Eli Hughes born <1828> Tisbury and his wife Diana formerly Wells are known to have had at least 7 Children, no marriage has been found, although there is one attributed to them at Froyle on the IGI, As yet I have found no trace of this in the Parish Records.
The first record I have of Eli & Diana is the baptism of Rhoda at Froyle, Hampshire, on the 30th August 1846, This record can be found on the IGI and also the Froyle web site.
Priscilla was baptised at Binstead on the 7th September 1851,
Henry baptised at Binstead on the 13th September 1857,
Noah Hughes was registered as born on the 26th December 1853 at Lytchett Matravers,Dorset, it took a long time to discover this birth registration as he was registered as Noah Cooper!
The next child was Samson Hughes born on the 5th February 1859 at the Nags Head Inn, Canford, Poole, Dorset.
Sydney Robert Hughes was baptised at Binstead, Hampshire on the 22nd September 1861, No further trace of him has been found.
Arthur Hughes was baptised at Binsted, Hampshire on the 4th September 1864.

Diana Hughes died at Wield on the 23rd October 1904 of Heart Disease and Old Age her Son in Law Robert Jones was present at the death and she was interred in St James Church, Wield on the 27th Oct 1904.
Eli Hughes died at Wield, Hampshire on the 23 January 1908 of Senile Asthemia and Cardiac failure his Grand-daughter P. Jones was present at the death he is also interred in St James Church, Wield, I think the graves are unmarked as I did not see any headstone for either of them when I visited the Church Yard.

Rhoda Hughes married John Wells on the 1st May 1889 (b) at the Register Office, Lymington they both are shown as aged 44 on the marriage certificate, One of the witnesses was Frederic Stansfield Herries, Lt Colonel, Linden House, Lymington.
May 17, 1876 - Major Frederick Stansfield Herries, 60th Foot, to have the honorary rank of Lieutenant-Colonel upon retiring on full-pay (a), He was very active in the Lymington area encouraging many Romany couples to marry and appears as a witness on many marriage certificates from 1886 to 1895 (this is from marriages found so far).
John Wells was the son of John Wells and Mahalah Guest.

Henry Hughes married Betsy James on the 10th January 1872 at the Church, Hamworthy, Dorset. Betsy is the daughter of Daniel D James. Henry died of Bronchitis and Pneumonia on the 2oth January 1895 and the informant on his death certificate was his father.
Betsy appears from census to have become the Housekeeper for John Chown and possibly died at Wimborne in 1929.

Priscilla Hughes married Robert Jones the son of Robert Jones and possibly Diana Bull (this needs proving) on the 24th September 1872 at the Parish Church, Binstead, Hampshire this couple eventually settled at Wield where they appear to have resided from 1891 till they both died in 1944.
Robert was buried at St James Church, Wield on the 2nd May 1944 followed by his wife Priscilla on the 6th May 1944 neither of the grave’s appear to be marked.
There is a photo of a Robert Jones and family (By kind permission of the Dorchester Museum) on the Romanygenes web site and it is known that the family did stay on the Ridgway near Dorchester so this could be of them but it is not certain.

Noah Hughes married Matilda Crutcher also on the 1st May 1889 (b) and the entry is the preceding number in the Register to the marriage of his sister Rhoda, The father of Matilda Crutcher is shown as George Crutcher a Licensed Hawker I think this may be her Grandfather as her 2 sisters also married at the Register Office Lymington in 1888 and gave their fathers name as Isaac. Noah died on the 24th Feb 1927 at 4 Pound Lane, Christchurch Matilda was present at the Death, He was buried in the Christchurch Cemetery on the 28th Feb and his Obituary appeared in the Christchurch Times on Saturday March 5th 1927.

Transcription:

"CHIEF TRAVELLER'S DEATH"

Body viewed by scores of Caravaners.

The funeral took place on Monday of the late Mr. Noah Hughes, who was also known as " Sandy Cooper," and who passed away at 4. Pound Lane, Christchurch, on the preceding Thursday at the age of 75 years.

The deceased was widely known over the three counties of Hampshire, Dorset, and Wiltshire, which he travelled in a caravan for nearly seventy years, and he was known by the fraternity of caravan dwellers as the " Chief Traveller," the occupation of these people being that of licensed hawkers.

Word was quickly spread of his passing, and during the week-end scores of the fraternity visited Pound Lane to view the body and to pay their last respects to their departed " chief," who, we are informed, is succeeded by his brother, Mr. Sam Hughes, of Bristol. The deceased, who is stated to have been born on the Town Common, had 15 children - nine of whom are living - and three of them presented him with 36 grand-children, one with 14 and two others with 11 each.

There was a great number of mourners at the funeral, each of them carrying a wreath, many of which were of a most beautiful nature. The officiating clergyman was the Rev. A. B. Bennett, and the undertaking arrangements were in the hands of Miller Bros.
(E&OE jr)

His grave was purchased in 1966 by his Daughter in Law Caroline and a Headstone put in place for his youngest son Joseph Hughes the husband of Caroline,
who died in December 1965 and also Noah.

Matilda Hughes died on the 18th March 1938 also at 4 Pound Lane she was buried on the 24th March 1938 in an unmarked plot very close to her Husband.



Noah & Matilda Hughes, with son Joseph, daughter
Annabella and dog Fly c 1915-1920

There is a sad story attached to the above photograph,
Annabella Hughes died at the age of 30 leaving 7 children all under the age of 11, the children were shared out among the family and one of the boys later in life made certain that they all had
this photograph with the names, years of birth and dates of death of their mother, Grandparents and Uncle written on the back of it. It is thanks to one of these children that we have this photograph.

Samson Hughes had a relationship with Amelia Cooper and so far I have found 6 children for them Samson and Amelia are in the 1891 Census at Toller Porcorum, Dorset also with them are Henry and Betsy Hughes, John and Rhoda Wells.

Samson and Amelia must have split up not long after this as in July 1894 at the Register Office in Taunton, Samson a Bachelor married Georgina Isaacs, Spinster a General Hawker the daughter of Matthew Isaacs and the couple are to be found in the 1901 Census at Shobrooke, Devon with 7 children whose ages range from 18 years down to 4 months from this it was obvious that Georgina had also been in a relationship prior to her marriage further research has revealed that she was with Edward White who died in September 1893.

Samson and Georgina are known to have had 3 children and in 1911 they are living at Eyles Lane, Bristol, They must have settled in this are as in the Obituary for his brother Noah, Mr Sam Hughes of Bristol is mentioned as his successor. Samson and Georgina are buried at the Downend Cemetery at Bristol and the headstone record Samuel Hughes died Nov 4 1933 aged 94 years the GRO index has him as Sampson Hughes age 94 and his death is in the Index for 1932, December quarter, Georgina died on March 11th 1944 age 83 and is buried with him. There are family members who still visit the grave and keep it tidy.

Eli Hughes children in the News,

Western Gazette. Friday, 27th March 1874.

GIPSIES IN MR. STURT’S PRESERVES. – At Wimborne, On Wednesday, before Colonel Paget, Isaac Light, Henry Hughes, and Noah Hughes, gipsies, were charged by Thomas Dongworth, head keeper in the employ of H. G. Sturt, Esq., M.P., with poaching at Long Critchell, on the morning of the 4th instant, The defendants encamped in the parish on the previous evening, and the keepers, having found 12 snares set, watched all night. Between five and six o’clock in the morning, the defendants came and examined the wires. On seeing the watchers, they made off as quickly as possible. A warrant was issued for their apprehension. Light was apprehended in Wiltshire, and the Hughes’s in Hampshire. In answer to a question from the magistrate, the Deputy Chief Constable said Light was a most notorious character, and had been convicted many times for various offences. Henry Hughes had also been in trouble before. Light was fined 40s and the costs, or two months’ hard labour in default. The other two were fined 30s each and the costs, or in default one month’s hard labour each. The fines were immediately paid, and the tribe, which had mustered somewhat strongly in Court, quickly took their departure.

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Hampshire Advertiser. Friday, 6th June 1879.

County Petty Sessions, Wednesday. – Magistrates present: Mr. J. Mills and Mr. W. C. Deane.
Stray Horses. - Noah Hughes and Rhoda Wells, gipsies, were each fined 2s and 4s costs, for allowing their horses to stray on the highway, at Crowe. – George Holloway was fined 1s and 4s costs, for a similar offence, at Poulner.

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The Hampshire Advertiser. Saturday, 4th May 1889.

CRUTCHER – HUGHES. – On the 1st inst., at the Superintendent Registrar’s Office, Lymington, Matilda Crutcher to Noah Hughes.

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Ringwood Hampshire Advertiser, Friday 7 April 1893.

DESTROYING SNOWDROPS. - Noah Cooper, alias Hughes, a travelling gipsy, was summoned by Henry Sevier for wilfully damaging cultivated snowdrops, the property of the Earl of Normanton, at Moyle’s Court, on the 15th of February. Prosecutor stated that he saw the defendant, with five other men, picking and pulling up the snowdrops on the day in question. They all ran away and witness overtook them, but he only knew the defendant. - George Ings, corroborated, and defendant was fined 7s 6d damage, and 13s costs, or fourteen days’ imprisonment.

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Note's
(a) Frederic Stansfield Herries researched by member Norman Burton.
(b) Both marriage certificates are from the local Register Office and are transcriptions of the register not scans so may contain errors, I now purchase all my certificates from the GRO at Southport as these are scans of the registers.