The earliest ancestral Richins entry we have verified was in Hawkesbury, Gloucestershire, England. The entry records the marriage of John Richins and Ann King. They were our first common ancestors and the grandparents of Henry Richins. All the Richins families in Utah and surrounding states are descendants of either Richard or William Richins, sons of Henry Richins and Sarah Haynes.

The county of Gloucestershire lies in the southwest part of England. Its western boundary is the Servern River, which flows down to the sea. When the tide comes in, the waves roar up the Servern River, sending spray as high as thirty feet in the air at some of the coves along the way. The river played an important part in transportation of goods and products, which were carried by barges on the river.

Gloucestershire is surrounded by the counties of Wiltshire and Oxford on the east, Herdfordshire on the north and Somerset county on the south. There is a vale that runs north and south along the Servern River. Above the vale are rolling hills that spread out into open country. The vale is divided from the hills by a sandstone ridge, known as the Cotswold, that is 60 miles long and rises to an elevation of 1, 083 feet in some places. It is vertical along its western edge and ranges in color from a soft grey to golden honey. It is a country of natural beauty.

The Cotswold stone was easy to work, so most of the homes and buildings are constructed from it and many date back to the Middle Ages. Some of the Cotswold villages now have strict regulations and restrictions in order to keep the beauty and character of the village. All new buildings and homes have to harmonize with the color and texture, as well as the architecture of older buildings.

Hawkesbury is on the southern most tip of the Cotswold. The sandstone ridge divides the village. The soil in the area above the ridge is light and good for growing grain, the soil in the vale below the ridge is heavier, as it contains some clay.

John and Ann Richins lived at Hawkesbury and later in Horton. To appreciate and understand their lives, you need to understand the social conditions of the time: their culture, religion, working conditions, beliefs, etc. John and Ann were born in the late 1600’s, a time when England was mainly a country of small towns and villages. The industrial era had not arrived with its mills and factories or congested cities. Most of the livelihood was derived from the farms and agriculture.