Chapter Three
My DOVASTON Family as I Know it Now!

My father was fascinated by his ancestry.
How I wish he could have known that for many years he was working very near to where his grandparents had been born.

My research is dedicated to him.

My father, Reginald Alfred John DOVASTON was born in 1919 in Twickenham, Middlesex. He was naturally left-handed but education at the time dictated he write with the other hand, which led to him being ambidextrous as an adult. At the age of eleven, he won a scholarship to the local grammar school but being the eldest of four boys, he had to leave school at the age of fifteen to help support the family. His first job was as a shop assistant. In 1939 he was conscripted into the Army. Not being of a practical nature, he became a clerk in the Royal Army Dental Corps, rising to the rank of Sergeant by the end of the Second World War. He described one of his most important tasks as "turning up the volume on the radio so that others in the waiting room wouldn't hear the screams from the Surgery"! Most of his War Service was in this country and he met his wife-to-be, Margaret Ada BEESLEY, who was serving in the ATS, whilst they were both stationed at Brecon, Wales. But in 1945, Reg was informed that he was being posted to Malaya. During embarkation leave, he and Margaret were married at St Mary's Church, Caterham Hill, Surrey (left). He was demobbed on his return in 1946 and joined the Civil Service, where he was to remain for the rest of his working life, never missing a day's work through illness. He spent many years with the Department of Employment in Holborn, London and in Croydon, Surrey. But in 1971 he was transferred to Runcorn, Cheshire with the Manpower Services Commission. He remained there until his retirement in 1984. In 1988, he moved 'back down south' to Worthing, Sussex,where he died in 1993.
Reg Dov, as he was always known in the family, had been much affected by the necessity for him to leave school before obtaining any paper qualifications and was determined this would not happen to his child. He and Margaret decided to limit their family to one and for several years after their marriage, Reg not only worked as a Civil Servant during the day, but also as an operator at a local telephone exchange in the evenings. By 1948, he and Margaret were able to buy their own home in Whyteleafe, Surrey (see right for how the house looks now), although they had to initially share the house with another young family in order to afford the mortgage. They investigated the best schools in the area for their child, although this meant paying for her education, which was sometimes quite a struggle.

My grandfather, John DOVASTON (right) was born in 1890 in Chelsea, Middlesex. His occupation has been described as an Engineering Miller or Motor Engineer (Gear cutter). He married Maude Margery MAY in 1918 at St Mary's Church, Twickenham, Middlesex on her 23rd birthday. He died in St Peter's Hospital, Chertsey, Surrey in 1959, from broncho- pneumonia and emphysema, having never fully recovered from being gassed in the First World War. He had also suffered an injury which left him with one leg shorter than the other. John was probably the youngest of seven children. He had 2 sisters. Maude was born in 1881 and Rose Mary in 1886. Rose Mary married Charles Ernest WINDLEY, who was half-brother to Clara WINDLEY, Maude MAY's mother. John's brothers were William Henry, born in 1883, Henry born about 1884, and Alfred Edward, (left) born in 1888. Another brother was born in 1880 but no name is given on the birth registration. Alfred Edward was married twice, first to Florence Elsie Marian WINDLEY, niece of Clara WINDLEY and then to Emma Elizabeth HENDON PECOVER, another daughter of Clara WINDLEY and half-sister to Maude MAY.

My great grandfather, Henry DOVASTON was born in St Giles, Holborn, Middlesex in 1861. He was a carman and later a locksmith. He married Mary Ann WELCH in 1879 at St Philip's, Kensington, Middlesex. Mary Ann was also probably born in Holborn about 1861. She died at the age of 33 in the Chelsea Workhouse Infirmary (left)from acute pneumonia but her mother-in-law, Emma LLOYD was with her when she died. This left Henry with several young children to look after but his mother, who had long been widowed, lived with him. Henry remarried in 1898. His second wife, Annie, who was nine years his senior, was the widow of Thomas DIMMOCK. She had lived next-door and had five children of her own. Henry died in 1937 at the age of 76 from broncho-pneumonia and cardiac failure. He still lived in Chelsea but died in Shoreditch. His eldest daughter, Maude registered the death. Henry was probably the second of four boys. The eldest was Edward John, born 1859. Edward was a trumpeter in the 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards. He married Elizabeth York WESTON at St Peter's Church, Brighton (right) in 1884 whilst garrisoned at Preston Barracks and remained in Brighton until his death in 1946. The other brothers were William, born 1863 and John, born 1865. The latter was a carman like Henry.

My second great grandfather, John DOVASTON was born about 1837 in St Pancras, Middlesex. He was a watchmaker's porter. He married Emma LLOYD in 1858 at St James', Westminster, Middlesex and died in 1867 from pulmonary consumption at the age of 30. They spent their married life in the London tenements, frequently moving to a new address. After John's death, Emma supported herself and her children as a laundress. She died in 1918 at the age of 78.

My third great grandfather, Edward DOVASTON was the all-important link, which I doubt I would have found without the help of Phil DOVASTON and the family tree he has in his possession. Edward was born in 1784 and baptised at Ruyton XI Towns, Shropshire (left). He was a tailor like his father. According to the family tree mentioned above, he married N. MOON in London but, as yet, I have not been able to trace this marriage. It would appear that Edward returned to Shropshire in later life without his family. He died in the Morda Workhouse, Oswestry, Shropshire at the age of 76. Edward was the eldest of six children but his sister, Eleanor died just after her birth in 1786 and his brother, Thomas at the age of 17 in 1807. His brother William, born 1793, was also a tailor. William married twice and had nine children by his second wife, Jane DAVIES. Of these, four died during childhood and were buried within nine days of each other in 1841. And two daughters Mary and Naomi, emigrated to America. Another brother John, born about 1799, probably never married and died at the age of 51.
Edward's sister, Sarah, born about 1797, married her first cousin William. Their son, John inherited the 'Nursery' at West Felton (see below) from his second cousin, John Freeman Milward DOVASTON, the writer of sonnets and natural historian who had died without issue. This inheritance promoted John to the 'landed gentry' and he later became a Justice of the Peace. He also married a first cousin - Sarah Anne - and his diaries and family tree, continued by his son Adolphus, are those which are now in the possession of Phil DOVASTON. Adolphus' daughter, Margaret, became a famous painter (below).

My fourth great grandfather, John, was born at Twyford, Shropshire in 1755 and baptised at St Michael's, West Felton (left). He was a tailor. He married Ann PRICE at West Felton in 1780.They moved to Wigmarsh, Eardiston where they lived until their deaths, Ann in 1833 and John in 1841. They are buried together at St John the Baptist, Ruyton XI Towns. The tombstone (right) is very worn but shows that their sons, Thomas and John and son-in-law, William, who was also their nephew, are buried with them. The existence of a tombstone would appear to show an increase in fortune. Daughter, Eleanor had been buried as a pauper in 1786. John was one of seven children and the eldest son. His sisters, Elizabeth, born 1744 and Margaret, born 1758, both died as children. Mary was born in 1747, another Elizabeth in 1749 and Sarah in 1760. His only brother, William was born in 1761.

My fifth great grandfather, Edward was baptised at West Felton in 1719. He was described as a servant at his marriage to Margaret JONES in 1743 at Montford, Shropshire. They lived at Woolston and then Twyford and are buried at West Felton. Edward was born to his father's second wife. His elder brother Thomas, born 1718, inherited their mother's estate at Little Ness, but died a pauper. His sister, Mary was born in 1721 and younger brother Daniel in 1725. Daniel became a soldier and fought at the battle of Culloden during the Jacobite rebellion. There had been two children from his father's first marriage. Mary, born 1714, only lived for three months, dying soon after her mother and the eldest son, John, born 1712. John was later described by Adolphus as a 'bat hat'. He was a wheelwright by trade but evidently spent a great deal of time (and money) at the local alehouse and died heavily in debt. In order to remedy this, his son, another John born 1740, made 2 successful voyages to the West Indies where he developed a sugar plantation. The proceeds enabled this later John to build up the estate at West Felton. He first developed the grounds and then built a new house. He is credited with having manufactured and laid a great many of the bricks himself. He landscaped the grounds with such a variety of trees and saplings that he named it 'The Nursery' (left) and recorded what he had planted with coloured illustrations. These included a variety of Yew tree called Taxus baccata 'Dovastonii', which still stands in the grounds of Dovaston Court, built after the Nursery was demolished in the 1980s. John also built an organ which he installed in the house, and constructed telescopes and other optical instruments.

My sixth great grandfather, John was born about 1687 at Twyford. He was described as a yeoman. He married twice. His first wife was Elizabeth SIDES, whom he married at Hordley Church (right) in 1709. She died in 1714 and was buried at West Felton. John then married Miriam BROWN at West Felton in 1717. He died in 1730 and was buried at West Felton, as is Miriam, who died in 1741/2. John was one of six children and the eldest son. His brother, Daniel, was born in 1688 and William in 1699. His three sisters were Elizabeth, born in 1683, Anne, born in 1690 and Jane, born in 1694.

My seventh great grandfather was also a John. He was born in 1650 in West Felton where he lived all his life, dying in 1721. He married Mary WILLIAMS in about 1682. Mary was also born in 1650 in West Felton and died in 1745. John had one brother that I know of. This was William, who was a soldier and settled in Alberbury, Shropshire after he retired from the army.

My eighth great grandfather was Daniel, who was born about 1624 and lived at The Old Farm, West Felton. He married his cousin, Ann WILLIAMS who died in 1679 and was buried at West Felton.

My ninth great grandfather was also named Daniel. According to Adolphus, this Daniel was the owner of a freehold estate at Dovaston "Which had been helf by his family since the days of Good Queen Bess and still so remains". Daniel married Joan MILLINGTON of Shrewsbury. He moved to West Felton in 1675.

My tenth great grandfather was ........ (watch this space!)