The Trott family originated in Somerset, England where they lived in the parish of Kingsbury Episcopi.  My 5xgreat-grandparents were John Trott and Mary Priddle.  Both were born in this parish in about 1777 and were married at St. Martin's Church in 1803.  During the following three years they baptised a daughter, Keziah (married William Rousell) and a son, Job, at the nearby hamlet of East Lambrook.

By 1809 John and Mary had moved to the village of Lopen, a short distance away, where John worked as a carpenter and timber merchant.  They appear to have lived in Lower Street, Lopen.  A further five children were born to the couple and all were baptised in the village church of All Saints.  They were:  Lydia, John, Jacob, Thomas Priddle and Sophia.

Sadly, Mary died, and was buried at Lopen in 1919, a little before the third birthday of her youngest daughter.  John and his young family remained in the district.  Eventually, in 1832 when his children were themselves beginning to marry, he took a second wife - a spinster from the parish, named Anne Dodge.

John and Anne lived the remainder of their lives at Lopen.  John died in 1856 and Anne in 1862.  Both were buried at Lopen.

KEZIAH TROTT

In 1831 Keziah Trott married William Rousell, also from Lopen, at All Saints Church.  Their eldest child, a daughter named Mary (married Graham Dixon) was baptised there the following year.

The marriage record of Keziah Trott and William Rousell from the Lopen Parish Registers.

With in months of Mary's baptism, William and his young family, along with one of Keziah's brothers migrated to the colony of Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) in Australia, aboard the Thomas Laurie.  The family soon settled near the township of New Norfolk, on the Derwent River, where they built a home which they named "The Priory."  William, as he had in England worked as a carpenter and wheelwright.  In addition, he also held a publican's licence for the "Sawyers Arms" and the "Mail Coach Inn" New Norfolk at different times.

Keziah and William produced a further eight children, all born at New Norfolk.  They were Sarah (married James Mathews), James (died as an infant), Sophia Trott (Sophy, married James Cleland), Adelaide, Jane, William (married Rhoda Mary Jackson), Harriet (married Henry Francis Quentin Cleland) and Edward (died as an infant).

"The Priory" at Lawitta on the Derwent river, opposite the township of New Norfolk.

Keziah died at New Norfolk in 1885 and her husband William about six years later in 1891.  Whilst none of their sons passed on the Rousell name, the descendants of William and Keziah's daughters can still be found today in several states of Australia.

Their only surviving son, William, was a citizen of some note in the district.  Like his father, he pursued an early career of carpentry before taking up farming at his property named "Montrose."  This was mostly a fruit-growing venture.  In 1892 he leased the property out and moved to a smaller one, still in the New Norfolk district named "Carollside" where he maintained an orchard of a few acres.  William also occupied positions in public office with the Road Trust and the Fruit Board.

JOB TROTT

What became of Job Trott is uncertain.  He appears to have worked as a carpenter and wheelwright.  The records for the parish of Stocklinch Magdalen in Somerset indicate that a Job Trott married a Rhoda Paul in 1826.  In 1831 a son named Simeon was baptised in the neighbouring parish of Stocklinch Ottersay.  It appears that a daughter named Jane was also born to the couple (probably in about 1827) as it is recorded that she married William Marshall, a hatter and glover, at Stocklinch Magdalen in 1852.

In 1875 there is a record of a Rhoda Trott (widow) marrying a Robert Middleton in the village of Ash.  If this is in fact the widow of Job, then he must have died before 1875.

Conversely, there is some indication that Job may have followed his sister and brother to Van Diemen's Land.  There is a record of a Job Trott dying in the Tasmanian town of Hamilton in 1853, so perhaps the widow Rhoda returned to her homeland after the death of her first husband, remarrying some twenty-two years after his death.

LYDIA TROTT

Lydia Trott married George Paull from the nearby village of Chillington, Somerset.  The marriage took place in her home town of Lopen in 1831.  Soon after their marriage the couple moved to the town of St. Helier on the Channel Island of Jersey, where George may already have been living with his family.

Their eldest child (James - my 3xgreat-grandfather) was born the following year.  A further seven children were born to the couple during their time in St. Helier.  These children were:  Mary Anne, George W., Elizabeth (died as a child), John, Philip, Emma (died as an infant) and Charles William (died as an infant).

In 1844, along with other members of George's family they migrated to the Colony of New South Wales as assisted immigrants aboard the "St. Vincent."  They settled at Pitt Town, near Windsor, New South Wales, however the baby, Charles died within a few months of their arrival.  Two more children were born to the couple at Pitt Town, they were Alfred and Albert.

The next year, Lydia was left a widow following the death of her husband and son Philip in a drowning accident at Pitt Town.  She and her family remained in the district, and in 1851 she remarried, this time to Gabriel Walden, a bachelor, also from Pitt Town.  There were no children from this second marriage.

Lydia lived a further thirty-eight years, dying at Parramatta Road, Burwood a suburb of Sydney in 1889.  Lydia is buried in an unmarked grave in the Rookwood, Church of England Cemetery in Sydney with her son Alfred.

JOHN TROTT

The younger John Trott was an ironmonger and smith by trade, but also had some involvement in the building industry in London.  There is a street in Battersea, London which bears the name of Trott Street possibly in recognition of a row of houses on that street which he is believed to have built.  By the late 1830s John was already living in the area.  He married Harriet Stafford at St. Matthew's, Bethnal Green in London in 1839.

A large family was born to John and Harriet.  A son George (did not marry), was baptised at St. Mary's, Battersea in 1841, followed by a second son John William (married Mary Ann Eliza ?) only a couple of months later.  Other children baptised by the couple were:  Harriet (died as an infant), Mary Stafford (did not marry), Emily (did not marry), Herbert (probably died as an infant), Leonard (died as a child), Harriet, William, Herbert (did not marry), Charles (died as an infant), Louisa (died in childhood) and possibly also Edmund Thomas.

In 1861 following the death of his step-mother Anne (nee Dodge), it was John who was granted probate for her estate.

John himself died at Battersea in 1893, naming his surviving sons John, George and Herbert along with his daughters Mary Stafford and Emily in his will.

JACOB TROTT

Jacob Trott migrated to Van Diemen's Land in 1832 with his sister Keziah and her husband William Rousell.  On arrival in the colony, Jacob settled in the town of Hamilton, where he employed himself as a carpenter and served as the local undertaker.  At one time he held a publican's licence for the "Hit or Miss Inn" at Hamilton.  He also went into business with his brother-in-law, William at some point, presumably this was a carpentry or wheelwright business.

Jacob it seems, married twice, later in his life.  His first wife was Mary Browne Robertson, whom he married in 1854, however she died the following year at Hamilton.  Only a short time later in 1856 he married for a second time, to Elizabeth Green.

The records do not appear to show the birth of any children to Jacob and his wives, however upon Jacob's death in 1867 it was announced in the Hobart Town Courier that his son of the same name would be assuming his father’s undertaking responsibilities.

THOMAS PRIDDLE TROTT

Thomas Priddle Trott is believed to have lived in Gloucester where he worked as a plumber. He died in 1868, leaving a sum of £1500 to his widow Tabitha, who survived her husband by a further five years or more, dying in 1873.  It is not known whether Thomas and Tabitha raised a family.

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