THE TREE
I started researching my family tree towards the end of 2002 when, talking to 
relatives at my Dad's funeral, I realised how little we knew about his family beyond 
his brothers and sister and their families. I found his father's COLE family fairly 
easily. His mother's PALMER family were much more difficult but I found them 
eventually after following a few false trails and then went on to research my Mum's 
BRADLEY and DAVIS families.

It has been an exciting journey and I have met a lot of nice people and had a lot of 
help along the way. I am very grateful to all the people who have allowed me access 
to their research and encouraged me when I got stuck.

I am not finished yet but I am back in the realm of church records now and progress 
is slow. I am also gradually finding more descendants born after 1901 thanks to the 
availability of the 1911 census and registration records on the internet.

SOURCES
Not all the information here is proved absolutely beyond question. If an event 
happened after 1837 and I have the full date I have a copy of the registration 
certificate. If the month and year only are given I have verified it with the 
register but do not have the actual certificate. For earlier events 'PR' after the 
date indicates that I have seen the parish register and 'FR' indicates that there 
is a transcription on FreeReg. 'IGI' means it is from the International Genealogical 
Index which is a huge list of records transcribed by the Mormon church. 'IGI Sub' 
means the record was submitted to the IGI and is not a direct transcription of the 
original records (these vary in accuracy). 'BIVRI' means it comes from the British 
Isles Vital Records Index which is another set of transcriptions from the Mormon 
church. If you are interested in a particular family please contact me about my 
sources and I will give you more details.

MY SIXTEEN GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS

WILLIAM COLE was an Agricultural Labourer born 1804 in Navestock, Essex, son of 
William Cole and Sarah SALTWELL. He married REBECCA DAVEY, daughter of Joseph Davey, 
a Haycarter and Woodman and Elizabeth Monk. William and Rebecca brought up their 
family in Navestock and then Doddinghurst, Essex.

GEORGE COLE was an Agricultural Labourer born about 1808 in Doddinghurst, a younger 
brother of William above. He married SUSANNAH RILEY, daughter of Richard Riley, an 
Agricultural Labourer and they brought up their family in Doddinghurst. George and 
Susannah’s daughter Caroline married her cousin Alfred Cole, son of William above, 
uniting my two Cole lines.  Alfred and Caroline moved to South Weald around 1880 and 
then to Ilford around 1890 where their son William met and married Annie Palmer.

EDWARD JAMES PALMER was a Dock Labourer born about 1812 in Deptford. At that time 
Deptford was in Kent, later it became part of the London Borough of Southwark. He 
married ELIZABETH LANGDALE, daughter of John Lang(s)dale, a Carpenter, and they 
brought up their family in Deptford. Their son William was a Cook and Steward aboard 
the steamship 'Condor' which I believe went to and from New York. William moved his 
family to the Barking/Ilford border around 1900 where they lived just a few roads 
away from the Cole family.

EDWARD CALLOW was a Baker, born 1821 in Dartford, Kent. He married ELIZABETH MORRIS 
RANDALL daughter of Abraham and Charlotte Randall. Edward and Elizabeth brought up 
their family in Deptford and Greenwich. Their daughter Charlotte married William 
Palmer above.

GEORGE FREDERICK BRADLEY was a Ropemaker, born 1822 in Bermondsey which was in Surrey 
at that time but later became part of the London Borough of Southwark. He married 
MARY ANN TURNER, daughter of William Turner a Cabinet Maker in the Royal Engineers at 
Brompton Barracks near Chatham Kent. William was born in Liverpool and married Jane 
Wallace in Manchester. George and Mary Ann brought up their family in Chatham until 
about 1865 and then moved up the Thames to Poplar in East London. Their son William, 
a Stevedore in the London Dockyards, married Mary Ann Appleton, daughter of George 
Appleton, a Mariner who lived in Limehouse. George and Mary Ann's sons George and 
Thomas emigrated to Australia and I am in touch with  their descendants.

GEORGE ROBERT APPLETON was a Ship’s Stoker who was born 1848 in Shadwell, East London 
and lived in that area all his life. His father was William Taylor Appleton, a 
Mariner. The Appletons lived around Gravesend in Kent and St George East 
(Stepney/Limehouse) on East London, however William's two eldest children were 
christened in Harwich, Essex. George married CORDELIA JEMIMA RAWLINSON, daughter of 
Frederick Rawlinson, a Mariner from Rochester, Essex and Emma Bear. George and 
Cordelia brought up their children in Limehouse, East London. They had 13 children of 
whom only 8 survived to adulthood.

ALFRED DAVIS was born in 1829 in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire. His father John Davis 
was a Blacksmith who later became a Bookseller in Stroud. Alfred's mother was Sylvia 
Grist from Shepton Mallet. Alfred came to London to work as a Gentleman’s servant and 
married EMMA MARGARET WELLMAN, a Ladies maid who was the daughter of James Wellman, 
an Exciseman. Alfred established himself as a Rag Merchant and then a General Dealer 
in West Ham on the border of East London and Essex which was then a fast-growing 
urban area. He later built a house in Hastings, East Sussex, called Alfred Villa and 
retired there around 1900.

ROBERT WELCH was born in 1812 in Hammersmith, son of Robert Welch, a Mariner. He was 
a widower when he married twice-widowed ELIZABETH LOWDELL, daughter of George 
Lowdell, a Ship’s Caulker at the Royal Naval dockyards in London. Robert and 
Elizabeth lived in Poplar, East London, where they brought up two children.

I have also included on the tree some of the WALDIE family and the DUNCUMB family 
whom sisters of my Grandad William Bradley married into. There are also some of the 
TAMCKEN family as some of my nephews are descendants via their mother. Also the 
BLYTHE/CRAFER/HARRISON/PRATT (Norfolk) and the FRALEY/MERCHANT/JONES/HADNOT 
(Trowbridge/Shepton Mallet and Wales) families who are my son John's ancestors 
through his father's line.

My husband's KRISHNAN line from India are here too. The information is from family 
records and relatives' memories and dates have not been checked with official 
records. Hindu families keep a book detailing at least seven generations of ancestors 
whose names are chanted at Hindu ceremonies. There are some interesting stories about 
his Granny presenting a bouquet to Edward Prince of Wales and an ancestor who cured 
the Rajah of Jaipur's son of an illness and earned the hereditary title of "Jaipur" 
which was last used by my father-in-law's generation.