Reed in Dorset

Introduction
Origins of the name
Variants of the name
Rebecca Mary Reed (1859-1877)
John Reed (about 1829-1900)
John Reed
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Introduction

This page is devoted to the REED ancestors of my mother - the origins of the name, who they were and where and when they lived.

The genealogical data in these pages is accurate to the best of my current (at the time of writing) knowledge. This means it is of very variable reliability, since sources at one extreme are 100% certain (e.g. I know who I married, where and when, and the identity of my parents) to the mere rumour level, such as LDS data extracted from the IGI and Ancestral File, and reminiscences of elderly relatives, some now deceased. Anyone wishing to make any use whatever of this information is therefore strongly advised to contact me for source details.

Origins of the name

The surname Reed, according to Hanks & Hodges A Dictionary of Surnames, comes from a nickname for a person with red hair or a ruddy complexion.

Variants of the name

Read (which also has other origins), Reade, Red, Redd, Reid.

Rebecca Mary Reed

My maternal grandmother's mother was Rebecca Mary Reed, apparently usually known as Mary. She was born in Maiden Newton, Dorset on 17th January 1859. She was living in Old Road, Wmborne Minster,when she gave birth to my grandmother in April 1876, 16 months before her marriage.

On 14th August 1877 she married John Adams (N.B. two links) at the Registrar's Office in Wimborne Minster. The couple both gave Leigh Common, Wimborne as their address at the time of the marriage. They also both falsified their ages for the purpose of the marriage, apparently so that she would not need parental consent.

They lived at Christchurch for a short time, where their second child was born in 1879, and then to West Harnham, near Salisbury, Wiltshire. They spent the rest of their lives at The Old Cottage in West Harnham. The cottage is described in more detail on my West Harnham page, but this photo (41,229 bytes) shows what it looked like when I visited in 1986.

According to a family bible, which I was allowed to inspect in 1981 (my thanks to Mrs. A. West), and from which I transcribed all the family history information, they had a total of 9 children:

Sarah Ann, born 2 April 1876
Marriner (sic) Emma, born 19 June 1879
Beatrice Georgeina, born 19th November 1881
Charles Henry, born 8 June 1885
Maurice Stanley, born 3 September 18??
Bertram George, born 16 May 1887
Violet Maud, born 1 May 1894
Agnes Violet Martha, born ? October 1890
Ethel Ada May, born 24 September 1892

John Reed

Rebecca Mary's father was a labourer named John Reed, who was born in 1829. On 11th August 1857 he married Marina Wills at Maiden Newton parish church. The couple produced at least two children: Rebecca Mary and John (born Wimborne, about 1873). According to the family bible mentioned above, the older John died on 15th December 1900, aged 71 years.