Gretna Green Marriage Records Online

I've no reason to believe any of my ancestors married in Gretna Green, but in 2009 the Gretna Green marriage records were put online so you can search them.

Blacksmiths could preside
over marriages in Scotland.

Scottish laws are different to English laws and in 1753 England changed their law on marriage so that if you were under 21 you needed your parents' permission.  Scotland didn't change their laws, so boys aged 14 and girls aged 12 could be married there.  All that was needed was a tradesman and two witnesses - so many were married by the local blacksmith, for example.  David Lang and his son Simon, both blacksmiths, probably married more couples than anybody else and their records contain 10,478 marriages conducted between 1785 and 1895.  Of these, only 156 were local couples - the rest were elopers!  It is these 10,000+ records that have been put online.

Gretna Green was on the stagecoach route - it was the first stop in Scotland from England, so it became the place that young lovers would dash off to in order to marry if their parents didn't approve.

Elopement to Gretna Green and Scotland mostly occurred between 1753 and 1857.  In 1857 Scottish law changed so one of the people being married had to live in Scotland for three weeks.  Although there are several record sets, this largest and oldest set of records for Gretna Green were put online in 2009 by Ancestry.co.uk. If you do find any of your ancestors were married in Gretna Green, then you are probably hot on the chase of a family scandal!

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Bride Drowns on Day Before Wedding in Fen Ditton Ferry Tragedy

You'll find yourself being intrigued by many stories you stumble across - nothing to do with your family, but they intrigue you.  The online newspapers are the most common way to discover these old events.  One of my areas of research is Chesterton, Cambridge and, as it's alongside the river, drownings and bodies found in the river are a regular occurrence.

Grave of Violet Maude Handscomb.
Victim of ferry tragedy, 1905.

One such event occurred on Saturday 10 June 1905.  My great-grandparents were living in Chesterton in 1905, my grandmother had just been born in May 1905, so they will have known about this tragedy - they might even have been at the riverside when it occurred, although a mile or two downstream!  Below is a transcription, from PapersPast, although there are several reports of the tragedy available on FindMyPast:

DROWNED ON HER WEDDING EVE.

There was a melancholy ending to the May boat races at Cambridge. A ferry overturned and three lives were lost.
The accident happened at Ditton Plough, where the ferry consists of a flat-bottomed pontoon, which is drawn across the river by a chain. The last racing boat had passed, there was a rush to cross to the Chesterton side, and the ferry was filled. When nearing midstream the ferry turned over and sank, about twenty persons being thrown into deep water. Several young men pluckily dived in and rescued all they could see.
One young woman, who belongs to Bishop's Stortford*, and who was witnessing the races with her fiance was brought ashore exhausted and insensible. She was revived by means of artificial respiration, and was subsequently removed from the Plough Inn to a house in Fenn Ditton, but died at midnight.
In two other cases efforts to restore consciousness proved unsuccessful, the victims being Mrs. Thompson, of Malta Road, Cambridge,  who was only recently married, and Miss Murkin, of Selwyn Terrace, Newnham, who was to have been married the following day to Mr. Ebenezer George Reece, of Swansea, who was on the bank at the time of the accident.
There was a similar accident with this ferry about twenty years ago, but only one life was lost on that occasion.

You then find yourself finding out more about these people, abandoning your own family research to chase the interesting story you found!  It's good to have a break though.  I used the Camdex online BMD system and FreeBMD to try to find more details:

• FreeBMD has the death of a Minnie Murkin, aged 26, registered in the second quarter of 1905 at Chesterton. The Camdex reference for Minnie's death registration in 1905 was 331/FUL/29/351. 
• FreeBMD has the death of a Annie Maria Thompson, aged 20, registered in the second quarter of 1905 at Chesterton. The Camdex reference for Annie's death registration in 1905 was 331/FUL/29/352.  The GRO Index gives her age as 20. 

You'll notice the two deaths were registered one after the other as the entry numbers were 351 and 352. 

I then tried to find the marriage of Annie Maria Thompson.  My first port of call to look up Cambridgeshire marriages is the online Camdex system as this pairs up the married couple, so can be easier to use than FreeBMD.  This gave me one potential candidate:

• Annie M Sheehan who married John W Thompson in 1904. Camdex ref number 331/CE042/01/22, which was at Cambridge St Philip.  I've built up a list of Camdex codes for the parishes, over time, so that information is from my own research.  

Next I checked FreeBMD and that gave me the same result:

• John William Thompson married Annie Maria Sheehan in the 3rd quarter of 1904.

So between Camdex and FreeBMD it looks like this is the lady who drowned on the ferry in May 1905.

*The third victim of this ferry accident, whose name wasn't listed in the newspapers was Violet Maude Handscomb, aged 22.  Looking for records of Violet, I found the following on FreeBMD and Camdex:

• FreeBMD had the death registered as Violet M Handscomb, aged 22, registered in Chesterton district.  Camdex has the same information recorded, with a reference number of 331/FUL/29/350 - again, you'll see that the reference number of 350 shows that all three victims of the Plough Ferry disaster were registered at the same time.

Violet Handscomb was buried at Bishops Stortford New Cemetery, Hertfordshire, England.
Violet Maud Handscombe, 1883-1905.

Violet was the only daughter of Albert Handscombe, a builder of Church Street, Chelmsford. Violet was a dressmaker and was due to be married in November and was on a day trip to visit her fiance.  Albert Handscombe had already previously lost his only son in an accident.

John Thompson had been on board the ferry and had tried to rescue his wife, but failed to do so.

Minnie Murkin was a nurse - she was identified by her sister-in-law, Annie Murkin.

I find it fascinating researching the stories that got into the newspapers as they are events I know my ancestors will have been aware of and had conversations about with family, friends and neighbours!

The location of this tragedy is The Plough, at Fen Ditton - nowadays still a great riverside pub.  The ferry operated until 1961, when it finally sank.

Image (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Geograph

Cambridgeshire OPC

Across the country there are OPC groups and some years ago I looked to see if there was a Cambridgeshire OPC, but there isn't.

Online Parish Clerks, shortened to OPC, are groups of volunteers who transcribed the parish registers of their county.  They work as a county team, informed, local and interested people transcribing parish registers usually from the originals. Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Lancashire OPC groups seem the most vocal, of the counties I've had to check for records, with phenomenal coverage!

This surprised me at first!  I thought that the interested and educated people of Cambridgeshire would have willingly started an OPC group for Cambridgeshire, but it seems that they prefer to work alone :)  Some OPCs have their entire counties covered.  Almost every parish register transcribed, Censuses published and even local newspapers re-typed and published!

Cambridgeshire does have the Family History Society, of course - and the County Council have made Cambridgeshire BMDs available through their Camdex system, but you simply don't get the same level of commitment and coverage that an OPC might've given.  Perhaps its because people within the county see themselves as different groups and not as a whole.  There is a world of difference between the settlements in the north of the county and the city of Cambridge itself.  Maybe groups felt pulled in one way or another.

It's a shame, but when researching family history in Cambridgeshire, as in any county, you have to work with what you've got!  For beginners, though, it's a vast array of different groups that can be confusing if you're not from round that way.  Born locally, I have a mental map of the area and am familiar with all the place names - that makes it a little easier for me ... but without the records it can be fruitless.

My current best sources of information on Cambridgeshire family history would be:

• FreeREG and FreeBMD (not FreeCEN as there's very little transcribed for Cambs)
• Cambridgeshire Family History Transcribed CDs (a few ££ each)
• Familysearch.org website (free)
• Findmypast (££ or a free trial), who are putting parish registers from CFHS online

Having multiple sources does give you different results.  Transcriptions don't come from the same sources - and, working from the originals, there can be variations in spellings/understanding of what was written down.  Many parish registers are falling apart, faint, faded, scribbled in illegible script and even, sometimes, in Latin or other languages.

I am signed up as a transcriber with a couple of sites, but they don't (as yet) have the parishes I am keen to transcribe (or areas I feel familiar enough with to volunteer).

John Stokes, Upton, Huntingdonshire. 1801-1847

One of the things that can trip you up in genealogy is eagerly pouncing on a chap from the past and sticking them into your family tree!  Indeed, you need as much evidence as possible that somebody with a matching name is "your" ancestor and not simply a chap of the same name that moved into the village in the past 10-20 years, or was born into a related family in similar years.

Ancestors often have a limited number of names and parish records are incomplete, or missing.  Often you'll find yourself collecting lots of random finds and information over time, hoping that one day you'll have enough information to dismiss or confirm one.

In my tree is John Stokes.  I believe "my" John Stokes was born in Bourn, but he married a girl, Jane, who came from Upton.  To my knowledge he never lived in Upton, Hunts, but, it's interesting to note that the name John Stokes was very common in the area at the time.  Indeed, in just one newspaper I discovered two different John Stokes' in Upton, Huntingdonshire, in one edition.

One of the John Stokes had an industrial accident when he fell off a haycart and was found.  A second John Stokes committed suicide. They are not the same man as the suicide inquest was held on the Monday of the week and the second John Stokes had his accident (and lived) on the Tuesday.

The John Stokes who committed suicide was reported as being 46 years old in 1847, so he must have been born ~1801.  The same year "my" John Stokes was born.

John Stokes who died in 1847 aged 46 at his inquest, but when he was buried the parish register said he was 43, giving a birth date of ~1804.  The parish registers seem to have no John Stokes in that parish in that year, but there was one baptised in 1806 - of course, that could be the same John Stokes but baptised at age 1-2.

And this is why tracing your family history can take years!  To try to solve this mystery takes more effort and cost than looking at free resources online! The two pieces below were reported in the local newspapers, which can be viewed online through GenesReunited, Findmypast or on the NewspaperArchives sites:

Inquest of John Stokes, August 1847:  

Upton, Hunts. —An inquest was held on Monday last, by John Beedham, gent, coroner, on the body of Mr. John Stokes, aged 46, who was found on Sunday by Thomas Casledme between two bushes near Coppingford Wood, with his throat cut through  his neckerchief, dividing the caroted artery on the left jugular, the razor lying near his right hand, and having 7s. Id, in his pocket. From evidence, it was clear to the jury that he had destroyed himself.  

Verdict, temporary insanity.

As for the other John Stokes, who also isn't in my tree:

Accident.—On Tuesday last, as John Stokes labourer, was about to cut a hay rick belonging to Mr. Colson, butcher, situate near the road, he was seized with a giddiness  in the load, and fell helplessly to the ground. Being a stout, heavy man, fell with great force and received a severe injury in his back and loins, and now lies in a dangerous state in the Infirmary. His bay knife fell on him, and has slightly hurt his mouth, only fortunately falling with the edge uppermost. Considering his severe injuries, it is astonishing how was able to get home without assistance.

FreeREG Huntingdonshire: New Parish Register Transcriptions Added

I just checked the parish records for Huntingdonshire to see that eight parishes had updates on 19 July, which I've listed below.

I'm interested to check out a couple of those parishes, to see if the new records can fill any gaps I've got.

Parish	Church	Baptisms	Marriages	Burials
Alconbury Cum Weston PR & BTs BTs-some years missing	St Peter and St Paul	1559-1875	1604-1626,  1660-1750,  1755-1876	1604-1626,  1633-1842
Alwalton	St Andrew	1576-1672,  1697-1811,  1813-1877	1577-1681,  1698-1812	1577-1673,  1697-1812
Brington	All Saints	1658-1878	1837-1876	1813-1876
Diddington	St Lawrence	1689-1877	1699-1753,  1755-1836	1697-1879
Great Gransden	St Bartholomew	1538-1653,  1701-1876	1538-1653,  1701-1752,  1754-1837	1540-1653,  1753-1877
Huntingdon	All Saints	1558-1876	1559-1876	1558-1875
Stanground	St John the Baptist	1539-1557,  1660-1876	1538-1875	1538-1657,  1661-1862
Yaxley	St Peter	1653-1854	1653-1812	1653-1809,  1813-1875

Wouldn't it be magical if every parish was available immediately!  Unfortunately there are millions of records and FreeREG relies on the hard work of volunteers - and don't have unlimited access to the records themselves or it'd certainly be easier/quicker to achieve that.

Of course, there are other ways to get the parish records, but FreeREG is a great free resource for family history records and parish registers.

Image: FreeREG

Mary Ann Edwards, Caldecote, Cambridgeshire

FreeREG's latest update to the parish records of Caldecote finally solved a small doubt in my notes.  I knew that there were two Mary Ann Edwards' deaths registered in the same area and round about the same time.

There they were!  In the latest transcription update to the parish registers for St Michael & All Angels, Caldecote, Cambridge were two Mary Ann Edwards who were buried.  One in 1902, one in 1903.  Now just to check further to work out which one was "mine".

The 1901 Census had Mary Ann Edwards living in Bourn, with her daughter Mary, her son-in-law and her grandchildren.  On that Census it said she'd been born in Kingston, Cambridgeshire (just 1-2 miles up the road - she never went far!).

The FreeREG transcription of the parish registers for St Michael & All Angels had two to choose from - and it was an easy choice:

• Mary Ann Edwards, buried 31 July 1902, aged 38, living in Luton
• Mary Ann Edwards, buried 19 November 1903, aged 84, living in Bourn.

That's the one then! The burial in 1903.  Aged 84, that longevity gene's been passed further down the female line!  I think I might miss out on it though as I've definitely got more of dad's features and characteristics :(

I wonder who the other one was then.  I'll probably find out at some point.... she must be on the tree somewhere with that surname!  My first guess is that she's the Mary Ann Badcock that married Richard Alfred Edwards in 1887, based purely on a name/age/location match.  Off to update the tree with that thought! It looks a good match.

Parish Records: St Michael & All Angels, Caldecote, Cambridgeshire. Update

I've been keeping an eye on the Parish Records of a few churches, including the Parish Records of St Michael & All Angels, Caldecote, Cambridgeshire.  These have been transcribed on the FreeREG site and I was pleasantly surprised to notice that in the last few days there's been an update of the records.

The years now available on FreeREG for St Michael & All Angels, Caldecote, Cambridgeshire are:

• Baptisms: 1662-1875
• Marriages: 1676-1880
• Burials: 1671-1885

These are really new records that have been added!  The dates covered before were only up to 1876. So I'm off to see what I can discover!  This transcription of the parish records must nearly be 100% complete! I'm so lucky ... although there are many parishes I am not lucky with, but it's nice to have one parish that's well covered.

This is so exciting, I was looking for a burial in 1903-1905!  Thank you to the volunteer for FreeREG who transcribed these records!

EDIT:  Found it!  That's for another post as it solves a doubt!  Two women of the same name were registered as dying in the area and I knew one was my GG-grandmother.  Now I know which one!

Last checked/updated: October 2015
Image: Geograph