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In September of 1999, my husband Rob and I traveled to England
in search of our Raven ancestors. Having been to Salt Lake City, Utah, the previous year, and having found the
birth certificate of Frederick Robert Raven, born 1847, we had high hopes of finding our European Connection.
We were richly rewarded by our visit to the County of Oxfordshire, and the Public Library of the City of Banbury.
We found, in the baptismal, marriage and burial registers of St. Peter Ad Vincula Church, in South Newington, Oxfordshire,
many, if not all, of our Raven ancestors. Some of their descendants still elude us.
We believe that the earliest Ravens came to England with William The Conqueror in the 11th Century. Indeed, St.
Peter Ad Vincula dates back to that same era.
We have yet to establish a link to William Raven and Mary Grant, who were married on Oct. 20, 1701 in Broughton,
Oxford, England, and are hoping that someone who sees this page may be able to fill in the missing generations
between this couple and our William
Raven born in 1752.
In particular we'd like to remember Ann Raven b: 1818 and her parents Thomas and Thomasina Raven. None of Ann's
siblings lived past the age of 24. Ann herself, probably had a very difficult life, being unmarried and the mother
of three children. Perhaps she thought it best to send her children to a new country (Canada) hoping that life
would be better for them. Ann survived as a charwoman and though her days ended in a union workhouse, she lived
till the age of 83.
Colleen Norton Raven |
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