My grandmother’s great grandmother was Eliza Sarah Ann Wren (1842-1903). Like many of my grandmother’s family, she came from a long established Kentish family, with more recent generations working as carpenters at the Chatham dockyard. Eliza was the eldest of seven children born to William Wren (1818-1900) and Eliza Lucy Rudland (1816 -1865) in Chatham.Continue reading “The Wren Family: Opportunity and Tragedy”
Tag Archives: Kent
The Thames Link: Watermen in the 17th – 19th Centuries
My research into my grandmother’s ancestry has led to the discovery of a number of Thames watermen who plied their trade between the mid-seventeeth and early nineteenth centuries. All of them were ancestors of my grandmother’s great-great grandmother, Eliza Lucy Rudland (1816-1865) who was from a long line of Kentish families. I have been ableContinue reading “The Thames Link: Watermen in the 17th – 19th Centuries”
The Landowning Lowdells c1600-1723 : Where There’s a Will…
The Lowdell family from Chatham, Kent, were the ancestors of my grandmother’s maternal grandmother, Mary Ann Lowdell (1863 – 1925). While researching this branch of the family, I struck gold, as several of our ancestors over four generations left detailed wills which tell us more about individuals, their lives and relationships. The Lowdell (or LowdwellContinue reading “The Landowning Lowdells c1600-1723 : Where There’s a Will…”
Butland Gooding Family Tree 