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Hagbourne (and the Bacon connection)
This section was created in
December 2005 following the discovery that many of the supposedly
called BECKENHAMS from East and West Hagbourne (in what was the early
19th century in North Berkshire) were noted in Parish Registers and
early censuses under the name of BACON.
I found this anomaly when I was looking for a baptism for Lazarus Beckenham in West Hagbourne around 1835 but could not see one. There was however a baptism for Lazarus Bacon, son of Joseph and Sarah Bacon on 4th January 1836. Further checking led me to find the baptisms for all six of Lazarus' older siblings going back to 1814, none of which I had been able to locate before. I think that it was fortunate that Lazarus is such an uncommon name that I noted the other baptisms, had I been looking for John then it may have been a different story. Although I still have not found any marriage for Joseph and Sarah, going back a further generation, I have located the marriage of Joseph's parents, a James Bacon and Martha Beckingham in Chilton, Berkshire in 1770. Margaret Beckingham is from Upton in Berkshire and as such part of the Blewbury/Sutton pedigree that is noted elsewhere in these pages. The 1841 census for Hagbourne has two families of Bacons and in 1851, with both their parents having died, Lazarus and his brother Richard are in Wallingford workhouse, still as Bacon. However, their elder brother, Thomas, has his family registered as Beckenham in 1851 and Beckingham in 1861. Having been in touch with a descendant of Lazarus (for whom I was actually looking for the baptism), I have been given details of his life and we now know that he served in the Crimea and married in Oxford after his discharge from the Army in 1865. He too had his name spelt as both Beckenham and Beckingham on official records in later years. I have details of nine generations descending from James Bacon with a great number in the Sheffield area descended from William and Emma/Emily (Dandridge) and there are also descendants now in the USA. Interestingly it should be noted that although William who married Emma called himself Beckingham, when they married he registered himself as Bacon; and then reverted to Beckingham afterwards! A pdf file and gedcom of the first generations are available here, but please note that most names are recorded as Beckenham or Beckingham. Please contact me should you want further information or feel that you may tie into this line. |
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