This week I return to my family tree and the Carver’s who originated from Lodsworth in Sussex. Well, my grandfather, that is. Clarence Carver was born in the village of Lodsworth to an agricultural family.

There were a lot of people named Carver around Lodsworth, and I believe the churchyard in the village has burial stones there with the name. Searching for my grandfather’s origins has been somewhat complicated. There may be two or more strands of family lines with that name in the 19^th Century and so it has been important for me to triangulate information to confirm that I am identifying the right family.

First though, let’s have a look at the name. Carver suggests that it was derived from a trade. There are conflicting citations for its origin, either it was descriptive of a wood carving trade, or it was derived from a Gaulish word referring to a wagon or cart and the name came across during the Norman conquest. It might therefore be accurate to say that the first Carver came over from France with William the Conqueror. I rather like that latter explanation. It might also follow that there is a significant cluster of the population with that name in Sussex.

I first found Clarence Carver in the General Register Office because I could not find any document online. He was born on January 4^th, 1886, and his parents were William and Emily Ann Carver. Emily was formerly Emily Rapson. So, with this level of information it should not therefore be difficult to begin a family tree.

I know that my great grandfather was William Carver and that his wife was Emily Ann nee Rapson.

I had heard of the name Evelyn, sister of Clarence, and can remember my grandfather talking about her, but I know nothing about her life.

William Carver was born in the second quarter of 1856 along with fourteen other people named Carver born in the same period in different parts of the country, mainly the south and home counties of London. William’s registration district was Midhurst, the administrative town that covered Lodsworth. In the same district a woman, Charlotte Carver, was born. It’s worth noting that in case I come across a connection or, a parallel family with the same name.

William, according to his baptism certificate, was the son of James and Mary Carver of Lodsworth. James was a Labourer, most probably on a farm. They were my great, great grandparents.

I’m particularly interested in my great grandmother, Emily, because I have been contacted by an Ancestry member in Australia who has been collaborating with some information that confirms some of my findings.

Emily Anne, or Annie, is recorded in the parish baptism register as being 7 years old in 1871 when she was baptised in the parish church of Wykeham. This is now Wickham, a small village adjacent to Southampton. Her parents were William and Caroline Rapson; William was a Blacksmith. Also, on the same day, her older sister, by one year, Catherine (spelled Catharine in the register) was also baptised. Wickham to Lodsworth was not a vast distance but I wonder how Emily came to meet William. Was she in service in somebody’s house?

The answer lies in her parents’ movements. They started life in Lodsworth. William Rapson, in the 1861 Census return was aged 24 which would mean that he was born around 1837. But the story thickens at this point because the return states that he was born in Canada. Caroline was aged 23 and she was local, born in Graffham, a short distance south of Lodsworth. In the Census return they had two sons, William aged 3 and George aged 1. I wonder what William Rapson’s connection with Canada was and where his parents had originated from.

So, here is my connection. My Grandfather was the son of William Carver and Emily Rapson. Emily was the daughter of William Rapson and Caroline Ayling, my great, great grandparents.

At the time that I was researching this line of my family, of which I know nothing beyond my grandfather, I came across another researcher who had been storing information about the Carvers of Lodsworth. We started communicating and he offered me more information. This is what he shared with me:

“Clarence Carver (1886-1969) is the son of Emily Rapson (1863-1914), who married William Carver (1856-1944).

Emily was the daughter of William Rapson (1837-1905) [your blacksmith great great grandfather] and Caroline Ayling (1838-1869), and the half-sister of Caroline’s illegitimate son William Myrtle Ayling (1858-1934). He was my great grandfather.

He married a woman in Petworth called Alice Sadler (1862-1944) and they had twelve children, the second youngest being my paternal grandfather (who emigrated to Western Australia where I was born and continue to live).”

I think it would be fair to say that Emily was the sister of William, she was born in the same year as William and Caroline’s marriage and my suspicion without yet accessing Emily’s birth certificate is that William was doing the right thing when Caroline discovered she was pregnant with William’s child. Not an uncommon thing in history.

So, now I have a solid line of investigation. The Carvers, the Rapsons and the Aylings.

Next week I shall explore these families a bit further. I’m particularly interested in how many brothers and sisters my great grandfather, William Carver had and how that has led to another interesting communication from someone who has been following my blog.