SAUL Co-ordinator's Report December 2010

by John Slaughter

This report will be somewhat shorter than usual as there has been little activity in recent months particularly from new enquiries. I am however pleased to welcome three new members, Steven Graves, Lyn Court and Joanne Sanderson.

Steven Graves made contact and joined the Society after noticing an article on our web site referring to the Saul family of Wheatley, Oxfordshire. This is a relatively small chart headed by a William Saul who married Mary Robbins at Cuddesdon, Oxfordshire on 1 March 1814. As far as we are aware they had only two children: Sarah baptised in1814 who married a William Brooks, and William baptised in 1817 who had seven children by his wife Elizabeth. Steven has yet to advise his connection to the Wheatley Sauls.

In the August journal I gave details of an enquiry received from Lyn Court and the tentative connection made to a James Saul who had been born in Norton, Yorkshire circa 1832. In subsequent correspondence Lyn has confirmed the connection to James Saul. It appears that James married twice, firstly Eliza Holland by whom he had three children: Lucy, Alfred and Agnes. After Eliza’s death he married Elizabeth Thompson and had a son Harry who sadly died aged3 years. On the 1871 census Elizabeth’s age is given as 43 years so it may be that there were not any further children. It seems likely that Elizabeth died in 1887aged 60 years but the death of James has not, so far, been found.

Joanne Sanderson wanted to find out more about her great grandfather, Thomas Saul, who had served in WW1and found some details of his army career on our website. Thomas had served in the Loyal West Lancs Regiment enlisting on 5 August 1914and saw service in both France and the Mediterranean. His conduct did however leave something to be desired. His army records show that he was convicted by a Sicilian court in October 1917 of theft and sentenced to 14 days. There are also multiple entries on his discipline sheet. Thomas had married Ada Ramshead at Preston, Lancs in 1908 and had 11children. He died in 1930 at the relatively young age of 46. Thomas’ ancestry can be traced back several generations in Preston and is part of the largest Preston tree that we have. Thomas’s parents were Thomas William Saul and Bridget Campbell who appear to have had six children before Bridget died in 1898 at the age of 38 years.

As correspondence has been relatively quiet over recent months I have been spending some time updating and expanding existing charts. It often happens that after an initial flurry of correspondence, particularly with new members, the lines of communication go quiet. If members have found new information since the last time we corresponded it would be helpful if I could be updated.

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