Your comment will not show on the public site until an admin has approved the comment.
DAVID WHITE (1828-1902) and his beloved wife REBECCA WHITE née STACEY (1831-1911) are buried in plot E8026 at the Radnor Street Cemetery in Swindon, Wiltshire, UK. This Grave, following 110 years decrepitude since Rebecca was laid to rest in 1911, was re-discovered in 2018 by their Great Grandson, Andrew Henry Griffiths during Family Tree research and he set about organising renovation work that was completed in January 2021. ________________________________________ David White was born in the nearby historic village of Tockenham in 1828 (baptised on 4th April 1828) to parents Abraham White (1806-1886) and Sarah White née Franklin (1808-1832). Sarah died when David was just 4 years old with the outcome that he was brought up within the close-knit Tockenham society by his Grandfather Thomas White (1774-1854). There is an intriguing story to be told here, because David’s Grandfather Thomas White should really have been baptised in the name of Thomas Skuse due to the fact his mother Martha White née Gale (1745-1831), was still married to a Robert White from a previous 1765 marriage ceremony, although Martha’s spouse was missing presumed dead at the time of her later relationship with George Skuse and pregnancy with Thomas who inherited the White surname at birth, presumably because Martha was still officially married to the absent Robert White, albeit in name only. Consequently, instead of the SKUSE surname, Thomas cascaded forward the WHITE surname starting from his own twelve children. One of Thomas’ twelve children was Abraham White the father of David White, whose mortal remains rest here today together with those of his wife Rebecca, the daughter of Thomas Stacey (1788-1880) and Hannah Stacey née Guy (1794-1866). Thomas Stacey carried on the profession of Cordwainer (shoemaker) from their home in Back Lane, Chippenham, which is 12 miles from Tockenham. On Sunday 23rd October 1853, David White married Rebecca Stacey at Tockenham and she gave birth to their first child Arthur Aland White two years later in 1855. The Great Western Railway Company in Swindon had become the main regional employer and attracted workers from far and wide, and six years later in April 1861 the GWR was employing David as a ‘Spring Smith’. David, Rebecca and now their latest child, 3 year old daughter Sarah, were at this time living at 32 Westcott Place, Swindon. Census records of the time indicate their 6 year old first born son, Arthur Aland White, was residing with Rebecca’s 37 year old Sister Sarah and her husband Thomas Aland at Back Lane, Chippenham, a location where Thomas Aland was carrying on the business of an ‘Agricultural Implement Maker and Grocer’. Rebecca’s (and of course Sarah’s) parents Thomas and Hannah Stacey were still carrying on their shoemaking business in the premises next door. Authors Comment: Back Lane, Chippenham (no longer in existence) led from the High Street area to the River Avon and Back Avon Bridge. There was a concentration of manufacturing businesses and public houses in the area. |