Hodges of Little Dean 1840-1883 (General)

by Jonathan Hodges , New York, USA, Monday, November 07, 2005, 16:30 (6965 days ago)

Hi:

I've traced my family back to a Henry Hodges who was born in Twekesbury around 1800; married a Bridget Davies from Lingen, Herefordshire; ran a carrier business in corn and flour in several communities around the Forest until finally permanently settling in Littledean some time between 1834 and 1839.

Henry and Bridget had some six children at least two of whom survived to maturity (my gg-grandfather William Henry Hodges and his brother Henry Jabez Hodges). There was a sister, Esther Amelia, who was born in 1842 in Littledean and is still alive at the 1851 census but I have no record what happened to her beyond then.

William and Henry married two sisters, Sarah and Jane Drew (their father, Absalom Drew, lived in East Dean -- he and almost all his other children emigrated in the 1870s to Westfield, Massachusetts in America). William and Sarah had several children, five of whom reach maturity. Sarah died in 1882 at the age of 34 and William died three years later. Apparently Henry and Jane weren't doing all that well financially (he's listed as a unemployed mine manager farming 16 acres of land in one census) and Jane must have contacted her siblings and wound up sending the neices and nephews to America aboard a tramp steamer. Henry Jabez and Jane had six children, three boys who survived to maturity: Herbert Murray Hodges, Howard Percy Cameron Hodges and William Bruce Mortimer Hodges. Howard and William never married. Herbert "Bert" Hodges married a Jessie Burt in Singapore (she was the daughter of an overseas English Army officer and Bert travelled the Pacific Rim working for a chemical company). They died without issue, so that branch of the family deadends.

Not sure exactly what I'm looking for -- most of the other posts on this website seem to be census lookups. I guess what I'm hoping to run into is someone who actually lives near the Forest and has an occasion to wander near the church in Littledean -- there's supposedly a family plot that I'd love to get some information from. Also, Henry Hodges' life prior to his marriage to Bridget is a complete mystery -- if he connects up with any other Hodges I would appreciate learning about it.

Many thanks.

--jon