mansell family handborough

[annette1234]

hi Margaret yes my mum has spoken about Kate and her son she cant remember HHS name my gran used to tell us stories of her growing up all the time unfortunately i cant really remember any. do you know when their mum died
       

                          Annette

[annette1234]

hello again sorry i forgot to say how farback ,I've gone, on the Mansell side William born 1687 and on the Lay side Stephen Woodwood born 1777 but i would rather find out more about Gran's brothers, Kate and her parents. Do you know any thing about them working at Blenheim palace or how it came about that they had a road named after them (Mansell close) in church Hanborough look forward to hearing from you


                                   Annette

[Margaret1913]

Hi Annette
Sorry I haven't replied sooner.
My Grandad was Thomas Mansell.  He married Ethel Rawins in 1905 and must have moved away from Long Hanborough.  My father was born in Maxtoke, Coleshill and they ended up in Leicester.  (I've often wondered if there had been a family dispute of some kind.)  Grandad had  8 children.
I only ever heard him talk of Kate and Minnie.  I didn't know he had a brother until I looked at the census. 
I do have a photo of his mother, Charlotte Lay and we did have another, sadly lost, of his grandmother.  He told us that she really brought him up.  Whether this was Charlotte Durran I don't know.
I have a copy of a will?  which was written by James Mansell and cites Minnie and Kate as executors and it mentions the following properties.  Do you know anything about them?  Millwood End,  Rose Cottage,  The Old school House in Long Hanborough and Stone Acre Piece nr Church Hanborough.   I wonder if these properties were sold as building plots and that might be why there is a Mansell road.
Regards
Margaret

[annette1234]

hi Margaret
  This is so interesting to be able to find someone so close to my gran but have different memories yes i believe your right about there being a dispute in the family gran  allways seemed a bit upset with her dad we allways thought it was because her mum died when gran was young and her dad didn't do a very good job of bringing them up which might have something to do with your grandad saying their gran brought them up but in the 1901 census their mum was 50 and gran was 13 so i dont know if we remember the stories properly.Mum can remember millwood end and that there was other properties ( but not the names). gran worked at the priory for a while  she m married  William George johnson  they had 4 children and lived in wandsworth.

[Margaret1913]

Hi Annette

I was really interested when you mentioned that our grandparents mother died when your Gran was young, because the photo I have, which I was always led to believe was their mum, is of an elderly lady.  Perhaps she wasn't their Mum at all, but could she be Charlotte Durran instead?  She's certainly wearing a late Victorian dress.

Do you know anything about their brother, Frederick?  Did he die young?

My Grandad did mention people working at Blenheim Palace, but I don't know who, when or in what capacity.

Regards

Margaret

[annette1234]

Hi Margaret
 I haven't found out anything about Frederick but it looks like there was another brother called John W i think he might of died in the first world war as my aunt is convinced a brother died then she thought it was Fredrick as they didn't know about John ( born 1881 )  but when i looked at Hanborugh war memorial there is a John W Mansell on there  i assume it is the same one but as you have probably found out there is so many of them with the same names that it gets a bit confussing.  My mum remembers Mill End as where gg grandad lived and  Rose cottage where Kate lived it looks like she was called Woodley.I would love to find out when their mum died i even went to my local 
library for help (but it's in Plymouth ) they tried to help but couldn't find out anything from around the then.        Annette

[annette1234]

Hello again i just wanted to add i have found a death of a Charlotte Mansell date 1927  in the Witney parish aged 79 which is about the right age if she had lived to then but it doesn't add up to Gran's stories but again there is so many Charlotte Mansell's it's difficult to tell which one it is but cant find any others the library surgested she might of died in a hospital in another area. as she is 50 in the 1901 census i wonder if she died not long after that  but again we thought gran was a young girl when she died  (gran is 13 in 1901) so it's not really adding up. 
                                      Annette
                               

[Margaret1913]

I thought Charlotte Sarah Lay was born in 1861, but, as you say, there are so many that I could have the wrong one!!  I'll also try to find out when she died.

 By the way, I know that Kate was definitely called Woodley. 

Margaret

[NDRFT]

Hi
I saw you mentioned a J Mansell from either Long Hanborough or Church Hanborough who died in WW1 and wondered if this is him and if this is of interest to you;

J C Mansell, Royal Army Ordnance Corps KIA 16 Feb 1919 Nr Halle belgium. He was son of John and Martha Mansell, of Church Hanborough, Oxon; husband of Alice Maud Mansell, of "North Lodge," Eynsham Hall, Witney, Oxon.

There are 21 known J Mansells commemorated on the CWGC site.

Hope this helps
Nigel