At the time of writing this chapter of my Raynham history, work on Charles George Raynham  R2 (Dad) and his family has only just begun [1] and a short synopsis of his life has been included at Chapter 16.

Raynham research has required me to utilise many sources for unearthing our Raynham ancestors, this has included various London and county record offices, membership of the East London, Essex and Suffolk Family History Societies, the Internet and numerous directories. The Raynham surname has also been registered with the Guild of One-Name Studies  (GOONS).

This organisation is dedicated to those who wish to research all matters relating to a specific surname. In this respect membership requires the member [2] to collate all information concerning their name, and share this with anyone how has a legitimate non-profit interest.

Many Raynhams not known to our family have been located or have made contact with me. Those that are related have been included on the Raynham Tree  and are detailed in this chapter; a separate chapter is devoted to the use of the Raynham name in street names and buildings.

Charles was located in 1991 via a routine trawl through a British Telecom phone book and was found to be living a mile or so from Charles George Raynham R2, (Dad) in Dagenham, Essex . Following a meeting with Charles it was established that he was born in Stepney in 1911 and his family lived at 14 Eastfield Street ; the same street that Charles Edward Raynham  R3 and his family lived in 1923.

It was clear that the two families must have been related and by unravelling their family tree a connection was made.

His father was Ambrose Joseph Raynham  R83, born in 1880 in Stepney, who married Susan Esther Buckley  at St Peters Parish Church, Stepney  in 1902. In addition to Charles they had four further children, including Ivy Elizabeth Maude Raynham R96 who was born in 1919 and still today residing in Bethnal Green.

Charles's great grandfather was Ambrose Cornelius  Raynham R80, born in 1828 at Bromley, Middlesex, the third child of Robert  Raynham R20 my great, great, great uncle [3] . This connection confirmed that Charles was my third cousin one removed (3C1R) as was his sister Ivy. The pedigree chart below show the relationship between Charles and Robert Raynham R20 .

Charles and Ivy were married, Charles to Catherine Agnes Whitcher  and Ivy to Alfred Edward Chapman . Below is a photo of Charles, Catherine and Ivy together with

Today Ivy still lives in Bethnal Green in the mid-Victorian terraced house below, the house was possibly built towards the end of ten 19^th century and today are highly prized by those wishing to live and work close to the City of London, Bethnal Green being within walking distance of the financial establishments.

Sadly Charles died on Sunday 06 April 2003 at the Leonard Lodge, Hutton, Essex where he had been since the previous December, prior to that he was at Shotgates, Wickford, Essex where his step-daughter worked. He had left his family home in Dagenham approximately two years with the onset of dementia.

A service was conducted at the church in the City of London Cemetery, commencing at 1.12 pm on the 17 April followed by the burial in the family plot. He was buried in the same grave as his wife Catherine who had died ten years earlier in 1991. In attendance were his close family, including his sister Ivy R096, granddaughter Ann and stepdaughters as well Mary and I.

The family returned to the home of his stepdaughter Marie Rose in Hornchurch, Essex.

Albert George  was the last surviving son of Robert Charles Raynham R4 and was located in 1991 via a Pitsea, Essex  address in a local British Telecom phone book. A meeting with George, as he preferred to be known and his wife Hilda Daisy Raynham nee Kirby  established that Charles was born on Monday 29 April 1912.

Albert's birth place was 131 Hanbury Street. Stepney, the same address where his father Robert Charles operated his business; see birth certificate entry below.

He was the provider of information relating to his father and this has been documented in a previous chapter devoted to him. He also recollected visiting the Holy Cross Church, Basildon  cemetery with his father around the 1919/20 period. The reason for the visit, from their East London home appears to be connected with some Raynham gravestones that were there.

It was later established that a James Raynham  and his family farmed nearby during the mid 1800s, however no link has yet been made with our Raynham Tree . It may well be that in fact Robert Charles was confused as and assumed that James was indeed a relative and this may still be correct.

However it is possible that another Raynham who was buried at the St. Andrew Church Parish Church, Rochford  Essex in 1867 confused him. William  Raynham R176 was born in Chelsworth  1792 and practised as a vet and chemist in Rochford. Although the two families properly never met they would have been related via Thomas (R044, Thomas of Chelsworth)  Raynham R44, he was William's grandfather and Robert Charles's great, great grandfather.

As for Robert's relationship with William they would have made been half first cousins, twice removed (half1C2R), whatever the reason it seems something generated the need for Robert and his young son George to visit Basildon.

Following his marriage to Hilda they had three children, his daughter Hilda Iris Mary Raynham  R25 was residing in Woodward Road, Dagenham  in 1991, only a mile from Dad. George also served with the Royal Engineers during World War 2 . Their family tree is shown below.

Both George and Hilda were in poor health and it was no surprise when Hilda died in 1992 and George in March 1994. I attended the funeral of George, which was held at the South Essex Crematorium . At the funeral and the following reception I met his daughter Hilda, who was known and baptised as Dorothy, his two sons Albert Edward  R26 and Michael John  R27.

Additionally I met his grandchildren including Dr. Tony Michael  Raynham R102, research chemist with Roche, living in Bedfordshire.

Below shows a photo of George at his Pitsea

 

Robert Arnold Raynham
R30
1925 - 1994

His father worked for the Port of London Authority  as a marine engineer, right up to his death in 1960. He was aged 63 years and he died from a heart attack. A copy of his birth certificate is shown below together with his death certificate.

Robert Arnold had worked for Tate and Lyle  Ltd [4] , Plaistow Wharf, Silvertown at the same time as myself, I started a five-year mechanical apprenticeship in 1962. One year later I was walking along one of the access roads heading towards the wharf when I met Robert Arnold. From his appearance there was no mistaking the resemblance with Dad.

It was to be 19 years later before we spoke to each again over the phone, however before we could meet he died in 1994. His death being noted in the spring edition of "The Refiner" a Tate and Lyle company newspaper, he was 68 years of age.

Below is an extract from the Raynham Tree  showing Robert Arnold's family, including his father and mother, this tree format is referred to as a left-to-right chart.

 

Rowland Albert Raynham
R233
Born 1941

It appears that Michael Raynham , a police officer had been researching the Raynham name and passed on his research to Bud's first wife Elaine. From this information it was clear that Bud was related to our Raynham family via William  Raynham R112 (1692 - 1737).

Bud's father, Rowland Edwin  Raynham R229 was born at Mutford, Suffolk in 1894 and emigrated to Canada in the early 1900s; shown below is Bud's family.

His pedigree chart, shown below and extracted from the Raynham Tree  shows Bud's family lineage to our common ancestor William Raynham R112. The relationship between Bud and myself is that he is my five times cousin, once removed (5C1R).

 

 

William Herbert Raynham
R267
Born 1930
&
Alan Kearsley

Dr. William Herbert  Raynham, retired surgeon from Cape Town, born Sunday 19 October 1930 in Kimberley, South Africa, and was one of many new Raynhams that had been noted by Michael Raynham in Canada. William Herbert was the great grandson of James  Raynham R207, born at Offton, Suffolk around1832.

James had married Elizabeth Vince Kistruck  whose ancestor today Lynn Davis  had been researching this particular lineage, it was the information from Canada and that supplied by Lynn that confirmed the connections between our Raynham and her Kistruck families.

Separately Alan Kearsley , from Australia had contacted me via the Internet in late 1998 and supplied information that confirmed his relationship with the Raynham family. His mother is Jean Kistruck Kearsley nee Raynham  R29 and her father was Percy Campion  Raynham R85, born at Hessett, Suffolk in 1870. Percy was the sixth child born of James R207 and Elizabeth Vince Kistruck above.

The relationship of Alan to William Herbert is second cousin and to me sixth cousin twice removed (6C2R).

William, known as Bill visited Hessett Churchyard  on several occasions when he was working and studying in England from 1955 to 1960 and again in 1962 to 1964 and in 1980. He last visited England with Sarah-Anne during a holiday to Boston, USA and England this summer. Whilst in England they visited Bill's cousin John Nelson Raynham R254 at his home in Saffron Walden, Essex as well as visiting "The Shrubbery", Hessett, Suffolk The Shrubbery\", Hessett, Suffolk" . This had been the ancestral home of his grandfather Eustace Frederick Raynham R243 his father James Raynham R207 [7] .

His father paid to have the Hessett Raynham gravestones restored after the last war; the lettering had suffered from the elements over the years.

On Wednesday and Thursday of the 19 and 20 June 2002 Bill and Sarah-Anne, with Mary and I spent two wonderful days touring Offton and other local Raynham Suffolk villages where Bill's great great grandfather James Raynham R250 [8] farmed at Hill House, Offton. A more detailed description of the places visited and the people we met can be viewed elsewhere.

A considerable amount of research has been undertaken on Alan's and Bill's family and within the CD-ROM documents covering James Raynham R250, his wife Dinah nee Lucas and his son another James R207 can be viewed. James the father lived for a relatively short time, born around 1803 and died at Offton, Suffolk in 1835.

He is the great great grandfather of Alan and Bill.

Below is an edited extract from the Raynham Tree  showing the lineage between these families, included is William's son Paul who had carried out some Raynham research during the 1980s. The chart excludes many side branches and is not a definitive family tree for William and Alan's families.

Bill and Sarah have four children and on the 26 April 2003 his daughter-in-law Maria, who is married to Oliver had a son. The newly born grandson has been named Thomas Michael Raynham. This is the first Thomas in the direct line since Thomas R103 born in 1644 our common ancestor. To mark the occasion the baby has been given the Raynham reference R500.

Jane McCallan was the source of all the information relating to the branch of the Raynham family from Warren  Raynham R178 to Edward James  Raynham R203. Originally contact was made over the Internet in the autumn of 1988 her father William Hermes  Raynham R186 (1914-1997) had carried out his own Raynham family history research. He had started in the 1950s and had gone back to Robert (R040, Robert of Hitcham and Chelsworth)  Raynham R40 whose baptism was at Hitcham, Suffolk in 1694.

Jane had collated much of her father's material and forwarded it to me this allowed some changes to be made to the Raynham Tree . As with the other branches of the Raynham family sufficient material exists for a chapter to be devoted to the work carried out by Jane's father. This includes her Victorian ancestors and the "Warren" and "Scott" Raynham connections.

Below is Jane's family tree and includes her father William Hermas Raynham.

Below is the pedigree chart connecting Jane to our common ancestor Robert Raynham R40 (circa 1694-1772).

 

Annie Grimmer Raynham
R400
Born 1914

Topsy Raynham had already researched her family, from a commission given to a professional researcher. Stone House was where she was born, however in 2001 she left to become a resident at a residential home near Bury St Edmunds, where she lives out her retirement.

A family history report had been completed for Topsy and takes her family back to her great grandfather John Andrews R361 who was born around 1804 in Thorpe Morieux and arrived in Bradfield St George around the 1825 to 1834 period, where he and his family plyed their trades of wheelwights and carpenters throughout the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

The map below locates Bradfield and Maypole Green where Stone House is located, a photo of Stone House can also be seen with Topsy and Mary standing by the porch.

Those wishing to read more about this family, who at one time were almost as numerous as the Chelsworth Raynhams should read the document devoted to this family.

An edited four-generation family tree is shown below.

 

Barbara Elisabeth Raynham
R345
Born 1921

In terms of relationships Barbara is my seventh cousin once removed (7C1R) and our common ancestor is Thomas Raynham R103 (circa 1644-1711); Thomas being her 6X great grandfather and my 7X great grandfather. Barbara is a third cousin of Bill Raynham and Alan Kearsley and their great great grandfather James Raynham R250 is their common ancestor.

On the following pages are her grandfather's family tree and her pedigree chart back to our common ancestor Thomas.