Early Connections of the Teear name in Saddington & Husbands Bosworth, Leicestershire

SADDINGTON CONNECTIONS:

Through the research done of the Teear family name, the earliest links for the name have been found in the villages Husbands Bosworth, the ‘Hot Spot’ of the Teear name and the nearby village of Saddington in Leicestershire, to which the first mention of the names has been recorded.

(St Helen’s Parish church in Saddington is situated opposite the Queens Head public house on Main street)

Joseph Teear b 1651 and sister Elizabeth b 1653 the children of a John Teear of Saddington who’s baptisms were recorded at the Parish Church of St Helen’s in the village. You can find out more about St Helen’s by clicking on this link: https://www.leicestershirechurches.co.uk/saddington-st-helens/

The Teear name appears to have been connected to the village of Saddington for about 50+ years from at least 1651 – 1712. As with later generations, the Teear family had strong connections with St Helen’s Parish Church. My 7x Great Grandfather Joseph Teear b 1707 in Saddington is recorded as a Church Wardern here in 1728 and his own father John Teear also had connections to the church working alongside the Church Wardens in 1658. Although a number of Teear family members died in the village I could not find any of their headstones in the graveyard of St Helen’s.

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HUSBANDS BOSWORTH CONNECTIONS:

The village of Husbands Bosworth in Leicestershire is very much the ‘Hot Spot’ for  the Teear surname. The family name has been connected to the village since  1729, with the last know living Teear moving out from the village to nearby Welford in Northamptonshire around 2005. I soon discovered on my very first visit to the village in 2011 that they were a well known surname. I bumped into a lovely chap who as soon as I mentioned the name, started telling me some wonderful stories related to the Teear family.

My 6 x Great Grandfather Joseph Teear b 1707 in Saddington, moved into the village of Husbands Bosworth after marrying Sarah Ward in nearby Foxton, Leicestershire in 1728.

(All Saint’s Parish church is situated on the corner of the main road which runs through the village, opposite Bosworth Hall Park Lodge at the end of the village on the Theddingworth road)

You can find out more about the history village of Husbands Bosworth via this link: https://www.husbandsbosworth.info/index.php/home/a-brief-history-of-bosworth

In the Will of my 6 x Great Grandfather Joseph Teear it is mentioned that his profession was that of a Victualler, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victualler not really much of a surprise to me as on my first visit to the village in 2011 I was told that there was once 16 pubs in the village and it’s not that BIG a village.

As early as 1741 Joseph Teear was clearly a man with some money as he is listed in the UK Poll Book Records for that year.

(as we all know in those days you were only entitled to Vote if you were in the Poll Books and to be in them you had to have had a decent amount of money or own property, for which you needed money)

His son Robert Teear, my 5x Great Grandfather was also a Victualler, in 1775 at the Red Lion Inn (see image below) as he too is recorded in the UK Poll Books for 1775

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Despite all my searches of the graveyard at All Saint’s parish church and although from parish burial records I knew he WAS buried their, I can find no headstone for Joseph Teear or his wife Sarah (nee Ward). However, I did find a very large one for his son Robert Teear b 1734 my 5 x Great Grandfather and his wife Elizabeth (nee Russell), in fact it was so large I had missed it on a recent visit to the village, guess I wasn’t expecting to find a big one as I did.

I kind of had a ‘Eureka’ moment as I was looking through the archives of the Husbands Bosworth Historical Society one day and looking through a book which listed the burials at All Saint’s, I spotted the entry, jumped out of my chair and almost ran down to the church to search for it. How the heck I missed it before I do not know as it was LARGE (well for the Teear’s anyway)

  (As you can see below Robert’s & Elizabeth’s headstone is situated right next to a Yew tree, right outside the church door on the west side of the church)

Robert Teear b 1734 died in 1812 aged 78 years of age and he was buried on the 26th August 1812 by curate W.Roberts, 9 years after his wife Elizabeth (nee Russell).

 

Interestingly I spotted a very odd item tucked away in the corner of All Saint’s church on another visit and when I asked about it, was told it was the mode of transport many years ago which took a village member to their final resting place, kind of got me wondering how many of the Teear family had made their last journey this way too.

“A little story to tell about the day I found the headstone Robert & Elizabeth (nee Russell) Teear. Apart from running down the high street knocking folk out the way as I ran (no not really) When I finally found their headstone, a very strange thing happened. It had been a dull day and had been raining a bit (common weather for gravestone hunting I know) when I spotted the headstone I knelt down before it and said a few meaningful words, then all of a sudden the clouds broke and a ray of sunshine poured down on their grave, it was a very emotional moment I can tell you that”