Gadsden Bell Swires families

Maud Alice Gadsden, nee Swires (my grandmother), with her only son, 

my father William Bell Gadsden, aged about 6 months, ca 1910.

William Bell Gadsden was the son of Sydney Bartle Gadsden and

grandson of Thomas Alfred Gadsden who married

Eliza Ann Bell.

Bell Caithness family descendants

Mary Ann Caithness, daughter of James Ramsey Caithness and Ann Scorey, was born at Marchwood, Hampshire, 20 March 1820. She married William Douglas Bell at Port Elizabeth 29 June 1838. Their children were Mary Ann Elizabeth Pamela, Douglas William, Ellen Selwyn Sophia (d in infancy), Ellen Harriet, James Colquhoun, Sarah Scott, Sturges Bourne, Eliza Ann, Jessie MacGregor, George John Head, Alfred Thomas Payne, and Alice Millican Bell.

Mary Ann Elizabeth Pamela, their eldest child, married John James Johnason and they had a boy and a girl. Douglas William did not marry. Ellen Harriet married Edward Abbott Forbes Baxter, producing one son, Alexander. James Colquhoun married Sarah Clark in 1874 and had eight children. Sarah Scott married Charles George Pay; they had 3 children. Sturges Bourne's marital history remains unknown and he is the subject of further research. Eliza Ann married Thomas Alfred Gadsden, the Bluff lighthouse keeper; their children were William, Philip, Sydney Bartle, Faith and Hope. Eliza Ann and Thomas Alfred were my great grandparents.

Jessie McGregor married James Evans Pascoe Martin, engineer of the SS Basuto; no children are recorded. George John Head married Mary Catherine Tonkin. Alfred Thomas Payne Bell died in Whitechapel, London, in 1884 at the youthful age of 24. Alice Millican married Alfred Mathias Tilley and had two children. 

                                                                 Sydney Bartle Gadsden

                                     William Bell Gadsden and his mother Maud Alice nee Swires.

Souvenir Saturday: Gadsden Swires Natal marriage 1909

Maud Alice Swires (1890-1969)
 daughter of James Dudley Swires
and Alice Mary King

Maud Alice Swires married Sydney Bartle Gadsden on 3 November 1909 at St Peter's Church, Pietermaritzburg. Witness were Frank W King and Winifred Emily Swires. 

The couple shown on the marriage record are my grandparents. You may find your own Natal ancestors' marriages if you access the Civil Marriage records 1845-1955 on Family Search. See link at foot of this page*.

Sydney Bartle Gadsden (1880-1953)
 son of Thomas Alfred Gadsden
(Lighthousekeeper at the Bluff Lighthouse)
and Eliza Ann Bell.(daughter of Capt William Bell)

* familysearch.org/search/collection/2063749

In Remembrance: Swires/Gadsden

Maud Alice SWIRES b 18 April 1890, married Sydney Bartle GADSDEN 3 November 1909 at St. Peter's, Pietermaritzburg, Natal.

Maud GADSDEN nee SWIRES with her only son

William Bell GADSDEN,

great grandchild of Captain William BELL

[See post on this blog: 'Remembering a Mariner']

Genealogy, Family History & Surnames

I’m sometimes asked what the difference is between genealogy and family history. These terms are used as if they’re interchangeable but strictly speaking genealogy refers to the tracing of particular lines of descent. Family history indicates a wider focus of research: uncovering the details of the ancestors’ lives and times. The phrase ‘putting flesh on the bones’ is overworked; nevertheless it’s what the family historian is attempting to achieve. Theoretically it might be possible to be a genealogist without being a family historian – but not vice versa.

Returning to the subject of surname distribution and frequency, the name Swires – my paternal grandmother’s maiden name – is far from commonly-found: only three instances per million people in the UK, the current total number with that surname being 130. At the time of the 1881 Census there were 106 individuals named Swires in Yorkshire, pointing to a concentration of the surname in my grandmother’s family’s county of origin. In comparison with this rarity of occurrence, Gadsden - my father's surname - crops up 12 times per million people in the UK, and is most numerous in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Gadsdens are very thin on the ground in South Africa, but there are thousands in the US. Variant spellings of Gadsden cause complications: GADSEN, GADSON, GADESDEN etc.

For a specialist’s view of the topic and some remarkable nuggets of information, I recommend Colin D. Rogers’ book, The surname detective: Investigating surname distribution England, 1086-present day.