Esther Sarah Frewin

 

  Esther Sarah Frewin

1812-1885

Compiled by Kathaleen K. Hamblin

2^nd 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. 23^rd 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 25^th, but is baptized at Kingsclere on Sept. 23^rd.    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 4^th 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. 3^rd 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 18^th or 19^th 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 16^th 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 15^th century) have been found in the garden and writing belonging to the 18^th 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.