Sawyer Family Tree

The story of the search for my elusive Grandfather

James Robert SAWYER

My Dad, James Robert SAWYER (Jim) was born on 10 Aug 1938 in Walthamstow, Essex.

On his birth certificate it states that his parents were James Robert SAWYER - Furniture Motor Lorry Driver and Louisa (Lou) Adelaide Sawyer formerly Blake.

He married Christine Pamela DAY on 10 Aug 1958 in St Joseph’s Catholic Church, Leyton.

On their marriage certificate it states that Jim’s father was James Robert SAWYER- Lorry Driver.

Jim’s father left the family home when Jim was quite a small boy. Jim never met his father again. As James SAWYER is a rather common name it made tracking down a birth certificate for Jim’s father a long and tedious process. Without a birth certificate there is no information on his mother and no way to discover who his other ancestors were in that line. I shall explain how I was able to find out the details I have so far.

Jim’s parents were married on 31 July 1937 at the Register Office of Essex South-Western, Essex. Their marriage certificate states that James Robert SAWYER was 21 at the time of their marriage (that means he was born around 1916) and that James’s father (Jim’s Grandfather) was James Robert Weedon SAWYER. That makes my dad James Robert SAWYER III.

It turns out (luckily) that James Robert Weedon SAWYER was so proud of this name, he used his full name on most documents. This name is the core of my research.

I was easily able to find JRW’s marriage certificate, he married a lass called Mary Nockles in 1896. So the way seemed to be clear, search the BMD indexes around 1916 for a James Robert Sawyer whose mother’s maiden name is Nockles. There were none.

Did this mean that my grandfather was one of the many birth registrations that went missing between the local register office and the GRO listing?

Well maybe there is another way to tackle this, if JRW always used his full name maybe his death certificate will give some more clues. So back to the indexes.

So there it is, as clear as day on the death certificate, James Robert Weedon SAWYER died on 12 April 1959, the informant was listed as E. M. Sawyer - Widow of the deceased. Present at the death.

So!! Who is E. M. Sawyer? Is it possible she is Mary Nockles? Perhaps a second wife?  If so then was James the son of the first wife or the second?

Now taking another look at James and Lou’s marriage certificate and I see that one of the witnesses to the marriage was none other than E. M. Sawyer. So, what does the E and the M stand for?

Then I had a brain wave… Electoral rolls, if they were both registered I might at least find out her first name. So a quick email to the Local Library service and in the reply I have a first name - Elizabeth. Next step to see if I can find out some more information on her… perhaps a death certificate?  After a couple of false starts I found hers in the death indexes and now I have the certificate and her name. Elizabeth Maud Sawyer the informant is R Sawyer - son.

Oh!! R Sawyer? Perhaps James Robert is using his second name Robert? Have I found him?

More work to be done, I’m close to the end now. Back to the indexes for the marriage of JRW and Elizabeth, they’ve got to be there somewhere, surely. I realized that Elizabeth was using the Sawyer surname back in 1937 at James and Lou’s marriage. So if they weren’t married before James’s birth then they certainly were before his marriage, right? Haven’t found it yet!!!

Ok, so to review I have JRW married first to Mary Nockles in 1896, what happened to her?

Finally I found them on the 1901 census with a little son. ‘Sawyer’ has been badly written and transcribed as ‘Lower’ but they are living with Mary’s family so it’s definitely them.

JRW and Mary’s son was named James, and I have his birth certificate now. James Sawyer was born on 18 April 1899 the cert states that the father is James Sawyer - General Dealer and mother is Mary Sawyer formerly Knockles. The informant is listed as Mary (X her mark) Sawyer.  I gather that JRW didn’t attend the registry office and Mary didn’t think to use his full name and as she couldn’t write she wouldn’t have known that they miss-spelt her surname.

Is this James my elusive grandfather? He was born on 1899 and that would mean that he was around 38 years old when he married my grandmother in 1937, could she have been fooled this way? I don’t think so, she was a very canny woman, she would have seen through that.

Right-ho then back to our R Sawyer, Son of Elizabeth Maud Sawyer, widow of JRW Sawyer and back to the electoral registers. As the death cert gave me R Sawyer’s address I sent another email off to the local library service to see if they could give me a hint at his name.

What a wonderful friend I have there, not only did he give me the name for R Sawyer but two other Sawyers registered at the same address.

Now I have Robert J Sawyer, Gladys E Sawyer and Malcolm Sawyer.

Back to the indexes to find Robert J Sawyer, there are a few births to choose from, a marriage that looks the part and a death that just has to be the right guy in the right area. I went for the death first to double check the address. Yep that’s the one, gives his name as Robert James Sawyer, informant at death was his widow Gladys Eleanor Sawyer and the address matches.

Checking back on the birth indexes I see two names James R Sawyer and Robert J Sawyer both with the mother’s maiden name of Williamson, both in West Ham. Are these their two sons? Were there any other children?

Well now for the big step, I’ve had my eye on this James for a while and I decide to take a chance.

BINGO!!!

Now I have his birth certificate - James Robert Sawyer born 16^th May 1918. Hi Granddad

Father James Robert Weedon Sawyer - General Dealer.

Mother Elizabeth Knight formerly Williamson.

Informant JRW Sawyer - father and E Knight - mother.

TADAAHH!!!!

Since that time I have followed Elizabeth’s family back to her Great Grandfather and found most of Robert’s family. I would dearly like to contact any of Robert’s family to hear their stories and memories of living with and around the Sawyer clan.

I still don’t know what happened to Mary Nockles and little James. Perhaps the 1911 census will shed some light on that.

I have since discovered a daughter to JRW and EM born in 1912 they named her Rose Elizabeth, so perhaps there were others?

In summary I have found that my Great Grandfather James Robert Weedon Sawyer had three sons and one daughter.

They were - James (b. 1899), Rose Elizabeth (b. 1912), James Robert (b. 1918) and Robert James (b. 1920)

He was married once to Mary Nockles and unless there was a marriage I can't find, seems to have lived in de facto with Elizabeth for the rest of his life.

If you have any questions or information regarding any of this please contact me.

Everything mentioned here is from the facts collected from certificates, census and electoral records.

UPDATE: (November 2008)

I have recently been in contact with a lovely lady called Monica who is one of James Robert Weedon Sawyer's grandchildren. She has kindly sent me some wonderful information and photos.

I will add another page (linked here) setting out the information Monica has added to my family tree history.