Gibbs family

In this section

1633 - 1770

In 2015 Janet Booth carried out some research on behalf of Dave Gibbs and traced his ancestors between these dates. Dave then provided further more recent information about his family which can be found under Emigrants. 1832 below.

Descendants of William Gibbs (1808-86)

In July 2015 I was contacted by Stephen, husband of Christine Saffin who is the GGG Granddaughter of William Gibbs. Christine is descended from William's youngest child Frederick William (b.1856). Christine and Stephen have researched their branch of the Gibbs family extensively and Stephen has written narrative accounts of the life of William, the nine of his children who survived childhood and their descendants. These can be accessed via the blue links below.

A GG Granddaughter of William's  son Joshua (b.1835) has also provided much more additional information, several photographs from her family records and helped compile the Family Tree.

His children and their descendants' narratives:

Thomas	1832-1910
Charles	1834-1916
Joshua	1835-1906
Ellen Jane	1837-1845
Elizabeth	1839-1894?
Samuel	1842-1845
Ann	1844-1919
Ellen Jane*	1847-1891
Samuel*	1850-1935
Caleb	1852-1939
Frederick William	1856-1934

 *It was common practice to rename later children with the same name as ones who had died in childhood as the first Ellen Jane & Samuel had - see Family Tree.

FAMILY TREE The entire genealogy of the period covered by the narratives can be seen in the Family Tree. An extract for each branch has also been  placed at the foot of each of their narratives.

PHOTOGRAPHS All the photographs linked in these articles and more can be found in Descendants of William Gibbs' Album and also in Percy Gibbs' album and Walter Eden Gibbs' album

GRAVES An Index of Graves for Deddington Churchyard - which includes 21 Gibbs' graves -  has been compiled by the Oxfordshire Family History Society (OFHS). This is available to purchase as a CD from the OFHS website online shop Reference OXF-MI-DED. The CD shows a plan of the churchyard, grave locations, photographs of the stones and transcriptions of the inscriptions. The CD can also be viewed on the computer terminals in the meeting room inside the church. Note: OFHS copyright does not allow the full contents of the CD to be placed on line.

The oldest Gibbs grave is that of a William Gibbs (d.1783) and his wife Ann (d.1788). Their exact relationship to the Gibbs in this article has still to be established. 

On 25 July Zachariah GIBBS (18) and William WAITE (19) were charged at Oxford Assizes with 'feloniously breaking open the dwelling house house of Benjamin Pritchett Jnr.* of Deddington on the night of 15th March, and stealing two spice cakes value 2s'. Gibbs and Waite were both single men and labourers. William worked for Benjamin Pritchett.  Both of their death sentences were commuted to transportation for 14 years. Gibbs was dispatched to the hulk York and then onwards to Bermuda. He appears to have conducted himself well as he only served 8 years and returned back to England - only to re-offend and be transported again in 1837! Waites was sent to the hulk York with Gibbs but the Assizes had decided to split them up for their final destination and, instead of Bermuda, he was sent to Hobart in Tasmania on the ship Marmion. (Source: Banished by Carol Richmond. A copy is in Deddington Library)

More about these two can be read in the list of Deddington Transportees on this site.

Note*: The Stile House on New Street.

1832 Henry & Sophia emigrate on the ship Brutus to the USA

Dave Gibbs ( resident in the USA) who is a descendant of Henry & Sophia,  emailed me in May 2011 to say:

"I learned that my GGG Grandparents lived on Philcote Street in 1851. In 1861 census, line 1067, which is an unnamed child. That child was my Great Grandfather, William Henry. In 1871, my GG grandparents and Grandparents had moved to the US , with 4 more kids. Their parents Henry and Sofia (Wayne) had moved from the Toll House to Chapel Square."

We commented to him in reply that the parish census for 1861 line 1067 ..."shows a Gibbs family living in the Turnpike house on Hempton Road. We assume it's Father/Mother Henry/Sophia, son and wife Henry/Emma and an unnamed child who eventually turns into your great grandfather William Henry Gibbs though we don't see a christening for him in the Parish Register." (his parents were among the many Methodists in the parish at that time and so he would not be in the PR)

Another email exchange with Dave provided further information about Henry & Sophia and the family's eventual emigration to USA in the Brutus - a disastrous voyage. On  18 May 1832 the Brutus (Captain Neilson) Sailed from Liverpool for Quebec and Montreal. Cholera broke out early in the voyage forcing the ship to return to Liverpool. Almost one third of the 330 passengers died. The list of passengers with Deddington surnames include Abraham, Bray, Cooper, Cowley, Eddon, Fletcher, Gardner, Gibbs*, Gilkes, Green, Higgs, Moore, Nichols, Paine, Rymill, Tustain, Wheeler, Wickham.

*Two of the Deddington emigrants were Henry and Sophia Gibbs.

Mid 1840s. Benjamin & Jane Gibbs emigrate to Canada and then USA

Neil Gibbs emailed me in July 2015 with the following record of his ancestors move from Deddington to Canada and then USA:

In 1841 Benjamin Gibbs was living on Philcote St. ( household # 148)  with his wife Jane. Benjamin was 64 (1787) Jane 68 (1783). They were still there in 1851.The census says Post? House and comes just after Castle End.  

He had a son - my ancestor William - born around 1812/13 possibly 14. In the 1841 census he lived on Tays Gateway with his wife Hannah (Golder) and children Benjamin, John and Elizabeth (Betsie). He would, sometime in the mid 1840's, move to Canada where he would have Edward, Henry, William, Manuel and George.  He would eventually follow his son Benjamin to the USA and is buried in Vermont where I reside.  My family is large as my father was the youngest of 19.

Descendants of John (b.1868) & Emily (b.1869)Gibbs

Andrew Cutts, great grandson of John, placed a note on a parish facebook account in March 2016 seeking information on what was 'the big house' his great grandfather was gardener to around the turn of the 19^th/20^th centuries; the answer was almost certainly Castle House because he provided a photo from the family album. From this small inquiry quite a lot of further information came to light including that his son, Walter Eden, was a soldier in WWI. Only Walter's name had been recorded in A Parish at War (page36) so it was good to be able to add details.

The 1901 Census recorded the family living in Church Street and confirmed that John was indeed a Gardener.

 

Further details about this branch of the Gibbs family can be found HERE.

Gibbs in military service

There were several members of the Gibbs family who served in the Army and Navy (Royal Marines).