We have no definite proof that John Tranter was a direct ancestor of this branch of the Tranter family, however, given the dates, the restricted locality and the number of Tranter families living in the neighbouring villages of Coates, Tarleton and Rodmarton it is a strong possibility. These two certainly add colour to the hand to mouth existence of a family constrained to live in a few square miles of Gloucestershire over a few hundred years! Like her father, she broke the mould of living quietly a few miles from her birthplace. The second was his first child, Georgina who beat her father as she was four times married and in all probability, once bigamously. The first of these was George Tranter born 1844, who as can be seen later, was prosecuted for an unspecified crime lived in Kent, Lancashire, Somerset and finally Stourbridge and was thrice married. The family also contained two great ‘characters’, both of whom were the catalysts for this branch of the family relocating to Stourbridge in Worcestershire (now the West Midlands).

One person who bucked this trend was William Tranter born in 1848 who emigrated to the United States and was living in South Dakota when it was first made a state and bought up land and became a prosperous farmer there with two of his nephews Most were agricultural labourers, who probably lived on the edge of poverty and did not venture away from this small area until the latter part of the 19 th century. What is certain is that our branch of the Tranters hailed from these three, small, neighbouring villages in rural Gloucestershire. It is on this basis that these generations are included, but without absolute proof of their authenticity. However there is logic to this being the case, given that there were few other Tranters in the district and that the villages of Coates, Rodmarton and Tarleton are adjacent. If not, then this casts doubt as to whether the 7 th and 8 th generations are sound and whether the two John Tranters of Coates are definite ancestors. However, there is some doubt as to the details surrounding this Thomas and whether or not he is he the same Thomas born to John and Ann Tranter at nearby Coates in 1774. From doing this, we are certain of the veracity of the first six generations back to Thomas Tranter born around 1774, who is recorded as the father of my great, great grand father, William Tranter on the latter’s wedding certificate. I was born Jane Susan Tranter, hence our interest in researching my branch of the Tranter family tree.

Frederick tranter cambridge