Thomas Breedon Woodfield (born 1801; died 1845)

A brief post, on what happens when you decide to search for a name just to see what you find. Quite a wee while after I discovered the http://www.a2a.org.uk/ site (now at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a). I thought one particular day I'd put in the name of an ancestor with a fairly unique name to see what might happen. The ancestor I chose was a great great great grandfather, Thomas Breedon Woodfield (1801-1845), who married Mary Marshall at Cranfield, Bedfordshire, 28 January 1823 (IGI). They were the parents of several children, their son John Thomas Woodfield (1835-1908), my great great grandfather, migrating to New Zealand with his wife Jemima (nee Iliffe) on the Clontarf, arriving in March 1860.



So, I put in the name Thomas Breedon Woodfield into the a2a search box, expecting little or nothing to come of it. All I really knew of his background to that point, was that his parents were John and Sarah Woodfield.



The result of putting his name into the search box was a draft release of land from Thomas and his wife Mary. The major find, genealogically, was that the release described how Thomas had come by the property; the land had been purchased in 1785 by Shadrach Taylor, miller, of Avon Dassett, Warwickshire, who was the grandfather of Thomas Breedon Woodfield.



That gave me the maiden name of Sarah Woodfield (Thomas' mother). Going again to IGI, I located a marriage date for John Woodfield and Sarah Taylor, 14 April 1800, Warmington, Warwickshire.



I then wondered about the name of the grandfather, Shadrach Taylor. It seemed unusual enough that putting that into a2a might be worth it, especially as I seemed to have the location of Avon Dassett in Warwickshire to narrow results down. So I put that in.

Up came a will for a John Haines, yeoman, of Avon Dassett, Warwickshire, for 1st May 1776.
The will named his heirs:

his daughter Martha, wife of John Townshend;
grandson William Townshend (evidently son of Martha and John);
grandson Joseph Haines, who was son of John Haines' son, another Joseph Haines, who was himself deceased;
son John Haines;
daughter Elizabeth Bishop, wife of Austin Bishop of Weston Turvill, Buckinghamshire;
daughter Ann Paxford, wife of William Paxford, of Finmore, Oxfordshire;
Children of Ann Paxford by her first husband (all unnamed);
daughter Sarah Denston, wife of the Rev. John Denston;
daughter Mary Haines of Avon Dassett;
daughter Joanna Collins of Avon Dassett;
and daughter "Esther Taylor, wife of Shadrach Taylor of Avon Dassett".

The executor of the will of John Haines were his nephews John Hitchcock, of Ratley, yeoman, "and kinsman John Haines junior of Avon Dassett". This last named John Haines junior causes some considerable confusion when one tries to sort out one John Haines from another, as the John Haines junior seems to be different from John Haines the son of John Haines, yeoman of Avon Dassett.

Anyway, I presume the Shadrach Taylor, miller, of Avon Dassett, purchasing land in 1785 is the same as the one named in the 1776 will.

IGI has a marriage record for Shadrach Tayler and Esther Haines as marrying at Avon Dassett, 23 June 1774.

There was a christening record for a Sarah Taylor as taking place in August 1774 at Avon Dassett with parents Shadrach Taylor and Esther, so that seems to show a tie in with Sarah (Taylor) Woodfield being the daughter of this Shadrach and Esther Taylor.

Putting the name John Haines into a2a also seemed to bring up his parents. There was a probate for the will of a Joseph Hains or Haines of Avon Dassett, yeoman, for 22 August 1739. This named the legatees as his wife Martha, daughter Martha and son-in-law William Hitchcock, son John Haines, executor, and grandson Joseph Haines.

Remember that the John Haines of 1776 had a nephew John Hitchcock of Ratley, and here we have a John Haines with sister and brother-in-law being Martha and William Hitchcock (i.e. their son would be his nephew), as well as the younger Joseph Haines, who was deceased by 1776.

This corroborates IGI:

John Hains, christened 27 December 1698 at Avon Dassett, parents Joseph and Martha;
Martha Hains, christened 1 December 1700 at Avon Dassett, parents Joseph and Martha;
Martha Hains marriage to William Hitchcock, Avon Dassett, 16 May 1723.

Other material from IGI that possibly (or probably?) relates to this family:

Martha Haines marriage to John Townshend, 19 February 1750, Bloxham, Oxfordshire (no day or month)
Elizabeth Haines marriage to Augustine Bishop, 8 February 1755, Avon Dassett
Sarah Haines marriage to John Denston, 1760, Avon Dassett (no day or month)
Joanna Haines marriage to John Collins, 24 Februaruy 1756, Avon Dassett.