Lookup request for BUNDY Wiltshire

[Wee Eeyin]

Hi Rainbow
One of the satisfying and pleasing aspects of piecing together the geneologic jigsaw,is such as this being in contact with family connections who can add to or confirm ones own findings on an ancestor search,and now I have a clearer picture in mind where our respective family trees connect.
 I see now from your details it is Henry Eastman your line descends, brother of George's wife Ann. I already had a note of  William Eastman and Elizabeth Isaac,and that it was son Eneas who went to America with George's son John (my gr.grandfather)in 1855, and I realise now it was only Ann of the Eastman family that went to Canada, I had no knowledge of other family members.I did note though from Kelly's Commercial Directory,1855 Downton,that William and Henry Eastman are listed as Wood Turners. http://www.angelfire.com/ky3/caroln242/documents/kellysdir1855.html
 Also I have on my records that George and Ann were married on 25 April 1853, the fact that George's 1st wife Martha died in December 1852 would make this the more likely date. I also have Alfred Albert birth date as 21st July 1861.
 I was interested to see among the names of your ancestors the name Prince.  You did mentioned on the families leaving Downton  as result of hard times on the Parish. In "The Downton Story" which gives great detail on this early 1800s migrating to Canada to ease the burden of the agricultural depression and an opportunity to start a new life.The list of the earliest emigrants to the settlement includes many Prince's as well as Bundy's. Check it out on Google it or log on to 
www.geocities.com/Athens/Styx/2932/
Perhaps you are already aware of all this, if not I am sure you will find it most interesting.
 Regards
 John
     

[rainbowchaser]

Hi John,

I am very familiar with Carol (RE the web site you used where reference was made that William and Henry were Wood Turners). I don't know if this was Carol's mistake, or whether she got this information from elsewhere and it was the mistake of somebody else. Maybe somebody thought the furniture the Eastmans made was made out of actual wood... I have no idea.

The Eastmans were, without a doubt, basket weavers in general, but they did make furniture out of reeds or cane or whatever it was as well. Small pieces of furniture though - chairs and baby's cradles and such. But the main line of business was baskets.

They worked from their own home which was on The Borough ("The Burough" was the street name - like The Glade or such).

Bert, my great grandfather Leo's youngest brother (who married a descendant from the SMITH family) continued to weave baskets right up to his death in the 1960s.

Now, I don't know anything about George's first wife, but I did know that he had been previously married. Obviously I've not pursued this because he married "my" Ann/Anne and that's all I was interested in.

According to my information (which I most certainly do not swear by, by the way) Elihu Isaac Bundy was born on Dec 28th 1953... If this is so, then he was either an early baby or George and Ann/Anne HAD to get married (if you know what I mean!).

Oh another thing I forgot to mention to you was that it looks like George actually had his mother's surname... My research has shown George's father to actually have been a William SNELGROVE.

[Wee Eeyin]

Re.George's mother.
Elizabeth  b.1794 daughter of Samuel Bundy and Elizabeth Newman gave birth to George on 1st April 1821.”  Her son was born illegitimate,  fathered by  William Snelgrove, “a Shoemaker” from Downton.  (Bastardy papers were issued against them at the time.) The child was named George Bundy. By being given Elizabeth’s family name George’s lineage retained the Bundy name, while resulting from her marriage later that same year 1821, to William Snelgrove, four more children were born, and they quite naturally bore the Snelgrove name.   They were Charles, b.1822.  Ruth, b.1824.  William, b.1826.  Hannah, b.1830.
An interesting thought is raised however, that, if had George been born within the marriage he/I and his descendents would likewise have carried the Snelgrove name. (Who’s lineage, with some interest, I am now prompted to research.)     
Elizabeth Bundy/Snelgrove, died in Downton in1863                                                                 
William Snelgrove, b.abt.1795  he died 1844 in Redlynch, Wiltshire.
 
I recently visited Downton and searched around the graveyards at St Laurence Church and also the nearby Baptist Church to see if I could locate any family graves, but my efforts were in vain as I found most of the gravestones unreadable due to erosion and overgrowth of lichen.
I did however feel good that I managed to walk around and see about the ancestral home. Look forward to going back sometime.
John

[rainbowchaser]

Aah, now that is what I originally thought... The "base born" child.

Elizabeth's son was not the only illegitimate child born in the family lines in Downton. One of the Eastman women had a base born child as well... Funny thing, I spent ages trying to find "Base Eastman". Thought it was one of those unusual names (come on, if they can call a child Prince they can call a child anything!!). I feel like an absolute goose when I realised the child was base born and not named "Base".

Well, in reality, George WAS a Snelgrove - regardless of which side of the mattress he was born on. It would be interesting to find out if he was officially claimed. I doubt he was though, considering he lived and died as a Bundy.

Then again, here's food for thought... What were the MALE Bundy lines like at that time? WHERE there any male Bundys? If not, it may have been deliberate so as to keep the Bundy line going.

I've been to Downton a few times myself in the past. My grandmother was born in a house at Waterside. The first time I saw the house, I'd have been about 3 and it had a green door. When I saw it again at 16 the door was white... But the drain that rain along the front of the houses was still there and still uncovered.

I have also been inside the Eastman home/factory on The Burrough a couple of times. At the time, it was lived in by Bertha and Linda Eastman - spinster sisters whom I had known since I was 3, although they are both deceased now.

[Wee Eeyin]

Interesting. "Base born" now that's a term I hadn't come across before. Must watch for that one.

Elizabeth's parents Samuel and Elizabeth had 5 sons, Leonard b 1791, Henry b1796, Samuel b1800, George b1805 and Abraham b1809,and sister Anna b 1798. So the future Bundy name was well cared for.

I imagine George's conception was just one of these village "happenings" of the time.
I understand there were several branches of Bundy's and Snelgrove's in Downton, and, as was the case with other generations of families in the confines of village life there would  be frequent cases of inter marriages and the odd illegitimacy.
Infact the Bundys and Snelgroves were already connected through Elizabeth's grandaunt who was married to George Snelgrove in 1761.

[rainbowchaser]

If we think back to periodic times... All the villages and hamlets were on "main roads"... Usually dirt roads that lead from one village to the next... Easy access to business and marriageable partners.

Hence the fact that many spouses were from Nunton, Redlynch, Weeks and so forth... Basically they lived "up the road".

I have found that many families married into lines numerous occasions through the generations... Take the Eastman lines for instance. They married into the Smith family twice that I have been able to find.

Also, as Downton would have been small at the time (no doubt it is a bit bigger now) everybody knew everybody, all the children would have played and grown up together and marriages between the families would have happened over and over in most if not all the Downton families.

I have found that even though generations have passed, human nature remains the same. Illegitimacy occurred, but these days it is far more accepted than it was back then.

I still find it very interesting that George Bundy never seemed to have taken on the surname of Snelgrove. Mind you, it could have simply have been the case that Bundy sounded better than Snelgrove did... Taking human nature into consideration again.

Mind you, back then the most concerning thing in regard to illegitimate children was recognition of paternity... If his father "acknowledged" George as his biological son, then that would have made everyone content and perhaps George simply kept Bundy by choice... Or, he did not like his father!

We could guess at this for hours.

Yes, do keep your eye out for the word "base" or "base born". "Base born" is a very old fashioned term. It stems from the term "baser instincts".

[Wee Eeyin]

Being unable to say with any certainty why George should have retained the family name, We can only guess. My guess would be that, his parents perhaps didn't have betrothal as an initial concern at the time, and as such had no marital home to offer, resulting in mother and baby having to be  cared and provided for by Elizabeth's parents, and that George was kept on to be reared by his grandparents even though William and Elizabeth eventually got wed later in the year and would set up their own home.
Being prior to the introduction of census returns, we will never know.

[pjbruen]

Hi all,

I was just reading through this thread on BUNDY's.

So far, I haven't seen any names that appear in my tree, but the oldest BUNDY I have was only born in 1848, so you may well be able to help me out somewhat.

The BUNDY's I have are as follows:

Thomas Bundy (born 1848 in Damerham, Wilts) (His wife 's surname I believe was TILLER)
   - son 1 - George Bundy (born 1867 in Damerham, Wilts)
   - son 2 - Charles Thomas Bundy (born 1871 in Damerham, Wilts)

George was married to Annie Dykes (born 1866 in Cholderton, Wilts)
Charles was married to Sarah Ann FRITH (born 1880 in W. Cholderton, Wilts)

Does anyone have any reference to these people?

Many thanks for your help..........my apologies if I've crahsed the wrong BUNDY party here!!

Paul.

[Wee Eeyin]

Sorry Paul as I am unable to help you in you pursuit of Thomas b 1848, although I am sure there will be a connection somewhere along the line as Wiltshire has for centuries been the recognised heartland of the Bundy's, and generations of Bundy families have worked and spent their lives in Downton, Alderbury  and surrounding area.
 Records I have sight of show, as far back as 1561 a son William was born to a William Bundy and Elinor at Amesbury.        Other notable recorded events are ---- A recorded Marriage between a Peter Bundi* and Joan Durnford on 15th October 1573 at Britford.
A Marriage is also recorded on 11th April 1586 between a Robert Bundye and Ellynor Kempe in Salisbury.
A Christening of a Thomas Bundie son of John Bundie on 21st January 1592 at Chirton.
Also in 1592 a son was born to a Thomas Bundy and wife Elinor at Amesbury.
On 20th November 1593 a Marriage between John Bundye and Mary Wyot in Salisbury. (*Spellings of the name are as recorded.)
My own ancestry I have traced back to Nicholas Bundy b1707 in Downton. He had a brother Thomas b1709 and a son named Thomas b1737 and that name along with George feature regularly through the generations, so my guess is your ancestry may come along from that line.
However good luck in your research.