THE ARCHER FAMILY.

The Archer family have been traced back to the early 1700's, when they lived in Leintwardine, a village in the north of the county, close to the Shropshire border.

Edward Archer was born in Leintwardine in 1726, to John and Ann, and was there fourth son.

The other children where :- Samuel, born 1718, Richard, born 1721 and Thomas, who died within a week of his baptism in 1725.

Edward married Mary Lane at Leintwardine church in 1760, and they had 4 children :-

Sarah, born 1761, who married William Bridgewater at Leintwardine in 1792.

Richard, born 1763, who is on the branch we are following.

John Edward, born 1770.

Edward, born 1775.

Richard Archer(born 1763) married Mary Edwards in Leintwardine in 1790, and they had 7 children:-

John , born 1793, later married Ann Williams in 1819.

Richard, born 1795, who married Ann Yapp in 1827.

William, born 1797.

Sarah, born 1799, who married Edward Seake in 1838.

Edward, born 1800.

Thomas, born 1803, who we will follow later.

Walter, born 1807.

All the children where born in Leintwardine, and the marrages mentioned also took place there.

Thomas Archer (born1803) married Margaret Miles, who was born in 1798 in Onibury Shropshire. They went on to have 4 sons, all born in Leintwardine :-
William, born1831, who married Harriet Morgan in 1864.
Walter, born 1834, who married Jane Gough in 1857.
George, born 1837, who died in 1909.
James, born 1838, who will follow later.
With the introduction of census records from 1841, we can now find out more details about the lives of these people. Thomas and Margaret moved to Kenton, in Shropshire, where they lived at the time of the 1841, 1851 and 1861 census's. Thomas worked as a Agricultural Labourer at this time, as did his son's George and James.
Margaret died in 1877, while Thomas lived on till 1886.
James Archer (born 1838), was the first ancestor to venture away from the Leintwardine area in 100 years. He worked as an Agricultural Labourer and travelled the county, with his 6 children being born in 4 diffrent villages.
James married Sarah Elizabeth James in Brinsop in1869. Sarah was born in Brinsop in 1848, to William and Elizabeth. On the 1851 census the family lived on Brinsop common, where William was a Gamekeeper.
James and Sarah's 6 children where :-
Elizabeth Margaret, born 1870 in Withington.
John, born 1871 in Fownhope.
George, born 1873 in Burghill, who died aged 10 months.
Alice Sarah, born 1875 in Burghill, who married Ernest Webb in 1897.
Emily, born 1877, in Burghill. On the 1891 census, Emily is working as a General Servant to a family who owned a Printers and Booksellers in Whitecross Hereford. By 1901 she moved to Leintwardine, as a Housekeeper for her uncle George. She married Benjamin Thomas at Leintwardine in 1913.
William James, born 1880 in Bishopstone.
The 1871 census has the family living at Field House Fownhope, by 1881 they had moved to Bishopstone via Burghill, and in 1891 they lived in Stretton Sugwas, where James died in 1905 and Sarah died in 1909.
In 1901, at the age of 63, James has stopped working as an Agricultural Labourer and is recorded on the census as an Oilsman working at a Chemical Works. William is the only one of there children still living at home at this time, and is working as a Waggoner on a Horse Farm.
Also living at the same address is Joseph Webb, grandson to James and Sarah, who is aged 3 and has a recorded place of birth as Hereford, St. Owens.
It is John Archer ( born 1871), who continues the family tree. John worked in farming, first as a labourer, then as a Portable Engine Driver ( what we now call tractors).
John married Harriet Probert at Stretton Sugwas in 1893, and it was here where there 3 son's were born :- William 1894, Wilfred 1897, Henry 1905.
Harriet was born in Pembridge in 1860 to William and Elizabeth, and died in 1914 shortly after the family moved to Preston Wynne.
John remarried to Mary Bailey, and they had a son Jack in 1919. They later moved to Wellington, where John died in 1958.
John and Harriet's son Wilfred Archer ( born 1897), is my grandfather, who married Mary Atkins and lived in Hope Under Dinmore.

WORLD WAR ONE TRIBUTES.
Like most families in Britain the Archer's suffered casualties to the great war, in this case 2 men who shared the same name - WILLIAM JAMES ARCHER, uncle and nephew.

William James Archer, born 1880 in Bishopstone, joined the 14th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment and served as a private. He was killed in action on 13/11/1916.

William James Archer, born 1894 in Stretton Sugwas, was a private in the 15th Battalion (The King's) Hussars. He was killed in action on 22/03/1918.

MUTLOW RESEARCH

Having been stuck on the Mutlow branch of my family tree for 2 years, I set off to the Hereford Records Office for the afternoon, determined to make progress.

I had previously taken the tree back to Thomas Mutlow, census records had him born in 1799 in Woolhope. He had married Ann Bailey in Mordiford on 29/05/1827. The census's of 1841 - 1871 all showed Thomas and proved him as father to my Great Great Grandad William. Put who were Thomas's parents ?

Woolhope church records were the first place to check. The records office has these on micro fisch, and after a good look, up came Thomas Mutlow- baptised on 15/07/1798, son of Robert and Ann.
I checked though records of baptisms for Thomas Mutlow, including some spelling variations, and also checked census of 1840 and family history society records for other Thomas Mutlow's.
It became clear that Thomas baptised in 1798 at Woolhope, son of Robert and Ann was the missing link I had been searching for.

On to the father of Thomas - Robert Mutlow.

Further research through Woolhope records finds just one more Mutlow reference -

The baptism of John Mutlow on 31/08/1794, son of Robert and Ann. A significant find, since John Mutlow is a witness at the marriage of Thomas and Ann.
I had previously found a large group of Mutlow's in the Sollers Hope church records, from 1830 back to the 1600's. With Sollers Hope being only a few miles down the road from Woolhope, it became the obvious point to look next.

The Sollers Hope church records were hard to read, so one of the wonderful staff fetched out the Bishop's Transcripts. These are annual church records of baptisms, marriages and burials which each parish sends in to the bishop, to show there activities. The record office now hold the originals for most parishes. The ones I read are hand written on what would have been quality paper, dated for each year and signed by the vicar and church warden.

The Sollers Hope transcripts go back to 1640 and record many Mutlow's.
I found 3 baptisms in Sollers Hope for children of Robert and Ann Mutlow, these were -
Mary 04/10/1785, Elizabeth 11/01/1792 and Samuel 27/10/1807.
Are these the family of Thomas, if so they lived at Sollers Hope, moved to Woolhope, then moved back.
The next record found was a marriage - Robert Mutley and Ann Gwatkins. both of this parish on 17/09/1780. Mutley is a known spelling variation of Mutlow, along with Mutloe, Mutlor and Mutllor. How many Robert Mutlow's where there of the right age to fit our tree had to be the next question, and how to we find them ?
Hereford Family History Society have recorded parish records for marriages across the county into a search format, and the record office has this on computer, so here goes !
Only one match for Robert marrying a Ann, at a time to fit into being Thomas's parents, and this the one at Sollers Hope. The day is going well, but we still have time, so who are Robert's parents ?
Still on the family history society records, we look at baptisms for Robert.
Of a couple found, one stands out, being in Much Marcle, not far away, while the other is right across the county.
The Much Marcle records come out to varify the details - Robert Mutloe, baptised 25/02/1753, son of William and Elizabeth. Further in the records is found a marriage for William Mutlow and Elizabeth Scriven. on 31/05/1752,

Using all the resources at hand , I search on, the day gets better as the following info comes to hand, and all fits together. -

William Mutlow ( who married Elizabeth Scriven ) was baptised in Sollers Hope, 17/09/1732, parents William and Margaret.

William and Margaret married at Sollars Hope on25/04/1729, Margaret's maiden name is illegible.

William Mutlow is baptised in Sollers Hope on 17/10/1704, son of Richard and Jane.

Richard Mutlow and Jane Haterley were married at Sollers Hope on 15/09/1701.

Richard Mutlow was baptised at Sollers Hope on 16/08/1672, son of William and Ann.

Sollers Hope have a churchwarden named William Mutlow in the 1670's.

Other Mutlow names have been recorded at Sollers Hope, which are brothers/ sisters of the people mentioned and all fit into the tree.

All in all a great days research, a real buzz is obtained with the find of 5 generations in one afternoon. The Mutlow branch is now the biggest on the tree, and goes back further than any other.

But what next, more info is out there!