Hello everyone,
Like so many of us, I have my tree going back to Shadrach Boswell c. 1755. Does anyone know who his Parents or Sibling were? I seem to have come to a dead end.
Hello, I realise this thread is old now, but are you still looking for this information?
Shadrach was baptised 21 October 1750 at Basildon Holy Cross, Essex to Robert and Diana Boswell
Following siblings:
Cornelius baptised 12 December 1742 Wellington, Shropshire, England
Mary (1745-1759)
Peata (Paccata) baptised 23 July 1747 Southill, Bedfordshire, England
Possibly also had several half siblings. According to Robert Dawsons
'Genealogy of the Romany Boswells', his sister Peata was examined as a vagrant in Novemeber 1768 as
'Paccula' in Balsham, Cambridgeshire, and removed to Southill, Beds, where she had been baptised.
Robert is described as a
'Traveller' on Peata's baptism. He himself was possibly the subject of a removal order with his first wife Mary in 1744 in Boxley, Kent.
Robert Dawson does not seem to have been aware of Shadrach's baptism and attachment to this family when he wrote his Boswells work in 2004, possibly because Essex has very poor coverage on the IGI before the 19th century. Many of their registers have since become available on SEAX the Essex County records site.
According to Dawson, Robert Boswell was the son of John Boswell and Mary (Jeffrey), baptised 24 June 1730 Misson, Nottinghamshire, (though he cannot have been an infant if this is correct) and was a younger brother to John
'Black Jack' Boswell who married Ann Jackson in Northumberland 1723.
John was removed from Canterbury, Kent to Faversham, Kent in 1703, with his family. Dawson believes he is the same man arrested at Aylesbury in 1735 for Highway Robbery on Henry Lovell, and another of his elder sons William, was arrested with Lovells two years later in 1737 for stealing the horse of Abram Wood.
Dawson also states that John was probably the same John baptised 16 December 1685 in Rothwell, Yorkshire, to John and Easter Boswell. This family had links to London and Leicestershire as well as Yorkshire.
John, Senior, was likely the son of Edward and Alice Boswell baptised at St Mary Le Bow, London 20 Jan 1662.
Edward was born circa 1630 and buried at Winslow, Buckinghamshire, 1689, as
'Gentleman, King of the Gypsies"Edward's parents was Henry 'Haniel' Boswell also described in records as
'King of the Gypsies' and Abigal Scott.
Henry was baptised 27 October 1583 at St Andrew by the Wardrobe, London to Francis and Ann Boswell.
So in other words:
Shadrach Boswell bap. 1750
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Robert Boswell (born circa 1715-20? ) bap. 1730 +Diane
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John Boswell, Jr., bap. 1685 + Mary Jeffrey
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John Boswell, Sr., bap.1662 + Easter Boswell
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Edward Boswell (c.1630-1689) + Alice
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Henry 'Haniel' Boswell bap. 1583 + Abigail Scott
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Francis Boswell c. 1540-60? + Ann
Silvester Gordon Boswell wrote in his autobiography
(The Book of Boswell: Autobiography of a Gypsy 1970) that he believed Shadrach, his 2xgreat grandfather, was an immigrant to England, but I think this is provably not the case by his baptism, and may be a confusion with the fact he is said to have died in Holland whilst serving in the militia. Whether this is entirely accurate in details I do not know, I have no death or burial record, but there is at least a record of him serving in the militia on the surviving Militia Muster Records for England and Wales, 1781-1782 so there is some truth to it.
