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Hi Judy

When I triple checked the SFHG database for Northiam burials I did find the 1820 death for William after all, so it was either operator failure (more likely) or an inconsistent data retrieval search programming error.  More likely it was me, but I will watch and see if any other instances.

Its interesting to note that our young William Attree (1794) was the one we thought may have been the William Attree death in 1796 in Brede.  If they are related, he would have been the grandson of the Westfield William Attree (1705) with the elder dying possibly in 1786 also in Brede (Recorded burial in Brede William Attree 5 January 1786).  I am wondering if William the younger was named for his Grandfather.  Within the SFHG records William the younger was recorded both in the Attree name section and in the Tree section with each name as an alias to the other.  Attree was also recorded in both instances (Grandfather and Grandson) as both birth and burial names.

I think I found other instances of the Attree alias, but I will double check.  It may have just been William the younger that I wrote in a couple of places.

Another thing that I noticed, the other William who was buried in 1820 of Beckley was likely to have relocated there from Northiam to live with or near his oldest son Henry.  Henry has records of two children born in Beckley, Thomas 1805 and Martha 1812 with wife Elizabeth.  Henry was born in Northiam to William and Martha. 

It could be possible that Cranbrook William may be the Grandfather instead of Westfield William Attree also, if it was a second family.  I am leaning towards Westfield William though as the Attree name and location of the Grandson pulls the strands closer.  Will dig some more around this and see if I can find anything further on either William.

I didn't come across any other baptisms at all for Daniel's children, or other marriages in England.  I only found the Maryann Celia one in Kent, same as you.  He definitely does not have a marriage listed in the Sussex database.  I also had a good look to see if I could find any baptisms for Griffess/Griffiths but no luck there either.  I did find his marriage record though.

Now, getting back to the Attree link, and a fun little side track I went down... I did just a generic Google search on 'Attree name origin'.  The more boring explanation was something like 'He lives at the Tree', but an alternative and more interesting explanation was that it was actually derived from the old English 'atta reid' (from the clearing) or atta rie (from the river bank... or something similar).  It turns out the town name of Rye is also derived from rie, or the (river) bank.  Given the close proximity of our locations to Rye, I am thinking the name Attree (whether our or not) quite literally means At Rye, or Of Rye.  The earliest recorded instance of the name was for John ate Reghe of Sussex in 1287.  So, even if not relevant for our family I still found it quite interesting.

Another thing I noticed is the male line tends to live well into their 80's.  Its a healthy lot (if they survive infancy).

Regards

Nelle.

Hi Judy

Found William, he was under the name of Attree.  William Attree, buried 1 August 1796 in Brede.  I have found quite a few instances within the family line of both spellings, especially with regards to children.  It is listed as an alias within many of the birth entries for the family.

So, if Daniel was baptised 18 November 1798, and with William's death 2 years earlier it looks like Martha might have been in mourning for a bit, or perhaps her own ill health (as she was buried 28 June 1799 age 40+) delayed the baptism.  The previous child was born 8 May 1796 and was another William, so Dad passed around 3 months after the birth of the second last child.

It would have been tough for the family with 9 surviving children under the age of 18 when Martha passed. 

Nelle

A quick update on this, have just checked the Sussex Family History Society Database and can confirm the following:

William Tree with wife Mary (no maiden name listed, but I presume Attison) had the following children baptised in Brede:

Mary - 8 May 1737
John - 4 February 1738/39
Sarah - 16 August 1741 (buried 19 Sept 1742)
Daniel - 16 August 1747
William - 24 June 1744

John had a baby son John baptised 21 November 1769, buried 26 November 1769, also in Brede.  In Ewhurst with wife Mary he further had a son William baptised 5 July 1772 and son Daniel baptised 14 August 1774.  This is the Daniel that married Mary Boots and is not my Daniel as the dates don't come anywhere close to matching.

William born 1744 (brother to John) is the one who married Martha French and had son Daniel who migrated to Australia.

So yes Judy, you were absolutely spot on with your theory about the relationship between Daniel and Griffiths!

I have hit a bit of a wall with our William (father of John and William) born around 1700 though.  Do you have any idea who his parents may be?  I can't find a birth or baptism record for him.

Regards

Nelle

Thanks Sillgen

That marriage won't be for my Daniel as he would have only been a small boy at the time!  I will spend some time poking around and hopefully find out more on his parents and grandparents with related siblings.  Its just going to take time, but no surprises there.

I have his parents as William Tree (1744-1896) and Martha French (1752-1799), and William's Father was another William (1710-1786) married to Mary Attison ( - 1793).  Thats about it for what I have on them so far, but have not seriously tried to reconstruct their extended families to understand the links yet.

I am going to Sussex later this year so may also try my luck at the Hastings Family History Centre and will also have a wander around the churches.  Not very efficient, but its a holiday so thats ok.

Nelle