THE WOOD FAMILY
I detail
below my direct Wood ancestors. Further information about others in the
family are provided in links. Associated surnames include: Chisnall, Usher,
Steward and Brown. Wood or Woods? From Suffolk and Essex .
William Wood and Frances
Chisnall
I have traced my
Wood ancestors back to William Wood who married Frances Chisnall at Stratford St
Mary in Suffolk in 1778. They had at least 7 children: Rebecca (born c. 1779),
Fanny (c. 1781), William (c. 1783), Rebecca (c. 1785), Richard (c. 1788), Thomas
(c. 1790) and Amy (c. 1793). I have been able to trace Richard and Thomas
in census records. Richard married a lady called Charity and worked as an
agricultural labourer. Thomas (below) was my 4 times great grandfather.
Thomas Wood (c. 1789 - 1860) and Harriett (c. 1797 - ?)
Thomas Wood was born c. 1789 in Stratford St Mary in
Suffolk and was christened in January 1790. He was married to Harriett and had
at least three children: Annah (born c. 1825), Thomas (c. 1826) and William (c.
1827). The family lived just across the Suffolk border in the Essex village
of Dedham. Thomas was a blacksmith, as was his son Thomas. The family
were probably poor as indicated by their address in Dedham at Whitmore Place,
the former workhouse. Thomas died in 1860 from pleuro-pneumonia.
William
Wood (c. 1827 - ?) and Harriett Usher (c. 1824 - 1897)
William Wood,
born c. 1827, married Harriett Usher at the Parish church in Dedham in
October 1845. Harriett was also from Dedham and she and William continued to
live here at 'Anchor Corner' on the Heath - an area of poor dwellings where most
of the 19th century labouring families lived. Willam was an agricultural
labourer and Harriett, a needlewoman. They had two children; George (born 1849),
and Anna (born c. 1851). Harriet died in 1897 of 'cardiac disease' and was outlived by William.
George
Wood (1849 - 1911) and Sarah Steward (1853 - ?)
George Wood was born in Dedham in August 1849. He
lived in Dedham with his parents and in 1873 married Sarah Steward in nearby
Lawford. George and Sarah had four children born between 1875 and 1880. They
were: Edith, William, Rosanna and Lydia. George was an agricultural labourer -
his occupation being described as 'farm servant', 'farm bailiff', 'farm' and
'agricultural' labourer across censuses. In 1881, the family are shown to be
living at Causeway End Farm in Lawford but by 1891 were back in
Dedham. George died in 1911 at the age of 60 from broncho-pneumonia.
Rosanna
Wood (1877 - 1904) and William Francis Brown (1874 -
?)
George and Sarah's second daughter was Rosanna. She
was born in August 1877 in Lawford and was my Great-grandmother. She was
married to Suffolk born William Francis Brown in October 1899 at the
congregational chapel in Dedham. Rosanna and William had a daughter, Edith
Violet Brown, born 1901. Just a few years later, Rosanna died - her death
certificate recording 'Epilepsy' and 'Syncope' as the cause of death. William
subsequently married Rosanna's elder sister, Edith.