By George Solly
I have had two contacts since the last Journal:
From: Yuan AGOMESSI [Ed: re; his Soly line]:
Possible descendant of John Benjamin Travers Soly and a Togolese lady (AGOMESSI).
My reply:
Hi, Thank you for your email regarding John Benjamin Travers Soly. On checking the main Solly tree I can only find the following Travers:
Thomas Solly 1775 -1852 m. Ann Travers; their son Thomas Solly, philosophical writer 1816-1875 lived in Berlin, married: Charlotte Augusta Solly, his cousin; and a ‘German lady’
Ancestry shows a John Benjamin Travers Soly born in Walthamstow, Essex (24.08.1820) died in Hobart 14.08.1902 and who married Jane Elizabeth Watts, so I wonder if this is the line to your ancestor and Agomessi. If you have any further information regarding more recent forebears I might be able to make connections.
His reply:
Hello, Thank you for your reply.
According to my research, my paternal great-grandfather could be:
John Benjamin Travers Solly (1863-1953).
Son of Benjamin Travers Solly (1820-1902) and Jane Watts (1832-1912).
Son of Thomas Solly (1780-1832) and Mary Brydges Travers (1785-1837).
Son of Isaac Solly (1724-1802) and Elizabeth Neale (1742-1819).
I found a document with John Benjamin Solly’s boat trips between England and the “Gold Coast”. My grandfather was born in 1922 in Togo and we know that his father was English, and his mother was called Suzanne Agomessi and was Togolese.
Best regards. Yoann AGOMESSI
My reply:
Hi, Thanks for your interesting email and it looks like we are both descended from common ancestor: John Solly 1660-1747 and Martha Legay 1674-1716, see tree below.
Although I have a note of a Travers marrying a Solly (Thomas) it doesn’t tally with yours (see below). Perhaps the Solly family married into the Travers family more than once? And perhaps you have an answer to this query.
Look forward to your reply.(no further reply received)
The second query came from Neville Solly, of South Australia:
Hi George, Can you check the records and see if there is anything that can explain this? The records I have are decades old:
Stephen Soley, bd. abt 1490, Kent, Wardell & Pedding
married:
Sexborowe Harfleet bd. abt 1486, dd. 24 Mar 1586, Kent, Ash, brd. 26 Mar 1586, Kent, Ash, St Nicholas, m. abt 1509
The following comment from Nicholas McNair was posted on the WikiTree profile of Sexborowe Harfleet:
The idea that Stephen Solly the Elder’s wife was Sexborowe Solly wid. came from Planché’s book ‘A Corner of Kent,’ but it was simply because she was the oldest he could find in the parish register of Ash. But my great great grandfather N N Solly, who knew Planché, maintained that Stephen’s wife was called Christiane, and I found in the parish register the burial of Christine Solly wid. in 1558, the same year as her husband. So the name Sexborowe is irrelevant. Cheers, Neville Solly, South Australia
My reply: Hi Neville
Yes, Stephen Solly was married to Christyan Harfleet but I have his death as 1561, buried 25.12.1561. In my tree I’ve noted Sexborowe as a possible nickname, an AKA or a misnomer.
As you know, Sexburga was Queen of Kent (699) and also an Abbess / Saxon saint – probably not relevant unless as a nickname it was a term of endearment for such a long-lived wife, mother and widow.
Hope that helps. Best wishes
George
