More brilliant snippets of life in Combe. I can relate to the girl Berry and Swan Hill. I too have lost control on a bike and also a car on that hill. A good job there was a track that runs parallel to the river I used as an escape route. Perhaps I should not have had that `last` drink in the Swan Pub at the top of the hill!!
Hi Shane, and how nice to see you back in family history mode!
That little snippet about Augustus only just finishing the thatching before he died was a real gem. I noticed when I was looking at the Combe/Coombe burial register the other day that it had more than the usual amount of information. The standard pre-printed burial register (introduced in 1813, if I remember correctly) had no space for extra notes, so most burial entries are pretty uninformative. Genealogists with Combe ancestors can be thankful for those wonderful little details that really help flesh out the bones of the family tree.
Here are a few more of the comments from the burial register:
Phoebe STOWELL, 56, of Long Combe, Chatapie otherwise West End Villa (buried 22 Sept 1913): ‘Wife of Mr Stowell, a retired superintendant (sic) of English factory in Russia. She was stone deaf & long suffered from a severe internal complaint.’
Elizabeth WOODWARD, 76, of Enstone (buried 27 Nov 1913): ‘Widow of John Woodward, the Butcher of Woodstock for many years; was the mother of more than 20 sons & daughters.’
Frederick Andrew HORNE, 63, of Long Combe (buried 10 March 1914): ‘Head carpenter at Blenheim Palace for many years – a very quiet trustworthy man; member of the Salvation Army. He died by a sudden stroke of apoplexy about 1 hour after my conversing with him on the Saturday previous when he appeared to be in his usual health.’
and so on! Then there’s Lydia BISHOP, who ‘died of an ulcerous leg’ in 1912 after refusing to have it amputated, and poor Daisy Evelyn BERRY, who was just 17 when she lost control of her bicycle coming down Swan Hill, crashed into the bridge and was thrown down into the river. This was in 1916.
Nothing at all to do with Olivers, but I thought it was interesting anyway….
Well, after a couple of manic work months I'm pleased to say I'm back on the family history trail and pleased to see there has been a bit of discussion going on!
Just been reading through the 'Coombe Olivers' trail and I've tried to help here and pull some of the leads together into a bit of a consolidated picture.
So, it appears to me that there were originally two Oliver families that moved and settled in Coombe.
Firstly, William Augustus/Augustus Oliver, his wife Elizabeth and children appear to move to Coombe at around 1890 having previously lived and christened children in Long Hanbrough and Stonesfield. Their last 3 children Philip, John and Albert were all christened in Coombe.
Although the 1881, 1891 and 1901 census records show William Augustus/Augustus Oliver as born in Finstock I'm yet to locate his birth and therein pin down who his parents are - so, yet to establish where/if he and his family fit in.
Here's a picture to illustrate this generation:
Augustus Oliver died in 1918, aged 62, and was a thatcher, his wife Elizabeth lived to be 79 and died in 1936. Both were buried in Coombe.
The Parish register for Augustus' burial reads 'Died just a fortnight after he finished the task of thatching the church house which we had given him to do, which was fortunate as he was the only thatcher in the village'.
Allbert, the youngest child, died in 1972 aged 73 and his wide Hilda died in 1981 aged 81, again both were buried in Coombe.
Philip appears on the Coombe WW1 Memorial.
The 1911 census has Sidney Augustus living at 66 Peel Road Wembley, London, with this wife Annie and 6 month old son Laurence Sidney and his occupation reads Met Police Constable.
Secondly, William Edgar Oliver, son of Albert and Hannah, was born in Stonesfield in 1876 and appears to move and settle in to Coombe in around 1896 marrying Elsie Jane Elizabeth Johnston who was born in Chelsea.
Here's a picture to illustrate the early generations of this family, which we're more familar with through previous discussions:
This hopefully confirms the relationship between Seymour and Isabel (Uncle) that was rasied earlier in the thread.
As we know, Allan Thomas died in 1985 and his wife Lillian in 1988.
So, there's a bit more of the picture hopefully - Some new names coming to light and possibly fitting into place there Irene?
Next step here would be good to locate a couple of living decendants from each family to help fill in the remaining gaps.
Hi Jane, Rene OR Irene - I answer to both. Most people in Oxfordshire call me Rene but here in Essex I am mostly called Irene, amongst other things!!
Lovely to have all the dates of the hatches, matches and despatches. One death you need not look into is that of William Oliver of 14 Akeman Street, being 26th August 1961. That is my Dad and we lived at 14 Akeman Street. I got married from that address in March of the following year and my Brother John in December the following year.
It is odd to think that there was a previous William Oliver who lived in Akeman Street though, Number 14 was only built around 1950 so it was not there. The 1901 Census only states Akeman Street. I seem to remember that all the houses in Akeman Street were re-numbered just prior to the 39/45 war when they built a few Council Houses.
I had a look in the Combe parish register transcript at Witney Library today and found the marriage too!!
William Alexander OLIVER, 23, bachelor, mason of Long Combe, son of William 'Ernest' [presumably an error for William Edgar] OLIVER, builder and contractor married Ada Sarah HOWES, 24, spinster of Long Combe, daughter of Edwin HOWES, labourer, at Combe on 17 July 1920.
Also at Combe is his parents' marriage: William Edgar OLIVER, 20, bachelor, bricklayer of Stonesfield, son of Albert OLIVER, mason, married Elsie Jane Elizabeth JOHNSTON, 20, spinster of Long Combe, daughter of Alexander JOHNSTON, deceased, 3 August 1896.
(As I was in a hurry I didn't copy down the witnesses)
There are baptisms at Combe for four children of William & Elsie (William Alexander 1897, Phyllis Constance Eva 1901, Allen Thomas 1906 and Seymour Albert Johnston 1913) and two children of William Alexander & Ada Sarah (Isabel Hannah Mary on New Year's Day 1922 and Herbert William Edwin in 1926). The father's occupation is given as mason when Isabel was baptised but as organist in 1926, so another musical connection.
Among the numerous OLIVER burials at Combe I found Elsie Jane Elizabeth (74, of Combe), buried April 1950 William Edgar (75, of Combe), buried Nov 1951 William (50, of 14 Akeman Street, Combe), died in Radcliffe Infirmary, buried Aug 1961 (I will have to check I copied his age correctly; it should be around 64 if this is William Alexander, which I'd guess it is, from his address) Ada Sarah (75, of Akeman Street, Combe), buried Dec 1971; the service was conducted by a Methodist minister.
Newspaper announcements, gravestone inscriptions, etc. might all add more detail.
In the Ancestry marriage index I found Seymour getting married in the Chipping Norton district in the second quarter of 1947. His bride was called Nora Palmer.
This bit of the family tree seems to be making more sense now. Let's just hope there are some descendants around who might join this forum.
Hi Jane, Just a quickie. I found a marriage entry for William Alexander Oliver to Ada S. Howse for 1920 Jul/Aug/Sept Qtr. at Woodstock. Now I will see if I can find Ada`s birth - if she was born Howse.
Hi Jane, Things are really beginning to fall into place. I think you are right about the connection between Seymour and Isabel etc. I could probably find out who the Howse family were if I contacted Dorothy Calcutt (nee Howse) of Combe or Micky Oliver from Stonesfield who is Allan Oliver`s son. Perhaps I will this weekend.
In 1901 there was also another William A. Oliver in Combe, he was born in Finstock in 1855 and so should be related to my family. Sometimes he was known as Augustus William O. He had two sets of census papers one year. I am still trying to slot him into place. He lived for some time in Stonesfield which confuses matters, I will succeed though.
It is good to know that there's somebody else out there.
I've had a look at the birth index on FreeBMD and see that the birth of an Isabel H.M. Oliver was registered in the Woodstock district in the last quarter of 1921. Her mother's maiden name was Howes. She had a younger brother Herbert, born in 1926. The write-up of the wedding names her father as W.A. Oliver, who I guess is probably the William Alexander Oliver mentioned in the thread about Allan Thomas Oliver's bench.
Seymour Oliver's mother's maiden name was Johnston so I presume he was a considerably younger brother of William Alexander, and hence uncle of Isabel/Isobel.
I think this calls for one of Shane's colourful little diagrams!
I haven't yet located William Alexander Oliver's marriage to a Howes. It's possible his wife had been married before (there were many young war widows around at this time), in which case her surname in the marriage index would not be the same as her maiden name.
Hope this reduces your bafflement rather than increasing it!
Hello Jane, you are NOT definitely talking to yourself. I click on every day to see what is new. You have me `baffled` this time. I grew up in Combe (born 1941). I knew th Oliver Family - or so I thought. I knew Allan Thomas O. and I believe Seymour was his brother. I seem to remember a lady named Isabel Rawlings. I presume she was a sister of Allan and Seymour. Now I have to find out for sure. I still lhave contacts in Combe, even though I left the village in 1963. My Father was a William Oliver from Finstock who settlerd in Combe. I am interested in all the Olivers - so keep up the good work.
Hello.... it's me again, replying to my own posts ....
S.A.J. Oliver has popped up again, this time in war-time as Sergeant S.A.J. Oliver. He was best man at the wedding of Miss Isobel H.M. Oliver (daughter of Mr and Mrs W.A. Oliver of Oak Cottage, Combe) to Frederick W. M. Rawlings (whose parents were from Hanborough and who has the initials L.A.C. in front of his name, which my dictionary tells me stands for Leading Airman or Aircraftsman). They married at Combe St Lawrence in April 1943 according to the 'Oxford Times' of 23 April 1943.
I hope somebody out there finds this useful/interesting. If so, please say so, as I feel very foolish just talking to myself!!
Everyone has gone very quiet so here's another snippet from the 'Witney Gazette'. The edition in question dates from 8 December 1933 and lists the winning entrants in the Witney & District Music Festival. There were awards in all sorts of different categories.
Among entrants who had been studying the violin for more than 2 years, an S.A. Oliver was judged 'first class'. The following week's newspaper notes that a Seymour Oliver had been a competitor at the Festival and since I see from his birth registration (1913, Woodstock district) that Seymour had the middle initials A.J. then I guess he is the talented violinist.
As to where Seymour fits into the family tree, see the thread on the Allan Oliver bench.
The Witney Music Festival (sometimes called the Witney Eisteddfod) seems to have been a regular event in those days. Sadly it has long gone ... and every attempt to introduce any culture into Witney seems to suffer the same fate!!
