Further to the letter from Penelope Chapple published in the last issue of The Blencowe Newsletter.

I have been working on ‘Thomas the master shoemaker from Brackley ’ and his family for several months. During that time I have received lots of help and encouragement from Jack and Anne as well as accessing the various internet Blencowe files and the Brackley parish records. In my research I found many gaps and in several instances conflicting data. Penelope's letter and a subsequent meeting with her has been like finding the missing piece of a jigsaw. I now feel that I can record just what I have learned.

Thomas was the son of James Blencowe and Thomasine Loveday. The first area of confusion arises from the 1851 census where his age indicates that he was born in 1806. Had this been correct then he could not have been the son of James and Thomasine for she had died on the 22nd June 1803. A check of the Brackley Parish records clearly shows the baptism of Thomas on the 18th April 1803 just a few months before his mother's death.

In the 1851 census, Thomas' wife is recorded as Ann age 35 born in Epsom. There were also six children, the eldest, Thomas James, aged 21. This would indicate that Ann was only 14 at the time of his birth which is recorded at St Giles Camberwell. Here his mother is named as Ann Feather.

But Ann Feather Blencowe, the wife of Thomas Blencowe, cordwainer, died at Camberwell in December 1842 shortly after the birth of their daughter Elizabeth. I have been unable to find more on Ann Feather. Her ancestry and the details of her marriage to Thomas remain a mystery.

Thomas remarried in 1845. It is his second wife, Ann Coldman, baptised in Epsom on 3rd December 1815 who is recorded as his wife in the 1851 census. She is the mother of Thomas' other four children who are considerably younger that Thomas jnr and Elizabeth.

The youngest of these children, Louisa Blencowe married Alfred Favatt Horley. It is believed that the photo in the last Journal of them with their five children was taken in 1884 shortly before they migrated to Australia where they settled in Sydney.

Thomas and Ann continued to live in the Camberwell/Peckham area for many more years. Thomas died in September 1885. After his death Ann continued to live with their son Francis until her death on the 31 March 1887.

More next issue.

Anyone who wishes to challenge or pass comment on my research into this branch of the family may contact me at baileypr @ optusnet.com.au. Your views will be most appreciated.

Our local Mormon Family History Library has microfiche that cover most of the Brackley parish records. I have transcribed many Blencowe records and am willing to do a lookup; just ask. Phil Bailey

Penny certainly found more family in Australia but did she find her UK cousins David & Elaine Blencowe possibly of Woodbridge and Andrew & Jackie Blencowe last known to be in Norfolk? Anne