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A list of sources is included.

Robert Govier and Arabella Jerina Bilha Mayger  ©

Baptized in the Whitchurch Canonicorum Parish Church on the 19^th November, 1755¹, Robert was the son of John Govier and his wife Mary (nee Diment^). 

References, on both Ancestry and FindMyPast, indicate Robert married Arabella Jerina Bilha Meygar in Whitchurch Canonicorum, Dorset, on the 10^th September, 1780², but to-date no documentation has been sighted.

A baptism for an Arabella Jerina (Pragger) Mayger has been located in Portsea, Hampshire, 1758³, she was the daughter of John Mayger and his wife Mary (nee Game), again this document has not been sighted.  Portsea is a small, flat and low lying island just off the south coast of Hampshire, it  is totally within the city of Portsmouth nd is about 100km east of Bridport & Whitchurch Canonicorum, Dorset.  The name Portsea comes from two words, the Latin word ‘Portus’, which meant harbour and the Saxon word ‘eg’ which meant island. Portsea Island was once called Portuseg, but over time the word lost its meaning and people began to call it Portuseg Island or Portsea Island.  Until the end of the 17^th Century Portsea was just farmland, although in 1495 King Henry VII established a dockyard.  Through the 16^th and 17^th Centuries the dockyard grew much larger.  By the start of the 18^th Century workmen in the dockyard grew tired of walking from Old Portsmouth to work each day. They decided to build houses on the farmland outside the dockyard and the 'suburb' soon outgrew Old Portsmouth.  In 1792 its name was changed from Portsmouth Common to Portsea.  By 1801 Portsea had a population of about 25,000 while Old Portsmouth had only about 7,000. However it was not until the 1770s that the walls around Old Portsmouth were extended around Portsea.  In the 18^th Century, and for long afterwards, the dockyard was the main employer in Portsea.  In the 1700s men worked from 6am to 6pm with half an hour for breakfast and one and a half hours for lunch.  Men were not allowed to smoke or light fires in the dockyard.  However, on the other hand they were allowed to take home 'chips' of wood. Some of these 'chips' were very large and carpenters ended up making furniture from the ‘chips’!  It is not known if Arabella's father was a dock worker, a sailor, farmer, or a merchant⁴.

A search of parish records in and around Whitchurch Canonicorum suggest Robert and Arabella had at least three children baptised in Whitchurch: John 1781, he married Mary Elliot 1808; Joan 1783-1858 and James 1786.

Ancestry Family Trees indicate Robert died in Whitchurch, in 1823, and was buried, on the 31^st January, in the St Candida and Holy Cross Parish Churchyard.  To-date the documentation has not been seen.  No record has yet been found for a death or burial of Arabella.

References:

1. Parish Baptism Record via Ancestry.co.uk https://www.ancestry.co.uk
2. England, Select Dorset Church of England Parish Registers, 1538-1999 via Ancestry https://www.ancestry.co.uk  & Search Records via FindMyPast  https://www.findmypast.co.uk/

3. England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 via Ancestry.co.uk https://www.ancestry.co.uk

4. History of Portsea http://www.localhistories.org/portsea.html

Other Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk  https://www.ancestry.co.uk

British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk

FindMyPast https://www.findmypast.co.uk/

Public Family Trees via Ancestry.co.uk https://www.ancestry.co.uk

Please contact me for further information