Residences - KEENE

Oxfordshire-Witney

Witney in Oxfordshire is where the KEENE family spent decades. Motly in Corn street,Witney, and surrounds. As their fortunes changed, so did their housing. Richard KEENE my Gt.Grandfarher, and his Father, also Richard, were born there. The largest town in West Oxfordshire, it was first recorded in AD969. The Doomesday survey records two mills in Witney, but at least one clothing will was thought to have been there c.1277. It was a very lively market town, making blankets and gloves, and by 1800, there were 5 working mills in the area. The last blanket mill closed in 2002, but Witney will foever be associated with blanket making. The Buttercross is one of its most famous landmarks . St Marys was the parish church, and parish registers for St. Mary is where most of the info can be found on both the Keene and Haines families

Penton Place-Islington

Penton Place is where my Grandmother was born

Islington and Clerkenwell are now in the London Borough of Islington, and the place is rich in history. The borough was formed by an amalgmation of Islington and Finsbury . Islington was mentioned in the Doomesday Book in 11th century. Most of the land belonged to religious insitutions in the middle ages, and grew from a small hamlet to a vilalge, mainly producing dairy cows and milk products. As time went on, bricks were need to build in London, and local farmers turned to making bricks . When the railways came, industry did too, and the once country village declined into a social decline. May of its elegant houses and squares fell into disrepair, and for much of the last century, it was a poor, downtrodden area. Post war rebuilding, and care from the borough ensured that Islington became a popular housing market. Although there is still some deprivation and social problems in the area, it is beginning to once more be a healthy town. St Lukes is the parsh Church, although Richard and Emily KEENE married in St Phillips, Clerkenwell. Richard KEENe is thought to have worked in pubs in the Borough, but we are not sure if or when he went on to manage his own.