ASHLEY family Burnett

[Liz in France]

Hi Julie and Harrisonfam,

I hope you don't mind me coming in on your post but I too am researching an Ashley family from Burnett and am stuck on the 5th generation.

My 3 x great grand father was Robert Ashley b1774 Burnett whom I believe to be the son of Thomas Ashley and Grace Jones married 1769 Burnett.  I am fairly sure they were both born in Burnett but probably just before 1749 which is when the online records are available.  Do you  have any information on a Thomas Ashley born about the same time as your Robert who may be the son of William Ashley and Mary Bailey.

Thomas and Grace had many children and the first daughter was Mary.  I think this may have been the name of Thomas's mother.  Their first child a son was called Thomas but he was born a year before they married, so may have been named after his father and  not his grandfather.  Who knows!

If you have any further information on the generation born 1745 -55 and the parents names, (i.e. the siblings of Robert) I would be very grateful.  It is highly likely that there is a connection between us as Burnett is not all that big a place.

Best wishes,
Elizabeth

[jarlotte]

Hi Elizabeth

I am not sure if Thomas is the brother of William, as I said in my earlier email I got the information from another family tree  in which they said the parents of William and his siblings Sarah, Betty, Ruth, Thomas and James was a Robert & Mary. So as William went to Burnett it is possible that Thomas went with him but I cannot be sure. Hope it helps.
Julie

[Liz in France]

Hi Julie,

Thanks for the quick reply and the information.  I am now thinking you are right that the family originated elsewhere and perhaps only a couple of them moved to Burnett.  The missing Burnett records would show this one way or the other.

I have found a lot of Ashley records at Swainswick but no Robert Ashley, so will start to trawl the other parishes around Bath to see what I can find.  There are quite a lot of them in Somerset so it is quite difficult to be sure that they are the right family especially as the same names keep being used. No doubt all will become clear in the time.

Best of luck with your search.
Elizabeth

[harrisonfam]

Hi Liz,
Yes, your information all jives with mine.
Thomas Ashley b. 1735 d. 1815 in Burnett & Grace Jones m. 1769 Burnett, with 10 children including Mary and and Robert, and with Thomas' siblings being Betty, Ruth, William, Thomas and James.

Thomas 1735-1815 seems to be a brother to William (my ancestor), Thomas, James, Betty and Ruth.

So glad to see so many other people researching this Ashley line !

[Liz in France]

Hi Harrisonfam,

Where did you get the birth year  for Thomas of 1735?  I cannot find anything for him at all that fits in. 

The burial in Burnett for Thomas 12.2.1815 would indicate he was born 1752/3 as he was 62 at death.  This would fit the Thomas married to Grace albeit that he is a little young but maybe that is why they did not marry until son Thomas was a year old.

I have all the 10 children baptised in Burnett for them but am just missing both Thomas and Grace Jones birth dates and place.

The tree on Ancestry indicates that William Ashley married Mary Bailey at Southbroom, Wiltshire in 1753.   Their son Robert was born in 1754 in Burnett, so I am not so sure now that my Thomas was the son of William and Mary unless he was younger than Robert but that would make him extremely young when illegitimate son Thomas was born in 1768.

I know there is a large number of Ashleys in Wiltshire but never thought they were any connection with my family.  Maybe the time has come to start looking there. 

I shan't be filling anything in on my tree until I am sure of the facts.

Maybe we shall find the answers soon, so  I will let  you know if I find anything useful.

Best wishes,
Elizabeth

[bitzar]

I know it's been a few years since the last post on this topic but just want to add that on a marriage record I've found in Swainswick for 1777, it lists Edward Ashley and Richard Ashley as witnesses.

Regards, Bitzar.

[ruffer]

Ruffer
I am a descendant of George Ashley b 1760 Burnett and retired University historian.
George's father was William d.1784, who married Mary Bailey in 1753.
I suspect his grandfather was another William Ashley, farming 30 acres of glebe at Burnett in 1736, married to another Mary. He built a cottage 'on the void', and the arrangement was regularized in 1745 with the feoffees of the estate, naming his wife, Mary, and his son, William, as future possessors He is likely to be the William Ashley convicted of selling beer, etc in Burnett without licence. Though not conclusive, the evidence points to two William Ashleys, father and son. At the least, we need to look for a William Ashley, old enough to be farming in 1736.

The next step might be to look for William Ashleys born 1690/1700/1710. eg amongst the Ashleys at Laverton (Somerset), there is a William, b.1697.

Incidentally, the Ashley tenancy at Burnett was given up in 1755, though they continued to farm it as sub tenants until c 1800. The amalgamation of the Burnett farms may have forced George and his children into Bristol. It could make an interesting article!

Roger     

[harrisonfam]

Hi
I visited Burnett last spring and it is a beautiful little village with a manor house, the small St. Michael's Church & graveyard and Elm farm.The gravestones were worn down so that I couldn't read the names but William is said to be buried there. I descend through son George born 1760. Elm farm is still owned by the Paget family and they were very nice to invite us in and tell us more of the history. The house William Ashley lived in when he was the tennant is no longer there however., I think a barn has been built on that site. The current owner of the Manor house also invited us to tour the grounds with her, so it was great to be so close to the environs where our ancestors lived.

[Liz in France]

Hi,

It sounds as though you had a great day at Burnett with a lot of kindness shown to you by the current occupiers.  It gives you a warm glow when people you do not know show such interest.

I am still looking for clues to my connection to the family of George b 1760 who seems to  be the most popular Ashley line.  My line is Thomas whose birth/baptism date I have yet to find.  He married Grace Jones in 1769 but a baptism is recorded for a son Thomas in 1768 before they were married.  This leads me to believe they were underage at the time but Thomas's death in 1815 shows an age of 62 thus making it about 1753 for his birth.  This would make him only about 16 when he married in 1769.

I have a provisional family for William Ashley and Mary Tines married 1730 at Berkly with a child Elizabeth baptised in Keynsham in 1735.    Finding parents of Ashley children baptised in Burnett and assuming they are the same family, I have added Sarah, James and William as well as Thomas to this 'make believe' family and then have Robert  1754 & George 1760 as baptised children of William & Mary included.   I know there is no proof of this and as I do not have the name of Mary Bailey in my tree and who seemed to have originated from Bath where there are a lot of Ashleys as well as in Laverton and Swainswick, I am sure someone will put me right as I now seem to be in a muddle with this family.

As the Ashleys are a direct line of my family, I would like to feel a bit more confident in what I have put on my tree.  The family obviously came from some where other than Burnett originally, but where?

Elizabeth