Sarah BROWN (occasionally recorded as Sarah Ann BROWN) was born circa 1792 in Brislington. She was the youngest daughter of Henry Brown and Betty Harrill. Our old family tree noted that she had married a Robert Lindon COLLINGS.

Bishops Transcripts for the Parish church of St Luke, Brislington show that this was in 1831:

The Bridgwater and Somersetshire Herald of 1 June 1831 apparently contains two announcements regarding this marriage. I haven't seen the full newspaper record but the index lists the following:

Moorland is in the parish of North Petherton.

Searching for Descendants

As far as I know Robert Lindon Collings and Sarah had two children, Francis Henry, born abt 1836 and Edwin John born Bridgewater abt 1840. I am hoping to find their descendants.

Surely there must be some English cousins still living in or near Bristol? Or perhaps someone who knows where members of the family now are. It would be wonderful to find them.

1881 UK census

I haven't been able to find these sons in the 1881 census but this might be their father, Robert Lindon Collings:

Dwelling:
Census Place: Durston, Somerset, England
Source: FHL Film 1341569 PRO Ref RG11 Piece 2365 Folio 119 Page 5
Marr Age Sex Birthplace
Thomas H. BANFIELD M 35 M North Petherton, Somerset, England
Rel: Head
Occ: Farmer Of 160 Acres Emply 4 Men & 3 Boys
Lucy BANFIELD M 37 F East Brent, Somerset, England
Rel: Wife
Occ: Farmers Wife
Edgar J. SHEERE 11 M Durston, Somerset, England
Rel: Nephew
Occ: Scholar
Robert L. COLLINGS W 81 M Sutton Mallet, Somerset, England
Rel: Boarder ....... possibly our Robert Lindon Collings - but was it?
Occ: Retired Farmer
Eliza BECKEY U 16 F Muchelney, Somerset, England
Rel: Servt
Occ: General Servt

Another Brown / Lindon Connection

It is interesting that Robert's middle name is Lindon, a name which had been carried down as a Brown family name, possibly arising from the marriage of Sarah Golston, daughter of Catherine Brown and James Golston, to John Lindon in 1798. The GLS index states:

My understanding originally was that this couple had just one daughter, Catherine Golston Lindon, who later married the Reverend Theophilus Biddulph. That marriage takes us into another large branch of the Brown family tree which I won't deal with on this particular web page. Suffice to say that the connected surnames are: BIDDULPH, BAINBRIDGE, GENNYS, LANGLEY, MACKENZIE and some of these descendants came to Australia. If you'd like to know more about this branch of the family click here for the Lindon page.

I now know that there were two other daughters in the family: Mary Joan Lndon and Deborah Lydia Lindon.

For more on the Lindon family, and especially the Biddulph and Parkyn descendants, click here.

The Lindon Collings Family

We now know that Robert Lindon Collings was the brother of Elizabeth Lindon (Collings) Parkyn (1803-1860). They were children of John and Elizabeth (Lindon) Collings of the Edington, Moorlinch, Sutton Mallet, and Westonzoyland area, east of Bridgwater.

Descendant Anthony Hoskins wrote to me after finding my postings on the internet and has shared some wonderful history of the Collings, Lindon and Parkyn families, with particular emphasis of course on Anthony's side of the family. It is briefly summarised below. Anthony and I would love to hear from anyone who finds a connection to these families.

John Collings Parkyn, was born in 1839 at Bawdrip - actually in the hamlet of Knowle (possibly at Knowle House), in the parish of Bawdrip. His father, the Rev. William Rowett Parkyn (1808-1889), was at the time founding and building Wesleyan chapels in the vicinity, having married a local woman, Elizabeth Lindon Collings (bap. 1803, Sutton Mallet, d.1860 Elmsworthy House, Kilkhampton, buried Woodford, Morwenstow). She was the daughter of John and Elizabeth (Lindon) Collings of Edington, Sutton Mallet, Moorlinch, and thereabouts.

Elizabeth had siblings named Robert Lindon Collings (of Moorlinch) and possibly the Rev. Trelawney Collings, rector of Timsbury, Somerset, and probably later Bedminster, Bristol.

If the Rev. Trelawney Collings is a brother of Elizabeth Lindon (Collings) Parkyn, Anthony wonders whether there might be a connection to the Trelawneys of Trelawne, Pelynt - very near Polperro, home of Elizabeth's eventual husband. Might that connection have explained the Rev. William Rowett Parkyn's presence in the Moorlinch, Somerset area and his meeting the Collings family?

Anthony has an interesting hypothesis. "Trelawney-Collings: A Polperro-Bristol Connection?":

John and Anne (Rowett) Parkyn of Polperro had , besides the Rev. William Rowett Parkyn, another son, the Rev. Nathaniel Parkyn (b.c.1815, St Neots, d. 1888, Torquay). Nathaniel married Deborah Lindon, of Westonzoyland, first cousin of Elizabeth Lindon (Collings) Parkyn, her sister-in-law.

Rev. Nathaniel and Deborah (Lindon) Parkyn had a son who was a Church of England clergyman. He was the Very Rev. Nathaniel Lindon Parkyn (1851-1931), Dean of Ballarat (Australia). His entry from "Who Was Who, 1929-1940" (p. 1045) reads: "PARKYN, Very Rev. Nathaniel Lindon; Educ: Western College, Plymouth; Ordained 1891; Curate of Keighley, 1891-3; Halifax, 1893-4; Vicar of Lightcliffe, 1894-7; Dean and Vicar of Christ Church Cathedral, Ballarat, 1897-1914; Vicar of All Saints, Blackpool, 1915-21. Address: 16 Edwards Street, Bath. Died 16 June 1931.

Anthony has concluded that the Lindon family must have been quite prominent in that area of Somerset - from Bridgwater down to Taunton and thereabouts. He wants to explore the family at various places in Somerset: Edington, Moorlinch, Sutton Mallet, Westonzoyland, and now also North Petherton, Durston, and others. The Collings and Lindon families were rather prosperous by all appearances.

The Collings Family of South Wales - are they related?

Mrs Lisa Evans and Mrs Susan Williams of Wales are also researching the Collings family and wonder whether there is a connection between our families. The exact spelling of "Collings" is very unusual in their area, the South Wales valleys.

They are trying to establish the ancestry of a Samuel Collings born c. 1831 in North Petherton, Somerset, the same place as Robert Lindon Collings and his sister Elizabeth lindon Collings.. Samuel married an Ann Williams who had been born in 1831 at Lambeth, Surrey. It is not known exactly when or why Samuel and Ann moved to Wales, but it was presumably to look for work in the emergent coalfields of industrialised South Wales.

Apparently the migratory pattern of the family was incredible and they appear in the Census returns for a number of areas. It is believed that they initially settled in Neath, West Glamorgan, sometime before 1855, with Samuel working as a labourer. By 1860 they were living in Pontwalby Street, Rhigos and their son David was born there on 25/04/1862. At this stage, Samuel was employed as superintendent on the railway. By 1864, the family were living at Penderyn, near Merthyr, returning to Rhigos by 1866 where they remained until at least 1873. They finally appear in the Rhondda Fawr in the Census returns of 1881, living at 53, Upper Row, Fernhill, Blaenrhondda. By this time Samuel was working as a labourer in the colliery and they had at least seven children.

Samuel eventually died on 15/01/1908 at 60 Fernhill, Blaenrhondda, aged 77 years. The Christian names Samuel, David and Elizabeth continually appear in the generations.

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The Lindon Family

The Brown Family Front Page