Joseph (1809), William (1812), Hannah (1814), John (1821) and Eliza (1823).

Benjamin Spencer (1818 - 1887)

Benjamin was baptised in Addingham, Yorkshire on 11 October 1818. Throughout his working life he was a quarry worker, sometimes described as a delver. His wife was Martha Ackroyd, born about 1820 in Thornton, Yorkshire: they married towards the end of 1840 in the Bradford area. The family lived in Thornton throughout, Martha dying there in 1878 and Benjamin in 1887. They had four children, Ezra (1844), Heber (1846), Joseph Myers (1853) and Zilla (1858).

Joseph Myers Spencer (1853 - 1934)

Joseph was born in Thornton in 1853 and lived with his parents up to (at least) 1871, at which time, like his father, he was a quarry worker. In 1873 Joseph married Charlotte Jowett who was born in 1854 in Queensbury, Yorkshire. At the time of the 1881 census the family lived in Hippersholme cum Brighouse, Yorkshire but in later censuses through to 1911 the family lived in Thornton, Yorkshire. Joseph's first wife died in 1886 and he married again in 1889 to Elizabeth Lord, born in Bradford in 1851. With his first wife Joseph had five children:

• Herbert (born in 1875 in Queensbury, Yorkshire, appeared in the 1881 census but not found thereafter).
• Selena (born in 1877 in Queensbury, Yorkshire, died on 17 January 1962).
• Martha (born in 1879 in Brighouse, Yorkshire, died on 16 December 1932).
• Arthur (born on 13 November 1880 in Brighouse, Yorkshire, died in 1972). He married Addie (surname unknown) and had a son called Russell who married, had two daughters Sharon and Kathi (who married Don Feher) and died on 9 March 1999.
• Ezra (1884) - see below.

Like his father, Joseph spent his working life as a quarry man: he died in 1934. In their younger years Joseph's daughters and son Arthur were employed in a worsted mill.Ezra Spencer (1884 - 1957)

Ezra lived with his parents until at least 1901, at which point he had started work as a grocer's assistant. As manager of a grocery, aged 27 born Rastrick, he was probably boarding in Dewsbury, Yorkshire with Lewis Brearey and his wife (we can't be sure about this because the census form shows 'Eyra Spencer'). In 1912 Ezra married Helena Holdsworth, born 1882 in Bradford, daughter of John Mack and Sarah Elizabeth Holdsworth. Ezra and Helena had a son Arthur in 1913. Helena died in 1926 and Ezra married again, to Ethel W Wilson: they had a son Geoffrey Edmund on 9 January 1928, who married Mary Dickinson (date unknown) and later, Jill Hague with whom he had a daughter Sarah Jane.

Ezra died on 18 December 1957 in the Brighton area.

Arthur Spencer (1913 - )

In 1937 Arthur married Winifred Jean Lake - see above. They had three children, Patricia (1942), Alan (1945) and Kathryn (1950) all of whom are married and have families.

Turkingtons, McDonalds, Hills, Downeys and Boyles

These families are linked by marriage to the Minters in the following ways:

Margaret Turkington was Thomas Minter's first wife: Jessie McDonald was his second wife.

Olive Joyce Hill married Charles Minter.

Pauline Downey married John Minter.

Mary Ann Burgess Boyle married Alfred Ernest (Bob) Downey, Pauline's father.

The Turkington family

The Turkington family originated in Ireland.The oldest family member about anything is known is Ezekiel Turkington who was born about 1835 in Ireland, son of James Turkington and Elizabeth Bradshaw. Jeff Turkington (who may or may not be related to this family) has tried unsuccessfully to trace records in Ireland which would tell us more about the family's Irish origins.

Ezekiel came to Scotland at some point and married Helen Wilson, daughter of David and Eliza Wilson, in St Andrews, Edinburgh on 9 September 1859. At some stage in the life of Ezekiel's family, certainly after all the first five children had been born, they moved to London, which is where his daughter Margaret met her future husband Thomas Minter and also where Ezekiel died in 1891. Ezekiel was a boot and show maker: after he died his widow continued in the trade as a boot repairer. Ezekiel and Helen had 9 children:

• Helen, born on 12 September 1859, Edinburgh.
• James, born on 17 December 1860, Edinburgh.
• Ezekiel, born in 1862, Edinburgh, married Lydia Mary Vaughan in the third quarter of 1890 and had 5 children, all born in Somerstown, London:
  • Helen A., born in 1888.
  • Margaret E., born in1890.
  • George E., born in 1892.
  • Lydia Ethel, born in 1892.
  • Albert, born in 1895.
• David, born on 28 July 1864, Edinburgh.

• Elizabeth, born on 26 April 1866, Edinburgh, married in Henry Herbert Leinenwebber in 1888.
• Margaret, born on 16 December 1867, Marylebone, London. First wife of Thomas Minter.
• George Keir, born second quarter 1870, Marylebone, London.
• William, born second quarter 1872, Marylebone, London.
• Harry, born third quarter 1874, Marylebone, London.

The McDonald family

The earliest member of the McDonald family we have found is Alexander McDonald who was born about 1797 in Edinburgh. He had moved to London by 1841 at which time he was still single, an upholsterer living in St Marylebone. In 1843 he married Sarah Armstrong, born about 1811 in St James, Westminster and their two sons were born in Westminster. The younger son James (1847 - 1884) married Agnes Pattison Laidlaw (born in Hull, Yorkshire about 1841, died 1902) in 1872 and had seven children, six of them girls.

Ronald Alexander McDonald (1845 - 1877)

Ronald was born in the second quarter of 1845 in the parish of St. James, Westminster. He married Alice Caroline Simmons (also born in 1845) on 13 June 1868 in Camberwell Parish Church . The marriage was witnessed by Arabella Simmons and James McDonald, Ronald's brother. Before Ronald McDonald died in 1877, he and Alice had had 5 children: another was born five years later:

• Ronald (Ronnie), born in 1869. In 1901, Ronnie was 37, unmarried and living with his mother at Lincoln House, Bellinge Road, Herne Bay and working as a commercial traveler. He was also living with his mother in 1911, now in Herne Hill, London.

Herbert (Bert), born on 8 May 1870, baptized on 2 September 1871 at 17 Knowle Road, Brixton. He married Charlotte Jane Appleby in 1895 and in 1901 at the ages of 30 and 32 respectively they were living with their 4 year old daughter Gwendolen at The Rectory, Newhaven, East Sussex, where Herbert was a C.of E. clergyman. Herbert's career as a clergyman took him to many places including Switzerland, Germany and St. Vincent, before he returned to England to live in Torquay.

Harry (left) and Bert (right) McDonald

• Mary Alice (Toddie), born on 5 August 1871, with the birth registered at Lambeth district. In 1901 Toddie was living with her aunt Edith Stormer, nee Simmons at 16 Brailsford Road, Lambeth, and working as a drapers assistant. Edith (53) was by then a widow, having married William Stormer in the first quarter of 1878 in Lambeth. Also in the house were Edith's daughters Nora D, 20, a publisher's clerk, and Beatrice M, 16, also a publisher's clerk. Edith herself was doing needlework at home on her own account.
• Louisa (Louie), born in 1872. In 1901 at age 28 she was unmarried and lived with her mother in Herne Bay, apparently without employment. Louie married Jim Cowdy in India and had two sons, Alan and Pat.
• Jessie Maud, born in the last quarter of 1874 in Lambeth. In 1911 and 1901 she was living with her mother in Herne Hill and Herne Bay respectively. Jessie married Thomas Minter, a widower, on 14 June 1916 at Holy Trinity Parish Church, Tulse Hill.
• Henry Richard Hayward (Harry) born on 27 November 1882, five years after Ronald Alexander McDonald died. In 1901 he was aged 18 and lived with his mother in Herne Bay, working as a commercial shorthand clerk. Harry married Maude Kendall Hill and had the three children listed below. Maude died in 1948 and Harry in 1961.
  • Christine, born in 1923, married to David R Gibson.
  • Henry Kendall, born in 1927, died in 2014, married to Penelope Mary Hardy, who was born in 1930 and died in 2010.
  • Mavis, born in 1931.

The fortunes of the family appear to have varied considerably. In 1911 Alice and her family had moved to a six-roomed house in Herne Hill, London, and Alice was described simply as 'lady'. In 1901 they must also have been doing well: Alice was living on her own means in Herne Bay, Kent with four of her grown-up sons and daughters and they had a 15 year old domestic servant named Ada Harrison. Things were not apparently so good 20 years before. Ronald Alexander had died in the second quarter of 1877 at only 32; by 1881, his widow was living at 116 Poplar Walk Road, Lambeth with Jessie and four lodgers. Bert and Toddie had gone to the London Orphan Asylum in Watford * and Louie was living with her uncle James, a confectioner, his wife Rose and a 14 year old 'visitor' in a van in a field in The Leys, Tamworth.

* The London Orphan Asylum was originally founded in Clapton in 1813 for "the protection of fatherless children who are respectably descended but without means adequate to their support". The institution moved to Watford about 1870, then to a pleasant country location outside Cobham, in Surrey, where it became Reed's School and is still in operation as an independent public school (but funds up to 100 'foundationers' each year). The building in Watford has been converted into a block of luxury flats known as 'Reeds'.

The Hill family

The earliest member of the Hills family so far found was Thomas Hill, born about 1814 in Mitcheldean, Gloucestershire. He must have moved to Wales because in 1842 he married Mary Havard, who was born about 1824 in Abergavenny. In censuses from 1851 to 1881 Thomas was described as a nailer, in one as a horse nail maker. Between 1845 and 1870 Thomas and Mary had seven children, the sons all being involved in one way or another with the iron industry. Some time bewteen 1871 and 1881 the family moved from Wales to Stockton on Tees, Durham, although before that had moved several times in and out of Wales and parts of England.

Sidney Hill (1857 - 1927)

Sidney was born in 1857 in Cradley, Staffordshire. In 1871 at the age of 14 he was already working in an iron works and in 1881, by which time he had moved to Stockton on Tees with his family, he was a blacksmith. At some point (no record has been found) he married Abigail Roberts. Abigail was born in 1868 in Dowlais, Glamorgan, Wales, the last of the seven children of Rees Roberts and Ann Thomas, who married in 1843. Up until 1881 Abigail was living with her parents in Dowlais - it's not clear how she and Sidney met unless it was through the Hill family's Welsh connections.

After their marriage Sidney and Abigail continued to live in Stockton on Tees where Sidney was employed as a steel smelter. All of their five children were born in Stockton:

Rees Roberts, born 1891, married Ada Stearman in 1911 and had two sons, Rowland R (1912) and Arnold (1917). Rees died in 1973 and Ada in 1976, both on Teesside, England. Sidney Thomas, born 1894, married Isabella Bolland in 1914 and had two sons, David (date not known) and Sidney (1914 - 1927). Isabella died in Stockton on Tees in 1923; it isn't known when Sidney Thomas died. Blodwen May, born 1899, married Albert Urie in 1919 in Bethnal Green, London. The couple emigrated to Canada some time before the birth there of son Rowland (1922 - 1942). A second son, Robert (1935 - 2005) was also born in Canada. Blodwen and Albert lived in Windsor, Ontario until they died, Blodwen in 1947 and Albert in 1984. In 2021 Joyce Cox (Gwendolyn Minter Corr's daughter) provided copies of two emails from her second cousin Lisa. Lisa has agreed to the emails being shown here. "My name is Lisa and I'm the daughter of Olive Urie. My Grandmother Blodwen Hill Urie named my mom after her younger sister Olive Hill Minter. I have communicated in the past with Jaime Clark on the Ancestry messaging as she also matches our dna. So I thought I would reach out to you since you match my dna along with mom's and my brother Larry, when I look at our shared matches. I have been working on mom's tree for a long time but have not gotten too far, it is not easy to find the family with some pretty common last names such as Hill and Roberts. Thanks Lisa   Hi Joyce,   It is nice to meet you.  If you are the child of one of my mom’s cousins, that would make us 2nd cousins. My mother spoke of all three of the girls of Charles and Olive. Edna, Janet and Gwen. Yes, Edna lived with my grandparents in Windsor, Ontario in Canada for quite a while. The story I heard is there was a problem with her US citizen status. My mom did not really know what the problem was but while it was being sorted out Edna had to stay with my grandparents Albert and Blodwen in Canada. Edna shared a bedroom with my mom and my aunt Joyce (another family name). I know Edna was very beautiful and vivacious and enjoyed many double dates with my mom and aunt. Your grandmother I heard also had a great personality. My parents Thomas and Olive spent their honeymoon in 1947 at your grandparent’s apartment in New York City and also out in the country at the cottage in Budd Lake NJ. My dad said your grandfather was a very funny man, telling lots of jokes and very good humored. My parents also said your grandfather was a manager of an automat cafe, which my parents loved to eat at. They didn’t have that in Windsor! Our gr-grandparents Sidney and Abigail I believe had 10 children in total. In 1911 their census record in Stockton-on-Tees showed they had six living children at that time. I have eight of the children’s details in total and two still unaccounted for.  I have copies of the death certificates for Sidney and Abigail if you would like copies let me know. Is your cousin John the one who works with the Minter exchange website?  I have seen info on there for many years. At one time they had a photo of Olive (your grandmother) on there not sure it is still on there or not.  I showed it to Mom and she thought they should have found a better photo of your grandmother her aunt (oh dear).   I’m hoping to find more details regarding our gr-grandparents The Hills and Roberts family's. That is still quite a mystery for me. I have some records from them and I’m pretty sure they are the right families but when I see all the Hill families from Utah who have Mormon pioneer families that match us with a lot of dna and they show completely different ancestors, I wonder. Anyway I’m happy to share information with you. Here is my email address if you would like copies of the records I mentioned. Thanks Lisa." Stanley, born 1901, emigrated to Canada in 1924 along with his sister Olive. He lived intially with Blodwen but what became of him hasn't been established. Olive Joyce, born at 3.00 am on 5 February 1907 at 6 Lawson Street, Stockton on Tees, emigrated to Canada in 1924 on the same ship as her brother Stanley. She stayed initially with sister Blodwen and later moved to New York where she married Charles Minter. It isn't clear how Charles Minter and Olive Hill met but they married in New York in 1928 and Charles may have gone to work in Canada some time afterwards. Certainly there were difficulties with regard to immigration and Edna Minter found herself prevented for a time from joining her family in America. In 1945 at the age of 16, Edna was living with her aunt Blodwen in Canada while her parents were in New York trying to sort out the immigration papers. It must have been a very difficult time for the family but eventually they were reunited and lived for many years at Budd Lake, New Jersey. Miriam, twin sister of Olive, born at 3.20 am. Miriam married Ernest F Turner (Ernie) in 1940 and in the 1950s was living in Cricklewood, London. Ernie died in 1952 and Miriam in 1985.

Olive Hill

The Downey family

Research into the Downey family leads back to William Downey who was born about 1827 in Long Melford, Suffolk and in 1847 married Matilda Everett, born about 1828 also in Long Melford. Censuses from 1851 to 1891 (by which time Matilda was a widow, her husband having died in 1887) show that the family spent their lives in Melford, in the course of which eleven children were born. By and large the family were employed in agricultural and associated industries.

Charles Frederick Downey (1865 - 1933)

Charles was the ninth of William and Matilda's children. In 1891 he married Clara Western (born in 1868 in Doncaster, Yorkshire, died in Haverhill, Suffolk on 16 April 1912). Charles Frederick died on 11 February 1933. Both are buried in Haverhill, Suffolk. Charles and Clara had 9 children:

• George, born probably in 1889 in Mexborough, Yorkshire.
• Frederick, born probably in 1893 in Crowle, Lincolnshire.
• Florence Agnes, born in June 1895 in Selby, Yorkshire, married George Mayes and had 3 children, Josie, Roy and Frederick.
• Clara Mildred (Millie), born in June 1898 in Haverhill, Suffolk.
• Alfred Ernest (Bob), born on 20 September 1900 in Haverhill, Suffolk, married Mary Anne Burgess Boyle (born on 27 November 1910). Bob and Mary lived for many years in Dunbar, East Lothian. As an ex-Royal Artillery man Bob was a strong supporter of the British Legion. Bob died on 24 May 1975 and Mary on 6 March 1988. They had 5 children:
  • Elma, born on 29 May 1932, married Hugh Cassidy (born on 17 November 1932, died 2001) and has 2 children, Hugh, born on 1 November 1957 and Stella, born on 8 October 1964.
  • Clara Mildred Ann, born on 23 April 1933, married Thomas Stewart (Sunshine) (born on 29 September 1930) on 16 February 1955 and has 3 children:
    • Murray, born on 20 December 1957, married Alison Steel on 8 September 1979. They have two children, Graham, born on 5 October 1984 and Emma, born on 3 January 1987.
    • Lynn, born on 16 April 1962, married Gordon Logan (born on 20 January 1956) on 19 January 1985. They have 3 sons, Mark, born on 9 December 1987, Ryan, born on 1 June 1990 and Josh, born on 20 July 1993.
    • Colin, born on 1 April 1970.
  • Alfred, born on 19 November 1934, married Susan Wheway (born in January 1943, died in April 1992) on 16 October 1965. Alfred died in Pershore, Worcestershire on 18 June 2004. Their children are:
    • Robert John (Bob), born on 20 December 1966, married Toni Galvin on 12 May 1990 and then Sadie Dyer on 21 February 1998. Bob has 3 children, Jack, born on 8 August 1996, Hollie, born on 19 March 1999 and Kieran, born on 15 October 2001.
    • Fiona Mary, born on 1 February 1969, married Ian Gubbins on 17 June 1995, then Simon George on 7 October 2000. Fiona has 2 children from her first marriage and two from the second, Joshua, born on 16 January 1994 and Hannah, born on 8 April 1997; and Raymond and Annie, twins born on 9 October 2001.
    • Lois Susan, born on 3 November 1974.
  • Pauline, the fourth of Bob and Mary Downey's children, was born on 22 August 1938 at Shorncliffe army base near Folkestone, England (Bob was then serving in the Royal Artillery). She married John Minter.
  • Mary, born on 19 April 1943, was the last of this generation of the Downey children, She married and divorced twice, firstly Geoffrey Dewing, whom Mary married on 18 March 1967 and then Keith Cooper, the marriage taking place on 15 March 1975.
• Annie Elizabeth, born on 28 July 1903 in Haverhill, married John Partridge. Ann died on 24 January 2000.
• Harry James was Charles and Clara Downey's 6th child. Born on 22 February 1905 in Haverhill, Suffolk, James married Elsie Marsh (born in 1908) in 1933 . He died on 21 January 2001. James and Elsie had a daughter, Betty, born on 6 February 1940.
• Arthur was born in 1905. He married Elizabeth (Betty) Harris (born 1910) in 1933 and died in 1992. He had two daughters:
  • June R, born on 14 July 1935, married Kenneth R Sexton (born on 20 April 1933) in 1956. They have two children, Pauline, born on 12 January 1957 and Andrew, born on 8 June 1970.
  • Patricia, born on 26 February 1949, married David L Stiff (born on 6 October 1945) in 1970. They also have two children, Lindsey, born on 26 August 1972 and David, born on 4 August 1977.
• Ellen Downey, born in 1912 and died the same year, was the last of Charles and Clara's children.

The Boyle family

The Boyle family originated in Ireland. The earliest traced is Matthew Boyle, born in 1816.

The earliest relevant reference to Boyle in the Scottish records is the marriage of Matthew Boyle and Ellen Smith in Haddington on 24 May 1858. They were married according to Roman Catholic forms and Matthew, a bachelor, was 42, seventeen years older than his bride who was 25. Matthew may have come to Haddington from Ireland: his mother's maiden name was Ellen McNulty. He may have brought Ellen with him: her mother's maiden name was McLaughlin and, in 1881, she told the census taker that she had been born in Ireland. By then Ellen was a widow: Matthew died on 14 May 1872 of chronic bronchitis. At least I think he did - the Matthew who died in 1872 was said to have been 66 (implying a birth year of 1806) and his father's name was recorded as James whereas the Matthew who married in 1858 was said to have been 42 (implying a birth year of 1816) and his father's name was recorded as Bartholomew. I can't explain these discrepancies but we can be pretty sure that Matthew and Ellen Boyle née Smith were the Boyle ancestors. Somewhat confusingly the names Ellen and Helen have been used interchangeably in records of births, marriages and deaths.

Matthew and Ellen had five children:

• Catherine, born about 1853 in Edinburgh. Catherine appears in the 1861 census with Matthew Boyle as Catherine Boyle but in 1871 as Catherine SMITH. She was presumably Helen Smith's daughter and born before Helen married Matthew.
• Thomas - see below.
• Patrick was born on 10 April 1862 at Nungate, Haddington and died in Haddington the following year.
• John was born on 26 March 1865 at Nungate, Haddington. He married Catherine Lyons on 3 March 1890 in East Linton, East Lothian. Catherine was born about 1862 in Saltoun, East Lothian. They had five children between 1884 and 1896, Thomas, Matthew, Michael, Mary I and Helen.
• Helen was born about 1868 in Haddington, East Lothian and married Robert Sands in Dunbar in 1888.

At the time of Thomas's and John's births their father's job was described as labourer but when Patrick was born Matthew was evidently employed as a hawker. By 1881, Ellen (or Helen), Thomas and John were living at Newbarns Cottage, Stenton, East Lothian.

Ellen (or Helen) Boyle outlived Matthew by many years: she finally died of acute pneumonia on 1 January 1903 at Writers Court, Dunbar. The death was registered by her son Thomas.

Thomas Boyle (1859 - 1937)

Thomas was born on 28 August 1859 at Mill Wynd, Haddington. He married Mary Ann Burgess in a Church of Scotland marriage in Dunbar on 19 December 1887. At this time Thomas was a slater. Mary Ann was born on 12 November 1861: at the time of her marriage she was described as an outworker. Her parents were Alexander Burgess, a fisherman, and Helen Burgess, née Glendinning (they married in Dunbar in 1850). The witnesses at the wedding were Helen Burgess and Margaret Burgess.

Both Thomas and Mary Ann died in 1937, Thomas on 7 March, Mary Ann on 3 August.

Before marrying Thomas, Mary Ann gave birth to a son. He was born on 12 March 1885 and registered as William Burgess. We don't know who the father was but evidently Thomas Boyle adopted William as his own.

Thomas and Mary Ann, had several children after their marriage:

• Helen (or Ellen) Boyle (known as Nellie) was born on 27 February 1888 at Brodies Lane, Dunbar. Her father was by now described as a slater and glazier. Helen's first child, Mary Ann Burgess Boyle, was born on 27 November 1910, some time before she married John Phillips, an apprentice boat builder, on 31 December 1912 at Church of Scotland wedding at the Assembly Rooms, Dunbar. He was 21, she, 24. John Phillips' address was given as Dumbarton Road, Whiteinch, Glasgow. His father was George Phillips, an iron worker, and his mother was Helen Phillips, née McDonagh. The witnesses at the marriage were George Phillips and Maggie Smith. John Phillips was unable to find work in Dunbar and left his family to return to Glasgow; he was never seen again.

Mary Ann Burgess Boyle married Alfred Ernest (Bob) Downey.

John and Nellie Phillips had two children in addition to Mary Ann Burgess Boyle (whom they brought up):

• Helen (also known as Nellie), married George MacKinlay, had 3 children, the first of whom was born before they got married:
  • George, married Linda Hamilton from Perth and had a daughter, Nicola Jane, was tragically murdered in South Africa during a robbery.
  • Carol Ann, married Billy Chambers and has a son, Steven Edward, and a daughter, Julie Ann. Both Steven and Julie have children of their own.
  • Elaine Elizabeth, married Mark Keane and is now divorced. They had two children, Robert and Lisa.
• George (known as Doddie) married a Frenchwoman, Suzanne and had 3 children, Marie, George and another daughter.
• Thomas (Tommy) Boyle was born on 16 July 1889 at High Street, Dunbar. Thomas was killed in WW1. Fiona George (previously Downey) has seen his memorial inscription on the Menin Gate at Ypres.
• James Thomson (Jimmy) Boyle was born on 28 September 1890 at Hislip's Close, Dunbar. He was killed in WW1 and is also remembered on the Menin Gate, having been killed in action on 24 March 1918 while serving in the Royal Scots Lothian Regiment.
• Matthew Boyle was born on 8 October 1891 at High Street, Dunbar. He died of hydrocephalus and exhaustion just a year later, on 3 October 1892.
• Mary-Ann Boyle was born on 12 December 1892 at High Street, Dunbar. She died of bronchitis at the age of 2 months on 9 February 1893.
• Matthew Boyle (a second Matthew) was born on 7 May 1894 at High Street, Dunbar. He married Lizzie.
• Robert Burgess Boyle was born on 31 October 1896 at High Street, Dunbar. For some reason the birth was registered by his uncle, William Burgess. By now, Thomas Boyle was a master slater. Robert died of acute gastric enteritis, aged 11 months, on 25 August 1897.
• John Boyle was born on 22 December 1898 at 8, Church Street, Dunbar.
• Michael McGourty Boyle was born on 27 July 1901 at 4, Writers Court, Dunbar. His father was at the time described as a chimney sweep.
• Robert Burgess Boyle was born about 1904 in Dunbar. He married Martha Miller Groogan in Glasgow in 1926.