Hi List,
First of all a very big thank you to Nigel and Elaine:-)) I had hoped that someone could
connect my Henry to Isaac & Priscilla. I thought I had searched through all the
archive messages on this list for a connection between Henry & that Isaac but I
couldn't find anything. So glad that there is a baptism that seems to fit.
I know I still need to find my Henry somewhere on a Census to tie him in properly with a
place of birth & in theory he was still alive up to about 1870ish (bet he died the
night before the 1871 census!) as his youngest son was around 12(?) on the 1881. But as
Henry & Emma seemed to travel about a fair bit, tracking them down is going to be
another thing. Still, it's fun - expensive at times - but fun.
I think the fact that Henry turns up in the same places in South Wales as other
Challenger's from Clutton and at the same time is more than just coincidence? So it
seems I have another line that came across as a family of brothers. Personally I am
intrigued to know just which way they travelled. Was it across the Severn or, as we used
to say when I was a kid & were travelling to London by car, did they go "up
'round Gloucester?"
I think when people say that workers only became mobile with the advent of the railway
they underestimate neccesity sometimes.
Thanks again
Regards
Louise
Louise Simpson wrote "I think the fact that Henry turns up in the same
places in South Wales as other Challenger's from Clutton and at the same
time is more than just coincidence?"
Not just Challengers, but many other Clutton born people. Since the colliery
was the principal source of employment I assume this was due to its partial
or complete closure. Can a list member with a better knowledge of Clutton
local history can enlighten us on this? Was it a single migratory event (i.e
over a short period) or a steady trickle?
My own Challengers came from Bedminster / Winford / Nailsea and I have so
far been unable to go back beyond the 1780s. I have therefore not been able
to connect them to either the Clutton area or Blagdon area Challenger
families (I continue to look for birth and first marriage of a Job
Challenger other than those recorded at Chelwood/Clutton in 1743 / 1763). We
(my third cousins and I!!) have found no colliers in this family to date,
although George (ca 1783-1869) had a share in a lease of a seam of coal and
his son William Challenger (1811/12 - 1884) was at one stage a "contractor"
shifting coal. However William and his family also moved into South Wales,
accounting for Challengers in Trostrey (Mon, 1840s), Blackwood (Mon, 1856 -
1863 approx), Swansea (from 1865) Llantrisaint, nr Pontypridd (from 1880s),
and even a wedding at Rhymney (Mon) in 1861 (cf your Henry 1848).
N McCarthy