Family History

18 Sep 2024

I took a good analytical look at the Chambers branch of my tree and managed to sort out the problems in the various Josephs that that I mentioned back in April 2023

The principle problems were:

  1. there are several Joseph Chambers’ in the area at around the same time
  2. some indexes of the parish records are unreliable

There are four baptisms in the Suffolk Baptism Indexes for Hoxne 1650-1812 and Dunwich 1754-1812 (with labels that I gave each one as part of the analysis):

  • 27 Jun 1680, baptism of Joseph, son of Joseph Chambers, of Fressingfield, in Fressingfield (JOS1680)
  • 4 Jul 1765, baptism of Joseph, son of Mary Chambers, in Cratfield (JOS1765)
  • 1 May 1767, baptism of Joseph, son of Joseph and Elizabeth Chambers, in Fressingfield (JOS1767)
  • 8 Jan 1797, baptism of Joseph, son of Joseph and Susan Chambers, late Botwright, born 19 Nov 1796, in Wisset (JOS1797)

I labelled the father of JOS1680 as JOSROOT.

The “England Births & Baptisms 1538-1975” collection on Findmypast and others, which derives from the old IGI shows these additional ones:

  • 1 Mar 1691, baptism of Joseph, son of Joseph Chambers, in Fressingfield (JOS1691)
  • 6 Oct 1714, baptism of Joseph, son of Joseph Chambers, in Fressingfield (JOS1714)
  • 26 Dec 1738, baptism of Joseph, son of Joseph and Elizabeth, in Fressingfield (JOS1738)

Because these were missing from the usually reliable Suffolk Baptism Indexes I have been discounting them. After much puzzling about where these records came from I checked the coverage information for the Indexes and found that Fressingfield only includes the periods 1650-1687, 1695-1706 and 1753-1812! The equivalent marriage index covers 1654-1812.

There are very few Joseph Chambers in either the Suffolk Family History Indexes or Findmypast/IGI. These are the only baptisms between 1680 and 1800 in the whole of Suffolk. Strangely they are only in these few parishes. It’s a similar story for Norfolk with even fewer occurrences of Joseph Chambers

There are six marriages involving Joseph Chambers in the Suffolk Marriage index for Hoxne and Dunwich Deanery 1650-1812 published by the Suffolk Family History Society (SFHS)

  • 1 Oct 1674, marriage of Joseph Chambers and Mary Edwards, in Fressingfield (JOSMAR1674)
  • 3 Feb 1737, marriage of Joseph Chambers and Elisabeth Stigold, in Bedfield, (7 miles south of Fressingfield) (JOSMAR1737)
  • 28 Jul 1766, marriage of Joseph Chambers and Elizabeth Gooch, in Metfield (JOSMAR1766)
  • 25 Jul 1785, marriage of Joseph Chambers, widower, and Sarah Meen, in Fressingfield (JOSMAR1785)
  • 17 Jan 1787, marriage of Joseph Chambers, widower and Frances Brundish, widow, in Fressingfield (JOSMAR1787)
  • 13 Oct 1788, marriage of Joseph Chambers, of St James, and Susanna Botwright, in Wisset (JOSMAR1788)

There is also a marriage of a Joseph Chambers from Fressingfield in Woodton, Norfolk (10 miles to north of Fressingfield):

  • 25 Aug 1713, marriage of Joseph Chambers, of Fressingfield, and Mary Hill, in Woodton, Norfolk (JOSMAR1713)

The following additional baptisms (from the “England Births & Baptisms 1538-1975” collection on Findmypast) indicate family groups:

Contemporary with JOS1680, likely to be the children of JOSMAR1674

  • 26 Oct 1676, baptism of Mary, dau of Joseph and Mary, in Fressingfield
  • 27 Jun 1680, baptism of Joseph, son of Joseph, in Fressingfield
  • 29 Sep 1682, baptism of Elizabeth, dau of Joseph, in Fressingfield
  • 11 Dec 1684, baptism of Jeremy, son of Joseph, in Fressingfield
  • 21 Dec 1685, baptism of Sarah, dau of Joseph, in Fressingfield
  • 2 Dec 1688, baptism of Ann, dau of Joseph, in Fressingfield, died 20 Nov 1691
  • 1 Mar 1691, baptism of Joseph, son of Joseph, in Fressingfield (JOS1691)
  • 25 May 1694, baptism of Anna, dau of Joseph, in Fressingfield

Contemporary with JOS1714, likely to be the children of JOSMAR1713:

  • 6 Oct 1714, baptism of Joseph, son of Joseph, in Fressingfield
  • 31 Oct 1715, baptism of Mary, dau of Joseph, in Fressingfield, buried 3 Nov that year
  • 11 Jun 1717, baptism of Sarah, dau of Joseph, in Fressingfield
  • 22 May 1720, baptism of Rose, dau of Joseph, in Fressingfield

Contemporary with JOS1738, likely to be the children of JOSMAR1737:

  • 26 Dec 1738, baptism of Joseph, son of Joseph and Elizabeth, in Fressingfield
  • 18 Aug 1742, baptism of Sarah, dau of Joseph and Elizabeth, in Fressingfield

Contemporary with JOS1767, likely to be the children of JOSMAR1766:

  • 10 Dec 1762, baptism of Martha, dau of Joseph and Elizabeth, in Fressingfield
  • 1 May 1767, baptism of Joseph, son of Joseph and Elizabeth, in Fressingfield
  • 4 Feb 1769, baptism of Mary, dau of Joseph and Elizabeth, in Fressingfield
  • 14 Mar 1771, baptism of John, son of Joseph and Elizabeth, in Fressingfield
  • 13 Nov 1772, baptism of Elizabeth, dau of Joseph and Elizabeth, in Fressingfield
  • 8 Mar 1775, baptism of Sarah, dau of Joseph and Elizabeth, in Fressingfield
  • 29 Dec 1776, baptism of Rose, dau of Joseph and Elizabeth, in Fressingfield
  • 27 Dec 1778, baptism of Christobell and Sarah, daus of Joseph and Elizabeth, in Fressingfield
  • 22 Feb 1780, baptism of Maria, dau of Joseph and Elizabeth, in Fressingfield

The following are likely to be the children of JOSMAR1785:

  • 6 Aug 1786, baptism of Thomas, son of Joseph and Sarah, in Fressingfield
  • 23 Dec 1787, baptism of Sarah, dau of Joseph and Sarah, in Fressingfield
  • 4 Oct 1789, baptism of John, son of Joseph and Sarah, in Fressingfield
  • 27 Nov 1791, baptism of Sarah, dau of Joseph and Sarah, in Fressingfield
  • 11 May 1794, baptism of James, dau of Joseph and Sarah, in Fressingfield (my known ancestor)

We have these burials from the Suffolk Burial Index:

  • 29 Aug 1676, burial of Joseph Chambers, in Bardwell (20 miles to west of Fressingfield) (JOSBUR1676)
  • 14 Jun 1684, burial of Joseph Chambers, infant, in Fressingfield (JOSBUR1684)
  • 26 Mar 1694. burial of Joseph Chambers, son of Joseph, in Fressingfield (JOSBUR1694)
  • 6 Jul 1765, burial of Joseph Chambers, son of Mary, in Cratfield (neighbouring parish) (JOSBUR1765)
  • 16 Aug 1777, burial of Elizabeth Chambers, in Fressingfield
  • 21 Feb 1782, burial of Elizabeth Chambers, wife of Joseph, in Fressingfield
  • 11 Oct 1807, burial of Joseph Chambers, in Fressingfield (JOSBUR1807)
  • 21 Mar 1815, burial of Joseph Chambers, age 79, in Fressingfield (JOSBUR1815)
  • 3 Dec 1854, burial of Joseph Chambers, age 85, in South Elmham (neighbouring parish) (JOSBUR1854)

One sticking point were the two marriages of widower Josephs in 1785 (to Sarah Meen) and 1787 (to Frances Brundish, also a widow). I believe Sarah Meen to have been baptised in Laxfield in 1751 which would make her 35 when she married and 43 when her last child (James) was born. I think it’s most likely that the Joseph who married Sarah Meen (JOSMAR1785) is the same Joseph who married Elizabeth Gooch (JOSMAR1766) since it appears that Elizabeth died in 1782, leaving that Joseph with four surviving children.

There are no children of Joseph and Frances Brundish, who was widowed, which suggests that she was past childbearing age, perhaps quite old since she could have been married twice before. 1

I also recalled that back in 1992 Jeff had spoken with Malcolm Chambers and luckily he had recorded the conversation in that year’s research diary:

Malcolm is a descendent of my 3 x great grandfather Joseph Chambers (1738 - 1815) and his first wife Elizabeth Gooch ( ???? - 1782) via their first son Joseph (1767 - 185?) (I am descended from Joseph and his second wife Sarah Meen (1751 - 1819)). He has been researching for about 4 years and has got back to about 1650 on the Chambers side. He has discovered that my 3 x great grandfather Joseph’s (1738 - 1815) father Joseph (1714 - 1807) married Elizabeth Stigold (c 1720 - 1810) at Bedfield in Suffolk on 3 February 1736. These burial dates for 4 x great grandfather Joseph and his wife Elizabeth were supplied by Malcolm. He did not know about 5 x great grandfather Joseph’s marriage to Mary Hill in Woodton in Norfolk on 29 August 1713. Malcolm thinks that the Joseph who married Mary Hill was not the Joseph born 1691 (he may have died in 1694) but this latter Joseph’s father born c 1651! He also has a record of this last Joseph’s marriage to Mary Reynolds (???? - 1712) at Fressingfield in 1679 and he thinks that this Joseph’s first wife Mary Edwards died in 1678. Therefore this Joseph may have married 3 times: Mary Edwards 1674, Mary Reynolds 1679 & Mary Hill 1713. Malcolm hasn’t yet got a burial for this Joseph. Ian and I have always taken the Joseph born in 1691 as the husband of Mary Hill from Woodton, but Malcolm says that that that Joseph may have died in 1694 (the Fressingfield Burial Register describes the burial as of Joseph the son of Joseph). The Woodton Marriage Register doesn’t record the Joseph was being a widower, but I think it needs to be checked again.

I can find no trace of the mentioned marriage between Joseph Chambers and Mary Reynolds in 1679 either in the Marriage Indexes or the IGI. Several people have this marriage on Ancestry but they are all unsourced and/or copied from other trees.

Given all of this I have accounted for the various Josephs in the following way:

  • JOSROOT is JOSMAR1674 and JOSMAR1713 → married Mary Edwards then Mary Hill
  • JOS1680 is child of JOSROOT by Mary Edwards and is JOSBUR1684 → died as a child in 1684
  • JOS1691 is child of JOSROOT by Mary Edwards and is JOSBUR1694 → died as a child in 1694
  • JOS1714 is the child of JOSROOT by Mary Hill and is JOSMAR1737, JOSMAR1787 and JOSBUR1807 → married Elisabeth Stigold, then Frances Brundish and died in 1807
  • JOS1738 is the child of JOS1714 and is JOSMAR1766, JOSMAR1785 and JOSBUR1815, → married Elizabeth Gooch, then Sarah Meen and was buried in 1815 age 79
  • JOS1765 is JOSBUR1765 → died as an infant
  • JOS1767 is the child of JOS1738, JOSMAR1788 and JOSBUR1854 → eldest son of Joseph Chambers and Elizabeth Gooch, married Susanna Botwright in 1788, died in 1854 in South Elmham and was a husbandman (from Census).
  • JOS1797 is the son of JOS1767 and Susanna Botwright

This is how the tree looks with this information:

JOSROOT = (1) Mary Edwards       = (2) Mary Hill
        |                        |
        |                        |
   ------------                  |
   |          |                  |
JOS1680     JOS1691            JOS1714 = (1) Elizabeth Stigold
                                       |    (2) Frances Brundish
                                       |
                                       |
                                       |
                   Elizabeth Gooch = JOS1738 = Sarah Meen
                                   |         |
                                   |         |
                                   |         |
                                   |         |
                                 JOS1767   James (my ancestor)
                                   |        1794
                                   |
                                   |
                                   |
                                 JOS1797

After this I then looked for a baptism in the Select Baptisms/IGI collection for JOSROOT. I found a baptism in Ubbeston, just two parishes away from Fressingfield:

Baptised 10 Mar 1649, Joseph son of Jeremy and Rachell Chambers2

JOSROOT named is second son Jeremy in 1684 so this is highly suggestive that Joseph is the son of Jeremy

Jeremy and Rachel married in Cratfield. Her maiden name was Strut. The select marriages collection shows the date as 4 Jun, 1650 but Boyds marriage index has the year as 1648. Since their first child was baptised in 1649 it seems the 1648 year is more likely. They had the following children in Ubbeston:

  • Joseph, 10 Mar 1649
  • Sarah, about 1653 (the index entry is undated)
  • James, 10 May 1669 (a huge gap but perhaps there are other children that I haven’t found)

Jeremy was probably baptised in 1626 in Ubbeston3, the son of John Chambers. Some trees on Ancestry show his wife’s name as Alles (Alice?) and there is an Alles Chambers shown as being buried in Ubbeston in 1654 in the Suffolk Burial Index. They had the following children, all in Ubbeston:

  • Joseph, 6 Jul 1623
  • Jeremy, 23 Apr 1626
  • Phebe, 3 Aug 1628
  • Sara, 13 Feb 1630

The earliest documented Chambers event is now 1623 in Ubbeston.

Here are the profiles of the Chambers line:

  1. Frances appears to have been born Frances Meen, and married Daniel Morley in 1753, then William Brundish in 1766. A William Brundish died in 1785 in Fressingfield. ↩︎

  2. England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975; Baptism entry for Joseph Chambers, Ubbeston, 10 Mar 1649, FHL Film Number 919634 ↩︎

  3. England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975; Baptism entry for Jeremy Chambers, Ubbeston, 23 Apr 1626, FHL Film Number 919634 ↩︎

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