ROWE in the village of BOLDRE

My Paternal 3xGreat Grandfather was Daniel ROW, who was born in Boldre in the New Forest. He is shown the the 'Comyn's Notebooks' a private census taken by the Vicar of Boldre in 1817, when he noted details of all his parishioner, including maps of locations and year of birth, together with other interesting details such as maiden names and the cost of the rent for some of the cottages.

Daniels entry is quite unremarkable in it's self, but it is far from the whole story! He is shown living in Pilley (Comyn's code) PIL34 living with his wife Sarah (BULL) born 1791 and two daughters.


Loe.............................19 Jan 1814
Eliza............................22 Jul 1816

They paid Widow Moresy £3.3s rent for their cottage.


However I have spent some time researching Daniel and his family and found that after these notes were made Daniel and Sarah went on to have four more children.

Boldre's parish records show baptism's for 5 children on 5 Aug 1827
Loay Louisa (presumably the Loe in Comyn's)
Eliza Sarah Lucy
Marianne
James Daniel
John
In 1829 another son Charles was Baptised on 8th March

Loay Louisa died aged 15 and was buried in Boldre on the same day that Charles was baptised. I can't imagin anyone doing that today!

Daniel's wife Sarah died the following year and was buried 11 Apr in Boldre. This must have been a hard time for Daniel and his children and sadly little Charles died in the poorhouse (aged 3) and was buried in Boldre on the 8 Aug 1832. It confused me when I found this death as I knew that my Great Great Grandfather was Charles Rowe and had assumed that he would grow up to marry my Great Great Grandmother!

Later I found other baptism entries for children of Daniel & Ann Row and searched for some time for their marriage, just when I was about to give up hope I was helped by other researchers on the Hampshire Rootsweb list and found their marriage, not in Boldre but in the nearby parish of Beaulieu 30th Apr 1833. Daniel ROW married Ann WHITE, who was born in 1815 (so about the same age as his first two daughters and 25 years his junior).

I then set to finding out just how many children Daniel had fathered and looking for another Charles Row(e) to explain my existence.
I found a second Eliza baptised 18 Jan 1835 (Did the first Eliza die?)
Then Twins George and Edward bap. 12 Jan 1840
Thomas 1 Oct 1843
William 6 Apr 1845
James 7 Mar 1847
Harriet 24 Sep 1848
and finally Louisa 14 Sep 1851 but where was Charles? I went back to the beginning and started again. Was he a child of Sarah or Ann? I hunted for more ROW(E) entries in vain, then finally at the HRO in Winchester one day I had one of those EURIKA moments, when I found a baptism for Charles WHITE, bastard son of Ann WHITE bap. 27th Oct 1833 in Boldre.

The Vicar must have refused to baptise him as legitimate as he knew that the couple had only married six months earlier.
I have now located the family on all census returns and have a real fondness for Daniel, knowing something of the hardship and sadness that he must have gone through in his life.
Daniel died in Portmore, Boldre and was buried 6 Mar 1861, the PR'S say he was 74, but my maths makes him 71. Ten years later Ann married Thomas BOUND.
I now know that Daniel had 15 children, 6 girls & 9 boys. 2 died young 9 married and 4 I have as yet been unable to fully research (watch this space!)