Dear Reader #86

Dear Reader,

This week, I discovered that Henry Wheeler, my 4 x great grandfather, was a regular visitor to the Old Bailey (pictured), as a defendant 😱 More about Henry, his two wives, eleven children and larcenous life on the streets of nineteenth century Westminster in future posts.

Our garden this week…

Incredible picture of the Earth from the Japanese Kayuga spacecraft orbiting the Moon.

New pools formed in Kenfig sand dunes this week.

My article about SOE heroine Phyllis Latour, still alive at 99, features on page 36 of the Seaside News.

Latest translation news. I’m delighted that Kamila has agreed to translate The Devil and Ms Devlin into Portuguese. Translation work started this week. Meanwhile, here’s one we made earlier.

My 9 x great grandfather, Captain John Hodsoll, was baptised on 31 March 1622 in Ash By Wrotham, Kent. A captain in the merchant navy, he married Mary Bucher in 1656.

Little is known of Mary Bucher. She was born in 1629, in Wadhurst, Sussex, the daughter of John and Elizabeth Bucher. Her surname suggests German ancestry and in some documents it features as Butcher or Batcher. There is a suggestion that Mary was a Quaker, but this might be a result of coincidental names and dates. Certainly, Quakers did marry into the Hodsell family, so the idea deserves consideration.

During the 17th century, sea trade experienced significant change.  British shipbuilders adapted the superior design of the Dutch fluits to create ships that required smaller crews, yet had larger storage.  This resulted in a growth in maritime shipping through trade with the Mediterranean, the East Indies, the North American Colonies and Newfoundland. John became a captain and took advantage of that trade.

Captain John Hodsoll’s sailing exploits established a naval tradition within the family. Two Hodsolls, including an admiral, served in Charles II’s navy and later generations set sail for America where they were among the earliest settlers in New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and California.

In his Will, John mentions his “eldest sonne, William” his “deare and loveinge wife, Mary” and his “two youngerst daughters, Anne and Jane”, bequeathing the girls “the summe of ffifty pounds a peece out of her house in Wadhurst Towne in the County of Sussex.” John also left money to his “Seaven Sonns”, William, John, Henry, Charles, Thomas, Edmund and James. His sixth born son, Robert, died in infancy.

In the Hodsoll chancel in the Ash-by-Wrotham church, a monumental inscription above John Hodsoll reads, “Hereunder rests in hope of a joyfull resurrection the body of Captayne John Hodsoll, of South Ash, esq., who departed this life to enjoy a better (life) on the 6th day of July, 1683, aged 61 years. He was marryed to Mary, the daughter of John Batcher, of Wadhurst, in the county of Sussex, gent., whose Conjugall love hath occasioned this pious memorial of him.” 

John and Mary produced twelve children, eight boys and four girls. Their daughter, Mary, my direct ancestor, married the Reverend James Axe, uniting the Hodsoll and Axe branches of my family.

The birth date of William – John and Mary’s first born – looks sound –  9 January 1656 in Wadhurst, Sussex. Equally, their marriage date –  9 September 1656 in Cowden, Kent – is a matter of public record. This begs the question: why did John and Mary wait eight months to get married? Maybe John was away at sea and returned to find Mary cradling a baby in her arms.

As ever, thank you for your interest and support.

Hannah xxx