Covington History Generations Report
Descendents of: GEORGE
COVINGTON. Ref:2617. Born: around 1552 at Bedford Compiled 19/07/2010
GENERATION One
GEORGE COVINGTON. Ref:
2617. Born: around 1552 at Bedford. Father: not known, Father Ref: 0. Mother:
not known, Mother Ref: 0. Mar: 13 Mar
1576 at Bedford St Paul to Wilbow, Elizabeth
3994.
MAY. Ref: 2618. Born during 1580 at Bedford.
Mother: Wilbow, Elizabeth, Ref: 3994
WILLIAM. Ref: 2619. Born during 1582 at
Bedford. Mother: Wilbow, Elizabeth, Ref: 3994
GENERATION Two
MAY COVINGTON. Ref:
2618. Born: during 1580 at Bedford. Father: George, Father Ref: 2617. Mother:
Wilbow, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 3994.
Christened: 16 Sep 1580
at Bedford.
WILLIAM COVINGTON. Ref:
2619. Born: during 1582 at Bedford. Father: George, Father Ref: 2617. Mother:
Wilbow, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 3994.
Mar: 20 Oct 1608 at
Bedford St Paul to Hinton, Joan 4006. Christened: 7 Apr 1582 at Bedford.
ELIZABETH. Ref: 2930. Born during 1609 at
Bedford. Mother: Hinton, Joan, Ref: 4006
HONOR. Ref: 2931. Born during 1613 at
Bedford. Mother: Hinton, Joan, Ref: 4006
JOHN. Ref: 2927. Born during 1616 at Bedford.
Mother: Hinton, Joan, Ref: 4006
GENERATION Three
ELIZABETH COVINGTON.
Ref: 2930. Born: during 1609 at Bedford. Father: William, Father Ref: 2619.
Mother: Hinton, Joan, Mother Ref: 4006.
Mar: 25 Nov 1630 at
Bedford St Paul to Hoocum, William . Christened: 6 Mar 1609 at Bedford St Paul.
HONOR COVINGTON. Ref:
2931. Born: during 1613 at Bedford. Father: William, Father Ref: 2619. Mother:
Hinton, Joan, Mother Ref: 4006.
Christened: 6 Mar 1613
at Bedford St Paul.
JOHN COVINGTON. Ref:
2927. Born: during 1616 at Bedford. Father: William, Father Ref: 2619. Mother:
Hinton, Joan, Mother Ref: 4006. Mar:
around 1637 at Bedford
to Ann 4018. Christened: 4 Feb 1616 at Bedford St Paul.
ELIZABETH. Ref: 2929. Born during 1638 at
Bedford. Mother: Ann, Ref: 4018
WILLIAM. Ref: 2932. Born during 1640 at
Bedford. Mother: Ann, Ref: 4018
MARY. Ref: 2928. Born during 1643 at Bedford.
Mother: Ann, Ref: 4018
SIMON. Ref: 2665. Born around 1649 at
Bedford. Mother: Ann, Ref: 4018
GENERATION Four
ELIZABETH COVINGTON.
Ref: 2929. Born: during 1638 at Bedford. Father: John, Father Ref: 2927.
Mother: Ann, Mother Ref: 4018. Christened: 9
Apr 1638 at Bedford St
Paul.
WILLIAM COVINGTON. Ref:
2932. Born: during 1640 at Bedford. Father: John, Father Ref: 2927. Mother:
Ann, Mother Ref: 4018. Christened: 18
Oct 1640 at Bedford St
Paul.
MARY
COVINGTON. Ref: 2928. Born: during 1643 at Bedford. Father: John, Father Ref: 2927.
Mother: Ann, Mother Ref: 4018. Mar: 15
Oct 1671
at Bedford to James,
Richard . Christened: 7 May 1643 at Bedford St Paul.
SIMON COVINGTON. Ref:
2665. Born: around 1649 at Bedford. Father: John, Father Ref: 2927. Mother:
Ann, Mother Ref: 4018. Mar: 12 Oct 1671
at Bedford to Mennard, Mary 4036.
MARY. Ref: 2666. Born 1672- 1673 at Bedford.
Mother: Mennard, Mary, Ref: 4036
SIMON. Ref: 2422. Born 1673- 1674 at Bedford.
Mother: Mennard, Mary, Ref: 4036
ELIZABETH. Ref: 2667. Born during 1676 at
Bedford. Mother: Mennard, Mary, Ref: 4036
WILL. Ref: 2669. Born during 1679 at Bedford.
Mother: Mennard, Mary, Ref: 4036
WILLIAM. Ref: 3274. Born during 1682 at
Bedford. Mother: Mennard, Mary, Ref: 4036
GEORGE. Ref: 2664. Born during 1687 at
Bedford. Mother: Mennard, Mary, Ref: 4036
JANE. Ref: 2668. Born during 1690 at Bedford.
Mother: Mennard, Mary, Ref: 4036
GENERATION Five
MARY COVINGTON. Ref:
2666. Born: 1672- 1673 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 2665. Mother:
Mennard, Mary, Mother Ref: 4036. Died:
Jan 1722 at Bedford aged
49. Christened: 22 Sep 1672 at Bedford. Buried 3 February 1722
SIMON COVINGTON. Ref:
2422. Born: 1673- 1674 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 2665. Mother:
Mennard, Mary, Mother Ref: 4036. Died:
Sep 1727 at Bedford aged
53. Mar: 3 Nov 1700 at Bedford to Upton,
Elizabeth 4050. Christened: 10 Jan 1674 at Bedford. Labourer. Buried 7
September 1727 at
Bedford St Paul (affidavit by Elizabeth Tilly).
JOHN. Ref: 2980. Born during 1701 at Bedford.
Mother: Upton, Elizabeth, Ref: 4050
SIMON. Ref: 2439. Born during 1703 at
Bedford. Mother: Upton, Elizabeth, Ref: 4050
ARTHUR. Ref: 2421. Born during 1707 at
Bedford. Mother: Upton, Elizabeth, Ref: 4050
ELIZABETH. Ref: 2983. Born during 1710 at
Bedford. Mother: Upton, Elizabeth, Ref: 4050
GEORGE. Ref: 13329. Born during 1712 at
Bedford. Mother: Upton, Elizabeth, Ref: 4050
WILLIAM. Ref: 3280. Born during 1715 at
Bedford. Mother: Upton, Elizabeth, Ref: 4050
MARY. Ref: 2982. Born during 1716 at Bedford.
Mother: Upton, Elizabeth, Ref: 4050
ROBERT. Ref: 3281. Born during 1719 at
Bedford. Mother: Upton, Elizabeth, Ref: 4050
ELIZABETH COVINGTON.
Ref: 2667. Born: during 1676 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 2665.
Mother: Mennard, Mary, Mother Ref: 4036.
Christened: 28 Jan 1676
at Bedford.
WILL COVINGTON. Ref:
2669. Born: during 1679 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 2665. Mother:
Mennard, Mary, Mother Ref: 4036.
Christened: 9 Jun 1679
at Bedford.
WILLIAM COVINGTON. Ref:
3274. Born: during 1682 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 2665. Mother:
Mennard, Mary, Mother Ref: 4036.
Christened: 24 Sep 1682
at Bedford.
GEORGE COVINGTON. Ref:
2664. Born: during 1687 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 2665. Mother:
Mennard, Mary, Mother Ref: 4036.
Christened: 6 Feb 1687
at Bedford.
JANE COVINGTON. Ref:
2668. Born: during 1690 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 2665. Mother:
Mennard, Mary, Mother Ref: 4036.
Christened: 12 Jan 1690
at Bedford.
GENERATION
Six
JOHN COVINGTON. Ref:
2980. Born: during 1701 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 2422. Mother:
Upton, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4050.
Christened: 9 Nov 1701
at Bedford.
SIMON COVINGTON. Ref:
2439. Born: during 1703 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 2422. Mother:
Upton, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4050.
Died: Oct 1783 at
Bedford aged 80. Mar: 31 Dec 1730 at
Bedford to Wooton, Sarah 4079. Christened: 14 Jan 1704 at Bedford. Will dated
1766/73.
He was a Thatcher. Buried 20 Oct 1783 at
Bedford St Peter
WILLIAM. Ref: 3282. Born 1728- 1729 at
Bedford. Mother: Wooton, Sarah, Ref: 4079
SIMON. Ref: 3027. Born during 1734 at
Bedford. Mother: Wooton, Sarah, Ref: 4079
SIMON. Ref: 2562. Born around 1735 at
Bedford. Mother: Wooton, Sarah, Ref: 4079
JOHN. Ref: 3025. Born 1737- 1738 at Bedford.
Mother: Wooton, Sarah, Ref: 4079
ARTHUR. Ref: 2438. Born during 1742 at
Bedford. Mother: Wooton, Sarah, Ref: 4079
EDWARD. Ref: 2556. Born during 1745 at
Bedford. Mother: Wooton, Sarah, Ref: 4079
JOHN. Ref: 3026. Born 1744- 1745 at Bedford.
Mother: Wooton, Sarah, Ref: 4079
JOHN. Ref: 3024. Born during 1749 at Bedford.
Mother: Wooton, Sarah, Ref: 4079
SARAH. Ref: 3283. Born during 1753 at
Bedford. Mother: Wooton, Sarah, Ref: 4079
ARTHUR COVINGTON. Ref:
2421. Born: during 1707 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 2422. Mother:
Upton, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4050.
Mar: 19 Jun 1733 at
Bedford St Mary to Crouch, Mary 4081. Christened: 18 May 1707 at Bedford.
SAMUEL. Ref: 2423. Born during 1734 at
Bedford. Mother: Crouch, Mary, Ref: 4081
ARTHUR. Ref: 2424. Born during 1735 at
Bedford. Mother: Crouch, Mary, Ref: 4081
MARY. Ref: 2427. Born during 1736 at Bedford.
Mother: Crouch, Mary, Ref: 4081
ARTHUR. Ref: 2425. Born during 1737 at
Bedford. Mother: Crouch, Mary, Ref: 4081
JOHN. Ref: 2441. Born during 1740 at
Kempston. Mother: Crouch, Mary, Ref: 4081
ELIZABETH. Ref: 2428. Born early 1742 at
Bedford. Mother: Crouch, Mary, Ref: 4081
ELIZABETH. Ref: 2429. Born during 1751 at
Bedford. Mother: Crouch, Mary, Ref: 4081
ELIZABETH COVINGTON.
Ref: 2983. Born: during 1710 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 2422.
Mother: Upton, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4050.
Mar: around 1734 at U.K. to name not known .
Children: Ann(3500) illegitimate.
Christened: 30 Apr 1710 at Bedford.
ANN. Ref: 3500. Born during 1734 at Bedford.
Mother: Covington, Elizabeth, Ref: 2983
GEORGE COVINGTON. Ref:
13329. Born: during 1712 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 2422. Mother:
Upton, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4050.
Christened at St Peters,
Bedford on 25 Dec 1712.
WILLIAM COVINGTON. Ref:
3280. Born: during 1715 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 2422. Mother:
Upton, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4050.
Died: Nov 1715 at
Bedford aged 0. Christened: 19 Nov 1715 at Bedford. Buried 21 November 1715
MARY COVINGTON. Ref:
2982. Born: during 1716 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 2422. Mother:
Upton, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4050.
Mar:
3 May 1740 at Bedford St Paul to Bonner, John
. Christened: 20 Jan 1716 at Bedford.
ROBERT COVINGTON. Ref:
3281. Born: during 1719 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 2422. Mother:
Upton, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4050.
Died: Nov 1719 at
Bedford aged 0. Christened: 17 Nov 1719 at Bedford. Buried 1 December 1719
GENERATION
Seven
SAMUEL COVINGTON. Ref:
2423. Born: during 1734 at Bedford. Father: Arthur, Father Ref: 2421. Mother:
Crouch, Mary, Mother Ref: 4081. Died:
around 1774 at Kempston
aged 40. Mar: 2 Oct 1764 at Kempston to
Newman, Susan 4129. Christened: 14 Jul 1734 at Bedford. Appr.Cordwainer
1754 to John Brown of
Bedford, £8 consideration.
ARTHUR COVINGTON. Ref:
2424. Born: during 1735 at Bedford. Father: Arthur, Father Ref: 2421. Mother:
Crouch, Mary, Mother Ref: 4081. Died:
around 1735 at Bedford
aged 0. Christened: 10 Aug 1735 at Bedford.
MARY COVINGTON. Ref:
2427. Born: during 1736 at Bedford. Father: Arthur, Father Ref: 2421. Mother:
Crouch, Mary, Mother Ref: 4081.
Christened: 28 Oct 1736
at Bedford.
ARTHUR COVINGTON. Ref:
2425. Born: during 1737 at Bedford. Father: Arthur, Father Ref: 2421. Mother:
Crouch, Mary, Mother Ref: 4081. Mar:
15 Oct 1754 at Bedford
to Franklin, Letitia 4111. Christened: 18 Oct 1737 at Bedford. 1751 was
apprentice Wool Stapler to Dan Negus, St Mary
Bedford for a
consideration of 5 pounds (ref 51/110/1751)
JOHN COVINGTON. Ref:
2441. Born: during 1740 at Kempston. Father: Arthur, Father Ref: 2421. Mother:
Crouch, Mary, Mother Ref: 4081. Mar: 30
Oct 1763 at Husborne Crawley to Edmunds, Alice
4125. Christened: 6 Apr 1740 at Bedford St Mary.
ARTHUR. Ref: 2440. Born 1 Sep 1764 at
Kempston. Mother: Edmunds, Alice, Ref: 4125
ELIZABETH COVINGTON.
Ref: 2428. Born: early 1742 at Bedford. Father: Arthur, Father Ref: 2421.
Mother: Crouch, Mary, Mother Ref: 4081.
Died:
early 1742 at Bedford aged 0. Christened: 9
Mar 1742 at Bedford.
ELIZABETH COVINGTON.
Ref: 2429. Born: during 1751 at Bedford. Father: Arthur, Father Ref: 2421.
Mother: Crouch, Mary, Mother Ref: 4081.
Christened: 11 May 1751
at Bedford.
WILLIAM COVINGTON. Ref:
3282. Born: 1728- 1729 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 2439. Mother:
Wooton, Sarah, Mother Ref: 4079. Died:
Jun 1813 at Bedford aged 84. Mar: 23 Apr 1751 at Bedford St Peter to
Berrill, Elizabeth 4108. Christened: 7 Nov 1731 at Bedford. Inherited 10
pounds in his brother
Edward's 1812 will. Buried 20 June 1813
WILLIAM. Ref: 2449. Born during 1753 at
Bedford. Mother: Berrill, Elizabeth, Ref: 4108
SIMON. Ref: 3239. Born 1756- 1757 at Bedford.
Mother: Berrill, Elizabeth, Ref: 4108
SIMON COVINGTON. Ref:
3027. Born: during 1734 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 2439. Mother: Wooton,
Sarah, Mother Ref: 4079. Died:
Jul 1734 at Bedford aged
0. Christened: 3 Mar 1734 at Bedford. Buried 3 August 1734
SIMON COVINGTON. Ref:
2562. Born: around 1735 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 2439. Mother:
Wooton, Sarah, Mother Ref: 4079. Died:
2 Oct 1766 at Bedford
aged 31. Mar: 28 Mar 1758 at Bedford to
Berrill, Jane 4119. Christened: 21 Sep 1735 at Bedford. Mentioned in 1812 will
of
his brother Edward as
living at Well Street, Bedford.
EDWARD. Ref: 2561. Born during 1760 at
Bedford. Mother: Berrill, Jane, Ref: 4119
SIMON. Ref: 2510. Born 27 Aug 1760 at
Bedford. Mother: Berrill, Jane, Ref: 4119
JOHN. Ref: 3040. Born during 1765 at Bedford.
Mother: Berrill, Jane, Ref: 4119
JOHN COVINGTON. Ref:
3025. Born: 1737- 1738 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 2439. Mother:
Wooton, Sarah, Mother Ref: 4079. Died:
Feb 1738 at Bedford aged
0. Buried 25 February 1738
ARTHUR COVINGTON. Ref:
2438. Born: during 1742 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 2439. Mother:
Wooton, Sarah, Mother Ref: 4079.
Died: Jan 1752 at
Bedford aged 9. Christened: 20 Jun 1742 at Bedford. Buried 26 January 1752
EDWARD
COVINGTON. Ref: 2556. Born: during 1745 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref:
2439. Mother: Wooton, Sarah, Mother Ref: 4079.
Died: Dec 1811 at
Bedford aged 65. Christened: 25 Aug 1745 at Bedford. Dairyman. Buried 24
December 1811 at Bedford St Peter. His will, dated
1812 held at the Bedford
Archdeaconry, No.34, reads as follows; "Edward Covington of parish of St
Peter Bedford, dairyman, will dated 9 June
1811. All my leasehold
messuage etc wherein I now dwell to my nephew Thomas Covington (3330), situat
in St Peter's parish during remainder of
term of years. Unto my
nephew Simon Covington (3239), son of Simon Covington (2562) of Well Street in
town of Bedford, shoemaker, all that my
messuage in parish of St
Peter which I lately purchased of Martha Butler, now in occupation of John
Bedlam, shoemaker. To him & his heirs. To my
brother John Covington
(3040) £50.
To my kinsman William
Covington (2851) of St Mary's Bedford £40. To Charlotte Heggington now wife of
Charles Heggington, of Coventry, co.
Warwick, cabinet maker,
£40. To my nephew James Covington (2857) of Clifton co. Bedford £40. To my
nephew Joseph Covington (No.3139),
traveller and lacebuyer
£40. To my brother William Covington (3282) £10. Also to my nephew Simon
Covington (2510), son of my said brother
William Covington £40
& make chargeable all my freehold estate for legacies.
All the rest of my
monies etc. unto my nephew Simon Covington, son of Simon Covington of Well St,
Bedford & his exors, I constitute said nephew
Simon Covington, son of
Simon Covington of Well St, sole exor. Witns, Joseph Ford senior, James Banks,
Whitley Sole of Bedford. Proved 20th Aug.
1812 by Simon Covington sole exor herein
named.
JOHN COVINGTON. Ref:
3026. Born: 1744- 1745 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 2439. Mother:
Wooton, Sarah, Mother Ref: 4079. Died:
Jan 1745 at Bedford aged
0. Buried 30 January 1745
JOHN COVINGTON. Ref:
3024. Born: during 1749 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 2439. Mother:
Wooton, Sarah, Mother Ref: 4079. Died:
Jun 1812 at Bedford aged
63. Christened: 11 Feb 1749 at Bedford. Buried 14 Jun 1812.
SARAH COVINGTON. Ref:
3283. Born: during 1753 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 2439. Mother:
Wooton, Sarah, Mother Ref: 4079. Died:
17n Jun 1789 at Bedford
aged 36. Mar: 23 Jan 1775 at Bedford St
Peter to Sykes, John . Christened: 3 Jun 1753 at Bedford.
ANN COVINGTON. Ref:
3500. Born: during 1734 at Bedford. Father: not known, Father Ref: 2983.
Mother: Covington, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 2983.
Christened: 4 Mar 1734
at Bedford. Mother's name Elizabeth(2983).
GENERATION Eight
ARTHUR COVINGTON. Ref:
2440. Born: 1 Sep 1764 at Kempston. Father: John, Father Ref: 2441. Mother:
Edmunds, Alice, Mother Ref: 4125.
Christened: 9 Sep 1764
at Kempston.
EDWARD COVINGTON. Ref:
2561. Born: during 1760 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 2562. Mother:
Berrill, Jane, Mother Ref: 4119.
Christened: 2 Mar 1760
at Bedford.
SIMON COVINGTON. Ref:
2510. Born: 27 Aug 1760 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 2562. Mother:
Berrill, Jane, Mother Ref: 4119. Died: 4
Mar 1831 at Bedford aged
70. Mar: 20 Sep 1789 at Lynn St Margaret
to Brown, Elizabeth 4161. Christened: 6 Mar 1763 at Bedford St Cuthbert.
Inherited a shoe shop in
1812 will of his Uncle Edward (see 2556). He was also left balance of money,
£40, after pledges and was sole executor of
the will. Buried 4 March
1831, House of Industry, Bedford.
His son, Syms (2419)
became one of the most famous Covingtons in history as a member of the crew of
Darwin's Beagle.
JOSEPH BROWN. Ref: 2761. Born during 1790 at
Bedford. Mother: Brown, Elizabeth, Ref: 4161
BERRILL. Ref: 2505. Born 6 Jul 1794 at
Wellingborough. Mother: Brown, Elizabeth, Ref: 4161
ELIZABETH MARY. Ref: 3655. Born 18 Apr 1799
at Bedford. Mother: Brown, Elizabeth, Ref: 4161
EDWARD. Ref: 230. Born Sep 1803 at Bedford.
Mother: Brown, Elizabeth, Ref: 4161
SIMON. Ref: 2419. Born 30 Jan 1809 at
Bedford. Mother: Brown, Elizabeth, Ref: 4161
JOHN COVINGTON. Ref:
3040. Born: during 1765 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 2562. Mother:
Berrill, Jane, Mother Ref: 4119. Christened:
24 Nov 1765 at Bedford. Was left 50 Pounds in
his brother Edward's 1812 will.
WILLIAM
COVINGTON. Ref: 2449. Born: during 1753 at Bedford. Father: William, Father
Ref: 3282. Mother: Berrill, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4108.
Mar: 6 Apr 1779 at
Bedford St Mary to Eavestaff, Elizabeth 4153. Christened: 5 Aug 1753 at
Bedford.
JAMES. Ref: 2858. Born during 1780 at
Bedford. Mother: Eavestaff, Elizabeth, Ref: 4153
ARTHUR. Ref: 2448. Born 1780- 1781 at
Bedford. Mother: Eavestaff, Elizabeth, Ref: 4153
WILLIAM. Ref: 3390. Born during 1781 at
Bedford. Mother: Eavestaff, Elizabeth, Ref: 4153
ELIZABETH. Ref: 2861. Born during 1785 at
Bedford. Mother: Eavestaff, Elizabeth, Ref: 4153
FRANCES. Ref: 2862. Born during 1790 at
Bedford. Mother: Eavestaff, Elizabeth, Ref: 4153
CAROLINE. Ref: 2860. Born during 1792 at
Bedford. Mother: Eavestaff, Elizabeth, Ref: 4153
FRANCES. Ref: 2863. Born during 1794 at
Bedford. Mother: Eavestaff, Elizabeth, Ref: 4153
WILLIAM. Ref: 3391. Born during 1795 at
Bedford. Mother: Eavestaff, Elizabeth, Ref: 4153
ROBERT. Ref: 2517. Born 1797- 1798 at
Bedford. Mother: Eavestaff, Elizabeth, Ref: 4153
SIMON COVINGTON. Ref:
3239. Born: 1756- 1757 at Bedford. Father: William, Father Ref: 3282. Mother:
Berrill, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4108.
Died: Apr 1839 at
Bedford aged 82. Mar: 15 Jun 1785 at
Bedford to Lavender, Elizabeth 4170. Christened: 29 Nov 1759 at Bedford. Buried
14
WILLIAM LAVENDER. Ref: 3291. Born during 1786
at Bedford. Mother: Lavender, Elizabeth, Ref: 4170
SIMON. Ref: 3240. Born 1787- 1788 at Bedford.
Mother: Lavender, Elizabeth, Ref: 4170
ELIZABETH BERRILL. Ref: 3242. Born during
1789 at Bedford. Mother: Lavender, Elizabeth, Ref: 4170
EDWARD. Ref: 3241. Born during 1791 at
Bedford. Mother: Lavender, Elizabeth, Ref: 4170
WILLIAM. Ref: 3290. Born 1791- 1792 at
Bedford. Mother: Lavender, Elizabeth, Ref: 4170
ANN LAVENDER. Ref: 3243. Born during 1795 at
Bedford. Mother: Lavender, Elizabeth, Ref: 4170
FRANCES. Ref: 3244. Born during 1798 at
Bedford. Mother: Lavender, Elizabeth, Ref: 4170
ELIZABETH BERRILL. Ref: 3245. Born during
1800 at Bedford. Mother: Lavender, Elizabeth, Ref: 4170
MARY. Ref: 3246. Born during 1802 at Bedford.
Mother: Lavender, Elizabeth, Ref: 4170
RICHARD. Ref: 3497. Born during 1804 at
Bedford. Mother: Lavender, Elizabeth, Ref: 4170
JAMES. Ref: 3498. Born during 1806 at
Bedford. Mother: Lavender, Elizabeth, Ref: 4170
GENERATION Nine
JAMES COVINGTON. Ref:
2858. Born: during 1780 at Bedford. Father: William, Father Ref: 2449. Mother:
Eavestaff, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4153.
Christened: 14 Jan 1780
at Bedford St Mary.
ARTHUR COVINGTON. Ref:
2448. Born: 1780- 1781 at Bedford. Father: William, Father Ref: 2449. Mother:
Eavestaff, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4153.
Died: Jan 1842 at Bedford aged 61. Mar: 3 Jan 1804 at Bedford St Mary to Hine,
Charlotte 4204. Christened: 28 Sep 1783 at Bedford St Mary.
Buried 25 January 1842,
Gravel Ln, Bedford
CAROLINE. Ref: 2450. Born during 1804 at
Bedford. Mother: Hine, Charlotte, Ref: 4204
WILLIAM. Ref: 922. Born Aug 1806 at Bedford.
Mother: Hine, Charlotte, Ref: 4204
ARTHUR. Ref: 2454. Born during 1813 at
Bedford. Mother: Hine, Charlotte, Ref: 4204
CHARLOTTE. Ref: 2452. Born during 1815 at
Bedford. Mother: Hine, Charlotte, Ref: 4204
GEORGE. Ref: 2453. Born during 1819 at
Bedford. Mother: Hine, Charlotte, Ref: 4204
WILLIAM COVINGTON. Ref:
3390. Born: during 1781 at Bedford. Father: William, Father Ref: 2449. Mother:
Eavestaff, Elizabeth, Mother Ref:
4153. Christened: 24 Jun
1781 at Bedford.
ELIZABETH
COVINGTON. Ref: 2861. Born: during 1785 at Bedford. Father: William, Father
Ref: 2449. Mother: Eavestaff, Elizabeth, Mother Ref:
4153. Mar: 30 Dec 1802 at Bedford St Mary to
Holding, Major . Christened: 28 Sep 1785 at Bedford.
FRANCES COVINGTON. Ref:
2862. Born: during 1790 at Bedford. Father: William, Father Ref: 2449. Mother:
Eavestaff, Elizabeth, Mother Ref:
4153. Died: during 1790 at Bedford aged 0.
Christened: 1 Aug 1790 at Bedford.
CAROLINE COVINGTON. Ref:
2860. Born: during 1792 at Bedford. Father: William, Father Ref: 2449. Mother:
Eavestaff, Elizabeth, Mother Ref:
4153. Christened: 28 Nov
1792 at Bedford.
FRANCES COVINGTON. Ref:
2863. Born: during 1794 at Bedford. Father: William, Father Ref: 2449. Mother:
Eavestaff, Elizabeth, Mother Ref:
4153. Christened: 4 Mar
1794 at Bedford.
WILLIAM COVINGTON. Ref:
3391. Born: during 1795 at Bedford. Father: William, Father Ref: 2449. Mother:
Eavestaff, Elizabeth, Mother Ref:
4153. Christened: 16 Aug
1795 at Bedford.
ROBERT COVINGTON. Ref:
2517. Born: 1797- 1798 at Bedford. Father: William, Father Ref: 2449. Mother:
Eavestaff, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4153.
Died: Jan-Mar 1856 at Bedford aged 58. Mar: 18 Feb 1822 at Bedford to Mays,
Elizabeth 4239. Christened: 26 Mar 1798 at Bedford St Mary.
Policeman, lived at Well
St, Bedford in 1847 and before that at Moulders Yard, Castle St, Bedford.
CHARLES. Ref: 2516. Born 1821- 1822 at
Bedford. Mother: Mays, Elizabeth, Ref: 4239
SOPHIA. Ref: 3256. Born 10 Sep 1826 at
Bedford. Mother: Mays, Elizabeth, Ref: 4239
REBECCA. Ref: 3257. Born 8 Dec 1828 at
Bedford. Mother: Mays, Elizabeth, Ref: 4239
REBECCA. Ref: 3258. Born 14 Oct 1836 at
Bedford. Mother: Mays, Elizabeth, Ref: 4239
GEORGE. Ref: 379. Born Oct-Dec 1838 at
Bedford. Mother: Mays, Elizabeth, Ref: 4239
ELLEN. Ref: 1826. Born Jul-Sep 1840 at
Bedford. Mother: Mays, Elizabeth, Ref: 4239
JOSEPH BROWN COVINGTON.
Ref: 2761. Born: during 1790 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 2510.
Mother: Brown, Elizabeth, Mother Ref:
4161. Mar: 1 Nov 1808 at Bedford St Paul to
Chapman, Mary 4212. Christened: 3 Jul 1790 at Bedford Old Mtng.
JOSEPH. Ref: 2767. Born during 1810 at
Bedford. Mother: Chapman, Mary, Ref: 4212
MARY. Ref: 2762. Born during 1812 at Bedford.
Mother: Chapman, Mary, Ref: 4212
SARAH. Ref: 2763. Born during 1814 at
Bedford. Mother: Chapman, Mary, Ref: 4212
JOSEPH. Ref: 3158. Born Aug 1815 at Bedford.
Mother: Chapman, Mary, Ref: 4212
JOSEPH BROWN. Ref: 3162. Born during 1817 at
Bedford. Mother: Chapman, Mary, Ref: 4212
ANN. Ref: 2764. Born during 1819 at Bedford.
Mother: Chapman, Mary, Ref: 4212
THOMAS. Ref: 3163. Born 1820- 1821 at
Bedford. Mother: Chapman, Mary, Ref: 4212
FANNY. Ref: 2765. Born during 1822 at
Bedford. Mother: Chapman, Mary, Ref: 4212
WILLIAM. Ref: 3164. Born during 1828 at Bedford.
Mother: Chapman, Mary, Ref: 4212
ELIZA. Ref: 2766. Born during 1829 at
Bedford. Mother: Chapman, Mary, Ref: 4212
HENRY. Ref: 2760. Born Nov 1832 at Bedford.
Mother: Chapman, Mary, Ref: 4212
BERRILL
COVINGTON. Ref: 2505. Born: 6 Jul 1794 at Wellingborough. Father: Simon, Father
Ref: 2510. Mother: Brown, Elizabeth, Mother Ref:
4161. Died: 15 Apr 1881 at Gallatin, Davies MO aged
87. Mar: 8 Nov 1812 at Bedford St Paul
to Hodges, Elizabeth 4216. Christened: 6 Jul 1794
at Bedford. Believed to
have also had 3 other daughters who were still born between 1813-1814.
On July 31, 1837, one
day after the first Mormon2 baptisms in
England, the original
seven missionaries to proselyte in England held a council in Preston. It was
decided that Elders Willard Richards and John
Goodson should go to
Bedford, “There being a good prospect, from the information received, of a
Church being built up in that city.” They left on 1
August and arrived at
Bedford the following day
.
Work progressed quickly.
The first baptisms occurred on 10 August and by December a Bedford Branch had
been organized. Berrill Covington, later
to play an important
role in the beginnings of the Church in Buckinghamshire, was baptized in 1838
by Elder Willard Richards. He was instrumental
in the conversion of two
of the first nine Buckinghamshire natives and later became a member of the
first branch organized on Buckinghamshire soil.
(The Genesis of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints in Buckinghamshire - The first Buckinghamshire Natives to
join the church.)
Came West with the
Abraham O. Smoot Company in 1852. ("List of Persons Sent from Great
Britain by the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Co., in the
Months of January and
February 1852, by Franklin D. Richards Agent at Liverpool," Deseret News
[Weekly], 21 Aug. 1852)
Found living in Ward 14,
Great Salt Lake City, Utah on the 1860 U. S. Census & in 3rd Ward by 1880
Census.
MARY ANN. Ref: 2506. Born 31 Mar 1812 at
Bedford. Mother: Hodges, Elizabeth, Ref: 4216
ELIZABETH. Ref: 2509. Born 9 May 1813 at
Bedford. Mother: Hodges, Elizabeth, Ref: 4216
WILLIAM BERRILL. Ref: 2508. Born 27 Nov 1817
at Bedford. Mother: Hodges, Elizabeth, Ref: 4216
JOSIAH. Ref: 668. Born 10 Jan 1821 at
Bedford. Mother: Hodges, Elizabeth, Ref: 4216
ELIZABETH. Ref: 2507. Born 19 Oct 1823 at
Bedford. Mother: Hodges, Elizabeth, Ref: 4216
EDWARD. Ref: 2592. Born 28 Aug 1826 at
Bedford. Mother: Hodges, Elizabeth, Ref: 4216
HENRY. Ref: 2513. Born 4 Apr 1829 at Bedford.
Mother: Hodges, Elizabeth, Ref: 4216
SIMON. Ref: 3467. Born 19 Jun 1832 at
Bedford. Mother: Hodges, Elizabeth, Ref: 4216
SARAH ELIZABETH. Ref: 3468. Born 6 Mar 1835
at Bedford. Mother: Hodges, Elizabeth, Ref: 4216
PRISCILLA. Ref: 1740. Born 17 Jan 1839 at
Bedford. Mother: Hodges, Elizabeth, Ref: 4216
ELIZABETH MARY
COVINGTON. Ref: 3655. Born: 18 Apr 1799 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref:
2510. Mother: Brown, Elizabeth, Mother Ref:
4161.
Died: 8 Jan 1869 at Burlington IO aged 69. Mar: 22 May 1821 at London to Brooks, James .
Had one daughter, Ruth Nellie Brooks born 13
Feb 1834 in Bedford,
Bedfordshire, England, and died 21 Apr 1904 in Collinwood, Cuyahoga, Ohio, USA
EDWARD COVINGTON. Ref:
230. Born: Sep 1803 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 2510. Mother: Brown,
Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4161. Died:
Jul-Sep 1874 at Clifton
aged 70. Christened: 7 Sep 1803 at Bedford St Cuth.
SIMON
COVINGTON. Ref: 2419. Born: 30 Jan 1809 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref:
2510. Mother: Brown, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4161.
Died: 19 Feb 1861 at
Pambula, Australia aged 52. Mar: 12 Aug
1841 at Stroud, NSW to Twyford, Eliza 4328. Known as Syms or Symes. Baptised
in 1809 at St Pauls,
Bedford.
Served as a Boy 2nd
Class on Surveying Ship H.M.S. Beagle. 1st joined on 13/7/1831, ticket no. 3,
2nd entry on 3/12/1831, ticket no. 62.
Discharged 12/5/1832.
Rejoined same ship, 1/4/1833 as an Ordinary Seaman, ticket no. 105, discharged
27/11/1833. Served on H.M.S. Beagle at
time of Charles Darwin's
Expedition. Issued with Navy Slops, incl Beds & Waxed Wrappers - £2 17s
10d, Dead & Run Men's Effects - 2s
6d, Tobacco
- £1 18s 0d, Soap 16s
8d, Wages Monthly allowance - £2 3s 4d,
Full Wages - £15 0s 10d. Nett value - £9 19s
8d (Ships Book of Surveying Ship
H.M.S. Beagle
27/6/1831-17/11/1836) - see The Journal of Syms Covington via links.
Covington, who was
eighteen years old when he began keeping this journal, was Charles Darwin's
assistant on the second voyage of the H.M.S.
Beagle, 1831-1836.
Darwin was himself only 22 when he employed Covington using a portion of the
allowance he received from his father!
The Journal not only
provides a new perspective of the journey which helped stimulate Darwin's
theory of evolution, but also includes accounts of
Covington's daily
duties. These included finding food for Darwin at each port of call, and his
impressions of lands and people encountered over five
years of voyaging in the
New World, from the 'naked Indians' of Terra del Fuego to the citizens of
Sydney, about whom Covington writes: 'Here a
stranger must take care
with whom he associates, as the place consists principally of convicts, or the
most notorious characters of England; and a
place I must say I was
heartily happy to leave'.
Despite his misgivings,
Covington and his Journal arrived back in Australia in 1840, when Covington
emigrated to New South Wales. He was soon
married to an Australian
woman from Stroud, and became Postmaster of Pambula on the South Coast in 1854,
where he remained until his death
of Paralysis in 1861. He
is buried at Pambula, Australia.
A pair of wooden carved
shoes exists in Australia belonging to Margaret Underhill having been passed
down to her by her Grandmother who was
Syms grand-daughter.
These were made by Syms on the Beagle voyage, they are said to have whale bone
insets and tiny little nails, on the top it
looks as if there was a
little sliding lid. A photo of these shoes hangs in Covington's Retreat, a
restaurant in Pambula, Australia.
Evidently Syms and Eliza
had 9 children. (Correspondence from Margaret & Keith Underhill, P.O.Box
142, Bega, New South Wales 2550, Australia).
Evolution of a Novel: Mr
Darwin's Shooter by Roger McDonald © all rights reserved
I had no intention of
writing about Charles Darwin. But when I read about Syms Covington, Darwin's
assistant during the long voyage of the Beagle,
I was compelled into the
story.
A dimly lit photograph
survives from the 1850s, a man with the look of a stoic, embattled survivor --
with a deaf man's look of waiting to be surprised,
with an air of almost
spiritual expectation. I found myself searching Darwin's letters, diaries, and
notebooks for hints of this shadowy, unsung
companion.
Here was a person of
little importance, it seemed, a humble crew member, a walk-on extra in the life
of a young gentleman naturalist. Charles
Darwin was only 23 and
Syms Covington barely 15 when the Beagle's voyage started at the end of 1831.
The vessel's papers listed Covington as
ship's fiddler and boy
to poop cabin. In a short time, however, references to a "servant"
appeared in Darwin's letters and diaries. This was Covington.
He'd found himself
signed over permanently to Darwin by the captain, Robert FitzRoy. Whether
Covington volunteered, urged for the job, or was just
available is not known.
In my novel, I have him urging for it -- strong with ambition to live life to
the full.
From then on, in notes
and correspondence, Darwin hardly ever referred to Covington by name, mostly
just as "my servant". Yet they were close. I
thought of Covington as
Darwin's "shadow", an intuition shared (I found when I had finished
the first draft) by Darwin's most recent biographer, Janet
Brown. Lodged in
Covington was a novel in embryo.
In later years Darwin
summarised evolution through natural selection as a process of "numerous,
successive, slight modifications". The same can be
said of the writing
process, as detail adapts to the needs of the story.
As in life, so in
fiction: the beginning point is a mystery. A bubble appears from nowhere, it
seems, like fizz in a glass of beer. Why Covington?
Something that was
nothing comes into existence -- an idea that won't let go. Sometimes an
annoyance (a bad idea still having to be served),
sometimes a blessing. In
time, with work, the first image shifts into action, into character, into plot,
and becomes a novel.
Darwin said nothing
about what preceded life as we know it, except to make tactful noises (to keep
Mrs Darwin happy?) about a Creator breathing life
into "a few forms or even one".
Elsewhere in The Origin of Species he made repeated scathing attacks on
creationism. In the fiction-universe, the
curtain can more easily
be pushed back.
Even mysteries have
their own shape. A repeated dream in my own childhood was of a perfect sphere
in space that was somehow doubled, one part
smooth as a billiard
ball, the other rough and stippled like a quondong seed or the surface of a
brain. They were two moons overlapping against the
deep blackness of space.
Both were equally desirable to touch, yet struggling awake I could never decide
which of the two was most satisfying.
If this is an obvious
early memory of breast feeding it explains nothing away. Now I think it could
just as easily be the end-point of psyche as the
start. Whatever, a
longing for reconciliation of opposites spilled over into personality and
shaped my engagement with language, words struggling
before the ebb and flow
of feeling. In the character of Covington, similar longings occur. Here is
where the historical record invites rather than
unfolds an
interpretation.
Midway through the
voyage of the Beagle Darwin wrote to his sister back in England:
"Tell my father how
much obliged I am for the affectionate way he speaks about my having a servant.
It has made a great difference in my comfort;
there is a standing
order, in the Ship, that no one, excepting in civilised ports, leaves the
vessel by himself. By thus having a constant companion, I
am rendered much more
independent, in that most dependent of all lives, a life on board."
But: "My servant is
an odd sort of person," Darwin continued, "I do not very much like
him; but he is, perhaps from his very oddity, very well adapted
to all my
purposes."
I read on in the
archive, looking for clues as to why Darwin did not like Covington, why he was
"odd". None emerged.
Perhaps we all resent
those we come to depend on absolutely … Maybe this was just a class thing … If
so, did Covington buck against his lowly
station in life? … Make
himself uppity to the upper-class Darwin? … Was it his looks, like Billy Budd
in Herman Melville? … His beliefs?...An over-
willingness to please? …
A stickiness of manner? … Was it his sexuality?
What might it have been
in Covington's presence that evoked this negative but needful prickliness in
Darwin?
Fiction comes out of
just this vacuum of explanation, charting a relationship whose inner life begs
to be imagined.
At the same time, as
Isaac Bashevis Singer has observed, a novel must be full of detail just as
music must be full of notes.
I filled myself with
seafaring lore and combed through Darwin's letters and diaries catching hold of
clues. Covington learned collecting, preserving,
shooting and packing
skills from Darwin, slitting open birds' stomachs, poking through half-digested
contents, digging bones of prehistoric animals
from Patagonian river
banks, hefting, carting, sorting, storing. Seeking a language for Covington to
represent an older, more trusting religion, and to
stand against Darwin's
"modern" pattern of thought, I delved into "Pilgrim's
Progress". This is perhaps the most anxiety-ridden book I have ever read,
and as a homeopathic
against its potential to swamp Covington with dampness of soul I gave him a
vigorous libido and an honest heart. Strength of
character emerges naturally from such a
doubling. It gave Covington a trump card to play against his master, even if
unconsciously.
I gained a picture of
Darwin enjoying himself and always collecting ahead of his ideas -- as when he
desperately wanted to bag a particular small
ostrich he'd heard
about, then thoughtlessly cooked and ate one, realising too late it was the
rare species he sought. Later it was named after him,
the rhea Darwinii.
Novels get written the same way, I reflected. Action precedes the idea, otherwise
no life.
I had started with
poetry, as a younger writer, but became impatient with the narrow range of life
that arrived in my work. Twenty years ago I turned
to novels seeking a
wider canvas. After writing six, plus an autobiographical work, Shearers'
Motel, using fictional technique to grasp the essence of
an experience, certain
patterns become clearer. Even the novels that are full of social and historical
detail, like Mr Darwin's Shooter and my first
novel, 1915, are slaves
to fictional demand just as surely as more image-based novels like Water Man
and The Slap. Call it manifest shape,
inherent structure, or
the destiny of character.
A novel is like an
individual in this sense. We can plot our personal histories, but can only
guess beyond them. Despite our deepest psychologies we
cannot say why we are
who we are. We are mysteries to ourselves. We can plan our lives and see
intention thrown by the wayside almost as a joke.
Lying in the gutter we
reach for the stars.
In another sense the
novel is not like an individual at all: it is in the hands of an attentive god,
the author, and invested with purpose -- call it
meaningful redemption of
its mystifying beginning.
To say this about our
own lives is an assumption that most of us including Darwin are reluctant to
make, though like a novelist Darwin saw far and
wide jammed up with
close and grainy. Also like a novelist he was guided by a formative image --
late in life he recalled a childhood memory:
locked in a room as
punishment, he ran around trying to break the windows to get out. Complementing
this, I invented a formative image for
Covington: a young man leaping
a stile in a stained glass window, John Bunyan's Christian glimpsed from his
mother's lap in his earliest memories.
The two young men,
servant and master, were to remain as close as man and wife (metaphorically
speaking in their cluttered lodgings on land and
sea) almost constantly
from 1832 to 1839, during the entire voyage of the Beagle and for the two and a
half crucial years following. "Servant" was a
term covering many
duties in their time together.
Covington was
taxidermist, valet, trusted house-servant, clerk and copyist. He pickled fish,
prepared botanical specimens, and became expert with
insects and all manner
of wriggling, fluttering, crawling life. As the voyage proceeded he emerged as
a prodigious collector, shooting most of
Darwin's birds
(including the famous finches taken on the Galapagos islands) and being
responsible, it seems, for all of Darwin's insects collected
during his brief sojourn
in Sydney. By the end, Covington was badly deaf from all the shooting.
Darwin's archive is an
immense resource: he remains the most thoroughly documented scientific genius
of the nineteenth century. The voyage of the
Beagle was a period of adventure and travel
forcibly linked to an intellectual drama "far more thrilling" (as
Stephen Jay Gould has observed) than
the voyage itself,
thanks to "the impact upon human history" of the religious and
scientific conflict aroused by Darwin.
I wondered about that
conflict cutting deep into an individual's psychological sense of himself.
Covington's, that is.
He was born obscurely in
Bedford, the home town of John Bunyan and religious non-conformity. Building
from this lone early established fact, I
created him imbued with
trusting faith from childhood, coming from an older England, a stranger to the
Anglicanism of the ruling order. Darwin was
the son of the richest
man in Derbyshire, and was halfheartedly planning to serve as a curate when he
returned to England, if only he could find a
parish with scope for
nature study.
It was not to be. As
even the sketchiest reading of The Origin of Species will reveal, Darwin became
remorselessly and even aggressively atheist as
time went on.
While I invented no
facts around the Darwin archive, I interpreted Covington for fictional purposes
by taking the known facts of his life into the realm
of speculation. This
applies particularly to the parts of Covington's life pre-Darwin, and to
episodes in South America where an older woman urged
her passion into
Covington's life with later consequences for the plot. Also to the last year of
his life, 1860 through to early 1861, as Covington
awaited the arrival in
Australia of The Origin of Species and I strove for some sort of reconciliation
between science and religion in the spirit of this
one person, Covington.
Early in the book I
found myself writing the following, the first notes of an overture demanding an
entire relationship to unfold, with implications for
plot and character throughout:
"Entering the Heads of Port Jackson just after dawn the captain found
Covington utterly stricken. His eyes were open,
watchful, but he uttered
not a word. With sails slack and the schooner steady on the tide the sufferer
was offloaded forthwith and rowed to a Dr
MacCracken's cottage in
an arm of the harbour at Watson's Bay."
(To allow readers
interested to see where fact and fiction vary, I appended a list of sources and
acknowledgements in an author's note at the back of
the book.)
Covington's archive by
comparison with Darwin's is tiny. It consists of a contested birth-date, a
scrappy diary held in the Mitchell Library, Sydney, a
few watercolours, a
photograph, and scattered mentions in Darwin's letters and diaries.
Involved in the writing
process, for me, is something closely related to formative imagery -- a kind of
abstraction hovering just ahead of me, the
feeling of a cat's
cradle or a spindly constellation, an odd-shaped map of lines and connections.
It is almost like a pre-appprehended form, an image
of where the novel's growth has to go before
it will stop, and enough light has been shed. Morphology is the name of the
subject in natural history,
its most interesting
department, according to Darwin, "its very soul." It sometimes feels
as if each book has a pre-existing soul and the only duty of
the writer is to bring
it up in colour, shape, and extent.
Beforehand, with a
novel, I have what might be roughly described as a subject area (war, flight,
horses, water divining, fire, evolution) but no idea
where I will go in terms
of character, incident, and detail, except that thrown far ahead of me is the
feeling I have to reach and satisfy. This feeling is
almost the definition of impossibility, the crux
to me personally, though it might pass almost unnoticed by the reader (because
when I get there, an
inner knot dissolves,
its shadow fades against the texture of the whole). In Mr Darwin's Shooter the
point I aimed to reach was a reconciliation of
science and religion.
Where could this happen except in the dramatised life of an individual?
The letters Darwin wrote
to Covington later in life were especially useful clues to work backwards from.
Blandly friendly on the surface, wearily
nostalgic, they cannot
be described as warm-hearted. Whimsically envious of Covington's financial
success and improved station in life, and of the
health of Covington's
children, they are none the less condescending, in my view -- the letters of a
distant master to a stolid old servant. Darwin sent
Covington a silver ear
trumpet and asked him to collect barnacles from nearby rocks, and wrote
congratulating him on how well they were packed.
Was there a touch of
guilt in that ear trumpet? Darwin still wanted favours from Covington, and was
never known for his gratitude.
I based my story on such
slender threads, perhaps, but I wanted more from this relationship than was
there on show. I wanted love, maybe as an
antidote to Darwin's
spiritual bleakness. I wanted redemption. For this Covington's nature had to be
passionate all through.
When I looked at
Covington's photograph I saw that stoic, embattled survivor, that deaf man's
look of waiting to be surprised. What was Covington
holding in? I wanted
this man bursting into bloom behind Darwin's back for his whole life. And so
the real Covington and the fictional Covington
travel parallel but not
together in my pages.
In my other books, these
knots of being have involved depicting a son's meeting the gloomy, zombie-like
father who died before he was born (Water
Man); a moment of
rebirth expressed through repeated live burial (Rough Wallaby); the
unrestrained flight of heavy objects (Slipstream); death by
fire as the complete
expression of a life (The Slap); boys overcoming the physical nightmare of war
(1915).
Transformation of self,
severely frustrated, seems to be a guiding light in my fiction. Facing, and
somehow overcoming, a prospect of live burial
(actual or metaphorical)
is in every book I have written. Perhaps this will change. The other pattern
obvious to me is that the main male character in
every book is
inarticulate in some sense. In The Slap this is true to the fullest extent -- a
full voice is denied to the main character in maturity. The
same fate threatens
Covington as in later years he awaits the arrival of The Origin of Species in
Australia and truculently wonders if history has left
him out.
As for the famous
finches, which play a small but crucial part in the novel, Darwin had assumed,
when they were on the Galapagos, that as the
islands were close
together "no reason was possible for their harbouring different species
true to their own islands", and so, as a creationist (still) he
had not labelled them by
island. But the real Covington had labelled by island the birds he had shot for
his own private and potentially saleable
collection. When they
were back in London Darwin called for these birds to be examined by John Gould
at the Zoological Society.
There at 36 Great
Marlborough Street Darwin sorted, listed, and wrote up the immense haul of
material with Covington at his side. It was during this
time that he first
admitted to natural selection in private notes. Thus I propose that my
fictional Covington, alone, and excluding Darwin's more
illustrious
contemporaries in this period after the voyage, had not just an instinct for
but a knowledge of what Darwin was grappling with in his
understanding.
Then came the day in
1839 when Darwin announced his impending marriage. He presented Covington with
a golden guinea, dismissed him from
his service, and
Covington (somewhat stung, as might be imagined, but stoical) took ship for New
South Wales.
In Australia Covington
married, had the same number of children as Darwin, prospered financially,
became innkeeper and postmaster at Pambula,
in southern New South
Wales. He maintained his polite correspondence with Darwin over more than
twenty years. (Covington's side of the
correspondence has been
lost.)
Looking back over his
life I have Covington obsessively ask a question: Had Darwin on their voyage
found proof of natural selection as a theory able
to explain life on earth
as completely as creationism? More importantly, had Covington himself handed
the proof over to Darwin -- willingly and
blindly? Had he thus
committed, as he puts it to himself, a crime against God and his own good
nature?
Had there been a
violation of good will? Worse -- insult from the arrangement of reality itself?
On the eve of
publication of The Origin of Species Darwin wrote to his former servant:
"Dear Covington, I
have for some years been preparing a work for publication which I commenced
twenty years ago, and for which I sometimes find
extracts in your
handwriting! The work will be my biggest; it treats on the origin of varieties
of our domestic animals and plants, and on the origin of
species in a state of
nature. I have to discuss every branch of natural history, and the work is
beyond my strength and tries me sorely."
It was a lot of work
they had done together, so much that Darwin's latest biographer, Janet Brown,
in Charles Darwin: Voyaging (1995) names
Covington as "the
unacknowledged shadow behind Darwin's every triumph." It is no mere whim
therefore to elevate him somewhat in character from
the plain, worthy, and
dutiful picture that emerges by reflection in Darwin's letters to him, and in Covington's
own rather scrappy and unimaginative
diary. Luckily fiction
is able to do that, and go where history cannot tread.
The reconciliation of
science and religion is a metaphysical question that is often written about as
an aspect of sociology, ready to happen "out
there". Yet where
can it happen except in this unique universe of one? Because plot is one of the
requirements of fiction, a "when" as well as a
"who" is
demanded. Writing this novel I had to be patient until the moment of reconciliation
materialised, dramatically speaking, and then I could
bring the pages to a
close.
Roger McDonald,
Edgecliff, NSW. Mr Darwin's Shooter was published in 1998 by published by
Alfred A. Knopf. This essay was funded by the
Literature Fund of the
Australia Council.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"New book offers
fictional portrait of "Beagle" voyager " - Review by Michael
Sims
FEBRUARY 8, 1999: The most recent of Charles Darwin's many
biographers describes Syms Covington, Darwin's assistant aboard the Beagle, as
the
"unacknowledged shadow behind Darwin's
every triumph." This view is a revisionist promotion, but the Australian
novelist Roger McDonald tops it in
his new book, Mr. Darwin's Shooter. McDonald's
clever and moving historical novel places Syms Covington in center stage and
recasts Darwin as a
supporting actor.
McDonald is a passionate
writer who loves the tastes and textures of the world but never loses touch
with the shifting, tempestuous emotions of his
characters. Such
attention and imagination naturally beget an original prose style, but it is
still surprising and fun to find McDonald so playful and
Dickensian in his new
book. Not surprisingly, he is also a poet and essayist.
The hero of Mr. Darwin's
Shooter is a surprising choice. Syms Covington is not an important historical
figure just now receiving his due. He was
simply in the right
place at the right time and had the talent and character to fill a minor but
essential role--man Friday, "shooter," and factotum to
the young adventurer who
would become one of the most influential scientists in history. Nowadays, only
archaeologists of Darwin's era remember
Syms Covington.
But the limitations of
our knowledge about the historical Covington don't apply to fiction. Art, as
someone once said, exists to cut the raw taste of the
facts. And fortunately, Covington's shadowy
role caught the imagination of a talented novelist. Rather than offering dry
variations on a historical
theme, Roger McDonald
gives us a wild adventure around the world that has something of the verve of
Robert Louis Stevenson and the lyricism of
Herman Melville.
There is no grander
theme than the determination of our place in the world, and there is no moment
in history more fascinating than Darwin's much-
mythologized voyage of
discovery. However, you don't need to have read Darwin's own account of the
Beagle voyage to appreciate McDonald's
book. McDonald has
created earthy, convincing, sometimes heartbreaking characters, and, like a
film director, has placed their story in lovingly
detailed sets. Every
page sparkles with bits of business that flesh out the reader's picture of
daily 19th-century existence. Even more impressive, the
writer captures the
taken-for-granted assumptions of an era dramatically different from our own.
Darwin needed a
"shooter" because one of his chief goals, as unpaid naturalist on
what was primarily a surveying mission, was the collection of
animals, plants, and
minerals new to science. This task required the killing of a great many animals
and the immediate preservation of their corpses.
Covington was only 15 years old when he first
undertook these tasks aboard H.M.S. Beagle. Darwin himself was in his early
20s.
McDonald's Covington is
unrefined to the point of wildness, but he is an astute observer. He sees
straight through the protective manners of those
around him. Darwin
himself comes across as a young, well-meaning stuffed shirt: "Darwin
refined his manner of keeping him at arm's length without
spoiling his use. None
of this was lost on Covington, who might have no science but could read the
emotions the way naturalists read their Carolus
Linnaeus."
In the first chapter,
Syms Covington is 12 years old, running wild, still marinating in a primitive
fundamentalism.
McDonald's book follows
him through his first meeting with Darwin, during his life aboard the Beagle,
and on into middle age.
Covington, we learn, is
most charming in his youth. The naif's discovery of the world rediscovers it
for us. But Darwin and his shooter are out in the
world not merely to
admire nature's artworks but to determine their place in a scheme of things. In
this regard, McDonald nicely captures the flavor of
scientific adventure in the 1830s. "From
birds to stones and bones and back to birds again," he writes, "the
mood was always the looking under of
surfaces."
Contrary to their
frequent simplistic portrayals, artists and scientists are not enemies. Their
tasks require the same tools--observation and imagination.
Roger McDonald's Mr. Darwin's Shooter, like
Darwin's own Voyage of the Beagle, proves this point. In either science or art,
the most important thing
is always the looking
under of surfaces.
---------------------------------------------------------
In Darwin's Shadow -
Imagining the life of the man who did the field work for `The Origin of
Species'
Review by Norah Vincent,
Boston Globe, Sunday, January 24, 1999.
Mr. Darwin's Shooter
By Roger McDonald.
Atlantic Monthly Press. 365 pp. $25.
It's a fair bet you
haven't heard of Roger McDonald, but that's about to change, once word gets
around about his near-perfect new novel, ``Mr.
Darwin's Shooter.''
Although this Australian novelist has won his country's National Book Award,
his books (``Slipstream,'' ``Water Man,'' and ``1915'')
are all but out of print
in this country. In the coming months, that too may change. In this latest novel,
McDonald has given us a work of distinction
that should establish
him on this side of the world as a widely read man of letters.
``Mr. Darwin's Shooter''
is the story of Syms Covington, Charles Darwin's real-life manservant and
right-hand man on and off the HMS Beagle from
1832 to 1839. Covington
is mentioned only briefly in Darwin's letters, and not very flatteringly: ``My
servant,'' wrote Darwin in a letter to his sister from
aboard the Beagle, ``is an odd sort of person;
I do not very much like him; but he is, perhaps, from his very oddity, very
well adapted to all my
purposes.''
Only a few scant details
of Covington's life were discoverable in Darwin's papers, or in Covington's
(his small, unpublished diary is housed in
Sydney's Mitchell
Library). McDonald was able, however, to piece together evidence showing that
Covington was, as Darwin biographer Janet Brown
wrote, ``the unacknowledged shadow behind
[Darwin's] every triumph.'' Further documentation suggested to McDonald that
the specimens
Covington collected on
the Galapagos Islands (particularly the finches he took back to England as
private souvenirs), being better labeled than
Darwin's, were the
actual specimens Darwin borrowed to use as proof of his theory of natural
selection. Yet Covington was never given credit for this
contribution, nor for
the vital role he played in Darwin's field work as a whole.
Covington was the man
who did most of the killing, fetching, and skinning in South America. He even
served as Darwin's secretary upon their return
to England. For two
years they lived in the same house, with Darwin busily sorting his data and
Covington recopying Darwin's notes. In 1839,
Covington emigrated to
Australia and maintained a correspondence with Darwin until he received his
long-awaited copy of ``The Origin of Species.''
Covington died soon thereafter, ``of a
paralysis,'' in 1861.
Those are most of the
available facts on Covington. From them, McDonald constructs an imagined life
story, and a remarkably complex inner life for
a man history might have otherwise recorded
only as a footnote, or worse, a footman.
At age 12, McDonald's Covington
leaves his native Bedford and becomes a deck hand on a British naval schooner
bound for Lisbon, then Brazil,
Argentina, Cape Horn,
and beyond. ``Part of their orders as naval surveyors,'' writes McDonald, ``was
the getting of creatures.'' Thus, Covington,
along with a handful of
other young recruits, earns his sea legs and begins learning the trade that
will make him useful to Darwin. Under the tutelage
of his mentor, seaman John Phipps, Covington
memorizes his catechism, which includes copious passages from John Bunyan.
Little does
Covington know that his
deepening faith and his naturalist's trade will come into heady and shattering
conflict over the course of his life. McDonald
suggests that this
conflict in Covington's heart and mind, so representative of the larger
conflict that erupted throughout the world in response to
Darwin's theories, was
the eventual cause of his sudden death.
But for McDonald,
Covington epitomizes far more than the cognitive dissonance that evolutionary
theory wrought among the faithful. ``Mr. Darwin's
Shooter'' is as much
about class in 19th-century England as it is about the conflict between science
and religion, or between proof and belief. On
the outside, Covington
is a common man, a butcher's son, simple, carnal, stalwart, and brusque.
Conversely, Darwin is a refined, supremely well-
educated gentleman. The
gap between them is enormous and, in keeping with the inveterate rigidity of
social status in England at the time,
unbridgeable. McDonald
implies (strongly) that Covington's lowliness goes a long way toward explaining
why Darwin never recognized his
contribution to the
``Origin'' project, much less ever gave credence to the man's obvious
intelligence and intuitive depth. One might even go so far
as to say that, if
Covington had been a ``gentleman'' of Darwin's own class, it would have been
almost unthinkable for Darwin to omit at least some
reference to his
assistant/partner. McDonald entwines these two thematic threads expertly when
he has Covington finally receive his copy of ``The
Origin'' in his dotage
in Australia. The expectant Covington fails to find any mention of his name in
the book, and explodes with two decades' worth
of pent-up rage. The
crushing blow of being dismissed, coupled with the psychic weight of thinking
himself, as he says, ``an accomplice to a great
murderer,'' is too much
for Covington.
``They were the greats of
English science and had no idea what Darwin was proposing. But Covington did.
Just the two of them did. . . . That Noah,
whose Ark was often
compared with their cramped old vessel as a preserver of creation, was nothing
but a bearded braggart whose tale was woven
from hempen homespun.''
McDonald's language is
so marvelously taut, his imagery so fresh (``his brain was a bucket of
jewels''; ``He was like a whipped spaniel over the
quickness of her
passion;'' ``Covington had charge of the notes and read them with all the
understanding of a fly seeing a pinpoint of light in a dark
room and dimly
buzzing''), that in reading him, you feel newly -- and, maybe, for the first
time in a long time -- pleasantly acquainted with unselfish
poetry. This writer is
supremely generous with his gifts. His words don't aim to dazzle or intimidate.
Instead they mean to pull a sensible shape from
the murk of received
experience and the fertile lacunae of history. McDonald achieves all this and
more by evoking in us a sympathy that warms and
instructs.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Review from Antipodes,
June 1999
The timeless conflict
between science and religion finds new meaning in Mr. Darwin's Shooter.
Roger McDonald.
Mr. Darwin's Shooter
New York: Atlantic
Monthly Press, 1998. $25.00. 365 pages.
ISBN 0 87113 733 X.
A YOUNG WOMAN with
wanderlust, a degree from a prestigious college, and a background in the Roman
Catholic church was asked if there were
anywhere on earth she
still wanted to go. Yes, she replied, the Galapagos. Why? I've been fascinated
by Darwin since we learned about him in
school and I want to see
the place where he formulated his theories.
Fascination with the
ideas of Charles Darwin started with the publication of The Origin of Species
by Means of Natural Selection in 1859 and
continues to this day.
In a world where tinsel celebrities seem to reign, the quiet, thoughtful Darwin
still compels the interest of the best and
brightest. These
interests will be well served by Roger McDonald's new book, Mr. Darwin's
Shooter.
McDonald is one of
Australia's finest writers. Like David Malouf, he started as a poet, published
by the University of Queensland Press, and soon
found his other calling
in fiction, often rooted in history. Combining the language skills of a gifted
poet with the research instincts of a scholar, he
has created in the new
novel a work of great appeal as well as an impressive blend of fact and
fiction.
Controversy over
Darwin's work started early and continues. The famous Scopes monkey trial in
the 1920s settled nothing, as Scopes, prosecuted by
William Jennings Bryan,
was convicted of teaching the heretical ideas of Darwin -- but exonerated in
the court of public opinion by the arguments of
the brilliant Clarence Darrow. Bryan died
shortly after the conclusion of the trial, some said of a broken heart. Science
proved stronger than faith,
and the great orator
could not bear the thought of the world without the faith of his fathers. In
Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary,
Darwinism is defined as
the theory that species originate by descent through the natural selection of
individuals best adapted to reproductive
success. Creationism is,
in contrast, the doctrine that the deity created life in the same forms as they
now exist, as related in the Old Testament of
the Bible.
In intellect Syms
(Simon) Covington was not on the level of these men, but he is very much a part
of Darwin's story. He was the "shooter," the fellow
who obtained the animal
specimens that became the basis of the postulations on the origin and descent
of man. All the shooting, in fact, ruined his
hearing. Born in
England, the son of a horse butcher, he lost his job in a tannery at age twelve
and went to sea under the aegis of John Phipps, an
evangelical sailor with
a special fondness for boys.
Covington, as imagined
by McDonald, is self-educated, exuberant, profoundly Christian in his faith. He
might be seen as the antithesis of Darwin,
but McDonald is too
subtle a writer and thinker to present such a black and white contrast. In his
later years, Covington begins to suspect what Darwin
is up to, and he is both resentful and proud.
When he learns about Darwin's book, he eagerly awaits its arrival. Was he used
as a dupe to make the
case for evolution and
atheism? Will he nonetheless be given credit for his contribution?
In the first section,
McDonald presents Covington's early years, his background in the town of
Bedford, England, and his affectionate family. Bedford
was also the home of
John Bunyan, and his Pilgrim's Progress was a cornerstone of Covington's
non-conformist, Congregational faith. Then, in a
transition some readers
may find unsettling, we fast forward to Australia and a middle-aged, deaf
Covington, saved from an almost fatal attack of
appendicitis by an
American doctor, David MacCracken. Soon he and the doctor become friends,
although later the volatile Covington will nearly
break the doctor's jaw.
He begins to open up to his new friend, and tells the story of his eight years
with Darwin, six on the Beagle and two as a
servant in Darwin's
London house. Every aspect of the relationship is developed, from the boy's
first sighting of the "toff" he later served to the
farewell when Darwin
tells Covington he is to be married and gives him a gold guinea as a parting
gift.
During the rest of the
book, McDonald shifts back and forth between Covington's early years and his
middle age in Australia. Deaf, something of a
physical wreck,
prosperous, a paterfamilias with an illegitimate daughter from an early
liaison, Covington becomes a sympathetic, fully realized
character, while Darwin
remains something of a mystery, almost peripheral to the story. Charles Darwin
may have up-ended the natural world, but in
the social sphere he
remained a Victorian gentleman, a snob, an observer of the status quo.
Covington notes Darwin's desire to have a position as a
parson with a good
income and pretty wife in the vicarage.
A reader may ponder if
the narrative might have been stronger in straight chronological order. Dr.
MacCracken may be seen as somewhat extraneous
to the narrative, but he falls in love with
Covington's love child, and a bit of romance is always welcome, especially in a
book as masculine in view
and tone as this one.
Admirers of Conrad and Melville will see McDonald as walking in a similar path,
although he is certainly far more of an
optimist than either of
those venerables.
Roger McDonald captures
the essence of the collecting and categorizing that went into Darwin's
formulations. In Covington he gives a brilliant
fictionalized portrait
of a real person-a devout Everyman, reacting with pride for his part in and
horror at the implications of The Origin of Species
and The Descent of Man.
McDonald shows the ultimate irony --how Covington, a truly godly man -- was
instrumental in the success of Darwin's
endeavor. The contrasts
in the book -- master/servant, upper-class snob/working class striver,
intellectual esthete/devout sensualist -- provide the
tensions that propel the
narrative. Covington actually kept a diary, which has never been published, but
the portrait presented here is McDonald's
creation.
McDonald captures the
language of the ordinary sailor as well as his interior life as he gives us
memorable descriptions of life aboard the Beagle
and of the landscapes in
South America. In the novel's words, "On they had sailed to the weird
Galapagos, the Encantadas or enchanted Isles, so
named because contrary
currents bewitched shipmasters' intentions -- the cold sea lapping the
equator's burning hot sands, home of cactus, tortoise
and lizard, where
Covington shot Darwin's birds." Only three pages are devoted to the
Galapagos, yet they are three dazzling pages.
McDonald also gives a
vivid portrait of mid-nineteenth-century Australia. He is a brilliant
descriptive writer and his evocation of the Australian
landscape is
exceptional. A proud if sometimes critical Australian, McDonald may have been
attracted to Covington because the man emigrated to
Australia and built a
good life for himself and his family.
In an afterword,
McDonald quotes a letter from Darwin to his sister in 1834: "My servant
[Covington] is an odd sort of person; I do not very much like
him; but he is, perhaps
from his very oddity, very well adapted to all my purposes." McDonald goes
on to explain:
In basing Mr. Darwin's
Shooter on real people and actual events I have relied on many historical
sources. Charles Darwin's archive is immense: he
remains the most
thoroughly documented scientific genius of the nineteenth century. Syms
Covington's archive by comparison is tiny. It consists of a
contested birth-date, a
scrappy diary, a few watercolours, and a scattered mention in Darwin's letters
and diaries. Yet Covington was at Darwin's side
almost constantly from
1832 to 1839, during the voyage of the Beagle and for the two and a half
crucial years following, when they lived in the
same house and Darwin
formulated his theory of natural selection in private notes. After Covington's
emigration to Australia in 1839 they
maintained a collecting
relationship that ended with the arrival of The Origin of Species in Australia
and, shortly afterwards, Covington's death ('of a
paralysis') on 19 February 1861.
In the 1950s an eastern
university offered an undergraduate course in Darwin, Freud, and Marx as the
three thinkers who had most influenced the
twentieth century. This
teacher viewed Marx and Freud as the major forces, with Darwin mostly a good
collector and classifier. Today it is likely that
Darwin would be viewed
as the greatest influence, who redefined the human race's past and place in the
universe, and provided a challenge to
religious beliefs that
even the most outspoken heretic never achieved.
Darwin was a born
aristocrat, son of a wealthy and indulgent father, and with an English
reticence to boast or self-advertise. Yet his findings and
insights were
revolutionary and have changed the world-view far more than anyone might have
imagined at mid-century. One consequence of
reading McDonald's book
may be to quicken a reader's interest in the great Darwin himself. McDonald
also cites in the afterword the various sources
he consulted. He says he
learned of Covington while reading Darwin by Desmond and Moore (London, 1991).
The most recent biography, Charles
Darwin: Voyaging by
Janet Browne (London, 1995), refers to Covington as "the unacknowledged
shadow behind [Darwin's] every triumph."
Pearl Bowman, City
University of New York
-----------------------------------------------------------
Extract from webpage
Australian Artists: "sketcher,
naturalist and postmaster, was an 18-year-old cabin boy when he became Charles
Darwin's
servant on HMS Beagle in
1831-36. His only known art works are pencil sketches produced on this voyage
(Mitchell Library), including Entrance to
the River Derwent, Van
Diemen's Land, Showing the Lighthouse and King George's Sound, Western
Australia. They are simple records of place in
no way comparable with
drawings by the Beagle's official artists Conrad Martens and his predecessor
Augustus Earle. But after Martens was signed
off at Valparaiso in
1834 the expedition lacked any professional draughtsman. Covington obviously
drew his sketches at the behest of his admired
master; his years with
Darwin always remained the high point of his life.
At Sydney in 1836,
Covington went insect hunting with Darwin. Between them they collected
ninety-two different species, thirty-one previously
unknown to science.
Darwin later noted that Covington had also 'shot and prepared nearly all the
specimens I brought home'. Paid off on 17 October
1836 after returning to London, Covington
spent the next two and a half years helping Darwin arrange and document the
material collected on the
voyage. Then he decided
to migrate to New South Wales, a surprising decision given his description of
it as a place consisting 'princibly [sic] of
convicts, or the most
notorious characters of England - & a place I must say I was heartily glad
to leave'.
Bearing references from
Darwin to William Sharp Macleay, Captain Phillip Parker King, Thomas Mitchell
and an open letter of introduction, he
reached Sydney in late
1839 or early 1840. He apparently first found employment with the Australian
Agricultural Company at Stroud, thanks to
King. He married Eliza
Twyford there on 12 August 1841. By 1843 he was a clerk at the Agricultural
Company's coal depot in Sydney.
Covington corresponded
with Darwin for the rest of his life and Darwin seems to have been very fond of
this 'upright, prudent' servant who had copied
several of his voluminous manuscripts. He sent
Covington, who was becoming increasingly deaf, a new ear trumpet (plus
instructions for mending
his old one) and asked
Covington to collect local barnacles for him. A box was sent on 12 March 1850;
one (BM) proved to be 'a new species of a
genus of which only one
specimen is known to exist in the world', Darwin told him.
Having spent some time
on the Ovens goldfields in Victoria in 1852-53 without success, Covington was
appointed postmaster at Pambula near
Twofold Bay (NSW) on 1
November 1854. There he continued to collect for Darwin, sometimes with the
assistance of one of his sons. He acquired
modest property in the
colony ('land and house letting £83 p.a.'), became a farmer and trained his
sons in agricultural pursuits. The homestead he
built at Pambula
(c.1856, extant) also served as an inn, post office and, probably, general
store. He considered he had done 'pretty well' in the
colony.
ERNEST. Ref: 5792. Born around 1840 at
Australia. Mother: Twyford, Eliza, Ref: 4328
SYMS BERRILL. Ref: 5793. Born 17 Aug 1842 at
Bega, NSW. Mother: Twyford, Eliza, Ref: 4328
CHARLES ERASMUS. Ref: 5899. Born during 1844
at Millers Point, NSW. Mother: Twyford, Eliza, Ref: 4328
ELIZABETH LOUISA. Ref: 5908. Born 26 Feb 1846
at Pambula NSW. Mother: Twyford, Eliza, Ref: 4328
EDWIN ERNEST. Ref: 5987. Born during 1848 at
Bega, NSW. Mother: Twyford, Eliza, Ref: 4328
ALFRED SIMON. Ref: 5919. Born 2 Mar 1850 at
Bega, NSW. Mother: Twyford, Eliza, Ref: 4328
PHILIP CLEMENT ARMSTRNG. Ref: 5575. Born Sep
1852 at Cooma, NSW. Mother: Twyford, Eliza, Ref: 4328
EMMALINE AMELIA. Ref: 5939. Born during 1854
at Bega, NSW. Mother: Twyford, Eliza, Ref: 4328
WALTER LIONEL. Ref: 5940. Born during 1856 at
Bega NSW. Mother: Twyford, Eliza, Ref: 4328
JANE. Ref: 5979. Born during 1858 at Pambula
NSW. Mother: Twyford, Eliza, Ref: 4328
WILLIAM LAVENDER COVINGTON.
Ref: 3291. Born: during 1786 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 3239.
Mother: Lavender, Elizabeth,
Mother Ref: 4170.
Christened: 16 Jul 1786 at Bedford.
SIMON COVINGTON. Ref:
3240. Born: 1787- 1788 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 3239. Mother:
Lavender, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4170.
Died: Jan 1819 at
Bedford aged 31. Christened: 2 Mar 1788 at Bedford. Buried 3 January 1819
ELIZABETH BERRILL COVINGTON.
Ref: 3242. Born: during 1789 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 3239.
Mother: Lavender, Elizabeth,
Mother Ref: 4170.
Thought to have died young. Christened: 22 Nov 1789 at Bedford.
EDWARD COVINGTON. Ref:
3241. Born: during 1791 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 3239. Mother:
Lavender, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4170.
Christened: 8 Mar 1791 at Bedford. Died as
infant
WILLIAM COVINGTON. Ref:
3290. Born: 1791- 1792 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 3239. Mother:
Lavender, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4170.
Died: 1 Jul 1841 at
Bedford aged 49. Christened: 1 Dec 1793 at Bedford. Buried 2 July 1841 at
Moravian Church, Bedford
ANN LAVENDER COVINGTON.
Ref: 3243. Born: during 1795 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 3239.
Mother: Lavender, Elizabeth, Mother
Ref: 4170. Christened:
25 Dec 1795 at Bedford.
FRANCES COVINGTON. Ref:
3244. Born: during 1798 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 3239. Mother:
Lavender, Elizabeth, Mother Ref:
4170. Christened: 4 Jun
1798 at Bedford.
ELIZABETH BERRILL
COVINGTON. Ref: 3245. Born: during 1800 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref:
3239. Mother: Lavender, Elizabeth,
Mother Ref: 4170.
Christened: 9 Mar 1800 at Bedford.
MARY
COVINGTON. Ref: 3246. Born: during 1802 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref:
3239. Mother: Lavender, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4170.
Christened: 15 Aug 1802
at Bedford.
RICHARD COVINGTON. Ref:
3497. Born: during 1804 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 3239. Mother:
Lavender, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4170.
Christened: 12 Oct 1804 at Bedford St Cuth.
JAMES COVINGTON. Ref:
3498. Born: during 1806 at Bedford. Father: Simon, Father Ref: 3239. Mother: Lavender,
Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4170.
Christened: 12 Oct 1806
at Bedford St Cuth.
GENERATION Ten
ERNEST COVINGTON. Ref:
5792. Born: around 1840 at Australia. Father: Simon (Syms), Father Ref: 2419.
Mother: Twyford, Eliza, Mother Ref:
SYMS BERRILL COVINGTON.
Ref: 5793. Born: 17 Aug 1842 at Bega, NSW. Father: Simon (Syms), Father Ref:
2419. Mother: Twyford, Eliza,
Mother Ref: 4328. Died: 4 May 1923 at Eden NSW aged 80. Mar: during 1882 at Straud, NSW to Bartley,
Sarah 5794.
CHARLES ERASMUS
COVINGTON. Ref: 5899. Born: during 1844 at Millers Point, NSW. Father: Simon
(Syms), Father Ref: 2419. Mother: Twyford,
Eliza, Mother Ref:
4328. Died: during 1923 at Parramatta
NSW aged 79. Mar: around 1875 at
Australia to Aitken,Isabella Borthwick 5910.
JANE MUNSDEN BUCKPITT. Ref: 5900. Born 26 Jul
1877 at Townsville, NSW. Mother: Aitken,Isabella Borthwick,
Ref: 5910
WILLIAM HENRY. Ref: 5901. Born 10 Feb 1880 at
Townsville, NSW. Mother: Aitken,Isabella Borthwick, Ref: 5910
ELIZABETH LOUISA
COVINGTON. Ref: 5908. Born: 26 Feb 1846 at Pambula NSW. Father: Simon (Syms),
Father Ref: 2419. Mother: Twyford,
Eliza, Mother Ref:
4328. Died: 4 Aug 1905 at New Hebrides
aged 59. Mar: 2 Feb 1876 at Lochiel NSW
to Axam, George . Known as Sis. Baptised
15 Sep 1848 in Pambula
NSW. Died on Tangoa Island, South Santo, New Hebrides. Had 8 children, one of
whom, Isabella Eliza Axam,
subsequently married an
Arthur Sirl with whom she then had 11 children.
EDWIN ERNEST COVINGTON.
Ref: 5987. Born: during 1848 at Bega, NSW. Father: SymsSimon (Syms), Father
Ref: 2419. Mother: Twyford, Eliza,
Mother Ref: 4328.
ALFRED SIMON COVINGTON.
Ref: 5919. Born: 2 Mar 1850 at Bega, NSW. Father: Simon (Syms), Father Ref:
2419. Mother: Twyford, Eliza, Mother
Ref: 4328.
Died: 27 Feb 1930 at Australia aged 80.
Mar: around 1890 at Australia to Baker, Sarah Anne Amelia 5923.
HAROLD. Ref: 5926. Born during 1878 at New
South Wales. Mother: Baker, Sarah Anne Amelia, Ref: 5923
LOUISA. Ref: 5929. Born around 1882 at New
South Wales. Mother: Baker, Sarah Anne Amelia, Ref: 5923
LILY. Ref: 5924. Born around 1884 at New
South Wales. Mother: Baker, Sarah Anne Amelia, Ref: 5923
ALFRED ARTHUR. Ref: 5920. Born during 1886 at
New South Wales. Mother: Baker, Sarah Anne Amelia, Ref: 5923
MARY. Ref: 5925. Born around 1896 at New
South Wales. Mother: Baker, Sarah Anne Amelia, Ref: 5923
CHARLES. Ref: 5930. Born during 1902 at New
South Wales. Mother: Baker, Sarah Anne Amelia, Ref: 5923
PHILIP
CLEMENT ARMSTRNG COVINGTON. Ref: 5575. Born: Sep 1852 at Cooma, NSW. Father:
Simon (Syms), Father Ref: 2419. Mother:
Twyford, Eliza, Mother
Ref: 4328. Died: 4 Jan 1892 at
Bairnsdale, Victoria aged 39. Mar: 25
Jul 1878 at Pambula, NSW to Bartley, Maria 5795.
Christened: 27 Sep 1852
at Cooma, N.S.W..
CHARLES ARMSTRONG. Ref: 5486. Born 22 Aug
1879 at Bega, NSW. Mother: Bartley, Maria, Ref: 5795
HERBERT EDWIN. Ref: 5911. Born during 1880 at
Eden NSW. Mother: Bartley, Maria, Ref: 5795
MARY ELIZABETH. Ref: 5914. Born during 1884
at Eden NSW. Mother: Bartley, Maria, Ref: 5795
FLORENCE A. Ref: 5805. Born during 1886 at
Eden NSW. Mother: Bartley, Maria, Ref: 5795
ADELAIDE. Ref: 5804. Born during 1887 at
Bega, NSW. Mother: Bartley, Maria, Ref: 5795
SYDNEY. Ref: 5913. Born during 1889 at
Pambula NSW. Mother: Bartley, Maria, Ref: 5795
MINNIE WARNER. Ref: 5912. Born 8 May 1892 at
Bega NSW. Mother: Bartley, Maria, Ref: 5795
EMMALINE AMELIA
COVINGTON. Ref: 5939. Born: during 1854 at Bega, NSW. Father: Simon (Syms),
Father Ref: 2419. Mother: Twyford, Eliza,
Mother Ref: 4328. Died: during 1879 at Eden NSW aged 25. Mar: 26 Jul 1878 at Eden, NSW to Underhill,
Samuel . Sadly died during childbirth,
as did her child. Her
husband later re-married to an Anna Gleeson, with whom he had 3 children
WALTER LIONEL COVINGTON.
Ref: 5940. Born: during 1856 at Bega NSW. Father: Simon (Syms), Father Ref:
2419. Mother: Twyford, Eliza,
Mother Ref: 4328. Died: 29 Oct 1933 at Australia aged 77. Mar: 23 Jun 1880 at Eden NSW to Bartley,
Flora Anne 5941.
ROSE ANNA. Ref: 5942. Born during 1881 at
Eden NSW. Mother: Bartley, Flora Anne, Ref: 5941
WALTER LIONEL. Ref: 5943. Born 21 Jul 1882 at
Eden NSW. Mother: Bartley, Flora Anne, Ref: 5941
FLORENCE EMALINE MARY. Ref: 5970. Born 15 Apr
1884 at Bega, NSW. Mother: Bartley, Flora Anne, Ref: 5941
CLIFFORD JOSEPH BERALD. Ref: 5971. Born 14
Mar 1885 at Bega, NSW. Mother: Bartley, Flora Anne, Ref: 5941
BEATRICE NINA. Ref: 5972. Born 26 Feb 1887 at
Bega, NSW. Mother: Bartley, Flora Anne, Ref: 5941
HARRY FRANCIS. Ref: 5973. Born 7 Mar 1891 at
Bairnsdale, Victoria. Mother: Bartley, Flora Anne, Ref: 5941
JANE COVINGTON. Ref:
5979. Born: during 1858 at Pambula NSW. Father: Simon (Syms), Father Ref: 2419.
Mother: Twyford, Eliza, Mother Ref:
4328. Died: during 1858 at Pambula NSW aged 0.
CAROLINE COVINGTON. Ref:
2450. Born: during 1804 at Bedford. Father: Arthur, Father Ref: 2448. Mother:
Hine, Charlotte, Mother Ref: 4204.
Mar: 20 Oct 1828 at
Bedford to Upton, George . Christened: 25 Dec 1804 at Bedford.
WILLIAM COVINGTON. Ref:
922. Born: Aug 1806 at Bedford. Father: Arthur, Father Ref: 2448. Mother: Hine,
Charlotte, Mother Ref: 4204. Died:
Jan-Mar 1874 at Bedford
aged 67. Mar: 16 Mar 1846 at Bedford to
Cole, Ann 4313. Christened: 24 Aug 1806 at Bedford St Mary. Could have lived
at 5 Canning St, Bedford, or Foster St,
Bedford, or 13 Pilcroft St, Bedford in 1868
ARTHUR COVINGTON. Ref:
2454. Born: during 1813 at Bedford. Father: Arthur, Father Ref: 2448. Mother:
Hine, Charlotte, Mother Ref: 4204. Died:
Jan-Mar 1842 at Bedford aged 29. Mar: 27 Oct 1837 at Bedford St Peter to Cook,
Elizabeth 4284. Christened: 13 Jan 1822 at Bedford St Mary.
CHARLOTTE COVINGTON.
Ref: 2452. Born: during 1815 at Bedford. Father: Arthur, Father Ref: 2448.
Mother: Hine, Charlotte, Mother Ref: 4204.
Died: Mar 1830 at
Bedford aged 14. Christened: 26 Nov 1815 at Bedford. Buried 11 March 1830
GEORGE COVINGTON. Ref:
2453. Born: during 1819 at Bedford. Father: Arthur, Father Ref: 2448. Mother:
Hine, Charlotte, Mother Ref: 4204.
Died: Jul 1819 at
Bedford aged 0. Christened: 12 Jul 1819 at Bedford. Buried 15 July 1819
MARY ANN COVINGTON. Ref:
2506. Born: 31 Mar 1812 at Bedford. Father: Berrill, Father Ref: 2505. Mother:
Hodges, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4216.
Died: 5 Oct 1908 at Ogden, Weber UT aged 96.
Buried 7th Oct 1908 at Ogden, Weber, Utah, USA
ELIZABETH COVINGTON.
Ref: 2509. Born: 9 May 1813 at Bedford. Father: Berrill, Father Ref: 2505.
Mother: Hodges, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4216.
Died: Nov 1815 at Bedford aged 2. Buried 19
November 1815
WILLIAM
BERRILL COVINGTON. Ref: 2508. Born: 27 Nov 1817 at Bedford. Father: Berrill,
Father Ref: 2505. Mother: Hodges, Elizabeth, Mother
Ref: 4216. Died: 31 Dec 1905 at Ogden, Weber UT aged
88. Mar: 26 Jul 1838 at Bedford to
Heaward, Elizabeth Gill 15574. 2nd Mar: 12 Apr 1852
at Salt Lake City UT to Lemon, Ann Elizabeth
4289. Known as Berrill. First wife may have been named Griffiths.
Saturday, June 19, 1847
on the Oregon Trail:
Elkhorn River, Nebraska:
- The Jacob Foutz fifty moved out. They were part of the Edward Hunter Company.
The Foutz fifty consisted of 59 wagons
and 155 people.
[Included in the second
ten led by Alva Keller were: Berrill Covington, Nathaniel Morgan Dodge, Sarah
Melissa Dodge, Frederic Heath, Henry
Heath, Thomas Heath, Ann
Hunter, Ann Eliza Stanley Hunter, Edward Hunter, Mary Ann Hunter, Sarah Ann
Hunter, Alva Keller, Nancy Ann Keller,
Roxey, Keller, Susanna
Mann, Sarah Ann Whitney Potter, Gardner Godrey Potter, William George Potter,
Wm. W. Potter, William Starrett, and
Henry Tuttle.] Buried on
4th Jan 1906 in Ogden, Weber UT.
Covington Mountain near
Mojave is named after him.
JOSIAH COVINGTON. Ref:
668. Born: 10 Jan 1821 at Bedford. Father: Berrill, Father Ref: 2505. Mother:
Hodges, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4216.
Died: 30 Oct 1889 at
Tuebrook, Liverpool aged 68. Mar: 19 Jul
1840 at Bedford to Freeman, Susannah 4295. 2nd Mar: around 1870 at West Derby
to Harriet 5386. Appears in 1861 Census living
in West Derby employed as a Bootmaker. They made their home in Liverpool until
they could get
enough ahead to come to
the United States and on to Utah.
Some time in 1863 they
sent their daughter, Mary Ann, who was twenty-one and their son, Berrill, who
was fifteen to the United States. They came
to Salt Lake City and
then on to Ogden. The following year, Susan and the following children, Edward
Thomas Ord, Susan Hannah and William,
sailed aboard the
General McClellan, leaving Liverpool on 21 May 1864. Her husband, Josiah Sr.,
and son, Josiah Jr., were left behind. They were
to follow as soon as
they saved enough for their fare. Things happened, plans changed, they never
emigrated, and they continued to live in
Liverpool. Josiah Jr
married a niece of Susan's and raised a family in England. He was later
excommunicated from the Church.
In 1881 Census described
as a Cordwainer living in West Derby at 103 Prescot Rd
(taken from Family
History of George Richard and Euphemia Jane Freeman (1990), )
MARY ANNE. Ref: 1819. Born 2 Jun 1841 at
Bedford. Mother: Freeman, Susannah, Ref: 4295
JOSIAH. Ref: 1680. Born 3 Jun 1845 at
Bermondsey. Mother: Freeman, Susannah, Ref: 4295
BERRILL. Ref: 1669. Born 6 May 1848 at St
Botolph,Aldergate. Mother: Freeman, Susannah, Ref: 4295
SUSAN HANNAH. Ref: 1716. Born 10 Feb 1850 at
Liverpool. Mother: Freeman, Susannah, Ref: 4295
EDWARD THOMAS ORD. Ref: 1699. Born 15 Apr
1853 at Liverpool. Mother: Freeman, Susannah, Ref: 4295
SAMUEL HENRY. Ref: 1717. Born Apr-Jun 1857 at
Liverpool. Mother: Freeman, Susannah, Ref: 4295
WILLIAM HENRY. Ref: 1359. Born 24 Nov 1862 at
Liverpool. Mother: Freeman, Susannah, Ref: 4295
ELIZABETH COVINGTON.
Ref: 2507. Born: 19 Oct 1823 at Bedford. Father: Berrill, Father Ref: 2505.
Mother: Hodges, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4216.
Died: 6 Dec 1895 at Ogden, Weber UT aged 72.
EDWARD COVINGTON. Ref:
2592. Born: 28 Aug 1826 at Bedford. Father: Berrill, Father Ref: 2505. Mother:
Hodges, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4216.
Died: 11 Aug 1919 at
Salt Lake City UT aged 92. Mar: around
1855 at Salt Lake City UT to Pickering, Emma 5984. Emigrated to U.S. and joined
EMMA MATILDA. Ref: 15223. Born 11 Apr 1866 at
Salt Lake City UT. Mother: Pickering, Emma, Ref: 5984
HARRY. Ref: 15224. Born during 1870 at Salt
Lake City UT. Mother: Pickering, Emma, Ref: 5984
ALONZO BARREL. Ref: 15217. Born during 1872
at Salt Lake City UT. Mother: Pickering, Emma, Ref: 5984
HENRY
COVINGTON. Ref: 2513. Born: 4 Apr 1829 at Bedford. Father: Berrill, Father Ref:
2505. Mother: Hodges, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4216.
Died: 15 May 1863 at
U.K. aged 34.
SIMON COVINGTON. Ref:
3467. Born: 19 Jun 1832 at Bedford. Father: Berrill, Father Ref: 2505. Mother:
Hodges, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4216.
Died: 10 Aug 1905 at
U.K. aged 73. Known as Simeon. Christened: 28 Jun 1837 at Bedford.
SARAH ELIZABETH
COVINGTON. Ref: 3468. Born: 6 Mar 1835 at Bedford. Father: Berrill, Father Ref:
2505. Mother: Hodges, Elizabeth, Mother
Ref: 4216. Died: 8 Jun 1914 at Ogden, Weber UT aged
79. Mar: 5 Aug 1855 at Ogden, Weber UT
to West, Chauncey Walker . Christened: 28 Jun
1837 at Bedford. Buried
10 Jun 1914 at Ogden, Weber, Utah, USA. Had 8 children with Chauncey Walker
West, who also married 2 other
Covingtons, Susan Hannah
(1716) & Mary Ann (1819) along with 6 others. He fathered a total of 35
children between them.
PRISCILLA COVINGTON.
Ref: 1740. Born: 17 Jan 1839 at Bedford. Father: Berrill, Father Ref: 2505.
Mother: Hodges, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4216.
Died: 7 May 1916 at American Fork UT aged 77.
Christened: 31 Mar 1839 at Bedford. Buried at American Fork Cemetery, Utah, USA
CHARLES COVINGTON. Ref:
2516. Born: 1821- 1822 at Bedford. Father: Robert, Father Ref: 2517. Mother:
Mays, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4239.
Died: Nov 1847 at
Bedford aged 25. Mar: 17 Apr 1846 at
Bedford St Peter to Francis, Catherine 4314. Christened: 16 Feb 1823 at Bedford
St Cuth.
Buried 5 November 1847.
SOPHIA COVINGTON. Ref:
3256. Born: 10 Sep 1826 at Bedford. Father: Robert, Father Ref: 2517. Mother:
Mays, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4239.
Died: Jul 1836 at
Bedford aged 9. Christened: 10 Dec 1826 at Bedford. Buried 28 July 1836
REBECCA COVINGTON. Ref:
3257. Born: 8 Dec 1828 at Bedford. Father: Robert, Father Ref: 2517. Mother:
Mays, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4239.
Died: Dec 1831 at
Bedford aged 3. Christened: 4 Apr 1829 at Bedford. Buried 1 January 1832
REBECCA COVINGTON. Ref:
3258. Born: 14 Oct 1836 at Bedford. Father: Robert, Father Ref: 2517. Mother:
Mays, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4239.
Died: Oct 1846 at
Bedford aged 10. Christened: 27 Nov 1836 at Bedford. Buried 31 October 1846,
Rose Yard, Bedford
GEORGE COVINGTON. Ref:
379. Born: Oct-Dec 1838 at Bedford. Father: Robert, Father Ref: 2517. Mother:
Mays, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4239.
Died: Jan-Mar 1893 at
Bedford aged 54. Mar: Jul-Sep 1866 at
Bedford to Dixie, Donna Maria 5293. Christened: 6 Jan 1839 at Bedford Methodst.
Tailor. In 1861 Census
was living at 73 Well Street. In 1881 Census was living at 2 Cemetery Rd,
Bedford. In 1891 at 4 Foster Hill Rd, Bedford.
Widower by 1891. Lived a
4 Foster Hill Rd, Bedford prior to his death
MARY ELIZABETH. Ref: 1020. Born 20 Aug 1867
at Bedford. Mother: Dixie, Donna Maria, Ref: 5293
MAUD ALICE. Ref: 1266. Born Apr-Jun 1870 at
Bedford. Mother: Dixie, Donna Maria, Ref: 5293
HILDA FLORENCE. Ref: 1313. Born 4 Dec 1876 at
Bedford. Mother: Dixie, Donna Maria, Ref: 5293
ELLEN COVINGTON. Ref:
1826. Born: Jul-Sep 1840 at Bedford. Father: Robert, Father Ref: 2517. Mother:
Mays, Elizabeth, Mother Ref: 4239.
Mar: 29 Mar 1859 at
Bedford to Bell, Joseph Chamberlain . 2nd Mar: Oct-Dec 1874 at Bedford to
Black, Edward . Christened: 23 Aug 1840 at
Bedford St Paul. 1st
husband was son of a bricklayer & later became one himself. He was born in
Bedford in 1840 and died Sep 1871. They lived at
Gorgon Street, 13 Beckett Street, 40 Priory
Street & 4 Battison Street during their life together and had 3 children
Charles Covington Bell, Louis
Bell & Annie Bell.
After his death she re-married an Engine Driver, Edward Black with whom she had
a further 3 children Edward Simeon, Ellen
Elizabeth & Fanny
Black. She was a Parchment Worker. (Black-Tucker Family Tree) (Info from Will
Tucker Sept 2006)
JOSEPH COVINGTON. Ref:
2767. Born: during 1810 at Bedford. Father: Joseph Brown, Father Ref: 2761.
Mother: Chapman, Mary, Mother Ref:
4212. Christened: 10 Jun
1810 at Bedford St Paul. Died young
MARY COVINGTON. Ref:
2762. Born: during 1812 at Bedford. Father: Joseph Brown, Father Ref: 2761.
Mother: Chapman, Mary, Mother Ref: 4212.
Mar: 13 May 1833 at Bedford St Paul to
Smith, Henry . Christened: 12 Jul 1812 at Bedford St Paul.
SARAH COVINGTON. Ref:
2763. Born: during 1814 at Bedford. Father: Joseph Brown, Father Ref: 2761.
Mother: Chapman, Mary, Mother Ref:
4212. Mar: 1 May 1833 at Bedford St Paul to
Garlick, Thomas . Christened: 3 Jul 1814 at Bedford St Paul.
JOSEPH COVINGTON. Ref:
3158. Born: Aug 1815 at Bedford. Father: Joseph Brown, Father Ref: 2761.
Mother: Chapman, Mary, Mother Ref: 4212.
Died: Jan 1816 at Bedford aged 0. Christened:
20 Dec 1815 at Bedford. Buried 18 January 1816
JOSEPH BROWN COVINGTON.
Ref: 3162. Born: during 1817 at Bedford. Father: Joseph Brown, Father Ref:
2761. Mother: Chapman, Mary, Mother
Ref: 4212. Christened: 26 Aug 1817 at Bedford
St Paul.
ANN
COVINGTON. Ref: 2764. Born: during 1819 at Bedford. Father: Joseph Brown,
Father Ref: 2761. Mother: Chapman, Mary, Mother Ref: 4212.
Christened: 4 Jul 1819
at Bedford St Paul.
THOMAS COVINGTON. Ref:
3163. Born: 1820- 1821 at Bedford. Father: Joseph Brown, Father Ref: 2761.
Mother: Chapman, Mary, Mother Ref:
4212. Died: May 1830 at Bedford aged 9. Christened:
11 Mar 1821 at Bedford St Paul. Buried 12 May 1830
FANNY COVINGTON. Ref:
2765. Born: during 1822 at Bedford. Father: Joseph Brown, Father Ref: 2761.
Mother: Chapman, Mary, Mother Ref:
4212. Mar: Apr-Jun 1846 at Hardingstone to name
not known . Christened: 10 Nov 1822 at Bedford St Paul.
WILLIAM COVINGTON. Ref:
3164. Born: during 1828 at Bedford. Father: Joseph Brown, Father Ref: 2761.
Mother: Chapman, Mary, Mother Ref:
4212. Christened: 1 Oct
1828 at Bedford St Paul. Could have lived at 5 Canning St, Bedford, or Foster
St, Bedford, or 13 Pilcroft St, Bedford in
ELIZA COVINGTON. Ref:
2766. Born: during 1829 at Bedford. Father: Joseph Brown, Father Ref: 2761.
Mother: Chapman, Mary, Mother Ref: 4212.
Died: Jan-Mar 1896 at Hardingstone aged 66.
Christened: 2 Aug 1829 at Bedford St Paul.
HENRY COVINGTON. Ref:
2760. Born: Nov 1832 at Bedford. Father: Joseph Brown, Father Ref: 2761.
Mother: Chapman, Mary, Mother Ref: 4212.
Died: Feb 1833 at
Bedford aged 0. Christened: 27 Nov 1832 at Bedford. Buried 17 February 1833
aged 3 months
GENERATION Eleven
MARY ELIZABETH
COVINGTON. Ref: 1020. Born: 20 Aug 1867 at Bedford. Father: George, Father Ref:
379. Mother: Dixie, Donna Maria, Mother
Ref: 5293. Mar: Oct-Dec 1894 at Bedford to name not
known . Christened: 9 Oct 1867 at Bedford.
MAUD ALICE COVINGTON.
Ref: 1266. Born: Apr-Jun 1870 at Bedford. Father: George, Father Ref: 379.
Mother: Dixie, Donna Maria, Mother Ref:
5293. Mar: Apr-Jun 1897 at Wandsworth to name not
known . Christened: 6 Jul 1870 at Bedford. In 1891, Assistant School Mistress
HILDA FLORENCE
COVINGTON. Ref: 1313. Born: 4 Dec 1876 at Bedford. Father: George, Father Ref:
379. Mother: Dixie, Donna Maria, Mother
Ref: 5293. Christened: 7
Feb 1877 at Bedford.
MARY ANNE COVINGTON.
Ref: 1819. Born: 2 Jun 1841 at Bedford. Father: Josiah, Father Ref: 668.
Mother: Freeman, Susannah, Mother Ref:
4295. Died: 20 Mar 1920 at Ogden, Weber UT aged
78. Mar: during 1864 at Ogden, Weber UT
to West, Chauncy Walker . 2nd Mar: around 1872
at Ogden, Weber UT to
Ross, Aaron . Appears in 1861 Census living in West Derby employed as a
Bootmaker. Emigrated to U.S.A. in 1863
initially
to Salt Lake City and
then on to Ogden. She was eighth wife of her first husband.
He was bishop of the
Third Ward in Ogden. He had many and varied interests. Some of his interests
were: a lumber mill in Ogden Canyon; a tannery
in Ogden making boots, shoes, harnesses and
saddles; a blacksmith shop where the Methodist Church stands on 26th and
Jefferson; a meat market
on the same street; a
fine livery stable, a hotel on the corner of Main and 24th Street. These
activities provided plenty of places for people to work.
Mary Ann's sister, Susan
Hannah, also married Chauncy in 1867, being his ninth wife.
Mary Ann had two boys,
Milton J. And Orlando. Susan Hannah had just one child, a daughter who died.
Berrill married Marie Louise Newman and
they had six girls and
four boys. I knew some of his children before I found out that they were
related to me.
Berrill worked for the
railroad. Edward Thomas Ord married Henrietta Tyrrell and had eight girls and
five boys. I have m
Chauncy Walker West died
9 January 1870. Mary Ann later met and married Aaron Ross. They had two girls
and two boys. The girls were Mae and
Sue and the Boys were
Aaron and Montella. The son, Aaron Ross, was a doctor in Ogden and I worked
with him. Kay and Marilyn Freeman were in
the Twenty-eighth Ward
with Aaron and his family in the early 1950's. Aaron was in the presidency fo
the elders quorum.
Chauncy Walker West had
in total 9 wives who bore him 35 children.
JOSIAH COVINGTON. Ref:
1680. Born: 3 Jun 1845 at Bermondsey. Father: Josiah, Father Ref: 668. Mother:
Freeman, Susannah, Mother Ref:
4295. Died: Jan-Mar 1853 at West Derby aged 7.
BERRILL
COVINGTON. Ref: 1669. Born: 6 May 1848 at St Botolph,Aldergate. Father: Josiah,
Father Ref: 668. Mother: Freeman, Susannah, Mother
Ref: 4295.
Died: 7 Jan 1928 at Ogden, Weber UT aged 79. Mar: 5 Oct 1874 at Salt Lake City UT to
Newman, Maria Louisa 5982. 2nd Mar: 1 Oct
1926 at Ogden, Weber UT
to Allen, Alice 6079. Christened: c 1864 at Bedford. Emigrated to U.S.A. in
1863 initially to Salt Lake City and then on
to Ogden. In 1880 US
Census shown as living in 4th Ward, Ogden, Weber UT employed as a Baggageman on
Railway
IDA PERCILLA. Ref: 6080. Born 7 Sep 1875 at
Ogden, Weber UT. Mother: Newman, Maria Louisa, Ref: 5982
BERRILL JOSIAH. Ref: 6081. Born 12 Jan 1879
at Ogden, Weber UT. Mother: Newman, Maria Louisa, Ref: 5982
ALFRED. Ref: 6082. Born 15 Aug 1881 at Ogden,
Weber UT. Mother: Newman, Maria Louisa, Ref: 5982
CLARENCE HEBER. Ref: 6083. Born 24 Jun 1883
at Ogden, Weber UT. Mother: Newman, Maria Louisa, Ref: 5982
EMILY. Ref: 6084. Born 29 Nov 1886 at Ogden,
Weber UT. Mother: Newman, Maria Louisa, Ref: 5982
T E. Ref: 6085. Born around 1888 at Ogden,
Weber UT. Mother: Newman, Maria Louisa, Ref: 5982
SUSAN MARIA. Ref: 6086. Born 22 May 1888 at
Ogden, Weber UT. Mother: Newman, Maria Louisa, Ref: 5982
EDITH MAY. Ref: 6087. Born 22 Jan 1891 at
Ogden, Weber UT. Mother: Newman, Maria Louisa, Ref: 5982
FLORENCE. Ref: 6088. Born 24 May 1893 at
Ogden, Weber UT. Mother: Newman, Maria Louisa, Ref: 5982
VERNA. Ref: 6089. Born 16 Oct 1895 at Ogden,
Weber UT. Mother: Newman, Maria Louisa, Ref: 5982
SUSAN HANNAH COVINGTON.
Ref: 1716. Born: 10 Feb 1850 at Liverpool. Father: Josiah, Father Ref: 668.
Mother: Freeman, Susannah, Mother
Ref: 4295. Mar: 9 Apr 1867 at Ogden, Weber UT to West,
Chauncy Walker . Christened: 14 Feb 1857 at Liverpool. She became Chauncy
Walker
West's ninth wife
following in footsteps of her sister Mary Ann, number 8. She had a daughter
Louisa West who died. Later re-married, but died in
EDWARD THOMAS ORD
COVENTON. Ref: 1699. Born: 15 Apr 1853 at Liverpool. Father: Josiah, Father
Ref: 668. Mother: Freeman, Susannah,
Mother Ref: 4295. Died: 8 Sep 1932 at Glendale CA aged 79. Mar: 5 Oct 1875 at Ogden, Weber UT to
Tyrrell, Henrietta 6116. Buried 13 Sep
1932 at Ogden Cemetery,
Weber, Utah, USA
JOSEPH TYRELL. Ref: 6117. Born 7 Apr 1877 at
Ogden, Weber UT. Mother: Tyrrell, Henrietta, Ref: 6116
ARTHUR EDWARD. Ref: 6118. Born 4 Jan 1879 at
Ogden, Weber UT. Mother: Tyrrell, Henrietta, Ref: 6116
LILLIAN ADELIA. Ref: 6119. Born around 1880
at Ogden, Weber UT. Mother: Tyrrell, Henrietta, Ref: 6116
DAISY HENRIETTA. Ref: 6121. Born 2 Jan 1881
at Ogden, Weber UT. Mother: Tyrrell, Henrietta, Ref: 6116
WILLIAM HENRY. Ref: 6120. Born 6 Aug 1882 at
Ogden, Weber UT. Mother: Tyrrell, Henrietta, Ref: 6116
HYACINTH SUSANNAH. Ref: 6122. Born 26 Sep
1884 at Ogden, Weber UT. Mother: Tyrrell, Henrietta, Ref: 6116
PRISCILLA MARY ANN. Ref: 6123. Born 31 Aug
1886 at Ogden, Weber UT. Mother: Tyrrell, Henrietta, Ref: 6116
HENRIETTA. Ref: 6124. Born 18 Jan 1890 at
Ogden, Weber UT. Mother: Tyrrell, Henrietta, Ref: 6116
HARRIET MARY. Ref: 6125. Born 28 Feb 1892 at
Ogden, Weber UT. Mother: Tyrrell, Henrietta, Ref: 6116
EDWARD CHARLES. Ref: 6126. Born 3 May 1894 at
Ogden, Weber UT. Mother: Tyrrell, Henrietta, Ref: 6116
NELLIE MAE. Ref: 6127. Born 14 Feb 1896 at
Ogden, Weber UT. Mother: Tyrrell, Henrietta, Ref: 6116
ROSS BURRELL. Ref: 6128. Born 2 Jan 1898 at
Ogden, Weber UT. Mother: Tyrrell, Henrietta, Ref: 6116
FLORENCE EVILYN. Ref: 6129. Born 11 Feb 1900
at Ogden, Weber UT. Mother: Tyrrell, Henrietta, Ref: 6116
SAMUEL HENRY COVINGTON.
Ref: 1717. Born: Apr-Jun 1857 at Liverpool. Father: Josiah, Father Ref: 668.
Mother: Freeman, Susannah, Mother
Ref: 4295. Died: Oct-Dec 1858 at West Derby aged 1.
WILLIAM HENRY COVINGTON.
Ref: 1359. Born: 24 Nov 1862 at Liverpool. Father: Josiah, Father Ref: 668.
Mother: Freeman, Susannah, Mother
Ref: 4295. Christened:
15 Nov 1862 at Liverpool.
EMMA MATILDA COVINGTON.
Ref: 15223. Born: 11 Apr 1866 at Salt Lake City UT. Father: Edward, Father Ref:
2592. Mother: Pickering, Emma,
Mother Ref: 5984. Died: 4 Jul 1912 at U.S.A aged 46.
HARRY
COVINGTON. Ref: 15224. Born: during 1870 at Salt Lake City UT. Father: Edward,
Father Ref: 2592. Mother: Pickering, Emma, Mother Ref:
ALONZO BARREL COVINGTON.
Ref: 15217. Born: during 1872 at Salt Lake City UT. Father: Edward, Father Ref:
2592. Mother: Pickering, Emma,
Mother Ref: 5984. Died: 12 Aug 1933 at Los Angeles CA aged
61. Mar: around 1895 at Salt Lake City
UT to Shingleton, Rose Elizabet 15218.
MYRTLE LEONE. Ref: 15219. Born 27 Jan 1894 at
Salt Lake City UT. Mother: Shingleton, Rose Elizabet, Ref: 15218
EDWARD. Ref: 15220. Born 23 Feb 1898 at Salt
Lake City UT. Mother: Shingleton, Rose Elizabet, Ref: 15218
CHARLES ARMSTRONG
COVINGTON. Ref: 5486. Born: 22 Aug 1879 at Bega, NSW. Father: Phillip Clement
Armstr, Father Ref: 5575. Mother:
Bartley, Maria, Mother
Ref: 5795. Died: June 1959 at Woolongong
NSW aged 80. Mar: 9 Nov 1908 at Pambula,
NSW to Tasker, Sarah Ann 4459.
Service was conducted at
Woronora Cemetery and Crematorium, Linden St, Sutherland, NSW on the 7 June
1959.
PHILLIP THOMAS. Ref: 5796. Born 9 Mar 1909 at
Kyogle, NSW. Mother: Tasker, Sarah Ann, Ref: 4459
VINCENT CHARLES. Ref: 5800. Born during 1910
at Australia. Mother: Tasker, Sarah Ann, Ref: 4459
EMMALINE MAY. Ref: 5801. Born during 1913 at
Australia. Mother: Tasker, Sarah Ann, Ref: 4459
LIONEL VICTOR. Ref: 5487. Born 12 Jul 1915 at
Casino, NSW. Mother: Tasker, Sarah Ann, Ref: 4459
GORDON WALTER. Ref: 5802. Born during 1917 at
Australia. Mother: Tasker, Sarah Ann, Ref: 4459
MARIA KATHLEEN. Ref: 5488. Born 15 Nov 1919
at Kyogle, NSW. Mother: Tasker, Sarah Ann, Ref: 4459
HERBERT EDWIN COVINGTON.
Ref: 5911. Born: during 1880 at Eden NSW. Father: Phillip Clement Armstr,
Father Ref: 5575. Mother: Bartley,
Maria, Mother Ref:
5795. Died: during 1902 at Eden NSW aged
22.
MARY ELIZABETH
COVINGTON. Ref: 5914. Born: during 1884 at Eden NSW. Father: Phillip Clement
Armstr, Father Ref: 5575. Mother: Bartley,
Maria, Mother Ref:
5795. Died: during 1963 at Australia
aged 79. Mar: around 1912 at Australia
to Glen, Albert John . Had 5 children: Nancy
(Annie) Glen, Doris May
Glen (b.1917), Beryl Glen (b.1920), Jessie Elizabeth Glen (b.1921) and John
Albert Glen (b.1924)
FLORENCE A COVINGTON.
Ref: 5805. Born: during 1886 at Eden NSW. Father: Phillip Clement Armstr,
Father Ref: 5575. Mother: Bartley, Maria,
Mother Ref: 5795. Mar: around 1902 at Australia to Gleeson .
Children: John Gleeson (marr Kath, had Bertie Gleeson (d.1959), Bruce Gleeson
(marr Kathleen Sheehan,
children: Christopher John Gleeson (b.1971), Judith Gleeson (marr. David Braid,
children: Andrew Braid (b.1968), Caroline
Elizabeth Braid (b.1971)), died 1995),
ADELAIDE COVINGTON. Ref:
5804. Born: during 1887 at Bega, NSW. Father: Phillip Clement Armstr, Father
Ref: 5575. Mother: Bartley, Maria,
Mother Ref: 5795. Died: during 1908 at Granville NSW aged 21.
SYDNEY COVINGTON. Ref:
5913. Born: during 1889 at Pambula NSW. Father: Phillip Clement Armstr, Father
Ref: 5575. Mother: Bartley, Maria,
Mother Ref: 5795. Died: 11 May 1942 at Wollongong NSW aged 53. Mar: during 1923 at Glebe NSW to Burton,
Jessie M 5915. Religion: Catholic.
Occupation: Motor Driver. He served in the military as a Private,
number 168, Australian Army Medical Corps, 1st AIF from July 17, 1915 to 1919
in
WW1. Unit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria,
on board HMAT A62 Wandilla on 9 November 1915 Two ships sailed from Melbourne
carrying men
from the 31st Battalion Headquarters and
Companies A, B, C, and D: HMAT A62,'Wandilla', on 9 November 1915, and HMAT
A41, 'Bakara', on 5
JOYCE. Ref: 5916. Born around 1924 at New
South Wales. Mother: Burton, Jessie M, Ref: 5915
LAURIE. Ref: 5917. Born around 1926 at New
South Wales. Mother: Burton, Jessie M, Ref: 5915
NORMA. Ref: 5918. Born around 1928 at New
South Wales. Mother: Burton, Jessie M, Ref: 5915
MINNIE WARNER COVINGTON.
Ref: 5912. Born: 8 May 1892 at Bega NSW. Father: Phillip Clement Armstr, Father
Ref: 5575. Mother: Bartley,
Maria, Mother Ref:
5795. Died: 10 May 1921 at Australia
aged 29. Mar: 22 Dec 1914 at Sydney to
Anderson, William Guthrie . Had 3 children:
Hilda May, Marie Jean
& William. She died of Pulmonary Tuberculosis (info from Marie Jean's
daughter Margaret Abela, Jul 2010)
JANE
MUNSDEN BUCKPITT COVINGTON. Ref: 5900. Born: 26 Jul 1877 at Townsville, NSW.
Father: Charles Erasmus, Father Ref: 5899. Mother:
Aitken,Isabella
Borthwick, Mother Ref: 5910. Died: 25
Jan 1955 at Australia aged 77. Mar:
around 1899 at Australia to Walker, Stephen J . 2nd
Mar: around 1906 at
Australia to Purdy, John . Had 2 children with first husband who died in 1904,
these were Earnest Alfred Commonwealth Walker
& Stephen Walker. With 2nd husband she had
a further 4 children, John David Purdy, Janet Svene Leekie Purdy, Rockley Syms
Purdy & Isabel
Florence May Purdy.
Also had contact with
Dennis Purdy (son of Rockley Syms Purdy) in July 2009 via his wife's email
address Cheryl.Harris313@gmail.com. He is
WILLIAM HENRY COVINGTON.
Ref: 5901. Born: 10 Feb 1880 at Townsville, NSW. Father: Charles Erasmus,
Father Ref: 5899. Mother:
Aitken,Isabella
Borthwick, Mother Ref: 5910. Died: 20
Feb 1968 at Queensland aged 88. Mar:
around 1901 at Australia to Edmondson,Elizabeth
Alice 5909. Buried with wife at Ayr Cemetery, Burdekin Shire, Queensland, Australia