Visit to Ruyton XI Towns, Wigmarsh
and Weirbrook, Shropshire
Warmest Greetings from Ruth DOVASTON
STANT in
England. This is me photographed at
Ruyton XI Towns, Shropshire with
St Johns Church in the background. I am researching my DOVASTON
family from 15th-19thC Kinnerley, Twyford, West Felton, Weirbrook, Wigmarsh, Eardiston,
and Ruyton XI Towns, Shropshire, and connections with MILLINGTON, WILLIAMS, BROWN[E], DAVIES, STANT, EVANS, JONES, DAVIES
families at Shrewsbury,
Twyford, Sweeney, Ellesmere, St Martin, West Felton, Ruyton XI Towns, Shropshire.
In the cemetery at St Johns I found a headstone for Sarah DOVASTON
[MI237] [the one photographed in the foreground, laid flat, behind which I'm
inspecting unknown graves overgrown with ivy]. Sarah was born 5th August 1782
at The Nursery, Twyford, and
died 30th June 1860. Her parents were John DOVASTON
and Ann [nee HOOPER].
She was the sister of John Freeman Milward DOVASTON
[see Hall of Fame] and never married. She is not my direct kin, being my half
second cousin, five times removed.
A headstone [MI245] next to Sarah's belongs to my 4th great grandfather, John
DOVASTON [1755-1841]
and his wife, Ann [nee PRICE]
[1758-1833], two sons,
John [1792-1824] and Thomas [1789-1807], and a nephew William DOVASTON
[1789-1828]. There's a familiar DOVASTON
inscription: "They ran their course in lowly lot, just streaked the stream
and were forgot". William was born at Littleness,
the son of John DOVASTON
and Ann [nee BROWN].
He was a Stonemason and married his cousin, Sarah
DOVASTON, daughter
of John DOVASTON and
Ann [nee PRICE] from
The Nursery, Twyford.
Some distance away from Sarah's headstone at St Johns is a headstone for Thomas
STANT, my 3rd great
grandfather, a Slater born at Ifton
Heath, St Martins on 11th May 1812. Thomas died
6th May 1853 aged just 42. With him is buried his wife Jane [nee EVANS]
who died 30th July 1854 aged 46 and a daughter, Ann, who died 23rd August 1844
aged 5. Thomas and Jane were married at St Johns on 31st December 1835. Their
children included Thomas, Ann, Jane, Emma, Joseph and Miriam, all born between
1838 and 1849. What happened to the children after their parents both died so
young? Thomas, the eldest, was then only 16 and the youngest was just 5. When
Thomas, the son, married Sarah DOVASTON on
22nd December 1863 his address was Wigmarsh so
I suspect he and his siblings may have been 'adopted' by a relation at Wigmarsh
or maybe the family was split between relations? There's one more DOVASTON
grave [MI412] at St Johns, a recent one belonging to Tom and Annie who died
1967 and 1972 aged 72 and 73. This
is Yew Tree Cottage, Wigmarsh, just north
of Ruyton XI Towns where William DOVASTON
[b.1793] and Jane [nee DAVIES]
lived all their married lives. William, my 3rd great grandfather, was a son
of the above mentioned John DOVASTON
and Ann [nee PRICE].
John was born at The Nursery, Twyford
and died at Wigmarsh
in October 1841. He married Ann on 15th December 1780 and they lived at Wigmarsh,
but I'm not sure which cottage they
lived at.
1851 Census:
HO107/1993 Registration district: Oswestry Sub-registration
district: Knockin
Sarah Dovaston [nee DOVASTON] c 1782 West Felton, Shropshire Head / Widow Eardiston
Shropshire
Anne Dovaston c 1823 Ruyton, Shropshire Daughter Eardiston Shropshire
John Dovaston c 1825 Ruyton, Shropshire Son [Husband of Sarah Anne b. c1822]
Eardiston Shropshire
HO107/1993 Registration district: Oswestry Sub-registration
district: Knockin
John Freeman Milward Dovaston c 1783 West Felton, Shropshire Head Twyford Shropshire
Edward Dovaston c 1800 Woolton, Shropshire Cousin Twyford Shropshire
Sarah Dovaston [nee DOVASTON] c 1796 Cliff, Shropshire Cousin [and Wife to Edward
DOVASTON] Twyford Shropshire
Ann Duckett [nee DOVASTON] c 1782 Cliff, Shropshire Cousin Twyford Shropshire
John Povey c 1841 Nescliff, Shropshire Sisters Child [Son of Ellen DOVASTON
nee HOPE, Sister-in-Law to Ann DUCKETT] Twyford Shropshire HO107/1993 Registration district: Oswestry Sub-registration
district: Knockin
William DOVASTON c 1794 Ruyton, Shropshire Head Eardiston Shropshire
Jane DOVASTON c 1805 West Felton, Shropshire Wife Eardiston Shropshire
Naomi DOVASTON c 1843 Ruyton, Shropshire Daughter Eardiston Shropshire
*Sarah DOVASTON c 1844 Ruyton, Shropshire Daughter Eardiston Shropshire
Margaret Elizabeth DOVASTON c 1846 Ruyton, Shropshire Daughter Eardiston Shropshire
HO107/1993 Registration district: Oswestry Sub-registration
district: Knockin
Margaret Devuston [nee ROBERTS] c 1762 West Felton, Shropshire Head / Widow
[of William DOVASTON b.1761] Sutton Shropshire
Mary Devuston c 1784 West Felton, Shropshire Daughter Sutton Shropshire
Ann Devuston c 1792 West Felton, Shropshire Daughter Sutton Shropshire
Thomas Devuston c 1801 West Felton, Shropshire Son Sutton Shropshire
HO107/1993 Registration district: Oswestry Sub-registration
district: Knockin
Mary Dovaston c 1829 Ruyton, Shropshire Servant Chirk Denbighshire
1861 Census:
RG9/1875 Registration district: Oswestry Sub-registration
district: Knockin
John Dovaston c 1825 Ruyton, Shropshire Head Twyford Shropshire
Sarah A Dovaston c 1821 London Wife Twyford Shropshire
Jane E Dovaston c 1852 London Daughter Twyford Shropshire
John F E Dovaston c 1853 London Son Twyford Shropshire
Ada Dovaston c 1854 London Daughter Twyford Shropshire
William D Dovaston c 1856 Felton, Shropshire Son Twyford Shropshire
Milward E Dovaston c 1857 Felton, Shropshire Son Twyford Shropshire
Adolphus Dovaston c 1859 Felton, Shropshire Son Twyford Shropshire
RG9/1875 Registration district: Oswestry Sub-registration
district: Knockin
Ann Duckett [nee DOVASTON] c 1781 Kinnerley, Shropshire Head West Felton Shropshire
Sarah Dovaston [nee DOVASTON] c 1796 Little Ness, Shropshire Sister West Felton
Shropshire
RG9/1875 Registration district: Oswestry Sub-registration district: Knockin
Thomas Dovaston c 1801 West Felton, Shropshire Servant West Felton Shropshire
RG9/1875 Registration district: Oswestry Sub-registration
district: Knockin
Samuel Fowles c 1835 Cratherbury, Flintshire, Wales Head Rednall West Felton
Shropshire
Rachael Fowles [nee DOVASTON] c 1833 Ruyton, Shropshire Wife Rednall West Felton
Shropshire
Mary Fowles c 1854 Ruyton, Shropshire Daughter Rednall West Felton Shropshire
Alfred C Fowles c 1856 West Felton, Shropshire Son Rednall West Felton Shropshire
Louisa J Fowles c 1860 West Felton, Shropshire Daughter Rednall West Felton
Shropshire RG9/1875 Registration district: Oswestry Sub-registration
district: Knockin
William DOVASTON c 1794 Ruyton, Shropshire Head Eardiston Shropshire
Jane DOVASTON c 1805 West Felton, Shropshire Wife Eardiston Shropshire
*Sarah DOVASTON c 1844 Ruyton, Shropshire Daughter Eardiston Shropshire
Margaret Elizabeth DOVASTON c 1846 Ruyton, Shropshire Daughter Eardiston Shropshire
RG9/1875 Registration district: Oswestry Sub-registration
district: Knockin
John Dovaston c 1792 West Felton, Shropshire Boarder Eardiston Shropshire
RG9/1875 Registration district: Oswestry Sub-registration
district: Knockin
Thomas Thomas c 1798 Kinnerley, Shropshire Head Cotton Shropshire
Laura A Thomas [nee DOVASTON] c 1804 Kinnerley, Shropshire Wife Cotton Shropshire
Fredrick Thomas c 1831 Ruyton, Shropshire Son Cotton Shropshire
Ellen Thomas c 1837 Ruyton, Shropshire Daughter Cotton Shropshire
Edward Thomas c 1839 Ruyton, Shropshire Son Cotton Shropshire
John Thomas c 1842 Ruyton, Shropshire Son Cotton Shropshire
George Thomas c 1797 Kinnerley, Shropshire Visitor Cotton Shropshire
Eleanor Dovaston [nee WILDE] c 1781 Alberbury, Shropshire Visitor Cotton Shropshire
Thomas Stant c 1839 Ruyton, Shropshire Servant Cotton Shropshire
1871 Census:
RG10/2778 Registration district: Oswestry Sub-registration
district: Knockin
John Dovaston c 1825 Ruyton of the Eleven Towns, Shropshire Head Twyford Shropshire
Sarah Dovaston c 1822 St. Pancras, Middlesex Wife Twyford Shropshire
Jane Ebrey Dovaston c 1852 St. Pancras, Middlesex Daughter Twyford Shropshire
Ada Dovaston c 1854 St. Pancras, Middlesex Daughter Twyford Shropshire
Sarah Anne Dovaston c 1863 West Felton, Shropshire Daughter Twyford Shropshire
Albert Dovaston c 1865 West Felton, Shropshire Son Twyford Shropshire RG10/2778 Registration district: Oswestry Sub-registration
district: Knockin
William DOVASTON c 1794 Ruyton, Shropshire Head Eardiston Shropshire
Jane DOVASTON c 1804 West Felton, Shropshire Wife Eardiston Shropshire
Thomas DOVASTON c 1801 West Felton, Shropshire [Cousin] Eardiston Shropshire
RG10/2778 Registration district: Oswestry Sub-registration
district: Knockin
Sarah Dovaston c 1796 Chapelry Little Ness, Shropshire Head West Felton Shropshire
William and Jane's children were Mary, Rachel,
Hannah, William, Alfred, Anne, Naome, *Sarah and Margaret Elizabeth, all born
between 1828 and 1846. William's occupation, like his father's, was a Tailor. He
died 11th August 1879. In the 1881 Census, Jane [nee DAVIES]
was a widow, an Annuitant.
Thomas STANT,
my 2nd great grandfather, a Stonemason [the son
of Thomas and Jane, mentioned above] and *Sarah [nee DOVASTON,
the daughter of William and Jane] and their children, Naomi J, Margaret E, Thomas
Dovaston, John H, William Alfred, Martin Edward, born between 1867 and 1881
had moved from Weirbrook
to live with Sarah's widowed mother. [Sarah M and Phyllis Violet
STANT were born later].
Today, Wigmarsh is
still a very small hamlet consisting of just the same half a dozen cottages.
Still
at Wigmarsh,
I'm approaching a sandstone cottage
likely built by one of my Stonemason ancestors,
maybe Thomas STANT
[the son] or William DOVASTON from
Littleness. Similar distinctive
sandstone cottages are found at Weirbrook. As mentioned above, my great great
grandfather, Thomas DOVASTON STANT
[pictured here at the Jaguar factory in Coventry,
Warwickshire where he was a Draughtsman]
was born to Thomas and *Sarah, at Weirbrook
on 20th February 1871. He left Shropshire before 1891 ... he married Mary DONAHUE,
a Cloth Weaver, [born Glossop,
Derbyshire 3rd June 1876] in 1902 at Bolton,
Lancashire ... I'm not sure where he served his Apprenticeship, it could
have been at Newton In Makerfield, Lancashire.
I know he spent some time outside of England,
at Dublin, Ireland.
Thomas and Mary eventually settled in Coventry
and lived there at least between 1912 and 1939, the year Thomas died. Mary died
in 1954. Their children were Doris, Harold and Margaret DOVASTON
STANT, all now deceased.
Ryhall Village nr Rutland Waters
[1924]
painted by Thomas DOVASTON
STANT - one of hundreds of scenes
of Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Shropshire, Wiltshire,
Devonshire and Cornwall he sketched and watercoloured during the 1920's and1930's. go
to: Thomas
DOVASTON STANT's page
Thomas [with his pipe] and Mary went everywhere on a motorbike and sidecar.
Unfortunately the sketches/watercolour collection was broken up and pictures
are now scattered between England, Australia
and Canada.
I'm pretty certain my STANT
family settled in the SW England between 4,500 and 1,950 years ago;
testing male-to-male Y-DNA genome has proved the line ............. tested R-U152
> Z36/S206 > A8027+ Branch.............. but so far no other male STANTs
have had their DNA tested and published, so the only matches are with surnames
other than Stant. Some STANTs were Bakers
and Provision Dealers, but my family line were mostly Stonemasons,
Brick Layers and Builders. I think the surname derived from Stant=Stone,
and that my Stant ancestors that settled in England, near to Bath, Somerset,
originated in the Mediterranean, between Iberia and Italy. A branch of my STANT
family [Joseph STANT and Sons] were builders who built much of Shewsbury,
Shropshire.
Y17163=
R-A8027+ Branch, that can be dated to a common male ancestor who lived c.1,950
years ago = 50 AD at Bath, Somerset, SW England. By the 17thC my Stant family
were living on the Shropshire-Wales Border, where they stayed until late 19thC.
Other surnames on my father's side include:
Callaghan Glossop
Derbyshire England/Ireland; Clewes Coventry
& Foleshill Warwickshire England; Davies Shropshire England/Border
with Wales; Donahue Glossop Derbyshire England/Ireland;
Dovaston Shropshire England;
Evans Shropshire
England/Border with Wales; Franklin
Somerton & Bicester Oxfordshire England; Freeman
Coventry, Knightcote & Chesterton Warwickshire & Worcester England; Gibbard
Somerton & Bicester Oxfordshire England; Jones
Shropshire England/Border with Wales; Judge Burton
Dassett Warwickshire England; Mainwood Wardington
Oxfordshire England; Mander Somerton & Bicester
Oxfordshire England; Matthews Coventry Warwickshire;
Nix Daventry Oxfordshire England; Price
Shropshire England/Border with Wales; Rogers Shropshire
England/Border with Wales; Stant Coventry Warwickshire
& Shropshire England; Wells Coventry
Warwickshire; Wilkins Coventry & Foleshill Warwickshire England.
My Mum's Family
To look at my mt-DNA we have
to go through the female line, starting with my mum's mum ... Elizabeth May
ROLLASON. She lived all her life in Coventry,
Warwickshire. Her mother was Annie Elizabeth PRICE,
also from Coventry. Before that was Mary Ann JENNINGS
who lived in Little Park Street, Coventry. Mary
Ann's mother was Ann DUFFY who came from Co.Mayo,
Ireland c.1845-1850 during the Irish Potato Famine. Ann married Martin
JENNINGS, also from Co.Mayo
Ireland. They lived at Much Park Street and Well
Street, Coventry.
As far as I can make out, my mt-DNA
Haplogroup H1c1a means my mum's lineage, before Coventry, originated
in an Anglo-Swedish geographical area, so they
would most likely have been Norse-Anglo-Swedish people
from England, after the Last Great Ice Age [ie during the past 10,000
years ago].
Warmest Greetings from Ruth DOVASTON
STANT in
England. This is me photographed at
Ruyton XI Towns, Shropshire with
St Johns Church in the background. I am researching my DOVASTON
family from 15th-19thC Kinnerley, Twyford, West Felton, Weirbrook, Wigmarsh, Eardiston,
and Ruyton XI Towns, Shropshire, and connections with MILLINGTON, WILLIAMS, BROWN[E], DAVIES, STANT, EVANS, JONES, DAVIES
families at Shrewsbury,
Twyford, Sweeney, Ellesmere, St Martin, West Felton, Ruyton XI Towns, Shropshire.
In the cemetery at St Johns I found a headstone for Sarah DOVASTON
[MI237] [the one photographed in the foreground, laid flat, behind which I'm
inspecting unknown graves overgrown with ivy]. Sarah was born 5th August 1782
at The Nursery, Twyford, and
died 30th June 1860. Her parents were John DOVASTON
and Ann [nee HOOPER].
She was the sister of John Freeman Milward DOVASTON
[see Hall of Fame] and never married. She is not my direct kin, being my half
second cousin, five times removed.
A headstone [MI245] next to Sarah's belongs to my 4th great grandfather, John
DOVASTON [1755-1841]
and his wife, Ann [nee PRICE]
[1758-1833], two sons,
John [1792-1824] and Thomas [1789-1807], and a nephew William DOVASTON
[1789-1828]. There's a familiar DOVASTON
inscription: "They ran their course in lowly lot, just streaked the stream
and were forgot". William was born at Littleness,
the son of John DOVASTON
and Ann [nee BROWN].
He was a Stonemason and married his cousin, Sarah
DOVASTON, daughter
of John DOVASTON and
Ann [nee PRICE] from
The Nursery, Twyford.
Some distance away from Sarah's headstone at St Johns is a headstone for Thomas
STANT, my 3rd great
grandfather, a Slater born at Ifton
Heath, St Martins on 11th May 1812. Thomas died
6th May 1853 aged just 42. With him is buried his wife Jane [nee EVANS]
who died 30th July 1854 aged 46 and a daughter, Ann, who died 23rd August 1844
aged 5. Thomas and Jane were married at St Johns on 31st December 1835. Their
children included Thomas, Ann, Jane, Emma, Joseph and Miriam, all born between
1838 and 1849. What happened to the children after their parents both died so
young? Thomas, the eldest, was then only 16 and the youngest was just 5. When
Thomas, the son, married Sarah DOVASTON on
22nd December 1863 his address was Wigmarsh so
I suspect he and his siblings may have been 'adopted' by a relation at Wigmarsh
or maybe the family was split between relations? 
This
is Yew Tree Cottage, Wigmarsh, just north
of Ruyton XI Towns where William DOVASTON
[b.1793] and Jane [nee DAVIES]
lived all their married lives. William, my 3rd great grandfather, was a son
of the above mentioned John DOVASTON
and Ann [nee PRICE].
John was born at The Nursery, Twyford
and died at Wigmarsh
in October 1841. He married Ann on 15th December 1780 and they lived at Wigmarsh,
but I'm not sure which cottage they
lived at.
Still
at Wigmarsh,
I'm approaching a sandstone cottage
likely built by one of my Stonemason ancestors,
maybe Thomas STANT
[the son] or William DOVASTON from
Littleness. Similar distinctive
sandstone cottages are found at Weirbrook.
As mentioned above, my great great
grandfather, Thomas DOVASTON STANT
[pictured here at the Jaguar factory in Coventry,
Warwickshire where he was a Draughtsman]
was born to Thomas and *Sarah, at Weirbrook
on 20th February 1871. He left Shropshire before 1891 ... he married Mary DONAHUE,
a Cloth Weaver, [born Glossop,
Derbyshire 3rd June 1876] in 1902 at Bolton,
Lancashire ... I'm not sure where he served his Apprenticeship, it could
have been at Newton In Makerfield, Lancashire.
I know he spent some time outside of England,
at Dublin, Ireland.
Thomas and Mary eventually settled in Coventry
and lived there at least between 1912 and 1939, the year Thomas died. Mary died
in 1954. Their children were Doris, Harold and Margaret DOVASTON
STANT, all now deceased.![Ryhall Village nr Rutland Waters [1924]](images/Tdspic-small.jpg)
Ryhall Village nr Rutland Waters
[1924]
Thomas [with his pipe] and Mary went everywhere on a motorbike and sidecar.
Unfortunately the sketches/watercolour collection was broken up and pictures
are now scattered between England, Australia
and Canada. 
Y17163=
R-A8027+ Branch, that can be dated to a common male ancestor who lived c.1,950
years ago = 50 AD at Bath, Somerset, SW England. By the 17thC my Stant family
were living on the Shropshire-Wales Border, where they stayed until late 19thC.
