Elizabeth ( - )

Individual Events and Attributes

Marriage

Note on Marriage to John DIKES

Family Origins.

Based on information from the readily available written records (eg; GRO Index and 1861-1901 Census returns) I consider it highly unlikely that the family origins are in the county of Essex.

The first death recorded in the GRO index of a Dykes or Dikes in Essex is Emily Rhoda Dykes, the granddaughter of the elder John & Elizabeth, in 1859. Had the family been established in the county for more than one or two generations there should be more deaths of the older extended family in the record.

Futhermore, to date, every Dykes event in the Maldon district has been traceable to John Dikes (b. 1804 Heybridge) and Elizabeth Butcher (b.1808 Orsett). I am convinced that the elder John and Elizabeth came from outside the county.

The nearest aggregation of people called Dykes in the mid to late 19th century is in Woodbridge, Suffolk some 40 miles as the crow flies from Maldon. The only other noticeable aggregation in the East of England is in Tynemouth / South Shields with sporadic events recorded in Sunderland. The name Dykes also appears regularly in the London area, the North West and parts of Wales and occasionally elsewhere (but, perhaps significantly, not on the East coast outside the areas already mentioned).

In the period 1750 to 1790, when it is almost certain that the elder John Dikes would have been born, the IGI records 187 births with a surname phonetically matching "Dykes". I am particularly interested in two John Dykes born in Sunderland in 1775 and 1782. Either would be the ideal age (20 - 30) to be the father of John Dykes born 1804 in Heybridge.

Given the high probability that the family imigrated to Essex in latter half of the 18th century there is a real possibility that a Dykes from Sunderland fetched up in the Maldon area as a result of his employment in the East Coast Collier trade. After all, two generations later several members of the Maldon family fetch up in Sunderland and the surrounding area precisely for that reason!

Another consideration is that the family story mentioned in the notes on John of Heybridge (that he was a foundling) may actually be about his father.

The crucial records are the marriage of the elder John and Elizabeth and their deaths. Any of these may indicate place of origin and/or approximate year of birth. It also has to be borne in mind that the only record of this couple is an unfortunately vague LDS member submission to the IGI. However, the exact christening date given suggests that the entry is based on the parish registers for Heybridge and it is therefore probably accurate.

The Joiner Marriage Index (http://website.lineone.net/~jjoiner/mindex/mindex.html) covers Sunderland from 1719 to 1837. There are several Dykes marriages (no Dikes marriages) in this period particulary around the turn of the century however none of them are a John Dykes or Dikes. There are no potential matching marriages listed in the IGI either.

The next step in researching the Dykes line will require a visit to the Essex CRO to confirm the christening record from 1804 and search for the deaths of the elder John and Elizabeth Dikes.²

Sources