THE WAKELY FAMILY

By E A L WAKELY, Dorset 1985 Background Living in Dorset I was struck by the number of times one came across the family name. I was alone in the Air Force List for most of my service and surprised to see that there were more than thirty entries in the local telephone directory. A chance conversation with a local baker elicited the fact that his mother had been a Wakely and that: 'they all came from Ireland when Bridport was a port, during the troubles'. He was unable to say when in the 300 years of trouble, but I remembered vague references to Ireland from my grandfather. I was therefore resolved to try and trace the family history since it would be interesting to see if the wheel had turned full circle in that we had retired to the area where the family had had some of its earliest roots. Origin and Definition of Name The Penguin Dictionary of Surnames gives the following definition of WAKELY: 'Wood clearing of an A.S. called WAKE: place (-LEYO in Hertfordshire); but it might be a field where the WAKE (annual festival) is held (OE): WAKELY is mainly a Dorset surname, which is against the Hertfordshire derivation'. The Dictionary of British Surnames1 on the other hand states that WAKELY, and alternative spellings, derives from WAKELEY in Hertfordshire, an Ecclesiastical District and hamlet, 1 miles west of Westmill (population 36 in 1960). The hamlet was apparently named after Roger WAKELEY in 1332. A further definition is locational i.e. one who came from WAKELEY (soft or wet lea). Guy Ewing, in his book Westmill-cum-Wakeley states that it was probably a Roman settlement. In a field adjoining Chapel Meadow is a large tumulus or burial place. He gives the origin of the name WAKELEY as follows: Suffix LEY is a meadow or pasture: prefix WAKE is a funeral feast, so the meaning is probably a field of funeral feast, WAKE being used in the same sense in Ireland. WAKEFIELD would have the same meaning. It may have some connection
1P.H. Reaney, 1960

with the tumulus, taking its title from a feast held at the burial of a chief. The Hertfordshire Record Office has the following entries only: 1640 Margaret WAKELEY married Thomas Sell at Magdalen Laver in Ongar, Essex. She lived at Much Hadham. 1790 James WAKELEY married Ann Field (widow) at St Michaels, St Albans.

Records and Recording The registration nationally of births, marriages and deaths became a statutory requirement in 1837; the records are maintained centrally in the Public Record office, Aldwych, London. Prior to 1837 the only records were the Parish Registers, most of which have been centralised in the relevant County Records Office. It was not however a statutory requirement to maintain such record; while most parishes kept a record, some did not. Accuracy and preparation seemed to depend largely on the attitude of the priest in charge and the clerk charged with their maintenance, and they differ considerably in legibility and form. If a child was not baptised there is no known means of tracing the record. Baptism was a matter of choice and all baptisms were performed in the Established Church. However, one must make allowances for the rudimentary means at the disposal of those recording, the fact that most people could not write and that interpretation of local accents would have to be contended with. Moreover, in some cases forenames might have been assumed by common usage or to gratify a benefactor or employer. The other source of inquiry are the censuses undertaken at 10-yearly intervals from 1801, and I am grateful to my cousin John Wakely for information on these for 1841 and 1851, which gave valuable leads. Examining the records is tedious and time-consuming, since one cannot afford to overlook any period in the span to be covered. It is also necessary to enlarge the span as a precautionary measure even if it is fairly certain that the substance is probably to be found somewhere in the middle. And the further back one goes the less likely is positive evidence to be found. The best that can be done is to make soundly based assumptions on which to proceed while at the same time resisting the temptation to bend the written record to fit what one would like to be the answer.

Ancestors
Father - Augustus Edwin WAKELY I knew that my father was born on 13 December 1881, and thought it would

be simple to obtain a copy of his birth certificate. As a small example of the problems ahead I found that although he was always known as Augustus Edwin and signed himself as such, he was in fact registered as Edwin Augustus. His father was shown on the birth certificate as Walter WAKELY, occupation Tailor, and his mother as Janet, formerly BULL. The birth was registered in Chelsea, London. Grandfather- Walter William WAKELY There were eight children of the union (I call it union and not marriage for lack of proof of the marriage). They were, in descending order of age: Henry Walter Augustus Albert Charles Lydia William George As my father was born in 1881, the 3rd child, I concluded that my grandfather would have been about 30 at the time. I therefore searched from 1845 - 1855 and found a Walter William born in September 1848 at Fordingbridge, Hampshire. His father was shown as William, occupation Tailor. This seemed reasonably conclusive but I tried to tie up the matter by searching for the marriage of Walter William and Janet Bull. Out of this came the first setback. Despite searches of the Marriage Registers from 1886 - 1880, including searches by others, and using several alternatives for Janet, no trace could be found. Great-grandfather William WAKELY The Census Return for Fordingbridge, 1851, shows that William WAKELY, stated age 48, had been born in Northwood, Isle of Wight. His youngest child, aged 2, is entered as Walter William, which clearly ties in with our grandfather above. The month of the Census is not known, but Walter William was born in September, the last quarter of the year, and his age would have been given as 2, although there is numerically 3 years between 1848 and 1851. William's occupation was given as Tailor. William also had a son, Peter, presumably our great uncle, father of our second cousin Albert. Great uncle Henry is not shown in the Census, but may have been born after it was taken. Great-grandfather William also had a son called Peter, and it is reasonable to suppose that he was named for his grandfather. Great-great-grandfather

Peter also had a son, called Walter; William's two sons also bore the name Walter and again they were perhaps named for their uncle. All efforts now had to be concentrated on finding Peter. I examined the Parish Records for Fordingbridge at the Hampshire Record office for Baptisms (1794 - 1847) and marriages (1795 - 1869). The only entry was the marriage on March 1838 of Sarah Hill WAKELY to Edmund PRECCY (the best I could decipher). The father of the bride, Peter, occupation Tailor, signed the register in company with Louisa, possibly his daughter. Greatgrandfather William also had a daughter called Sarah, who was only five at the time of the 1851 Census; she could have been named for the Sarah who got married in 1838, possibly her aunt. In an effort to trace the birth of William I wrote to the Isle of Wight Record Office, Newport. Northwood is only 2 miles from Newport and the record showed the birth of a William WAKELY, son of Peter, on 2nd February 1801; he was baptised in Newport Congregational Church in November 1801. If this is the same William shown in the 1851 Census as aged 48 there is, it is true, a discrepancy of 2 years, but it must be remembered that strict accuracy was not a noteworthy feature of these times, and that those recording might have had to accept verbal information unsupported by documentary evidence. His two brothers were named Walter and Henry. I have therefore concluded that the weight of evidence is in favour of William being our great-grandfather. As there was no clue about Peter's birthplace, or even that he had been born in Dorset, I decided to examine parish records of villages and towns spreading out from Bridport. If indeed he had come with his family from Ireland they could have moved around in search of better prospects for work. It was not possible to do a thorough search because of the sometimessignificant gaps in the 18th century and early 19th century records.

Great-great-grandfather Peter WAKELY In the Census Return, Fordingbridge, 1841, Peter WAKELY is shown, aged 60, but not having been born in the County. His occupation is given as Tailor. The Isle of Wight County Records also show him as the father of William (above), having married Elizabeth (surname unknown) who came from Newport. The archivist concerned stated positively that Peter is our ancestor.

The Irish Connection

A Colonel and Mrs Stack, who lived in Uploders, near our village of Loders, told me that when they had lived in County Donegal their parish priest had been a WAKELY. I consulted Crockfords, and wrote to Canon J.V. Wakely, who eventually replied from S. Africa. He knew little of the family history except that it was understood three brothers had come to Ireland with Cromwell and had been rewarded with grants of land. It was even rumoured that WAKELYS had arrived with Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke, in 1170. However, he suggested I should write to his sister, Miss Kathleen WAKELY who might be able to provide more information. Miss WAKELY was able to do no more than confirm what her brother had said but did mention a third contact, Leslie WAKELY who lived in Belfast, and whom she knew only by name.