George Ford and Grace Fudge

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Parents   : George - not known        Richard Fudge and Ann Stickland

George (b 1781 Upwey Dorset, m Grace Fudge 1807 Upwey, d 1856 Upwey)
Grace Fudge (b 1780 Affpuddle Dorest, d 1847 Upwey)               
    Ann Ford (b 1814 Upwey)
    Charles Ford (b 1819 Upwey)
    Maria Ford (b 1821 Upwey, m John Wallis 1849 Upwey)
    George Ford (b 1821 Upwey)
    Isaac Ford (b 1828 Upwey)
    Amelia Ford (b 1828 Upwey)
    Lavinia Ford (b 1828  Upwey, m  Stephen Vine 1855 Beechworth Vic, d 1904)
        Hannah Vine (b 1866 Spring Creek, m Richard Reid Roach 1890 Flemington Vic, d 1915 Kew Vic)
            Liela Muriel Roach (b 1893 North Sydney, m Ernest Harold Mitchell 1914 Kew, d 1972 Wodonga)
    Israel Ford (b 1830 Upwey, d 1832 Upwey)

    Lavinia Ford and Stephen Vine's marriage certificate was supplied by Jenny Grainger. This gives Lavinia's parents as George Ford and Grace Fudge and Lavinia's place of Birth as Upway, Dorsetshire. The family are in the 1841 and 1851 Census records
    Interestingly  the Upwey OPC site has no Fords born at all in Upwey prior to 1814,  and no Grace born  between  1784-8. And no Ford marriage records at all. There are no Ford baptisms after Frederic in 1836. The records go to 1880, and while not claimed to be complete, there is plenty of data.  So This family looks as if the children moved away from Upwey in the 1840s and 50s. If Lavinia's Death Certificate is to be believed she arrived in Victoria in 1854. Shipping records need to be found to clarify  when, and how many of the family came
    An LDS search for Grace Fudge produces only one sensible candidate, christened 12 Jun1780 Aff-Puddle, Dorset (10 mile NE of Upwey)- just about has to be her. Parents Richard & Ann

1841 Census

All born in Dorset, and found in esident at Stotting Way, Upwey Dorset.
Amelia Ford (abt 1826)
Frederic Ford (abt 1836)
George Ford (abt 1781)  Agricultural Labourer
Grace Ford (abt 1786)
Isaac Ford (abt 1826)  Agricultural Labourer
Levina Ford (abt 1827)
Maria Ford (abt 1821)
According to the Upwey OPC site Frederic is Maria's illegitimate son (oops).

1851 Census

We can find George again, living in Upwey with John and Maria Wallis
John Wallis 62, head , Ag Labourer (b abt 1789 Upwey Dorset) 
Maria Wallis, 36, wife (b abt 1816 Upwey Dorset) 
Frederic Ford 15 (b abt 1836 Upwey Dorset)  Agricultural Labourer
George Ford 69 (b abt 1781 Upwey Dorset)  Agricultural Labourer
Elizabeth Ann Ford 7 (b abt 1844 Upwey Dorset)  Scholar

Comment from Jenny Grainger

    I believe Maria WALLIS/WALLISS is actaully Maria FORD, with d.o.b more like 1815. Located marriage record for her and John WILLISS  (probably WILLIS) and suspect the reason her father George, sister Elizabeth Ann & brother (surely not her son ???) are all listed as 'Other Relatives' is due to the age difference ! John is around the same age as father George ! Poor Maria - probably shuffled off to marry this old coot so her dad would have somewhere to live.
    Comment by Les Rowley: Only reservation I have is that John Wallis is younger than me - making me a "very old coot"? - Also if Frederick is illegitimate (OPC info), that could be the reason for being coy about the relationships within the family group

Research Notes

Genes Reunited checked for George
LDS Can't find any of the Ford's in LDS
Two Ancestry messages sent as a trial 7/10/07 for Grace Fudge (Ford/Ford2007)
Mary Brunton on Genes Reunited  has George Ford b 1781 and supplied the date for their marriage, There are variations in the siblings
She has Maria born  3 March 1816 in Upway and marrying John Wallis in Upwey 23 Dec 1849 and Robert Burt in Upwey 2 April 1864
She has Harriet bapt 30/11/1817 in Upway
She has George b 1821 marrying Esther Gale in Melcombe Regis, Dorset 7 March 1850
She has Isaac b  5 Oct 1823. 

Acknowledgements

The Upwey Online Parish Clerk site run by Maureen Branson has been enormously helpful in mapping out this family. I was able to look at transcripts of records direct on the website. Maureen also kindly answered  some followup questions.
(1) Baptism abt 1777 for George Ford? According to the 1851 Census, this should be in Upwey.
according to census records George was born about 1784, but his baptism does not appear around this time. However, there does appear to be a gap in baptisms in the latter half of 1777, so it’s possible his baptism occurred then. I don’t have access to the Parish Records to check this – they are in the Dorset Record Office, and I am in Queensland
(2) Marriage of George and Grace Ford (prior to 1814) - probably was in Upwey, but I can't find it
again there is a gap in marriages in the BT’s from 1801 to 1813, so it probably took place before 1813.

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