Rowney Family Tree

Edward is believed to have been born around 1771, possibly in the Northill parish workhouse which was located in the hamlet of Upper Caldecote, in Bedfordshire, where his family appear to have been living around that time. He was baptised that year in the village of Northill, nearby in Bedfordshire. His father was a labourer at that time. Edward's mother died at the workhouse in 1780, when he was just 9 years old. His father died at the workhouse six years later, in 1786, when Edward would have been around 15 years old. Edward's movements around this time are not known, but it would appear that he probably did not remain long in Northill.

In 1794, Edward was married to Susan KING in the village of Bletsoe, in Bedfordshire. They were both aged around 23 and were residents of the parish at that time. They were married after banns by the curate George BARKER in the presence of witnesses Joshua TILLY and the regular church witness, William FAULKNER. Both Edward and Susan signed the register with a mark.

Shortly after their marriage, they appear to have settled in the small village of Goldington, located on the outskirts of the city of Bedford, in Bedfordshire, where they began raising their family. Goldington seems to have been a small rural community in the 19th century, surrounded by market gardens and orchards, although it is a bustling suburb of Bedford today. Edward's second cousin, George ROWNEY, had been married in Goldington in 1786, in the same year that Edward's father died. George appears to have subsequently settled in the city of Bedford itself, but curiously, his infant daughter Mary Ann was buried in Goldington after her death in 1790. It is possible that Edward and George had some joint ongoing interest around Goldington after Edward's father died.

Edward and Susan's first child, Mary, was christened in Goldington in 1795. Their next child, John, was christened there in 1798, and their last known child, Edith, was also christened in Goldington in April 1801.

In November 1801, Edward died. He would have been just 30 years old at that time and had been employed as a labourer. He was buried in the churchyard at Goldington. Susan (then aged 30) would have been a very young widow, with three small children to care for; Mary (aged 5), John (aged 3), and their new baby, Edith (aged just 8 months). It appears that Susan did not remarry, and although the movements of her family are not precisely known after Edward's death, it appears that they remained in Goldington.

The ROWNEY family were mentioned in a Deed Poll referencing their home in Goldington on 8 Apr 1812. It appears that they were tenants in a divided cottage, probably sharing with the owner, Joseph BARKER. There was a small ư acre enclosed orchard [pightle] associated with and adjoining the property. The property was bounded on the west by a way to River Field; on the east by a cottage formerly occupied by Benjamin GOODMAN; on the north by a common green; and on the south by River Field. The previous tenants of the property were named as the widow, E. SHARMAN, and Thomas WALKER.

Susan's son, John, was married in the village of Wilshamstead, in Bedfordshire, in 1816, when he was around 18 years old. John's bride Mary HOLDEN had no obvious connection to Wilshamstead, but he was described as a resident of the parish. As a legal resident, John must have been living and working in the parish for at least a year prior to his marriage, and it is even possible he may have been raised by family or friends there after his father's death. After their marriage, John and Mary lived briefly around her home village of Roxton, in Bedfordshire, before settling near Susan's home village of Bletsoe.

Susan's daughter, Mary, was married later in 1816, to a shoemaker named William CHAPMAN. They were married and subsequently settled in Goldington.

Her daughter Edith was also married in Goldington in 1820. Edith settled with her husband Thomas YARRELL in the village of Colmworth, situated a few miles to the north of Bedford, in Bedfordshire.

On 5 Jan 1822, Susan was mentioned in an Indenture referencing her home in Goldington. Her place of abode was described as a cottage, formerly divided in two, but now divided into three. There was still a small ư acre enclosed orchard [pightle] associated with and adjoining the property. The occupants of the cottage at that time were, the owner, Joseph BARKER , and tenants, W. YOUNG, and Susanna ROWNEY. The property was bounded on the west by a way to River Field; on the east by a cottage then owned by William ADDINGTON (esq.); on the north by common green; and on the south by a part of River Field also then owned by William ADDINGTON. The ADDINGTON family were the local nobility at Goldington around that time. So it appears that Susan was still living in the same cottage they had been living in in 1812, although her half of the cottage seems to have been subdivided further into two residences.

In the 1841 census, Susan (aged 70) was living with the family of her daughter Mary (aged 45) in Goldington. Susan was described as a widowed pauper. Mary's husband William CHAPMAN (aged 49) was working as a shoemaker, and their son John CHAPMAN (aged 13) was a shoemaker's apprentice. Susan's grand daughter Mary YARRELL (aged 11) was also living with them after her mother's death. Edith had died in 1838 at the age of 37.

Susan herself died in 1848 when she would have been around 77 years old. She was buried at Goldington.