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covingtonhistory@mhcovington.plus.com
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The nucleus of my
work is included in The Covington Database, it is a wide-ranging study into
all the Covingtons that have I have found to have been recorded or
mentioned initially in any of the UK genealogical sources, but latterly via
the World Wide Web. Obviously it is not in anyway totally complete, as I
have yet to track down all the genealogical sources known to man! However
it can now be considered as a firm foundation on which to build and assist
other Covingtons wishing to trace their particular Covington lineage.
The
records detail all the Covingtons for whom I have been able to trace a
significant event in their lives. This may be birth, baptism, marriage or
death. The source for this material is mainly the General Record Office
(G.R.O.) Index at St Catherine's House, Aldwych, London or The
International Genealogy Index (I.G.I.) of the Church of Latter Day Saints,
although many other sources have also been used, including Army, Navy and
Air Force service records, various library entries, press extracts, census
records, extensive personal correspondence with fellow Covingtons and
extracts from their family diaries.
This
part of my research also holds some detailed autobiographies supplied by
the individual, or biographies from their families, in addition to extracts
from various library sources about the more successful, or infamous,
Covingtons throughout the years. Service history records are included for the
late 19th century Covington soldiers where obtainable, as well as details
of medals awarded to Covingtons in World War 1.
Within
these pages you can read about a Frederick Ernest Covington who played
cricket for Middlesex, two who were hung for murder (Gyles Freeman
Covington & Joseph Arthur Covington), Stenton Thomas Covington who made
a speech in the presence of H.R.H. The Prince of Wales, the generally
despised Harold Armstead Covington a staunch neo-Nazi, and of course, the
talented singer/actress Julie Covington, who topped the U.K. pop charts in
1977 with "Don't cry for me Argentina" from the musical
"Evita".
One of the more infamous members of
the clan is Gyles Freeman Covington. His skeleton can be seen today in an
Oxford Museum but why did he die? We know how he dies - hung by the
neck at Oxford Prison - but what is the real story?
Research by Mark
Davies has resulted in the publication of his book "The Abingdon
Waterturnpike Murder" which can be yours to own & read for just
£6.99 + £1.01 p&p. (2002 price)
Please send payment
to Mark at 'Bill the Lizard', 12 Hythe Bridge Arm, Oxford Canal,
Oxford, OX1 2TA.
If you would like
to e-mail Mark with any information that would assist his study please do
so at Towpathpress@btopenworld.com.
Mention you reached him from this site and he might knock a bit off the
price too!
Amongst
our namesakes we can also boast a recipient of The Military Cross and
French Croix de Guerre, as well as professors, doctors, an optician,
numerous servicemen, lawyers, writers, actors & teachers. You will read
about Syms Covington, a close colleague of the world-famous Charles Darwin
who accompanied him on his trip on the HMS Beagle. Lorenzo Dow Covington, a
researcher with Flinders Petrie of the Pyramids and a Canon, plus a few
Mormons There is even a Mary Anne Coventon who married Prince Charles, or
was it Charles Prince?
It
is a worrying thought that many of our forefathers left so little recorded
information about their lives for others to read and use as research after
their demise. Often only baptism, marriage & death dates can be found.
Occasionally details of children and service history add to their epitaph
and create a slightly more enlightening picture of their life for future
genealogists.
Having
spent many years researching the Covingtons, it would be nice to think that
future generations might have the foresight to keep a diary, be it only an
annual review of the activities of themselves and their family.
Unfortunately the saying "We came into this world with nothing, and
will leave it with nothing" remains true and particularly tough on
genealogists who thirst for biographical information, usually about the
dead, who are unable to tell us their own life story now. Unless, of
course, you believe in séances and life after death.
Some
of the more unusual christian names that are included in The Covington
Database are; Agneta, Augusta Pengelly, Baard, Barry Blue, Boyer,
Ebenezer, Elias, Frauncies, Gyp, Inez, Jentylia, Lorenzo Dow, Lyma,
Manford, Mordaunt, Myrtilla, Piddia, Simeon Reuben, Vertis & Willmus.
James
& Susannah Covington who after having named 11 children, obviously ran
out of ideas and named a daughter, born in September, Septima and a son
Decimus, born Christmas Day 1839.
Horace
Ernest Covington married a Miss World in 1914. This was Lily World. Sadly
he was killed in action during the First World War along with another 13
Covingtons, plus 6 more who died in World War 2.
Cecil
Norman M Covington obviously enjoyed The Wedding March as he married 5
times between 1933 and 1962.
Henry
& Maud A Covington had 15 children, of which 12 were boys, to become
the most prolific contributors to keeping the Covington name going in the
UK. The World Covington Stud Champion is however from the U.S. The
wonderfully named John Thomas Covington from West Somerville, MS sired 31
children from the 3 "wives" he had. He was a practising Mormon
for whom monogamy was not his bag.
A
more recent addition to the database has been a cross reference facility to
record data on those women fortunate enough to have married into the
Covington dynasty, thereby becoming honorary Covingtons!
Nehemiah Covington, born circa 1628 is widely
acknowledged by Covington Historians as the Daddy of the U.S. Covingtons.
There are a number of trees from various sources claiming to be linked to
him, although so far, nothing has been proven
Many
of the U.S. have unusual names, at least in British eyes, as it is their
custom to often include the wife's maiden name as a middle name for their
offspring, hence; George Milburn, George Morse, Treadwell Downing, Oscar
Brandford etc etc.
Another problem with researching the US Covingtons is
the fact that they have initially obtained their surname by a mixture of
normal means, either, hereditary from UK explorers or convicts, or, as is
the case with descendants of former slaves, by adopting the name of their
slave-owners or the name of the place in which they were born.
ACCESS
TO THE DATABASE
The
data is available in a number of different sources. You can either view the
whole file in MS Excel format or view individual pages sorted by
Generations (see Family Tree tab) or alphabetically. These can be accessed
via the Search Engine facility in this site. Simply type in the name, place
or word that you would like more details on into the Search box at the top
of this page. You will then be given a list of all the pages that include your
selected search word. Click on the hyperlink to be transported to the full
entry.
For
information: All those Covingtons born as a Covington are shown in
uppercase, those who married into the family name are in lowercase. The Ref
number against each name, allows you to cross reference with other entries,
and should be quoted in any correspondence please. To help find individuals
where an actual birth date is not known I have established some simple
rules, they are as follows:
Marriage
date known but not birth date = Marriage date - 22
Child birth date known but not marriage date = Child birth date -1
Birth date known but not marriage date = Birth date + 22
It's
not particularly scientific but based on the fact that until recent years
the average age at marriage was 22. I never guess at death dates and always
use the terms "around " if I don't really know for sure a date,
and "during" if I know the year but not the exact date.
Occasionally where it is totally impractical to guess at a date I'll use
the terms "before" or "after".
My kind
of genealogy is not an exact science as I rely on compiling information
often collected by others. It is impossible for me to be sure that the data
is accurate, because, as I do, other researchers take a best guess on occasion
to make things fit. These best guesses are not pure speculation but based
on likelihood, experience and, in cases of mixed data from separate
sources, on known reliability. As I said it sometimes isn't perfect, but
why ruin a good story with the truth, particularly when the truth is not
out there.
Should you require any queries regarding entries found,
please E-Mail me at the address below and I’ll try to help.
covingtonhistory@mhcovington.plus.com
CLICK ON THE RED ARROW TO START SEARCHING THE DATABASE
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