Could it be true that President Biden’s Westbourne family heritage is connected with Gosport’s old Biden’s Brewery?
According to local historian Jenny Bishop: “It could be that there is some truth in the theory that his ancestors came from ‘Southbourne’, although it is to be remembered that Southbourne did not exist at the time of the historical record so his ancestor could not have come from there. It was of course all the parish of Westbourne, from the river Ems eastwards to Chidham (parish of Bosham) including Thorney and Prinsted.
His third great-grandfather was baptised at Westbourne church, where he also married a local girl. I would say this puts him in Westbourne rather than Southbourne.
There was no church in Southbourne until 1876, the first vicar came in 1878, there were churches like Racton, Idsworth, Thorney, only a chapel in Hermitage and Prinsted.”