Contents
The earliest Skillmans in England, on
record, spelt the name Skylman, which is Old Norse for a
trustworthy man, like Truman I suppose. These early people lived
in East Anglia. The ones on record were, of course, the more
important ones. In the 13th century, Skylmans were Lords of
Wymondham near Norwich and one was the rector of the church at
Great Melton nearby. In the 15th century, some appear further
south in Kent and I was surprised to find a family living at this
period in Somerset. However, most of the recorded events show a
movement from East Anglia into the Midlands over the following
centuries. During the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries the vast
majority of mentions are centred on the area north and north-west
of Oxford. I will call this "The Midlands Group".They
were farm labourers and smallholders in the main, though one
single gentleman had an office in London. London itself has had
many Skillmans living, dying and getting married within its
boundaries, although I soon found that people living in the home
counties in the 19th century often travelled to London just to
get married.
In the 17th century, The Midlands Group
split into two distinct branches, The Deddington Group and The
Aylesbury Group. It was decided to name them thus because the
majority of each branch lived in Deddington in Oxfordshire or
Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. By the turn of the 19th century,
however, there were none left in either town. Today, remnants of
The Deddington Branch live in and around Kettering in
Northamptonshire whilst those of The Aylesbury Branch are
scattered all over the outskirts of West London and recently a
group of them has started to form in the Bristol and Bath area in
the West.
Our family is part of the Aylesbury
Group. For a number of generations Skillmans were fellmongers in
Aylesbury, preparing animal skins. This was roughly between 1700
and 1800. However, my great-great-grandfather, John, was born at
King's Langley in Hertfordshire, his father having married a girl
from there. John moved to nearby Redbourn and brought up a large
family there. Up to that time the branch had survived by the skin
of its teeth, most families having had just one boy and there
were hardly any girls. John had five boys and three girls. They
in turn had their families. My great-grandfather Daniel had a
large family and lived at and ran the post office in Redbourn.
This was where my grandfather, Arthur was born. He married a
Redbourn girl and eventually finished up in Southall in
Middlesex. Both my father, Martin, and I were born in Southall. I
married a Southall girl, Kate, and we live in Warminster as does our daughter
and her family. Our son and
his family live in the next town, Frome, Somerset.
U.S.A
The Skillmans in the U.S.A.
believe that one Thomas Skillman arrived with the British
Expedition to take New Amsterdam (now New York) in 1664 and that
a great many of them are descended from this one man. Thomas is a
common Skillman name but I have only found one likely Thomas, on
record, of the right age at that time. He was son of Richard and
Rose of Littlemore near Oxford who was baptized 3 Aug 1639. There
is another possible choice and that is Thomas son of Thomas and
Alice of Oving in Buckinghamshire who was baptized 22 Oct 1626
and would have been at least 37 at the time. The pioneering
Thomas apparently married in the Long Island area and thereafter
led a very full life which is documented. I see there are
hundreds of Skillmans in the U.S.A. now, some of which I have
contacted.
Australia
I know of two who emigrated
permanently to Australia and have Skillman descendants there.
Firstly, there was Henry and his wife Hannah (nee Brooks) who
arrived in 1850. He was from London but his branch originated in
Deddington, Oxfordshire. He died in Booral, N.S.W. Secondly,
there was Henry born in Harpenden, Hertfordshire in 1862. He
arrived as a single man in about 1880 and had two marriages, the
second being with Elizabeth Clarke. He died in Cairns, Queensland.
Initially, I was greatly helped
by work done by my aunt Ann Skillman. My own research has been at
County Records Offices, using Mormon records, talking to elderly
relatives and often receiving documents from them, and writing to
all and sundry. I have about 1500 names of family and in-laws on
record now, and a study full of papers and pictures.
I can, with reasonable certainty, trace
my line back to Roger of Hynton-by-Brackley, Oxfordshire who died
in 1560. I supply members of the family with their section of the
tree, if asked, but the tree as a whole is enormous and does not
exist as a single entity. The blame for this falls mainly on the
large Victorian families. Earlier families were much smaller.
Regrettably, my "twig" is probably going to die out.
Our only son has two daughters.
(this page updated on 26 Mar 2004)
