My Legacy...lost

One of my great-grandfathers was Thomas DAWES (1840-1925) whom I call "The Builder" because he built more than 100 houses in Brighton during the first part of the twentieth century. I do this to differentiate him from his predecesors Thomas (1809-1851) "The Bricklayer" and Thomas (1769-1943) "The Labourer."

In his will dated 22 Sep 1924 and probated 21 Apr 1925 Thomas left sixteen of his houses to his children and grandchildren among other things. Here is a transcript of that portion of the will

"I give and devise my freehold houses as follows: (a) No 25 Belton Road and No 66 Beaconsfield Road to the said Walter Dawes in fee simple (b) Nos. 44 and 46 Belton Road and No. 114 Chester Terrace to Ernest Dawes in fee simple (c) No. 92 Chester Terrace to my Grand-Daughter Gladys Dawes of 11 Havelock Road, Brighton in fee simple (d) No. 27 Belton Road and No. 112 Chester Terrace to Minnie Barnes in fee simple (e) Nos. 40 and 48 Belton Road and No. 94 Chester Terrace to Tom Dawes in fee simple (f) Nos. 29 and 31 Belton Road and No. 2 Sandgate Road to Albert Henry Dawes in fee simple (h) No. 20 Lowther Road and No. 16 Dyke Road Drive to the said George Dawes in fee simple"

What is interesting here is he left out some children. His daughter, Bertha Tampkin, died in 1921 but he omitted her widower and his two grandsons Charles and Sydney Tampkin. Also excluded was his daughter, Alice Goldsmith, who had emigrated to New Zealand. He included his daughter, Minnie Barnes, but excluded the others, why?

These terrace houses are worth about £300,000, or more, in today's market making their total value C$1,530,000. If my father only knew!

My grandfather, Tom Dawes, died in 1933 shortly after inheriting the houses. His widow, my grandmother Carrie, had to sell the houses to survive after he died. Unfortunately, that was just before WWII and they weren't worth much. Family lore has it that his half-brother, George, either looked after the sale or bought the houses himself.

The top photo is No. 48 Belton Road, the middle is No. 40 Belton Road and the bottom is No. 94 Chester Terrace.

East Peckham, Kent

The family of Thomas and Elizabeth DAW spent eight years or more in East Peckham on their trek from Hadlow, Kent back to Uckfield, Sussex. I know this because four of their children (Frances, Elizabeth, Mary and George) were born there between 1814 and 1821. The 1831 census of Uckfield confirms that they were there then. (See previous post here)

East Peckham is located in the west part of Kent on the Medway River. According to the Kelly's 1882 Directory of Kent it is a large straggling village. See the full description at http://www.historicaldirectories.org/


The oldest parish church is St. Michael's where the children born in East Peckham would have been christened.

The church has been replaced by Holy Trinity which is closer to the town, however, St. Michael's is still open daily as a historical site.


While reading about East Peckham in the 1882 directory, I discovered a Thomas DAW who was identifed as the owner of the Rose and Crown which would be either a pub or hotel. Further investigation of the 1881 census revealed him as a licensed victualler living with his family at the Rose and Crown Hotel.

At left is an image of the census return. Thomas is living with his wife Emily and unmarried daughters Emily and Ellen all of whom probbaly helped with the running of the hotel. Thomas was born about 1825 in Yalding, Kent. I have no idea if this family is part of my DAWES family.

Where is Hadlow, Kent?

Hadlow is important to the DAWS family because it is where Thomas (the bricklayer) was born in 1809. The IGI (Batch No. C-131352) records his baptism in the parish church on 12 Nov 1809 to Thomas DAWES & Elizabeth. At left is St. Mary's, Hadlow, where this would have happened along with the baptisms of his siblings William (1804), Jane Ann (1805), Susannah (1807), Sarah (1811) and Frances (1814).

The family then moved to East Peckham just down the road as you'll see from the map below before continuing on to Uckfield, Sussex in the mid-1820's.

Thomas' parents were married in Tudeley & Capel which also isn't far from Hadlow. This is also taken from the IGI (Batch No. M-135202) and from a microfiche I have of Kent parish registers. Thomas DAWES married Elizabeth WHITEBREAD on 08 March 1804. Their first child, William, was baptised on 12 April 1804 and was probably born soon after they were married.

Clicking on the map will enlarge it in its own window. Hadlow is near the top middle with East Peckham below to the right with Tudley and Capel both near the bottom middle.

Elizabeth was baptised in East Peckham (1816) with Mary (1819) and George (1821) before the family continued on to Uckfield where their last child, Harriett, was born.

For more information about Uckfield see this previous post.

DAWS Family - Some Answers - More Questions

Looking at the 1851 census for Uckfield to see what additional information might be available there are 21 DAW/DAWS/DAWES listed. Actually, Ancestry.co.uk only shows 13 but I have found 8 more not listed in the transcript.

Looking at the 1841 census families from my previous post here's what happened:

Family #1
Thomas DAWS (missing) died in 1843
Elizabeth DAWS (missing) died in 1849
Sarah DAWES (found) (37) charwoman living at Church St by Pudding Lane
George DAWES (found) (29) now married living at Grants Hill
Esther DAWES (new) (20) wife of George M/S COTTINGTON living at Grants Hill
Harriott DAWES (new) (1) dau of George living at Grants hill
Eliza DAWES (found) (11) niece of George - dau of Sarah living at Grants Hill

Family #2
William DAWS (missing) died in 1842
Elizabeth DAW (found) (50) charwoman living at Old Workhouse
Elizabeth DAWS (missing) married George GURR in 1850
Henry DAW (found) (19) labourer living at Old Workhouse
Catharine DAWS (missing) died is 1846
Charlotte DAW (found) (17) scholar living at Old Workhouse
Daniel DAWS (missing) died in 1841

Family #3
Thomas DAWES (found) (39) living at High St
Ann DAWES (found) (35) living at High St
Joseph DAWES (found) (15) living at High St
Lucy DAWES (found) (13) living at High St
Thomas DAWES (found) (11) living at High St
Ann DAWES (new) (8) living at High St
Margaret DAWES (new) (5) living at High St
Elizabeth DAW (missing) married Henry Mitchell in 1846
Harriett DAW (missing)
Oliver DAW (missing) living with Henry and Elizabeth Mitchell

Family #4
Thomas DAW (missing)
Hannah DAW (missing)
Ann DAW (new) (73) widow living at Workhouse Lane
Harriett DAW (found) (26) g-dau of Ann living at Workhouse Lane
Edward DAW (missing)
William DAW (missing)
John DAW (missing)
Alfred DAW (found) (11) g-son of Ann living at Workhouse Lane

UNKNOWNS
Mary DAW (new) (26) Uckfield Union Workhouse born in Uckfield
Benjamin DAW (new) (46) Uckfield Union Workhouse born in Framfield???
Marten DAWS (new) (58) Kemphead Lane - lodger/labourer born in Uckfield

As you can see there are some answers, a little more information and some new problems.

Another DAWS Family in Uckfield

Looking at the 1841 census for Uckfield there are 27 people with the DAW/DAWS surname.

These can be broken down into 4 family groups as follows:

Family Group 1 living at Church St
Thomas DAWS (70) - Thomas the labourer
Elizabeth DAWS (60)
Sarah DAWS (25)
George DAWS (15)
Eiza DAWS (1) - probably the daughter of Sarah

Family Group 2 living at Church St
William DAWS (35) - son of Thomas Family #1
Elizabeth DAWS (35)
Elizabeth DAWS (12)
Henry DAWS (10)
Catharine DAWS (8)
Charlotte DAWS (3)
Daniel DAWS (2 months)

FAMILY Group 3 living at North Entrance
Thomas DAW (25) - Thomas the bricklayer son of Thomas Family #1
Ann DAW (25)
Joseph DAW (5)
Lucy DAW (4)
Thomas DAW (1) - Thomas the builder
Elizabeth DAW (25) daughter of Thomas Family #1
Harriet DAW (12) daughter of Thomas Family #1
Oliver DAW (2) son of Elizabeth

That accounts for 20 people of my DAWS family what about the others?

FAMILY Group 4 living at Church St
Thomas DAW (44) Horsekeeper
Hannah DAW (36)
Harriett (16)
Edward (10)
William (8)
John (5)
Alfred (2)

The image of this family is shown at the right.

Who are these people?

Thomas DAWS was Born in Sussex, not Kent

In my original post at the beginning of this blog I stated that the earliest Thomas DAWS was born in Linton, Kent. This is because the earliest Thomas that I could match with a birth year around 1768 was one I found on the IGI in Kent. I accepted this because the family had been in Kent in the early part of the nineteenth century. Thomas DAWS and Elizabeth WHITEBREAD were married in Tudley & Capel, Kent in 1804. I believe that he was born about 1868 because his death registration from 1843 states his age as 75 years old putting his birth year about 1868. This assumes that he or the people around him knew his real age.



The reason for this update is to correct his birth location. In working on the Ardingly DAWES families I had a look at my census copies and noticed that Thomas reported that he was born in Sussex. The 1841 enumerators asked only if you were born in the county in which you were being counted and he answered "YES" for Uckfield, Sussex. In contrast, his wife answered "NO" because she was born in Kent. See the census at left where Thomas DAWS, aged 70, is about half way down the page.

For those of you who are sharp and notice that subtracting his age from 1841 gives a birth year of 1771 as opposed to 1768 you are wrong. In 1841, anyone over fifteen had their age rounded down to the next five so Thomas could be anywhere between 70 and 74. It's too bad that neither Thomas or Elizabeth lived until the next census where they would have reported their proper age and birth parish.

To put icing on the cake, I have a Poor Law Removal Order dated 09 Aug 1809 from Hadlow, Kent ordering the family back to Uckfield. Listed on the order are Thomas, Elizabeth (wife), William (5), Jane Ann (3) and Susan (2). They weren't very obident because my 2nd great-grandfather, Thomas (the bricklayer), was born in Hadlow in 1809 followed by Sarah in 1811. Then they moved to East Peckham where another four children were born between 1814 and 1821. They finally arrived in Uckfield by 1829 when Harriett was born. The only reason they would have been ordered out of Hadlow was because they were and burden on the parish and were being sent back where they came from so his origin must have been Uckfield.

Where in the World is Uckfield?

According to the 1899 Kelly's Directory of Sussex available at http://www.historicaldirectories.org/

UCKFIELD is a union town and parish, and the head of a petty sessional division with a station on the London, Brighton and South Coast Company's line from Brighton to Lewes and Tunbridge Wells, 43 miles from London, 16 north-east from Brighton, 8 north-west from Lewes and 14 south-west from Tunbridge Wells, in the Northern division of the county, Loxfield Dorset hundred, Pevensey rape, Lewes county court district, rural deanery of Pevensey (third division), archdeaconry of Lewes and diocese of Chichester.

As can be seen from the map, Uckfield is situated inland from the coast midway between Brighton and Eastbourne. It is the seat of the DAWES family that I am tracing.

In greater detail at left, the village of Framfield is visible to the lower right. This is where my great grandfather, Thomas DAWES (1840-1925) was born at Lantern Cottege, Bird-in-Eye hill which is also visible on the Framfield Road.

The area where the Framfield Road label is located is known as New Town where several members of the family lived.

The DAWES/DAWS of Ardingly

(FAMILY CHART UPDATED 30 OCT 2009)
I am going to deviate from my normal DAWES Family blog to add some information about another extensive DAWES/DAWS family I have discovered in Ardingly. Ardingly, sometimes spelled Ardingley, is about 9.5 miles northwest of Uckfield which is the seat of my DAWES family.
I was contacted by another DAWES who found an old query of mine from 2005 on the Rootsweb DAWES Mailing List. This just goes to reinforce why you should use every means possible to contact your potential relatives. In helping this person identify his DAWES connections, I had a look at the DAWES' in Ardingly and was surprised at how large the family was.


At left is a quick chart (click on the chart to open in a larger window) that I have thrown together to show the family from 1761 up to the early twentieth century and I'm not finished yet. Over the years I have gathered many DAWES family facts into various spreadsheets to make my research easier and I was able to fill in a lot of details from these. However, I also used the IGI data from Familysearch.org (Ardingly Batch C070051 & M070051) plus the census from Ancestry.co.uk. Fortunately, Ardingly has an established church that has been added to the IGI whereas Uckfield does not.

This process also caused me to re-visit my own DAWES research to see where this new person fit in. The only Thomas DAWS that matched my data was one born in Linton, Kent in 1769 but I had no proof. In 1809, a Poor Law Removal Order issued in Hadlow, Kent instructed the family to return to Uckfield so they must have come from there originally. In reviewing my 1841 census copies, I noted that my 3rd great-grandfather had a "Y" in the Born in County column meaning that he was probably born in Uckfield and not Linton. To make it even more dramatic, there was a column of "N's" with his "Y" sticking out. I never picked up on this before and have now headed off in a different direction on my own research.

My point is that no matter what you are researching about your family you usually discover something new or correct something you missed. I hope I am able to link up these two DAWES families in the future.