Written on May 5th 2001:-

Until a couple of weeks ago I thought I was descended from a long line of Haselips but then discovered that my Great Grandfather was born on the wrong side of the blanket and that his father was William Baldry.

William Baldry was born in Uggleshall between 1802-1806 (variation due to ages recorded in the 1841 and 1851 censuses). He married Dinah ? and their first child was Charles (born Blyford in 1828/29. Their second child (Charlotte) was baptised in Blyford on 8 June 1831 and buried there on 19 June 1831. They then had William in 1833/34 but Dinah died in in 1835 and was buried at Blyford at the age of 24.

At the time this particular arm of the Baldry family was being created William was an agricultural labourer. Sometime after his wife's death he took on a housekeeper, one Amy Heslop (born 1813 in Spexhall). They had two children (John born 1836/37 in Blyford and Charlotte born 1838/39 in Sotherton). In the 1841 census Amy's name was transcribed as 'Haselup' and she, her two children and the other Baldrys were living with a farmer named Samuel Orford who I guess might have been William's father in law (i.e. his first wife was Dinah Orford?).

William and Amy then married in Norwich in 1843 (by licence) when Amy's name was corrupted yet again this time to 'Haselip'. The pair then had two more children (George born 1844/45 and Jemima born 1846/47 both in Sotherton). By 1851 William had become a farmer of 80 acres, presumably he took over the land owned by Samuel Orford. Meanwhile after William and Amy married they had John and Charlotte baptised as 'Baldry alias Haselip'.

I do not know what happened to William. By 1881 Amy was living on her own in Halesworth as a charwoman and she died in 1885 in Norwood where she appeared to be living with her daughter Charlotte Clark formerly Haselip.

John Haselip chose not to adopt the name Baldry and in 1861 he and Harriet Hoggett from Beccles moved to North Kent where they were married and he became a labourer in Gillingham. They had four children (John, Ada, Frederick and Alfred). John Baldry alias Haselip died on 25 January 1903 in Walworth. Incidentally, his sister Jemima was the informant of death but the Registrar described her as John's niece! Frederick - my Grandfather - stuck with the name Haselip but interestingly, John and Alfred chose to adopt the name Baldry and I have a marriage certificate of John Haselip Baldry dated 1893. He married Elizabeth Carroll on 23 Jan 1893. He was 27 and described as a widower. I have been unable thus far to track down an earlier marriage. I have yet to find Alfred's marriage but I know his wife was Elizabeth Emily and that they lived at 33 Cranbrook Road, St. Johns (Deptford) from 1920 to at least 1935; he was the informant of his mother's (Harriet) death in 1920. Ada Frances Haselip (she appears not to have adopted the Baldry name) married William Miller on 4 April 1888.

I am sorry to describe all this in detail but for some time I was going up cul de sacs looking for Haselips when I should have been focusing on Baldrys. I am now trying to piece together the Baldry antecedents and hope to find out who - if any - are the living descendents of John and Alfred 'Haselip' Baldry. I should therefore be grateful for any information that might put me on the right track.

I am tempted to add a social commentary. Frederick Haselip remained a labourer and ended up in the Workhouse. His two brothers - who adopted the name Baldry - became office workers and seemed intent on upward mobility. Frederick Haselip married Emily Louisa Pummell on 13 February 1898. She disappeared in 1910 (rumoured to have 'run off' to America after having given birth to six boys including my father!), Frederick died on 31 October 1939 in Lyminge, Kent. A small example of this is that in all Frederick's registration documents his father - John - is described as a labourer but John junior described his father as an 'engineer'. In fact John senior ended his days as council truck shunter.

Incidentally, as a newcomer to family history I have already found how fiendishly difficult it is to set down on paper a large family tree with any sense of coherence. I must therefore express admiration for your website which sets it out in a readily understandable way.

Mike supplied the following corrections & additions on September 1st 2001:-

Sotherton Page

Elizabeth Baldr(e)y was baptised 26/11/1727 not 26/1/1727 and John Baldr(e)y was baptised 28/7/1729 not 26/5/1729.
Elizabeth Baldr(e)y was baptised 8/6/1742 not 6/12/1741.
Farrow Baldr(e)y baptised 25/2/1749 and buried 29/3/1750
John Baldr(e)y buried 4/3/1752

John Baldrey married Elizabeth Fenn on 30 October 1787 in Uggeshall.
They had a sixth child, Samuel which is shown on this page as a separate entry. The only difference is that Samuel died 9/7/1801 and was buried 12/7/1801. Thus the entry for John Baldrey=Elizabeth ? can be deleted.

David Soanes not Soans and the event dated 12/11/1815 for James Soanes is unclear. It could be burial but my reading was that it was the public baptism with a private one having been done 16/10/1814.

William Baldrey married Dinah Holmes 22/5/1826 (banns were read 30 (not 20) April and 7 and 14 May. The separate entry below ("William Baldry farming servant = Dinah ?) can be deleted

William Baldry and Dinah Holmes had four children and this is where it gets a little complicated. First child was Mary Ann (details as shown) and the Sotherton transcription also shows the second child as William baptised 8/3/1829 BUT William and Dinah had a another child - also named William - baptised at Blyford on 5/9/1833. According to the 1841 and 1851 censuses their second child was Charles born 1828/29 and they confirm William's date of birth as 1833. Thus either the officiating Minister made the wrong entry in 1829 or the first William died. However, I have failed to find a separate record of birth for Charles or death of the '1829 William'. I am therefore inclined to assume that the baptism in 1829 was Charles not William but this will need to be substantiated if at all possible. In addition William and Dinah had Charlotte Baldry baptised 8/6/1831 at Blyford and buried at Blyford 19/6/1831.

William Baldry married Amy Haselip 12/8/1843 at Norwich. He was baptised 27 March 1803 at Uggeshall and died before 1861. Amy was born 12/2/1813 at Spexhall and died in Norwood, Lambeth 17/8/1885. They had FIVE children (I discovered another one!) John Baldry alias Haselip (born 1837 bap. 8/10/1843 in Sotherton died Walworth 25/1/1903); Charlotte Baldry alias Haselip (born 1838 bap. 8/10/1843 in Sotherton: George Baldry (born 1844/45 based only on 1841 & 1851 census); Jemima Baldry (bap. 25/7/1847 in Sotherton) and Frederick (bap. 25/2/1852 at Halesworth).

There are consequential changes to my page as indicated above. I think we can now refer to Amy as Haselip rather than Heslop as I found her father's marriage in the Westhall parish register. He was John Haselip of Brampton who married Mary Howlett on 23 September 1811 at Westhall.

Other changes I would make to my page are (a) John Baldry alias Haselip married Harriet Hoggett in 1861 at Strood, Kent; (b) Harriet was born Beccles 25/2/1838 and died Greenwich 7/9/1920; (c) Alfred Baldry married Emily Elizabeth Clark on 14/11/1915 at Peckham. They had a daughter, Eileen, whose birth was registered at Croydon in 1917 (I wonder if she is still alive?) and (d) Alfred died 25/1/1955 in Ladywell.

As an aside I suspect that Charlotte Baldry alias Haselip had two children (William and Emily Clark) but that has yet to be substantiated.

Mike supplied the following additions on September 2nd 2001:-

I have attempted to link whole families together but added an '(S)' where the link is a speculative one. All entries are from copies of parish registers unless indicated differently. I have avoided the IGI where possible as I do not trust it!

Uggeshall Parish

10/11/1734: Thomas, son of George Baldry and his wife, baptised.

24/05/1745: Phoebe, daughter of Richard & Susan Baldrey baptised.
09/07/1806: Susann Baldrey, widow, died and buried. Age 83 (S).

18/04/1757: George, son of John & Mary Baldry baptised.
09/04/1759: John, son of John & Mary Baldry, baptised.
07/10/1759: Thomas, son of John & Mary Baldry, baptised
07/11/1761: Elizabeth, daughter of John & Mary Baldry, baptised.
06/02/1784: Mary, wife of John Baldry buried (S)

15/22/29 July 1759: Banns read for marriage of Thomas Baldry & Susan Burdoch (Not clear if this proposed marriage relates to this family or the next batch below. The dates of children baptised fit this couple better but note the difference in spelling of Bald(e)ry. However, the gap between marriage and recorded first child in the second batch makes it likely that there were two separate Thomas/Susan families in Uggeshall. In addition there were burials for both Thomas Baldry and Baldery. Moreover, Susan's burial in 1811 at the age of 67 makes it unlikely - but not impossible - that she was the mother of the earlier children) (S)
28/10/1760: Margaret, daughter of Thomas & Susan Baldery, baptised
23/02/1762: Mary, daughter of Thomas & Susan Baldery, baptised
08/10/1788: Thomas Baldery, married, died and buried 12/10/1788(S)

Following baptisms were of children born to Thomas & Susan Baldry (see note above):
27/01/1773: George
24/03/1774: Maria (buried 04/09/1782)
12/03/1777: Joseph
10/03/1780: Mary (buried 08/04/1780)
08/09/1781: Mary (27/01/1806: Mary Baldry married Richard Aldrich by licence
(S))
20/02/1785: Maria (26/12/1809: Maria Baldry married John Trower Rickbell
(S))
28/07/1811: Thomas Baldry died; Buried 02/08/1811 age 78
29/07/1811: Susan Baldry died; Buried 02/08/1811 age 67

16/01/1793: John Baldry married Mary Taylor
The following are birth dates for children born to John & Mary unless otherwise indicated :
02/07/1793: John baptised
02/10/1794: William baptised (died 21/10/1794)
12/09/1796: George & Mary (twins). (George buried 17/02/1796)
12/09/1798: George
03/12/1800: Ann
26/03/1803: William (appears in Sotherton Register marrying Dinah Holmes 22/05/1826)
02/09/1805: Charlotte
10/06/1808: Jemima (died 4 June 1811)
01/11/1810: Martha
31/05/1813: Jemima baptised (IGI)
10/12/1856: John Baldry buried age 90 (NBI)(S)
07/09/1862: Mary Baldry buried age 91(NBI)(S)

Uggeshall events linked to Sotherton Parish

13/06/1762: Elizabeth Baldry married John Wright (is she Farrow's daughter born 1841?)(S)
14/10/1771: Philip Baldry married Hannah Inzouton (is he Farrow's son born 1744?)(S)
13/10/1773: Mary Baldry married William Smith (Farrow's daughter born 1843?)(S)

01/11/1799: Thomas, son of Thomas Baldry of Sotherton and Mary, his wife, died and buried 03/11/1799.

10/05/1801: Mary Ann, daughter of Thomas Baldry of Sotherton died and buried
12/05/1801

I leave it to you to exercise your technical wizardy and hope this helps the tree.