I have had no new members to welcome since my last report but this has been compensated by a considerable number of new enquiries and follow-ups to previous reports.

In my report in the December 2006 journal I mentioned the correspondence I had with Peter Saul from New Zealand. We had traced his line back to a Charles Saul who according to the 1881 census had been born in Retford, Notts circa 1847. However we could not find Charles either in the GRO births index or on any censuses before 1881. Member David Taylor kindly undertook some research and it looks as though we now have the answer. It appears that Charles was born Charles SOLOMON and not Charles Saul. His father appears to be Saul Solomon who has been located on the 1861 census at Clarborough, near Retford, where Saul Solomon was a greengrocer. It looks as though the family name was changed from Solomon to Saul some time between 1871 and 1881. Saul Solomon, but by now known as Solomon Saul, died in 1891 at the age of 82. According to the 1861 census he was born in Boston, Lincs. It would be useful to look at the Boston registers to see in what name he was baptised, and to see whether the name was traditionally Solomon or Saul. There were Sauls in the Boston area at that time.

I also received a follow up from Michael Saul. Michael’s great grandfather was John Saul, a brother of Charles. He stated that their father was a Solomon Saul born in Boston but he has no knowledge of the apparent change of name. Michael’s ancestor John owned a number of butcher and fishmonger shops in Aldershot and it was to Aldershot that Charles later moved. I am hoping that Peter and Michael will be providing further details about the descendants.

Yvonne Hogton has recently started researching her family tree. Her maiden name was Saul from Garstang, Lancashire, just north of Preston. She gave her father’s name as Thomas, grandfather Robert and great grandfather John James. We have a John James on one of our Preston charts born circa 1885 that looks likely to be her great grandfather. This chart goes back to a Robert Saul born about 1813 and who married Mary Ann Ainscow in 1842 at Leyland. However we have no details on the descendants of John James so hopefully with Yvonne’s help we will be able to add a new branch. Norman Saul is following up.

Margaret Holland was a Society member some years ago and has recently been in touch again. She is researching the Sawles of Falmouth. When Maureen Storey compiled the charts for the Cornish Sawles she wrote to Margaret as it was thought that there might be a connection between the Sawle and Sowell families at Falmouth.

Next an enquiry from Stacey Saul who is a descendant of William Saul, one of two Saul brothers, James and William, who emigrated to Australia from Cawston, Norfolk in the 1850’s. Member Lorraine Stacker has researched these families in some detail and between us we have written extensively in the journal. Lorraine is particularly excited by the contact as Stacey is the first William descendant she has found, Lorraine descends from James. Hopefully Stacey will be able to provide some more concrete information on the rather sketchy details we have on William’s side of the family.

Bernard Huntingdon has followed up on a brief exchange of correspondence in 2002, having decided to take a more active interest in his Saul ancestry. He is descended from Sauls in the Doncaster area and ties in with one of our charts. Bernard had traced the line back to a Michael Saul who married Winifred Blyde at the Tanshelf Catholic Church in 1798. There are some small differences between Bernard’s information and ours and John Amos is following up.

Bernard has a cousin on the Huntingdon side of his tree whose mother was a Saul and who married Stephen Slater in 1948 in Blackburn. The cousin, Mike Slater, has now been in touch. His mother was a Mary Patricia Saul born in Bamber Bridge, Preston in September 1925 the daughter of James and Catherine (nee Brogan). The evidence suggests a link to a Preston chart that I drew up several years ago based on the registers of the Roman Catholic Church in Preston, and supplemented by census information. This is the first contact we have had with a descendant of this chart and Norman Saul is following up.

An interesting enquiry was received from Della Mae Johnston in Canada. She was looking for family tartans and on a whim looked to see if there was a Saul tartan, Saul being her maiden name. She found a tartan, but which is restricted for the sole use of “Gavin Saul and members of his family and descendants”. Della gave me some information on her Saul ancestry. Her grandfather was a Thomas Saul who emigrated to Canada and was thought to have come from either Lancashire or Yorkshire. Della mentioned that her grandfather had siblings named Evelyn, James and Sidney all of whom also emigrated to Canada. She also thought there was one further brother who had remained in the UK. Initial research has not produced any obvious connections but I am lacking dates, which I hope Della will be able to provide.

Finally an enquiry from Jay Venables in New Zealand, who is a descendant of the James Sawle who emigrated to Australia with his family in 1839. In the December 2004 issue of Soul Search we published a letter that James had written about his experiences of emigration, as a warning to others. James came from the parish of Gerrans in Cornwall and his family are fairly well documented.  

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