Buffin and Meek Ruardean

Hello all,

I'm fairly new to the forum and this is my first posting. I'm currently researching the Buffin and Meek families,of the Forest of Dean. William Chesley Buffin was born in 1781, son of William Buffin and Mary Meek,in Ruardean, he later migrated to the US settling in Virginia; he died there in 1818, or thereabouts.

What I'd like to know is what were the trades/occupations in the Forest of Dean, and specifcally Ruardean, in the mid to the end of the 18th century?

Can anyone help?

Thanks,

Linda

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Well I'm sure you've come to a good place to ask! You will find a lot of Buffin info in the Parish records including the marriage of William and Mary in 1771 (look for Bufing).
As for Ruardean - there's a good summary in this reference
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=23261
which covers geography, economic history, agriculture and the various mining industries common in the Forest.

-Colin

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Wow that was quick!

Thank you so much, Colin.

Linda

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Hi Linda & Colin

I take it the William Buffin is the one baptised 20 May 1781 who went on to marry Ann Cook(e) 1781 at Ruardean 17 May 1807.

I have this William in my family tree as their daughter Diana Buffin 1812 married James Dubberley 1811 :

1841 Census
Jas Dubelo abt 1811 Dean Forest, Gloucestershire
Dinah Dubelo abt 1816 Dean Forest, Gloucestershire
Ester Dubelo abt 1837 Dean Forest, Gloucestershire
Jane Dubelo abt 1839 Dean Forest, Gloucestershire
Elizth Dubelo abt 1840 Dean Forest, Gloucestershire

1851 Census East Dean
DUBBERLEY James 42 Coal Miner Landed Proprietor Ruardean
Diannah 39 Dean Forest
Hester 13 Scholar Dean Forest
Jane 11 Dean Forest
Elizabeth 9 East Dean
William 7 East Dean
James 5 East Dean
Ann 1 East Dean

1861 Census East Dean
James Duberley abt 1811 Ruardean Head
Diana Duberley abt 1813 East Dean Wife
Thomas Duberley abt 1847 East Dean Son
Sarah Ann Duberley abt 1850 East Dean Daughter
Fanny Duberley abt 1859 East Dean Daughter

1871
James Duberley 60
Elizabeth Duberley 27
James Duberley 23
Sarah Ann Duberley 21
Fanny Jane Duberley 12
Eliza Wintle 57
William Wintle 14

My main interest is James Dubberley's mother (he was illegitimate) Esther Dubberley. Esther went on to marry John Wilce 1797 at Register Office Westbury on Severn 9 May 1850. Before that she had married William Matthews 1792 at English Bicknor 24 Aug 1813.

William Matthews 1792 and Esther Dubberley had 8 children, 2 of whom married into the Marfell family and another whose son married into the Marfell family, another who married a Trigg, whose mother was a Marfell. Another son of William Matthews 1792 and Esther Dubberley - Joseph 1814 married Amelia Simmonds and one of their 8 children Moses Matthews 1846 married back into the Meek family - Mary Ann Meek daughter of Aaron Meek 1823 & Jane Tucker 1819.

Aaron Meek 1823 was the son of Joseph Meek 1782 and Hannah Cooke 1792 - you have to be careful here of your Joseph Meek's who married Hannah, one was Hannah Cooke 1792 and the other Hannah Baldwin 1779. The parents of Hannah Cooke 1782 were William Cooke & Elizabeth, so I reckon the Ann Cooke 1781 who married William Buffin 1781 was the sister of Hannah who married Joseph Meek, indeed (as Captain Kirk would say) I have made it so in my family tree.

What interests me is which Mary Meek married William Buffin in 1771. I have 3 Mary Meek's of an appropriate age, each of them a 1st cousin 7 times removed :

1 Mary Meek 1751 daughter of Thomas Meek 1723 & Sarah
2 Mary Meek 1753 daughter of John Meek 1709 & Elizabeth Smart 1711
3 Mary Meek 1756 daughter of Francis Meek 1716 & Sarah 1724

The witness at the 13 Jul 1771 marriage between William Buffin & Mary Meek was Thomas Thompson (ignore the other as he was a church official, who witnessed hundreds of marriages) I have a Thomas Thompson 1740 in my family tree as his sister Jane 1745 married Jonathon Marfell 1738. I have numerous connections from his brother William as well, but cannot find a connection to the Meek family within a generation.

I would be interested in any information regarding the Mary Meek who married William Buffin.

Jim Ashton

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Like Jim, I was wondering which Mary Meek was involved here - but Jim has provided me with three new ones, at least two of whom are my 1st cousins 6 times removed - I am not sure where Mary (1756) fits into my collection of Meeks as I am unsure of the heritage of Francis (1716) when compared to the collection of Meek baptisms at Ruardean to Francis and Rachel between 1729 and 1746.

Some of this has been debated before and is possibly still a topic for a separate thread!

-Colin

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Colin
I have the following :

The Francis Meek who married Sarah and fathered Mary Meek 1756 was baptised 11 Jan 1716, son of John Meek 1682 & Clare Bridgeman.

The Francis Meek who married Rachel Vaughan 23 Feb 1728 was baptised 1 Mar 1690, son of Francis Meek 1655 & Margaret Lamb.

Jim Ashton

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Thanks Jim - clears a few things up for me.

-Colin

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Sorry for the delay in posting replies to all of you, it's just been one of those weeks! I'm confused now as to which Mary Meek is the one who married William Buffin,I thought it was the daughter of Thomas but now I'm not so sure... I'd better take another look.

Linda

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Jim, I don't have any other info on Mary Meek, but I was just reading your post again and you mention Wm Buffin who marries Ann Cooke, the current reseach I'm doing is for a Buffin in Indiana,USA, Wm & Ann are his 3 x great grandparents.

Just thought I'd share that with you...:)

Linda

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Linda

William Buffin 1781 & Ann Cooke 1781 had 2 children - that I know of - Diana 1812 & John 1813. John Buffin 1813 married Eliza Roberts 1821, their daughter Lucy 1844 married Robert Yemm 1839, they emigrated to Indiana, their daughter Florence 1866 married in Indiana but died in Vancouver BC Canada. Robert Yemm 1839 was the son of Robert Yemm 1811 & Elizabeth Powell 1814. Robert Yemm 1811 had a sister Elizabeth 1794 who married James Marfell.

Jim Ashton

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Hi Jim,

I think my Mr Buffin in the US has his facts wrong. He was convinced that his 3 X great grandparents were Wm & Ann, but having looked at his family tree again I think he's way off beam. There's loads of Chesley Buffins in his ancestry, and as far as I can see there's no Chesley Buffins born in the FOD. I'm trying to work it all out for him but he's got his tree in such a muddle.He's been using Ancestry and following 'hints' blindly, never a good idea.

Linda

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