The Oborn surname has been seen with several variations, such as Woburn or Woborn, Oborn, Oborne and Oburn. This administrator descends from a Joseph Oborn born about 1810/1811 in Gillingham, Dorset, England. He was married in St. Pauls Bristol in 1830, and raised a family in Bath, Somerset, England. His descendants mostly live now in Utah and Idaho of the United States. We are stuck on our research at Joseph Oborn, and feel that DNA might be our only hope of breaking our line. We have done much research in the Oborn families of Bristol, Somerset, Wiltshire and Dorsetshire in England. We hope to see, using Y chromosome DNA how the many people with the Oborn surname are related to each other.

This is the background research on the administrator's Joseph Oborn:
WHO ARE THE PARENTS OF OUR JOSEPH OBORN???????

Joseph Oborn, according to John Oborn’s autobiography, was born 26 September 18ll in Gillingham, Dorset, England. The year of birth, and the place of birth agree with what is recorded in Joseph Oborn's 1851 census entry (Widcome/Lydcome parish of Bath, Somerset, England) which had him age 40 and born in Gillingham. In John Oborn's autobiographical record, it is recorded that Joseph was a member of the church called the Plymouth Brethren. This church was prominent in the Bristol area of England, where Joseph Oborn was married in 1830. About the year 1842, Mormon missionaries came to Bath. After listening to the missionaries, Joseph Oborn was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He remained in Bath until the year 1856, when he emigrated to America with his wife, Maria Stradling and son, John. He died in route to Salt Lake City, Utah, 30 October 1856, near the banks of the Green River, as a member of the Willey handcart company..

It must be noted that the early temple work done by John Oborn himself in 1898, shows the following:

l. 3 November 1898, in the Salt Lake Temple, John Oborn did baptism and endowment for" Gt. Gd. Father Oborn." This shows that in 1898 he did not know his great grandfather's name.
2. The same day he did work for "Mrs. Oborn" and listed himself as her gt. gd. son. This shows that he did not know her name.
3. The same day he did work for "Gd. Father Oborn". This shows he did not know who the father of Joseph Oborn was, at least in 1898.
4. The same day he did temple work for Mrs. Ann Oborn of Gillingham, and listed himself as her grandson. This shows that he had heard that his father's mother's name was Ann. Perhaps he even met her.
5. He did work for his brother Henry, who he listed as dead by 1892.
6. He did work for a George Oborn of Gillingham, and listed himself as his gd. Nephew. This means that George Oborn is either a brother of Joseph Oborn's father OR the brother of his mother, if she bore him illegitimate.

In 1891 Eliza Oborn did temple work for her grandmother, Ann Oborn. Note that she listed herself as proxy, and listed her name as Eliza Stradling, and listed her relationship to Ann Oborn as step granddaughter. Eliza Oborn really was not Joseph Oborn’s daughter by blood. She was Maria Stradling’s daughter, born in 1825 prior to her marriage to Joseph Oborn. Apparently she either heard her mother talk of her mother in law, heard her step father talk of his mother, or she actually met Ann Oborn at some time in her lifetime. John Oborn also must have either met Ann Oborn, or heard one of his parents talk of her.

These genealogical records: the 1841, 1851 census of Bath, the 1891 and 1898 temple work done by John Oborn and Eliza Oborn themselves, along with John Oborn’s autobiography are the earliest records we have concerning the ancestry of Joseph Oborn, and thus have to be taken as the closest we have to primary evidence.


We have other evidence, but it is further in years from the actual events, and thus might be less reliable. These are:

1. Baron Leo Oborn, in the second decade of the 1900's, tried to gather as much information about his Stradling and Oborn ancestry that he could. He questioned older relatives, and in some instances he said that he just came from his father’s house and recorded what he said. Concerning his Oborn ancestry, Baron Leo Oborn recorded:

“This is a record of Baron Leo Oborn:. I have read father's family record and some of his record will be copied in this. I have written to all elderly relatives and gathered all that facts from them that I can:

Joseph Oborn: After he was married his history was about the same as that of Maria Stradling. Father thinks he died about Ocotober 20th instead of October 30th as recorded. He had a brother Isaac who enlisted in the army and went to Giberalter.. Isaac died after 1843. Grandfather sold milk and coal and sent saddle horses to rent. He was about 5 years older than Isaac. He died of starvation and exposure at Green River, while enroute to Salt Lake City with Millan Atwood Handcart Co. While in England he lived with his family at Pritchard Cottages, Widcome in Bath and in Timbrell's Court, which was at that time owned by James Timbrell Worlton, south side River about 6 rods southwagon bridge and l rod south of railroad bridge. Joseph and Maria Oborn came to Utah by the 95 company of saints from Liverpool, England by the ship Thornton that sailed on the 4May 1856, arriving in New York on the 14th of June 1856. They left New York June 17, 1856 for Utah. They crossed the plains with the Handcart company. Joseph Oborn died of exposure and starvation and was buried near Green River. The Handcart company was in charge of Milan Atwood (Willie's Handcart Company)

John Oborn I: This is my great grandfather. I am unable to learn when and where he was born and died. He was married to a girl named Ann. I am at this time unable to learn her maiden name. They were the parents of Joseph Oborn who married Maria Stradling. December l, 1912: I have just talked to father. The following is according to the memory in regards to John Oborn the lst on his grandfather: More than likely he was a farmer. He probably belonged to the United Brethern, Plymouth Brethren. He was the husband of Ann and was the father of two children, Joseph and Isaac. He may have been born and died in or near Gillingham, England.”

2. We have in our possession a pedigree chart filled out by this same Baron Leo Oborn on 14 November 1929. He does not put his source of information, but without a doubt, he put what he believed to be the case. He put the parentage of Joseph Oborn as follows:

Joseph Oborn as the son of a John Oborn and his wife Ann, who was John Oborn's second wife.


So, our best family records available state clearly that Joseph Oborn is the son of a lady named Ann. Both the 1898 temple work done by John Oborn and the 1891 temple work done by Eliza Oborn and even the less reliable record of Baron Leo Oborn agree with this. But when it comes to the father of Joseph Oborn, it appears that in 1898 John Oborn did not know who he was. But, somewhere someone in the family thought it might be a John Oborn.

Unfortunately, on the records of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, in the record called the Ancestral File, some of John Oborn's descendants have turned in Joseph Oborn as the son of a William Oborn and Sarah Godwin. They have no proof for this claim, and it had now been proven, by DNA to be incorrect. Weber Read Walker (my father), a grandson of John Oborn remembers a little bit of how this tradition got started. He was told this by his mother, Annie Marie Oborn, eldest daughter of John Oborn by his first marriage:

John Oborn was one day reading in the newspaper, The Deseret News, when he noticed the obituary of a person named Oborn, who lived about 50 miles north of him. He noted the survivors of the family and went to visit them. He wondered who they were, and if they could help him discover who the parents of his father were. It is believed the man’s name was John Joseph Oborn.
A son of this John Joseph Oborn recorded this about the visit. This was written in 1934. This man's name was Heber C. Oborn: "We are trying to connect the southern Utah family of Oborns with the Joseph Oborn, the youngest son of William Oborn and Sarah Godwin. Their ancestors name was Joseph Oborn, and their birthdate for him conforms almost exactly with the date in my record for Joseph Oborn, son of William Oborn and Sarah Godwin. They say that the father of their Joseph Oborn was John Oborn, so we are headed off there. They are trying to find something more about their ancestry. They trace themselves back to Bath, and of course, that is where we all stop. Our Oborns were from Midford, Somerset, which is about 3 miles from Bath. The old Oborn Grist Mill is still running and turning out flour. We know from old letters that two or three of the boys of William Oborn and Sarah Godwin came to America. James and his wife Mary settled in Oswego, New York and operated a flour mill."

It was Weber Read Walker's understanding from his mother that when John Oborn visited the John Joseph Oborn family that they showed John Oborn a family group sheet for William Oborn and Sarah Godwin. They both wondered if our Joseph Oborn might not be a younger son in the family. He does not know whether or not William and Sarah Oborn actually had a son Joseph with a birthdate similar to our Joseph Oborn, or if the dates just seemed right for them to have had a youngest son Joseph. It was his understanding from his mother, that John Joseph Oborn’s family tentatively put in our Joseph Oborn's name and birthdate onto his family group sheet, not intending for it to be accepted as fact, but as a supposition.. When his son, Heber Oborn came along, the entire facts of the case had been forgotten and Joseph Oborn was accepted as a member of the family. Weber Read Walker, from talking with his mother, firmly believes that our Joseph Oborn is not the son of William Oborn and Sarah Godwin.

Unfortunatley some of John Oborn's descendants cling tenaciously to William Oborn/Sarah Godwin as being the parents of our Joseph Oborn, inspite of the fact that John Oborn, in 1898 clearly knew his grandmother;s name was Ann. Eliza Oborn, in 1891 was also in agreement with this fact.



Gillingham Parish registers of the Church of England have been searched, as well as all Church of England parishes registers within a ten mile radius of Gillingham in order to find all Joseph Oborn's born/baptized between 1800-1815. We have also searched all non Church of England records of baptisms, marriages and deaths within these same parishes that have been deposited at the Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire record offices by the year 1995. We found only two Joseph Oborn's born in those years:

1. Joseph Chaple son of Ann Obourn was christened on 9 June 18ll in Gillingham, Dorset, England. Our professional researcher said that this child would have gone by the name of Joseph Oborn unless the mother married. We could not find an Ann Oborn being married to a Mr. Chaple or anyone, in Gillingham or the surrounding parishes. The death records of Gillingham also do not show this child in the burial record, which is a fairly good indication that he survived to adulthood. There was, however, a Joseph Chaple who died in Gillingham in 1826 aged 60. There was only one Chaple family in Gillingham, so he may be the son of George Chaple of Gillingham and his wife Mary Randal. There is an Ann Oborn still alive in the 184l census of Gillingham. She died a spinster in Gillingham on 23 February 1847. She was aged 68. A John Oborn was present at death. He was her nephew, being the son of HER BROTHER, George Oborn, of Gillingham. We do not find this Joseph Oborn or Chaple in the 1841 or 1851 census of Gillingham, or within a ten mile radius of Gillingham. It seems that this Joseph Chaple Oborn had left the Gillingham area before 1841, and interestingly, our Joseph Oborn was in the Bath by the 1841 and 1851 census. If this is our Joseph Oborn, and his father was Joseph Chaple, then our Oborn DNA, would actually be the same as male descendants (still carrying the name of Chaple) or paternal male ancestors of Joseph Chaple (who carried the Chaple surname).

The parish registers of Gillingham indicate the following family of Oborns in Gillingham at the time our Joseph Oborn would have lived there:

1. George Oborn, born in Pensilwood or Bourton or Wincanton according to the 1851 and 186l census (died 15 October 1862) He married to a Jane Gray (she died 19 November 1830 age 45) in Gillingham on 19 October 1806, and had the following children:

l. Ann, chr 22 August 1808 married John Gibbs on 14 April 1830. William and Amelia Oborn witnessed the marriage
2. William, chr 22 August 1808
3. Frances, chr 23 April 1809 ( she had an illegitamate child,William, in1835. She died 8 September 1839 leaving her son orphaned. Her aunts Jane and Ann appear to take care of him.
4. John, chr 12 November 1809 died 6 March 1820
5. Amelia, chr 27 December 1812 married Harry Cox
6. Emma chr 27 December 1812 died 12 March 1829
7. Leah chr 26 Febrary 1815 died 12 March 1829
8. Elizabeth Betsey chr 28 July 1816 died 6 March 1820
9. Rachel chr 19 July 1818 died 6 March 1820
10. John chr 4 June 1820 became a shoemaker and married a girl named Elizabeth
11. Elizabeth Betsey, 20 June 1821 unmarried as of 184l census


12. George, 8 September 1822 married to Isabella Broadway on 15 February 1849. His wife is from Motcombe. Richard Oborne witnessed the wedding
13. Henry chr 10 November 1823 died 10 August 1842
14. Rachel chr 4 September 1825 died 5 October 1825
15. Richard chr 5 August 1827 became a printer and married Harriet
16. Margaretta Emma Leah chr 12 July 1829 died 21 December 1849
17. Emma Maria chr 28 July 1830 unmarried as of 185l census

2. Jane Oborn, born in Silton, had an illegitimate child, Maria Oborn, chr 7 Ocotber 1798 in Gillingham. This Maria married to a man named Sylvester Lush on 4 September 1825 in Gillingham. The witnesses included a Stephen Herridge, who is probably a relative (see the 1792 marriage of May Oborn to Hugh Herridge in Gillingham, below) Also living with Jane Oborn and her daughter, Maria Lush is William Oborn, aged 15 in 1851. William Oborn is listed as a nephew to Maria Lush, meaning that Jane Oborn was his aunt. He is the illegitimate son of Frances Oborn, daughter of George Oborn. Frances died before she could completely raise her son. It appears his great aunt Jane Oborn raised him. Jane died on 17 August 1853, aged 77 in Gillingham. She was also a spinster at the time of death.

3. Ann Oborn, a pauper age 60 in 1841 Census, living with Jane Oborn, her sister, and William Oborn, her grand nephew) This Ann Oborn appears to have died in 1847, age 68, a spinster. WE BELIEVE SHE IS THE MOTHER OF JOSEPH CHAPLE OBORN.

4. On ll Februay 1766 a JOHN OBORN of Bourton married ANN DAVIDGE by banns in Gillingham. They appear to have had the following children: (He died 27 July 180l, and she died 31 January 1805.) (From the Gillingham registers it would appear that this John Oborn who was married in 1766 to Ann Davidge may have had siblings by the name of Ann Oborn who married Thomas Matthews, perhaps a Robert, William, and Martha). His children were as follows:
1.. John chr on 9 January 1767 in Silton, probably the one who married Elizabeth Butt in Gillingham on 24 December 1792. He was buried on 7 August 1808, aged 41.
2. Mary chr on 4 May 1769 in Silton probably the one who married Hugh Herridge on 24 June 1792 in Gillingham (note that both John and Mary Oborn were married on the ame day in 1792 in Gillingham. They were definetly brother and sister.)
3. William chr on 10 April 1772 in Silton. (For no reason that we can discover, other than to make the picture fit, some of John Oborn's descendants have put this William as the William Oborn who married SarahGodwin in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, and supposedly had a son Joseph in 18ll.)
4. Jane chr on 10 September 1775 in Gillingham. She is probably the Jane Oborn listed in the 1841 and 1851 census of Gillingham who had the illegitimate daughter, Maria.
5. Ann chr in 1778 in Penselwood. Probably the Ann Oborn of the 1841 census of Gillingham, with her sister, and also the one who had the illegitimate son, Joseph Chaple.. Her death certificate, in 1847 was witnessed by John Oborn, probably the son of George Oborn, her brother.

6. George chr on 29 April 178l in Gillingham (his parents, in the parish register were listed as Robert Oborn and Ann his wife, but the researcher felt this was an error because there was no Robert Oborn anywhere in Gillingham at the time, but there was a John and Ann Oborn having children at the time, and they, in fact, were the only Oborn surnamed family having children in Gillingham at the time.
7. probably a daughter Elizabeth who married John Green in Gillingham on 14 February 1786, since they witness the marriage of #2 above. This daughter could be from a previous marriage, see note below.

Other Oborn’s in Gillingahm:

An Emma Oborn of Stourton, Wiltshire who married William Lewis of Bourton in Gillingham by banns on 20 July 1824

A Kezia Oborn who married Silas Herridge by banns in Gillingham on 20 January 1835

SPECIAL NOTE: There is a John Oborn and Ann his wife having children in Wincanton in the 1750's. The children’s names were Ann, Betty and Sarah. There is a John Oborn who apprenticed to a Benjamin Barbridge in East Knolye and became a cordwainer in 175l. I have wondered if this John Oborn is the same John Oborn as the one who married Ann Davidge in 1766 in Gillingham, and that theGillingham marriage was his second marriage. This could almost fit in with the picture that Baron Leo Oborn painted on his 1929 pedigree chart, except it would be one generation beyond where he had it.

More convincingly on this line, in April of 1996 we received a letter from our researcher in England that in the year 1757, John Oborn of Gillingham obtained a settlement certificate from Gillingham and had moved to Wincanton. The researcher explains these Gillingham Overseers of the Poor records as follows: "The poor were looked after by the parish in which they had a settlement. You had a settlement if your parents had a settlement, or if you had worked in a parish for a number of years or owned or rented land of a certain value, usually L10. If you wanted to live in another parish you would only be accepted there if you had a certificate from the Overseers of your own parish saying that they would reimburse the Overseers of the other parish for any money they had to spend on you. So, in 1756 the Overseers of the Parish of Gillingham were accepting that John Oborn had been member of their parish." The John Oborn family still lived in Wincanton and were still receiving aid, by way of paying doctor bills from the Gillingham parish in the year 1758. They are not mentioned between 1759-1766, so perhaps they moved back to Gillingham by then.


The only other entry of birth or christening for a Joseph Oborn within a ten mile radius of Gillingham was a Joseph Oborn son of George Oborn and Jane his wife born and baptized on in August 18ll in Tisbury, Wiltshire. (other children born to this couple include, Sarah, 1792, William, 1799, Ann, 1805, George, 1807, Jane, 1809.) This couple was married by banns in Tisbury on 1 January 1791. Her maiden name was Jane Jay. This Joseph Oborn does not appear in the 1841 or 1851 census of Tisbury. There is a will of a George Oborn, carpenter of Tisbury dated 21 November 1839. This may or may not be this George Oborn who had sons Joseph, William and George. If it is, he does not mention any of his sons, perhaps indicating that his sons had died. The only children he mentions are Betty, Sarah, Ann, Pricilla, Jane, and Mary. All we know is that he is of sufficient age to have been a grandfather, because he mentions his grandchildren by his daughter, Mary. The researcher believes this George Oborn was born 10 August 1785 in Wincanton, the son of Roger and Ann Oborn. There is a burial for a Joseph Oborn in Tisbury on 25 Aug 1811. This could be one of two Joseph Oborns, either the Joseph Oborn born in August 1811 in Tisbury or the Joseph Oborn born in Tisbury on 5 Oct 1782 in Tisbury. The researcher felt it was likely the infant Joseph Oborn as infant mortality rate was very high in those days.

The opinion of our own professional researchers (living in England), plus a group of accredited researchers, in Salt Lake City, who spent several hours studying the research is that our Joseph Oborn is the illegitimate son of Ann Oborn, who was the daughter of John Oborn and Ann Davidge. (They met on request of a fellow accredited researcher who is related to the William Oborn/Sarah Godwin line, who firmly believed, according to her years and years of Oborn research, that Joseph Oborn did NOT belong to William Oborn/Sarah Godwin family. She sought to have Joseph Oborn taken off the Ancestral File as belonging to her family.)

Perhaps the John Oborn that Baron Leo Oborn believed was the father of Joseph Oborn was actually Joseph Oborn’s grandfather and that indeed he had married to Ann---Ann Davidge. . We will perhaps never know the truth until we meet Joseph Oborn in person.