Knowles Family History & Genealogy

Elisabeth Knowles Svendsen Elisabeth Doreen Svendsen MBE (23 January 1930 – 11 May 2011) was a British animal welfare advocate and former hotelier. Svendsen founded The Donkey Sanctuary, an animal sanctuary headquartered in Sidmouth, England, in 1969 to help abused or homeless donkeys. She also founded a related charity, the Elisabeth Svendsen Trust for Children and Donkeys, located in Ivybridge, during the 1970s. Svendsen was born Elisabeth Doreen Knowles in Yorkshire on 23 January 1930. She spent her early career as a teacher and secretary. She then married Niels Svendson and had four children - Clive, Lise, Sarah and Paul. Together, the couple invented a dryer specifically to dry cloth baby diapers. They sold the rights to their invention to a manufacturer and used their payment to purchase a hotel in Devon in 1966. Elisabeth and Niels later divorced. In 1969, Svendsen, a lifelong donkey enthusiast, bought her first donkey, named Naughty Face. Soon afterwards, Svendsen noticed seven neglected donkeys housed in a small livestock pen in a market in Exeter. She tried unsuccessfully to purchase the donkey in the worst condition of the group. The experience of the neglected donkeys in Exeter led Svendsen to establish The Donkey Sanctuary in 1969. She began taking in elder and disabled donkeys. She became responsible for the care of thirty-eight donkeys by 1973, an expensive undertaking. She was contacted in June 1974 by a lawyer for a late elderly woman named Violet Philpin, who had bequeathed Svendsen 204 donkeys. Svendsen gave up her hotel to work with The Donkey Sanctuary full-time. The Donkey Sanctuary, founded by Svendsen and headquartered in Sidmouth, Devon, has cared for more than 14,500 donkeys as of 2011. The sanctuary, which now has a veterinary hospital and overnight accommodations, employs approximately 500 people worldwide, including sixty in the United Kingdom who investigate reports of abused donkeys. Svendsen expanded the sanctuary to Latin America, Asia and Africa. She founded a donkey hospital with emergency room in Ethiopia, where the lifespan of a donkey is just nine years.[2] Mobile donkey clinics have also been dispatched in Mexico, Kenya and India. Donkeys at the Elisabeth Svendsen Trust for Children and Donkeys in 2007 Svendsen established a sister charity to the Donkey Sanctuary, called the Elisabeth Svendsen Trust for Children and Donkeys, during the mid-1970s. The trust provides riding therapy between donkeys and children with special needs. During her career, Svendsen authored more than twelve books, including two autobiographies, Down Among the Donkeys in 1981 and For the Love of Donkeys in 1993, as well as a series of children's books. Svendsen became a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1980. In 2001, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals awarded her with the Lord Erskine Award.

Edmund Knowles was born on March 6, 1686 at Quarlton Dr, in Hawkshaw, England United Kingdom, and died at age 75 years old on January 18, 1762 in Princess Anne, Maryland United States. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Edmund Knowles.

Muriel (Knowles) Van Gasbeck of Waterbury, New Haven County, CT was born on November 11, 1920 in West Haddam, and died at age 64 years old on January 15, 1985 in Waterbury. Muriel Van Gasbeck was buried at Rose Hill Memorial Park 580 Elm St, in Rocky Hill, Hartford County.

Joe M Knowles of Baytown, Harris County, TX was born on February 8, 1931, and died at age 64 years old on November 5, 1995.

Charles Curtis Knowles Sr. was born on December 21, 1960 at Muskegon mi. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Charles Curtis Knowles Sr..

Dora Knowles was born in 1874. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Dora Knowles.

Marilyn (Knowles) Bost was born on April 15, 1947. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Marilyn (Knowles) Bost.

Beyoncé (Knowles) Carter was born on September 4, 1981 in Houston, Texas United States. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Beyoncé Giselle (Knowles) Carter.

Daniel Hardy Knowles of Long Beach, Los Angeles County, California was born on October 16, 1929, and died at age 75 years old on September 26, 2005.

Richard Knowles was born on August 16, 1717 in Princess Anne, Maryland United States, and died at age 74 years old on September 15, 1791 in Seaford, DE. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Richard Knowles.

Laffie Knowles of Chicago, Cook County, IL was born on November 7, 1894, and died at age 79 years old in October 1974 in Chicago. Laffie Knowles was buried circa October 1974 at Spring Hill Cemetary - Gallatin Rd, in Nashville, Davidson County, TN.

Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Trena Millsaps Knowles.

Barbara Gwendoline (Knowles) Matheson of Ouyen, VIC Australia. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Barbara Gwendoline Matheson.

Married Caroline Scuitto and with her fathered Britney Knowles Rayl and Jacob Wesley Knowles

Emma (Knowles) Napier of Camberwell Australia. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Emma Knowles Napier.

Keith T Knowles of San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA was born on January 14, 1964, and died at age 31 years old on December 21, 1995.

Elizabeth (Enloe) Knowles was born on March 23, 1716 in Seaford, Delaware United States, and died at age 79 years old on April 14, 1795 in Seaford. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Elizabeth (Enloe) Knowles.

Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Karen Yvonne Knowles.

Elizabeth (Mercer) Knowles was born on March 29, 1700 in Stockholm, Stockholm County Sweden, and died at age 62 years old on September 27, 1762 in Seaford, Delaware United States. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Elizabeth (Mercer) Knowles.

Patience (Prettyman) Knowles was born on August 18, 1740 in Seaford, Delaware United States, and died at age 94 years old on February 20, 1835 in Greensboro, GA. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Patience (Prettyman) Knowles.