By Tanya Sewell
We are delighted to have four new Research Co-ordinators for the society, led by Tanya Sewell. In the following pieces they will introduce themselves and their families.
Tanya Sewell
I have been researching my family history for over 40 years having started when I was 14 and went along with my nan to St Catherine’s House to help her lift the big index books while she crossed off the boxes on the form to show which indexes we had viewed and then ordering certificates and waiting a few weeks to receive them. She recounted several tales of scandal in the family which we both wanted to be true but sadly we disproved them all. I helped with plotting her family tree and whilst gaining the information from her research I got gripped and wanted to explore more about our ancestors lives as well as recording facts about names and dates and so began a lifelong hobby. More recently, with my husband and his father having done DNA tests, we have found a conundrum where they might not in fact be Sewell’s in the biological sense but maybe I will share that with you in a future edition.
As well as volunteering for The Sole Society, I am also the Treasurer of The Essex Society for Family History and I still work part time as Head of Business & Finance for a local chain of nursery schools.
We look forward to helping our Sewell members with their queries but would also like to hear from you about any stories you may have about your Sewell ancestors and their lives. It would be lovely to share these with our readers.
Samantha Watson
My line is from Great Yarmouth. My first line into the Sewell family is Joseph Ditcham born 1864 who married Elizabeth Mary Ann Sewell also born 1864. Their line joins the Sewell, Lincoln and Steward family. I am currently checking that my tree is correct as far as I can. I believe it goes back to Thomas Steward Sewell born 1772 who married three times. He married Ann Hawkins, then Mary Gowen (my line) and then Mary Brame, he is buried in Great Yarmouth. Lots of trees have his parents as Thomas and Ann from Attleborough. However, I do not think this is correct. I believe my Thomas Steward Sewell’s parents were Samuel Sewell born 1744 and Mary Steward born 1748 both born in Great Yarmouth. However, I need confirmation that this is correct and then try to go further back.
Family genealogy is difficult because so many people do not check the parentage correctly. Families often gave their children the middle name of their wife, which helps when establishing the correct line. There was also a particular way they named their children. This is how I check my line because there are loads of families that are interlinked!
Frank Charles Sewell, whose photos follow was Tanya Sewell’s husband’s paternal great grandfather.
Kammie Lee
When I was ten, I learned that I was not actually a Willis. My second great grandfather, Peter Willis, had been born four years after his “father’s” death. He took on his mother’s late husband’s last name of Willis. No one ever knew who his actual father was as Peter Willis’ mother never shared that information. This mystery intrigued me, and I wondered what my real last name should be.
Through the help of a newly found friend in England and modern advancements in indexing, transcribing, and search options, we were able to finally find the biological father – Peter Sewell of Stebbing, Essex. Upon finding Peter Sewell, my 12-year-old son found the Sole Society which we quickly joined to learn all we could about the Sewell’s. I would love to connect with anyone who is a descendant of Peter Sewell of Stebbing, Essex (born 1797) and learn anything I can about his posterity and family line… their story… outside of just the dates and names. I would love to learn about who they were and what they were like. How excited my extended Willis family has been to find this new branch of our family tree! I am going to be covering the Sewell families in North of England and would love to collaborate with you if your ancestors are from that area.
Murrray Sewell
I am a retired sales & marketing executive, now living in Williamsburg, VA, USA. Our Sewell family was historically in the Ohio/Indiana/Illinois Midwest region. We believe our roots can be traced back to a George Soule who was born in the 1750 in Carlisle, St. Mary’s, Cumberland, England, but we have not been able to verify that connection. I have 4 children, 10 grandchildren, and 5 great-grandchildren who I hope to pass on everything I have learned about our family. Ironically, my father changed the pronunciation, but not the spelling, of our last name from “Sewell” to “Seawell” when he moved to Pennsylvania in the early 1950s. He claimed he never liked the original pronunciation. Little did he know his 4th great-grandfather was a Soule! I am happy to help anyone with their genealogical searches.