Stourport
As a child, I loved my occasional visits to Stourport in the 1970s/80s, especially sitting in the terraced gardens outside the Tontine Hotel on a Sunday afternoon, watching the boats on the river. At the time, I had no idea that I had any ancestors called BALDWIN, nor that they had any connection with the town, let alone the hotel itself!
(more…)
On an ancestral tourism visit to Stourport-on-Severn, I saw the town’s war memorial which included the name Sergt. J. Baldwin.
Suspecting that this was a distant relative of my 2x Great-grandmother, Sarah Baldwin, whose father was a boat builder and grocer in the town, I investigated further. I found it was her nephew, James Baldwin, born in 1881 and the son of her brother, Thomas. James was my first cousin, three times removed (in other words, his grandparents were my 3x great-grandparents).
John BALDWIN was born c.1812 in Lower Mitton (Stourport), Worcestershire, and was the son of Thomas and Sarah Baldwin. He wasn’t baptised until the age of 6 (the baptism took place as Stourport Wesleyan Methodist Church). I haven’t been able to find out much about Thomas and Sarah, other than Thomas was born around 1779 and died in Stourport in 1849. Sarah, whose maiden name is unknown, died on 8th July 1839, aged 60. They are known to have had six children, born between 1803-1819 – the five youngest all being baptised at Stourport Wesleyan Methodist Church.