A lovely story of the EATON and LAINCHBURY families in particular, and Kingham in general, kindly sent to me by Joan some time ago now. Thank you so much Joan.
Aden Eaton of Kingham
In the transcript of the 1851 census for Church Hanborough, a query is shown against the
Christian name of ‘Edan‘ EATON, an 8-year-old boy at Handborough Farm. The name was
in fact ‘Aden‘. Subsequently he married Sarah-------(born Church Hanborough 1842)
and was employed by the Great Western Railway Company, working on the old Oxford, Worcester
& Wolverhampton Line. He served at Witney Station (1867) and Fladbury, Worcs.
(1869), before being appointed Station Master at Chipping Norton Junction
(Kingham) at the age of 27 in 1870. At that time, this was only a
minor Junction, serving the two short branch lines to Chipping Norton
and Bourton-on-the-Water. However, Aden Eaton quickly established himself
as a prominent member of the local community, taking
an active part in the running of the large village Methodist Chapel
of which he became Society Steward and Treasurer in 1895.
In 1879 he resigned from the railway to take over the village Grocery and Drapery stores, which he developed into a thriving business. He became a member of the Parish Vestry in 1882 and was Overseer of the Poor, whilst continuing his work in the Methodist Chapel.
By the time of his death - he was buried at Kingham on 13th January 1900, aged 57 - he was probably the best-known and respected local tradesman, leaving a family of ten children most of whom attained wealth and prominence in the life of the community.
His widow for the next fourteen years carried on his business as shopkeeper, baker, butcher and farmer, with the help of her various children - Thomas Aden Eaton, b.1865, who moved to Long Compton; Adelina, b.1869, the village grocer; Kate, b.1870, who married Ernest LAINCHBURY, the owner of the local engineering company; Beatrice Mary, b.1872, who married an engine driver from Gloucester; Albert Edward, b.1874, who became the village postmaster, Arthur Elijah, b.1877, the village Baker; Mark Louis, b.1878, who farmed the substantial Trinder‘s Farm in Kingham; and Marion Sarah, b.1884, who married F.B. Pettipher of the Post Office., I have no further trace of Alice Louisa, b.1867.
Descendants of Aden Eaton are amongst the leading residents of Kingham today, and include many of my personal friends - I have known fifteen of them, and have taught some at school. The family as a whole has unusual qualities of character and personality . They cherish a tradition that they are descended from the old Kingham family of Eaton who were small gentry in this district in the 17th century.
In the 18th century, the Eaton family drifted away from Kingham, and finally on 3Oth September 1796 John Eaton surrendered his ancestral copyhold to the Lords of the Manor. I had therefore tended to discount the alleged connection until recently when I discovered that Aden Eaton‘s daughter-in-law, Mrs Connie Eaton, possesses a small collection of family documents and title deeds including some that relate to the 18th century Eatons in Kingham. Of course, Aden Eaton may have picked them up out of curiosity when he was living in Kingham. Nevertheless, it would be interesting to know whether Job Eaton, the agricultural labourer at Handborough Farm in 1851, may have been a descendant of a family of decayed gentlefolk. There is no explanation for the name ‘Aden‘ but it is incontrovertibly authenticated, and Aden Eaton today - a grandson - farms Mount Farm in Kingham.
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This page was last updated 27th May 2006