Tony’s patrilineal great great grandfather was John Woods. John was born in Great Gidding, Huntingdonshire, ca1821 and was the son of Charles b1799 and Charlotte Woods b1798. Charles was originally from Little Stukley and Charlotte from King Ripton, both villages are just North of Huntingdon. They had around nine children that we are aware of, including John, Henry, Elizabeth, Ann, William and Sarah.
John Woods like his father was a farm labourer, when around 1847 he married Hepsheba, b1822. Hepsheba was from Great Gidding, but we do not know her family name. The couple had four children by 1852, when Hepsheba died in child birth with twins that year. The children were Lydia Ann b1848, Ann b1850, and Martha Jane and Mary, the twins b1852.
In 1859 John, aged 37, remarried at Oundle, Northamptonshire, a Hannah Coles, aged 20. Hannah was the daughter of James and Elizabeth Coles from Hemington, Northamptonshire. Hemington is only 4kms North-east of Great Gidding. John and Hannah had nine children that we are aware of and they were Eliza b1860, James b1863, Sarah Emma b1864, Charlotte Lydia b1868, Ada b1869, Ellen b1872, Alice b1873 and Agnes and Elizabeth, twins, b1875. The first four children were born at Great Gidding and the others at Godmanchester, which is almost part of the Huntingdon Town and consequently all of these later births were registered in that town. In total John had 13 children.
In 1877 Hannah Woods died at Huntingdon aged 39 years. John, now 56 years, continued living as a widower, for the second time, at Cambridge Road, Huntingdon. We believe he died in 1902.
Of the Woods children, whose births spanned some 27 years, we know very little at this time. Eliza married George Wooley, who was a coach painter working at a coach builders in Huntingdon. In 1881 brother James Woods was lodging with his sister. He was also working for the coach builder as a coachsmith striker. Big muscles needed here.
Sarah Emma Woods is our ancestor. At 19 years, Sarah was working as a domestic servant in Huntingdon. In 1888, when she was 24, she married David Titchmarsh, from St Ives, Hunts. Witnesses at the wedding were William Townsend and Nora Clark. Sarah will continue our story as Sarah Titchmarsh.