Flemington One-Name-Study

Date: 1600 [unknown]
Location: Britain, excluding Scotland
Surnames/tags: Flemington Fremington

The following is the text which accompanied a series of charts and family trees sent me by a Flemington genealogist in England in the early 1990s. To my eternal shame I have misplaced or misfiled these. However, I am not in the best of health and nearing 80 and with or without these documents, there is a lot of valuable information on the Flemingtons here. So rather than have it lost, I'm going to include it. The man did not put his name on this sheet, and I hesitate to trust my memory. I will however venture to suggest that it was Lawrence. Sir, if you read this, please contact me!

Notes on the Flemington Family Trees

The trees cover most available Flemington records for England and Wales. The main sources of information for the trees are:
1. Parish Church Register copies (PR's) for Martin and most surrounding parishes
2. Census returns for 1841-1891
3. Bishops Transcripts (BT's) of the Martin PR's
4. Primitive Methodist Baptism Book for the Salisbury Circuit
5. IGI for Britain
6. The General Registry Office (GRO): all entries from 1837 up to approximately 1960 for births, 1975 for marriages and 1992 for deaths
7. Somerset House wills, 1858-1993
8. Help from living Flemingtons.

Excluding the Scottish Flemingtons (who seem to be a separate family with different origins), all living Flemingtons descend from Thomas Fremington (A4) who was probably the son of Lawrence (A1); then through Thomas's son William (A18), and his three eldest sons. These are: William (A28), Cornelius Henry (A29) and Luke (A30). Family awareness doesn't usually extend back beyond the grandparents, so a typical family group of today (ie with no knowledge of 2nd cousins) has a single original ancestor who would have been born sometime before approximately 1880. On this basis, there are approximately fourteen distinct family lines south of the Scottish border and at least two in Canada. Of these, William accounts for seven, Cornelius Henry for four and Luke for five.

The Martin PR has a few gaps where the writing has faded, and there is a gap with no entries over the years 1761-1768 inclusive. There is also one volume (1739 - 1796) that has clearly been filled up by copying from some other source; this extends from approx. 1777 till 1796, and was probably done by the curate in 1801 (when he signed and dated it). It appears from the burial records that infant deaths (and christenings) were thoroughly recorded in Martin only from about 1830. Long gaps in a couple's output before 1830 probably indicate a string of short-lived infants.

On the trees, I have used '?' for something that is likely but not proven, eg to show the most likely descent or to indicate a probable date where there is no record. In the descriptions below, "probably" indicates that a fact isn't proven, but an alternative is unlikely; "possibly" indicates a best guess, and "apparently" for information from family sources.

With most records, there's little direct evidence to distinguish between individuals who have the same name, so the exact identity of some of the Williams and Marys is based on indirect clues (eg marriage witnesses) or just best guesses. For family groupings based on GRO extracts, many of the parent/offspring links are based on best guesses (eg when a group of births are recorded in a given district and this is followed by the death of likely parents in the same district 30/40 years later). There are about four Charles' born 1835-1845 for which there's no firm evidence which is which later in life, so I've made some assumptions.

The naming of children after parents, and sometimes after grandparents, sometimes helps to link a family together. This is helped where the names are relatively uncommon, eg Lawrence or Rebecca, or are consistently used in pairs or alternately, as the names William and George are from William (A18) through to the various branches in Chart M (where Frederick also becomes a repeated family name). The main deviation here is Luke (twice) - and even then the second Luke called himself George later in adult life.

The notes that follow are mainly to explain the guesswork used to identify individuals, and to give some of the background that doesn't otherwise appear on the charts. A few individuals (mostly female GRO marriage entries) aren't shown because there is no other evidence to link them to any family, usually this is because their birth has been recorded under another name either because of illegitimacy or a spelling mistake. Others seem to vanish after their birth; if they didn't emigrate, then at their marriage/ burial the name Flemington was copied into the GRO index as Herrington, Harrington or similar. A few have surfaced as 'Hemington' but names similar to Herrington, etc are too common to check out.

Chart A Chart A is one of only two charts in which the exact dates, where available, are given. Where just the year of birth/marriage/death is given, the information has been extracted from the census or GRO. Chart A is the main 'origins' tree starting with Lawrence (A1) and shows the descent through the eldest son of William (A18).

As there's no direct evidence for the origins of Lawrence (A1) and no record of his marriage, it's necessary to speculate. He was probably born in or around Cranborne in about 1670 where the Fremingtons had been recorded from the first parish register of 1604. His marriage doesn't appear in any local PR; unfortunately, the Martin PR & BT marriages for this period are fragmentary, and the existing Damerham and Whitsbury registers start later than this date.

However, the pattern of his children's baptisms suggests that he was married in Martin about 1695. The eldest child was almost always baptised in the wife's parish; if the eldest was Lawrence (A2) then Mary came from Martin. Not uncommonly, the second child's baptism took place in the father's home parish, and Mary (A3) was the next to be baptised in Cranborne. If the bride was from Martin, then she would most likely have been aged 20-25, ie born 1670-75. Of the seven Marys born in Martin in this period, the best candidate was Mary Baker, born in 1675 and whose parents were Francis and Margery. This is a rare combination of names and was also used by Lawrence and Mary for two of their children, Margery (A5) and Francis (A7).

Thomas was probably his son, born around 1700-1706 in another parish. The naming of Thomas' youngest son, Lawrence (A19) is a strong indication of a close family connection. Matthew, who appears in the Whitsbury PRs and died in 1749 (see Fragments chart), may also be a son of Lawrence, both had daughters named Mary and Rachel - Matthew had two attempts at naming a daughter Rachel - perhaps this was their Grandmother's name (Lawrence's mother?).

Lawrence (A2) and his wife Rebecca don't appear in the Martin PRs after the baptism of their 2nd child Mary (A11). The later family fragment in Romsey is probably the family of their son William (A10): the dates are about right and one of his daughters was also a Rebecca. Lawrences' burial is yet to be found but may be in the Romsey area. The Mary that died in Romsey in 1754 is possibly his daughter Mary (A11), alternatively she could be the wife of William (A10) or of a younger son of Lawrence .

Francis (A7) reappears in the Micheldever PR's for his burial (1765) - see Fragments chart.

When William (A18) married Ann Yelf on 8/4/1769, he is shown as from Edmondsham (Dorset) on the marriage certificate. As no Flemingtons are recorded as being born in Edmondsham, he is certainly the William who was born in Martin on 6/7/1746 and was probably working away. [He was born 6 JUL 1746, Edmondsham, Dorset William m Anne Yelf 26 March 1769 and was buried on the 23 Feb 1827 in Martin, Wilts.]

William Thomas Perry, who was this William's brother-in-law, witnessed the marriage. This William is probably the same as married Elizabeth Coombs on 1/6/1809. Ann (nee Yelf)'s death isn't recorded at any time and may have occurred about 1805. At the time of their marriage William would have been 63 and Elizabeth a spinster of 34 (with at least one illegitimate child). John Newman, who was William's son-in-law, witnessed the marriage. This not-so-young couple had a single son Henry, 30/12/1810 – 14/12/1822.

William (A42), who married Mary Reade, was probably the William who died in 1804 after receiving parish aid from 1799 for being ill ("on complaint"). Mary Flemington married the widower John Hart on 2/8/1813, and a witness to this marriage was Ruth Rook, her future daughter-in-law. The Harts had no recorded children and Mary died in 1819 aged 68, which is about right for the age of William's widow.

Thomas (A43) has his baptism recorded three times: in 2 overlapping volumes of the PRs and in the BT. He is shown in the register of 1795-1812 and in the BT as the son of William & Sarah but appears at the end of the 1739-1796 volume, where the copying is clearly hasty, as the son of William & Mary. He therefore has two possible sets of parents: William (A28) & Sarah (the most likely) and William (A21) & Mary. William & Mary's son William (A42) is recorded in the PR as being 9 days old at his christening on 5/7/1795 - it seems improbable that Mary then gave birth to Thomas no more than 12 months later.

Stephen (A44) is recorded only as "son of William", so he could have been the son of either William A21 or A28. Although I've shown him as the son of the younger family, he died at the age of 25 and may well have been a handicapped son of the older Mary. Both Williams had a low 'offspring count', probably the result of a local smallpox epidemic - Thomas (A14) died of smallpox in 1799.

John (A61) who married Ruth Rook in 1815 is shown alone with his wife "Sarah" in the 1841 census (but with Ruth in later ones) - this is probably a mistake on the part of the census enumerator. Changes and additions to Chart A:

1. Matthew (see fragment chart) is a possible addition to the top line alongside Thomas (A4). 2. Mary (A11) probably would not have married in Damerham but in the Romsey area. John Laws probably married the Mary who was the daughter of Matthew. 3. Mary (A15) was married 23/7/1777 and died 2/2/1808. 4. Rachel (A36) had two husbands: John Cavil (d. 1819) & George Garrett m. 30/9/1820. 5. John (A41) d. 15/4/1871. 6. Frederick (A50) & Tabitha had a third daughter: Edith in 1877. 7. William (A56) was a sergeant in the 40th Regiment (The Somersetshire). He married Emily Benn in Daventry 13/1/1848. They had at least two daughters: Emily Mary B. 1857-1876 & Clara H.I. 1862-? William died in Daventry 1870.

Chart B Chart B contains four existing Flemington lines: two Flemington families in Lancashire through Charles (B15) and John (B35), and two lines via James (B7) that have both retained the Flemington name through an unmarried mother: firstly in Andover through Emily (B20) and her son George (B50); secondly the family descended from Harry Tom (B51) through Annie Victoria (B56) - of whom Ernest William (B65) is the last male descendant.

The line of descent from Cornelius Henry (B1) through Charles (B15) and down is a typical example of bits of evidence fitting together to form a probable family grouping, as follows. Cornelius Henry (B1) contributed land adjacent to his cottage in Martin for the building of the Primitive Methodist Chapel in 1829. The eldest son of Henry (B3) - by his first marriage - was Charles (B15) who in 1874 sold this cottage to William Flemington (possibly William A45 who was one of at least three Flemington Primitive Methodist preachers). This Charles is described as a soldier and of Portsmouth in the sale agreement. The birth in the same year of Elizabeth (B41) in Fareham, the daughter of a soldier of the 30th regiment suggests that she was the daughter of this Charles, along with three other children of a soldier in the 30th regiment born in sequence around the same time. Three women having the same names as the three eldest daughters of this soldier were later married in or around Lancashire at the turn of the century. George (B44) gave his father as Charles, 'deceased' at his marriage in 1920 and, finally a Charles of the right age died in Burnley in 1908. Florence (B45) is included because she fits in place and time.

Among members of the two Flemington families in Lancashire there is, apparently, no family memory of any roots in Southern England. Reuben's grandson John (B75), is the only Flemington from south of the Scottish border to have lost his life in the First World War, while serving in the Royal Worcester regiment.

George (B50) is the origin of the Flemingtons of Andover. He was the son of Emily (B20) before her marriage to Joseph Laws. He appears in the 1861 census as "George Laws" but it's unlikely that Joseph was the father, as George resumed his mother's maiden name of Flemington later.

Additions to Chart B: 1. Mary Ann (B2) married Thomas Fry in Salisbury 2. The second wife of Henry (B3) was Mary Ann Sutton. 3. Sarah (B26) probably married in Axbridge 1883. 4. Emily (B20) died in 1863.

Chart C This contains the extinct lines of descent from Luke (A30/C1); Luke's existing families are descended through only George (C2) and are shown in Chart M. Thomas (C3) was a Primitive Methodist preacher living in Salisbury. One of his four sons (William Luke, C25) might have emigrated as there is no subsequent record after his marriage in 1872. [Deb C's note; Actually he migrated to Ontario Canada, where he worked as a woodworker and lived to be close to 83 years. He and his wife Elizabeth had a large family

The identity of Lilian Joan (C36) and William Frank (C37) is a guess based on Frank (C35) being the only Flemington in the Far West Country at the right time for his children to be married in Penzance. The children shown being Stephen's (C13) were born at the right place and time (the baptisms of George (C42) and Elizabeth (C43) are in the IGI so are probably OK). Stephen died as a Navy pensioner, and his widow Rachel is in the 1881 census for Salisbury (as a washerwoman) with her son William aged 26. This conflicts with the recorded births (the census should show a George aged 23), but as a George of the right age died there in 1885, this is probably a not uncommon case of a mistake by the census enumerator.

Changes and additions to Chart C: 1. Jane, wife of Elias (C4) died in 1900. His daughter Ellen was born 1833. 2. Elizabeth (C11) married John Ings in Fordingbridge 1845. 3. Ann (C12) was married in 1851, her illegitimate son Charles' dates are 1844-1844. 4. Emma (C21) married David Reeves King in Portsea 1862.

Chart D This contains two existing lines descended from William (A28) via his son William (A45/D1) and grandson Mark (D11). William (D1), was, as were most of the Flemingtons of the time, a general purpose farm labourer, sometimes woodsman. In addition he was a Primitive Methodist preacher in Martin and was probably one of the two William Flemingtons concerned with the building of the Primitive Methodist Chapel in Martin, along with John (A41) and nine other villagers. William (D8) was the blacksmith in Cranborne for about 40 years; his son Howard was, for a time at least, his assistant, whilst his younger son, Maurice, took a different line, starting out as a grocer's assistant and becoming a haberdasher in later life. The family of Edgar Josiah (D22) is derived from GRO records that fit in place and time.

Mark (D11) was married in North Wales, his first daughter was born in Martin and then he went to Canada where two more daughters were born (but the eldest also died). He then returned to live in Salisbury setting up as a grocer and baker. The details of Mark's eldest son, William Mark (D48), are partly guesswork. At his marriage, William (D55) identified his father as William Mark, but there's no obvious marriage or birth record to fit. Of the three 'William M.' marriages in the GRO records, I've only checked out the last (1939). I assume the others, if the identity is correct, resulted in divorce. One change to Chart D: Emma (D6) didn't marry David Reeves King.

Chart E This contains one existing line of descent from William (A28) via his grandson George (A57/E1) who married the daughter of Robert White, the village blacksmith. The family of Walter (E8) is partly guesswork (again a sequence that fitted together in place and time), but the identities of the surviving sons are correct.

No changes to Chart E.

Charts F and J These two charts contain two well-documented lines of descent from William (A28) via his grandson John (A61/F1) and his great grandson, George (A75/J1). Martin Malachi (F4) seems to have been named after an inhabitant of Martin who has achieved some notoriety through W H Hudson's book "A Shepherd's Life". This was Malachi Martin, (re-named Elijah Raven in the book).

No changes to Charts F or J.

Chart G This is an ongoing attempt to identify all the descendants of Andrew (A65/G1) and goes beyond the Flemingtons. It contains one existing Flemington line of descent from William (A28) via Charles (G4) and Francis (G25). Charles, with his son Maurice ran the Martin village bus during the first two thirds of this century.

One set of changes to Chart G: Neil (G30) was born India, Terence (G31) & Christopher (G32) were born Tidworth.

Chart H

This is essentially a tree showing the Canadian descendants of William (A28) via his great grandson William (A66). Alfred Ernest (H3) emigrated sometime around the turn of the century, whilst his sister, Alice (H4) apparently became the wife of a future mayor of Poole. This chart has been compiled by his grandson, Norman Thomas.

Additions to Chart H: 1. Alice (H4) married Arthur Dacombe in 1898. 2. Kate (H7) married ? in Poole 1907.

Chart M This contains the existing lines of descent from Luke (A30/C1) via George (C2/M1). Four existing families appear here, the fifth family is descended via Charles (M53) who emigrated to Canada towards the end of the 1800s; this Canadian family is shown separately in the tree compiled by Charles' grandson Peter.

George (M2) has one family line existing today via William (M15). George was a shepherd and seems to have lived most of his life moving between the New Forest village of Dibden and villages near Romsey. His daughters married locally but his three surviving sons all moved to London. The eldest, Luke (M9), was a coachman in the census of 1881 where he assumed the name George, although he was recorded as Luke at his death. The details of the parents of M32-M35 - and of young Blanche - are guesswork until there is better information on John (M11). The youngest brother William (M15) also started life in Kensington as a coachman before settling in the Staines area. Apparently his eldest son

"William" (M46) spent much of the First World War as a prisoner in Prussia. William Frederick (M5) is represented by the following four existing families.

1. The family of William Thomas (M51) who are primarily in the West Country, 2. The descendants of Charles (M53), now all in Canada, 3. The descendants of Walter (M56) currently represented by the family of Eric Stanley (M70), 4. The descendants of William Frederick (M57) who include two Methodist Ministers; William Frederick (M90) and Garrett Hughes (M92). Flemington family trees that were in circulation in the 1970s and 1980s were generated by this William Frederick, M90.

Additions to Chart M: 1. Louisa (M4) married Samuel Bush at Wilton 1859. 2. The details of the family of Charles (M8) are: wife, Pamela 1842-1926; birth of children: Emily 1865, Ellen 1868, Louisa 1871, Mary Ann 1873, Harriett 1875, Clara 1877, Alice 1880.

Chart of Flemington Fragments These fragments represent families that didn't positively fit into the other main charts when they were drawn in late 1993/ early 1994, although most have a probable home somewhere in Chart A.

Matthew The parish record at Whitsbury contains a snapshot of Matthew's family between 1726 and 1748. The Parish Records extend from 1714 to 1750 and then there is a gap until 1780. From 1714 to 1726 the record is poorly preserved and patchy. Matthew's family appears with the baptism of William in 1726 and continues to Matthew's burial in September 20 1748. Owing to the gap in the Parish Record, any further history of this family in Whitsbury is lost. It is probable that Matthew was a son of Lawrence born between 1699 and 1707. It's also not clear when, or where Matthew and Martha were married, or what happened to William. The second Rachel seems to reappear in Fordingbridge in 1768. One addition: Mary (b. 1729) married John Laws in Damerham 1748 and was a g3 grandmother of Agnes Wallen who married Charles (G4).

Francis and Thomas Francis Fremington was born in 1712 and was Lawrence's last son. After being baptised, he doesn't figure again in the Martin records. However, in Wonston, Hants (near Micheldever) a burial of a Francis Flemington is recorded for 1763. This is followed by the marriage of Thomas F to Hannah French, the baptism and burial of their son, then the burial of Hannah, all in the space of a couple of years. No further references appear in the Wonston PRs for Thomas after 1767, but there is a marriage in Micheldever between a widow, Mary F (Francis' wife?) and a widower, George Symmons in 1767.

Next, in Send & Ripley (in Surrey just East of Guildford), a marriage of Thomas Flemington to Jane Sex is recorded for 1772. This is then followed in the adjacent parish of West Horsley by the baptism of a daughter, Sarah (1773) and three sons, Thomas (1774), James (1776), John (1777). A fourth, David was baptised in Ripley in 1779. No origins or other relationships are given. Sarah is probably the same as married John Green in 1798 in Ashford, Middlesex, Thomas lived until 1816 and David until 1862, neither apparently getting married. John isn't recorded again after being apprenticed to a cordwainer in Thames Ditton in 1794.

This Thomas died between 1781, after the baptism of his last son, and John's apprenticeship in 1794, when Thomas is given as deceased. Finally, there is also a burial of a Thomas Flemington recorded in 1776 in West Horsley (adjacent to Send & Ripley).

Stringing these events together can partly account for an excess of Thomases, as follows. Francis lived his final years in Wonston with his wife Mary and his son Thomas, but neither his marriage nor baptism of his child(ren) occurred in Wonston - these would have been c1740. When Francis died at the age of 51, Thomas married, then lost both his son and wife. Mary, widowed by Francis' death, remarried and her son left the area. Thomas may then have moved to Send & Ripley to start again. This move is not much greater in distance (40 miles) than from Martin to Wonston (30 miles).

The 1776 burial of the Thomas in West Horsley is a problem. He could be a son acquired between marriages (but there is usually an explicit reference to children as "son of - "). It could also mean that the Wonston link is wrong; perhaps there was a still un-noticed Flemington family in West Surrey and the 1776 death was that of the father of the Thomas who married Jane Sex. It may also be significant that this is the only occurrence of the name David before 1930, and that David, John and James are common family names amongst the Scottish Flemingtons. There is also the Ann who died in West Clandon in 1816. She would have been born in 1755 and could have been Thomas' third wife after the death of Jane.

The solution may come from searches of the parishes around Wonston/Micheldever, and around Send & Ripley to find in which area the family(s) lived. Coincidently, the Micheldever parish records contain the earliest recorded Fremington yet, the birth and burial of an "Agnis" in 1564 (no parents given) which is a generation earlier than any other Flemington/ Fremington. One addition: Sarah married John Green in Ashford, Middlesex in 1798.

William of Romsey This William is probably William (A10), the son of Lawrence (A2) and his wife Rebecca. The identity of the other two sets of William families (William, the son of William & Sarah in Romsey, and William & Jane in Gosport with their son William) isn't clear. These are possibly the same person, the son of William (A10). Stephen of London

There are four successive Stephens in this now-extinct Flemington family from around the City of London. The origin of the first Stephen is currently unknown: possibly he is a son of Francis (A7) or William (A10), as the names Stephen and Samuel appear at about the same time amongst the Martin Flemingtons. There were probably two or three Samuels (represented by one in the chart), but no obvious offspring - but I haven't seen any of the West London PR's. Charles' family is largely guesswork based on a fairly localised sequence of births. Charles is possibly the eldest son of Stephen and Rebecca as these names are used for two of the children.

Additions to the Chart: 1. Rebecca (b. 1841) married Richard John Merriott in Stepney, 1864. Her father, Stephen, was an "Omnibus Proprietor" at the time. 2. There was another, possibly connected marriage: An Emily F. married William Minter at St Pancras in 1868.

Others

Quite a few isolated individuals and a few family fragments are not shown on any of the charts to date. Some of these individuals are probably widows remarrying, others have been wrongly recorded at birth and seem to appear for the first time at their marriage. There are records of two families with Scottish origins south of the Border, one was a short lived family in London at the turn of the last century. The other is a 2-generation family living in Lancashire at present.

There is a 2-generation appearance of a Flemington-Halle family in Lancashire in the late 1800s-to-early 1900s. This may have been either the family of Frank (E3) or of a Scottish immigrant. The last and only grandson died as an infant in 1916. The double barrelled name suggests illegitimacy.