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Newspaper clipping from Bedfordshire Times and Independent dated 22 April 1927 regarding the marriage of Beatrice Annie Millard and William Archer.

THOMAS BENNETT (my 5 x great grandfather) was born in 1770 in Calverleigh Devon England. Thomas died in June
1838, aged about 67, in Morchard Bishop, Devon, England. He married Mary BIDGOOD 01 May 1793 in Calverleigh Devon England. She was born 1773 in Calverleigh Devon England and died 1843 in Copplestone Devon England, daughter of Henry BIDGOOD and Grace BESLEY.

Children of Thomas BENNETT and Mary BIDGOOD:


William was born 16 Sep 1793 in Morchard Bishop, Devon, England and died 01 Jan 1794 in Morchard Bishop, Devon, England.

Mary Ann was born 1794 in Morchard Bishop, Devon, England and died 11 Jan 1856 in Crediton, Devon . She married Simon WREFORD 15 Dec 1817 in Morchard Bishop, Devon. He was born Feb 1777 in Morchard Bishop, Devon and died 02 Mar 1853 also in Morchard Bishop, son of Matthew and Mary WREFORD.

Elizabeth was born 1795 in Morchard Bishop, Devon, England. She married John ROWE.

Grace was born Apr 1797 in Morchard Bishop, Devon, England and died there, 30 Dec 1832.

Anne was born Jan 1799 in Morchard Bishop, Devon, England and died 29 Jun 1863 in Exeter, Devon, England. She married John Salter HALSEY 08 Jun 1836 in Morchard Bishop Devon England.

Sarah was born 06 Nov 1800 in Morchard Bishop, Devon, England. She married John BUCKINGHAM. He was born 1799 in Kings Nympton, Devon, England.

Jane was born ABT 1802 in Morchard Bishop, Devon, England. She married Joseph C ROWE 29 Sep 1821 in Morchard Bishop, Devon, England. He was born 1782 in Exeter Devon England.

William was born 28 Dec 1803 in Morchard Bishop, Devon, England and died Sep 1872 in Devon. He married Ann CUMMINS 22 Jun 1830 in Crediton. She was born 12 Oct 1806 in Crediton and died there, Mar 1872.

Thomas was born 21 Nov 1803 in Morchard Bishop, Devon, and died 31 Mar 1878 in Morchard Bishop, Devon. He married Mary Ann CANN 25 Feb 1836 in Sandford Devon England. She was born 14 Dec 1810 in Morchard Bishop, Devon, and died there in 1854.

Susanna was born 1805 in Morchard Bishop, Devon. She married James TALBOT 09 Oct 1839 in Morchard Bishop. He was born 1800 in Devon.

John was born 1807 in Morchard Bishop, Devon, England and died 1863. He married Eliazabeth COLE. She was born 1823 in Cruwys Morchard Devon England and died 1854 in Witheridge, Devon, England.

Phoebe was born 27 Dec 1808 in Morchard Bishop, Devon, and died Mar 1863 in Exeter, Devon. She married John MOGRIDGE 02 Mar 1841 in Morchard Bishop. He was born ABT 1797 in Molland, Devon, and died 1855 in Poughill Devon, England.

Henry was born 1811 in Morchard Bishop, Devon, England.

Lucy was born 06 Oct 1813 in Morchard Bishop, Devon, England. She married Thomas BEDELL. He was born 1763 in Tiverton and died 1859.

I would love to hear from anyone researching any of the above names from Devon. A great genealogy resource for BENNETT researchers can be found HERE

The photo is of my great grandfather William Henry BENNETT (1885-1916) and 5 of his siblings.

James's Story....so far


After the death of his mother Annie (nee DENIORD), James father, Samuel WIDDICKS for reason's I don't know allowed James and his two siblings, Rose and Maud, to be taken into care.

James was taken into care by the Board of Guardians Whitechapel and in 1901 is shown in the British census as an inmate, aged five, living at Mile End Old Town, London, England. Then on 13 Dec 1902 James was moved to Kent to live at the Farningham home for little boys, where he stayed until 7 April 1902.

The next record of James is from the passenger list's when on 20 May 1909 James was amongst a group of Barnardo's children sailing on the ship "Corsican" from Liverpool to Quebec, Canada. James arrived in Quebec on 28 May 1909 and was transferred to Toronto, Ontario. In 1910 there are records showing James in Hastings East, Ontario.

In 1911 James is a servant on a farm working 60 hours a week 52 weeks a year!!! There's another british home child at the farm called Alice POINTING, a servant of the house who worked the same hours as James. This is the last known whereabouts of James apart from his final resting place at Whites Bayside Cemetery, Hastings, Ontario. Grave ref 1185. Two other people share the grave, they are Carol Maud WIDDICKS and Annie E C WIDDICKS. (no dates known)

James' sisters, Maud and Rose, where also British Home Children. All three children travelled at different times.

If anyone can fill in the missing parts of James's life or point me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated.

Like many people researching their CLARK ancestors I have found that the E appears and disappears on different documents. So for the sake of this journal I will omit the E.

John CLARK (b. 1852) married Mary TREVILLION (b. 1855) on 17 May 1875 at Regents Square London. They had the following children


Harriett Eliza CLARK was born in Sep. 1873 in St Pancras London. She married William Charles HOWELL.

Emily CLARK was born on 29 Mar. 1874 in St Pancras, London. She married George BARBER

John David CLARK was born on 15 Apr. 1876 in St Pancras, London, England and died on 23 Oct. 1918 in Belgium at the age of 42. He married Ellen Ann LOCKWOOD. On John's marriage certificate it states that he was a widow when he married Ellen. I have yet to find his first wife and if there were children from this first marriage.

George Robert CLARK was born in Sep. 1879 in London.

Mary Ann CLARK was born in 1882 in St Pancras London.

Rose CLARK was born in 1887 in Islington, London, England.

Ellen CLARK was born on 7 Feb. 1890 in 2c Beaconsfield Building Islington London and died on 11 Dec. 1978 in 393 Highbury Quadrant Islington London. She married Andrew Edward BUSHNELL

William CLARK was born on 6 Dec. 1891 in Islington, London. He married Rose EMPSON.

Robert CLARK was born on 29 Jun. 1894 in Islington Middlesex England and died in 1970 in Dagenham, Essex, England. He married Annie Elizabeth VIPOND.

Florence CLARK was born About 1896 in Kings Cross London.

Any information on this CLARK family would be greatly appreciated.

The photo is of William CLARK and his wife Rose and daughter Maria.

Daniel EAST was born in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England on 10 Sept 1844. He was the son of Joseph EAST and Sarah POLEYKETT. On 22 July 1864 he married Ellen PLESTED at the Lower Baptist Chapel in Amersham, Buckinghamshire. They had four children, Albert b. 1865, Martha b. 1868, David b. 1874 and Frederick b. 1876.

By 1874 the family had moved to Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire but times were hard and Daniel was struggling to feed his family. In 1877 Daniel applied for parish relief but his claim was opposed by the local magistrate as he had twice convicted Daniel for public house rows. Daniel was distraught and could not see how his family would survive.

On Saturday 24 Feb 1877 Daniel took his two youngest children, David aged 3 and Frederick aged 8 months for a walk across the meadows. When he reached Pond Meadow he murdered the children by slitting their throats. He then laid the bodies next to each other and covered them with a blanket, placing a bible on top of them. Daniel then walked back to the town with the intention of murdering the magistrate who he expected to be at the petty sessions but on arrival he discovered it was not bench day, so walked instead to the police station where he gave himself up. He stated that he had murdered two of his children, handed the bloodstained knife over and told the police where the bodies could be found. The bodies were taken to the Crooked Billet public house where they awaited a coroners inquest.

Daniel was brought before the county magistrate and remanded in custody stating that he wished to be hanged immediately for his crime.

On 5 March 1877 Daniel stood trial for the murder of his children. He said he had done the deed because ?he had not a bit of bread to give the five children, so he thought he would take two of them and put them out the way. He had no ill feeling against his children, but did not wish to see them come to the Union.? At the trial it became clear that Daniel had suffered with mental illness problems and had been an in-patient at the West Herts Infirmary suffering from mental derangement. The jury returned a verdict of wilful murder against him but not guilty on the grounds of insanity.

Daniel EAST was committed to the Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum in Berkshire, England where on 1 June 1911, aged 66, he died. Daniel had been in Broadmoor for a total of 34 years.

Samuel HAYDON was born on 23 March 1817 in Crediton Devon England to Solomon HAYDON and Sarah BRADFORD. Samuel died, 31 December 1883, aged 66, in Crediton, Devon, England.

He married Elizabeth SETTER, 22 March 1840 in Tedburn St Mary, Devon. Elizabeth was born, 1819 in Crediton Devon and died in 1903, aged about 83, daughter of James SETTER and Elizabeth FORWARD.

Children of Samuel HAYDON and Elizabeth SETTER:

James HAYDON - (1840-1908) m. 1873 Jane NORRISH (1843-1902). They had four children.

George HAYDON - (1844-)

Sarah HAYDON - (1845-)

Ellen HAYDON - (1847-)

Susan HAYDON - (1849-1892) had an illegitimate son Samuel John HAYDON (1869-) who married Edith Mary HEARD (1874-) in 1893. Susan married John DREW (1843-1899)the year after Samuel's birth and had six children with John.

Mary Ann HAYDON - (1852-) m. 1877 William DADD (1839-)

Elizabeth HAYDON - (1856-)m.1877 George GALLIN at Waterdown, Ontario, Canada

Charlotte HAYDON - (1859-1909) m. 1878 James BENNETT (1858-1908. They had eight children.

Emma Jane HAYDON - (1861-)

Samuel and Elizabeth are my 3x great grandparents and I would love to hear from anyone who could help me in my research on these family lines.

The attached photo is of my 2x great grandmother Charlotte HAYDON.

There are many variations of the POLEYKETT surname, including:- POLLIKETT/POLLICOTT/POLLICUTT/POLLYKETT//POLYKETT


My 4 x great grandfather John POLEYKETT was born in 1800 in Chesham, Buckinghamshire. His occupation was that of a chair maker. He died in the St Pancras workhouse at the age of 74 on 18 Nov 1874. He was the son of Joseph POLLICATT and Sarah HORWOOD. He married Ann DELL on 30 May 1819 in Chesham Buckinghamshire. She was born 1803 in Chesham, Buckinghamshire and died Apr 1872 in London.

I know of 12 children born to John and Ann.

William POLEYKETT was born 6 Jan 1820 in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England, and died in Bethnal Green Workhouse on 6 Oct 1898. His occupation was the same as his fathers, a chair maker. He married Sophia PLUMERIDGE at St Pancras Church on 22 Nov 1848.

Sarah POLEYKETT was born 23 April 1824 in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England, and died 1875 in Chesham. She married Joseph EAST on 17 July 1844. There eldest son Daniel EAST committed a horrific double murder two years after Sarah's death which I shall post about in a separate journal.

Elizabeth POLEYKETT was born 7 Nov 1826 in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England and died 1887 in Dartford, Kent. She never married and lived with her parents until their deaths.

Louisa POLEYKETT was born 25 December 1828 in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England, and died Dec 1877 in London, England. (my 3 x great grandmother). She married first Francis Welsby HOLLAND on 15 July 1846 and was widowed in 1851. She went on to marry Edward Henry SAMPSON on 27 March 1854. There were children from both marriages.

Catherine POLEYKETT was born 13 Nov 1830 in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England and died in 1866 at Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England. She married Joseph LACEY on February 21 1855 at Amersham.

Eliza POLEYKETT was born 1831 in Chesham, Buckinghamshire.

George POLEYKETT was born 4 Nov 1832 in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England, and died Jul 1870 in Greater London, England. Like his father and brother William, George followed in the profession of chair maker. He married Eliza MURRELL on 20 May 1861.

Joseph POLEYKETT was born 4 June 1834 in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England, and died at the age of 44 in Apr 1879 at Westminster, London. Also a chair maker. He married Rosina JENKINS on 27 July 1857.

Sophia POLEYKETT was born 2 December 1835 in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England.

Martha POLEYKETT was born Dec 1837 in Buckinghamshire and died aged 6 at Pancras, London on 29 Mar 1844.

Henry POLEYKETT was born 1840 in St Pancras, London and died aged 4 on 17 Apr 1844 St Pancras, London.

Mary Ann POLEYKETT was born 18 Dec 1843 in Pancras, London. She married Joseph WINCHESTER on 18 May 1862.

Be great to hear off anyone with any connection or information on the POLEYKETT family.

Taken from the Bedfordshire Times and Independent 30 November 1928 page 3