Imposing Territories

These previous entries give some idea of the imposing territory that constitutes the direct ancestry of Charles Albert Eldridge. One thing seems for sure though, the Eldridge, or at least the Coulter family is a thoroughly southern English production.

It is perhaps worth pausing to note also that whilst the 1891 census identified 3,504 distinct Eldridge families, by 1998, this number had risen only moderately to 4105. By 1920, the number of Eldridge families in the USA had already reached 3,614. In 1911, there were also 364 Eldridge families in Canada. Numerous Eldridges also emigrated to Australia and New Zealand, for which statistics have not been located. Many of these migrations are however recorded in Robert and Karen Eldridge’s one-name study of the Eldridge family at: http://members.iinet.net.au/~rgkje/.

So, strange, as it may seem, the majority of Eldridges, as with many other British families, no longer live in Britain at all. On the other hand, Britain was, for the most part, not where their lines began either, a point fairly much confirmed by recent DNA studies. Largely in tune with the historical record, such research confirms the Anglo-Saxon and Jutish origins of the population of Kent, but suggests also wide-ranging intermingling with the older Celtic and non Celtic populations, finally putting to bed theories of mass displacement and genocide that have been aired previously. For the most part though, their antecedents lay across the North Sea in continental Europe, and, particularly in northern Germany and southern Denmark.

Copied from: 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3711040/How-British-Genetic-study-reveals-Yorkshire-Anglo-Saxon-UK-East-Midlands-Scandinavian.html.

Who Saw What Part Six

The line of Charles Albert Eldridge through Emily Coulter proceeds, with the line of James Webb opening up in Cranbrook, and England enters a period of turmoil and short-lived republicanism.

Who Saw What Part Four

From this point on, all the lines that continue back derive from Charles Albert Eldridge's grandmother, Emily Coulter, and the action is exclusively located in Kent.

The map shows the spread of these ancestors around the county, and some indication of the limits of their travels in those days.

Who Saw What Part Three

William Eldridge is the earliest known Eldridge ancestor of Charles Albert Eldridge. There is no record of his birth or any other Eldridge births in Mortlake.

On the side of his mother, the line of Charles Albert Eldridge is to be found in the Clerkenwell, Islington area of North London, where Charles himself was to be born, just off the Goswell Road.

Who Saw What Part Two

Proceeding to the great-grandparents of Charles Albert Eldridge, a little more is revealed about the origins of the Eldridges, in Surrey.

The map below shows the move from Mortlake St. Mary, which holds the records of the first Eldridges in Mortlake, to Putney St. Mary, where the next generation of children were to be born.

Who Saw What Part One

Since the tree of Charles Albert Eldridge is so long and convoluted the following sections provide an overview of his descent, together with some historical markers just to give a sense of the surrounding context and the events of the day. As can be seen, the Eldridges moved to the Wirrall in the nineteenth century but prior to that were living in Putney.

The map below meanwhile shows Lenham, the birthplace of Emily Coulter, Charles' grandmother in relation to Boughton-under-Blean where she was living at the time of the 1841 census.

Twists and Turns

Charles Albert Eldridge

In contrast to the paternal Eldridge line  itself which seems from the outset to remain obstinately frozen in time in Mortlake, Surrey, in the mid-eighteenth century, the line of Emily Coulter, the wife of Thomas Eldridge, and grandmother of Charles Albert Eldridge can seemingly be followed, albeit with numerous twists and turns and diversions, all the way back to when one Henry Cobbes, a possible x20 great-grandfather of Charles is recorded buying up land in the Romney area of Kent in 1258 during the reign of King Henry III.

The copious lines of descent that emerge on this side of the family are far too large to handle. But, as we shall see, there are a number of indications that the marriage of Emily Coulter and Thomas Eldridge did not arise from some chance meeting, and that the Eldridges of Surrey may themselves have roots in the county of Kent. These possible connections will be examined in some detail, and constitute one of the main refrains of the story. 

In scouring through the Kent parish records and ever-hopefully dipping into the trees of distant cousins in the search for evidence of earlier origins, certain other themes emerged. First of all, before the industrial age stuttered into action, and even for some time after it, families were much less mobile, living for generations in the same localities, and inter-marrying almost exclusively within their communities. However, this commonality noted, they were not entirely static either. As agricultural labourers, which many of them were, seasonal work led them to move quite frequently between villages and parishes, resulting in over time in the dispersal of families throughout the county, and consequent headaches for any researcher interested in stitching those branches back together again.