Family tree

The family tree is presented in 5 sections below:

A separate page shows a summary family tree, For other information, see the links on the family-tree home page.

Within each section below, information is given about each of our ancestors in that generation (i.e. 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32 of them respectively). Information about previous generations is included in the last section.

Within a given generation, ancestors (in bold type) are listed in the order: father of father..., mother of father..., father of mother..., mother of mother... etc. Offspring are listed by age, oldest first.

The tree is based mainly on information from:

and this documentary evidence has been reproduced, in small font, in a box under the entry for the relevant person (or under their parents' entry, if they were living with their parents at the time).

Each link in the tree, between a given ancestor X and his/her parents A = B, is deduced on the basis of matches between things known about X, e.g.

(usually from birth or marriage certificate, or the censuses) and things known about A and B (from similar sources). In assessing the evidence, ones needs to take into account not only the fact that a piece of information matches (often imperfectly, due to mis-spellings), but also the probability that it could match by chance (depending on e.g. how rare a given name is, or how densely populated a given area is). This evidence is summarised after each entry for a couple A = B, starting 'Evidence that X is descended from A = B: '. It concludes with a verdict: 'conclusive', 'very probable', 'probable', 'plausible' or 'unconfirmed'.

As of January 2009, the identities of all 4 pairs of great-grandparents is secure. There's uncertainty about only one of the 8 pairs of great-great-grandparents: Thomas James = Mary Burton ('probable'). Of the 16 pairs of great-great-great-grandparents, 3 are unknown (surnames James, Tierney, Robinson) and 3 are only 'probable' or less certain (surnames Hallam, Burton and Strain).

The censuses (entries were sought for each direct ancestor in each census 1841-1891) typically give for each member of a household at a given address the name, age, marital status, relation to head of household, occupation and place of birth. The handwritten census entries are transcribed here as they appear, with no correction for any apparent spelling mistakes. Illegible entries are marked '?' if uncertain, and '??' if unguessable (correct spelling may later become clear after referring to other sources of information).

Note that in the 1841 census, ages over 15 were rounded down to the nearest multiple of 5.

Abbreviations:

acc = according to
B = Belinda
b, d = born, died
bap = baptised
C = Chris
D = Dad
M = Mum
MD = Margaret Davies 
RC = Robert Chapple
TT = 'Thacker Towers' webpage
? = doubtful; ?? = very doubtful (or unguessable transcipt from
a record)
xxxx = unknown first name or last name (or both)
[] = editorial comments (i.e. not information from the original
source; or indicates the source which reported a given piece 
of documentary evidence)
'=' = married to (or partner of)

Typographical conventions:
Large font = family tree, as deduced from source informtion, with names of direct ancestors in bold font.
Small font = source information (from censuses etc.).

The words '(see above)' after the name of a direct ancestor indicates that information about him/her is given under his/her entry in the previous section (i.e. one generation later in time).

Click on a name or a portrait to explore the interlinked pages of family portraits [but don't expect too much - there are a few bugs, and the quality of some of the images needs improving].

The information in the tree was collected with the help of Belinda, Mum and Dad.

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Mum and Dad, and their descendants

Roger Benn = Gillian Strain

Family group, head transplants by Joe (La Palma, Apr 2004)

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4 grandparents, and their descendants

Frederick Benn = Mary Tierney Arthur Strain = Dorothea Robinson

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8 great-grandparents, and some of their descendants

Arthur Benn = Elizabeth James James Tierney = Eliza Powell
Alfred Strain = Emily Came Thomas Robinson = Sarah York
The identification of the above portraits is in doubt only for Eliza Powell ('probable').

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16 great-great-grandparents, and some descendants

John Benn = Ann Hallam Thomas James? = Mary Burton? James Tierney = Alice Giles Edward Powell = Eliza Makelin
Joseph Strain = Harriet Handy Charles Came = Emily Southall Charles Robinson = Mary Whitehouse John York = Comfort Fisher

Charles Robinson John York Comfort Fisher Comfort Fisher
Ruby Stokes (nee Avery) provided the (probable) identifications of the first 3 photos above, in 1985.


A few great-great-great-great-grandparents, and some of their descendants and ancestors

Information about this generation is available only for the Benn, Lewin, Powell, Came, Whitehouse, York and Powis lines:

Last common ancestor with Plantagenet royal line.


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Chris Benn (crb@ing.iac.es)

Last updated 13 Mar 2009

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