By Maureen Storey
In this journal we welcome four new members: Tim Mander, Chris Glew, Sara Renée Soule and Becket Soule. Tim has written an article on Bigamy in Petworth which appears elsewhere in this journal.
Both Tim and Chris are researching the family of James Soale and Margery (or Mary) Lassiter, who married in Ashurst, Sussex on 5 May 1640. James and Margery’s son Edward was baptised in Wiston, Sussex, in 1656 and married Joane Austen in Heyshott, Sussex in 1681. Tim’s wife and Chris are both descended from Edward and Joane: Tim’s wife from their son John and Chris from their son Austen.
Tim has been trying to verify an outline of the family based on research by his wife’s aunt – this tree outline agrees with the Society’s version of the family, but includes two earlier generations: James’s parents John Solle and Jane Gray and his grandfather another John Solle.
So far Tim has found the baptism of James Soale, the son of John Soale, in Ashurst on 16 Sep 1616, which takes the family back one generation. However, he is still looking for evidence that this John Soale was the one that married Jane Grey in West Grinstead in 1607 and that he was the John Solle, son of John Solle, baptised in Cowfold, Sussex in 1584. Tim has kindly contributed an article to this journal.
Sara and Becket are both descendants of George Soule of the Mayflower. Sara can trace her ancestry to George’s son John (born about 1632), whilst Becket is descended through two separate branches from George’s son George (born about 1639).
In April 2000 whilst describing some of the information that can be gleaned from newspapers I mentioned 19-year-old Richard Sole who had been sentenced to transportation in 1838 after a drunken brawl in Fordwich, Kent, in which his opponent was stabbed. At the time I was unable to definitely identify Richard and hadn’t been able to trace him after he left the UK. The report was read by Helen Soles, who lives in Australia, and, intrigued, she started searching the Australian records to see if she could help. She found Richard had obtained a ticket of leave for Port Macquarie/Macleay River area and that in 1856 he married Catherine Carroll in Port Macquarie. Helen could find no record of the couple having any children but she found they both died at Macleay River, Catherine in 1875 (aged 41) and Richard in 1876 (aged 56). Richard’s death was registered as Sale which may have been the reason it hadn’t been picked up before. It was Richard’s will, however, that finally lead to a definite identification for him. He left half his estate to his nephew Edward, who had emigrated to New South Wales, and the other half to his brother Edward, who was living near Canterbury, Kent. These relationships make it certain that he was the Richard Sole, son of Edward Sole and Bennett Bettsworth, who was baptised at Herne, Kent, in 1818.
Our membership secretary Bob Sheldon moved house recently and while sorting out ready for the move he came across an old coat hanger on which was printed ‘H Soll & Son, Bespoke Tailors, 199 Hackney Rd., E.2 Shoreditch 8695’.
This sparked Bob’s curiosity and he asked if we knew anything about the family. The data we have suggest this must be Hyman Soll (1889-1961). Hyman was the son of Joseph Soll, a Polish immigrant who came to Britain in about 1896. Joseph, his wife Sarah and their five sons were naturalised in 1902. Joseph’s occupation on the naturalisation papers was ‘clothier’ and by the time of the 1911 census Hyman was running a clothing shop in Hackney Road. However, at that stage Hyman’s shop dealt largely in second-hand clothes, so if he is the bespoke tailor mentioned on the hanger, he must later have moved up in the world. Hyman married Kitty Marchinsky in London in 1911 and the couple went on to have three children: Samuel, Isador and Sarah. Hyman died in Barnet Registration District and was buried in the Edmonton Cemetery of the Federation of Synagogues. Without knowing the date of the hanger it’s more difficult to identify who is the ‘Son’ mentioned on the hanger. It could be Samuel, b 1912, in Shoreditch, though we’ve found no mention of him after his birth or if the hanger is pre-WW2 it could be Isador, b 1922, who was killed in 1942, while serving in the Army.
Lastly I would like to thank again those who have agreed to help us with our DNA project. We are still trying to determine the best way forward and will be in touch with you individually once we’ve settled on a course of action.