Esther
Sarah Frewin
1812-1885
Compiled by Kathaleen
K. Hamblin
2nd
Great-Granddaughter
Researched 1995- 2013
When research for Esther Sarah Frewin started the
majority of information available came in the form of family records, by visiting England or on
films through the LDS Family History Centers.
Now the research can be easily pulled through the computer from numerous
sites such as the National Archives, Ancestry.com, etc. in the comfort of our
own homes. Most of my research was done through
films ordered from the LDS Family
History Library. I have retained original
source citations in the interest of time.
There are still gaps and research
which needs done, but this work is offered in the hope others will build upon
it. (KKH)
1812 27 January Esther is born to James and Esther Cowdry
Frewin and baptized almost a month later on Feb. 23rd at Caversham,
Oxfordshire, England. (Caversham Parish Register, FHC Film #
0095223)
Esther Sarah is possibly named for her mother, Esther, and
paternal grandmother, Sarah Lewington Frewin.
Esther Sarah is the first child in the family.
Parish records show that in 1815 when she is barely 3,
Esther’s father is working as a bargeman out of Caversham, to the north of
Kingsclere about 10-12 miles.
Caversham, along the River
Thames, is surrounded by a network of shipping canals.
Much of what is known about canal life in the earlier
years comes from canal company records, parliamentary reports and the columns
of local newspapers…[Smith, an early social reformer] claimed ‘there are
between 80,000 and 100,000 men, women and children passing through large
centres of population, who are the most uncared for, forgotten, neglected,
drunken, ignorant and degraded human beings in this our boasted land of
civilization and such are not to be met with on the face of the whole earth.’
“Although the great majority of the boatmen were
employed by the carrying companies and worked for a weekly wage, some families
lived on the boats for three generations as owners of their own vessals…No more
than one in ten of all canal boats were worked by their owners, and those
mostly were on the Oxford and Grand Junction canals. Many of the larger carrying companies had
well over a hundred boats in their fleet and there was a considerable number of
smaller carriers operating locally…Wages on the whole were rather above average
for the laboring population although when the canals were iced up, for
instance, wages were either stopped or reduced by half…” (Ronald Russell, Ed., Walking Canals, 1984, pgs. 28-31.)
At the present we do not know if the Frewin family lived on
a barge or not, but five years later
James is still working as a bargeman.
1816 3 July Younger brother, James Moses Frewin
dies at 18 months old and is buried at Caversham. (Caversham
Parish Register, FHC Film # 0095223)
20 Oct Younger
sister, Ann Frewin, is baptized at Caversham.
1818 The Frewin family moves to
Kingsclere.
A new sister, Rebecca, is born at Caversham on August 25th,
but is baptized at Kingsclere on Sept. 23rd. The family address is George Street and
Father, James, is listed as a carrier.
(Caversham Parish Register, FHC Film #
0095223)(Kingsclere Parish Register, FHC Film #973052)
It might be assumed that James Frewin was working as a
hauler for the Seward’s blacksmith or pig iron business (also on George Street)
or at least near-by.
1820 6 Dec. A third sister, Carolyn Brunswick, is born
in Kingsclere. Their father’s occupation
is listed as “Carrier”. The Frewin’s
address has shifted to “Town” which seems to indicate an address on solid
ground. (Kingsclere Parish Register.
FHC Film # 973052)
1823 Sept. 23 A five month old infant, George
Frewin, dies in Kingsclere. His address
is listed as “Town”. The parents names
aren’t listed on the death register. (Kingsclere Parish Register, FHC Film #973052)
A strong argument can
be made for him being Esther’s brother because Carolyn would now be about 2 1/2
years old, and their mother just 38.
The infant could have been named for his maternal
grandfather, George Cowdry.
The only other Frewin family in Kingsclere always carries
the address of “Tanhouse, Kingsclere” in
the parish registers.
The family makes another move, this time north to Newbury,
Berkshire, a few miles above Kingsclere.
Thirteen year gap in records – what are they doing?
1836 The Burgess Roll, dated Oct 21, shows
James with a house on Bartholomew Street in Newbury where the Frewins apparently
reside until 1840. Then their address in
the Burgess Rolls changes to St. Mary’s Street.
(Newbury Burgess Roll, FHC Film #0088333)
30 Oct. Ann,
Esther’s sister dies. She would be
barely 20. (FGS)
1839 18 May Esther Sarah Frewin, 27, marries George
Seward, 32, by Banns in the Newbury Parish Church. His profession is listed as a “smith”, the
son of James Seward, Blacksmith, of Kingsclere. Her father James is listed as a
Schoolmaster. The witnesses were
Esther’s father, James and her sister Caroline. (General Register Office, Registration
District of Newbury)
“By Banns” refers to the custom of announcing the intent to
marry at the church services for 3 weeks prior.
If no objections are made, then the ceremony goes on as scheduled at the
end of the waiting period. The quicker,
less traditional method of marriage was to buy a license and be married the
same day.
According to family records, George was baptized 23 Oct.
1807 at Kingsclere, Hampshire. He was
the 4th child in a family of 6 known children born to James and Ann
Cover Seward. The Sewards have been blacksmiths in the Kingsclere area
for generations. (See note at end of
timeline)
1840 22 August A daughter, Ann Rebecca, (known as Annie
Rebecca) is born to Esther and George at Newbury. She is perhaps named for Ann, her paternal
grandmother Ann Cover Seward and her late aunt Ann Frewin. The Rebecca would almost certainly come from
her aunt Rebecca Frewin who was three days away from turning 22. Both Ann and Rebecca are names shared by
several of Esther’s nieces.
1841 The Census year in England affords us
glimpses of several of the households we’re concerned with:
Esther and George with little Ann, are found in the small
town of Ecchinswell (Itchingswell) just
north of Kingsclere living at the Mill with his older brother, James, 35,
Blacksmith, and his family. George’s
occupation is Blacksmith Journeyman.
(Ecchinswell Census, 1841, FHC Film
#0288796)
Esther’s parents are
living on Cheap Street, St. Nicholas Parish in Newbury. Her father’s occupation is listed as
schoolmaster. None of their daughters
are living with them. Caroline, the
youngest, would be 21 and perhaps working or at the St. Mary’s Hill
address. Three scholars are living with
Esther’s parents: Timothy Skinner (13),
Martha Skinner (10), and Fredrick Collins (15). (1841 Newbury Census, Berkshire County, England, FHC
Film # 0241208)
Esther’s mother-in-law, Ann Cover Seward, 70, can be found
as the head of the Seward household on George St. in Kingsclere with her
daughter-in-law, grand children and youngest son John, 25.
(1841
Kingsclere Census, Hampshire County, England.
FHC Film #0288796)
27 Oct. George
Seward, Esther, dies at Newbury of ?
A likely scenario might involve a work related accident at
Ecchingswell and being brought to Esther’s family home for medical attention.
Esther, 29, is left with daughter Ann Rebecca just a year
old. (Family
records)
Family tradition maintains that Esther and Ann Rebecca move
in with the Frewins.
“While Annie’s mother went out to work as a
governess, Annie stayed with her rich Aunts Gussie and Rebecca. They taught Annie music lessons on the piano
and for one term at least she was sent to a girls school in France. When she started school she went continually
for 14 years, and then she was through.” (“A History of Annie Rebecca Kennington according
to her children, her daughters-in-law, Isabell and Ida and Granddaughters,
Esther Crook and Jenny Gardner. No date. Hereafter sited as: “A History of Annie Rebecca…”)
The Sewards, Esther’s in-laws, were probably sympathetic to
Esther’s situation, but George’s father James had been dead for five years, and
his mother was in her seventies (she would die three years later).
1842? Esther’s sister Rebecca marries George
Pinnock of London.
1844 10 Aug. Caroline Frewin, Esther’s sister, marries John Buckeridge at
Newbury. John, 22, also born at
Kingsclere, is the son of Isaac and Elizabeth Betteridge Buckeridge. (Family
Records)
1848 26
Feb. Esther, 36, is baptized into the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints by Thomas Squires. He is listed on the 1851 Census as “Minister
of Latter-Day Saints Chapel”. (LDS Records, Liberty Branch, Idaho)
20 July “The Cold
Ash Branch was organized []with Joseph Kimber as president, and contained 77
members including 7 Elders, 8 Priests, 4 Teachers and 1 Deacon.” (British
Mission, June 1, 1851)
This reorganization included members from Winterbourne, Cold
Ash , Bucklebury and Ashmore Green.
Joseph Kimber is mentioned in connection with the Cold Ash Branch from
1848 to 1855. The Historical Record is
unclear whether he served as Branch President during all those years, but he is
cited as giving Statistical Reports for the Branch until about 1857.
1849 9 Dec. Esther’s mother, Esther Frewin, 65
years old, is baptized in to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
also by Elder Thomas Squires. (Newbury Branch LDS Records. FHC Film # 0087020)
1850 Feb.
Daughter, Annie Rebecca, 10, is baptized in the LDS Church, also by
Elder Thomas Squires, presumably at Newbury also. (Liberty Ward,
Bear Lake, Idaho Stake Records)
Alternative
dates: 1. 22 May 1857 on IGI
2. 22/5/51 or 57 on
Chelsea Branch Records. It may be a
transcription error.
1851 Census
Records show Esther and Annie Rebecca at Residence #24 on St Mary’s Hill:
James Frewin 63, Schoolmaster.
His wife, Hester[Esther], 66 also a school master; their daughter Hester
[Esther], 40 widowed, and her daughter Rebecca, 9, a scholar. Three Pinnock grandchildren are also
visiting. (1851 Newbury Berkshire 1851 UK Census, FHC Film
#0193593)
According
to the children of a cousin, Ann Frewin Buckeridge, “James and Esther Frewin[…]
too were staunch Latter-day Saints and since her Grandfather Frewin was the
jailor, the gatherings of the Saints were held, for a time at least, in the
large upper room of the Newbury Jail, which would seat some 500 persons.” (Sterling Beesley,
Kind Words; The Beginnings of Mormon
Melody, A Historical Biography and Anthology of the Life and Works of Ebenezer
Beesley, Utah Pioneer and Musician, 1980, pg 338. Hereafter sited as Kind Words)
The Address of the Newbury Jail is St Mary’s Hill, so
Esther’s parents may have lived near-by or on the property…
Ann
Frewin Buckeridge also left this insight on the Pinnock cousins:
“One interesting event was a three-month
visit to London at the home of her aunt Rebecca and Uncle George Pinnock, where
she assisted him in his market. She
loved to recall the Sunday afternoons and evenings with the Pinnock family who
must have been delightful people. The
Pinnocks were well-to-do, having a commodious, well furnished home with a
parlor upstairs…” (Beesley, Kind
Words, pg. 343)
1852 21 Nov Esther marries for a second time to Joseph
Kimber, of full age, Widower, Laborer, residing on Cheap Street. Esther is listed as Esther Sarah Seward of
full age, Widow also residing on Cheap Street.
Witnesses on the marriage certificate include 12 year old Annie
Rebecca. The ceremony was performed at
the Independent Chapel according to the rights and Ceremonies of the Latter-Day
Saints by Elder Thomas Squires. (General Register Office Copy, Registration Dist. of
Newbury)
Joseph Kimber was born 21 March 1816 in Hampstead Norris,
Berkshire the son of James and Hannah Pickett Kimber. He married Mary Ann Owens in 1844, joined
the LDS Church in 1845 and served as the Presiding Elder for the Cold Ash Branch
of the LDS Church.
In the 1851 Census he is living at Cold Ash with his wife,
Mary Ann 34, and son Joseph, 1 year old. (1851
Census, Newbury, Berkshire, England FHC
Film 0193593)
He was likely widowed early in 1852.
The address of Cheap Street is interesting for a couple of
reasons. First, it is the street where
Esther Sarah’s first husband, George, died in 1841. Second Esther is still residing there or has taken up residence
there when married eleven years later.
We don’t know if it was in the same house. Burgess Rolls indicate that the Frewins, her
parents, paid taxes on a house on St. Mary’s Hill in 1852.
(Burgess Rolls, 1855 Newbury, Berkshire, England. FHC Film #0088333)
Second point of interest is that the street was possibly a
major artery for Newbury. It is
mentioned at length in the Newbury town records each year:
“We present that there is an ancient footway
leading from the east side of Bartholomew Street, through a yard or backside
formerly of John Beale since of Wm Mary Hille and now of Richard Townsend
Winterbottom Esquire in the occupation of George Clements and others, into
Cheap Street, and that the said way ought to be kept open from the hour of 6 in
the morning till 9 in the evening from Mich’as until Lady Day and from the hour
of 5 in the morning till 10 in the evening from Lady Day till Michaelmas…” (Newbury Records, FHC Film #0088330 and #0088331)
1853 LDS Church Cold Ash Statistical Report by Jos. Kimber: 36 Members; 6 Elders;
3 Priests, 2 teachers, 1 Deacon. (Manuscript History, Church Historical Dept. SLC, Utah 1996)
1854 19 April Esther’s mother, Esther Cowdry Frewin,
age 66, passes away at Thatcham, Berkshire.
(FGS)
1856 14 Sept. Esther’s father, James, age 68, passes
away at St Mary’s Hill, Newbury, Berkshire.
(FGS)
1857 August Daughter, Ann Rebecca now 17, leaves
Newbury or Cold Ash for work in London.
She lives at 196 Sloane Street.
The Chelsea LDS Records list her birthdate as 22/8/40; Baptism 22/5/51 at Newbury by Elder Squires,
Confirmed by Elder Squires and received 9/8/57 from Newbury. (Chelsea
Branch, London Conference Records. FHC
Film #0087014)
Alternative Baptism date is Feb 1850. (Liberty Ward, Bear Lake, Idaho Stake Records.)
Esther’s sister, Rebecca Pinnock lives with her 6 children
in Belgrave bordering on Sloane Street and likely has Annie Rebecca under her
wing.
1861 Census Year in England: Esther, 49, and husband, Joseph Kimber, 44,
are living on Long Lane in Cold Ash.
Joseph is working as a brickmaker. (1861 Census, Thatcham District, Thatcham Parish,
Berkshire, England FHC Film # 0542690)
Esther’s daughter, Annie Rebecca, is working as a General
servant at 196 Sloan Street for Pawnbroker, Charles Lamb. (1861 Census, Chelsea, ?, England)
The Pawnbroker’s shop is behind the large variety store now
known as Harrods. The shop still stands
and in 2012 Italian shoes were being sold. (KKH)
1863 The family immigrates to America with
other members of the Reading Conference aboard the ship Amazon.
The roster includes: Joseph Kimber, 48, Laborer
Esther
Kimber, 52, Wife
A.R.
Seward, 22, Spinster.
(Emigration Records from Liverpool 1863.
FHC Film #0025691)
The Kimbers and Annie Rebecca probably follow the general
pattern for emigrants coming to Utah.
Family accounts tell us:
“After a long ocean
voyage Annie and her mother [and stepfather] landed in Halifax, Canada and then
took a train to Council Bluffs, Iowa.
(This was during the Civil War).
Here they met William Henry Kennington and rode to Utah in his wagon
which was pulled by an ox team. They
were in the Rosel Hyde Company and got to Utah October 13, 1863” (“A History of Annie Rebecca…”)
The Kimbers settle over the western mountains from the Salt
Lake Valley in the town of Tooele.
Tooele is full of English emigrants.
There is a fort with the settlement spreading outside the walls. Esther and Joseph apparently live a quiet
life in their new and somewhat strange surroundings. Perhaps Joseph and Esther
try their hand at farming or brickmaking.
Records need to be checked.
We do know a romance blossomed between Annie Rebecca and
William Henry Kennington.
1865 March A large group of Tooele residents make the
trip to Salt Lake to do their temple
work. The group includes the Kimbers and Kenningtons. (Emerson Kennington Research )
31 March Joseph Kimber
(“Josiah” on the Temple Records) and “Ester” Sarah Frewin are sealed in the
Endowment House in Salt Lake City. They
have now been married almost 13 years. (IGI pg. 7,131)
1 April Annie
Rebecca Seward marries William Henry Kennington in the Endowment House. (IGI)
12 July Joseph
Kimber, Esther’s husband dies and is buried at Tooele, Utah, USA.
“In Tooele City, Tooele Co., July 12, of
asthma, JOSEPH KIMBER, aged 50 years, 3 months and 12 days, late of Cold Ash,
Berkshire, England. Mil. Star please
copy.”
(The Deseret News, 23 August 1865. pg 376. FHC Film #0026590)
1866 31 March Esther is married “for time only” to
widowed William Henry Hancock, an old acquaintance from the Reading England LDS
Conference. (Sterling Beesley records by correspondence)
Henry Hancock blesses Esther’s first grandchild, Annie
Esther Kennington born Feb. 3rd at Tooele City, Tooele Co.
Utah. (Liberty
Ward Records, Bear Lake Idaho Stake)
1868 Esther’s niece, Ann Frewin Buckeridge,
the daughter of Caroline, emigrates to Utah with Captian Mumford’s Company and
spends the winter in Tooele with the Hancocks and Kenningtons.
Her
family records: “What a joy it must have
been for Annie[Buckeridge] upon her arrival, to be greeted by her mother’s own
sister – Aunt Esther Sarah – who had come to the valley some few years
before. Aunt Esther had married, as a
third husband, William Henry Hancock…They left for Tooele and it was there that
Annie spent her first winter in Utah. It
was a great happiness for her to be with her beloved aunt and cousin. She and Annie Rebecca had been girls together
in England and were dear to each other as sisters. So notwithstanding the strangeness and
home-longings and the pioneer conditions, this winter was not without
interest…” (Beelsey, Kind words, pgs. 349-350)
Incidentally, she travels in the same company as Joseph
Kimber’s brother Charles Kimber and his family.
1870 11 May Esther Frewin Hancock does the Temple Work
for her sister, Ann in the Endowment House. (IGI, Oxford
England, pg. 3,287)
Ebenezer Beesley, Esther’s step son in law, does the baptism work for George Seward,
Esther’s first husband. (IGI, Hampshire England,
pg. 22,552)
The Kenningtons and Hancocks leave Tooele moving north to
settle at Liberty, Bear Lake, Idaho. The area had opened up for settlement a few years earlier. (Family Records)
1877 26 Aug. Liberty Ward is organized. ( Jenson, Andrew. Encyclopedic History of the Church. (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1941). p.46-48.)
1879 26
Oct.
“The first Primary in Liberty, Idaho was organized. Annie S. Kennington was made President and
served until January 11, 1889. Her
mother was her first counselor…” (“A History of Annie Rebecca…” A quilt is also on display at the DUP Museum
in Salt Lake City from this time period with both women’s names stitched into
it. KKH)
1885 Fall Esther Sarah Frewin, 73, dies and is
buried at Liberty, Bear Lake Idaho USA.
(Family Records)
1886 Without a written record it’s hard for
us to know what Esther thought of her experiences as a pioneer, but Henry
Ballard, who was baptized by Joseph Kimber at Cold Ash in 1849, revisited the
Berkshire area while on a mission 23 years later. His comments recorded in his journal may also
reflect Esther’s attitude.
“Dec 17
We visited my old home in Cold Ash where I left 35 years before going to
Utah. I visited the old house and sat
down in it for an hour. It looked very
much like it was when I left and I felt to thank God for the change and for my
Mountain home and family and society of the saints in Zion.” (Douglas O.
Crookston, Henry Ballard; the Story of a
Courageous Pioneer, 1994, pg. 144)
Note
from 1839: taken from an article on the
buildings around Kingsclere: “Number 8
George Street is an old timber framed house re-fronted in the 18th
or 19th century. For many
years this was the forge and the half glazed door remained until alterations
were made and the bay windows put in, not many years ago. It is a cob house thought to be 16th
century and at one time there were no stairs, just a hole cut through the upper
floor to allow people to pass into the top room to sleep. Nuremberg tokens (which were used as a medium
of exchange in England in the early part of the 15th century) have
been found in the garden and writing belonging to the 18th century
has been found in the house… The census
of 1841 shows that John Seward, blacksmith lived here. He had the house, two cottages and a
blacksmiths shop…” (Margaret Ingram, Kingsclere, Place and its People, 1987
via http://www.kingsclere.org.uk/buildings-mi.html)
Bibliography:
LDS Family History Center
Films:
#0095223 Caversham, Oxford, St. Peter’s
Church 1639-1859.
#0087014 Chelsea Branch, London Conference,
LDS Membership Records.
#0086992 Cold Ash Branch, London Conference,
LDS Records.
#0026590 Deseret News, 1866.
#0025691 Emigration Records from Liverpool
England, 1863.
#0288796 Kingsclere, Hampshire, 1841 UK
Census.
Ecchingswell Hampshire, 1841 UK
Census
#0973052 Kingsclere, Hampshire, Parish
Church, Bishop’s Transcripts.
#1849283 Newbury Berkshire Church Wardens
Accounts, 1792-1848.
#0088330 Newbury Berkshire Burgess Rolls,
1835-1868.
#0088331 “
#0088333 “
#0193593 Newbury Berkshire 1851 UK Census.
#0241208 Newbury Berkshire 1841 UK Census.
#0087020 Newbury Branch, London Conference
LDS Records 1851-1876.
#0542690 Thatcham, Berkshire 1861 UK Census
#0482521 Utah Dist. Court Probate Records,
Tooele County, 1859-1978.
“A History of Annie Rebecca
Kennington" according to her children, her daughters-in-law, Isabell and Ida and
Granddaughters, Esther Crook and Jenny Gardner.
No date.
Sterling Beesley, Kind Words; The Beginnings of Mormon Melody,
(A Historical Biography and Anthology of the Life and Works of Ebenezer
Beesley, Utah Pioneer and Musician), 1980.
Douglas O. Crookston, Ed. Henry
Ballard; the Story of a Courageous Pioneer, 1994.
Jenson, Andrew. Encyclopedic History
of the Church. Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1941.
Emerson Kennington Research
Margaret Ingram, Kingsclere, Place and its People, 1987
Ronald Russell, Ed., Walking Canals, Newton Abbot London,
North Pomfret, Vermont. David & Charles Publisher, 1984.
General Register Office,
London, England
Certified Copy of an Entry of
Marriage for:
George
Seward and Esther Sarah Frewin, 1839
Joseph
Kimber and Mary Ann Owen, 1844
Joseph
Kimber and Esther Sarah Seward 1852
Certified Copy of an Entry of
Birth for Joseph Hyrum Kimber, 1850.
“Henry Ballard Journal.” Church Historical Department, Salt Lake City,
Utah.
Manuscript History, Cold Ash
Branch, Reading Conference Historical Record, Church Historical Department,
Salt Lake City, Utah.
