She(a)ring of Fordingbridge from William (1782-1860) onwards

Sheets 1a & b

These follow the succession of the She(a)ring name for the 'main line' of the family in the 
Fordingbridge district, starting from William of Sandleheath born 1782.

As with sheet Fo, much of the information is derived from Parish Registers, baptismal records 
'bap' sometimes include birth dates 'b'. Burial dates are shown as 'di-' (= death / interment) to 
distinguish them from dates of death 'd'. Marriage dates 'm' should be unequivocal. Daughters/ 
families are normally not followed after the marriages have been recorded.

Decimal Census returns, 1851 onwards (abbreviated C51 etc) are helpful in defining families, 
estimating birth years (especially helpful with non-comformist families) and providing 
occupational information. With the introduction of State Registration of Births, Marriages and 
Deaths as from mid 1837, the publication by the General Registration Office of Quarterly 
Indexes of those events affords a nominally complete cover and where no more specific 
information is available, dates from GRO Indexes are shown by the indexing Quarter Year 
and the Superintendent Registrar's Area, eg b reg 1856 Q3, Christchurch (abbrev Xch). A few 
Certificates have been purchased where detailed information was crucial but the expense of 
more general coverage is prohibitive; personal contacts have been sought with decendants for 
confirmation of data where possible.

Some early Census lists of Fordingbridge xxxx (names were not published in 1811-1831) are 
available at Winchester (Hants Record Office) and these show no She(a)ring names in the 
'Town'. However, the 1811 Census notes William Shearing Snr and Jnr in Burgate and in the 
1821 Census just 'William Shearing' Burgate. The name is not recorded in C31.

Names were first published with the 1841 Census, but unfortunately relationships are not 
stated., birth places are not identified and ages over 15 years are approximated at 5 year 
intervals.

The only will so far consulted in connection with F1a and b is that of William (died 1868), 
who made his wife Edna sole legatee, nothing regarding their family emerges. Edna 
apparently remarried - James Jeffries, in 18721, but a possible will of Edna Jeffries has not 
yet been sought.

Sheet F1b, largely a 20th century outline, has yet to be followed up in detail.

Notes

1. C41 records Jane '15 years' (? born c 1826) living with William Shearing '55' and Mary 
'60' at Sandleheath. She may have been their youngest child but no She(a)ring baptism has 
been noted in Fordingbridge Parish Registers between April 1818 and May 1828.
2. C41 also records William Sherring '30', Carpenter, with his wife Edna '25' and children 
Ann, William and Caroline, living in Back Street, now West Street, Fordingbridge. They 
may have been the first of the family to live in the 'Town'.
3. The eldest son of William and Edna, another carpenter William, married Elizabeth Silley 
in 1858 and in C71 he is living in Back Street with his widowed mother Edna, his wife 
Elizabeth and daughters Annie Elizabeth (1 year) and Edna (7 days).
C81 Christchurch records at 11/12 xxx Terrace, Buscombe, Elizabeth Jane Shearing, 
widow (43 years), laundress with children Annie Elizabeth (11 years) born Fordingbridge, 
Alfred (7 years), Alice (5 years) and Elizabeth (3 years), these last three all born 
Boscombe. The death of a William Shering aged 40 was registered 1878 Q2 Christchurch. 
Daughter Enda '10' is enumerated in C81 Greenwich (Kent) with her uncle John Silley 
(sic) (who married Ann Shering, eldest daughter of William and Edna), but it is not known 
whether her presence there is temporary or on a more permanent basis.
4. Louisa (born c 1841) is included as 'daughter 9 years' with William and Edna's family in 
the 1851 Census but her baptism, as with the rest of this family has not been found in the 
Fordingbridge Parish Register. Her birth has not been traced in the GRO birth indexes 
?1841, but registration at that time was not subject to a penalty for omitting to conform.
Louisa may well have been the 'born xx daughter of Elizabeth Sheering' liste din the 
baptism register of Tolland Royal parish church (Wilts) (but no date, at page 59 entry no 
467). Elizabeth, the mother, was probably the child baptised at 10 years. 3 May 1829, 
Fordingbridge, ie born c 1819 - a sister of the John Shering who was living at Tolland 
Royal around 1841(see F2) and of William (husband of Edna née Bailey).

Sheet F2

This outlines the family of John, the second son (to survive) of William (1782 - 1860). John, 
another carpenter, married Betsey Green at Sixpenny Handley in 1835 and they started their 
family at Tolland Royal. By 1849 they were establishing themselves at Rockbourne, where 
the family continued for about 100 years, the grandchildren firming up on the name 
'Shearing'. The will, proved in 1938, of Emma Shearing, widow of Ismac Joseph (known as 
Joseph), John's son seems to suggest declining interest in the family property at Rockbourne, 
although John's grandson Edgar John and his wife are both commemorated in Rockbourne 
churchyard. The two grandsons of Edgar, born 1937 and 1945, have not been located more 
recently. Banns were called at Rockbourne in June 1977 for the younger grandson John D 
Shearing but a marriage with the intended Julie W Tiller of St Peter's Parish, Woolham, 
Liverpool, has not been found in GRO indexes.

Sources - generally as with F1a and b but specifically the Parish Registers of Sixpenny 
Handley (Dorset), Tolland Royal (Wilts) and Rockbourne (Hants), at the respective County 
Record Offices.

Sheets F3, 3.07, 3.7.08 and 3.07.11






	Page 1