The Sole Society, a Family History Society researching Sole, Saul, Sewell, Solley and similar names

SOLE Co-ordinator's Report - November 1998

(Kent, Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire)

By Bob Sheldon

Four new members (and two prospective members) have joined the Society since my last report in which I summarised the research of all members with SE England connections. Interestingly three of them are probably connected. So, to update the position, I can add the following:

Hilary Hale lives in Norfolk with her husband Peter and can trace her ancestors back to gt-gt-gt-grandtather Henry Sole of Brighton, Sussex, who married Mary Beaver in 1819 and was believed to have been born around 1790. Our database contains a Henry Soal who was baptised on 22 Nov 1789 at Rustington, which is only some 15 miles from Brighton. We do not know what happened to him unless he is the Henry who moved to Brighton to marry Mary and raise their four sons and a daughter there. The spelling of the name could be explained by the different scribes at each location. After advising Hilary of the possible Rustington connection she obtained a death certificate for Henry who died in 1846 and this confirms his birth date as 1789 but unfortunately does not confirm his birthplace. I believe we can be reasonably certain that these events are connected and that Hilary's Henry is the son of Philip and Sarah (Blaber) Soal who were married in 1776 at Rustington. This Philip was baptised in 1749 at East Preston (the next village to Rustington), the son of Philip and Mary (nee?) Soal who were married prior to 1748. So if we are right to accept the "Henry" connection, then Hilary can add two more generations to her line.

Sheila Maclnnes lives in Yorkshire with her husband David and can trace her SOLE line to gt-gt-gt-grandparents Philip and Sarah (Blaber) Soal of Rustington, Sussex, through their eldest son George. Sheila has had some difficulty in tracing her line back to Philip because her gt-grandfather (also George) appears to have married twice but the second marriage was possibly bigamous. Maybe we shall never know for sure but we must assume this in the absence of evidence of a divorce that would have been unlikely in the I870s. We do know that his first wife Caroline (Blackaller) was living in Littlehampton with three of her children in 1881; that was after his marriage to Elizabeth Hall in 1873 at Falmouth, Cornwall, and from which marriage Sheila is descended.

Mrs G J Sole is the widow of Patrick who was born in 1917 at Portsmouth, Hampshire and she now lives in Surrey. During a recent phone call, in which she stated her interest in joining the Society, she was able to give me some details from memory of her late husband's line. We hope to meet in due course when she has promised to show me the annotated Family Bible that should prove valuable in furthering our knowledge. What was interesting was her late husband's belief that his ancestors were from Rustington, Sussex, and that "Philip" was a common name in his family.

Bill Sole lives in East Kent having been born in Lewisham in Greater London that was in West Kent prior to 1889. His knowledge of his ancestry extends so far only to his grandfather Albert born before 1880 but location unknown. Bill has a sister Judy who lives with her husband in Canada and who also may become a member. We hope to track down more of their forebears in due course.

Marjorie Wigginton lives in Kent and before joining the Society had traced her ancestors to gt-grandfather Edward Soal who married Harriet Ann (nee?) in 1869 at Hackney, Middlesex. By matching Majorie's information with our records we were reasonably certain that Edward was born in 1844 the son of John and Ann (Jordan) Soal who were married in 1835 at St. Peters, Thanet, Kent. As a consequence Marjorie can now trace her ancestors back six generations to William and Anne (Tanner) Soal who were married in 1733 in Canterbury, Kent but were living in Reculver, Kent a few miles away. We have a number of so far unconnected lines originating in north and east Kent and are still seeking that "vital" piece of evidence that will help us to put them all in place.

Return to The Sole Society Home Page