Charlotte Balment - Marriage 1857 and first born 1858

Charlotte Balment and William Huxtable Ball were married in the Parish Church in High Bray, Devon on 5 August 1857. Fathers of the wedding couple were identified as John Ball, tailor and William Balment, mason. Witnesses to the wedding were William Baer and Louisa Jane Ball. Louisa was William's younger sister, born 1839-1840. Charlotte signed the register with an "X" meaning that she could not likely neither read nor write.

The identity of the first witness, William, is another research task, added to my list. I am always curious to know if they are related to family, neighbours or other kinds of acquaintances. Once I have more details, I will be sure to post the information.

This is All Saints Church in High Bray where they were married:

Charlotte gave birth to William James Ball in March of 1858. The date of the entry is difficult to read, but I think that the date reads "4th". The next few years brought many changes to the Ball household, including a new home in Wales. More on that in my next post.

Online Parish Clerks

If you are looking for information on early births, marriages and deaths, then an online parish clerk (OPC) may be able to help you. Online parish clerks are volunteers in the UK who collect genealogical information about a specific parish and answer email enquiries without charges. In the days before civil registration of vital events (births, marriages and deaths), the local church kept this information for each parish.

In the UK, civil registration began in 1837 and started slowly. Church records are often the only source of informaiton for pre-civil registration events. Online Parish Clerks (OPC) are available in selected counties in the UK. The Devon OPCs are wonderful people. I've asked for look ups for Devon (South Molton, Filleigh, High Bray, North Molton) and always find them to be very helpful, providing suggestions for further enquiries, possible names and connections. You need to provide specifics on an individual that you are researching - name, date/place of birth, marriage partners, death etc., and they will let you know what they have found in their records. While not all records are complete or comprehensive, they can let you know what exists and other possible sources or neighbouring parishes/OPCs that might be able to help. So, why not try them out when you are doing your pre-1837 UK research!

Cheers, K.

Charlotte Balment - 1851 England Census

The 1851 census reveals that Charlotte was still living with her parents, William and Elizabeth, in Bray Town, High Bray. Charlotte is age 20, and her birthplace still shows as High Bray. William, age 63, (birth year given as 1788), has the occupation "Mason" listed and his birth place is shown as Marwood, Devon. Elizabeth is age 57 with a birth year of 1794. Her place of birth is shown as High Bray.

A surprising addition to the household is Eliza Balment, age 4, birth year 1847, with a birthplace of Barnstaple. She is shown as "Granddaughter". My first inclination was to think that she could have been Charlotte's daughter, given the fit with their ages. However, having contacted the Online Parish Clerk (OPC) for High Bray, I have learned that High Bray Parish register shows a baptism on 15 Dec 1846 for "Eliza, base child of Mary Anne Ballman, East Buckland, servant." Base means illegitimate. This points to the possible existence of a sister to Charlotte. The name Ballman is close to Balment, so it's likely a match. I've ordered the birth certificate for Eliza to confirm her parentage (although given the parish baptism entry, I am not holding up much hope that Eliza's father will be listed on the certificate).

More on the Online Parish Clerk system in my next post...

Cheers, K.

Charlotte Balment - 1841 England Census

The 1841 census shows Charlotte, age 9, living with her parents, William and Elizabeth Balment, both shown as age 50 with a birth year of 1791, in High Bray, Devon. Charlotte is the eldest child of 3; the younger siblings being James, age 5, born in 1836 and William, age 1, born in 1840. The address of the household is given as Bray Town Cottage, High Bray, Devon.

Given the ages of the parents, I am beginning to wonder if William and Elizabeth are, in fact, her grandparents. The fluidity of age reporting in the early censuses means that their ages could have been over estimated by themselves or the census taker.

I've really just started to research this family and do not know much about them yet... So much more to do!,

Cheers, K.

Charlotte Balment (1831-1897), wife of William Huxtable Ball

Charlotte Balment was the wife of William Huxtable Ball and the mother of Thomas H. Ball and his siblings. She was born around 1831 in the village of High Bray, in Devon. Like her husband William, Charlotte's age varies throughout the years, so her birth year is my best guestimate. It is believed that her parents were William and Elizabeth Balment, but I will post once confirmed. High Bray is located east of Barnstaple and north of South Molton:


View Larger Map

Information on the history of High Bray, from the Devon County Council, can be found here.

These are photographs of Highbray taken by Martin Bodman, and can be found on the Geograph.org.uk website:

This photograph, looking north, shows the view of the valley outside High Bray from the edge of High Bray churchyard. The village in the valley is Brayford. A public footpath links the two.

This image shows All Saints Church in the village of High Bray, looking west across the crowded churchyard:

High Bray is another place on my 'must-see" list - so tranquil.

Cheers, K.

Death of Robert Gordon Hynds - 1933

After a bit of digging, I found the obituary for Robert Gordon Hynds. He was the son of Gwen and John (Jack) Hynds. Gwen was Grandad William Huxtable Ball's younger sister. Originally, I had found the Bowell Funeral Home record for Robert Gordon.

Hoping to find more details on this tragic death, I ordered the British Columbian newspaper and searched the late November and early December editions. While all varieties of accidents were reported, I couldn't find any details of Robert's accident. What I did manage to find was a simple notice of his death in the 9 December 1933 edition of the Columbian, which read:

"Hynds - Passed away at his home, White Rock, B.C., on December 9, 1933, Robert Gordon Hynds, two-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. John Hynds. Besides his parents he leaves to mourn his passing one brother, [living] at home.

The funeral will be held Monday afternoon, December 11, at 1 o'clock from the funeral home of S. Bowell & Son to the New Fraser cemetery, Rev. J.L. Sloat officiating."

As far as I am aware, Robert's brother is still living - so I haven't included his name. I found the small pieces of Robert's story very sad - so young and what seems to have been an awful accident. It must have been very hard for his parents to have lost a young child so tragically. It makes you think about how precious live is.

Take care of each other. Cheers, K.

Annie Amelia Ball - Laid to Rest - 17 Apr 1947

This is the Laid to Rest notice for Annie Amelia Ball, which appeared in the 17 April 1947 edition of the Columbian:

The identity of J. Hewlett, from Thomas' "Laid to Rest" notice seems to have been solved - it's Jesse Hewlett. How he is related to Albert and Sarah Elizabeth Hewlett will have to be further researched.

I don't have a good sense who Harry Page, George Brooks and E. Turnbull were - perhaps neighbours or friends. R. Byatt might be Russell Byatt, the son of Annie Amelia's sister, Eva (Turner) Byatt, who predeceased her.

As always, more information leads to more questions!

Cheers, K.