When I was at junior school we were given a project to do on our family. I can't remember exactly what it was about, but I do remember talking to both of my grandmothers over the summer holidays and writing down a few notes on their families. Oh, how I wish I had asked more!
My maternal grandmother, Winifred Ellen BUSH (née ROGERS) was the first person to mention the WYETH family. She was quite particular about the spelling of the name. She also told me that her mother was Ellen WYETH, and that she had died in 1955 and was in her 90s. Not a bad starting point.
I found Ellen WYETH's birth registered in Alton, Hampshire in 1863 - name right, age about right -- great. I bought her birth certificate and found out that her parents were John WYETH and Sarah JEFFERY and she was born in Chawton, Hampshire. I went happily "backwards" from there.
I looked at the 1871 census for Chawton - the family was there and she was aged 7. In the 1881 Chawton census she was aged 17 and described as a "pupil teacher" and was still living with her parents. I found her marriage to Peter ROGERS (my great-grand father) in 1889 in Frimley in Surrey. On the certificate both their fathers' were described as "deceased" - neither name was written down.
Then the 1881 census index came out, and in an idle moment I look for WYETHs and found two Ellen WYETHs! I couldn't believe what I saw. I double checked and there was only one Ellen WYETH in the GRO Birth Indexes. Where did the 2nd Ellen come from? And, much more importantly, which one was "mine"?
I then tried to find them in the 1891 census, and I found "my" Ellen in Frimley, married to Peter ROGERS and living with her mother, Maria WYETH - not Sarah. Ellen claimed to have been born in Sandhurst in Berkshire - just up the road from Frimley -- not in Chawton in Hampshire.
So I had been following the wrong family for years!
I eventually discovered my mistake: "my" Ellen's birth was registered as Ellen WYTHE: she was born on 28th March 1864 in Sandhurst, Berkshire, the 11th child of Richard WYTHE and Mary Maria WHITE.
Take note: spellings cannot be relied on!
All of Ellen WYETH's direct ancestors that I have found so far can be seen on the following pedigree charts. You can click on the individual names and go to the page about that family. From there you can follow their children, parents and siblings as far as I have been able to find.
I have also included some pages about families who are not direct ancestors - families of siblings, grandchildren and so on. They do not appear on these pedigree charts, but can be found by following the links on the family pages or on the site map.
WYETH Pedigree Chart 1
Pedigree
Chart:
|-
|- -|
| |-
|-Ambrose WYETH-------| m.
| c1770-1845 | |-
| |- |
| |-
|-Richard WYETH-----| m.1801
| c1813-1874 | |-
| m.1840 | |- -|
| | | |-
| |- Elizabeth MARSHALL-| m.
| | |-
| |- -|
| |-
Ellen WYETH |
1864-1955 ---|
|
m.1889 | |-
Peter ROGERS | |-Samuel WHITE------|
1866-1923 | | |-
| |-John WHITE----------| m.
| | 1778-1866 | |-
| | |-Elizabeth FRENCH--|
| | |-
|-Mary Maria WHITE--| m.
c1819-1903 | |-
| |- -|
| | |-
|-Rhoda [--?--] ------| m.
| |-
|- -|
|-
