The Blogging from A to Z Challenge is to post everyday (except Sunday) in the month of April 2018 starting with the letter A and going all the way to Z. The theme I chose is...
My Family Tree Places.
GOVETON, UK
Goveton is a village that is part of Charleton Parish in Devon, England.
My 3x great grandfather Samuel Nichols was a boot and shoe maker when he married Sarah Frost in 1823 at St Mary's Church in Charleton. They lived in Goveton and had eight children. The family lived on plan lot number 638 of the 1839 Devon apportionment map for Charleton. He leased the land with a house and garden from William John Clark, Esquire.
A very kind and generous person in the South Hams facebook group gave me a photo of what was Samuel's home in Goveton. This photo was taken in 1904, about 13 years after my ancestor died, and before the first 2 cottages burned down in 1907. Samuel lived in the first cottage.
This next photo is what the street looks like now...
The same generous person sent me an image of the page out of a local history book.
There must have been a sickness going around in 1866, as Sam's wife Sarah and son Samuel died on the same day 17 November, and were buried on the 21st.
They are buried at St Mary's Churchyard in Charleton, which serves Goveton.
When Samuel retired he went to live with his oldest son James in Stoke Damerel, and died there in 1891 at age 90.
Facebook groups are great! How wonderful to see a picture of the house your ancestor lived in. It really helps to visualize his everyday life. Lovely street then and still lovely now, maybe more so with all the flowers. My great-grandfather lost 3 siblings within weeks of each other, probably from whatever the epidemic was at that time. There are no death records available online for me to know for sure. Sad stuff.
ReplyDeleteHopefully one day those records will be online... there are more and more every day. I have also had luck with locals going to archives and offering to help.
DeleteWhat a GREAT post! I'm so jealous about the wonderful pictures you have here. Thanks for stopping by Vintage Daze so I could find your blog too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting.
DeleteIn the right hand column there are links to My 2 other genealogy blogs... one for family stories and one for helping others with resources.
I look forward to your next posts and exploring your site.