The story of Jenny Cross’ maternal family begins during the reign of Queen Anne, with an illicit romance between a young man and his older married lover. They and their descendants lived in a tiny village in Buckinghamshire where most of them worked the land.
Some of us sigh when we see the words “agricultural labourer” listed as an ancestor’s occupation, believing that there will be little more to find out. However, Jenny’s research has proved how fascinating they can be.
“My quest began in the early 1980s,” Jenny explains. “I knew that my parents Frederick Hills and Gertrude King were distantly related, and I wanted to find out how. It took me 10 years, pre-internet, to discover that they were second cousins. Dad’s grandmother Elizabeth King was the sister of Jesse King, who was Mum’s grandfather.”
Jenny knew that the Kings came from the hamlet of Poundon in Twyford parish, Buckinghamshire. “The county archives are in Aylesbury, which is only 25 miles from my home in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. I spent a wonderful day there in 1980, and, with the help of an archivist, was able to trace my King line back to the 18th century. It was astonishing to do this in one hit.”
On Jenny’s second visit, she delved deeper into the Twyford records. She was keen to find the parents of her 5x great grandfather Stephen King, who was born in 1758 to Thomas King and his wife Elizabeth.
“I was intrigued by the baptism record for a Thomas King in 1704. His mother’s name was Ann King, but no father was mentioned. I then found the birth of a daughter, Ann, in 1705 whose parents were Valentine Langley and Mrs J King.
“The next baptism record was a revelation. It was for George King, who was born in 1707 to Valentine Langley and Ann King but not baptised until 1716. The clerk of the parish had written by the entry, ‘This is the third bastard child of Valentine Langley and John King’s wife.’
The clerk of the parish had written by the entry, ‘This is the third bastard child of Valentine Langley and John King’s wife.’
“In addition to the four children Ann had with her husband John, she had another three with Valentine while her husband was still alive. I became obsessed with finding out more about the couple and their descendants.”
Valentine Langley was baptised in 1686 in Twyford and lived in the nearby village of Charndon. “I was confident that John King married Ann Manfield in 1685, and that they lived in Poundon and had four children.
“Ann was born in 1666, which made her 20 years’ Valentine’s senior. They must have met at some point in the early 1700s, and embarked upon an affair.
Ann was born in 1666, which made her 20 years’ Valentine’s senior.
“I spent a great deal of time checking the Twyford registers before deducing that Thomas King, born in 1704, was my 6x great grandfather and that he was born illegitimately to Ann and Valentine. He married Elizabeth Beason and they stayed in the village to raise their family.”
Further research revealed a mention of Valentine Langley “of Charndon” in the records of the 1705–1706 Buckinghamshire quarter sessions. He was among a list of five local men who’d been enlisted to the Regiment of Marines, commanded by the Honourable Brigadier Holt. Britain was fighting in the War of the Spanish Succession, which had begun in 1701, and recruitment was intensifying.
It’s Jenny’s guess that Valentine had been press-ganged into service, although he may have chosen to enlist. Ann was left behind in Poundon with three illegitimate children to raise.
It’s Jenny’s guess that Valentine had been press-ganged into service
“It’s impossible to trace an ordinary soldier at that time, but the regimental records indicated that Valentine would have been sent to fight in Spain. After the war ended in 1714, the regiment was posted to Ireland before being disbanded.”
Valentine would have returned to Buckinghamshire in around 1716, when his third child George was baptised. Perhaps Ann waited so long because she wanted the father to be present.
“This is only conjecture, but I think that Valentine came home aged 30 and thought, “Goodness, what have I done? Here’s this older woman and three youngsters who expect me to work the land to keep them.
I think that Valentine came home aged 30 and thought, “Goodness, what have I done?"
“Three months later, he appears in Buckingham marrying a lady called Mary Nurse. He was quite the cad, but not the only one in our family.”
Ann stayed in Poundon and raised her children. “I think that she must have been well-liked in the village, because all of her children married other Poundon residents. There can’t have been much stigma attached to them.”
It’s difficult to trace Ann, her husband John and Valentine from this point, but Jenny has traced the three illegitimate children, Thomas, Ann and George, forward and found an incredible 6,000 descendants. “It has taken me 40 years to do this, and it has been fascinating. I’ve found intermarriages in the family and at least two cases where a man married his deceased wife’s sister, which was illegal until 1907. There have been sad stories, too, such as poor Hannah King who was committed to the Stone Lunatic Asylum, Buckinghamshire, for six weeks in 1860. The record stated that she thought that ‘people were throwing bad smells at her’.
Jenny has found an incredible 6,000 descendants
“Hannah had married young, and lost both her children and husband in a year. She remarried and had another child, who also died. The suffering must have taken her over the edge.”
Five generations of Valentine and Ann’s descendants remained in Poundon, which is why Jenny is related to several people who live in the area today. Most of her ancestors worked as agricultural labourers, and had large families. Her grandfather Harry King, who was born in 1878, was among the first of the family to migrate.
In the late 19th century, about 25 men left Twyford to go to Islington, Central London, where they worked as cow-keepers and dairymen. Harry joined them in 1900, although city life was not to his taste and he retired to live near Poundon in 1943. Some of the King family are still living in Islington today.
“The research that I’m most proud of relates to my cousin Peter who was born in the 1920s. His parents weren’t married, and when his mother died in 1936 he was placed in a Barnardo’s children's home. Sadly, the family lost contact with him.
“Peter went into the home before I was born, but I always knew of his story. In 1990, I decided that I wanted to know who he was, so I wrote to Barnardo’s asking for information. They told me that when Peter was 15 he joined the Royal Navy. By 1990, he may have been receiving a pension, so I contacted the Royal Navy and asked them. They confirmed that he was, and agreed to pass on a letter from me to him.
“I wrote explaining that I had a suitcase in the loft that belonged to his father. It contained several old photographs together with other family memorabilia.
“Three weeks later I was excited to receive a reply from Peter enclosing a photograph, which was the only one that he’d had when he entered the home. He asked, ‘Who is the boy pictured with me?’ This was delightful because it was my older brother, who was also called Peter, and we had the same photograph in our collection at home.
“I got in touch with cousin Peter and organised a get-together. He told me that he’d served in submarines, as had my brother. They would almost certainly have met, but they wouldn’t have made the connection because their surnames were different.
“Peter was overjoyed with the memorabilia, which included a plait of his mother’s hair that she’d had cut off specially for him. We shared photographs of her and his dad, which he’d never been able to see before.
“Peter is dead now, but we met up several times over the years. Tracing him is definitely one of my greatest achievements.”
Jenny’s niece Anna, the daughter of her late brother Brian, is also passionate about genealogy, and they enjoy sharing their discoveries. “We’ve had great fun with the 1921 census, and found a King who had nine children with two women who were much younger. He was a bricklayer and wouldn’t have had much money, so how could he afford to have so many children?”
Tracing her King ancestry has led to fellowship across continents for Jenny. “I correspond with friends and family in Australia, Canada and Scotland. Some have helped to fill in gaps in my tree.
“Due to my age, I don’t get around much now. Genealogy gives me an interest in life, so that I don’t sit around and feel sorry for myself. I enjoy helping other people with their ancestry, too, and it’s easy to do from home.”
Jenny’s achievement with the King family is astonishing, and all the more remarkable when you consider that it began over three centuries ago, when a young Lothario caught the eye of an older married woman. That moment was the beginning for generations of descendants.
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