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My great grandfather William Davis , father of Richard Davis born Dunbridge July 1845 was the stationmaster at either Dunbridge or Dundridge or Dean or possible Bishops Waltham , Hants in 1868.
He was living at Dunbridge in 1845.
We have done all the usual searches and have not been able to find any information on him or his wife etc.
We do have information on Richard Davis his son.
Any suggestions or guidance would be appreciated.
We are in Montana, USA
Thank you and best wishes

Richard J Davis

Hi Richard,

What information have you got on Richard? Date of Birth! Mother?

Might help in the search for his father William

Alison

I'm presuming this is him. I would say Richard has his marriage cert as he knows father's name & occupation.

1881 England Census
Name: Richard Davis
Age: 38
Estimated birth year: abt 1843
Relation: Head
Spouse's name: Emma Davis
Gender: Male
Where born: Dunbridge, Hampshire, England
Civil Parish: Battersea
County/Island: London
Country: England
Street address: 10 Elsley Rd
Condition as to marriage: Married

Occupation: Messenger At Great Seal Office Court Of Chancery

Registration district: Wandsworth
Sub-registration district: Battersea
Household Members: Name Age
Richard Davis 38
Emma Davis 43 - Cubbington, Warwickshire
Clara J. Davis 11 - Leamington, Warwickshire, England
Walter H. Davis 8 - Moorhouse, Kent
Fanny A. Davis 7 - Moorhouse, Kent
Richard Davis 3 - Battersea, Surrey


Emma & Clara are in St Pancras in 1891. Emma is married but no Richard in sight. Possibly at work.

This is the reg'n district for Cubbington.

Marriages Jun 1868
Bishop Jane Warwick 6d 643
Burgess William Warwick 6d 643
Davis Richard Warwick 6d 643 <<<<<
Heath Emma Warwick 6d 643 <<<<<

No nearer to finding him in Hampshire with his parents.

Mottisfont & Dunbridge railway station is a small station in the village of Dunbridge, Hampshire situated on the Wessex Main Line.
It is the closest railway station to Mottisfont Abbey and the village of Mottisfont, and the station was renamed Mottisfont & Dunbridge in 2006 to reflect this. It was previously known simply as "Dunbridge".

And this is the reg'n district for Dunbridge, but no Richard.

Births Dec 1839
Davis Mary Romsey &c 7 141
Births Mar 1842
Davis Harriet Romsey 7 166
Births Jun 1845
DAVIS Charles Romsey 7 174
Births Jun 1848
Davis Emily Romsey 7 1*
Births Sep 1850
Davis Charles Romsey 7 196

No other variant of Davis for births in Romsey before 1851.

Not there in 1851.

1851 England Census
Name: William Dearley
Age: 51
Estimated birth year: abt 1800
Relation: Head
Spouse's name: Eliza Dearley
Gender: M (Male)
Where born: Irish Trermanaugh, Ireland
Civil Parish: Mottisfont
Ecclesiastical parish: Winchester
County/Island: Hampshire
Country: England
Street address: Dunbridge Station

Occupation: Station Master

Registration district: Romsey
Sub-registration district: Romsey
Household Members: Name Age
William Dearley 51
Eliza Dearley 50
Rebecca Dearley 21
John Dearley 18- Railway Asst Clerk
Elizabeth Dearley 13
Sarah Dearley 11
Fanny Dearley 8

This is where Dean comes from.

1891 England Census
Name: Richard Davis
Age: 45
Estimated birth year: abt 1846
Relation: Head
Spouse's name: Emma Davis
Gender: Male
Where born: Dean, Hampshire, England
Civil Parish: Battersea
Ecclesiastical parish: St Mary
County/Island: London
Country: England
Street address:

Occupation: Messenger of the Great Seal, Chancery Division High Court of Justice

Registration district: Wandsworth
Sub-registration district: West Battersea
Household Members: Name Age
Richard Davis 45
Emma Davis 53
Francis A Davis 18 - Pupil Teacher
Richard J Davis 13 - Scholar

Hi Alison
This information that Ozibird sent me is correct but I had already colllected this (but it had taken me a long time!)
Still no further foward on William Davis but I am continuing my search.
If you have any other suggestions that would be helpful.

Best wishes

Richard

What exactly is the wording for fathers occupation on the certificate ?
Does it actually say Dunbridge, in order to attain station master you have to start as porter and work up, then the job was there for life, from what I can see the branch line was only opened 1866, so he would need to have worked on a main line before that ?
Often father's occupations were embellished so he could just have easily been a clerk or guard absolutely anywhere.

here is Richard in 1911 with a second wife - it might be interesting to see his father's stated occupation in 1895


DAVIS, Richard Head Married M 66 1845 Pensioned Messenger Of The Great Seal Dunbridge Hants VIEW
DAVIS, Sarah Elizabeth Wife Married
16 years F 57 1854 London Westminster VIEW
BURGESS, Dorothy May Servant Single F 17 1894 Servant Domestic Lydd Kent VIEW

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RG number:
RG14 Piece:
4810 Reference:
RG14PN4810 RG78PN207 RD71 SD1 ED5 SN38

Registration District:
Eastbourne Sub District:
Westham Enumeration District:
5 Parish:
Willingdon

Address:
St Moritz Church Street Willingdon County:
Sussex



possible marriage -

Marriages Jun 1895 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BIRD Henry St. Geo. H. Sq. 1a 854
>>>>>>Davis Richard St. Geo. H. Sq. 1a 854
>>>>>>Perry Sarah Elizabeth St Geo H Sq 1a 854
Tracey Annie Kennedy St. Geo. H. Sq. 1a 854

I keep being drawn to this one - I can't find them on any other census - perhaps someone else can


1851

DALTON, William Head Married M 35 1816 Station Agent
Grimstone
Yorkshire VIEW
DALTON, Jane Wife Married F 37 1814
Ollerton
Nottinghamshire VIEW
DALTON, William Son M 6 1845
Maltbey
Yorkshire VIEW
>>>>>DALTON, Richard Son Unmarried M 3 1848
Mottisfont
Hampshire VIEW

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RG number:
HO107 Piece:
1672 Folio:
14 Page:
20

Registration District:
Stockbridge Sub District:
Broughton Enumeration District:
1 Ecclesiastical Parish:


Civil Parish:
West Dean Municipal Borough:
Address:
Station, Hampshire, West Dean County:
Hampshire

could this be her in 1861 ?


1861 England Census about Jane Davis
Name: Jane Davis
[Jane Staniland]
Age: 46
Estimated birth year: abt 1815
Relation: Daughter
Mother's name: Mary Staniland
Gender: Female
Where born: Allerton, Nottinghamshire, England
Civil Parish: Maltby
County/Island: Yorkshire
Country: England
Street address:

Occupation:

Condition as to marriage:

View image
Registration district: Rotherham
Sub-registration district: Maltby
ED, institution, or vessel: 1
Neighbors: View others on page
Household schedule number: 64
Household Members:
Name Age
Mary Staniland 80
Jane Davis 46 widow
Catherine Staniland 26
Richard Davis 13
Mathew Cousin 20
George Alexander 23
View
Original
Record

View original image


I really want this to be him !

Births Sep 1847 (>99%)
Dalton Richard Romsey 7 171

Goodness me, Choccy & Lindsey, you've done some great detective work. Looks like you've hit pay dirt.

Is this a possibility?

Marriages Sep 1855
CLARK Thomas St Geo Sk 1d 158
Dalton Jane St. Geo. Sk 1d 158
Davis Elizabeth St Geo Sk 1d 158
Davis William St Geo Sq 1d 158

The district St Geo Sk is an alternative name for St George Southwark.
>>>>> "The volume 1d is not valid for district St George Hanover Square in the year 1855 and therefore there may be an error in the GRO index or in the transcription. " - freebmd


Deaths Sep 1853
Dalton William George St George Southwark 1d 100

afraid to say that Jane Dalton married Thomas Clark -


London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921
Name: Jane Dalton
Spouse Name: Thomas Clark
Spouse Age: Full Age
Record Type: Marriage
Marriage Date: 02 Sep 1855
Parish: St George the Martyr
County: Surrey
Borough: Southwark
Father Name: William Dalton
Spouse Father Name: George Clark

Oh well, it got the blood racing for a few seconds.

Thanks, Choccy.

Ozi

Choccy/Lindsey/Ozibird
I really appreciate your interest

Wording on certificate is stationmaster and we did extensive searches in Railway records but never found William.
The information on Richard is correct (he is WIlliam's son)
I understand Dunbridge is about 20 miles from Brockenhuirst which is in the Forest of Dean. Apparrently Comyns published a book which covers life in that area in 1800's and has lots of names. I am trying to get this data. I have found one William in Brockenhurst in 1818 but no record of his marriage or chidlren
This has proved to be qjuite a challenge.
My own father Richard died in 1943 a few months before I was born. I ws able to trace him and his father also Richard (who married Sarah) but nothing on WIlliam. Best wishes Richard

Happy New Year and many thanks to each of you for your guidance and support in trying to find my great grand father.
I am now focused on trying to find the brith certificate for my grandfather Richard Davis whom it would appear was born in Dunbridge/Dundridge in July 1842/1845.
There should be information on his father William Davis on that certificate.
I was advised that that the London and Southwestern Railway actually covered the counties of Hants, Wilts, Somerset, Devon, Dorset and Surrey and as Lindsey indicated above he might have been a porter somewhere before moving to Montisfont.
Best wishes

Richard

I've been looking at the image of the 1851 that Choccy found. It actually is Dalson. Son William is born in Maltby, Yorkshire, and this looks like him.



record title: England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975
name: William Henry Davis
gender: Male
baptism/christening date: 30 Mar 1845
baptism/christening place: Maltby, (near Rothertham), York, England
father's name: William Davis
mother's name: Jane
indexing project (batch) number: I00813-5
system origin: England-EASy
source film number: 6343984

This is the closest I can come to Richard.

record title: England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975
name: Richard Dawson
gender: Male
baptism/christening date: 15 Aug 1847
baptism/christening place: Mottisfont, Hampshire, England
father's name: William Dawson
mother's name: Jane
indexing project (batch) number: I03960-7
system origin: England-EASy
source film number: 1596211

The above fits with the birth reg'n Lindsey found for Richard Dalton.