To research:
Independent 1835 to 1836 in OX/R287
Parish Registers ??? OX/R14
St Helen - SOG Reference 4 fiche 84731/1-4
From: Ed Hanson
From typescript at the Centre for Oxfordshire Studies
Also on SOG Reference OX/R39 (and original on Film 649-50)
(C1565-1956, M 1569-1943, B 1566-1964, Bns 1755-1942) from typescript at the Centre for Oxfordshire Studies
Baptisms:
1742 Aug 01 Thomas Holland STRANGE, s Thomas & Mary. Note: Is this the Thomas and Mary that Elizabeth HOLLAND left everything to in her will of 1747 (at the end of this page; was she Mary's mother perhaps?
1752 May 07 Mary STRANGE, d Thomas & Hester
1754 Dec 05 Thomas STRANGE, s Thomas & Hester
1756 Feb 22 Zimran STRANGE, natural son of Ann MESSAM
1788 Jul 13 Harriot Hatley STRANGE, dau William & Elizabeth, coach-maker
1788 Oct 06 Sophia STRAINGE, d Hannah Ricketts
1792 Mar 18 William STRAINGE, s Hannah Ricketts
1796 Feb 28 Enias STRAINGE, s Hanah RICKETTS, illegit.
1798 Oct 07 Thomas Holland STRAINGE, s Thomas & Hannah
1800 Aug 03 Mary Newbery STRAINGE, d Tho. & Anna
1802 Jan 06 Caroline Esther STRAINGE, d Tho. & Anna
1821 Mar 11 Thomas Eneas STRAINGE, s Eneas & Elizabeth, farmer
1822 Dec 25 Sophia Hannah STRAINGE, d Eneas & Elizabeth, farmer, Benson
1825 Apr 10 Mary STRAINGE, d Aneas & Elizabeth, lab, Benson
1827 Dec 25 Elizabeth STRANGE, d Eneas & Elizabeth, lab, Benson
1831 Oct 09 Adelaide Esther STRANGE, d Enos & Elizabeth, lab, Benson
1832 Nov 13 William STRANGE, s Enos & Elizabeth, lab, Benson
1835 Jul 19 Marianne Adelaide STRANGE, d Enos & Elizabeth, lab, Benson
1841 Jul 04 George Anderson Cooper STRANGE, illegit s Sophia
1847 Sep 26 Mary STRANGE, d Elizabeth, spinster, privately
1869 Feb 11 Emma Sophia STRANGE, d William & Emma, butcher
1870 Oct 28 Gertrude STRANGE, d William & Emma, butcher
1873 Apr 09 Kate STRANGE, d William & Emma, butcher
1873 Sep 18 William Edwin STRANGE, s William & Emma, butcher
1875 Sep 03 Alfred James STRANGE, s William & Emma, butcher
1876 Nov 30 Frank STRANGE, s William & Emma, butcher
1878 Apr 26 Grace Adelaide STRANGE, d William & Emma, butcher
1880 Jul 11 Herbert STRAINGE, s William & Emma, butcher
1883 Dec 02 Edgar STRAINGE, s William & Emma, butcher, born 4 Sep 1883
Marriages:
1763 Apr 28 Thomas ADAMS, labourer, & Mary STRANGE, spinster (witnesses: Thomas CLARK, John JORDAN)
1764 Oct 09 William HOBBS, mason, & Ann STRANGE, spinster(witnesses: John FOSTER, John JORDAN)
1780 Jan 02 William STRANGE & Margarett JORDAN, (witnesses: Thos. SMITH, William WILLIS)
1780 Apr 13 Henry NEWBERRY, bachelor, & Mary STRANGE, spinster, by lic. (witnesses: Thos. COLES, Charlotte COZENS)
1797 Nov 23 Thomas STRAINGE & Anna RICKETTS (X), m by lic., (witnesses: Henry NEWBERRY, Mary NEWBERRY)
1840 Aug 16 George COOPER otp & Hannah Sophia STRAINGE otp, banns called (only once)
1846 Jun 28 Thomas STRANGE (signs STRAINGE), full age, bachelor, otp, labourer, s Enos, labourer, m by banns, & CarolinePOLDEN, full age, spinster, otp, d John, labourer (witnesses: James POLDEN, Martha KISSEY)
1892 Dec 11 Walter YOUNG, 32, bachelor otp, labourer, son of Gabriel, tailor, by banns, & Harriet WHITEMAN, 42, widow, otp, shop keeper, dau Jeremiah STRANGE, plate layer (witnesses: Henry JONES, Bertha WHITEMAN)
1901 Dec 26 George MacKAY, 25, bachelor, St Mary Magdalen, Chiswick, engineer's turner, s Isaac, Prudential Society's agent, by banns & Kate STRAINGE, 29, spinster otp, dau William, butcher (witnesses: John MacKAY, Emma STRAINGE)
1904 Sep 20 William Brackley SMITH, 49, widower otp, parish clerk, s William, thatcher, decd, by banns & Emma Sophia STRAINGE, 36, spinster otp, dau William, butcher, decd (witnesses: J.C.S. SMITH, G.A. STRAINGE)
1906 Sep 05 Howard PAICE, 34, bachelor, of Bishops Waltham, Hants, chemist, s Henry Richard, brewer, decd., by banns, & Grace Adelaide STRAINGE, 28, spinster otp, dau William, butcher, decd (witnesses: Emma Sophia SMITH, Alfred James STRAINGE)
Burials:
1743 Apr 07 Thomas Holland STRANGE, s Thomas & Mary
1747/8 Jan 14 Mary STRANGE, w Thomas (aff. taken by Mr Benj PRICHARD)
1783 Mar 01 George STRANGE
1790 Mar 29 Esther STRAINGE, w Thomas
1797 Apr 28 Thomas STRANGE
1806 Jul 28 Henrietta STRAINGE, d Thomas & Hannah
1806 Nov 12 Hannah STRAINGE, w Thomas
1832 Oct 10 Mary STRAINGE, age 7, Benson
1833 Apr 25 Adelaide Esther STRANGE, age 2, Benson
1841 Aug 13 Thomas STRAINGE, 86 yrs
1843 Mar 31 Mary Newbery STRAINGE, 42 yrs
1847 Oct 07 Mary STRANGE, infant
1848 Nov 09 Adelaide STRANGE, 13 yrs
1850 Feb 22 Sophia STRANGE, 60 yrs
1866 Dec 16 Elizabeth STRAINGE, 68 yrs
1880 Oct 27 Eneas STRAINGE, 84 yrs
1904 Oct 20 William STRAINGE, 72 yrs
1930 Oct 26 Emma STRAINGE, 87 yrs, West View
From Ed Hanson
Subject: STRAINGE of Benson, OXF
My mother's family were the STRAINGE's of Benson, OXF. The first by that name there was Thomas STRAINGE whose eldest son was baptised there in 1742. Thomas himself was a tallow chandler who made a couple of good marriages and by the time he wrote his will was classified as a gentleman. Through apprenticeship records, I was able to get back to his 1718 baptism in nearby Watlington, where I can track the line to his great-grandfather, Thomas STRANGE/STRAINGE, who was married in 1661. Lots of information, but lots of children who seem to disappear too.
The spelling of STRAINGE with the "i" is fairly unusual, and I am particularly collecting information on the several families which use that spelling. In addition to the Benson family, there were others in Kingston (Staines and probably Hampton), Bristol, Weston-on-the-Green (Yarnton and Ducklington).
My grandfather went out to America in 1906, and I lived in the Boston, Mass., area until recently. This year I am living at Cuddesdon, near Oxford, and having been taking advantage of the Oxfordshire History Centre and am copying STRANGE/STRAINGE entries from the parish register transcripts there.
That is my lot in Benson; the William who showed up in the 1851 census in Wallingford as an apprentice butcher was my great-grandfather. He returned to Benson, where the 1861 census shows him as both butcher and beer seller. The "Enoc" (which I have transcribed as "Enos") was his father, actually Eneas STRAINGE. He, in turn, was the illegitimate son of the Thomas STRAINGE in the 1841 census.
1851 Census Wallingford.Oxon
At St Peters Church Lane, Wallingford Oxon
Wm. STRANGE s 16 Journeyman/ Butcher b Benson Oxon
1851 Census Benson Oxon
Thomas STRANGE H M 30 Ag Lab. b Benson
Caroline STRANGE wife 30 b Benson
Enoc STRANGE H M 55 Ag Lab b Benson Oxon
Elizabeth STRANGE. wife 55 b Benson Oxon
Sophia STRANGE daughter 29 S b Benson Oxon
George STRANGE son 10 b Benson
+John Chamberlain wid 57 A/L b Benson
Charles Chamberlain son 21 A/L b Benson
1861 Census for Bradfield.(Benson)
Living at 2 High St, Benson Oxon
Enoc STRANGE H M 65 Ag Lab b Benson Oxon
Elizabeth STRANGE wife 64 b Chilton Oxon
Elizabeth J STRANGE g/daughter 3 b Arundel Sussex
Living at "Red Lion, High Street, Benson Oxon
William STRAINGE H S 26 Butcher/Beerseller. b Benson
Ed says: My own main Strange research interest remains the Strange/Strainge family of Benson, Oxon. Recently (April 2002) I tracked a branch which married into the Cherrill family and then emigrated to the United States. A great-granddaughter of that couple was the 1930s actress Virginia Cherrill, who married among others) Cary Grant and the Earl of Jersey. So, a distant connection, but Virginia was indeed a Strange descendant.
The Will of Elizabeth HOLLAND of Benson, 1745
What is the real answer to the connection of the Strainge family of Benson and the Hollands? Here is the will of Elizabeth Holland, who left her whole estate to Thomas & Mary Strainge, although the bequest seems to have been later challenged in the Courts of Chancery.
In the name of God Amen I Elizabeth Holland of the Parish of Benson in the county of Oxford widow being but in an ill State of health but of Sound and perfect ind memory and understandingdo make this my last Will and Testament in manner and form following that is to say ffirst I give and devise unto Thomas Strainge of Benson aforesaid Chandler and Mary his Wife All my ffreehold Estate situate lyeing and being in the said parish of Benson in the said County of Oxford, for and during their two joint lives and after the death of either of them then I give and devise my said ffreehold Estate to the Survivor of them the said Thomas Strainge and Mary his Wife and to the Heirs and Assigns of such survivor for ever, And all the rest and residue of my Real and personal Estate of what nature or kind soever or wheresoever And all my household Goods, Plate Linnen Chattells Debts and Effects I give devise and bequeath unto the said Thomas Strainge and his Heirs and Assigns for ever and I do hereby nominate and appoint the said Thomas Strainge full and sole executor of this my last Will and Testament hereby revoking all former and other Wills by me at any time before made And I do hereby declare this to be my last Will and Testament. In Witness whereof I have hereunto Sett my hand and Seal this Eleventh day of March in the nineteen year of the reign of King George the Second and in the year of our Lord one thousand Seven hundred and forty five
In Chancery. Richard Alexander complaint. and Elizabeth Holland Thos. Strainge & others. Defts. At the Execucon. of a Comission for Examination of Witnesses in this Cause this Paper writing was produced and shawn to John Wise Gentl. and by him deposed unto at the time of his Examincion as a Witness in this Cause.
(Oxfordshire Record Office: W. Pec. 69/2/23).
