The Bailey Family Line. This is an overview of some of the main family members.
Research into the earliest generation of the Bailey Family was greatly assisted by having access to the 'Hackman Bishop's Transcripts of Parish Records for Hampshire' and later the International Genealogical Index (the I.G.I.). The earliest record found in the 'Hackman Transcripts' was for the birth in Ropley, Hampshire in 1768 of my Maternal 3 x Great Grand Father, James Bailey. He married Charlotte Vidler in Newton Valence, Hampshire on 29th July 1789 and they settled in Ropley. Charlotte had been born in Newton Valence in 1772. I have been unable to find a record of the Death of James, but according to the I.G.I., Charlotte died on 3rd February 1830 in Ropley, Hampshire. They had 10 children, Charlotte in 1790, James in 1792, Robert in 1795, Mary in 1797, Philip in 1799 (my 2 x Great Grand Father), John in 1801, Ann in 1803, Eli in 1806, Lucy in 1810 and George in 1814. Later searching through the I.G.I. also revealed the Baptism of James in 1768 and recorded his Parents as Robert and Frances Bailey. I was then able to go back a further generation having found the Baptism of Robert Bailey on 24th January 1750 in Twyford, Hampshire which recorded his parents as David and Mary Bailey who would be my 5 x Great Grand Parents.
Philip Bailey was the first to appear on the 1841 Census which greatly assisted in the research. Although he was born in Ropley, by the time of his first marriage he had moved to Froxfield Green in Hampshire where he was employed as an Agricultural Labourer. His first marriage was to Elizabeth Goddard, in Froxfield on 31st May 1823 and they had 10 children, Mary in 1823, Anne in 1827, William in 1829 (my Great Grand Father), Charlotte in 1832, George in 1834, John in 1837, Harriett in 1839, Eliza in 1841, Emma in 1844 and Caroline in 1847. Elizabeth Goddard had been born in Froxfield Green on 29th July 1804 and died in Steep, Hampshire on 25th May 1860. (See Goddard Family for more information). Following the death of his first wife Elizabeth, Philip remarried to Martha Goodall in Froxfield Green on 16th January 1864 but they did not give birth to any additional children. Martha was born in West Meon, Hampshire in 1806 and to date I have not found a confirmed death for her although it may be assumed it was in the late 1800's. (See Goodall Family for more information). Philip died in Froxfield Green on 10th July 1883 at the age of 84 years having worked all his life as an Agricultural Labourer.
William Bailey (my Maternal Great Grand Father) was born in Froxfield Green on 7th June 1829 and first appears on the 1841 Census aged 12 living at home with his parents. By the 1851 Census he had left home and was a live-in servant with Michael and Elizabeth Stubbs, a Farmer and his wife in Froxfield, where he was employed as an Agricultural Carter. By the 1861 Census, he was again living at home with his then widowed Father, Philip and employed as an Agricultural Labourer. On the 10th January 1863 he married his 1st wife, Lois Dyer Clift in Portsea, Hampshire and she gave birth to their 6 children, Anna and William James (my Maternal Grand Father) in 1864, Caroline in 1866, Philip in 1869, Elizabeth in 1871 and Ada Sarah in 1880. Lois had been born in Norton, Gloucestershire in 1832 and died circa 1882. Following Lois's death, William remarried to Elizabeth Wiggins, a widow, in 1884, her 1st husband, William Wiggins having died in 1871. Elizabeth's maiden name was Elizabeth Trimmer and by coincidence, was the younger sister of one of my Maternal Great Grand Mothers, Charlotte Trimmer. On the 1871 Census the family is recorded as living in 'Claypits', Froxfield where William was still employed as an Agricultural Labourer. By the 1881 Census the family had moved to Sheet, Hampshire where William is now described as a Farm Labourer. In 1891, William and Elizabeth are living alone in Tanyard Cottages, in Steep, Hampshire where he is now described as a General Labourer. In 1901, they are again living in Sheet, in fact at Sheet Farm, where William is again a Farm Labourer. Also living with them is an Aunt named Ann Wise, but I do not know if she was related via the Bailey, Trimmer or Wiggins Family. William passed away in 1902 in Froxfield, after which, Elizabeth moved to Havant in Hampshire and on the 1911 Census she is recorded as living alone at the age of 76, she passed away 2 years later in 1913.
William James Bailey, (my Maternal Grand Father), was born in Froxfield Green on 2nd October 1864 and first appears on the 1871 Census living with his parents and recorded as a Scholar. In 1881 he was still living at home with his parents in Sheet and employed just like his Father, as a Farm Labourer. By the 1891 Census he had moved to Bramshott in Hampshire and was lodging with the Mooney family and employed as a Railway Labourer. As was often the case, his name on this Census was abbreviated to just William. Later that year he had moved to Lewisham, Kent where he married Louisa Florence Trimmer on 13th October 1891, (see the Trimmer Family). Following their marriage, they apparently moved back south as their first child, William Henry was born in Hammer Vale, Hampshire in 1892 and their 2nd child, Violet Annie was born in Camelsdale, Sussex in 1894. The family then returned once more to Lewisham where the remaning 6 children were born; Florence May in 1895, Sidney Francis in 1896, Charlotte Daisy in 1899, Harry Edward in 1901, Lily Augusta Louisa in 1903 and Ivy Elizabeth Primrose (my Mother), in 1905. The 1901 Census, where William James is recorded as a Builder's Labourer, is a little strange as it records the Bailey and Trimmer families co-habitating at No 6 Manor Lane, Lee, Lewisham. The family groups consist of William James Bailey and his wife Louisa Florence Bailey nee Trimmer and their first 5 children, plus Henry James and Charlotte Trimmer (the Parents of Louisa Florence), Emily Anne Trimmer and Louisa Trimmer, the sister and elderly Aunt of Louisa Florence Bailey. How this came about and whether it had any bearing on the marriage of my Maternal Grand-parents I do not know. In 1911, the family was living alone at 27 Taunton Road, Lee, Lewisham with 5 of their children including my Mother, Ivy Elizabeth Primrose Bailey. William James is recorded as being a General Labourer working in Greenwich Park. William James Bailey passed away on 23rd April 1932 and his wife Louisa Florence on 23rd December 1934.
This brings me to my Mother, Ivy Elizabeth Primrose Bailey, born in Lewisham on 10th April 1905. After leaving school, she worked for a number of years as a shop assistant in one of the major London stores until she met and married my Father, Walter George McKay. They had 2 children, my older brother, Malcolm James McKay in 1939 and myself, Neil in 1943. My Mother passed away on 2nd May 1985.