The Cheeseman Family

(Last updated: 6 December 2006)

Life in England

Family Members

John Cheeseman convict

Benjamin and Clara Jane's Life in Australia

Cheeseman Family Photos

Return to First Families Home Page

Life in England

The Cheeseman line of the family comes from the area around the adjoining villages of West Hythe and Lympne (pronounced 'Lim') in southeastern Kent in England. Both villages have long histories. During Roman times much of the area now known as Romney Marsh comprised tidal flats that at high tide were covered by the sea. The Romans established a harbour town and associated military base (called Lemanae) at the mouth of the River Limene (or Rother) which ran into Romney Marsh from the hills bordering its northern reaches. Over time the river silted up and the offshore island where the town of Romney is today became connected to the mainland. A large and shallow harbour was thus formed which was called New Haven by the Saxons who by then had replaced the Romans.

The Saxons established a fishing village, named Hudanfleot, on the northern reach of New Haven harbour and gradually drained the surrounding marshlands. This led the old port of Lemanae (now known as Lympne) to become gradually landlocked. As the waters of the harbour receded the village of Hudenfleot also spread eastward and eventually divided into two: the original Hudenfleot (known first as Old Hythe and then as West Hythe) and a new harbourside village called Hythe (whose name derived from the old English word hyo , meaning landing place). During the reign of King William I, Hythe was incorporated into the confederation of Cinque Ports even though it was more a fishing village than a port.

West Hythe remained a non-corporate member of the Cinque Ports operating under the overall control of the Hythe authorities. In the 1790s a visitor to West Hythe reported that 'there is no village; but there are about fifteen straggling houses, and the ruins of the church [pictured on the left], at the foot of the hill, close to the marsh grounds. Several large thriving elms grow near the foot of the hill, going down to the church; a tree very rare indeed near this place'. The village's population in 1801 stood at 81. This grew to 237 (and 21 houses) in 1841 but in the following decades the number again declined to be 123 in 1871. Although small, the village 'sought to retain its separate identity under the descendants of those who did not desert the original homestead, together with the old but humble parish church' of St Mary. In his history of West Hythe, Douglas Welby notes that among the village's more notable inhabitants in the late 1790s was a grazier named Stephen Cheeseman.

During this time Hythe had developed into a picturesque market town replete, as Pigot's 1840 directory enthralled, 'with romantic scenery' and 'numerous pleasant walks and rides'. This was especially so during the bathing season when the township and its three 'excellent inns' swelled with visitors who would amble over the surrounding hills--from where, on a clear day, they could see the coast of France--visit the local military barracks that had been established there during the Napoleonic wars, and take advantage of Hythe's well-stocked public library and reading rooms. The very circumstances that made the town attractive to visitors, however, operated against those among the lower orders who needed to work all year to support their growing families. During the long winter months, when seasonal gales lashed the coast and the houses of the gentry were closed down, the opportunities for even skilled artisans reduced dramatically. For unskilled workers like Benjamin Cheeseman, the winter months were particularly hard imposing on many the added indignity of having to seek assistance from the Parish Chest, or worse, having to place their loved ones into the Elham or Romney Union Poor Houses. Little wonder the lure of colonial life with its temperate climate, plentiful food and above average wages was felt so strongly by the labouring classes of southeast England.

Parish registers and other data show that there have been Cheesemans in the area of West Hythe, Lympne and Hythe since at least the late 1500s. A John Cheesman, John Chisman and William Chessman married Eleth Haman, Agnes Andrew and Margaret Labourer in Hythe in 1593, 1602 and 1606 respectively. Subsequent marriages included John Cheesman to Alice Beane in Hythe in 1629 and John Cheeseman to Aoict Slaint in Lympne in 1633. Between 1649 and 1700 at least a further 14 marriages involving different Cheesemans took place in Hythe, Lympne and the adjoining villages of Burmarsh and Dymchurch. The name and associated families were spreading.

There is little indication of who these Cheesemans were or what they did. One exception was John Cheeseman, a fisherman of Hythe who on 30 September 1658 signed (with a cross or 'mark') an agreement with the Hythe corporation and its clerk, John Browne, to purchase a 'piece of pasture land known as the Hither Wayfield'. This was said in the record of conveyance to be 'located in the parish of Hythe at a place known as West Hythe Wents and in the [present] occupation of James Pashley'. The land abutted the lands of Sir Thomas Honeywood (to the east); St Bartholomew's Hospital (south); Thomas Cullen (north) and the High Street of West Hythe (west). The agreement applied to 'John and his heirs', covered a minimum period of twenty-five years, and involved the payment of a 'competent sum of money'. It is possible, although not yet proven, that our line of the family descended from this John.

Return to top of page

Cheeseman Family Tree

Family Members

Benjamin's grandparents

Benjamin's grandparents were probably Stephen Cheeseman (c1765-1841) and Sarah Bejent (1762-1819) although this has not been proven. The parish registers for Lympne and West Hythe show Stephen Cheeseman of the parish of 'Sellinge' marrying Sarah Bejent 'of this parish' on 11 Feb 1783 (Sarah signed the register with a cross). The wedding was witnessed by a John Daniels and a Benjamin Ferris. The bishop's transcripts for Sellindge (located a few miles north of West Hythe) have no record of a Stephen Cheeseman being born there although they do show that a James Cheesman and an Elizabeth Cheesman were baptised in the parish in 1760 and 1758 respectively. Their parents were Philip Cheeseman and Elizabeth Bull who were married at Sellindge on 1 January 1751. The BTs also show lots of Ferris' living in the area at the time.

After their marriage, Stephen, who worked as a labourer, and Sarah lived at West Hythe and had at least six children there: Rose, Stephen, William, John, Amy and Angelica. I'm assuming at this stage that John - described below - was Benjamin's father although that has not been proven. Click here for details of Stephen and Sarah's other children.

Sarah Cheeseman (nee Bejent) died in West Hythe on 11 July 1819 aged 57 years. Her death was the subject of a coronial inquest which found that she collapsed and died from 'a visitation of God' while walking along the road from Dymchurch to West Hythe. In evidence to the inquiry Thomas Wren, who found her body, stated that there were no marks of violence nor were her clothes out of order. She appeared to be in 'perfect health' and was thought to have 'fallen in a fit and died accidentally'. The coroner, the mayor of West Hythe James Shipton Esquire, agreed with this view and found accordingly. Sarah was buried at Dymchurch in the 'western part' of the churchyard. Her monumental inscription states: 'Sarah wife of Stephen CHEESEMAN died 11 July 1819 aged 57. Left issue six children: Rose, Sarah, Stephen, William, John and Angilica [sic]'.

In 1824 Stephen was included in a 'Recognizance of John Avieton', a victualler, of West Hythe. Stephen, described as a 'looker of West Hythe', and Stephen Weatten of Lympne gave a surity that 'good order [would] be kept at the inn the Botolph's Bridge [located in West Hythe and pictured above], for which licence has been transferred from Lydia Horton to John Avieton'. On 29 April 1841 Stephen, aged 80 years, died of 'old age' in the New Romney Union House. According to the union house index of births and deaths, he was buried at Dymchurch where the coffin was paid for from the West Hythe Coffin Fund.

Benjamin's parents

Benjamin's wedding certificate states that his father's name was John Cheeseman, a labourer. The certificate does not give his mother's name although the 1841 census shows Benjamin, then aged 12 years, living at West Hythe with a Mary Cheeseman (aged 40), Stephen Cheeseman (25, agricultural labourer), Amy Cheeseman (20), Alfred Cheeseman (14) and Mary Cheeseman (10) where all had been born within Kent. The 1851 census shows Mary, then a 'labourer's widow' aged 62 years who had been born in Icklesham (a small village about 12 miles southwest of Hythe and near the town of Rye), living at 17 Carpenter's Arms in West Hythe. With her were her son Alfred (a 24 year-old agricultural labourer who was born in West Hythe), daughter Mary Elizabeth (21, West Hythe), and granddaughter Mary Elizabeth (5, New Romney). Mary Elizabeth was the illegitimate daughter of Mary's oldest daughter Amy Cheeseman.

Given that Mary named her youngest son Benjamin Langford Cheeseman, we can surmise that her maiden name was Langford. This possibility is enhanced by the LDS records of baptisms for Icklesham (where Mary was born) which show that a number of Langfords were christened there around the time of Mary's birth (unfortunately they don't include Mary). One of these, furthermore, was a Benjamin Cooper Langford who was baptised on 26 February 1780. The others were Elizabeth (1778), William (1781), John (1783), Eliza (1785) and Sarah (1786). The parents of all these were John and Elizabeth Langford (possibly nee Cooper).

Mary Cheeseman died at St Margarets at Cliff near Dover on 29 September 1860 and was buried at Lympne on 3 October. Her death certificate states that she was 70 years old and that she was the widow of John Cheeseman, a shepherd. The certificate was witnessed by Mary's daughter Amy George (nee Cheeseman) who was then living at St Margarets at Dover.

St Stephen's Church of England and cemetery with Lympne Castle in the background, 2004

The Bishop's Transcripts for West Hythe show that Stephen and Sarah Cheeseman's son, John, was born at West Hythe on 12 May 1793 and baptised there on the same day. The parish records for Lympne and West Hythe also show that a John and Mary Anne Cheeseman were the witnesses to the marriage of Angelica Cheeseman and John Waddell at St Stephen's Anglican church in Lympne on 16 January 1819. This suggests that John and Mary were married sometime before 1819. As there is no record of them marrying in Hythe, West Hythe or Lympne, the wedding probably took place outside the parish (possibly in Icklesham where Mary was born).

John's whereabouts after this are uncertain. The parish records and BTs for Lympne and West Hythe show that a John Cheeseman, aged 30 years from St John's Hospital in London, was buried in the parish on 8 December 1829. This may have been our John although his age and the birth dates of the couple's children suggest otherwise. We do know that John was not with Mary and their children in 1841 and was said to be dead by the time of the 1851 census.

Nor can we be entirely certain about John and Mary's children. The 1841 and 1851 censuses indicates that the couple lived in West Hythe after their marriage and had at least the following children there: Stephen (born in 1816), Amy (1821), Alfred (1827), Benjamin (1829) and Mary Elizabeth (1831). I could find no record of their births or baptisms in either the parish records or the Bishop's Transcripts for Lympne, Hythe or West Hythe (which admittedly were difficult to read in places). The records for Lympne and West Hythe do show that two infants, Sarah Bejent Cheeseman and a Charles Cheeseman, both of West Hythe, were buried in the parish on 14 April 1823 and 6 March 1825 respectively. While there was no indication of their parents it would seem likely they were the children of John and Mary Ann. It seems likely as well that the couple had an older son, John, who was born in West Hythe in around 1813 and was transported to Australia in 1839. Click here to read about his life and times. It is conceivable of course, although unlikely given his stated age, that this person was Benjamin's father and not his older brother. The search continues.

Benjamin Cheeseman and his siblings

Benjamin Cheeseman (1828-c1856) m. Jane Bass (1826-88)

The census returns for England indicate that Benjamin Cheeseman was born in West Hythe in 1829 although I have not found any record of his birth among either the parish records or the Bishop's transcripts for West Hythe, Hythe or Lympne.

The 1841 census shows Benjamin, aged 12 years, living at West Hythe with Stephen Cheeseman (an agricultural labourer aged 25), Mary Cheeseman (40), Amy Cheeseman (20), Alfred Cheeseman (14) and Mary Cheeseman (10). When he was 21, Benjamin married Jane Bass (aged 22 years) in the St Mary's parish church at Dover on 3 December 1848. The wedding was witnessed by William and Eliza Bass and all parties signed the certificate with a 'mark' or 'cross'. Benjamin and Jane were both living in 'Queen St' Dover at the time and were described respectively as a 'bachelor' and a 'spinster'.

The 1851 census shows Benjamin, aged 23, living in Hythe with his wife Jane (also 23) and sons Alfred (2) and Herbert (2 months). The parish records for West Hythe and Lympne show that Alfred was baptised John Alfred Cheeseman at Lympne on 15 April 1849. His parents were recorded as Benjamin Langford and Jane Hannah Cheeseman. Herbert William was baptised at Hythe on 8 February 1851. The couple had a third child before emigrating to Australia in 1853. This was Frances Mary Hannah ('Annie'), Cheeseman who was born in Hythe on 13 December 1852 and was baptised there on 5 January 1853.

Soon after Frances Mary was baptised, the family emigrated to Australia as assisted passengers on the sailing ship CALLIOPE. A description of Benjamin and Jane's life in Australia is contained at Life in Australia

Stephen Cheeseman (1816-1898) m. Grace Tyrell/Tearall/Terell (1820-1862)

There is no record of Stephen's birth in the registers for Hythe, West Hythe or Lympne. The 1841 census shows Stephen Cheeseman, single and aged 25, living at West Hythe with his mother Mary and siblings Amy, Alfred, Benjamin and Mary and in view of Lympne Castle (pictured on the left in around 1830).

The Catherine House records show that Stephen married Grace Tyrell in the Rye registration district of Kent in the October quarter of 1841. The parish registers for Lympne and West Hythe show that Stephen, a labourer, and Grace had at least three children baptised in West Hythe: William Masten Cheeseman (3 Sep 1843); Charles Tearall Cheeseman (baptised 25 Dec 1846) and John Cheeseman (25 Mar 1853).

The 1851 census has Stephen, a shepherd aged 33 years, living on the Canal Bridge at West Hythe with his wife Grace (31) and sons William (7), Charles T. (4) and Stephen (1). Stephen senior and his sons had all been born at West Hythe while Grace was from Lympne. The 1861 census showed Stephen and Grace still at West Hythe. With them were William (18), Charles (15), Stephen (11), John (8) and a servant named Mary Ann Oliver.

Grace died the following year and was buried at West Hythe on 28 September 1862. The 1871 census shows Stephen (a 55 year-old shepherd and widower) living at 12 Botolphs Bridge West Hythe with his sons William (27, labourer) and John (18, labourer) and a 24 year-old housekeeper Eliza Partridge and her four children: Anna Louisa (7), Elizabeth (5), George Thomas (3) and Mary Eliza (1).

The 1881 census shows Stephen Cheesman [sic], a widower and labourer aged 66, living at Hythe with two of his children: Elizabeth Cheesman (16) and Thomas Cheesman (14). This seems to indicate that Stephen may have either married Eliza Partridge or adopted her children. The 1891 census shows Stephen, a 76 year-old widower and grazier, living in West Hythe with his 27 year-old daughter-in-law, Louisa 'Burbridge', who was his housekeeper. Also present was a 'visitor', the nine year-old Ada Tearall. Living next door was an Ann Cheeseman, a 57 year-old widow and dressmaker who had been born in Burmarsh, plus an Albert Cheeseman, 10, a visitor who had been born at Folkestone. A few houses away was a Walter Cheeseman (24 year-old labourer born in West Hythe) with his 22 year-old wife Annie (Walter was the son of Stephen's younger brother Alfred).

Stephen Cheeseman died at West Hythe on 29 December 1898, aged 83 years. His death certificate states that he was a retired grazier and had died of bronchial catarh. The informant was his daughter A. L. Lynn (probably Anna Louisa Partridge).

What of their children? Information provided by Judy Harvey and Kay Miller Prather in the United States indicates that Stephen and Graces's oldest son, William Masten Cheeseman (pictured on the right), emigrated to the United States some time between 1871 and 1880. There he married an Irish or Irish-American woman, Alvina Miller (1844-1891), who died in Steilacoom in Washington. The couple's daughter, Grace Terrel Cheeseman, was born in 1880 in Puyallup in Washington and died in 1958 in Portland Oregon. She married an Albert Lyrton Miller (1861-) from Portland. Judy tells us that the younger Grace had two brothers and a sister: Stephen, William and Ethel Pauline (1893-1978). William, or Bill, went to and died in Vancouver in Canada. Ethel died in Oregon but was buried in the Seattle area of Washington.

Another family descendant, Jane Fox, tells us that Grace divorced Albert Miller and remarried Francis Anthony Tobin. Grace and Francis had three children: Genevieve Marie Tobin (Jane's grandmother), George Tobin (who married but did not have children) and Grace Cheeseman Tobin (peering from behind her mother in the photo on the left). Jane adds that 'Grace died young from tuberculosis' and 'George is the last living member of that family'. She also thinks that William 'must have remarried after Alvina's death as I have a photo of a person identified as Grace T's stepmother'. She adds that 'the 1880 Washington State census has the Cheeseman family listed, along with a boy - Jos. L. Linesberg, aged 5. He is listed as their son, which makes me wonder if Alvina was married before she met William'.

Stephen and Grace's second son, Charles Tearall Cheeseman, married Eliza Hobbs at Wareham in Kent in 1866. They had two daughters, Ann Grace and Lydia Cheeseman, before Charles' death in June 1869 (he was buried at Lympne). Eliza had a further son, James, in Saltwood (near Hythe) in 1871. The 1871 census shows Eliza and her three children lodging with her brother Henry Hobbs and his family in Saltwood. Next door were Eliza's parents Henry and Lydia Hobbs. The younger Lydia later married a George Pilcher and was still living in Saltwood in 1901.

Stephen and Grace's third son, Stephen Cheeseman was working as a 'pot man' at the Bell Inn in Ealing, London in 1871. It seems he may have married Elizabeth Deborah Saunders in Folkestone in 1874, for the 1881 census shows a Stephen Cheeseman, a labourer aged 31 and born at Hythe, living at 8 Princes St Folkestone with his wife and family. Stephen continued to live at Folkestone until his death in 1901. He and Eliza had three children: Stephen William Cheeseman, Albert C. and Charles.

Amy Cheeseman (1817-1882) m Burvill George (1809-1883)

Born in West Hythe in around 1817, the 1841 census shows Amy, single and aged 20 years, living at West Hythe with her family. The index of deaths and births at the Romney Union Workhouse (1836-1914) shows that she gave birth there to an illegitimate child, Mary Elizabeth Cheeseman, on 18 September 1844. This was confirmed by the records of the Hythe Court of Petty Sessions held on 1 October 1844 which state that 'Richard Ladd appeared pursuant to summons to answer the complaint of Amy Cheeseman charging him with being the father of her female bastard child born on the eighteenth day of September last. When on hearing the evidence and statements on both sides the said Richard Ladd is adjudged to be the father of the said bastard child and is ordered to pay to to the said Amy Cheeseman 2 shillings for the first six weeks after the birth and 2/- per week thereafterwards and 27% of the costs'.

Amy was working as a general servant in Dover at the time of the 1851 census (her daughter Mary Elizabeth was with Amy's mother in Hythe). In 1853 she married Burvill George of St Margarets at Cliffe (pictured on the left). Burvill was born at St Margaret's in around 1806. The 1841 and 1851 censuses show him living there with his widowed mother, Mercy George, on her 10-acre farm (Mercy died in 1860). Amy George died in the union workhouse at Buckland in East Kent in 1881. The Catherine House records indicate that Burvill died there the following year.

Burvill and Amy George had two children we know of, both born at St Margarets: James George (born in 1857) and Alfred Ernest George (1859). Alfred married Mary Jane Dixon from West Langden in Kent in Dover in 1879. At the time of the 1881 census, Alfred and his wife and daughter, Mary Jane, were living at St Margaret's at Cliffe. The Catherine House records show that Alfred, then aged 24 years, died in 1883 (the same year as his father).

Alfred's widow, Mary Jane, married William Frederick Benny, a bricklayer's labourer who came from Deal in Kent in 1884. In 1891 William and Mary were living at Deal with Mary's three children from her first marriage - Mary Jane, Martha and Alfred George - and two boys she had had with William. I have not as yet been able to find the family in the 1901 census other than Mary Jane George, then aged 21, who was working as a barmaid at the Hotel du Paris in Dover.

William Cheeseman (1819-1884) m. Ann Lewis (1817-)

William was born in West Hythe in 1819. The 1861 census shows him (a labourer, single and 42 years old) as a lodger at the house of James and Mary Hobday and family at 154 Dolphin Court in Dover. The 1871 census shows has him living at 115 St James Place in Dover with his wife, Ann (54 and born at Canterbury) and stepdaughter Elizabeth Lewis (22, Dover). In 1881 William and Ann were living at Dover where William died in 1884, aged 75 years. It seems he and Ann had no children.

Sarah Bejent Cheeseman (1823-1823) and Charles Cheeseman (1825-1825)

The parish records for Lympne and West Hythe show that a Sarah Bejent Cheeseman, an infant, was buried at West Hythe on 14 April 1823. The same records show that two years later Charles Cheeseman, an infant 'of West Hythe', was buried at Lympne on 6 March 1825.

Alfred Cheeseman (1827-1855) m. Ann Clerk (1834-99)

While I have not been able to find an entry in the parish registers or Bishop's Transcripts, the census data indicates that Alfred was born at West Hythe in around 1827. The censuses show him working and living at West Hythe with his mother and siblings until he married Ann Clerk at Burmarsh on 17 January 1852. The parish records for Lympne and West Hythe show that Alfred, an agricultural labourer, and Ann had at least six children in West Hythe: Alfred (baptised in 1857 and died 17 months later), Louisa Eliza (27 Aug 1860 who died the same year), George Arthur (15 Dec 1861), Ellen Jane (15 May 1865), Walter James (19 Aug 1866), Edith Annie (19 Sep 1869 and died the same year) and Alice (born in Burmarsh in 1873.

The 1861 census shows Alfred, aged 34, living next door to his brother Stephen at West Hythe with his wife Ann (27). He was an agricultural labourer, born at West Hythe. She was born at Burmarsh. With them was a ‘visitor’: Albert Thomas James Clerk (aged 4 years old and born in West Hythe). The 1871 census shows Alfred (a 45 year-old carrier) living next door to his brother Stephen in West Hythe. Also there are Ann (38), George (9), Ellen Jane (6) and Walter James (4) where all except Ann had been born in West Hythe. The 1881 census shows Alfred (head, 55) and Ann (47) living at Hythe with George (19), Walter (14) and Alice (8). Alice was born in Burmarsh.

Alfred died of pneumonia in West Hythe on 14 February 1885. His death certificate states he was 60 years old. The informant was his son George who was present at the death. The Catherine House records show that an Ann Cheeseman, aged 66 years died in the Elham registration district late in 1899.

Alfred and Ann's daughter Ellen Jane Cheeseman was working as a general servant at 30 Harleyford Road, Lambeth in London in 1881. Sometime after this she married William Conley from Saltwood near Hythe and went to live in West Hythe next door to her brother Walter. In 1901 the family was living at 3 Church Hill in Hythe. By then William and Jane had five children: William (15, shop assistant), Alec (13), Nellie (10), Elsie (8) and Edith (4) where all but Edith were born in West Hythe (Edith was born in Hythe).

At this time Ellen's younger brother Walter James Cheeseman was working as a traction engine driver and was living in the civil parish of Ringwould Entire in Kent with his daughter Dorothy Cheeseman, aged 9 years. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records show that a Herbert John Cheeseman, 19 of the 1st Battalion The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) died on 14 July 1916 and is commemorated on the Menin Gate. He was said to be the son of Walter James and Annie Cheeseman of 1 Brook Cottages, Temple Ewell in Dover in Kent.

Mary Cheeseman (1831 - )

Mary was born at West Hythe around 1831. The 1841 census shows her living at West Hythe with her mother and siblings. The 1851 census shows a Mary Elizabeth Cheeseman, unmarried and 21 years old, living at West Hythe with her mother Mary, brother Alfred and five year-old niece Mary Elizabeth Cheeseman (Amy's illegitimate daughter). Mary is working as a servant and was born at West Hythe. I have as yet found no record of Mary Elizabeth's marriage or death.

Last updated: 11 December 2006

Photo sources:
'West Hythe and Lympne', 'Botolph's Bridge', 'St Stephen's Lympne', 'St Leonard's Hythe', private collection.
'William Masten Cheeseman' and 'Grace Terrel Tobin (nee Cheeseman) and daughter Grace Cheeseman Tobin', courtesy of Jane Fox.

Return to top of page

Return to Home Page