The George (1) DAWES Line

George Dawes (1821-1869) is the last child born in East Peckfield before the family moved back to Uckfield. George first married Esther COTTINGTON (1831-1863) in 1849 Uckfield and had five children with her. Esther died in 1863 and George married the widow of his nephew Henry who died in 1864. This line connects the COOPER and MUGRIDGE families to the DAWES.

George and Esther had 5 children and all except Fanny married and had families that can be flound in later posts of this blog. George and Sophia has 2 children and I only have additional details for Charles also found later in this blog.

The Elizabeth (DAWES) MITCHELL Line

Elizabeth Dawes (1816-1879) was also born in East Peckham before moving to Uckfield with the family. In 1846, she married Henry Mitchell (1809-1886) in Lewes in 1846 but had already had a son, Oliver, by him in 1839. Oliver married Anna Maria Wickens in 1863 Uckfield and had three daughters, Grace, Blanche and Elizabeth, of which Blanche was the only one to marry and carry on the family into the twentieth century.

The Frances (DAWES) HEMSLEY Line

This is a small line. Frances DAWES (1814-1892) was the first child of Thomas "the labourer" and Elizabeth who was born in East Peckham. An 1809 removal order directed the family back to Uckfield, Sussex from Hadlow, Kent. They weren't quick in responding and had two more children in Hadlow before moving. Along the way they had Frances, Elizabeth, Mary and George before arriving back in Uckfield. Frances married Henry Hemsley (1812-1870) in Uckfield on 18 Oct 1840 and they had one child, Henry, b. 1837 before they married who died in 1853 at the age of 16.

The Thomas (1) DAWES Line

This is the 3rd Thomas in a string of four. I refer to him as Thomas "the bricklayer." He married Ann LANGRIDGE (1814-1876) in Lewes, Sussex on 10 Nov. 1834. He died of cancer at age 42 in 1851 right after the census leaving his wife Ann with five children under the age of sixteen. The children dispersed at this point and became very hard to trace. In 1856, Ann remarried to a James GALLOP and had a daughter, Caroline b. 1856 as well. In 1861, they were living in Brighton and had her son Thomas "the builder" living with them and working as a wheelwright.

The Jane Ann (DAWES) CHATFIELD Line

Jane Ann Dawes (1805-1851) married three times to Thomas CHATFIELD (sometimes recorded as CHALFIELD) then William COOKE and finally John BENNETT. There is no marriage record for her and William COOKE although she appears as his wife in the 1841 census. She had two children with William whose names are COOKE while her children with Thomas retained their CHATFIELD surname. In 1851, Jane A. BENNETT is listed as the wife of John BENNETT although I don't believe that she had married him because William COOKE had been committed to the Uckfield Union Workhouse. In the same census her son Henry CHATFIELD (21) and daughter Jane COOKE (17) are visiting because I believe she was dying as she disappears from future censuses and there is a death registration for Jane BENNETT in the March quarter of 1851 Hailsham. Her son Henry CHATFIELD (1829-1912) had nine children who carried the name through into the twentieth century.

The William (1) DAWES Line

William DAWES and his wife Elizabeth (surname unknown) had five children. Henry b. 1831 married Sophia SANTER. Henry died in 1864 at age 33 and his widow married his uncle George b. 1821. George was also a widower after his first wife, Esther COTTINGHAM, died in 1863 so between all parents the final family consisted of eight children. Both Catherine and Daniel died young. Elizabeth (1828-1883) married George GURR and started a large family group while Charlotte (1838-1914) married Thomas BARTON and also started a large family group.

The DAWES surname wasn't carried on by any descendants of William. Henry's only child with Sophia before he died was a daughter, Elizabeth (1856-1935) who was in service all her life and never married.

Mystery Photo

This photo was found by cousin Tom in his mother's effects. Since it doesn't represent his father's family we have assumed that it must be of the Dawes family. However, no one can identify anyone or the location. Our best estimate is that it was taken somewhere in Brighton about 1905-1910. The young girl in the foreground is holding a playbill on which the word Hippodrome can be seen. If anyone can help identify this photo please contact me.

Some Rules

PHOTOS: I won't publish photos of living individuals without their permission.

CHARTS: I won't publish names and event dates of living individuals. I have tried to make the charts as clear as possible however, if you have trouble viewing one just click on it for a larger image.

LEGEND: On my charts I use a symbol shorthand to provide source info as follows -
® = I have a copy of the vital registration certificate
» = I found the information on the IGI with a batch number
« = I found the information on the IGI from an ancestral file
¿ = I found the information in a resource like the Sussex Marriage Index
± = I made an assumption about the person, date or place
GRO = With vol., page and dist indicates GRO Index reference
© = Followed by a year indicates I have found the person in that census

TITLES: Family branches that continue will be denoted as "Lines" eg. The Thomas DAWES Line while family branches that end will be denoted as "Family" eg. The GURR Family. If there are more than one with the same given name it will be followed by a number eg. William (1).

The Oldest Roots

This is the root family starting in Kent.

New Dawes Genealogy Blog Started

This blog space is for those interested in DAWES genealogy to share information, ideas, research notes and anything else which helps to further research into the surname and specifically the branch which started in Kent and Sussex, England.