Where to Stop!

When you've worked on certain projects for a extended time, you just have to draw the line somewhere, and retire gracefully from the field, before the whole process slides into degenerative forms of obsessional neurosis. In our age of informational overflow, there is always more data to be accumulated, always an error to be corrected, always an alternative interpretation to be considered, and always yet another family branch to be explored. But there are also more human considerations, since once you move beyond the data and into the lives of long since departed relatives, you find that you are entering into a most peculiar dialogue with the dead, who cannot answer back, or correct or contradict the essence of the tale you are telling.

In structuring my own family history research, I decided to divide it into four parts, with each part to be devoted to my four grandparents, and for each part to conclude with their passing on to a better place. Through various sources, and particularly with the promiscuous power of the Internet, it is definitely possible to track down and investigate all kinds of detail and information about our relatives, both close and distant. This creates a moral and ethical dilemma, which I have tried to mitigate by not proceeding with family trees and information regarding later and current branches of the family.

For sure, it is frustrating that our 'one-hundred-year rule' in the UK means that we cannot access 1921 census information until 2021. This seemed to me for a long time to be rather ridiculous. But one bit of information, as dry, and as factual, and as dull as it may be, opens up avenues of exploration that can reveal much, much more. Anyway, without going into this further, the basic principle of this work has been to avoid intruding into the sensitivities of the living.

In any case, I am very happy to remove or alter content that correspondents feel - or can demonstrate -  is inaccurate,  offensive, intrusive, or in breach of copyright law.

Complete Version of the Hetty Jane Owen Family History

In putting all this work together, I initially worked in manuscript form to produce a first draft of the project as a whole. The Family History Blog was then opened, and provided a platform to organise sources, and then through the 'diary entries' revise the manuscript, and double-check information as I proceeded. Operating then in reverse, the next version of the manuscript was updated from the Blog, working on the same principles of checking, verifying, and proof-reading and polishing. In both the cases of the Blog and the manuscript, I have tried to maintain a narrative structure. That type of linearity is certainly easy to lose track of within the maze of a blogging platform. On the other hand, for those interested only in certain parts of the story, the labelling of surnames provides a useful tool just to dip into particular connections.

If anyone is interested enough to access the manuscript as a whole, I am happy to provide it in an 'e-reader' format, meaning in a compressed pdf file, which I can send to interested parties through a simple file transfer system. This file can be downloaded to a computer or pad, and printed out as a book in black and white or colour format and bound into an A4 book. The quality is perfectly good enough for day-to-day reading or browsing, and I am happy to share this book with others, subject only to a few minor caveats, or rather understandings:

1. I have tried as much as possible and as a matter of principle to reference and source material within the text as I have proceeded.
2. I have not, however, gone into copyright law in a big way, at least not to the extent that a commercial publication would demand.
3. I have relied on the goodwill of family history researchers who have shared their insights publicly already and thus indicated implicitly that they do not object to the same material being shared on more widely.
4. I do suggest that readers on a key genealogical mission check with available sources and confirm and corroborate facts before adopting for their own purposes what they find in this work.

Just drop me a line at johneldr@gmail.com and I will send you the complete file by return.

Some Notes about the Hetty-Jane Owen Project

The Hetty Jane Owen timeline in the last entry is basically the final act of this particular play. I leave it there with the hope that there are readers who have found the story interesting and the research useful. As far as the raw data is concerned, much of it has been double-checked and corroborated and linked to original sources. In other cases, particularly when I have sidetracked into less directly connected branches of the families, I have relied more on others' endeavours as detailed on sites such as ancestry.com.

Whilst proceeding with this kind of very broad genealogical project, it is impossible not to become aware that very little of the data that emerges can be assumed to be 100% accurate, and that the very Internet that has facilitated such research is also a fabulously high-speed generator and replicator of errors. Where readers have a particular interest in certain names or family branches, I would certainly advise them to conduct their own research and checks, and not rely simply on faith on what they find here. Having said that, it is worth keeping in mind that even the primary sources have to be treated with care, particularly when they have been subject to transcription.

The early parish records, of weddings, funerals, births, baptisms, as well as the first official censuses that comprise so much of the raw material in such studies also have to be subject to a quizzical critical eye. Illiteracy was widespread, and the recording systems themselves hardly systemised, so whilst official events such as baptisms, weddings and funerals might be diligently recorded, actual dates of birth, ages at death and much more tended to rely on the word of the respondents themselves, who for reasons of all kinds would either have lost track of the facts, or preferred to alter those facts to suit their own purposes.

In trying to understand and interpret the records available, I have of course given full reign to all kinds of probably ill-informed speculation, and idiosyncratic opinions and prejudices as I proceeded. Others will no doubt have different views, which is all well and good.

It has been a great pleasure of course to hear from distant relatives during the course of this project, and to receive so much fascinating and valuable additional detail, and indeed to simply make the acquaintance of distant cousins in this way. I thank them all for their own research, and for making it so freely available.

The Hetty Jane Owen Timeline

1066: The Norman Conquest.

The Norman French were effectively the descendants of the Vikings - or ‘Norsemen’ who had settled in Northern France. In 1066, they invaded England and overthrew the Anglo-Saxons. Over the succeeding years, a number of Norman barons and bounty-hunters made their way to Ireland in search of further riches and rewards. The Hadzor family seem to have been amongst their number.  

1284: Wales incorporated into England after the Welsh are defeated in their second war of independence.

1301: Edward I declares his son to be Prince of Wales.

1306: First record of the Hadzor family in Ireland.

1366: Statutes of Kilkenny represent an early attempt to Anglicise the Irish.

As the centuries went by, the ruling powers - themselves undergoing the cultural and linguistic  transition that would result in a definitively English identity - engaged in numerous incursions to bring the more remote parts of the British Isles under their control and remould their Celtic character. It did not go unnoticed that families like the Hadzors far from bringing about a sea-change in values were actually absorbing the cultures and values of the original native communities.

1415: Owain Glyndŵr vanishes after his unsuccessful campaign for Welsh independence.

1494: Poynings' Law decrees that the Irish parliament cannot pass any laws without the prior approval of the English parliament.

Matters were complicated further by the rejection by Henry VIII of papal authority, and the reduction of Catholics to second-class citizenship.

1536: Act of Union between England and Wales under which Wales is to be governed by English law.

1541: Henry VIII declares himself King of Ireland, and subsequently Head of the Irish Church.

1603: Union of the Crowns. James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England.

1609: The plantation of Ulster by Scottish Presbyterian settlers begins on a large scale.

1610: Captain Richard West is High Sheriff for Down.

Scottish Presbyterian families were encouraged to settle in Ireland and granted Irish lands, as were English settlers who often came as part of military forces intended to pacify the troublesome island. The West family were amongst their number.

1641: The old Anglo-Norman families of Ireland launch a failed rebellion against the English. Ballyduggan Bawn, the home of Richard West is destroyed.

1644: Death of Captain Richard West in County Down, Ireland. Probably Hetty’s x8 great-grandfather.

1649: Execution of Charles I.

Trouble continued to plague Ireland. A number of members of the Hadzor family took to arms to defend their Irish and Catholic heritage, not usually with positive results, and bringing them into direct conflict with families like the Wests.

1660: Birth in Clavering, Essex of Richard Wombwell, Hetty’s x6 great-grandfather.

1662: Birth in Clavering, Essex of Mary Brown, Hetty’s x6 great-grandmother.

Meanwhile in far-away Essex, a simple farming family expanded in and around the Clavering area, generation succeeding generation without any apparent ripples disturbing their tranquil, rural life.

1668: Birth of Dr. Seneca Hadzor, Hetty’s x4 great-grandfather.

1686: Birth in Clavering, Essex of John Wombwell, Hetty’s x5 great-grandfather.

1688: The Catholic King James II is overthrown and William of Orange takes the throne.

1690: Hadzors fight on the losing (Catholic) side in the Battle of the Boyne.

Birth in Essex of Elizabeth Twyne, Hetty’s x5 great-grandmother.

As the wars in Ireland came to an apparent close, and the English Protestant regime was finally stabilized under the firm hand of the Dutchman, William of Orange, remnants of the old Irish Norman families submitted and became Protestants, marrying into Scottish and English families. Two of the Hadzors became surgeons in the British military, serving overseas in some of the major campaigns of their age. One of their daughters was to marry into the very West family that their ancestors had previously confronted on the battlefield.

1702: Seneca Hadzor and Ruth Bankes, Hetty’s x4 great grandparents marry in Lisburn, County Antrim.

1704: Seneca Hadzor is  a churchwarden in Downpatrick Church (of Ireland).

1707: Acts of Union between English and Scottish Parliaments.

1711: Seneca Hadzor is assigned to Spain as lieutenant and surgeon in the regiment of Nicholas Price.

1712: Birth in Clavering, Essex of John Wombwell, Hetty’s x4 great-grandfather, and of Mary Hare, her x4 great-grandmother.

1714: Death in Essex of Elizabeth Twyne, Hetty’s x5 great-grandmother.

1723: Death in Clavering, Essex of Richard Wombwell, Hetty’s x6 great-grandfather.

1731: Birth in Downpatrick of Elizabeth Hadzor, Hetty’s x3 great-grandmother, and around the same time of Godfey West in Clogher, Downpatrick – Hetty’s x3 great- grandfather.

1735: Birth in Essex of Elizabeth Negus, Hetty’s x3 great-grandmother.

1736: Birth in Newport, Essex of Richard Wombwell, Hetty’s x3 great-grandfather.

1737: Death in Clavering, Essex of Mary Brown, Hetty’s x6 great-grandmother.

1741: Death in Clavering, Essex of John Wombwell, Hetty’s x5 great-grandfather

1746: Death of Dr. Seneca Hadzor, Hetty’s x4 great-grandfather.

The English defeat Bonnie Prince Charlie at the Battle of Culloden. John Hadzor, Dr. Seneca Hadzor’s brother, or half-brother, is a regimental surgeon in the English army. End of the Jacobite Rising.

1751: Birth of Elizabeth Potter, daughter of John Potter and Maria Hadzor.

1752: Death of Mary Hare, Hetty’s x4 great-grandmother.

1757: Birth of Richard Wombwell, Hetty’s x2 great-grandfather in Arkesden, Essex.

1759: Marriage of Hetty’s x3 great-grandparents, Elizabeth Hadzor and Godfrey West in Downpatrick.

1763: Death of Seneca Hadzor’s daughter, Maria Hadzor, who was married to John Potter, and whose business and smuggling activities lead to substantial land purchases in County Down.

Godfrey West, Hetty’s x3 great-grandfather becomes a member of the Downpatrick Grand Lodge of Freemasons.

1765: Birth of Hetty’s x2 great-grandmother, Maria West, in Downpatrick.

In these extended family circles and volatile times, there were always opportunities for sharp operators. In County Down, a husband of a Hadzor daughter made a small fortune out of his smuggling business and invested much of it in substantial landholdings in County Down. The Irish continued however to hold fast to their identity and engaged in further failed rebellions, which were put down ruthlessly by the English authorities. Many of the Irish left for good, including Maria West, the product of a Hadzor-West marriage. She arrived in London towards the end of the eighteenth century, there to meet and marry a minor member of the Essex Wombwell family, who had decided to seek his own fortune in the big city.  The marriage of Maria West to Richard Wombwell brought them into the orbit of families of mariners like the Robinsons of Shadwell, and with those who ran ancillary businesses in the Docklands area, such as Thomas Bradley, the baker, and his Bristol-born wife, Elizabeth Hounsell.

1777: Birth in Essex of George Wombwell, founder of Wombwell’s menagerie and cousin of Hetty’s x2 great-grandfather, Richard Wombwell.

1784: Death in Essex of John Wombwell, Hetty’s x4 great-grandfather.

1790: John Potter is a member of the Downpatrick Whig Club.

Charles Robinson, Hetty’s great-grandfather, is born in Shadwell, London.

1791: Birth of Thomas Bradley, great-grandfather of Hetty.

1793: Birth in Bristol of Elizabeth Hounsell, great-grandmother of Hetty.

1798: Maria West and Richard Wombwell have an illegitimate child in London.

The United Irishman rebellion breaks out.

1800: The Act of Union unites Ireland with Great Britain as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

1801: Maria West and Richard Wombwell have a second illegitimate child, Sophia Wombwell.

1802: Maria West and Richard Wombwell, Hetty’s x2 great-grandparents marry in St. Pancras, London.

The West India Docks are opened.

Although the English had finally welded, willingly or unwillingly, the four nations into the political structure known as the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, their attempts to suppress the cultures of the Welsh, Irish and Scottish had met with only partial success. In North Wales, farming families like the Owens were eager converts to the growing Welsh Presbyterian movement as they began their descent from the hills to the towns to take up trades such as printing and bookbinding.

1802: David Owen, Hetty’s great-grandfather is born in Eglwys-Fach, Denbighshire, Wales.

Anne Williams, Hetty’s great-grandmother is born in Eglwys-Fach, Denbighshire, Wales.

1803: Execution of Thomas Russell in Downpatrick for his part in the United Irishman rebellion.

1804: Birth of Hetty’s great-grandmother, Harriett Wombwell in St. George East, London.

1805: Establishment of Wombwell’s menagerie.

Nelson triumphs at the Battle of Trafalgar.

Birth in Merionethshire of John Jones, Hetty’s great-grandfather.

1806: Birth in Merionethshire of Gwen Davies, Hetty’s great-grandmother.

1807: Abolishment of the slave trade.

Likely death of Charles Robinson, father of Charles Robinson and Hetty’s x2 great-grandfather.

1809: Charles Robinson, Hetty’s great-grandfather, marries Mary Weston. Not long after, his merchant ship is captured by Napoleon and he is imprisoned in France.

1813: Hetty’s great-grandparents Thomas Bradley and Elizabeth Hounsell marry in Stepney, London.

1814: Charles Robinson is released and returns to England to discover his wife has given birth to ‘three black children’ in his absence.

Power struggles dominated the European scene, with the British and a varying set of allies contesting the will and ingenuity of Napoleon and pondering how to respond to the unusual set of values that had emerged from the French revolution and from America. In this changing world, and as the British Empire expanded, and the country became a global trading nation, all kinds of unexpected adventures were to be had. Wombwell’s Menagerie flourished and grew; after experiencing imprisonment in France, Charles Robinson married the daughter of Maria West and Richard Wombwell, if not entirely legally. Fortune favoured the couple in that they inherited through the Wests some rather profitable rentals from lands back in Ireland.  

1816: Death of Elizabeth Hadzor, Hetty’s x3 great-grandmother.

1822: Birth of George Wombwell junior in Stoke Newington.

1824: Charles Robinson and Harriett Wombwell, Hetty’s great-grandparents get married in London. The minor detail of the first wife of Charles still being alive is overlooked in the process.

1825: Hetty’s grandfather, Henry Smale Bradley, is born in Poplar, London.

1826: David Owen, Hetty’s grandfather is born in Llanwrst, Wales.

1828: Jane Jones, Hetty’s grandmother is born in Llanwrst, Wales.

Maria Robinson, Hetty’s grandmother, is born in Tower Hamlets, London.

1829: The Catholic Emancipation Act allows Catholics to sit in Parliament.

1833: Death in Bristol of Elizabeth Carson (nee Potter). She leaves her Irish lands to her cousin, Maria West.

Death in Stoke Newington, London, of Richard Wombwell, Hetty’s x2 great-grandfather.

The Victorian era started in 1837 with the ascent of Queen Victoria to the throne. With the Industrial Revolution in full flow, imperial expansion the objective of all the great powers, prosperity for the enterprising beckoned, and it was in optimistic mode that Henry Bradley married the daughter of Charles Robinson and Harriett Wombwell at a time when the fame of the Wombwell menagerie was reaching its peak. Not that London life was so easy, with outbreaks of disease certainly not helped by poor sanitation and growing pollution in the expanding city.

1845: The great Irish famine breaks out.

1846: Death of Maria West, Hetty’s x2 great-grandmother, in Stoke Newington, London.

1847: The Wombwell menagerie is hosted at Windsor Castle by Queen Victoria.

1848: Second major cholera outbreak in London.

Revolutions in Europe and Chartist demonstrations in London.

1849: Hetty’s grandparents, Henry Bradley and Maria Robinson marry in London.

Ellen Blight and William Wombwell, both relatives of Hetty, are killed in separate menagerie incidents by a tiger and elephant, respectively

1850: Death of George Wombwell, the founder of Wombwell’s menagerie.

1851: Susanna West, daughter of Godfrey West and Elizabeth Hadzor dies in Downpatrick. She is Hetty’s last connection to Ireland.

Thomas Bradley, Hetty’s great-grandfather dies in Bethnal Green madhouse.

David Owen, Hetty’s grandfather is working as a printer in Bala, Wales.

1853: Marriage in Wales of David Owen and Jane Jones, Hetty’s Welsh grandparents.

1855: George Wombwell junior is taken to a debtors’ prison in London after the bankruptcy of his menagerie.

1857: Death in London of David Owen, Hetty’s Welsh great-grandfather.

1858: Edward Owen, Hetty’s father, is born in St. Asaph, Denbigh, Wales.

Like many Welsh, the Owen family eventually made their way to London to pursue their printing vocation, there to run into the Bradley family, and witness Edward Samuel Owen, the Welshman, marry Maria Rosetta Bradley, an English girl with an Irish great-grandmother and relatives who with varying degrees of success had made their living out of the Wombwell Travelling Menagerie.

1860: Birth of Maria Rosetta Bradley, Hetty’s mother, in Bow, London.

1863: Death of Harriett Wombwell’s sister, Sophia Wombwell, the Aunt Sophia who makes several appearance in Henry Bradley’s letters.

1864: Harriett Wombwell and Charles Robinson, Hetty’s great grandparents ‘remarry’.

1865: The Robinson-Neale court-case in London ends in a victory of sorts for Harriett Wombwell.

1866: George Wombwell junior goes to Paris to collect Peto the elephant.

1868: Hetty’s great-grandfather, Charles Robinson, dies in Mile End Old Town, London.

1871: Death of Hetty’s great-grandmother, Harriett Wombwell in Bow, London.

1872: Menagerie Number One is sold in Edinburgh.

1879: Hetty’s grandmother, Maria Robinson dies in Hackney, London.

1880: Hetty’s grandfather, Henry Smale Bradley, dies in Poplar, London.

The Great Fog of London.

As the older generation departed from the scene, ties with the past were cut. The Irish lands were sold, and the new generation sought to professionalise themselves, and leave their Docklands ties in the past. Respectability beckoned, though some members of the Wombwell family still pursued their nomadic lifestyle with their exotic animals, and one other took up missionary work in China.

1881: The family lands in County Down are auctioned off in Belfast.

George Wombwell junior’s daughter, Ann Fanny Wombwell marries Herbert Sowerby in Shanghai, China.

1882: Death in Hackney, London of Elizabeth Hounsell, great-grandmother of Hetty.

Marriage of Hetty’s parents, Edward Samuel Owen and Maria Rosetta Bradley.

1883: Birth of Hetty Jane Owen in London.

With the birth of Hetty Jane Owen, the various permutations have come together, from Ireland, from Wales, from Bristol, from the city itself, and no doubt from elsewhere. Above all else, this is now a family of Londoners,  a product of migration into the great melting pot of the city.

1887: Hetty’s father, Edward Samuel Owen dies in Edmonton, London.

Birth of Hetty’s brother, Edward Samuel Owen, in Islington.

1888: Jack the Ripper commences his gruesome career in the East End of London.

1889: Edward Henry Bostock, a Wombwell relative,  takes over the Wombwell menagerie.

1892: Hetty Jane Owen’s grandfather, David Owen, dies in Hackney, London.

1894: George Wombwell junior’s daughter and her husband conclude their Chinese mission and depart for the USA.

George Wombwell junior’s second daughter marries Jacob Valentine of a Sephardic Jewish family.

1897: The Daily Mail interview an indigent George Wombwell junior.

1898: Hetty’s mother, Maria Rosetta Bradley remarries – to John J.Hislop.

1890: Charles Albert Eldridge, Hetty’s husband is born in London.

1900: Death of Hetty’s Welsh grandmother, Jane Jones, in South Hornsey, London.

1905: The Aliens Act looks to stem immigration to the United Kingdom.

Familiar discourse emerged, as the Empire struggled to maintain its obligations and compete with other expansionary powers. Resources and wealth were poured back into imperial projects, and military engagements. The discontent of the poor made fertile ground for anti-immigrant movements, and patriotic posturing. The 1905 revolution in Russia signalled however that new types of identity based on class were catching hold.  

1909: Death of George Wombwell junior in London.

1911: Charles Albert Eldridge is lodging with the Bradley-Owen-Hislop family.

In 1914, the European scramble for more colonies, and greater shares still of the world’s resources imploded. The confidence and optimism and sense of destiny of the late Victorian era collapsed as the Great Powers contrived to sacrifice the lives of their younger generations in a futile and ongoing bloodbath that was t continue for four years.

1914: The Great War breaks out.

1916: The Easter Rising in Ireland.

1915: Charles Albert Eldridge and Hetty Jane Own marry in Blean near Whitstable.

Marriage of Edward Owen – Hetty’s brother – and Louisa Place.

1916: Birth of Olwen Eldridge, Hetty’s daughter in London.

1920: Birth of Harold Wilfred Eldridge in London.

1921: The establishment of Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State.

1931: The Bostock and Wombwell menagerie is liquidated.

The family set to work to rebuild their lives through hard work and education, only to find themselves engaged in a second conflict, fought at a much higher level of intensity with indiscriminate bombing of civilian populations. The East End of London as known by the family disappeared beneath the ashes. The Empire on which the sun was never supposed to set, did precisely that. The painstaking rebuilding of Europe led to a new commonwealth of nations itself to fracture as the new century beckoned. The family re-emerged and eventually relocated as the old trades diminished, a product more of the aspiring professional class than of any regional identity or community as such.   

1940: The London Blitz commences.

1945: Death of Hetty’s mother, Maria Rosetta Maria Bradley in Edmonton, London

1953: Death of Hetty-Jane Owen in London.

Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II

1960: Death of Hetty’s brother, Edward Samuel Owen in London.

1968: Death of Charles Albert Eldridge.

Memories of Wales, of Ireland, of menageries, of missionaries and mariners faded away, became stories only, their remaining traces folded away into a file, there to lie in darkness, proof-positive that history is as much about what is forgotten as what is remembered.

Afterword

This story has been an attempt to disentangle the contents of a single boxfile of old and fading family documents, elucidate on them using the vast array of digital resources now available and thereby record the family history of Hetty Jane Owen. Of course, many parts of the narrative, just like Henry Bradley’s handwriting could not be deciphered. The most intriguing of these missing stories is perhaps the story of when and why, Hetty’s great-great grandmother, Maria West left Downpatrick, made her way to London, and then what impelled her into a relationship with Richard Wombwell. The saga of the Irish lands of the Wests and Wombwells meanwhile takes the mystery further back to her cousin, Elizabeth Carson, and why Elizabeth too left the country that she was so clearly attached to, and crossed the sea to Bristol.

The Hanging of Thomas Russell in Downpatrick.

Unlike Maria however, Elizabeth’s heart and mind seemed to remain in Downpatrick. She passed on lands nearby for the building of a new Presbyterian Church and left an annual bequest for the poor of Downpatrick, irrespective of their religion. This last condition carried with it a real sense not just of charity, but the spirit of the failed United Irishmen movement and 1798 rebellion. Both Elizabeth and Maria were of this generation, and it is not inconceivable that they had connections with some of the players that participated in the drama as it unfolded. Even minor contacts of this type could at the time have proved to be very dangerous indeed.
The tragedy of the failure of the United Irishmen was that it was to prove too much for future generations to permanently accommodate each other in a united Ireland free of sectarian politics. This is one reason why France and the French revolution held such an appeal to the United Irishmen, and the allure of government from Westminster did not. It was the promise of a secular state in which religion was left to individual conscience and had no further influence. The hold of religion and the strength of its grip on the identity of the actors had not dissipated when the Owens made their way from Wales to London, carrying with them their Welsh Calvinist-Methodist traditions and language, and when George Wombwell junior’s daughter departed to spread the word on the banks of the Yangtze river.

The Owen and Eldridge family effectively evolved through a series of independent migrations down to London, not all of which we were able to identify in the research conducted. So, what eventually, they all had in common beyond being Welsh, Irish or English, was that they were all Londoners, part of a great cosmopolitan, multicultural trading centre, even in their day. To what extent they were able to hold on to their wider identities in this environment varied according to more mundane social factors. The Irish side lasted barely a generation, unsurprisingly, since Maria West was its sole representative. The Owens kept their own Welsh culture alive much longer, but then again they migrated as something of an extended clan, still not enough however for their traditions and outlook to be perpetuated in the lives of future generations.

Part of the compelling urge to record this family history, has been based on the belief that it is worth passing on the tales of these families, since the shaping of identity is just as much an individual and community matter, as it is a social or political issue. It is also a profoundly personal and even sometimes emotional way of exploring history, and a healthy counterbalancing activity to the way history is used ideologically and politically to try and selectively create a synthetic identity, as so hilariously exemplified by the current British Citizenship Test.

It is at the end of the day, not that important whether the future generations can recite the correct dates in Pavlovian fashion for the Battles of Agincourt, Trafalgar and Waterloo. But I would like them to know a little about their origins, and roots back - in our case in Downpatrick and Bala, and the lives their ancestors led as menagerists, missionaries, mariners and more, as well as appreciate the very different but equally fascinating tales of those they came into contact with from all around the British Isles, Europe and the world beyond.

Surnames and Their Meanings

This information about some of the major surnames in Hetty Jane Owen’s line has been copied directly from the website House of Names (https://www.houseofnames.com/). Other such surname derivation sites give broadly similar interpretations. No reliable information has turned up however regarding the origins of the Hounsell surname, or the Hadzor surname, aside from its Norman French pedigree and variants. There is however a village called Hadzor in Worcestershire that might provide some clue to the migrations of the family from Normandy to Ireland.

Bradley: This is an early medieval Anglo-Scottish surname. Recorded in a surprising number of spellings including Bradly, Bradley, Braudly, Broadley, Bruidley, Braidley, Breadley, Bradlie, Bradeley, Pradley, and Radley, it is residential and originates either from the varied villages called Bradley, or from now lost places which had the meaning of a 'broad clearing suitable for agriculture'. Derived from the pre 7th century English word "brad-leah", a large number of the English places are recorded in the famous Domesday Book of William, the Conqueror in 1086. Given a little French twist the spellings shown are Bradelei, Bradelea, and Bradelie, and from these it is easy to see how many of the later variant surname forms developed. Early interesting examples of the surname recording include John de Bradely of Berwick, who rendered homage to the republican government of Scotland in 1296, and James Bradley (1693 - 1762), the astronomer royal, whose family originate from Bradley Castle, near Wolsingham, in County Durham. Amongst the many recordings of the name in the church registers of the city of London is that of the marriage of John Bradley and Annis Whitby at St. Dunstans in the East, Stepney, on April 9th 1564, whilst James Braidley, originally christened as James Bradley in 1805, was a christening witness at St Pancras Old Church, on September 21st 1838. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William de Bradelai. This was dated 1170, in the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire, during the reign of King Henry 11nd, 1154 - 1189. 

http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Bradley - ixzz53EoSIVUO

Davies: recorded in the spellings of Davis, Davies, Davie, and several others, this is an English patronymic surname, although much associated with Wales. It means 'the son of David', from the Hebrew male given name meaning "beloved". The name is not recorded in any part of Britain before the Norman Conquest of 1066, and is regarded as being a 'Crusader' introduction. In the 12th century all the parts of Christendom joined in expeditions to free the Holy Land from the infidel. Although all the crusades were militarily unsuccessful, and have remained so to this day, the returning soldiers 'adopted' certain biblical and Greek names, of which David was one, and gave them to their children, particularly their sons. Amongst the very earliest recordings of the given name predating the surnames is that of 'Dauid clericus', (David, the clerk), in the rolls of the county of Lincoln for the year 1150, whilst Richard Davy appears in the Subsidy rolls of Worcester for the year 1275. Further examples include Thomas Dayson in the 1327 Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire, and Richard Davys is listed in the Register of the Freemen of the City of York for the year 1402. An interesting bearer of the name was Sir Thomas Davies (1631 - 1680), a bookseller, who became master of the Stationer's Guild in 1668 and was Lord Mayor of London in 1666, during the Great Fire of London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Dauisse, which was dated 1327, in the Subsidy Rolls of the county of Cambridgeshire, during the reign of King Edward 111, known as "The Father of the Navy", 1327 - 1377.

http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Davies - ixzz53IHXzcFi

Jones: This famous surname, widespread throughout the British Isles, and the most popular surname in Wales, one in ten Welsh people being so-called, is nevertheless of English medieval origins. It derives either from the male given name John, or its female equivalent Joan, both Norman French introductions after the 1066 Invasion. Both names are written as Jon(e) in medieval documents, and a clear distinction between them on the grounds of gender was not made until the 15th Century. However, because western society has almost invariably had a male as family head throughout history, bearers of the surname Jones are more likely to derive it from a patronymic form of John, than a matronymic form of Joan. The personal name John, ultimately from the Hebrew "Yochanan" meaning "Jehovah has favoured (me with a son)", has always enjoyed enormous popularity in Europe, and particularly so after the famous Crusades of the 12th century. The name, which is found in some four hundred spellings, is in honour of St. John the Baptist, the precursor of Christ. The surname as "Jones", first appears on record in England in the latter part of the 13th Century, and also features as one of the most numerous settler names in Ireland, having been introduced in the wake of the Anglo- Norman Invasion of 1170. It is now found in every Irish county, especially in the larger towns, and has also been Gaelicized as "MacSeoin". The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Matilda Jones, which was dated 1273, in the "Hundred Rolls of Huntingdonshire", during the reign of King Edward 1st, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", reigned 1272 - 1307.

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Owen: Recorded as Owan, Owen, Owens, Owin, Howen, and according to the International Genealogical Index - Oen, Oene, Onn, this famous name is most strongly associated with Wales. It is said to derive from the pre 7th century Celtic personal name Ouein, which itself was either from the word 'oen' meaning a lamb, or the Roman (Latin) 'eugerius, meaning well-born. Both may have contributed, because in any case the surname is first recorded, not in Wales, but far away in the English county of Warwickshire as shown below. However for the past seven centuries at least, Owen has been probably the most popular of all Welsh personal names and is probably second to Jones in the list of surname popularities within the country. Some forty nameholders are featured in ancient Welsh legends and these include Owen Gwynedd, a 12th century chieftain, and Owain Glyndwr, 1353 - 1416, the greatest hero of Welsh history. He was the true Prince of Wales who established the Welsh parliaments and nearly became an independent King of Wales. He was defeated by the overwhelming forces of King Henry 1V of England. 

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Robinson: This is one of the most interesting and evocative surnames of the British Isles, whilst being recorded throughout the English speaking world. It is a medieval patronymic from the given name Robin, itself a diminutive of the popular Anglo-Saxon pre 7th century personal name Robert. This was originally a compound name with the elements "hrothi", and "berhta", meaning "fame-bright". As such it is first recorded in England in the famous Domesday Book of 1086. It is said that the name was originally made popular by Robin Goodfellow, whose mischievous tricks were later described in Shakespeare's, "Midsummer Night's Dream", and perhaps even more so by Robin of Locksley, otherwise known as Robin Hood, who it is said (without too much evidence) stole from the rich to give to the poor. The surname was first recorded in the latter half of the 13th Century (see below), and one Margaret Robines appeared in the Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire, dated 1279. In the modern idiom, the surname can be found recorded as Robyns, Robins, Robens, Robbings, Robinson and Robens. Recordings from early surviving London church registers include: the marriage of Helen Robinson and Thomas Grene on October 1st 1548, at St. Leonard's, Eastcheap, and the marriage of Christopher Robinson and Jone Millman on November 4th 1565, at St. Mary Abchurch, London. An early settler in the New World Colonies was John Robinson, aged 26, who sailed from London on the ship "Peter Bonaventure", bound for the 'Barbadoes' in April 1635. The Coat of Arms most associated with the name is a green shield charged with a gold chevron between three gold bucks standing at gaze. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Dera Robins, which was dated 1273, in the Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire. 

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West:  This long-established surname is of early medieval English origins. It is topographical deriving from the Olde English pre 7th century word "west", and as such it described a person or persons who lived to the west of a main settlement. Alternatively it may have been a regional descriptive nickname for someone who had migrated from "The west" to another part of the country. Perhaps not entirely surprisingly it is first recorded in the county of Essex, which is as far to the east as it is possible to go. The surname is first recorded in the 12th century (see below), and other early recordings include: Goche West, who appears in the Pipe Rolls of Norfolk in 1197, and William del West, who is recorded in the Select Pleas of Essex in 1292. Nicholas West (1461 - 1533), sometime bishop of Ely, was frequently employed on diplomatic missions to Scotland, Germany, France and Castile during the period 1502 - 1525. He was also chaplain to Queen Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of King Henry V111th, and was opposed to the divorce proceedings of 1529. One of the earliest settlers in the English colonies in the New World was John West. He embarked from the port of London in May 1635, aboard the ship "Speedwell" bound for Virginia. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Maurice de West. This was dated 1152, in the Pipe Rolls of Essex, during the reign of King Stephen, known as "Count of Blois", 1135 - 1154.

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Williams: Recorded in various spellings including William, Williams, and Williamson, this is a surname which can be of English, Scottish, Irish, and Welsh origins. Wherever found it is ultimately Germanic, and was introduced into England and Scotland around the time of the Norman Conquest of 1066. Carried by four English kings, it derives from the personal name "Wilhelm" composed of the elements "wil", meaning "of strong mind", and "helm", translating literally as helmet, but in this context meaning "protection". As a patronymic the short form of "s", meaning "son of", is often added, although the name is popular particularly in Scotland in its long style of Williamson. Political correctness is not a new phenomena, and after the accession of King William 1st in 1066, the name became the most popular British personal name, and with the creation of surnames from the 12th century, an equally popular surname. The list of prominent holders of the surname is almost endless, but one of the more unusual could be said to be the famous republican Oliver Cromwell, who "reigned" in England from 1650 to 1658, and whose family were formerly called Williams. They held extensive estates in Wales, but under instructions from King Henry V111 (1510 - 1547), the family name was changed to Cromwell. Griffith Williams, (1589 -1672), was the bishop of Ossory in Ireland, and a staunch supporter of the martyrd King Charles 1st. Edward Williams, (1746 - 1826), helped to preserve the ancient Welsh language being Chief Druid and bard of Wales. The first recorded spelling of the family name is believed to be that of Richard William. This was dated 1279, in the "Hundred Rolls" of the county of Oxfordshire, England.

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Wombwell: This name, with variant spellings Wombell, Woombell, Woombill, Woomble and Womwell, is of northern English locational origin from a place in the West Riding of Yorkshire called Wombwell. Recorded as Wanbella in the Domesday Book of 1086 and as Wambwelle c.1200 in Early Yorkshire Charters, the name derives from the Olde English pre 7th personal byname Wamba meaning "rounded" (perhaps used here in a transferred sense to describe a mound or hill), plus the Olde English "Wella", a spring or stream; hence, "Wamba's Spring" or "the spring by the mound". The surname from this source is first recorded in the early 13th Century, (see below). In 1379 one, Isabella de Wombewell appears in the Poll Tax Returns of Yorkshire and in 1558 Thomas Wombwell and Annie Perye were married in St. Michael's Church, Cornhill, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Reiner de Wambewell, witness, which was dated 1219 - The Assize Court Rolls of Yorkshire, during the reign of King Henry III, The Frenchman, 1216 - 1272. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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There is a good article on the BBC Website summarising the evolution of surnames and the advantages as well as the pitfalls of using them as a family history research tool:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory/get_started/surnames_01.shtml