St Mary the Virgin, Edlesborough. This is no longer an active church, but its fabric is being maintained by the Churches Conservation Trust and it operates within the Diocese of St Albans.
This is the headstone of Jane nee Draper, wife of Thomas b 30 Sept 1830 Dagnall.
Edlesborough and Dagnall are very close together. After Jane died, Thomas married Bethia Smith and moved to Dunstable, where he died in 1909. Thomas is on the branch of Thomas 1737
This is another story of the grandchildren of Fanny Tearle. Her son, Abel 1797 of Edlesborough, married Hannah Frost of Tilsworth, near (very near) Stanbridge. Hannah died in 1839 and you can see Abel with his second wife, Ann Jones, living in Dagnall in the 1841 census. Abel and Hannah's son Thomas b1830 in Dagnall, is not living with Abel and Ann because he is staying and working (MS) at the house of Benjamin and Charlotte Johnson, farmer at Church End, Totternhoe.
1841 = Thomas 1830 (not born Beds) in the house of Benjamin Johnson in Totternhoe. This Benjamin Johnson (b1816) is Fanny’s son by her second husband, William Johnson of Northall. Benjamin went on to become a Morman and his family moved to Utah after his death.
In 1848 Thomas married Jane Draper and this is how I first became interested in this family. Elaine and I went to Edlesborough to have a look at St Mary's, Edlesborough. We found the headstone (above) for Jane, the beloved wife of Thomas Tearle of Dagnall, who died in 1886, at 59 years. We wondered who they were. Thomas must have been pretty successful, because a headstone was expensive, and one this size even more so. We were entranced by the deep love expressed by the memorial and the erudition of its sentiment.
I found the story of Abel, Hannah and Ann, as well as Thomas and Jane, in the censuses from 1841 to 1901, and from them the connection of Thomas and Jane to the rest of the Tearle family. Thomas followed in Abel’s footsteps as a maltster; he was the head brewer for James Batchelar in Dagnall and must have been good at it. Calling himself Thomas Tearle of Dagnall is in itself a statement of self-confidence. The 1861 census is the best picture of this family and you can see that the names of the first three children - Susannah, Abel and Fanny - do help to add substance to the story that Fanny 1770 was a child of Thomas 1737 and Susannah nee Attwell. It would certainly suggest that this family was close to Thomas and Susannah.
1861 = Thomas 1830 Dagnall p1 Jane 34 Susan 12 Able 10 Fanny 7 Joseph 5 in Dagnall.
1861 = Thomas 1830 Dagnall p2 Elizabeth 3 John 1 in Dagnall
The 1871 census shows that Jane's father, who is living with them at the time, was Abraham Draper of Little Gadsden, Herts. She was a lady of great heart, because her father spent his last years as an "Imbicile with age."
Thomas married Bethia Smith from Pitstone (near Ivinghoe) in 1888 after Jane died. Thomas is buried with Bethia in Dunstable; I think the one at Priory Church, but possibly the Dunstable public - I haven't found the memorial yet. I think that Thomas intended to be buried with Jane, hence the room left on the memorial, but events did not work out that way, it seems. It is also worth noting that Thomas is the brother of Susanna, whose headstone is on the Dunstable page.
Louis b1890 Eaton Bray and Mary Ann. Louis was so named after his parents lost their little girl, Louisa. Aubrey b 1910. Louis is on the branch of William 1749.
I have uncovered the story of Louis Tearle. I have previously researched Jane Tearle, nee Draper, and now it was the turn of Louis. I started with this headstone: Louis, died 1935 aged 45, so born 1890, had a wife Mary Jane and a son Aubrey, born 1910.
1901 = William 1852 Edles Ann 49 Louis 11 in EB
I started with the 1901 census and there Louis was, 11 years old, born Eaton Bray, (EB) living next door to the Baptist Chapel (built 1835) in Edlesborough with father William 1853 Edles and his wife Ann 1852 Edles. William was a "cattleman on a farm" and the enumerator's overseer added William to the generic group Ag Cattle.
In the 1891 census for Eaton Bray, there he was, one year old, son of William 1853 Edles and Ann 1852 Edles as well as an older brother, Albert, 17yrs, so it would seem that William and Ann had been in EB for at least 17 years. Both father and son were Agricultural Labourers while Ann supplemented the family income as a Straw Plaiter.
1891 = William 1853 Edles Ann 39 Albert 17 Louis 1 in EB
I looked up the 1881 census for EB and the family was there; William 1853 Edles, Ann 1852 Edles, Albert 7, so 10 years younger, but there was a Louisa, aged 2. Well. This probably means that Louisa had died by 1891, and in trying to keep the name alive, William and Ann named their new boy Louis. I paused for thought and asked one of my colleagues at work. He didn't think it was at all odd - names are often recycled, he said.
1881 = William 1852 Edles Ann 29 Albert 7 Louisa 2 in EB
Louis’ mother was Ann nee Bird and William his father was the first son of George 1831 of Eaton Bray and Hannah Maria nee Janes, who were married 13 Nov 1852 in Edlesborough. George was the son of Jabez 1792 of Northall and Mary nee Green. Jabez was the son of William 1749 of Stanbridge and Mary nee Prentice. Thus, Louis is of the branch William 1749.
You will notice that Jeffery of the Dunstable WW1 memorial and Louis share the same grandparents; Louis and Jeffery are first cousins.
This headstone belongs to Peter Frank 1927 Edles. He married Iris Patricia Galpin in Luton in 1948. His father was Frank 1898 EB who married Selina Gore in 1921. His grandfather was George 1861 Edles and his g-grandparents were George 1831 EB and Hannah Maria nee Janes. George’s parents were Jabez 1792 Northall and Mary nee Green and that means Peter is on the branch William 1749 (and Mary nee Prentice).
Frank was the brother of Jeffery 1890 EB who was killed in France in 1914 and whose memorial is featured on the Dunstable page. This makes Peter Jeffery’s nephew.
