Seeley family

Hi, I have been researching my Seeley family tree for many years now and have traced the family back to the 1600s AD. The Seeley family came to Coventry in the 1700s. Many individuals with the Seeley name in Coventry now are more than likely related. Happy to share information if I can. David

My grandmother's name was Oldham and although she was born in Stoney Stratford her family originated from farms between Barford and Wellesbourne. Nearly all the males in the family had had Seeley in their names since the 1700s. I acquired a large chunk of family tree to which I was able to establish a link from a woman who had written a booklet on the Seeley-Oldhams which starts in the early 1600s. Although my grandmother did live in Coventry from 1918 until she died in 1932 I am not aware of any other Seeley-Oldham links with the city. Do you think there is any connection with your branch?

The lady you refer to and I are good friends and I supplied her with a lot of information she either had or had made a mistake with on the details - have you seen her book with the photos? There were several ~SEELEY brothers farming in Barford and Wasperton areas, one branch of the family has no male heirs and their last daughter Sarah Seeley married John Oldham of Coventry. The brothers of John Seeley formed their own separate family groups, one of them, another John Seeley, made their way to Coventry, this would have been my ggg grandfather. Regards David

I've just found this thread. Sarah Seeley and John Oldham were my 7x gr grandparents. I have no information further back than them and would love to hear from anyone who has and also is it possible to get a copy of the book mentioned? We were in Warwickshire this last weekend and visited Wasperton where their son John Seeley Oldham and his wife are buried and where their children including my 5x gr grandmother Sarah Oldham was baptised . We also went to Holy Trinity in Stratford, where Shakespeare is buried and I have to admit I was more moved by the fact that John Seeley Oldham, my 6x gr grandfather and his granddaughter Mary Dadley my 4x gr grandmother were married there. Sarah Seeley is currently the furthest I have got with my direct female line and I was very excited to find this thread.

Hi Sylvia, It has been some time since I was on this site and pleased to see your post - If you have been reading these posts you will see that I have been researching my maternal SEELEY ancestors for many years now. I carried on looking into the family as I was interested in understanding how the Seeley name was carried on for so many years by members of the Oldham family continuing to use Seeley in there name, a bit like me really - my mother was EILEEN VERA SEELEY, and many years ago I had my name officially changed to include the Seeley name. First of all where are you? (UK?) I have never bothered to put my tree on line but I have a lot of information I could send to you if I know where you are - The site will not let us exchange email addresses which is what I need to be able to send you info. When you were in Wasperton did you visit the family home HEATHCOTE FARM ?

Hi MICK, the answer is YES, there is as family connection and I am a friend of Jennifer Hurlston Crockford the lady who wrote the book you are referring to. I have provided her with a lot of information she did not have about the SEELEY side of the family. It is strange to see that you are from Coventry - that is where I was born and brought up before moving to Blackpool. HOW CAN I HELP YOU? David

Thanks David -the details provided by Jennifer enabled me to make the link with my grandmother. Her grandfather was Samuel Seeley Hawkes Oldham b1840 and he was the son of John Seeley Oldham III 1808-1853 and his second wife. His grave is immediately outside Moreton Morrell Church and he farmed at Moreton Morrell Hall. As I said previously my grandmother, Lillian, was born in Stoney Stratford after her father, a carpenter, had moved to work at Wolverton Carriage Works. She met my grandfather during World War I and they set up home in Coventry. My mother lived in Coventry all her life and so have I. Lillian's brothers had the Seeley name but it does not appear to have continued into the next generation. As a rider to this story, after my grandmother died of TB in 1932 my grandfather remarried and after the blitz moved to Blackpool with his wife and his son [my uncle] who died in 2003. In a fortnight's time I will be visiting my aunt in Bispham for her 90th birthday!

Mick, Thanks for your reply, IF YOU HAD TIME, I LIVE NOT 10 minutes from BISPHAM - you could gain quite a lot of info from my files David

Hi - yes all the SEELEY OLDHAMS get their SEELEY name from my family group of SEELEYs - one of the last females in one family group was SARAH SEELEY - she married a JOHN OLDHAM from Coventry 24th November 1709 @ Newbold Pacey - due to the amount of JOHN SEELEY OLDHAMS christened in the many years after, their first child born in 1710 at Wasperton becomes JOHN SEELEY OLDHAM I SARAH b 1688 was the only surviving daughter of JOHN SEELEY II and SARAH (Hawes). JOHN SEELEY II was the son of JOHN SEELEY I b1628 Wasperton. Lot of history that goes with this side of the family [1st farmer of Heathcote Farm, Wasperton (still standing) built for him circa 1666 as tenant farmer and land agent for Sir Thomas Rawlinson who was Knight, Alderman and later Sheriff and Lord Mayor of London] - helpful? David

My mother's grandfather, Charles John Oldham, born Birmingham 1875, was descended from John Seeley Oldham born 1795 in Solihull. His father, I believe, was John Seeley Oldham born 1764 at Newbold Pacey who married Betty Overton. I have become very interested in my Oldham family name and would love to share information and learn from other members about this interesting family genealogy. I would also like to learn more about the Coventry Oldhams and discover what link, if any, there may be with my Birmingham Oldhams. My Birmingham born and bred grandmother once told me that her beloved talking parrot was killed by a cat in Coventry so there must be a link somewhere! I have sifted my family tree and and have not been able to find a direct link but the possibility has intrigued me for years.

Hello, is anyone still following this thread? My name is Seeley and I would be interested to contact anyone who is also a Seeley (or a Stratford) with links to Coventry. Regards Tom S

Hi Tom, welcome to the forum. The other members posted some time ago but that doesn't mean that they don't still drop in every now and then. Others may see your comment and have something to add but it sometime takes a bit of time. If you activate your contact button people can email your forum account but won't know your true email. You can set it up to sit here in your inbox and/or be forwarded to your personal email. You might also try to contact people directly by pressing their contact button but it might be an old email address or it might just sit in a mail box here depending on their settings. In theory, if you press 'See all posts by this member' below their names you can read mick or seeley-jones comments but it doesn't seem to be working right now. However you can look for their names in 'Members' on the upper right and you can read all the comments they've made by clicking on the number, eg 22. Hope that helps Helen