Charles and Edith married in 1918. They settled in her hometown of Long Melford. This is an ancient parish that archaeological finds date to at least 8300 BC.

Charles Oxborough

Born: 1 SEP 1894 in Wissett, Suffolk County, England

Father: Frederick Oxborough (1858 to 1936)
Mother: Ellen Elizabeth Winter (1860 to 1929)

Spouse: Edith May Borrett (1895 to 1975)

Married: 1918 in Long Melford, Suffolk County, England

Children:

Dorothy May Oxborough (7 JUN 1919 to 2004)
Joy Elizabeth Oxborough (1926 to 26 DEC 2008)
Noel Charles Oxborough (25 DEC 1929 to 21 MAY 1999)
Margaret M Oxborough (1932 to Unknown/Still Living)

Died: 1969 in Long Melford, Suffolk County, England

Timeline:

1901 Wissett, Suffolk County, England
1911 Wissett, Suffolk County, England
1912 Death of brother, Bertie
1918 Marriage to Edith
1919 Birth of daughter, Dorothy
1926 Birth of daughter, Joy
1929 Death of mother, Ellen
1929 Birth of son, Noel
1932 Birth of daughter, Margaret
1936 Death of father, Frederick
1939 Long Melford, Suffolk County, England
1947 Death of brother, William
1969 Death and Burial

Occupation: general laborer

Records:

1901 and 1911 England Census Records
1939 England and Wales Register
England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915
England & Wales, Marriage Index: 1916-2005
England & Wales, Death Index: 1916-2005

Variations of Surname: Oxborrow (birth index), Oxbrough (1901)

Spouse:

Edith May Borrett:

Edith was born on 11 AUG 1895 in Long Melford, Suffolk County, England. She died in 1975 in Long Melford, Suffolk County, England.

Edith’s father was Henry Borrett. He was born in 1850 in Nayland, Suffolk County, England. He died in 1924 in Long Melford, Suffolk County, England.

Edith’s mother was Elizabeth Hardy. She was born in 1858 in Long Melford, Suffolk County, England. She died in 1925 in Long Melford, Suffolk County, England.

Edith had five brothers and sisters:

Kate Borrett (1893)
Lily Borrett (1897)
Henry Borrett (1899)
Albert Borrett (1901 to 1901)
Bertie Borrett (1901)

Henry Borrett had previously married Mary Upson in 1869 in Long Melford, Suffolk County, England. Five known children were born to this marriage. The oldest and youngest children were born in Long Melford. The three other children were born in Earls Colne, Essex County, England.

Edgar Borrett (1872)
Elizabeth Borrett (1876)
John Borrett (1878)
Arthur Borrett (1879)
William Borrett (1882 to 1883)

Daughters:

Dorothy May Oxborough:

Dorothy was born on 7 JUN 1919 in Long Melford, Suffolk County, England. She died in 2004 in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk County, England.

Dorothy married a man named George E Harrison in 1944 in Long Melford, Suffolk County, England. I have no information on George. I do not know if any children were born into this marriage.

Joy Elizabeth Oxborough:

Joy was born in 1926 in Long Melford, Suffolk County, England. She died on 26 DEC 2008 in Long Melford, Suffolk, England.

Joy married Edwin Harry Neale in 1953 in Long Melford, Suffolk County, England. I do not know if any children were born into this marriage.

Edwin Harry Neale was born on 13 OCT 1926 in Tendring, Essex County, England. He died on 1 JAN 1984 in Long Melford, Suffolk County, England.

I have no other information on Edwin except that his mother’s maiden name was Woodgate.

Margaret M Oxborough:

Margaret was born in 1932 in Long Melford, Suffolk County, England. I do not know when she died.

Margaret married Harry Charles Adams in 1957 in Long Melford, Suffolk County, England. I do not know if any children were born into this marriage.

Harry Charles Adams was born on 2 APR 1923 in Long Melford, Suffolk County, England. He died in 2006 in Long Melford, Suffolk County, England.

I have no other information on Harry except that his mother’s maiden name was King.

I could not find a death record for Margaret in Suffolk County, England. She may still be living.

Margaret and Harry may have divorced and she remarried. I could find no other marriage record for Harry showing that he remarried.

Long Melford:

After Charles and Edith married in 1918, they settled in Edith’s hometown of Long Melford, Suffolk County, England. They lived in this parish until they died in 1969 and 1975.

When I research my ancestors, I try to visualize where they lived. What was parish life like? Where did they work? Questions like that.

I found a website called Suffolk Heritage Explorer. On this site is a publication by Wendy Goult entitled Survey of Suffolk Parish History.

The survey encompasses “local history including administration, landscape, social, religious and economic characteristics, and covers a time-span from the earliest archaeology to modern times.”

As I viewed the information for Long Melford, I discovered many interesting facts:

In 1086, the Domesday Book recorded a total of 63 landowners for Long Melford.

From 1451 to 1482, Long Melford’s occupations included “one tailor, three fullers, and one cordwainer.”

From 1500 to 1640, Long Melford’s agriculture included:

“wood–pasture region, mainly pasture, meadow, engaged in rearing and dairying with some pig-keeping, horse breeding, and poultry. Crops mainly barley with some wheat, rye, oats, peas, vetches, hops, and occasionally hemp. This area also had a weaving industry to fall back on.”

In 1912, Long Melford had “one hotel, three beer retailers, and eleven public houses”.

The Suffolk Pubs website has a great description of the parish including past and present beer retailers and pubs. There is also a Guide to Long Melford on The Tourist Trail website.

Notes:

The surname, Oxborough, originated in Norfolk County, England. It appears in church registers as early as the mid-16th Century. As the world population grew, these Oxborough ancestors moved to other counties in England. By the late 19th Century, some had immigrated to Canada and Australia.

Creating Your Family Tree:

Interested in building a great family tree? Remember these important steps:

Look in your photo albums. You may have old pictures that your parents or grandparents gave you. Or, ask them for copies of photos that they have in their possession. Many people will write names and dates on the backs of photographs. Letters, diaries, and family bibles are also excellent sources for vital records.

Talk to your older relatives to find out about your ancestry. They may relate stories about an ancestor that you can add to your family tree. Family history is usually not found in newspapers. It is more of a verbal memory passed down from generation to generation.

Find the right family tree builder that suits your needs. You can choose one that has a paid subscription like Ancestry.com. There are also free sites like FamilySearch.org.

When you start building your family tree, add documentation to your ancestor’s profile. Records should include birth, marriage, death, census, military, city, and county directory listings. Any information that you can find will help create a life story about your ancestors.

If you have a unique surname, you may find databases on the internet that are useful in your search. I use SurnameDB.com for my English surnames. There are other websites on the internet for countries like Italy and Germany.

Genealogy is the study of a person’s “line of descent.” As you create your family tree, you would start with one individual and go “back into time.” You would add their parents, grandparents, and so on. There are also family trees that go “forward into time.” Many of these family trees start with a famous person, such as a president or royalty. They would then move forward into the present time. The purpose of this type of pedigree is to establish a person’s bloodline with that famous person.

There is no limit on how big your family tree can grow. The blank canvas is there for you to use. Cherish your family history, and it will be there for generations to come!