The Dolamores

The Dolamores joined my family tree with my 2nd great-grandmother Maria Dolamore, who married Thomas Budgen in 1861. They were the parents of Annie Budgen, who went on to marry into the Finch family and was my great-grandmother. Maria, her relatives and ancestors came from Hertfordshire, from towns and villages such as Watford, Abbots Langley and Leavesden.

Dolamore is one of the names the Normans brought when they conquered England in 1066 and is a variation of the French surname de la Mare, meaning of the sea. The surname is most often found in London, Hampshire and Hertfordshire but over time has also been written as Delamere, Delmore, Lamere and so on. One of the first references to the name was in Gloucestershire where Guillaume de La Mare of Normandy was a tenant in chief of lands there and in Herefordshire. He also owned land in Wiltshire and Hertfordshire in 1086.

Maria Dolamore (1842-1933).
My 2nd great-grandmother.

For details of her life see the entry for her husband Thomas Budgen here.

David Dolamore (1803-1871) and Mary Ann Walker (1803-1873).
My 3rd great-grandparents.

David Dolamore was baptised on 28 January 1803 at St Lawrence’s Church, Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, to parents William Dolamore and Charlotte Kimpton (see below). As a teenager he was apprenticed to baker John Sexton of Stanmore in Middlesex. However, he mostly worked as a carpenter.

He married Stanmore-born Mary Ann Walker on 23 June 1823 at St Lawrence’s Church in Abbots Langley and the family then moved on to live in Stanmore and at various addresses in Watford and Leavesden. He died at Leavesden Green on 3 February 1871 leaving effects valued at under £100.

Mary Ann Walker was baptised on the 7 August 1803 at St John the Evangelist in Great Stanmore, the daughter of William and Elizabeth Walker. After the death of her husband she was listed in the 1871 census as a ‘proprietor of houses’, usually a term for a landlord and suggesting she wasn’t exactly a pauper. She died just two years later, on 14 October 1873 in Leavesden. Her sole executor was daughter Ann, then a spinster, and she left effects worth under £100.

Read more about David’s life here.

David and Mary Ann’s known children were:

  • Job Dolamore (1824-1824), my 2nd great-grand uncle. Baptised on 25 July 1824 at St John’s Church in Great Stanmore, Middlesex, he was buried on 12 December.
  • George Dolamore (1826-1835), my 2nd great-grand uncle. Baptised on 15 January 1826 at St John’s Church in Great Stanmore, he was buried there on 26 April 1835.
  • Mary Ann Dolamore (1828-1899), my 2nd great-grand aunt. Baptised on 17 February 1828 at St Lawrence’s Church in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, she was working as a servant at the time of the 1841 census in a grand house in Leavesden. Ten years later she was a cook at Ham Farm in Shirley, Surrey, and it was while there she met her husband, Robert Petch, born in Culford, Suffolk, in 1820. They married on 4 May 1852 at St John’s in Shirley and initially lived in the area. Before the 1861 census they moved to Wales. The record showed them in Llansanffraid, Conway, Wales, Robert working as a coachman and living in a lodge at the country house Bryn Eisteddfod. They were still there at the 1891 census. Robert died on 27 October 1897 and was buried in the village. Mary Ann died on 15 February 1899 and was buried with him. Their children were:
    • Robert Petch (1852-1892). Born in Shirley, he was apprenticed to cabinet makers in Wales and then moved to Cockermouth in Cumberland. He married Sarah Fallows, a milliner, in 1875 and raised a family. The North Wales Weekly News of 28 April 1892 reported his death that year, and added that he had also been a publican and keen cornet player. Sarah died in 1922.
    • Maria Petch (1854-1935). Baptised in Leavesden, Hertfordshire, she married Edwin Morton in 1877. They lived in his home county of Cheshire, where he worked as a gardener and they raised a family. He died in 1929, Maria in 1935, and they were buried together in Wilmslow.
    • William Petch (1857-1927). Born in Llansanffraid, he married Elizabeth Jane Jones in 1878 and had a number of children with her. He worked as a railway signalman in Wales. His wife died in 1900 and he married Sarah Ann Roberts, a sub-postmistress, in 1902. He died in 1927.
    • Alfred Petch (1860-1923). Born in Llansanffraid, he worked as a watchmaker and jeweller and married Anne Clarke in Derbyshire in 1882. They had children and lived in Wales for a number of years before emigrating to Canada early in the 20th century. They lived in Victoria, British Colombia, where Alfred died of cancer in 1923. Anne lived until 1931.
    • Sarah Emily Petch (1873-1958). Born in Llansanffraid, she married joiner Hugh Lloyd Williams there in 1898 and had a number of children. They lived in Colwyn Bay for many years. Hugh died in 1939.
  • William Dolamore (1830-1896), my 2nd great-grand uncle. Baptised on 18 April 1830 at St Lawrence’s Church in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, he was not living with his parents at the time of the 1841 census and was possibly with relatives in St Pancras, North London. His future wife Ann Parkins was working there in 1851 as a servant although she came from his home village, where she was baptised on 14 June 1829. Her parents were agricultural labour William and Sarah. William and Ann married on 21 April 1851 at the St Pancras Old Church and settled back in the Watford area, mostly in Leavesden Green, Leavesden Lane and Estcourt Road. He was a carpenter and later in life a builder’s foreman. Ann had many children but tragedy struck in 1864 when their two eldest daughters died within two days of each other. William died on 12 December 1893, leaving effects worth £498. Ann died on 11 March 1906. Their children were:
    • Ann Dolamore (1854-1864). The Watford Observer of 16 July 1864 reported her death as being on the 10 July.
    • Sarah Dolamore (1855-1864). The Watford Observer of 16 July 1864 reported her death as being on the 11 July.
    • William Dolamore (1859-1891). William was baptised in Leavesden and married Uxbridge-born Isabella Smith in Watford in 1881. He worked as a carpenter and they were living at The Cock Inn in Sarrat, Hertfordshire, in that year’s census – his Aunt Elizabeth was landlord. The couple had children and at William’s death Isabella was the Cock’s landlord.
    • George Dolamore (1861-1918). George was baptised in Leavesden and initially worked as a carpenter but by 1891 was a servant at a house in Brasted, Kent, with his wife Lavinia Sarah Leach, who was a widow when they married in 1888. She was also almost 30 years his senior. He rose to butler and died in Brasted.
    • Emma Dolamore (1863-1958). Baptised in Leavesden, Emma lived with her mother and didn’t marry until just after her death in 1906. She had several children with husband and widower George Frederick Hooker. He worked as a carpenter and died in 1947.
    • Edwin Charles Dolamore (1865-1922). Baptised in Leavesden, Edwin married Clara Cromack of Hemel Hempstead there in 1892. They lived in Watford and raised a family while Edwin worked as a carpenter and storekeeper. Clara died in 1939.
    • James Dolamore (1869-1937). Baptised in Leavesden in 1870, James worked as a paper hanger and painter. He married Ada Ann Barker in Watford in 1895 and had several children with her. Ada died in 1952.
  • Eleanor Dolamore (1832-????), my 2nd great-grand aunt. Born in 1832, she was baptised on 28 October that year at St Lawrence’s in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire. Sometimes referred to as Ellen in the records, in 1851 she was working as a kitchen maid at High Elms, a country house near Leavesden Green that at the time was owned by distiller Arthur Currie. Eleanor married Richard Mason on 13 January 1857 at St Martin in the Fields Church, Westminster. How they met is unknown but it’s possible she’d moved south as a servant and met him there – he was working as a gardener at Claremont House in Esher, Surrey, at the time of the wedding. This Palladian mansion was later bought by the nation for the Royal Family to use and at the time Richard worked there it was the home of the exiled French royal family. Where the Masons lived after the wedding is unclear but the couple had a child, Emily, who was baptised on 13 May 1860 at Walton-on-Thames in Surrey. Richard was still working as a gardener and the couple were said to be living locally. However, the 1861 census shows Eleanor and Emily at Orsett Mews in Paddington, West London, visiting William and Hannah Hemmens. Her story then becomes murky. She may be the widow and Watford-born Eleanor Mason living as a farmer at Winfarthing in Norfolk with 20-year-old Dublin-born daughter Louise, as recorded in the 1891 census. The Diss Express of 25 September 1891 recorded the sale of farming implements and livestock belonging to her, so was she selling up or had she died? And had the family lived in Ireland previously? I’ve not found a death record for her.
  • Alfred Dolamore (1835-1910), my 2nd great-grand uncle. Alfred killed himself as an old man in Stafford in 1910. Read about his life
  • Elizabeth Dolamore (1836-1904), my 2nd great-grand aunt. Elizabeth was baptised on 30 October 1836 at St Lawrence’s in Abbots Langley and married Sussex-born William Bushby on 15 May 1860 at All Saints’ Church in nearby Leavesden. They went to live in Lancing, Sussex, where William was baptised on 4 October 1835 and where he worked as a farmer and miller. After his death in 1880 – he was buried in Lancing on 5 April – Elizabeth lived in Shoreham, Sussex. In 1881 she was in Brunswick Road with her children and, later, in Church Street in 1891 and 1901. Elizabeth died in 1904 and was buried in New Shoreham on 13 January. The couple’s children were:
    • Clara Bushby (1861-1935). Born in Lancing, she worked as a governess in Rogate, Sussex, before marrying farmer Stephen Challen there in 1893. They lived in the area for many decades, raising a family. He died in Hampshire in 1929 and Clara followed in 1935.
    • Emily Bushby (1862-1942) was born in Lancing and worked as a governess but in 1891 she was in Abbotts Langley living with Aunt Ann Toovey. There she met Bow-born fishmonger Arthur William Cave and they married in 1894. They settled in the village and raised a family. Arthur died in 1931.
    • Georgina Bushby (1866-1942) was born in Lancing and married Herbert Albert Glover in 1884. They settled in Hove, Sussex, where he worked as a photographer and they had at least one child. He died in 1896 and Georgina married Kent-born widowed commercial traveller Owen William Wood in Hanover Square, London, in 1900. They later settled in Hove, where he died in 1941.
    • Annie Bushby (1868-1947) was born in Lancing and married Edmund Alty in 1884. They settled in Kensington, where he was brought up, and had several children, but he died in 1906. Annie worked as a needlewoman and was living in Watford at the time of the 1939 Register.
    • Bessie Bushby Bushby (1841-1940) was born in Lancing and worked as a schoolteacher before her marriage to James Arthur Wenham in 1901. They lived in Warwickshire for several years, where he worked for the Post Office. They moved to Carshalton in Surrey, where James died in 1929. Bessie moved to Hove to live with her sister Georgina and died in 1940.
  • Emma Dolamore (1839-1923), my 2nd great-grand aunt. Emma was baptised on 3 March 1839 in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire. The 1861 census listed her working as a cook for a solicitor called Pollock and his family, who lived in Windmill Hill, Hampstead. She married piano maker Charles Samuel Minns, who hailed from Norwich, on 5 May 1868 at All Saints’ Church in Leavesden, Hertfordshire. The couple went on to live at Palace Street, St Pancras, and Hassett Road, Homerton, in London. Charles was described as being paralysed in the 1901 census and he died in 1902. By the time of the 1911 census Emma was living on her own means in Kingsland Road, Hackney. She died in 1923.
  • Maria Dolamore (1841-1933). My 2nd great grandmother married Thomas Budgen in 1861. Read about them here.
  • Ann Dolamore (1841-1933), my 2nd great-grand aunt. Ann was born in 1845 and baptised on 25 May that year at Abbots Langley Church in Hertfordshire. It’s likely she’s the Ann Dolamore from Leavesden Green who was working as a nursery maid at the Rectory in Abbess Roding, Essex, in the 1861 census and as a domestic servant in Leavesden in 1871. She married John Toovey at Abbots Langley church on 23 December 1879. He was born in the village in 1830 and they settled there at Hazel Grove Farm, where he farmed 123 acres and employed 3 men according to the 1881 census, but he died in December 1889. Ann went on to farm the land herself (she leased it from Trinity College, Oxford, and Sydney Sussex College, Cambridge, according to a public notice in the Watford Observer of 12 October 1901). She died on 8 February 1928 while living at Vine Cottage, Leavesden Green, and left effects worth £110.
  • David Edmund Dolamore (1841-1933), my 2nd great-grand uncle. David was baptised on 29 August 1847 in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire. At the tender age of 13 he was already working as a footboy, far from home at 38/39 Craven Street, Charing Cross. The property was owned by Richard Millard, a military outfitter who owned Hill & Millard, described as Manufacturers of Portable Military Furniture and among the most well-respected makers of camp equipment in the 19th century. By the time of the 1871 census he was back home living in Leavesden with his widowed mother, working as a carpenter. He died young on 8 November 1873.

William Dolamore (1774-1819) and Charlotte Kimpton (1771-1826).
My 4th great-grandparents.

William was baptised on 22 May 1774 at St Lawrence’s Church, Abbots Langley, in Hertfordshire. The record lists his father as James but doesn’t give a name for his wife, but I believe he was the eldest child of James Dolamore and Elizabeth Ivory (see below).

William married Charlotte Kimpton (or Kimton depending on the record) at St Mary’s Church in Watford on 29 September 1794. The witnesses were Esther Dollamore and Thomas Kimton. William, who was a farmer, died young in Leavesden Green, Hertfordshire, in 1819, and was buried in Abbots Langley on 7 November.

In his will he left all his belongings, including farming stock, furniture and money, to his widow Charlotte and chose his son James of Leavesden to run the farming business in return for a salary to be paid by his mother. He also left instructions that his son David be properly clothed by Charlotte during his apprenticeship as a baker. Son James and Charlotte were executors along with William’s brother James, who was described as a victualler of St Albans in Hertfordshire. I’ve not found a birth for a James that would match this man, however. The will also mentions a daughter, Caroline, but I’ve found no record of her either.

Charlotte Kimpton, the daughter of John Kimpton and Ann Freeman, was baptised on 16 June 1771 at Abbots Langley and was buried on 5 March 1826 in the village.

The couple had at least six children:

  • James Dolamore (1795-1849), my 3rd great-grand uncle. He was baptised on 5 April 1795 at St Lawrence’s in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire. He married Maria Cooper in the village on 19 September 1814, but she came from Whitwell elsewhere in the county and was baptised on 29 January 1792 at St Paul’s Walden. James’s father left him his farm to run on his death in 1819 but the 1841 census showed him living in Leavesden, in an area called Ganders Ash, and working as a higler/higgler, who was someone who made a living as a general or itinerant dealer. He was also described this way on many of his children’s baptism records. James died in 1849 and was buried at St Lawrence’s on 23 December. Maria lived on until 1864, with the Watford Observer of 24 December 1864 reporting her death in Ganders Ash on the 19th. She was buried on the 23rd. James and Maria’s children were all born in Abbots Langley:
    • William Dolamore, was born in 1818 but I’ve yet to find subsequent records that I’m comfortable with.
    • Noah Dolamore (1818-1891). He married Elizabeth Plaice in 1843, raised a family and moved all round the country on work. His occupations included publican. He was living on the Walworth Road in Newington, South London, at his death.
    • James Dolamore (1821-1897) married Phoebe McBride of Romsey in Hampshire in 1845 and also moved around for work – to Staffordshire, Buckinghamshire and London among other counties. He was a groom / ostler. They appear not to have had children and died in Middlesex, Phoebe in 1902.
    • Frances Dolamore (1822-1835). May have been Francis.
    • May Ann Dolamore (1822-1883). Mary married bricklayer Emanuel Bunker of Watford in 1848 and raised children with him. They lived most in Norwood, now South London, but she died back in Hertfordshire. Emanuel lived until 1892.
    • Matilda Dolamore was born in 1825 but I am unclear about her fate. She may have married in 1854.
    • Amelia Dolamore was born in 1827 but her future is also unclear as she could be confused with someone born in St Albans around the same time.
    • Thomas Dolamore (1829-1908) lived much of his life in Staffordshire. His first wife was Emma Whitney, who died in 1868. His second was Sarah Elizabeth Johnson, who died in the same year as Thomas – 1908. He had children with both wives and worked in various jobs, including warehouseman and ostler.
    • Daniel Dolamore (1833-1916) followed his brother to Staffordshire AND married Ann Grove of Worcestershire in 1862. They lived in many counties, including Middlesex and Hampshire, while he worked as a groom and raised a family. They settled in the Greenwich area of London, where Ann died in 1910 and Daniel in 1916.
    • Elizabeth Dolamore was born in 1836. See Alfred Dolamore here.
  • Dorcas Dolamore (1796-1801), my 3rd great-grand aunt, was baptised in Abbots Langley on 6 November 1796 but died in 1801 and was buried in the village on 4 January.
  • Henry Dolamore (1800-1877), my 3rd great-grand uncle. Henry was baptised on 12 March 1800 in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, and married Hannah Neale in nearby Watford on 25 December 1819. He had a daughter with her but Hannah died and was buried in Abbots Langley on 1 April 1827. Henry was then married to Maria from Capel St Andrew in Suffolk – but I’ve not found a marriage record for this. The 1841 census shows agricultural labourer Henry and Maria living in Shenfield, Essex. Was he the same Henry who’d appeared before the Essex Assizes charged with horse stealing in 1833? The case doesn’t appear to have been proceeded with, with the words ‘no bill’ recorded. In 1851 Henry and his family had moved again and he was working as a servant, living in Oldbury Road, Harborne, Staffordshire. Ten years later he was a beer seller in Chalvey, Buckinghamshire. The 1869 Post Office Directory for the town described him as a beer retailer and grocer but on 19 January that year the London Gazette reported that he’d been adjudged bankrupt and was in the process of being discharged. The reports stated that he was ‘late of the Omar Pasha beerhouse’ in New Windsor, Berkshire, but now of the Flag beerhouse in Chalvey. In 1871, the census showed that he was back at the Omar Pasha, a small pub in Sheet Street. Henry died in 1877 and Maria – a former poulterer – was recorded as living in almshouses in Windsor in 1881 but I have no death record for her. Henry’s children were:
    • Dorcas Dolamore, born in Hertfordshire in 1824 to his first wife Hannah. Dorcas married James Sims in West Bromwich, Staffordshire, in 1848 but her story is murky afterwards. She may have been the Dorcas Sims who died in Worcestershire later that year.
    • Mary Ann Dolamore was born to Henry and Maria in about 1832 but I have no records other than the 1851 census.
  • David Dolamore (1803-1871), my 3rd great-grandfather. A carpenter by trade, read about his life here.
  • Eliza Dolamore (1805-1891), my 3rd great-grand aunt. Eliza was baptised on 3 February 1805 in Abbots Langley. She married Job Slaughter (sometimes George) on 9 June 1829 in the parish of St Stephen – part of the city of St Albans, Hertfordshire. He’d been born there in 1811 and was baptised on 28 April. They lived in the St Albans area – in the charmingly named Smug Oak – for the rest of their lives, with Job working initially as an agricultural labourer and then (1851 census) a beer house keeper,  a carrier (1861) and a beer house keeper again (1871 and 1881 censuses). Job had the inevitable run-in with the law, as the Herts Guardian of the 24 April 1858 reported. He was accused of drawing beer before 1pm on a Sunday, with a PC Dunn claiming to have seen a lad with a jug of ale leaving the premises. Other witnesses claimed he’d been wrong about the time and the case was dismissed. Job died in Bricket Wood, a village south of St Albans, and he was buried in the city on 29 September 1889. Eliza went on to live with her widower son George but died in 1891 and was buried in St Albans on 31 December. Their children were:
    • George Slaughter (1830-1900) lived in St Albans his whole life and married Emma Atkins there in 1852, raising a family and working as an agricultural labourer. Emma died in 1881.
    • Mary Ann Slaughter was born in 1836 and may be the teenager buried in the family’s home parish in 1854.
    • William Slaughter was born in 1839 but I’ve not found other records that I can definitely pin on him.
    • Robert Slaughter (1842-1889) worked as an agricultural labourer around St Albans for many years. Towards the end of his life he became a beer seller in St Stephen’s. He married Jane Change in 1867 and had a number of children. Jane died in 1911.
  • Caroline Dolamore (1807-1896), my 3rd great-grand aunt. A Catherine Dolamore was baptised on 23 August 1807 in Abbots Langley, but I suspect this was Caroline and that her name was mistranscribed. No Catherine has been found subsequently and she was not mentioned in her father’s will. Caroline married local boy James Deacon, baptised in Abbots Langley on 30 December 1804, on 15 May 1826 at St George’s, Hanover Square, London, but census and baptism records show that they later settled in and around Abbots Langley and St Albans, Hertfordshire. James worked as a shoemaker and died in 1890. Caroline died in 1896. Their children were:
    • Charlotte Eliza Deacon (1826-1874). Charlotte was baptised in Abbots Langley and married agricultural labourer George Bradbury in St Albans in 1853. They had several children but she died young. George remarried and lived until 1914.
    • David Deacon (1828-1881) was baptised in Abbots Langley but settled in St Albans, where he married widow Jane Lewis in 1866 and worked as an agricultural labourer.
    • Elizabeth Deacon (1831-1834).
    • James Deacon (1833-????). James was baptised in Abbots Langley and was an agricultural labourer at the 1851 census but he disappears. Some online sources suggest he changed his surname to Smith around the time of his marriage and died in 1905 but there is no definite proof.
    • Elizabeth Deacon (1835-????) was baptised in Abbots Langley but there are several women of the name born around the same time and it’s been difficult to pin her down. She may have married a Daniel Warrall in 1867.
    • Mary Deacon (1837-1896) was baptised in Abbots Langley and married agricultural labourer William Norwood of St Albans in 1859. They lived around the city and raised a family but William went blind in later life.
    • William Deacon (1840-1876). He married Mary Ann Howes and had a family while working as a labourer.
    • George Deacon (1843-1852).
    • Henry Deacon (1845-1902). He disappears from the records for a while in middle age but married Sarah Geeves of Wheathampstead in 1867 and worked as a labourer and general dealer.
    • Dorcas Deacon (1848-1906). Born in St Albans, Dorcas married local man and labourer Alfred England in 1870. They raised a family in the area and he lived until 1934.
  • Elizabeth Dolamore (1813-1813), my 3rd great-grand aunt. Elizabeth was baptised on 4 January 1813 in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, and is probably the same child buried on the 19th of the month.

James Dolamore (1735-1807) and Elizabeth Ivory (1734-1817).
My 5th great-grandparents.

It’s been difficult working out who the parents of my 4th great-grandfather William Dolamore were, although his baptism records state that he was the son of a James Dolamore and Betty Thompson (see below). His mother’s name was not given, as was common at the time. On balance, I believe that it was a James Dollermore who was baptised in Aldenham, near Watford, Hertfordshire, who was born in 1735 and was baptised in the village on 14 September. His birthplace is close to villages where his offspring were born and raised, such as Leavesden and Abbots Langley, and he was said to be aged 71 on his death record. An alternative James is the one baptised in St Albans, Hertfordshire, in 1733 but this could be the same James who died there in 1784.

James married Elizabeth Ivory on 11 May 1760 at St Lawrence’s in Abbots Langley. She’d been baptised in the village on 30 June 1734, the daughter of John Ivory and Mary Rogers. The marriage record described James as being from Watford, which again fits the Aldenham link.

Curiously, a James Dollamore was baptised as an adult in Abbots Langley on 8 March 1761 – the same day his daughter Mary was christened. Some vicars insisted on someone being freshly baptised when they joined a new church and there are other examples of this happening around this time in the village.

In 1771 a record of duties paid for apprentices and masters records a William Ivory as apprentice to a James Dollimore, whose trade is said to be that of a higler, a general/itinerant dealer. This was a trade followed by some of his descendants. The document states that James was from Leavesden. Land tax assessments from 1798 show a James Dollamore occupying land in Leavesden and from 1799 show a James Dollamore occupying land belonging to a Mr Beech in Abbots Langley. They could be the same or separate people, father and son for example.

James died in 1807, described as from Leavesden, but he was buried at St Lawrence’s in Abbots Langley on 7 December. His will dated 1801 and a codicil from 1802 mentions that he was a farmer so perhaps he’d inherited his father’s business. His wife Betty inherited his property and, on her death, the land and property he leased from Samuel Elam would go to his son James. I’ve not been able to trace his birth, however. The rest of his property was to be shared out among all his surviving children.

Elizabeth died in 1817, buried on 2 December and listed as Betty.

The couple had at least nine children:

  • Mary Dolamore (1761-c1802), my 4th great-grand aunt. Mary was baptised on 8 March 1761 at St Lawrence’s in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire. She married a John Hodsdon on 15 December 1788 at St Mary’s Church in Watford, but there are several candidates for him. He was said to be of the parish of St Michael, close to St Albans, on the marriage record and a John Hodsdon was baptised there in 1757. Others were baptised in Abbots Langley in 1755 and Watford in 1763. Mary died between her father writing his will in 1801 and the codicil in July 1802 and balance of probability suggests she was the woman buried in St Albans, Hertfordshire, on 9 May 1802. The will mentions her daughter Hannah as the only surviving child. I’m unsure when John died.
    • Hannah Hodsdon (1790-????). Hannah was baptised in Abbots Langley, with her surname spelled Hoddesdon, but I’ve not found other records for her.
  • John Dolamore (1763-c1801), my 4th great-grand uncle. John was baptised in Abbots Langley on 27 November 1763. It’s difficult to pin him down after this because of the number of men with this name in the area but he died between his father writing his will in 1801 and the codicil in July 1802 so it looks as if he’s the Dolamore buried on 6 September 1801 at Abbots Langley. A note on the record says he was from nearby Leavesden. I cannot easily pin down his wife’s name but they had four children mentioned in James Dolamore’s will:
    • Elizabeth Dolamore
    • Mary Dolamore
    • Sophia Dolamore
    • Benjamin James Dolamore
  • Elizabeth Dolamore (1767-????), my 4th great-grand aunt. Elizabeth was christened on 25 October 1767 in Abbots Langley. She married John King on 23 October 1788 at St Mary’s Church in Watford, Hertfordshire, and they’re both mentioned in her father’s will of 1802. But it’s not been possible to pin her down accurately after this.
  • Sarah Dolamore (1772-????), my 4th great-grand aunt. Baptised on 16 December 1772 in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, she married Augustine Brooks on 20 January 1794 at St Katherine Cree Church in Aldgate, London. Both were mentioned in her father’s will. Despite his unusual name, I’ve not found records about the couple I’m comfortable with although she may have died in St Albans in 1816 and Augustine in 1819. Their known children were:
    • James (1798-????)
    • Thomas Augustine Brooks (1801-????)
  • William Dolamore (1774-1819), my 4th great-grand uncle. Baptised on 22 May 1774, he’s my 4th great-grandfather (see above)
  • Hester Dolamore (1779-1836), my 4th great-grand aunt. Hester – or sometimes Esther – was baptised on 21 March 1779 in Abbots Langley and married James Downer at St Mary’s, Watford, Hertfordshire, on 12 February 1798. James came from Abbots Langley, where he was baptised on 8 January 1775 to father Richard Downer. James was a carpenter according to some of his children’s baptism records – and the couple had lots of children. Hester died in her home village in 1836 and was buried there on 30 June. James was buried on 16 August 1832. Their children, all baptised in Abbots Langley, were:
    • Elizabeth Downer (1800-1852). She married wheelwright John Preston in Abbots Langley in 1821 and raised her family in and around Watford. She died in Leavesden – her husband died there in 1870.
    • Mary Ann Downer (1802-????). There are several Mary Ann Downers born around the same time in the area so pinning mine down has so far been impossible.
    • Sarah Downer (1805-????). As with Mary, there are several Sarah Downers being born around the same time in the area so pinning mine down has been impossible.
    • Dorcas Downer (1807-1870). Dorcas married Henry Fellows in Westminster, London, in 1834 and raised a family with him. He farmed Wood Farm in his home parish of Watford, Hertfordshire, employing a number of labourers. They quit the farm, owned by the Earl of Essex, in 1866 according to the Watford Observer of 28 July. She died in 1870, Henry in 1879 after retiring to Abbots Langley.
    • James Downer (1809-1865). James married Louise Rumsey of Enfield, Middlesex, in 1831 and raised a family. He worked as a carpenter and landlord of The Crown in Garston, Watford, during his life. Louise outlived him, and for a time took on the pub, but died in 1888.
    • Harriet Downer (1811-1846).
    • Benjamin Downer (1814-1881). Carpenter Benjamin married Sarah Vine in Hampstead, London, in 1838. They moved back to Hertfordshire, where he also worked as a licensed victualler at the Dog and Partridge in Hunton Bridge, and they raised a family. Sarah died in 1859 and Benjamin married again in 1863, his bride Ann Elizabeth Cane. Ann died in 1909.
    • Maria Downer (1816-1883). Maria never married and worked for many years as housekeeper to her sister Dorcas.
    • Charlotte Downer (1818-1818).
  • Benjamin Dolamore (1781-1808), my 4th great-grand uncle. Benjamin was christened on 2 September 1781 in St Lawrence’s Church, Abbots Langley, and married Susannah Simmons there on 11 October 1802. He died in 1808 and was buried at St Lawrence’s on 13 October. I’ve not been able to confirm Susannah’s birth or death dates. The couple had at least three children but each has so far been impossible to trace because of the regularity with which their names crop up in the area.
    • Sarah Dolamore (1803-????)
    • John Dolamore (1804-????)
    • James Dolamore (1806-????)
  • Charles Dolamore (1782-1783), my 4th great-grand uncle. Charles was baptised at Abbots Langley on 29 September 1782. He died a few months later and was buried in the village on 4 January 1783
  • Abraham Dolamore (1784-1818), my 4th great-grand uncle. Abraham was baptised on 18 January 1784 and is quite possibly the man buried on 30 August 1818 at St John’s, Hampstead. The given age of 34 fits him and there were one or two other family connections with Hampstead that may have led him there on work. It’s also possible that he was the man who married Mary Marriott at St George’s in Hanover Square, London, on 7 November 1803.

James Dolamore (1703-????) and Betty Thompson (????-????).
My 6th great-grandparents.

I suspect that my 6th great-grandparents are James Dolamore (or Dollermore) and Betty Thompson but their ancestry is murky.

James was baptised in Aldenham, Hertfordshire, on 25 June 1703, the child of William and Mary Dollermore. The baptism record notes ‘alias Barten’ after the entry, but it’s unclear whether this is an alias used by William or was Mary’s maiden name.

A James Dollemore married Anne Godmond at St John’s in Aldenham on 22 November 1725 but was this the same man? I’ve found no record of them having children or a death for Anne but another James Dollermore of Aldenham married in Westminster on 14 September 1829 – and he was widow. This was a so-called clandestine marriage, which allowed marriages to be held outside the couple’s home parishes and with no notice, perhaps because they wanted speed, secrecy, no parental approval and so on. James’s bride was spinster Betty Thompson, also of Aldenham. She may have been the Elizabeth Thompson baptised in Aldenham on 11 February 1700 to William and Mary Thompson or, at a stretch, the Elizabeth Tomson baptised there in 1714 for Robert Tomson and his wife.

He’s likely the James buried in Aldenham on 26 November 1775 – noted as being from the workhouse – while his wife may be the widow Elizabeth Dollamore buried there on 5 November 1780.

Their children were:

  • James Dolamore (1735-1807), my 5th great-grandfather. See above.
  • Ruth Dolamore (1739-????), my 5th great-grand aunt. Ruth was baptised on 3 June 1739 at St John’s in Aldenham.
  • Elizabeth Dolamore (1745-????), my 5th great-grand aunt. Ruth was baptised on 8 August 1745 at St John’s in Aldenham.

Sources: Hertfordshire County Archives. BMDs, census and apprentice information from Ancestry.com and Findmypast.com. British Newspaper Archive.