Richard was close to his little sister Dinah. He attended her wedding the same day as his own which was 10 miles away. He was a witness on her marriage certificate. After the death of his sister he raised her children with his own family.
Here is their story:
Dinah had two children with her first husband Abraham Cornwall. He died in 1844 of a cerebral hemorrhage. Dinah was left a widow at age 23 with two children. It must have been very hard for Dinah to provide for her children, a widow's plight was a sorry one in those days. Besides discrimination, only menial jobs were available with little pay.
Family legend has it that soon after she met and fell in love with a man from a prominent family, an "Earl" named William Neves. When his family found out he was seeing a commoner they forbid him to get married and sent him to Australia to manage family holdings. Dinah never saw him again but named their child after his father. William Neves was born in 1847. The birth certificate lists the father as William Neeves. (note the spelling change, typo?)
Two years later Dinah married her 3rd husband Robert Frost. Dinah and her child Isaac Frost died during childbirth in 1850.
After Dinah Died her husband Robert Frost abandoned her 3 children in an orphanage. Dinah's brother Richard Ashdown found them soon after and raised them with his own family.
From 1852 to 1858 Dinah's children lived with her brothers family in Brighton. Then they moved to Aldershot, then Farnham in March 1861.
The Family joined the Mormon church and was part of a group of 25 people who immigrated to Utah in 1861. They crossed the ocean from Liverpool to New York in a vessel called the Manchester. They were 5-6 weeks on the ocean, one person fell overboard and drowned. They went as far as the missouri river by rail and up the river to Florence in a steamboat called "the West Wind" From there, they started their journey across the plains by ox teams in Captain Eldridge's company. They arrived in Salt Lake City in the fall of 1861
Richards siblings left England just before him.
Rebecca and her husband and their two sons sailed to America and settled in Martinsville, New Jersey.
William and his family were the next to leave England, they set sail for Australia.
Alice and her family set sail for America as part of Captain Daniel Robinson's 9th handcart company traveling to Utah.
Obituary:
Richard 1st married Ann Burgess in 1841 and they had the following children: Harriett, William, Richard, Fanny, Mary Ann, Martha, and Benjamin James. They divorced sometime prior to 1880 and then Richard married 2nd wife, Sophia Bengtsdr in 1887.
Paper: Davis County Clipper Dated: 3 Oct 1902
Richard Ashdown, sen. died of old age at his home in East Bountiful, Saturday, Sept. 27th, at 4 p.m., at the ripe old age of 88 years, 9 months and 25 days. Deceased was born at Uckfield, Sussex Co, England. Dec 2, 1813.
He became acquainted with the elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the fifties and was ready for baptism upon first hearing the gospel and immediately became an active member in spreading the gospel. He presided over the branch where he lived until 1861, when he emigrated to Utah and settled in Salt Lake City; later he moved to Bountiful where he remained until his death. In the year 1870, during the new move of the Godbyites, he became desirous of finding out something about them and, being deaf, he became a subscriber to the Tribune as that paper advocated their doctrine and the same year he was excommunicated from the church for refusing to give up the paper but he never became identified with the Godbyites.
Richard was born on 2 December 1813 in Waldron, Sussex, England. He was the son of James Ashdown and Mary (Briant) Ashdown.[1]
In 1841 Richard (age about 27) was living in Fletching, Sussex, England.[1]
In March 1861 Richard (age 47) was living in Farnham, Surrey, England. Last residence prior to moving to the U.S. 1852 they lived in Brighton for 6 years. Then moved to Aldershot, Then to Farnham[2]
Richard arrived in New York From: Liverpool, England Final Destination: Utah, USA on 14 May 1861.[3]
See also:
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