by John Slaughter  

I am very pleased to announce that I have been able to welcome seven new members since my last report.

Charles Herdy is another descendent of Isaac Behenna Sawle who was born in Gerrans, Cornwall in 1828. I suppose it is not surprising that there are so many Isaac descendants as he married twice and had five children by his first wife Caroline Manley and seven children by his second wife Sarah Anderson. Curiously nearly all the descendants that I have had contact with over recent years have descended from a different child. Charles forebear was from his first marriage, a Susan born in Liverpool in 1859. She emigrated to New Zealand about 1876 and two years later married George Parker Short at Oamaru, New Zealand.

John Taylor’s interest is in the Sauls at Stubbs Walden, Yorkshire. His 3 x great grandmother was Ann Saul who married Nathan Greenwood in 1828 and moved to Burnley, Lancashire. Ann was one of ten children born to Thomas Saul and Elizabeth Addy of Stubbs Walden. John Amos is a descendent of one of Ann’s sisters, Elizabeth, and the two John’s have been in correspondence.

Angela Easton connects to the Leamington Spa Sauls and joined the Society as a result of her contact with Martin Saul. Angela’s grandfather was a Wilfred J Saul who was born in 1921 in Liverpool, one of five children of Ernest Henry Saul and Helena Dark. Ernest Henry was born in Leamington and was one of two brothers who moved to Liverpool, and about whom Martin has written in previous journals.

Bronwyn Thewlis is researching her husband’s Saul ancestry. His 2 x grandmother was a Jane Saul born at Stainforth, Yorkshire in 1833. She was one of eight children of Thomas Saul and Elizabeth Latham. Jane had an illegitimate daughter, Jessy born 1858, before marrying a John Gillott. Member Mike Saul is a descendant of Jane’s brother Peter.

Joyce Saul is also researching her husband’s ancestry. He was born in Dublin in 1938. His father Richard was also Dublin born and appears on the 1911 census as a six year old in the household of his parents at New Street, Merchants Quay, Dublin. Richard’s father was James Saul, aged 49 years, a plumber and gas fitter, born in County Wicklow. His mother Catherine was 40 years of age and born in Dublin. The only other occupant on the 1911 census was an older son John aged 8 years. The birth of James Saul in County Wicklow has not been established.

Ted White was interested in finding out more about his ancestor Jane Sawle who, according to censuses, was born at St Mawes, Cornwall circa 1804. She married Thomas Greet in 1826 and they moved to Sussex where Thomas was employed in the Coastguard Service. Research strongly suggests that Jane was baptised as Jenny Sowel on 20th May 1804 at the parish church of St Just in Roseland, Cornwall (this parish includes St Mawes). I had only one chart for the Sawles at St Mawes and this was headed by a John Sawle and his wife Louisa (nee German). From various sources it seemed that John had been born at St Mawes circa 1807 and raised the possibility that he was a sister of Jane. Maureen Storey had a chart for the Sowels at St Mawes and which included a John Sowel baptised on 1st May 1808 to the same parents as Jane/Jenny. All the circumstantial evidence suggests that the Sowel/Sawle connection is correct.

Jill Franklin is the mother of one time member Maria Eaton and together they have been very active in seeking out the genealogy of the Saul Rodrigues family. It seems pretty clear that they were of Portuguese extraction, and originally named Rodrigues. Saul appears to have been added as a second name and over the years, for reasons that are not entirely clear, some of the descendants adopted Saul as their surname. Even then there was little consistency. For example a Charles Saul Rodrigues married twice firstly to Margaret Brooks, with whom he had five children, and secondly to Sarah Hill, with whom he had two further children. All of the children appear in the GRO birth indexes under the name Rodrigues apart from one of the daughters’ of the second marriage, Clara Florence, who is registered as a Saul. Charles was a butcher in West Ham, London and on the 1851 and 1861 censuses was resident in High Street, West Ham under the name of Saul. On the 1871 census he appears as Charles Saul Rodrigues. Charles’s father was Jonathan Saul Rodrigues who also married twice, firstly to a Mary Hicks, with secondly to Ruth Fidler. The second marriage was more productive in terms of issue and there are six known children. A generation further back is David Saul Rodrigues who died in 1800 and left a Will requesting to be buried at Portuguese Burial Ground, Mile End. David had up to ten children and as well as Jonathan I have been able to trace descendants of two other sons, Abraham and Saul. Both of these were also butchers in the East End of London.

I have had some very interesting correspondence with Em from Australia. From research in Australian records Em had established that her Saul ancestors were originally from Manchester, Lancashire. There were two brothers, James and William, who had emigrated to Australia around 1841, the sons of John Saul and Mary Lloyd. James was already married by this time and went to Australia with his wife Ann Dixon and children Charles and William. The parish registers of Manchester Cathedral have not yet been fully explored and the following is largely based on the IGI. At Manchester Cathedral on 16th November 1811 the marriage took place of a John Saul, a weaver, and Mary Lloyd. They baptised four children there on 25th December 1819, namely Eliza, William, James and Sarah (no doubt born at varying times between 1811 and 1819). They may also be the parents of a Joseph Saul baptised at the Cathedral on 3rd September 1827. The marriage of James Saul and Ann Dixon has not been located but they had three children baptised at Manchester Cathedral namely Charles (14th October 1832), William Henry (30th April 1834) and Mary Ann (27th May 1838). The problem we have is what became of their parents John and Mary. The evidence from the Australian records suggests that both were still alive in 1841, when one of their sons emigrated, but they can not be found on the 1841 census or indeed in later records. I wondered if the whole family had emigrated to Australia but Em has been unable to find any evidence in Australia to suggest this.

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