38.4 Researcing the Durnfords - Elias Durnford m Martha Gannaway Her family

In the Durnford lineage Elias and Martha are the 5th Great grandparents                          Part 1

Elias Durnford was the eldest son and heir of his father Thomas Durnford  Both Thomas and Mary were desceased by 1737,

There is a death records for a Mary Durnford show a date of death 28th August 1736 in East Woodhay in the same area.

They had 4 sons.

Elias Durnford        was born 1 May 1739 in   Damerham           Our lineage
Thomas Durnford   was born 26 Jan 1741 in   Ringwood Hampshire

Andrew Durnford   was born 24 April 1744    Fordingbridge Hampshire
Clark Durnford       was born  27 July 1748     London


Martha Gannaway

Martha was born January 1714 and christened  in All Cannings Wiltshire 22nd January 1714

All Saints in All Cannings

All Cannings (pronounced Allcannings) is a village and civil parish in the Vale of Pewsey in the English county of Wiltshire. The parish includes the nearby smaller settlement of Allington.

St Martin's Salisbury

Martha Gannaway was the daughter of Thomas Ganneway and Joanna Milledge.
They were married   7 November 1704 in St Martin's Salisbury.






Milledge Family

John Milledge was the son of Josiah Milledge and his wife Mary.  Josiah was born 1630 in Ringwood Parish in Hampshire and died in 1712.  With Mary they had three children.

Martha  born  1658
John      born  1665   -   1707
Lazarus born  1659   died  after 1712

The will of Josiah tells their story;

John's father Josiah Milledge               Transcribed as written.

In the name of God, Amen. I, Josiah Melledge of Ringwood in the county of Southton ? being ? and ? of body but of good memory and understanding and minding my mortality and knowing that all ? ? ? ? and his ? when ? do make and ordain this my last will and testament in manner and form following? ? I ? my soul into the hands of God that gave it and my body to be buried at his discretion of my executor hereafter naming him.

I give and devise to my son Lazarus Milledge and his offspring tenement and dwelling house with his app? In Bickerley in the parish of Ringwood in which I now dwell and all my moneys, household goods, chattels and debts whatsoever to hold for my said son, Lazarus, his heirs, estates ? and ? for ever immediately after my decease? ? faithfully paying and discharging all my debts and funeral expenses whatsoever that shall appear to ? ? and owing to any person whatsoever and I do hereby declare that my said dwellinghouse with its apptointes and my said goods and chattels shall stand ? as subject and liable for the discharging of all my said debts according to this tenor of this my will and I so hereby make and nominate and appoint my said son Lazarus Milledge sole exectutor of this my will and do hereby revoke all former will  by me made inwith? Whereof I have herewith ? my ? and ? ? publish and declare this to be my last will and testament this twenty third day of August in this ? ? year of this Reign of our sovereign Lady Ann by the grace of God of Great Britain ? and ? Queen defender of the faith ? Anno Domini 1712

Will of Josiah Melledge of Ringwood   Clothworker

Buried 21/10/1712

From that we can learn that he held property in Bickerley and he died after our grandfather., and another interesting fact.

Joshiah was fined in 1694      FOR BEING A QUAKER - 1686

In 1702 there was a major fire throughout Fordingbridge and many buildings and homes were destroyed.  Churches across the country took up collections to help the residents rebuild, including the Quaker Church in Fordingbridge.

In the rebuilding, Josiah was named in an Indenture as a trustee in the building of a New Meeting House.     24M54/321/3

At the time of his death our grandfather John being the eldest son, had died, to follow the story this is the will of Josiah Milledge of Damerham, who was the son of Lazerus.

*This Josiah is our 1st cousin 8 times removed.

One of the witnesses to that will was a Moses Gannaway.

  

Milledge Bickerley Mill

    *His grandson, Josiah, was 12 at the time but he was not left anything!      However he probably inherited it later as Lazarus does not seem to            have had any living sons! He would also have inherited everything that      is father owned in Fordingbridge after the fire of 1702 (in which the            family lost a lot of property according to the Quaker records. 
       (notes about John's father, Josiah)

           

It is important to also realise that Fordingham is a Parish of Hampshire, as is Ringwood.  The families may have lived anywhere within those parishes.

Footbridge over the river near the old Mill

The photo shows the footbridge over Bickerley Mill Stream The bridge by which the Avon Valley Path crosses to the mill stream's right bank from Bickerley Pocket Park.

St George's Church Fordingham

St Mary's Church Fordingham

     

So back to John Milledge and Rachael Harris
.

18th Century meeting house has been modernised

Joanna's parents were Rachael Harris and John Milledge. The family lived in Damerham.
Rachael's father was Samuel, the family also may have been Quakers.

Rachael Harris and John Milledge were married 1680 in The Meeting House in Ringwood.  (The same Meeting House that his father was a guarantor )

Damerham

Fordingbridge, a large parish on the borders of Dorset and on the banks of the River Avon, includes the hamlets of Bickton, Burgate Stuckton and Midgham with Sandle Heath. It contains 6,303 acres, of which 2,471½ acres are arable land, 2,440¾ are permanent grass and 723¾ are woods and plantations. (fn. 1) The soil is mixed, on a subsoil of gravel, clay and sand. The land rises generally east and west from the valley of the Avon from about 84 ft. above the ordnance datum to 181 ft. in the west and 267 ft. in the east. Sandhill Heath was inclosed in 1865. (fn. 2) The main road from Salisbury to Ringwood crosses the Avon at Fordingbridge, where it is joined by the main road from Southampton.

The town is on the right bank of the Avon; St. Mary's Church and the vicarage are at the extreme south of the High Street, and the Town Hall, built in 1879, is almost in the centre. 

From the 13th to the 15th century Fordingbridge was governed by a bailiff,  but after the last date he was replaced by a constable chosen yearly at the court leet of the manor of Nether Burgate.  A fire in the town in the 18 th century destroyed many of the houses, which were never rebuilt, but it does not appear that Fordingbridge was ever very important.

John and Rachael had the following children:

Rachel Milledge   1682  -  1694
Joanna Milledge    1685  -                         Our lineage  
Josiah Milledge      1689  -  1691
Lydia Millage         1691
Sarah Milledge        1693
Martha Milledge     1696  -  1698
Moses Milledge      1698  -  1700

John died in 1707, and his occupation?   He was a clothier.

Moses Gannaway of Poole, tailor vs John Reeks of Poole, gentleman, £3.9.2 for work

The children died prior to their father, which would leave Joanna his heir.   As per the wills of the day, her share would be passed down to her heirs.

Joanna married Thomas Ganneway born 1680.              

(often the later transcription of the names indicates some different variants of spelling)


Naming children was very predictable in those times.

Somewhere in the Gannaway ancestors is a Martha, and maybe someone called Clark.

Thomas Ganneway's family also lived in the area, and one may have owned a mill at Tidpit, close to Martin, in 1666.

Moses Gannaway?  His being witness to the will of Josiah Milledge in 1748, confirms that the family were living in the same area, and were known to the Milledges.

Moses Gannaway of Poole, tailor vs John Reeks of Poole, gentleman, £3.9.2 for work

The connections therefore between the two families, strongly suggest that they were all involved the clothing industry just as Thomas Durnford, Elias's father was.