Gant One Name Study

GANT website

Linda — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:45:03 +0000

After rather a long break, my Gant One Name Study website is finally back online, currently showing details of 5,140 individuals and 1,723 Gant families – I will add more people to the site as often as I can.

Huge apologies to anyone who has written to me in the past 18 months or so, and has not received a reply. If you’d like to write again, I will reply as soon as I can.

Andrew Edwin Gant

Linda — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:30:54 +0000

At Sittingbourne Council School (Kent, England) between 1904 and 1912, Andrew Gant had 8 years of perfect attendance. To mark this distinction, he had 8 bars added to his School Attendance medal. He was also presented with a splendid brass bound writing box with a commemorative plate (pictured).
Source: Countryman Magazine, March 2006

Andrew Edwin Gant (5th Jan 1899 – Jan 1992) was the son of David Gant and Charlotte Luckhurst, and descends from James Gant and Frances Curson, who married in 1807 in Whiting, Norfolk.

E Gant, Dovercourt, Essex

Linda — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 19:38:18 +0000

The image on the left is of a milk bottle, with the words “E Gant, Vicarage Farm, Dovercourt”. It’s of the type normally seen in England during the 1950s.

I have yet to positively identify this E Gant, though I’m assuming that it’s Ernest GANT (1896 – 1969). Many of Ernest’s family were farmers in Dovercourt, and apparently an Ernie GANT farmed land opposite Tollgate in Dovercourt in the 1940s. If anyone can confirm the identity of this “E Gant”, I’d be extremely grateful.

Greenard or Gant?

Linda — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 23:06:18 +0000

Rodney Kimberley Greenard GANT is a bit of a mystery. He was born in July 1901 in Ipswich, and registered in Sept Qtr 1901 as Rodney Kimberley GREENARD. According to the IGI, he was the son of Edward Marshall GREENARD and Jessie Susan WARNER. Edward and Jessie are on the 1901 census in Ipswich with several children – no Rodney of course, as he would have been born later that year. Jessie Susan GREENARD’s death is registered in June Qtr 1906 in Ipswich, and according to the IGI, Edward Marshall GREENARD died in 1917 in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. At least 2 of the older children also died in Canada, so they may have gone with Edward after Jessie’s death.

No problems so far… except that Rodney uses the surname GANT, not GREENARD.

Rodney’s Navy Service Record Card (shown above) clearly has his surname as GANT.
Rodney Kimberley Greenard GANT married Mary McNiece NISBET in 1924 in Brisbane, Australia.
Maxwell Rodney Greenard GANT was born in Brisbane in 1927, presumably the son of Rodney and Mary.
Rodney Kimberley GANT and Mary McNiece GANT are listed on the Australian Electoral Rolls between 1930 and 1936 in New South Wales, Australia.
Rodney Kimberley G. GANT died in 1961 in Parramatta District, New South Wales. His parents’ names are shown on the index as George and Lucy – not Edward and Jessie as would have been expected.

So the question is – why GANT, and who are George and Lucy? I can find no record of a suitable George GANT marrying a Lucy, otherwise I would have assumed that Rodney was taken in by a George and Lucy GANT after his mother died. More research is definitely needed.

Caroline Gant, Convict

Linda — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 17:41:35 +0000

The convict records have at last arrived, delayed no doubt by Royal Mail’s industrial action. They were worth the wait though as I now know that Caroline was indeed from my family. Caroline Gant was my Great Great Aunt, the younger sister of my Great Grandfather William Gant. The convict records give her age as 19, but I think she may have been nearer 16 judging by the entries on the 1841 and 1851 censuses.

She was convicted at Ipswich Quarter Sessions in January 1852, sentenced to 10 years hard labour, and transported to Tasmania. Her crime – “Stealing a Petticoat and a Jacket from a Little Boy”. She seemed to be a bit of a rebel! Her conduct on the ship was described as “fair”, all the others on the page were “good”. She was sentenced to an additional 4 months hard labour for “insolence”, and she absconded at least once while in Tasmania, earning her another 3 months hard labour and a spell in the House of Correction in Launceston. She married John Smith and had 2 sons, William and Samuel, in 1854 and 1856. Unfortunately that wasn’t the end of her life of crime as she was convicted of “Larceny under £5″ in 1861, and sentenced to another 9 months hard labour.

Cosford Marriage Challenge

Linda — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 14:32:46 +0000

Many thanks to Sandra, a member of the Guild of One Name Studies who has completed a Guild Marriage Challenge for Cosford Registration District. I have received through the post 62 (yes, sixty two!) faux marriage certificates for Gant marriages taking place in Cosford between 1837 and 1911. There’s a huge amount of information on these certificates which has all been added to my database.

Convict transported to Tasmania

Linda — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 21:13:55 +0000

Ancestry.co.uk have recently added a database of convicts transported to Australia. There are only a couple of entries for Gants, but one of them is a Caroline Gant tried and convicted in Ipswich, Suffolk and transported to Tasmania in 1852 aboard the Sir Robert Seppings – thanks to Liz for drawing this entry to my attention!

It’s highly likely that this is my Great Great Aunt Caroline Gant, younger sister of my Great Grandfather William Gant. He had five younger sisters, two of whom died in childhood, and the surviving sisters Eliza, Caroline and Matilda seemed to have vanished off the face of the earth after the 1851 census when the family were living in Ipswich. If the convict Caroline is in fact from my family, then maybe her sisters followed her to Tasmania at a later date.

I now have to wait for the convict records to arrive from Tasmania – there’s a 9 week backlog apparently, so that takes us at least to the end of September. Naturally I hope she’s from my family, but if not, I’ll make sure I reunite her with her relatives!

Gant’s Dairy, Elmer, New Jersey, USA

Linda — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 19:26:11 +0000

The photo on the left shows a milk bottle top from Gant’s Dairy in Elmer, NJ. The bottle top was probably made from cardboard and is thought to date from either the 1950s or 1960s.

Gant’s Cottages, Mileham, Norfolk

Linda — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 19:24:15 +0000

The 1840 tithe map valued by William Beck of Mileham and John Beck of Longham shows what are now known as Litchfield Cottages owned by William Gant and rented to William Bell and another. What is now Grenstein Farm is called ‘Beck’s Farm’. Eastview is owned by Richard Gant and rented to William Bird and others. The pightle (parcel of land) is owned by Mary Griggs and used by Richard Gant and Charles Alby. Richard Gant also uses Neatherd land, Holly Field, Graver’s bungalow field as well as owning Baines farm and land at Beeston. William Gant owns fields at Beeston and the last house in the village opposite the chalet.

Gant’s alley, Rotherhithe, Surrey

Linda — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 19:05:32 +0000

Source: Street Index, Boyle’s View of London, and its Environs; 1799