Family

Amelia’s Family pages give details of my own family history research. They will link to profiles of people in the families along with family trees and family photographs. My grandparent’s surnames were BENNETT, LEGGATT, BENJAMIN and BRAYBROOK. The individual family pages will gradually develop to tell more about these families.

BENNETT FAMILY

The BENNETT side of the family came from Kent (Crayford, Rainham and Chatham). The BENNETT surname only goes back in the records to 1802 when Richard BENNETT married Mary KOPPS (or possibly KIPPS). However the BENNETT men married into three families that trace further back: Albert Josiah BENNETT (great-grandfather) married into the RICHARDS family (of Cowes, Isle of Wight, Hampshire); Alfred BENNETT (2xgreat grandfather) married into the TUFFS family (of Terrington St Clement, Norfolk); and Richard BENNETT (3xgreat grandfather) married into the KIPPS family (of Kemsing, Kent).

LEGGATT FAMILY

The LEGGATT side (paternal grandmother) of the family originally came from East Dereham, Norfolk. However, their descendants moved into London (Surrey and Kent). Other families on the LEGGATT side included: the GARRATT family of Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire and Middleton Cheney, Northamptonshire; the LAGEU family of Reading, Berkshire and London; and the JONES family of Bryn Bellan, Mold, Flintshire.

BENJAMIN FAMILY

The BENJAMIN family (maternal side) only goes back to my great-grandfather Samuel Herbert BENJAMIN who was illegitimate. DNA testing has led to finding his family who were the BULLs of Corsham, Wiltshire. His mother’s family were the BOWMANs of Walcot, Bath, Somerset. Samuel’s wife was Bertha DIXON who was from Colerne, Wiltshire. Her ancestor’s included the COOK, DYER, HOLLISTER, PACKER and BODY families of South Gloucestershire (including the villages of Iron Acton, Yate, Chipping Sodbury and Westerleigh).

BRAYBROOK

The BRAYBROOK family was the first family I researched in depth as my maternal grandmother was very interested in her family. I was also lucky that the families had either unusual surnames or came from small villages so in the days before significant records online it made it easier to research. The families included: GARFOOT (Cottesmore, Rutland), HARDING (Broughton Gifford, Wiltshire), COLEY (Warmington, Northamptonshire & Crowland, Lincolnshire), WORMSLEY (Great Stukeley, Huntingdonshire), Springthorpe (Manton, Rutland) and COMLEY (Kington St Michael, Wiltshire).