Re: William Redman, Somerset, Eng. 1832-1910
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In reply to:
William Redman, Somerset, Eng. 1832-1910
1/02/00
Don't know if this will be of any use or not, but here goes. The main question is whether William Redman is actually from Somerset or not. His wife comes from Wraxall, which is Wiltshire, I believe. If your William came from Wiltshire, this would explain the lack of Somerset William Redmans on the IGI. Even in Wiltshire there is only one candidate whose date is a close match to 1832 - William Redman christened on 16 Jan 1831, son of Noah Redman and Sarah of Etchilhampton, Wilts.
But there is another possibility. There was a William Rudman christened on 21 Apr 1833 to Jeremiah Rudman and Ruth. Before discounting this possibility, it is worth going back to Jeremiah's parents.
James Redman married a girl called Meriam (Miriam) sometime shortly before 1770 in Melksham, Wiltshire. They had ten children together:
1. Jacob REDMAN chr. 24 Jun 1770
2. James REDMAN chr. 13 Nov 1772
3. Martha REDMAN chr. 5 Jun 1774
4. Jeremiah REDMAN chr. 22 Nov 1778
(wait for it)
5. Catherine RUDMAN chr. 11 Feb 1781
6. Eli RUDMAN chr. 26 Jan 1783
7. Thomas RUDMAN chr. 19 Jun 1785
8. Mary RUDMAN chr. 8 Jun 1788
9. Ann RUDMAN chr. 24 May 1789
10. Mary RUDMAN chr. 30 Mar 1790
(#8 I presume had died)
Now, there is no record of a marriage of any Jeremiah Rudman, though the Melksham parish register records that a Jeremiah Rudman and wife Ruth had seven children together:
1. James Rudman chr. 12 Nov 1809
2. James Rudman chr. 6 Apr 1817
(had #1 died?)
3. Enoch Rudman chr. 18 Oct 1818
4.5.
Jacob Rudman & Ann Rudman (twins?)
chr. 9 Jun 1822
6.7.
Samuel Rudman & *William Rudman* (twins?)
chr. 21 Apr 1833
As I say, there is no mention of a marriage of Jeremiah RUDMAN to our Ruth in the registers and so the Latter Day Saints have a guess in the IGI: Abt. 1808. In fact there was a marriage in Melksham between Jeremiah REDMAN and Ruth Adams on 13 Jun 1809 (they would admittedly have had to have married with child #1 appearing as a distinct lump on Ruth, but these things happen). My theory that Jeremiah RUDMAN = Jeremiah REDMAN is borne out by the fact that there are no children listed as born to Jeremiah REDMAN on the IGI.
Assuming this is the same Jeremiah Redman born to James and Meriam, we have a reason why he married as Redman and why the children were called Rudman. Jeremiah's father seems to have changed his surname halfway through having his children!!! In fact, "Rud, ruddy" is used for "red" in Wiltshire dialect, so it would not have excited much comment.
Although Jeremiah's son William was born a Rudman, he may subsequently have changed his name back to Redman or just used "Redman" for "Rudman". I have an ancestor from Melksham (my g.g.grandfather) called George Rudman (b. 1842) who regularly swapped between Redman and Rudman whenever the mood took him. He was born Rudman and his children were born Rudman, but he puts himself down on the Electoral register as Redman sometimes. According to family legend, we had in fact started out as the family Redman from Melksham (hence my interest in name changes).
If not entirely convincing, I hope my little theory about William Redman is interesting. Good luck in your research.
Kind regards
Dominic Rudman
PS Jeremiah lived to a ripe old age. He appears in the 1851 census aged 72 along with his wife aged 67, both still gainfully employed. Off the top of my head, I think both lived into their eighties.