The Children of Thomas Kindle and Amy Hatcher

Several public trees on the Ancestry web site claim Thomas was born in 1755 and list numerous children of Thomas Kindle and Amy Hatcher, including:

• Thomas (1781–)
• Stephen (1791–)
• John (1792–)
• William (1794/5–)
• James (1800/1-)

In fact, there’s no record of the birth of Thomas in Hampshire, and the only Ringwood Parish baptism record that mentions both Thomas and Amy was that of Stephen Kindle in 1791. There’s also a baptism of Thomas Kindle in 1793; it says his father was Thomas, but omits his mother's name.

The 1841 census recorded a Thomas Kindell (born 1781) in Sandford living with James Kindell (born 1801) and his wife Martha, close to Stephen Kindell (born 1791) and his wife Sarah.

In the 1851 census, there was no mention of Thomas (1881), but Stephen, James and their families were still neigbours in Sandford, now with William (1795) and his family living next-door.

In the 1861 census, there was no mention of James (1801) but Stephen and William, and their families were still neigbours in Sandford.

I suspect that someone saw these census records, and made the assumption that Stephen, Thomas, James and William were all brothers. Others copied, and now nobody seems to know the origin of the information.

Of course, transcriptions and even original parish and census records can contain omissions and errors, so circumstantial evidence has to be considered. But caveat emptor is always the rule!

THOMAS 1881

While the 1841 census recorded a Thomas Kindell (born 1781), there’s no other record of a Thomas of that vintage and, again, he doesn’t appear in the 1851 census with James & Martha (or anywhere else). There is a Ringwood death record of one Thomas Kendall in 1847, but his age was 86 (i.e., born 1761 rather than 1781). More about that later!

STEPHEN 1791

Stephen Kindle was born in Sandford and baptised on 11 March 1791, the son of Thomas and Amy Kindle [22M84 PR4 Ringwood CB 1782-1812]. Stephen married Sarah Head in Ibsley in 1817. As mentioned, the 1841, 1851 and 1861 census recorded him living in Sandford. He died in 1867 aged 76.

JOHN 1792
I don't know how John (1792) could be connected to Thomas and Amy. The only John of that vintage that I’ve found lived in Winkton in 1841 with his wife Ann, and died in 1847 aged 56. Winkton is south of Sopley, some distance from Sandford. I've found no connection to any of the other would-be brothers.

THOMAS 1793
The Ringwood parish baptism transcripts list Thomas Kindle, born in Sandford and baptised on 13 October 1793, the son of Thomas (with no mention of Amy). There’s no other record of this Thomas.

WILLIAM 1794
William (1794) was born in Sandford. He and his wife Mary Mist married in Ibsley in 1819. The 1841 census recorded them living at Hightown, which is fairly close to Sandford. In 1851 they were recorded living in Sandford, next-door to Stephen (1791) and James (1801). In 1861 they were still in Sandford near Stephen (1791). William died in 1879 aged 85. There's no record of the baptism of William. His marriage in Ibsley, and living near Stephen in 1851 and 1861 could be a coincidence… but probably not, according to the results of DNA testing.

JAMES 1800
James (1800) married Martha Cox in 1824 and died in 1851. The Ringwood Parish baptism record notes that James was baptised 11 July 1802 and was the son of Charles (whose wife was Lucy Wiseman). Charles was baptised in 1760 and was the son of George Kindell and Mary Peckham. DNA testing gives very low odds to James having been a son of Thomas.