The Sweet Track is real….
The Sweet Track is an ancient track, imprinted with the footsteps of Roman Legions and Saxon Kings, raised to traverse through the marshy Somerset levels, connecting the wilds of the west country to neighbouring counties by land. It is named after the man who discovered it, Ray Sweet.
Ray is not my direct ancestor. As you will soon discover, the West Country is littered with Sweets of one branch or another, all sharing the same surname, but their fortunes and natures uniquely shaped through the generations in history, going back in time to the 1500s.
The Sweet Track epitomises both the ancient traces of a family that spread across the continent, from its early Saxon roots, populating Britain along the Fosse Way and down to the very Western tip (or toe) of Britain before venturing out as pirates, merchants, masons and tinners or being transported as convicts or slaves.
A Sweet Diaspora that stretches from the West Indies to Australia, from India to Algiers.
Disentangling the past
It’s tempting to assume that all the Sweet branches lead back to one single patriarch. Some genealogy enthusiasts, driven by a desire to uncover status or a master creator, contort their descendancy to fit into a noble lineage. When that happens, some genealogy sites reinforce false leads, crowd funnelling their hints and building on the confirmation biases which distort the real past.
Yes! There are 2 Sweet family coats of arms, one of which was temporarily upgraded to sport a crest. But, no! There is little or no evidence that these branches of Sweets interconnected with every or even any other branches scattered around Britain or even in close proximity to each other. One of those enobled branches (Modbury) became genetically extinct in Britain in the 1700’s, having built a fortune as slavers. Too little is know about the other holder of an allegedley different coat of arms, and it is impossible to to trace it forwards, so it is highly likely that it, too, became extinct or simply was not an hereditary honor.
I’ve described below the rules which I have applied when treating the levels of evidence supporting a genealogical link. I’ve indicated the certainty of our ancestry using a percentage, an ranging from 85 – 100%, as far as records go back, (ie. 15th century)
IF IT LIVES, IT BREEDS
99% of the time there is a beginning and an end to a person’s civil or parochial records, and “mid-life” records which confirm ages and relationships along life’s journey. It’s particularly important when there is more than one Sweet who carries the same first name, is born in the same parish, may be a cousin or a still born child. Connect ages and places on death certificates, ages on the census or a ship’s passenger list, the child bearing age of a wife or a daughter, to the person identified as a potential tree member.
SONS & DAUGHTERS
Typically if a person is listed as ‘son of’ or ‘daughter of’ on their death certificate, it is likely that they are a dependent child. If they disappear off the records, check to see if they are replaced by the same parents, with a later birth or if the mother died at about the same time as that birth. If a child is not listed as a household member in a census, check to see if they are not living with a closely connected family in the same hamlet, perhaps apprenticed there or even further afield.
ACCOUNT FOR EVERYONE
Even if you think you know who was born roughly at about the right time to have married your GGM6 or GGF5, account for everyone in the same parish before committing their name to your tree. Find out as much about the brides who marry into the family as you can. Marriages had pragmatic purposes for both families involved, following the fortunes of the groom too.
ONCE STEP AT A TIME
I’ve audited my Sweet family tree about 5 times! Each time I have started with the most recent generations first and each time adding a new member or fact, checking and cross checking the ‘logic’ of each inclusion. This is especially important if you have a large branch in the neighbouring parish. It would be tempting to assume that they are connected, without having contemporary records to confirm it.
COLOURFUL CHARACTERS, WISHFUL THINKING
Sometimes I read the most amazing stories about individual Sweets. It’s tempting to try to include them in my own tree, where they don’t belong, or I am missing crucial evidence to justifiably place them there. The pirates, the rebels, the knights, merchant venturers or the slave…
I’ve included their stories separately below, but make no claims to be a descendant.
ALL AND EVERY RESOURCE AVAILABLE
In addition to the core Parish Records, I poured over Wills, Accounts, Customs Entries, Criminal and Civil Court Cases, Apprenticeships, Inmate, Passenger and Crew lists, Leases and Manorial Records. There’s a list of sources and references on a link in the footer menu and here. If you are doing a family tree or simply want to read more historical context from the source material, then it’s as good a place to start as any.
Historical Context
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