We have very few family tales from this side of the family but some of the snippets that were talked about came true with research. It was said that one Galton had been on ships that sailed round Cape Horn to Australia and back. This person was also said to have been a ship's carpenter. I have not found any direct evidence of this so far but see below.
The Galtons are found over a number of Dorset villages and the connections between them and the ancient, now almost vanished village of Galton, 7 km west of Wool is a puzzle. More on the Galtons on their own page below.
There are good records of sailors employed on coastal ships from Poole and more study may lead to more information. In addition there are records of many Dorset folk being involved in the fishing industry and trade from Newfoundland as far back as the 1600's and before permanent settlement there. I understand there is a good display of material on Poole and Newfoundland in the Poole Museum. The connections to Newfoundland are discussed on the page below.
The other trade that many of the families from the Isle of Purbeck were involved in was quarrying several limestone beds including Portland Stone and Purbeck Marble. There are also deposits of Purbeck Ball Clay used in pottery making by the Wedgewood Pottery from 1770 onwards. Portland Stone was extracted mainly from the land to the west of Swanage and the villages of Langton Matravers and Worth Matravers. In Langton & Worth Matravers alone there are family lines of Chinchen, Corben, Lander & Nineham back to the end of the 17th century. All these families were usually referred to as stone masons but most seem to be quarrying though some moved away with the stone and were known to become stone masons and helping to build grand buildings using the stone in London, probably elsewhere in England but as far afield as Australia.
The Lander family, intermarried with the Chinchens and Ninehams are one example with a family who left the local area and made a career in England. It starts with Titus Lander, born in Langton Matravers in 1812, who must have left home around 1833 because he married in Eccles, Lancashire in January 1837. By the census in 1851 he was in Willesden, Middlesex where he was employed in the building of the Vaughan Library at the Harrow School where there is a plaque honouring his contribution. His eldest son carried on the business after Titus died at Harrow in 1875 and was a well known builder and stonemason in and around London.
Another Titus Lander is the grandson of the above Titus; while his detail is incomplete on this web site his career is well described in Wikipedia. As a summary he was born in London, trained as a stonemason, emigrated to South Australia and worked as a Monumental Mason in Victoria and NSW before going to Perth in 1892 where he volunteered for the Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and became thefirst salaried inspector. He was a City councillor and State Member for East Perth where he promoted prevention of cruelty to animals.
In the Corben and Chinchen families examples include Andrew Corben who was born in Langton Matravers in 1828 and emigrated with his wife to Sydney in January 1855 where he and his family were well respected builders in stone. They were also accompanied on the voyage by his younger brother Jonathon Chinchen Corben, his wife and family as assisted passengers on the 'Ebba Brahe' and described as Stonemasons.
His brother Thomas Corben went with his wife to Melbourne around the same time. In his will he is also described as a Stonemason; he died in Collingwood on 8 July 1892.
June 2026