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The Covington Database - summary and details of how it is all put together |
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covingtonhistory@btinternet.com
CLICK ON THE RED ARROW TO
START SEARCHING THE DATABASE
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 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@btinternet.com
CLICK ON THE RED ARROW TO
START SEARCHING THE DATABASE
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Created by Martin H Covington 2009. All Rights Reserved. |
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