Help finding Henry Dowle / Dowle family, please (General)
by ttd0 
, Thursday, February 11, 2010, 16:52 (5474 days ago)
Hi
I am researching my ancestry and have so far got back to my 3x gt grandfather Henry Dowle, according to records baptised in Llangovan, Monmouthshire in Feb 1795 and is listed as the reputed son of Henry Dowle and Sarah Evans.
This has been a brick wall in my research, I cannot find any more about the father, Henry Dowle senior. A year after his son was born he married Leitita Williams in Trostrey, Monmouthshire and went on to have more children. His daughter Ann was baptised in Llansoy in 1814 but the entry in the parish records records the 'residence' as Woolaston.
I am trying to find out where Henry senior was born and was wondering if there was perhaps a Gloucesteshire connection and perhaps he was from there instead of Monmouthshire. My father was always told that two Dowle brothers had moved to the area and settled either side of the Wye, hence a group of Dowles in Monmouthshire and another in Coleford.
I would love to find the link between the two sets of Dowles and primarily where Henry Dowle senior is from as this is stopping me getting any further.
Any help appreciated.
Help finding Henry Dowle / Dowle family, please
by dsteel , Friday, February 12, 2010, 05:05 (5474 days ago) @ ttd0
When you find something, please be sure to let me know. I am a direct descendant of both Henrys, but Henry snr has been a brick wall for thirty years.
As you say, there are many DOWLE's in Coleford, but I have been unable to establish a link between these and the Monmouth ones (except for my g grandmother Eliza DOWLE who lived in Coleford for a short time after marrying John STEEL - they eventually moved to the West Midlands where Eliza died at the age of 103, but that's another story).
David Steel
Help finding Henry Dowle / Dowle family, please
by ttd0 , Friday, February 12, 2010, 08:35 (5473 days ago) @ dsteel
Hi David, have sent you an email via this site.
Help finding Henry Dowle / Dowle family, please
Don't think this will much help other than confirm the problem! My father was one of the Dowles from Colway Lane End near Coleford and was born at the beginning of the 20th century. He spoke of cousins elsewhere in the Coleford area and in the Cardiff area but never Monmouth. Given how close we lived to Monmouth I'm sure at some stage we'd have heard about them. Sorry not to be more help but good luck.
Help finding Henry Dowle / Dowle family, please
by dsteel , Wednesday, February 17, 2010, 08:34 (5468 days ago) @ DavidFromScowles
Hello DavidFromScowles.
If ttdO and I are on the right track,and I'm about 95% certain that we are, our Henry was originally from Coleford, moved to MON (Cwmcarvan/Llanished/Llangovan), had his evil way with our ggg grandmother and produced our gg grandfather, married someone else there, and eventually died in Bristol - alone, it seems. So although he and his ancestors were not from Monmouthshire, he certainly left his mark there.
Regards.....David
Help finding DOWLE family,
by slowhands , proud of his ancient Dean Forest roots, Wednesday, February 17, 2010, 09:20 (5468 days ago) @ dsteel
So these seem to fit...
Year: 1761
Month: Dec
Day: 9
Grooms_Surname: DOWLE
Grooms_Forenames: John
Grooms_Age:
Groom_Condition:
Grooms_Occupation:
Grooms_Residence: Newland
Grooms_Fathers_Surname:
Grooms_Fathers_Forenames:
Grooms_Fathers_Occupation:
Brides_Surname: WILKINS
Brides_Forenames: Sarah
Brides_Age:
Brides_Condition:
Brides_Occupation:
Brides_Residence: Newland
Brides_Fathers_Surname:
Brides_Fathers_Forenames:
Brides_Fathers_Occupation:
Licence_or_Banns: Licence
Date_of_Banns:
Signature_or_Mark: He signs she marks
Witness_1: Richard Williams
Witness_2: Mark of Thomas Dowle
Other_Witnesses:
Officiating_Minister: P Ball vicar
Event: Marriage
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P227 IN 1/7
Page_Number: 411/2
Parish_Chapel: Newland
Year 1772
Month Oct
Day 11
Parents Surname DOWLE
Child Forenames Charles
Fathers Forenames John
Mothers Forenames Sarah
Mothers Surname
Residence
Occupation
Officiating Minister
Event Birth
Memoranda
Notes
Register Reference P93 IN 1/1
Page Number 6
Parish Chapel Coleford
Year: 1774
Month: Nov
Day: 13
Parents_Surname: DOWLE
Child_Forenames: Henry
Fathers_Forenames: John
Mothers_Forenames: Sarah
Mothers_Surname:
Residence:
Occupation:
Officiating_Minister:
Event: Birth
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P93 IN 1/1
Page_Number: 7
Parish_Chapel: Coleford
LLangovan BT's
10th Feb 1795
Henry DOWLE reputes s/o Henry Dowle by Sara Evans
2 May 1797
Mary d/o Henry & Letitia Dowle
"TROSTREY, a parish in the upper division of Usk hundred, county Monmouth,
2½ miles N.W. of Usk, its post town, and 6 from Ponty-Pool.
The village is situated on the road from Usk to Abergavenny, near the eastern
bank of the river Usk. Salmon are caught by a weir on the river, which rose 22 feet
above the usual level on the 16th February, 1795.
The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Llandaff, value £72.
The church is dedicated to St. David. There are a few small charities."
[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
"LLANGOVEN, a parish in the upper division of the hundred of Ragland,
county Monmouth, 6 miles S.W. of Monmouth, and 4 from Ragland, its post town.
The village consists of a few farmhouses. The living is a perpetual curacy* in the
diocese of Llandaff, value with that of Pen-y-Clawdd, £120, in the patronage of
the dean and chapter. The church is dedicated to St. Goven.
The parochial charities amount to about £13 per annum."
[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
--
Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster & Hereford Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>
Help finding DOWLE family,
by dsteel , Wednesday, February 17, 2010, 11:30 (5468 days ago) @ slowhands
Thanks Slowhands (or should that be Ἀριστοτέλης - it's all Greek to me).
Yes, I have the entries that you kindly listed. But to prove a theory, I need the help of you all. I suspect that John DOWLE married twice. Sarah possibly died in December 1787 and John possibly was the groom of a marriage on 8th June 1788 to Mary WILD. The entry does not state John's condition - all I have to go on are the signatures of the groom(s). I have put (fuzzy) pictures of the two signatures at <www.users.tpg.com.au/u3attg/vp/jdsigs.html> and would appreciate views as to whether the signatures are of the same person, bearing in mind that the two marriages were 27 years apart.
David Steel
Help finding DOWLE family,
by ttd0 , Tuesday, March 09, 2010, 11:57 (5448 days ago) @ dsteel
Just to confirm what David has said, we have both been doing a fair bit of work on this and think we are on the right track. I know David has been looking into this for a very long time and this is the best fit found.
Henry Dowle, born in 1795 is the earliest definite ancestor we know of in mine and David's line. I am descended from one of Henry's sons and David from one of his daughters.
The Llangovan baptism records show that Henry Dowle (1795) was the reputed son of Henry Dowle and Sarah Evans. The following year a Henry Dowle of Llangovan married Letitia Williams at Trostrey, they went on to have several children between 1797 and 1830. On each record Henry is shown as a cordwainer. The baptisms of the children were divided between Llansoy and Llangovan, with the family residence changing between the areas but is shown in 1814 as Woolaston.
We know that Sarah Evans was born in 1774 and since Henry had his last child in 1830 assume he must have been about the same age as Sarah, i.e quite young when his first child was born in 1795.
There are no records for a Henry Dowle in Monmouthshire prior to him being named as the reputed father of Sarah Evan's son.
There is a birth record for Coleford of a Henry Dowle, born in 1774, son of John Dowle (possibly born 1741), this seems to be the best match we have ever seen.
There are also no records for Henry Dowle in Monmouthshire after the birth of his last child in 1830 so we assumed he then moved again. There are no records of him dying in the Forest. The 1841 census does show a Henry Dowle, cordwainer, aged 65 living in Bristol with no family so this could be him. However, we cannot find out what happened to his wife and children. There is also a death record for a Henry Dowall in Bristol in 1848.
If this is all correct then Henry had one sibling, a brother called Charles who was born in Coleford in 1772, his descendents all appear to have lived around Lydney and Aylburton with one branch ending up in Cheltenham.
This all kind of fits with a story that has been passed down, that originally two Dowle brothers came to the area with each settling on a different side of the Wye. This fits Henry moving to Monmouthshire and Charles to Lydney. I have known for a while that there were many Dowles in the Forest and given the closeness to Monmouthshire that there was probably a link, this could be it.
Also, as David has posted, the reason why Henry only had one sibling is that possibly their mother died and John Dowle married again.
Regards
Tim Dowle