Downs and Butler Family Census Returns

The Downs Family in Census Returns

Windmills to Railways

Census returns, maintained by The National Archives, can be viewed at the Ancestry family history website.
Note: In the 1841 census, the age was rounded down to the nearest five for those aged 15 or over.

Name Age   Occupation Born in County?
1841 census – Lodge Farm, Odiham, Hampshire     Reference: HO107/395/15 (folio 12, p. 18)
Dennis Downs 45 Farmer N
Martha Downs 40   N
Sarah Downs 16   Y
Ann Downs 12   Y
John Downs 5 months Y
John Bird 20 Ag Lab Y
Notes: On 9 August 1817 the parish register for St Michael’s Church, Basingstoke, recorded the marriage of Denis Downs, bachelor, and Martha Hannah Whistler, spinster, both of the parish, by licence with consent of parents, witnessed by Mary Whistler (the younger sister of the bride) and James Curtis.
For Denis and his wife Martha the census return gave the response No for ‘whether born in same county’. Denis and Martha were both from Basingstoke and therefore were born in the county of Hampshire. Possibly, for this census return, the response indicates ‘whether born in the district of Odiham’.
Martha’s sister Sarah, the wife of John Butler, is shown in transcribed census returns for the Butler family.
A local history, compiled in 1932, states: ‘Lodge Farm, in North Warnborough [half-a-mile to the north of Odiham], is a beautiful 15th century house. It was a hunting lodge in Elizabethan times and contains a fine old panelled room’. In 1929 the owner of Lodge Farm discovered fragments of Roman pottery. This led to excavations by archaeologists that revealed the remains of a Roman house (Odiham and its Surroundings, edited by M. Gotelee, 1932, pp. 18, 31 & 33).

1851 census – Chapel Terrace, Odiham, Hampshire     Reference: HO107/1680 (folio 112, p. 24)
Martha H Downs Head Widow 52 Farmer 100 acres
4 labourers
Basingstoke
Sarah Ann Downs Daughter Unmarried 26   Odiham
Ann Downs Daughter Unm 22   Odiham
John Downs Son   10 Scholar Odiham
 
1861 census – North Warnborough, Odiham, Hampshire     Reference: RG9/706 (folio 39, p. 26)
Martha H Downs Head Widow 62 Farmer of 270 acres
employs 7 labourers and 2 boys
Basingstoke
Sarah A Harris Daughter Widow 36 Annuitant Odiham
Ann Downs Daughter Unm 32 Farmer's daughter Odiham
John Downs Son Unm 20 Apprenticed Plumber Odiham
Notes: William Ireland Harris and Sarah Ann Downs were married in 1853 (FreeBMD website).

1871 census – Church St, Basingstoke     Reference: RG10/1234 (folio 56, p. 17)
Thomas Harris Head Married 55 Coal Merchant Sherborne St John
Alice A Harris Daughter Unm 18 Dressmaker Basingstoke
Frank W Harris Son Unm 15 Clerk to timber merchant Basingstoke
Bessie Harris Daughter   10 Scholar Basingstoke
Nellie Harris Daughter   7 Scholar Basingstoke
Martha Downs Mother-
in-law
Widow 74 Formerly Farmer's wife Basingstoke
Martha Goodyear Servant   14 General domestic servant Nutley
Notes: The same census page recorded the household of Albert Portsmouth and his sister Harriet who were the nephew and niece of Martha Downs (their mother Mary was Martha’s sister).


The Butler Family in Census Returns

Windmills to Railways
Pennsylvania

Census returns, maintained by The National Archives, can be viewed at the Ancestry family history website.

Note: Place names are in Hampshire unless otherwise stated.

Name Age   Occupation Born in County?
1841 census – Summers Farm, Long Sutton, Hampshire     Reference: HO107/395/1 (folio 4, p. 3)
John Butler 38 Farmer Y
Sarah Butler 37   Y
John Butler 10   N
Sarah Butler 13   N
Ann Butler 12   N
William Butler 9   N
Mary Butler 7   N
Henry Butler 4   N
George Butler 3   Y
Charles Butler 2   Y
Notes: Long Sutton is a village near Odiham.
On 22 February 1827 the parish register of St Michael’s Church, Basingstoke, recorded the marriage of John Butler of Odiham and Sarah Whistler of Basingstoke, by licence, in the presence of the witnesses George Whistler (the brother of Sarah) and his wife Mary.

Name and relation to
Head of household
Marital
Status
Age   Occupation Birth Place
1851 census – Rotherwick, Hampshire     Reference: HO107/1680 (folio 384, p. 10)
John Butler Head Married 48 Farmer of 300 acres
employing 4 labourers
Basing
Sarah Butler Wife Married 47   Basingstoke
Sarah Butler Daughter Unm 23   Peppard, Oxfordshire
John Butler Son Unm 20   Peppard, Oxfordshire
Mary Butler Daughter Unm 17   Peppard, Oxfordshire
Henry Butler Son   14   Peppard, Oxfordshire
George Butler Son   13   Long Sutton
Charles Butler Son   11   Long Sutton
Elizabeth Butler Daughter   9   Long Sutton
Alfred Butler Son   7   Long Sutton
Frederick Butler Son   3   Long Sutton
Note: Rotherfield Peppard is near Henley-on-Thames.

1861 census – Rotherwick St., Rotherwick, Hampshire     Reference: RG9/707 (folio 96, p. 12)
John Butler Head Married 56 Baker & Grocer Cowfield, Hampshire
Sarah Butler Wife Married 56   Basingstoke
Henry Butler Son Unm 22 Butcher Peppard, Oxfordshire
George Butler Son   20 Ag Labourer Sutton, Hampshire
 
1881 census – Blounce Farm, South Warnborough, Hampshire     Reference: RG11/1249 (folio 88, p. 8)
Alfred Butler Head Married 37 Farming 600 Acres and
Employs 10 Labourers, 2 Boys
Long Sutton
Ethel M Butler Daughter   2   Grazeley, Berkshire
Mary J Plater Servant Unm 21 Nursery Governess Bishopstone
Frank Trimmer Servant Unm 23 Agricultural Labourer Holybourne, Hampshire
Note: On census day in 1881 Alfred’s wife Emma was staying with her parents as shown in the next transcribed census record.
1881 census – Culford Villa on Home Farm, Culford, Suffolk     Reference: RG11/1838 (folio 41, p. 20)
Benjamin Hunt Head Married 64 Agent Laindon, Essex
Maria Hunt Wife Married 62   Writtle, Essex
Alice Hunt Daughter Unm 26   Sherborne, Hampshire
Emma Butler Daughter Married 36   Sherborne, Hampshire
Thomas Jeffries Nephew Unm 16   Laindon, Essex
Reggie Butler Grandson   4   Grazeley, Berkshire
Georgina Butler Granddaughter 5 months Blounce, Hampshire
[South Warnborough]
Elizabeth Bradley Servant Unm 18 General Servant Domestic Cockfield, Suffolk
 
1891 census – 68 & 69 Cowley Rd., Cowley St John, Oxford     Reference: RG12/1165 (folio 19, p. 31)
Alfred Butler Head Married 48 Miller & Corn Merchant [Sutton], Hampshire
Reginald A Butler Son   16 Draper’s Assistant Slough, Bucks.
Ethel M Butler Daughter   12 Scholar [Grazeley], Berkshire
Florence Butler Daughter   8 Scholar South Warnborough
Note: Slough, now in Berkshire, is near Eton and Windsor.
The next transcribed census return shows Alfred’s wife Emma staying with family in Basingstoke.
1891 census – Bury Farm, Basingstoke     Reference: RG12/958 (folio 6, pp. 4–5)
John Butler Head Married 60 Farmer  
Alice Butler Wife Married 35   Sherborne St John
Emma Butler Sister-in-
law
Married 44   Sherborne St John
Maurice Butler Nephew   5 Scholar South Warnborough
Frank Butler Nephew   3 Scholar South Warnborough
Gertrude Butler Niece   10 Scholar South Warnborough
Jane Hayward Servant Single 16 General domestic servant Basing
 
1901 census – 167 Cowley Rd., Cowley St John, Oxford     Reference: RG13/1380 (folio 6, p. 4)
Alfred Butler Head Married 57 Grain, Baker &
Boot Shopkeeper
Sutton near Odiham
Emma M Butler Wife Married 54   Sherborne, Hampshire
Ethel M Butler Daughter Single 22 Assistant - Boot dealer Grazeley, Berkshire
Gertrude Butler Daughter Single 20 Assistant - Baker dealer South Warnborough
Florence Butler Daughter Single 18 Assistant - Corn dealer South Warnborough
Frank Butler Son   13 Scholar South Warnborough
Alice Dunsdon Servant Single 21 Servant Domestic West Hanney, Berkshire
Notes: South Warnborough and Long Sutton are both near Odiham in Hampshire.

1911 census – Southfield House, Cowley, Oxford     Reference: RG14/8128 (schedule 211)
Alfred Butler Head Married 67 Miller Corn Merchant Sutton, Hampshire
Emma Maria Butler Wife Married 65   Sherborne, Hampshire
Maurice Butler Son Single 25 Ironmonger South Warnborough
Frank Butler Son Single 23 Corn trade South Warnborough
Henry Stedham Stanley
    Pether
Son-in-law Married 32 Farmer Bartlemas, Oxford
Florence Pether Daughter Married 28   South Warnborough
Marjorie Florence
    Pether
Grandchild   6   Bartlemas, Oxford
Alfred Henry Pether Grandchild   2   Bartlemas, Oxford
Edith Newitt Governess Single 36   Liverpool
Vera Nicholls Servant Single 25   Wootten, Oxford
Hilda Stroud Housemaid Single 18   Littlemore, Oxford

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Revision date: August 2012