Mike Royden's
Royden Family History Pages
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Mike Royden'sRoyden Family History Pages
Cheshire Origins |
(left: Chester, looking across the Dee and Roodee)
This became a mammoth undertaking, but began in such a small way. A child of six years old wanting to know why there was a street opposite his former home named Royden Street, the same name as his own No one in the family, who all lived in the vicinity, knew the answer.
Even at six years old I found that very hard to accept and it continued to intrigue me - and aggravate me - well into my teens, by which time my route to and from work passed by Royden Street twice each day. By then (1976) I had begun to trace the family tree but with little success.
My great grandfather (pictured in uniform on the home page) had died in 1918 during the Great War and seemed to take his family history with him. His children were all very young when he died and had probably not begun to ask about their own ancestry.
As I began to trace my own family, I began to amass a lot of detail on other local Roydens. I was convinced we were all related and I found it difficult to concentrate on my own line. Once I had made more substantial progress on my own line I returned to the 'untied' Roydens and tried to trace as many as I could.
Most Roydens alive today in the UK are descended from Alexander Royden of Cheshire who died in Chester in 1719. Of course, there are smaller pockets of Roydens elsewhere, mainly in the London area, which are not, or unlikely to be related. Links to Alexander have also been proven to several families in Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S.A. However there are several families in the USA who are
descended from Roydens who migrated from the London area in the 17th/18th century and are not related to Alexander.
Alexander Royden is known to have been an apprentice tradesman to William Hughes of Whitchurch and Chester in 1690-91, but what kind of trade is unknown. His son Joseph was a bricklayer, which may have been Alexanders's trade. Alexander and his wife Martha Jones had Joseph baptised at St.John the Baptist Church (the former abbey adjacent to the ruins of the Roman Amphitheatre - pictured above right).
The baptism register entry reads:
Joseph left a will (copy obtained) leaving his possessions to Mary, his widow. Mary was the daughter of John Bennett of Heswall, Wirral. In the space of two weeks, Mary's life had been turned upside down, first with the death of her father-in-law, then more tragically, her husband shortly after, leaving her as a widow with a 2 year old son. It is unlikely that she had means to support herself and her infant, although she may have turned to her mother-in-law, Martha Royden (Martha lived until 4 May 1737 - buried in St Johns Chester).
It is more likely that Mary returned to the comfort of her family in Heswall. This was to be a significant move as it was the first time a Royden was to settle in the Wirral which has continued to the present day.
