Family Tree

3 responses to “Family Tree”

1. 

   C Edwards

   9th March 2013

   Hello Marion

   I think that Farthings Cottage is located at Catsfield which is near Battle, rather than in Battle itself. If you search Google for Farthings Cottage you’ll find, amongst other things, a Catsfield walk which mentions the cottage and it seems to be a B&B house now.
   There is no baptism for John at Battle parish church but he was buried there on 13 June 1852, age 47.
   John Robinson and his family appear with the surname Robertson rather than Robinson at the 1851 census and his birthplace is given as Folkestone, Kent.

   I hope this is useful.
   Best wishes
   Caroline

2. 

   Marion Baumback

   12th March 2013

   Caroline thank you so much for your reply to my message. I did not know Farthings Cottage was outside Battle and pleased it still exists today with the same name. John Robinsons birth at Folkestone was a surprise as I understood it to be Battle. I shall be posting more messages in future for other family members any help would be welcome, Marion.

3. 

   C Edwards

   15th March 2013

   Hello Marion

   I have had second thoughts about the location of Farthing Cottage. I was confusing it with something else. It is in Battle, not Catsfield. My apologies – I’ve been away from my birthplace Battle too long!

   Farthings was one of five gunpowder mills in the area located on the Asten Stream (now called Powdermill Stream). They were House, Farthing, Pepperingeye, Lower Pepperingeye and Crowhurst. My great grandfather James Morgan (1823 –1922) worked at the House mill from 1852 until the closure in 1874 and was the last surviving employee of the mills . I’d think your ancestor John Robinson was a worker at the Farthing mill as he lived at Farthing Cottage. In a book called ‘A Tapestry of Battle’ written by The Battle Writers’ Group in 2002 there is a chapter devoted to the history of gunpowder manufacture at Battle. There is a list of some employees at the mills and there was a James Robinson who was a foreman, taking over from James Saxby. No other info. I wonder if he was connected with your John. There is a lot of info about the mills at the website founded by my late cousin Ivor White and continued by his son Tim, and the web address is battle-abbey dot co dot uk When you find the website go to the menu on the left and you’ll find a link called Gunpowder and in the articles there is an old photo of Farthings Pond.
   I hope this is useful and happy to help further if I can with ancestors from the Battle area or East Sussex generally.
   Best wishes Caroline