Knight Family Notes
These notes were assembled
by Maureen Spinks in response to a message sent to our Visitors Book in 2002
by Teresa Rosina Fleming (known as Rose) of Bearwood.
I have transcribed all
the parish records for the Badsey website and, because Knight was the commonest
name in Badsey, I have produced a huge family tree of the family dating back
to the 17th century. As it's rather confusing, with so many Knights, I have
listed below what I believe to be your line of descent.
1. Joseph
Knight – Joseph Knight was born outside of Badsey and Aldington, and also
married elsewhere. Joseph, and Eleanor his wife, had fourteen children: Thomas
(1686), William (1686), Alice (1688), Joseph (1690), Margaret (1693), John (1695),
Henry (1699), Samuel (1700), Francis (1702), Edward (1704), Benjamin (1705),
James (1707), Valentine (1708) and James (1715). Joseph died in September 1727,
but Eleanor appears to have survived to a grand old age, not dying until August
1760.
2. Samuel
Knight - Samuel Knight was born in Aldington and baptised on 24th
November 1700, the eighth child of Joseph and Eleanor Knight. Samuel married
Ann around 1732 (not in Badsey). Samuel and Ann had seven children: Joseph (1733-1782),
Samuel (1735), James (1738), Ann (1739), Mary (1743), Valentine (1745-1758)
and Francis (1749-1798). Ann died in November 1771 and Samuel in October 1783.
3. Francis
Knight - Francis Knight was baptised on 30th July 1749, the youngest
child of Samuel and Ann Knight. Francis was a carpenter and married Ann. They
had three sons and eight daughters: Joseph (1774-1843), Ann (1775-1778), Mary
(1777-1791), Elizabeth (1778), Nancy (1780-1796), Hannah (1782-1783), Sarah
(1783-1802), Jane (1785), Francis (1788), Martha (1791-1796) and Samuel (1794-1795),
seven of whom died in childhood or in their teens. Francis died in January 1798.
4. Joseph
Knight - Joseph Knight was baptised on 10th July 1774, the eldest
child of Francis and Ann Knight. Joseph was a farmer and he married Sarah. They
had four children: Robert (1806-1875), Charles (1808), Harriet (1811) and William
(1813). Joseph died in March 1843.
5. Harriet
Knight - Harriet Knight was baptised on 6th January 1811, the
third child of Joseph and Sarah Knight. On 31st May 1832, she married
Thomas Sharp at Badsey. Thomas and Harriet had at least four children: Selina
(about 1835), John (1836), Alfred (1840) and Edwin (about 1844) but the only
child baptised in Badsey was John (Selina, Alfred and Edwin were born in Evesham).
At the time of the 1841 census, Harriet Sharp worked as a servant in the household
of Joseph Knight. Her children, seven-year-old Selina and five-month-old Alfred
lived with her. Harriet was actually Joseph Knight’s daughter. Where John and
his father, Thomas, were, in 1841 is not known. By 1851, Harriet and family
had gone. It is likely that they were living in Evesham, where Edwin, was born
in 1844.
At the
time of the 1881 census, 70-year-old Harriet Sharp, a widow of independent means,
was living at 4 Avon Terrace, Waterside, Bengeworth, Evesham. Her son, Edwin,
a carpenter, his wife Mary, and their four children, Lizzie, Percival, William
and Peter, lived with her. Another son, Alfred, lived not far away at 13 Port
Street. Alfred was a tailor and draper, and lived there with his wife, Sarah,
and children, William, Emily, Ernest, Allen, Edith and Louisa. Meanwhile, over
in Badsey, Harriet’s eldest son, John, along with his wife Abigail, and sons
John and Alfred, were visiting Abigail’s mother. John had married Abigail Knight,
who was actually his first cousin (the daughter of his mother’s elder brother
Robert). Harriet’s daughter, Selina, was married to John Dennick, a sawyer,
and lived on Priest Lane, Pershore Holy Cross, with their six sons and two daughters,
George, William, Sarah Jane, John, Mary Ann, Alfred, Harry and Thomas.
By the
mid 1880s, a Jerry Sharp from Pershore was the Miller at Aldington. He was born
about 1850 at Pershore. Could he possibly have been the son of Thomas and Harriet
Sharp? Jerry had married Elizabeth from Bretforton in the 1870s and they had
five daughters and one son: Elizabeth (about 1880 at Evesham), Edith (about
1882 at Wyre Piddle), Myra Louise (1885-1904), Sophia Frances (1887-1888), John
(1889) and Annie Dora (1893). In 1881, they were living at Wyre Piddle, but
they were certainly at Aldington by March 1885 when Myra was baptised at Badsey.
The children did not attend Badsey School, so presumably were privately educated.
Rose
responded:
Thanks
for all your hard work concerning the Knight family, I was getting a bit confused.
This is how I fit in as far as I know. Thomas Sharp married Harriet Knight
their son Alfred was baptised 24th Jan 1841 at Bengeworth Parish Church. He
married Sarah Ann Rimell 26th July 1864. Witnessed by John Sharp and Selina
Gardener. They had William-Alfred.Baptised 21April 1865.Emily. Earnest 1870
.Allen baptised 15th September 1872. Edeth. Louisa. Arthur 1875 died 1876. Allen
Sharp married Caroline Edith Taylor they had William. Frank Sydney- Charles.
and Winifred. Allen owned a Butchers shop in Birmingham. Frank married Gertrude
May Reynolds from Wellington at Aston in 1920. They had one daughter Sylvia
who married my father Francis Arthur Evans at St. Gregorys Bearwood, West Midlands.
Maureen
responded:
I have
a copy of the 1881 Census on CD-Rom and last night looked up the various children
of Thomas and Hannah Sharp. For the only daughter, Selina, I found a Selina
Dennick of the right age, married and living in Pershore, so decided she must
be the one. However, looking at your notes today, I see that a Selina Gardener
was a witness at your great-great-grandfather's wedding. So I have found Selina
Gardener in the 1881 census, and she is definitely the correct one now, the
clincher being that her niece, Amy Sharp (possibly John's daughter?) was staying
there. Here now are the revised notes for the section on Harriet Knight and
her children:
5. Harriet
Knight - Harriet Knight was baptised on 6th January 1811, the third child of
Joseph and Sarah Knight. On 31st May 1832, she married Thomas Sharp at Badsey.
Thomas and Harriet had at least four children: Selina (about 1835), John (1836),
Alfred (1840) and Edwin (about 1844) but the only child baptised in Badsey was
John (Selina was born in Campden and Alfred and Edwin were born in Evesham).
At the time of the 1841 census, Harriet Sharp worked as a servant in the household
of Joseph Knight. Her children, seven-year-old Selina and five-month-old Alfred
lived with her. Harriet was actually Joseph Knight’s daughter. Where John and
his father, Thomas, were, in 1841 is not known. By 1851, Harriet and family
had gone. It is likely that they were living in Evesham, where Edwin, was born
in 1844.
At the
time of the 1881 census, 70-year-old Harriet Sharp, a widow of independent means,
was living at 4 Avon Terrace, Waterside, Bengeworth, Evesham. Her son, Edwin,
a carpenter, his wife Mary, and their four children, Lizzie, Percival, William
and Peter, lived with her. Another son, Alfred, lived not far away at 13 Port
Street. Alfred was a tailor and draper, and lived there with his wife, Sarah,
and children, William, Emily, Ernest, Allen, Edith and Louisa. Meanwhile, over
in Badsey, Harriet’s eldest son, John, along with his wife Abigail, and sons
John and Alfred, were visiting Abigail’s mother. John had married Abigail Knight,
who was actually his first cousin (the daughter of his mother’s elder brother
Robert). Their daughter, Amy, was staying with her Aunt Selina in Evesham. Harriet’s
daughter, Selina, was married to William Gardner, a builder and town councillor,
and lived at 49 & 50 Port Street, Bengeworth, Evesham (described in the census
as "now one house") with two sons and a daughter, Jane, Annie and Frederick.
You don't,
by any chance, know how Jerry Sharp, the Miller at Aldington, fits into the
family, if at all?
Here
are notes on other Knight families in Badsey.
Updated 22 November 2002.
Contact email: History@Badsey.net