The Rattle Family

Background

From 1945 onwards, Thomas Watson Rattle from Toronto spent a considerable amount of time and money researching the family name of Rattle. After many years of research he published in 1968 'The Rattle Families' where he identified two major UK branches of the family in Somerset and Suffolk, with some another minor branches. Thomas's own Canadian branch of the family emanated from Suffolk. This book is the subject of The Rattle Families mini-site.

The Rattle is a relatively small family with 388 births, 107 marriages and 226 deaths between 1837 and 1900. A reasonable estimate is that during this period there were around 200 Rattles alive at anyone time. There was a steady cycle of increases and decreases in births over the period, but there was no great build up of numbers over that time.

Branches of interest

It is the Suffolk branch that is connected to the Reffell family and thus of main interest, but being a reasonably small family it is still possible to research the other branches, especially the war histories.

Notable people

Arthur William Rattle - Lost in the First World War
Alice Jane Rattle - Lost in the Second World War
Edgar Albert Rattle - Lost in the First World War
Ernest David Rattle - Lost in the First World War
Harry Rattle - Lost in the First World War
James Henry Rattle - Lost in the First World War
Leonard Frederick Rattle - Lost in the First World War
Louis Chaloner Rattle - Lost in the First World War
Samuel Rattle - Lost in the First World War
Stanley George Rattle - Taken prisoner in the First World War
Thomas Rattle - Lost in the First World War
Thomas Watson Rattle - Chronicler of the Rattle family (Canadian)
William Frederick Henry Rattle - Lost in the Second World War (Australian)
William Harry Rattle - Lost in the Second World War