|
The Alabaster SocietyThe Family History Society |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ray Williamson writes: Gedcom fileWe now have, thanks to the sterling work of our tireless Hon. Sec., Laraine Hake, a
family tree of Alabasters born between the 16th century and 1901 in the popular Gedcom
format. You can download it from the zipped (compressed) file using the link here or in the
menu above right. A Gedcom file requires a special genealogy program to read or edit it. For those purposes (and others) you can download the excellent (and free) GenoPro program from here or from the menu. It is suitable for all Windows systems from Windows 95 to Vista, inclusive. When the file first opens, it will appear as a jumble of lines and figures. Click the "Magnifying-glass +" icon several times and it will expand into its full beauty. You can even edit it and include more of your own relatives. If you cannot locate your relatives on the tree (even using GenoPro`s powerful search facility) please contact the Hon. Sec. who will be glad to help you. Please be aware that, despite a very few shortcomings, this Family Tree is the result of many years of concentrated effort by Laraine Hake, to whom all Alabasters owe a great debt of gratitude, and will continue to do so for generations to come. Thank you, Laraine! NotesYou cannot, of course, assume that every bit of information is complete or accurate!
Laraine Hake writes: If you can help fill in any gaps or provide any other information, please do get in touch with our Hon. Sec., Laraine Hake. Descendants of Thomas AlabasterA tabular version can be seen at the bottom of this page....... 2 Thomas Alabaster 1522 - 1590/91 b: c1522 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
You can click the links in blue, above, or in the navigation panel (right) to see the continuation of the branch family tree. For more information contact the Hon. Sec. Details on the Contact us page. Over the years that we have been researching the Alabaster family it has become convenient to divide the family tree up into “branches”. These branches are by their very nature fairly arbitrary, but to show that there was some logic behind the classification I will attempt to explain their derivation. On this page there is a simplified family tree showing the descent of the Alabaster family from Thomas Alabaster of Hadleigh for eight generations. It is “simplified” in that it shows only the offspring with direct descendants which form the branches as they have been allocated. There is a memorial brass to Thomas Alabaster in Hadleigh Church. On this it states that he was buried in January 1591 (actually 1592 by present day reckoning, because then the year started on March 25th) aged about 70 years, having lived in Hadleigh for about 40 years. All living Alabasters appear to be descended from Thomas, so he is a convenient person to treat as the patriarch of the family for the present purpose. Thomas’s grandson, Thomas, married Elizabeth Glanfield. They had ten children of whom two are of particular importance to us: John because without him we would not be here today, and his sister Jane who remained a spinster, lived to the ripe old age -- for those days -- of 72, and died in 1708. She left a detailed will giving us information about her nephews and nieces. She appears to have been the last Alabaster to have lived in Hadleigh paying rent on a house in George Street, Hadleigh, in the 1690s. She died in Stuston which is on the Suffolk/Norfolk border, possibly living close to her first cousin Benjamin Bryan, the son of Bridget, who was the sister of Jane’s father Thomas. Benjamin Bryan died in 1709 in Stuston and he also left a will which, conveniently for us, gave details of his Alabaster kin. From these two wills it is clear that John had various children. John himself is referred to as "John Alabaster late of Ipswich deceased". References to his children include “William Alabaster of Claydon, County Suffolk and the children of John Alabaster of Saxmundham", implying that John had probably already died by 1708/9. At these two men, William Alabaster and John Alabaster, the branches are first split. William Alabaster married Ann Clark at Claydon in 1682. She came from a family that had been in Claydon for generations, which is probably the reason that William and Ann settled in Claydon where they raised a large family. Amongst their twelve or thirteen children were William, born 1689, and Benjamin, born 1697/8. William remained in the Claydon area. His grandsons represent the forefathers of Branch one, Branch two and probably William of Woodford Branch too. John Alabaster left Suffolk and settled in Rayleigh, Essex, where he married Ann Burrows. Amongst their children was John Abel Alabaster who married Mary Stammers in 1828, and thus began the tradition of using Stammers as a forename which is still in practice today. This is the line which we call Branch I. John’s brother William now appears to be the likely father of the William Alabaster who married Mary Plummer in St Pancras, London, in 1806. William gave the details his parish as Woodford Essex at the time of his marriage. As no trace of any Alabaster was ever found in Woodford at this time this William has long been labelled by me: William of Woodford. My apologies to this branch of the family who are probably rightly the senior branch. Other grandsons of William include Robert, William, and Charles. They were amongst the nine or ten offspring of Robert and Ann Mison who had married in Hessett, Suffolk in 1754, although they raised their family in Bramford, another parish close to Ipswich. Ann Mison had a brother Chaloner Mison. She gave one of her own sons the name of Chaloner. He did not have any children himself, and died in Bramford in 1798 at the age of 32. His younger brother Charles continued the use of the name Chaloner, and this is another traditional name still in use today with one branch of the Alabasters. Robert, William, and Charles each went to London and became involved in the straw hatting business. They each started in the Worship Street/Chapel Street area of Shoreditch. Robert’s family, Branch IIA, also went into the licensed trade in Shoreditch. Descendants of this line include the Alabaster & Wilson jewellers of Birmingham today. Others moved to Bethnal Green but continued the trade of hat/bonnet making until the end of the 19th century. William’s family Branch IIB also continued with the hat trade and other fancy goods. They remained in Shoreditch for a while and also moved towards Bethnal Green. Charles, branch IIC, the youngest son of Robert and Ann was living in Chapel Street, Shoreditch, with his wife Mary, nee Dearmer, when their children were baptised between 1804 and 1814. He appears to have done well in business and appears in a London Directory of 1817 as Charles Alabaster, Straw Hat Manufacturer, 60 Piccadilly. Charles died in 1820 at the early age of 45. His wife continued with the shop in Piccadilly until her death in 1838. To return to the division of the Branches, Benjamin Alabaster, brother of William, married Susan Hewitt in 1731 at Akenham, Suffolk. This was his second marriage, there having been no surviving offspring from his first marriage. His son John also married twice, and had two sons John and Joseph by his second wife Mary Querry whom he married in Ipswich in 1760. John’s (Branch IIIA) second son, Roger, moved to the Romford area of Essex where he started an ironmongery. Many of Roger`s descendants still live in the Romford and Hornchurch area of Essex. Joseph, Branch IIIB, moved to the East of London. His family became chair-makers and shoemakers in the Bethnal Green area. Lastly is Branch IV and those descended from John and Mary. These Alabasters continued to live in Suffolk, including Saxmundham, Snape and Friston, and then Kessingland and Great Yarmouth. Their careers varied, some being pillars of society, such as church-wardens, and others being involved in occasional smuggling. **************************** Since the above article was first written in 1993, we have many new members of the Alabaster Society, amongst whose number include one who is descended from Roger Alabaster, younger brother of Thomas of Hadleigh, and another who is descended from Bryan Alabaster, a third son of John and Elizabeth, mentioned in the Will of Jane Alabaster in 1708 as another nephew. **************************** A lot more information has been gleaned since theparagraphs above were written. They do however, form the basis upon which we shall try and build up the various stories of our branches so keep coming back. Ivor Smith has composed this tabular version of the main branch arrangement, which sets out the tree more clearly. Again, do not assume that this is cast in stone: the work goes on! The Branches of the Alabaster Tree
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
With thanks to Ivor Smith. |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
