Poll for Knights of the Shire

Source: Google Books. Poll of 1837, page 45.

Several members of the Oyler family show up in the Poll of 1837 for the election of Knights of the Shire to represent the Western Division of the County of Kent in Parliament. In Cranbrook district, George Oyler senior (1779-1861) appears first. He would be the brother of my 5th-great-grandfather Samuel Oyler, who appears as Samuel Oyler senior (1765-1840). Samuel junior would have been Samuel (1765)'s son, born in 1792. There are so many men named George and Samuel in this family it can often be confusing. As my 4th-great-grandfather George Oyler had already moved to America in 1837, I think it likely the second George Oyler on the poll may have been George (1779)'s eldest son, along with the Thomas Oyler listed.

Samuel (1765) had died by 1840, but it looks like he was still listed on the Poll of 1847. I find it interesting Samuel junior had a dog-kennel farm in Cranbrook. The Samuel listed in the Town of Cranbrook may have been a son of George, born in 1805.

Source: Google Books. Poll of 1847, page 35.

I have found a copy of the will of Samuel Oyler (1765-1840) at the UK National Archives, will be sharing that on the blog in the near future.

Rye

Source: British Museum. Town of Rye. Thomas Girtin, 1795.

The painting above shows the Town of Rye, England, the departure point for my 4th-great-grandfather George Oyler and family to America. Rye is located on the coast of East Sussex in south east England, at the confluence of the Brede, Rother and Tillingham Rivers.

Further information on the town of Rye and its history can be found at the Rye Museum website.

The proximity of Rye to the Oyler home area in Hawkhurst, Kent can be seen in the map below:

Source: Google Maps.

Sussex Connections

Source: The British Museum. The Sussex Downs. Edith Dawson, 1910/13.

Several siblings of my 4th-great-grandfather George Oyler made their homes in Sussex, England. His parents, Samuel Oyler and Elizabeth Standen Colville, had their first two children in Winchelsea, Sussex. George's younger sister Hannah married in Brighton, Sussex in 1844. George and his family departed England from nearby Rye in 1828.

George's brother David Oyler (born in 1798) married his first wife Maria Crane on 15 November 1819. David and Maria had possibly six children in Salehurst, Sussex:
1. Daniel Oyler (1820)
2. Edward Oyler (1821-1903)
3. David Daniel Oyler (1824)
4. Henry Oyler (1825)
5 & 6. twins John and Mary Oyler (1826) * (these two may have been children of David's second wife Mary Selves, the records are not clear).

Maria died around 1826. David married Mary Selves in England. They had two sons, William (1829) and George (1831) before immigrating to America in April 1832. They arrived on the Ship Ontario in New York on 9 April 1832.

Source: Ancestry. New York Passenger Lists.

David and Mary were joined by Edward, David Daniel, Henry, John, Mary, William, infant George, and Mary's brother George Selves. His family settled in Hamilton County, Ohio, near the family of his older brother George. They appear in the 1840 and 1850 US Census in Hamilton County.

1850 US Census, Hamilton County, Ohio.

David and Mary had six more children, all born in Ohio:
- Sarah Oyler (1834-1930)
- Maria Oyler (1836)
- Elizabeth Oyler (1837)
- Thomas T. Oyler (1839)
- David Oyler (1841)
- Jane Oyler (1843)

David died on 8 October 1858 in Hamilton County, Ohio.

Susanna Oyler (born in 1800), a sister of my 4th-great-grandfather George, also lived for a time in Sussex. She married William John Ongley on 22 June 1818 in Winchelsea, Sussex. They had three children before she passed away:
1. William Henry Ongley (1819)
2. John Thomas Ongley (1820)
3. Mary Elizabeth Ongley (1822)

The Ongley children immigrated with their father William John to America, with William Henry and John Thomas traveling first.

In looking back at the previous generation of the Oyler family, the family connections in England shift inland to neighboring Kent. The next post will cover the family of Samuel and Elizabeth Oyler.

Post run photo

Photo by A. Jones. Me turning the corner at Mile 4. 24 Nov 2016.

On Thanksgiving morning I ran the Alexandria Turkey Trot 5 mile race through our neighborhood in Del Ray. I had not planned to go fast, but I started at a 7:55 pace and finished in a new personal record since turning 40, running the 5 miles in 40:40. This made for a great start to the day.

John and Elizabeth

Source: Ancestry. NY Passenger Lists, 1820-1957. Image 797 of 1030.

When George Oyler and family arrived on the Schooner Fame at the Port of New York from Rye, England on 26 May 1828, they were accompanied by George's youngest brother John (born in December 1805) and his wife Elizabeth. The young couple had been married the year before, on 1 January 1827 in Staplehurst, Kent, England. Elizabeth's maiden name was Small.

Elizabeth Small Oyler was pregnant when she made the voyage from Rye to New York. She delivered a healthy daughter, also named Elizabeth, on 20 September 1828 in New York. They may have had another child in America, but I have not found the name.

It looks like John may have returned to England. He died before 1840, as he is listed as already deceased in the will of his father Samuel Oyler in July 1840. Samuel's will provided for two children of John Oyler living in 1840.

Elizabeth may have remained in America with her daughter. The younger Elizabeth Oyler married Robert A. Keen in Dearborn County, Indiana on 19 October 1847. Robert was a shoemaker, and they settled in Hamilton County, Ohio. She lived a long life and died on 27 June 1922 in Muncie, Indiana. For descendants of Elizabeth, she appears in many census records in Ohio and Indiana.

I owe quite a bit of thanks to the research of Hilary Jarvis. She has assembled a detailed history on the Oyler family in England.

For my next post I will look at other siblings of George in the Oyler family and their arrival in the US.

Revisiting the Oyler side of the tree

Source: Tate Museum. JMW Turner, Petworth, Sussex, the Seat of the Earl of Egremont. 1810.

A recent exchange with a distant cousin descended from the Oyler side of the tree has prompted me to look back at our English roots, before the Oylers ventured from Kent, England to the US in 1828. I previously posted about my 3rd-great-grandfather Samuel Oyler's arrival in the US with his parents and siblings. I have not spent much time writing about their early years in Kent. After digging around on Ancestry, I have started to clean up this side of the tree. There's quite a bit of history on the Oyler family. With renewed focus on family history, I will be bringing some of their stories to post.

Samuel Oyler was the son of George Oyler and Sarah Goble. He was born in Hawkhurst, Kent, England in 1822. George and Sarah were married in Benenden, Kent on 24 June 1815. The map below shows the location of these towns in the Borough of Tunbridge Wells.

Source: Google Maps.

According to his headstone in Harrison Township, Hamilton County, Ohio, George Oyler was born on 16 August 1795, but there is no record of his birth in the parish registers in Hawkhurst, Cranbrook or other neighboring communities or in Sussex Parish records. George Oyler was my 4th-great-grandfather.

George and Sarah had five sons while living in England.
1. George Goble Oyler
2. William G. Oyler
3. Daniel Oyler
4. Samuel Oyler, 1822-1863
5. Alfred Oyler

A month after arriving in the US, another son, George Washington Oyler was born in June 1828. They had a seventh son, John Oyler, in 1831. He died in 1832.

George and Sarah settled in Harrison Township, Hamilton County, Ohio. He made a visit back to England in 1838-1839, returning to New York on 3 April 1839 from London.

Sarah died on 27 June 1841. After her death, he married a woman named Sophia, who was born in October 1806. She died on 10 October 1864.

George and Sophia appear together in the 1850 US Census in Crosby Township, Hamilton County, Ohio.

In the 1860 US Census, George and Sophia appear in Harrison Township, Hamilton County, Ohio.

By 1870, George Sr. was hosting the family of his son Samuel, my 3rd-great-grandmother Marianna Haiss Oyler and three of her children.

George Oyler Sr died on 24 April 1883.

Source: Findagrave.

Turkey Trot

Source: Alexandria Turkey Trot Facebook, 2015 race.

The photo above is from the 2015 Alexandria Turkey Trot. I'm running once again tomorrow morning. This is such a fun race. The course covers five miles through our neighborhood in Del Ray, and will likely have over 5000 runners. Many of our friends run or cheer near the Avenue.

Unlike last year, I am not running to break a personal post-40 year record. This year I'm just running for fun and plan to enjoy it at a decent pace.

Thanksgiving Greetings

Source: NYPL Digital Collection. Postcard, 1908.

Marina del Rey

Photo by Patrick Jones. MdR, California. 16 Jul 2010.

Discovered Walls

Photo by Patrick Jones. Mural by Art of Karn for Beautify Earth.

Blogging has been really slow this month, partly due to travel & meetings, partly due to a continued disillusionment from the results of the November election. In an effort to shake out of the creative funk, I have been working on another photo book using Shutterfly. This one is titled Discovered Walls, and features some of my best street art photos from mid 2015 through last month. I have about 200 photos to sort through for this book.

I am really pleased with my previous two photo books, 2015's Art Around the World featuring street art photos and Go, See The World, completed in September 2016 featuring photos from my travels over the past 10 years. The kids have enjoyed these books too.

Art at the Novotel, Part 2

Photo by Patrick Jones. Painting by Agacharya.

Continuing with a series of photos from art at the Novotel connected to the Hyderabad International Convention Centre, here are three paintings by local Hyderabad artist Agacharya.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Painting by Agacharya. Novotel Hyderabad.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Painting by Agacharya.

The next two paintings are of Ganesha. I did not capture the name of the artist.

Photo by Patrick Jones.

Photo by Patrick Jones.

Art at the Novotel, Part 1

Photo by Patrick Jones. Painting by Satheesh Kanna.

During our meetings last week in India, a series of paintings in the adjoining Novotel to the Hyderabad International Convention Centre caught my eye. The paintings by Indian artist Satheesh Kanna show the holy city of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. More of his work can be seen at his blog.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Painting by Satheesh Kanna. Novotel, Hyderabad, India.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Painting by Satheesh Kanna. Novotel Hyderabad.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Painting by Satheesh Kanna.

I will have another set of photos from art at the Novotel in the next post.

El Galeón at Alexandria

Photo by Patrick Jones. Alexandria, VA. 12 Nov 2016.

A year ago we toured the French replica ship The Hermione when it visited the Alexandria Waterfront. With perfect blue skies as the backdrop, yesterday we toured the Spanish ship El Galeón. My Dad would have loved this. The 17th century replica was built between 2009-2010 at Huelva, Spain. Perhaps this is the type of ship my Spanish ancestors sailed on before arriving in Mexico and Chile.

Photo by Patrick Jones. El Galeón.

Photo by A. Jones. Impressive rigging and masts.

Photo by A. Jones. Cannon on the deck.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Allison and I on the deck of El Galeón.

Photo by A. Jones. Laura, Sophia and Mom.

Climb to Mahakali Temple

Photo by Patrick Jones. Mahakali Temple at Golkonda. 1 Nov 2016.

At the top of Golkonda Fortress is the Hindu temple Sri Jagadamba Mahakali. The temple is believed to be over 900 years old. When we started the climb to the top I did not know I would see the temple and its murals. Quite impressive and a spiritual place.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Mahakali Temple entrance.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Inside Mahakali Temple.

Photo by Patrick Jones. 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Mahakali Temple.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Mural of Kali.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Mural of Durga.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Painting at Mahakali Temple.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Climbing down from the temple.

Golkonda Fortress

Photo by Patrick Jones. Golkonda, Hyderabad, India. 1 Nov 2016.

I am back in Virginia from a long 10 days of meetings in Hyderabad, India. It feels like the poles have shifted and we're now in an alternate universe. This will take some time to process the change we are about to experience. I don't like where things are heading.

As today is Friday, I am happy to share some photos from a brief visit to the historic Golkonda fortress outside Hyderabad. The diamond mines of Golkonda are famous for the Hope Diamond, and several others now part of crown jewel collections in France, Iran and the United Kingdom.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Golkonda.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Climbing up to the fortress.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Golkonda fortress.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Gardens at Golkonda fortress.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Golkonda. 1 Nov 2016.

It took about an hour to climb to the top and back down. We could have spent longer there exploring the vast grounds. There is a very cool Hindu temple at the top, and I will share those photos in the next post.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Incredible views.

Photo by Patrick Jones. View from top of Golkonda.