of
Seaton and Uppingham, Rutlandshire
There are many Seaton families in England who appear to trace their origins back to villages or towns with the name Seaton. There is a Seaton in Cornwall, one near Edinburgh, and various others scattered around the British Isles. This story is concerned with the Seatons who seem to have originated in Seaton, Rutlandshire.
When we started research into our Seaton family, we were aware that grandfather Charles Thomas Seaton (or Gramps as we knew him) had lived for a time in Uppingham, Rutland and that his father was born there. As a preliminary part to our research, we made a journey to the town and visited the parish church to search the graveyard for Seaton gravestones. We had previously arranged with the vicar to view the parish records of Christenings, marriages and burials, that were still in his possession, and were delighted to find so many entries for the Seaton name, which we assumed were for members of Gramps' family.
We had in our possession a photograph of Gramps as a small boy standing outside a house in Uppingham, with his Seaton grandparents and other members of the family. The photograph postcard had a 1903 postmark and was addressed to Gramps' parents who lived in Leicester, where Gramps was born.
We soon discovered the house in Leicester Road, although the shrubbery had disappeared and the windows had been replaced with a different style. The photograph showed a sign board hung on the wall with the words 'Seaton - Hand Sewn Boot Maker'.
The next task was to pay a visit to the Leicestershire County Record Office, where we extracted many entries from the Uppingham parish registers. We searched the census records and trade directories and began to build up a picture of the Seaton family and discovered many of Gramps' cousins.
For the year 1765, we found our earliest entry for a baptism in the parish registers, that of Anne Seaton, the daughter of Thomas Seaton. Then there was a gap of thirteen years before the next. The earliest burial was in 1768, followed by a gap of twenty years. There were three Seaton marriages between 1728 and 1737, although the vicar had noted that none of the Seatons were 'of the parish'. There was then a gap of several years until the next marriage in 1802.
This suggested to us that our Seaton family were not an ancient Uppingham family and that they had probably moved in to the parish around 1765. The next step therefore was, before searching the parish registers for surrounding parishes, to look for what is known as a 'Settlement Certificate' for a Seaton coming to the parish. These documents are quite rare items to find as they were often discarded by the incumbents over the years, to make room in the parish chest for other documents. To our very great surprise, the very first one that we looked at was dated 1767 and read:
"To the Churchwardens and Overseers of the Poor of the Parish of Uppingham, we John Bollars, Samuel Freeman and David Allmey, Overseers of the Poor of the Parish of Seaton in the County of Rutland, do hereby own and acknowledge Thomas Seaton weaver, Ann his wife and John aged about fifteen years Thomas about thirteen years old William about nine years old Richard about seven years old and Ann about two years old their children, to be our Inhabitants legally settled in Seaton aforesaid .........."
These family details fitted in to the family tree that we had by then drawn up and we concluded that this was the Thomas Seaton that we were seeking.
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FOR THE SEATON FAMILY TREE
The possession of this document meant that, Thomas and his family would be accepted by the parish of Uppingham, as long as they could support themselves. The moment that they fell on hard times and were liable to become a financial burden to the people of their new parish, they would be conveyed back to their own parish of Seaton. The fact that the parish of Seaton accepted them as belonging to them, must have meant that Thomas at least had probably lived in Seaton all of his life. He and his family were therefore Seatons of Seaton, Rutlandshire.
As it happens, Thomas made his way in Uppingham and he and his descendants appear to have become fine upstanding members of the community.
During the course of our researches, we found many other Seatons, that did not appear to fit in to our family tree. Whether or not they can also be traced back to this Seaton, cannot be commented upon at the moment.
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Here follows a series of photographs that have survived, thanks to Robin Seaton, Tom's gran'pa.
Thomas Porter Seaton - born 1838
(Tom's gt gt gt grandfather)
Taverner Seaton - born 1873
after whom, Bruce and Debbie Seaton
named their son.
Annie Seaton,
daughter of Taverner Seaton,
aged 10 years
Uncertain as to whether this is Tom or Charles Seaton in the USA
Winfrey Ann Seaton
nee Reeson
born 1866 - died 1929
(Tom's gt gt grandmother)
James Pullen Seaton
born 1866
(Tom's gt gt grandfather)
James Pullen Seaton with his wife Winfrey Ann and daughter in law Jessie Seaton
at 97 Havelock Street, Leicester.
James Pullen Seaton
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ASSORTED RECORDS
Helen Mary Seaton was born 18 Jul 1962 at Chelmsford. She married Jess Arthur Jephcott 27 Sep 1986 at Colchester Registry Office. They were divorced. Helen re-married, her second husband being her second cousin, Graham Scanlen who lived in Taupo, New Zealand.
Robin Charles Seaton was born 27 Sep 1935 in Orpington, Kent. He married Daphne Mary Salts on 18 Jul 1959 at Oulton Broad.
Charles Thomas Seaton (Gramps) was born on 6 Mar 1891 in Leicester. He married Marion Annie Crouch on 13 Jul 1930 in Brixton. He was a merchant seaman.
Certificates Held
James Pullen Seaton, aged 22, a painter of Berners Street, Leicester, father Thomas Porter, shoemaker, married Winfrey Reeson, age 22, spinster, domestic servant, of Berners Street, father Eli Reeson, shoemaker, at St Peter's Church, Leicester, on 29 Apr 1888. Thomas Porter seems wrong as we know he was Thomas Porter Seaton. Both signed. Witnesses were Arthur Carr and Harriet Hudson.
Thomas Porter Seaton was born 23? Sep 1838 in Uppingham, Rutlandshire, son of Edward Seaton, lettercarrier and Mary Seaton (nee Porter) of Uppingham. She made a mark only.
Apprentice Indenture
James Pullen Seaton was apprenticed to George Cliff of Uppingham as a plumber, painter and glazier, in May 1881 for 5 years. Here follows a copy of the signatures.
Other information is held in text format here.
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030201