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Sarah Jane Tanner
The pictures on this page are courtesy of John Doran and Sue Hill in Canada
- Giles Tanner and Martha Butler are John's Gt. Gt. Grandparents (and mine!)
(click on the thumbnail pictures to get a larger image)
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Sarah Jane Tanner (Sixth child)
William Osborne (Sarah's husband) 
William and Sarah lived in Didmarton after their marriage and they ran a Grocers and Bakery in the village. The picture shows William on the right outside the shop in the early 1900's.
Sarah Jane and her family were very close to her brother Aubrey Giles' family who at that time lived 17 miles away in Bath. 
The children of both these families (cousins) went to visit each other and stay for weekends. The picture on the left shows the two eldest of William and Sarah's children, May (known as Daisy) on the left and Margaret. Their other children were Elsie, Evelyn 
and William Henry (known as Harry). The picture on the right, taken at Daisy's 50th wedding anniversary, shows Marjorie, Elsie, Daisy and Evelyn. I have attached a picture of Harry to this photo.
Marjorie married George Finlay - they are John Doran's grandparents. Daisy married Maxwell Coming Coutts - their children are Walter, Helene, Bernice, Doris, William and Margaret.
Margaret and her husband Ken have recently toured the UK and we met up with them in Bath and took them to the house in Didmarton and also showed them Smith's Farm in Colerne. The picture on the left shows them at Didmarton (with my brother Mike) where the present owners very kindly showed us round. Notice how little the house has changed externally in the last 100 years. The present owners also showed us a coloured print of the house and village also dating from around 1900 (see picture below). Just after leaving Didmarton we drove to Oldbury of the Hill to show Margaret and Ken where William and Sarah's children were christened (see below). There is an interesting booklet which has been produced by the people of Didmarton entitled "Didmarton - a ramble through history". In this booklet there are several references to the Osborne family and/or the house. These include an advert "W Osborne, Baker and Grocer, Didmarton, Luncheon Cakes and Biscuits, Home Cured Bacon" and also a photo of the church choir dated about 1908 showing a picture of William.
In 1911 the family emigrated to Canada where William took up farming. They left Bristol on 3rd May 1911 on the ship the Royal Edward and arrived in Quebec at 3pm on the 11th May destined for Barrie in Ontario. The ships passenger list can be viewed at the following link and their names can be seen on page 9 of the list (page 11 of the web link). A picture of the ship is shown below.
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Page updated 17/10/2007
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