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Hi, the Bongards seem remarkably elusive! My great great grandmother was Ann Bongard, born 20th Aug 1829, died 29th Sept 1905 in Cornwall. She married Richard Oswin but I can't find anything about him either. Their daughter Louisa Ann Oswin was born 1855 in Deptford and married Thomas Henry Davis in Southampton c1875. From the amount of moving around I suspect army or navy background - they certainly married into army and navy families. Richard Oswin is supposed to have gone off to India and left his wife and daughter behind....Any further information gratefully received.
cheers, Linda

Possibly Ann and her family

1841 England Census about Ann Bongard
Name: Ann Bongard
Age: 11
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1830
Gender: Female
Where born: Sussex, England
Civil Parish: Angmering
Hundred: Poling
County/Island: Sussex
Country: England
Street address:

Occupation:

View Image
Registration district: Worthing
Sub registration district: Little Hampton
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members:
Name Age
Ann Bongard 11
Frances Bongard 38
Francis Bongard 10
George Bongard 8
James Bongard 7

1871 census

OSWIN, Richard Head M 46 1825 Middlesex VIEW
OSWIN, Ann Wife F 41 1830 Sussex VIEW
OSWIN, Louisa A Daughter F 16 1855 Hampshire VIEW

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RG number:
RG10 Piece:
1193 Folio:
36 Page:
27

Registration District:
Southampton Sub District:
Southampton EnumerationDistrict:
41 Ecclesiastical Parish:


Civil Parish:
All Saints Municipal Borough:
Southampton Address:
Hanover Buildings, All Saints, Southampton County:
Hampshire

Richards occupation - steward
Ann's occupation shopkeeper, greengrocers

Births Mar 1855
Oswin Louisa Ann Southampton 2c 28

Marriages Sep 1866 (>99%)
BONGARD Ann Greenwich 1d 1079
OSWIN Richard Greenwich 1d 1079

possible ??

Deaths Jun 1873 (>99%)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oswin Richard 48 Southampton 2c 8

1881

DAVIS, Thomas H Head Married M 31 1850 Electrician (Apper Mkr)
Worcester
Worcestershire
DAVIS, Louisa A Wife Married F 26 1855
Southampton
Hampshire
DAVIS, Alfred H Son Single M 6 1875 Scholar
Pernambuco
Brazil
DAVIS, Christine E Daughter Single F 5 1876 Scholar
Pernambuco
Brazil
DAVIS, Herbert Son Single M 3 1878
Pernambuco
Brazil
DAVIS, Anne A Daughter Single F 2 1879
Pernambuco (B S)
Brazil
OSWIN, Ann Mother In Law Widow F 51 1830
Angmering
Sussex

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RG number:
RG11 Piece:
1720 Folio:
24 Page:
32

Registration District:
West Ham Sub District:
West Ham EnumerationDistrict:
Ecclesiastical Parish:


Civil Parish:
West Ham Municipal Borough:
Address:
64 Vicarage Lane, West Ham County:
Essex

In 1851 Brighton St Peter Ann Bongard 21 is a servant (along with her mother Frances 48 b Bignor nr Petworth Sussex and daughter Frances 20 b Angmering) in the household of Richard Molesworth who describes himself as "Viscount of Ireland"

In 1861 Frances Bongard 58 Wid b Bignor is in Stepney with son James 27 b Angmering and grandaughter Ann F Oswin aged 6 b Southampton

The above grandaughter is curious as she was born 1855 -some eleven years before the marriage of Richard and Ann! And is she the same child as Louisa Ann?

From the IGI
Ann Bongard baptised 27/9/1829 Angmering daughter of George and Frances (Nee Corney) who were married 19/6/1829 St Marys East Preston **
Frances bap 10/4/1831 Angmering
James bap 8/12/1833 Angmering
George Bap 20/7/1832 Angmering

In 1891 James Bongard 54 Master Mariner is a Visitor to the Vicar Alfred Penny in Tunstall Staffordshire

**My enthusiasm for this one stems from the factthat I am a Church Officer at St marys East Preston!

Frances Corney was bap 27/12/1801 Bignor daughter of John and Charlotte

Oddly there is an Ann Oswin 29 b Angmering as a servant in Hampstead in 1861 in the household of Thomas Greenwood (shipowner) -she shows herself as unmarried but seems to have adopted Richards name (while her daughter is with grandmother Frances in Stepney)

Richard is as you say elusive -at sea one presumes -but there is a possible on the IGI in
Richard Oswin bap 27/6/1824 St Dunstan in the West London son of Charles and Anna Frances. However Charles is a surgeon and his other son Frederick is a Dentist -would they also have a son as a steward in the Merchant Navy?
If you get Richard and Anns marriage cert it will tell you his fathers name to aid further searches

nudge

Sorry - away for a couple of days and have only just checked emails etc on friend's computer! Very many thanks for all the info - I'll assimilate it all properly when I get home and will get back to you.

Thank you very much to all of you for lots of info. As far as I can see they all match up, so I now need to find Richard Oswin's marriage certificate, and try and find more about George Bongard. Watch this space!

Hi!

I'd just like to add my piece! I'm descended from James Bongard (Captain), who was born in Angmering son of George & Frances Corney. Ann was his older sister, along with Frances & brother George. James later emigrated to New Zealand and captained the missonary ship 'Southern Cross' among the melanesian islands & Norfolk Island.

I have a few details going back further than his parents, mainly compiled from other GR members, but if you'd like to take a look at my tree please ask away!

Any documents/verification on the Bongard tree I'd be most interested in!

Cheers
Kaaren

Hi Karen,
very interested to hear that this side of the family were also seafarers - I suspected they might be. I got the name Ann Bongard from a family tree produced the hard way (ie pre-internet!) by a cousin in the 1980s, and I don't know where she got all her information from. She had Ann's dates of birth and death but no more details, not even place of birth. Ann's husband Richard Oswin is proving even more elusive! The family tree notes that he is supposed to have gone off to India and left wife and daughter in Southampton, with the implied suggestion that he fathered more children in India! The daughter Louisa Ann Oswin married Thomas Henry Davis, and they were my Mum's Granny and Grandpa Davis. Thomas Henry was an electrician or electrical engineer - he is supposed to have sailed on the Great Eastern when it laid the first transatlantic cable. Certainly his son my grandfather worked for the Western Telegraph Company, which later became Cable and Wireless, and he ended up as captain of a cableship, The Lady Denison Pender. I'm particularly interested in this side of the family as Louisa Oswin passed her looks down via her son to my Mum, to me and to my younger daughter! And to the cousin who did the family tree. But I have no photos any earlier so don't know if the looks came from the Oswins or the Bongards. I'd love to see your family tree please and see how we all join up! And if you look at mine, something's gone wrong on my Dad's side and the tree shows his grandparents as his parents, and I can't find out how to correct it! And if you give me your email address I could email photos of Louisa Ann and Thomas Henry if you'd like them. cheers, Linda