Thomas Woodley bc1775 - possibly Devon

Hi all, Thomas Woodley married in West Teignmouth in 1802 and the parish register stated Mariner from the parish of Drewstignton BUT...

1. I have never been able to find any Woodley's in Drewsteignton
2. they had one son William born 1803 bapt at St James the Less, West Teignmouth - no father's occupation recorded
3. no other children baptised so assumed he died or ran away - wife Sarah widowed by 1841 & 51 and still only 1 child

Today I received a transcript from FMP that reads Thomas Woodley, year: 1803, Place Shuten, County: Devon, Unit or regiment: 28th foot, Status: Substitute, Ref E182/208(pt1), Volume: 8, from Napoleonic Wars collection - is this a book?
is it possible a Mariner was drafted into a foot regiment? the only 28th regiment of foot was a Gloucestershire regiment and what is meant by Status: Substitute?
if so where is Shuten, ? can't find any reference to this place anywhere in the world
could this really be my Thomas Woodley ?
Any assistance will be amazing because this is my brickwall of many years

 

There is a village called Shute, near Axminster -- that would be about 35 miles form the Teignmouth area

 

Super Jan I looked at that and it explains about all the men drafted so that's a possibility although seamen appear to have been exempted - he may have changed his profession - who knows, still does not explain his total disapparance after 1803 though, nor his supposed parish of Drewsteignton. He's such a mystery.

As for Shuten - thanks Muswortismycat and Jan, both are real possibilities but I am favouring Shaldon as the most likely because Shaldon is where their son's wife was living - apples don't fall far for these Devon families of my OH!! lucky my father-in-law married a London girl or my husband could have been the village idiot. Off to make lunch and research some more, will pop back later.

 

It is such a fundamental part of good genealogical research to quote your sources that you'd think FMP would make it more obvious where their records come from.

It takes a bit of digging around to identify the source. E182/208 looks very much like a National Archives reference and popping it into their catalogue shows that it does relate to Devon 1802-1803. It's catalogued as 'particulars of account of land and assessed taxes' so I wouldn't have guessed it was army records!

The clue as to FMP's source is in the small print on the transcription where it says 'copyright Barbara Chambers'. See her website for more about the indexes (including an explanation of what 'substitutes' were):

http://www.
britisharmyresearchnapoleonicwars.co.uk/index.php?p=1_9_ARMY-of-RESERVE-INDEXES-1803

 

thanks Huncamunca, looked at that and have extracted some informnation and references from the site to better explain this record, all scanned together and is now in my tree as a "real possibility" of a life event until I can prove otherwise.

 

Just to throw another possibility into the mix as regards 'Shuten' - there is/was an area of Dawlish called Shutterton (think of the pronunciation in a West Country accent - it would probably sound like Shutten) and Dawlish is only about 5 miles from Teignmouth.

Ann

 

Whilst doing a bit of poking around for Hidla's Thomas Woodley, I came across a man by the same name who was transported after his Court Martial at Knightsbridge barracks. His offence was 3 desertions and he arrived in Van Dieman's Land on the 'Circassian' in 1833. Whist checking him out for a possible connection to Hilda's man I found his description record.
His name was Thomas Woodley alias Thomas Powell and he had been tattooed quite extensively.
Like Hilda's Thomas, this one also must have been at sea at some stage.
One tattoo read 'Hope? and there was an anchor-1817'
Another anchor on his left arm and a crown and sprigs. Also he had a soldier holding a sword tattooed on the same arm.
But what tugged at me was this tattoo 'Ann Carlott born P (parish). of Bellaff (I believe this should be Ballaugh) near Ramsey, I of Man, died 1827 age 30.
Too young (37) to be Hilda's Thomas but the similarities are remarkable.
He died in 1835 at Campbelltown, Tasmania. Age c39.
His record has him as continually drunk and disorderly with a few assaults noted. I am guessing his sorrow followed him all the way here.
How sad.

 

Oh gosh Ann, thank you but that really puts the cat amongst the pigeons because there were a number of other Woodley families scattered around Devon (never been able to find any connection to those families) - so is this Thomas recorded on the Army of Reserve mine after all - now not so sure.
Archie's Mum, thanks for looking at transportations for me, as you say unlikely this one mine but a sad story none the less.
Only one child born 1803 (one year after marriage and bapt does not record occupation of father) and that leads me to think if he was a Mariner - could he have been a fisherman and used a fancy occupation at the marriage? and if so, possible he died at sea therefore no burial, but his wife never re-married (and that's strange for those days) and was able to support young William who became a Carpenter/Joiner. 1841 son William is married and mother living with them. In 1851 son William is dead (1843) and his wife and mother (both Sarah's) are Fishmongers. Wife Sarah died 1852 and mother Sarah died 1859 -all this happens in Teignmouth and continues into the next generation.

 

I am resussitating this thread because I think I may have found the answer to Thomas Woodley's birth, bear with me.

Many years ago a very kind gentleman offered to look up records at the DRO. He found son William's bapt and Thomas & Sarah's marriage (where he gives his abode as Drewsteignton), I now have the images from FMP. He also tried to find Thomas' parents and was sure he had found them William Woodley and Susannah from Throwleigh but then he discovered that son Thomas b1775 died same year. So that was the end of that. Since then I have searched every site looking for a Thomas born c1775 in Devon with any parents but specifically looking for a father William, why else would his first (and only) child be named William and found nothing except the Thomas that died.

Whilst hunting around for Trigland/Treglown etc I came across this couple William Woodley and Susannah bapts of 10 children including Thomas b1775 died 1775 and then I found they had another Thomas in 21 May 1778 - all the bapts were in South Tawton but mention abode as Throwleigh which is just a few miles from Drewsteignton.
This William married a Susannah Ellams in 1769 in Rattrey - no bapts except this possible Susannah Elms father John mother Susanna bapt 30 Apr 1749 Dartington - could this be her?
But looking for William Woodley c1749 I found a few
William Woodley — 1745 Anglican William Bridford
William Woodley — 1746 Anglican William Christow
William Woodley — 24 Jun 1750 Anglican John & Joan Woodley Drewsteignton
William Woodley — 9 April 1751 Anglican base child of Elizabeth Woodley Drewsteignton
the above 2 in bold are the most likely for a marriage in 1769. Now which one might be William: John is a name carried down the generations (including this William's first born and William b1803 and every Woodley down to my husband) but not Joan nor Elizabeth

Have I found the correct parents for Thomas? and how can I decide which bapt is that of William - am I grabbing at straws????

 

How certain can you be Hilda, that Thomas would have named his son after his Father. There were times when Father & son did not get on, & Thomas may have preferred to name his 1st born in his preferrence, even a friend- in-law,or a recently deceased rellie or friend.
So hard to judge.

 

Just what I was thinking Wendy - I have plenty of instances where the parents names were nowhere to be found in the naming of their grandchildren.

Ann

 

Thanks all for your input. I agree with your sentiments, and even if I could prove he was the base child of Elizabeth my brick wall will remain. All brick walls end with a Thomas in the combined OH and my tree... there are 3!! In this case if I had the money I would get a yDNA test for my OH, that at least would prove the Woodley line or the base child line. just need a lottery win.

 

To: HildaW
Your search for a Thomas Woodley in Teignmouth, Devon, may have been solved long ago. However, I came across it while researching a more recent Woodley. As I once lived in Teignmouth, I thought I would tell you that there is a road called Chute Hill in the older part of town (near the railway station). Thought I’d let you know on the basis of “every little helps”.

 

Hi Jandy, Chute Hill.. spoken quickly could certainly sound like Shuten, thank you. No all my Thomas brickwalls still stand ggrr. May I ask which Woodley's you are researching... if you email me privately we can compare notes to see if there is a connection.

 

Hi Hilda,
I am very new on this site and haven’t quite figured out how to use it! So I don’t know how to email you privately. I don’t have much information for you but email me direct at: janjones AT mymts DOT net and I will reply and see if I can help.

(Email address munged to deter spammers)