The Lieflock Line, Wootton Rivers and Tangley Trees

The identification of Fanny Jane (Spicer) Lovelock as the mother of George James Spicer Lovelock is uncertain. Here is a summary of the evidence, after an extended correspondence between Graham Lovelock, Robin Lovelock and myself (James Loveluck) Dec 2005 and Jan 2006:

1. Graham: If George S is a grand-son of James and Hannah who could his parents have been? From our Wootton Rivers tree there are no male candidates for his father that I can see, so perhaps he was illegitimate? If so there are 4 candidates for his mother: Elizabeth, bap 18 Dec 1842, Eliza Emily, bap 12 Oct 1851, Fanny Jane, bap 25 Dec 1853, and Rebecca, bap 11 May 1856.

Note: The possible male candidates George, Silas and Francis Thomas are improbable candidates, given their known families and the census data we have for them.

2. The 1881 census data shows George Spicer living with aunts Mary and Emily Spicer. The ages of Mary and Emily fit in nicely with those of Mary Ann Lovelock (bap 11 Oct 1835 at WR) and Eliza Emily L (bap 12 Oct 1851 at Burbage), sisters of Fanny Jane Lovelock.

3. At Newbury Street in Kintbury in 1891 we find George S Lovelock, aged 18, Carpenter's Apprentice, born London. It's not clear where exactly he was living, but possibly with George and Elizabeth Church, next door to a Fredrick Pounas or Pounds and family - Fredrick being a Carpenter. The ref is RG12 971, F29, P21.

Note that in the 1891 census Mary Ann (Spicer) Lovelock, sister of Fanny Jane L, was living in Newbury Road, Kintbury, as were several of the children of Silas Spicer Lovelock.

4. In 1901 George James Spicer Lovelock with wife and children are living at Prittlewell, Essex, with Aunt Mary Ann Lovelock age 65, again, this fits in with Mary Ann L, sister of Fanny Jane Spicer Lovelock.

Robin Lovelock also found the following baptism record at the Trowbridge record office: October 18 1874 George James son of George and Emily Spicer [sic], abode Wootton Rivers, Labourer which may be relevant, although it would assume that George and Emily presented themselves as parents of George James; furthermore, we don't have a George Spicer-Lovelock with spouse Emily in our tree.

Following discussions between Robin Lovelock and Graham Lovelock in May 2019 the following update to the Note above was agreed:

Regarding Item 2. in the Note above, a truer reading of the 1881 entry is considered to be that as Mary was recorded as the Head of the household George's entry refers only to his relationship with her, that is to say he was her nephew. Since Emily was recorded only as Mary's sister the whole entry is not in itself proof that Emily was George's mother.

For that we need to refer to the copy of George's birth certificate held by Robin Lovelock, which quotes his mother's name as Emily Spicer.

There are a number of potential candidates in the documentation for George Eagle, the father of George James as named on the birth certificate. One of those candidates is the George Eagle who had married Emily's sister Sarah in 1869.

No other evidence has come to light regarding the baptism at Wootton Rivers on 18 Oct 1874. The entry is consistent with the birth certificate that states George James was the son of Emily Spicer, but we are unable to explain either the naming of a George Eagle on the birth certificate as the father or the apparent identification at baptism of a George Spicer as the father.

We have been unable to find any definite record of George Eagle the husband of Sarah Lovelock after 1871, or of Sarah.

Emily's brother George was, like her, registered as a Lovelock at birth, but at his marriage in 1869 and in the 1881 Census he was recorded as George Spicer. Could he possibly have been mistakenly identified as the father of George James at the latter's baptism?