Eatons from Woodford, Northamptonshire

GGG Grandfather Benjamin Eaton was from the village of Woodford, Northamptonshire, on the banks of the River Nene.

Bakehouse or Bakers Lane, Woodford

Woodford is a small village, with a general store and a few other stores, a school and a church but is essentially the same as it was in the 1800s. About 60 miles from London.

The Eaton family lived in Bakehouse Lane, which later became known as Bakers Lane. Benjamin’s father John was a labourer and shoe maker.

John had 5 children: Benjamin b1817, William b 1819, Elizabeth b1824, Rebecca b 1826 and Mary Ann b1832.

Benjamin was to be found guilty of setting a haystack on fire in 1851 and sent to Australia as a convict on the ship Dudbrook in 1853.

St Marys Church, Woodford

Quite close to the Eaton family home was the parish church.  St Marys was built in the 12th century in a Norman style.

Generations of Eatons have been christened in the ancient baptismal font, and married by the local minister.

The village has a website with photographs and notes about the history of Woodford.

Today the village hosts 1400 people and while many of the old houses have been demolished, quite a few remain.

I visited Woodford in 2011 and while I couldn’t identify the exact house the Eaton’s lived in, I enjoyed seeing the old  church and village green, devouring the yummy soup in the pub and a tour by the very kind Paul Bird.

George Eaton of Albany W.A.

After arriving from Woodford Northamptonshire, convict Benjamin Eaton settled with his wife Mary Ann in Albany on the south coast of Western Australia. They had 5 children and in WA another 3 were born. Twins George and Eliza Eaton were born 23 December 1858, and Annie Eaton 3 February 1861.

George Eaton was an interesting character. His obituary tells of him working at shingle and paling splitting in the Lower King country and while so engaged made contact with the builders of sturdy cutters engaged in coastal trading. He joined the whalers at Cheynes Beach, and assisted in the processing of whales caught in the Southern Ocean and brought on land at Cheynes whaling station.

Later George was employed for many years at Mt Barker, shepherding livestock between Albany and Mt Barker. He went on to the establish Eatondale at Woogenellup and served Mt Barker with meat supplies for many years. George was active on the Plantagenet Road Board. He sold his farm in 1913 and established a second farm which he named Woodford. In 1929 the property was sold and George settled in the town of Mt Barker. He died 4 April 1932.

– Albany Advertiser, 11 April 1932, page 3

Benjamin Eaton arrived 160 years ago

It’s Benjamin’s 160th anniversary!

My ggg-grandfather was Benjamin EATON, born in the village of Woodford, Northamptonshire in 1817. Ben lived with his wife Mary Ann and children. He worked as a groom and labourer.

In the winter of early 1851 a haystack was found on fire in the village and large footprints led back to the home of Benjamin. He was known to have big feet and so was charged and found guilty of arson. It was a serious crime and had previously been punishable by death. On this occasion Benjamin was charged in the Northampton gaol to a 15 year sentence and deported to Western Australia as a convict.

1870 Bathers Beach, Fremantle WA

He spent time on the prison hulk ‘Defence’ on the Thames and sent from England in November 1852 on the ‘Dudbrook’. Ben arrived on   7 February 1853 at Fremantle, W.A. where he worked for a time.  In 1856 his wife and 5 children joined him in W.A. and they settled to live in Albany.