Down Your Street, Sara Payne. II East Cambridge. Index of Chapter 18, Norfolk Street

Below is a brief overview and index to Chapter 18 of Sara Payne's book Down Your Street, to help people decide if it's a book that's of interest to them either for local history research or family history.

This chapter is four pages long and looks at Norfolk Street, the date 26 March 1981 is given in the page title.

The Norfolk Street pages contain some interesting snippets and interviews with residents current at that time, but, personally, it was a little shorter than I'd have liked as I had relatives there.  Martha Ann Maltby was my great-grandmother's sister and I know my own mother visited the Maltbys of Norfolk Street regularly.  They got just one mention, that "the Maltby brothers" lived in a particular house!

Living people named/interviewed: 
Miss Enid Porter; Mr & Mrs Ulla Printz-Pahlson; Mrs Florence Harben; Terrence Whitehead; Frank Whitehead; Goodes; Maltby brothers; Mr & Mrs GB Taylor; Rev S Sims; Mr Haynes; Richard Frost, Peter Frost; Miss Iris Franklin; Roy Townsend; Mrs Ada Warwick; Frank Wilson; Mr RB Speechley; Richard Bridgeman, Walter Bridgeman; Mike Smith (of TV furniture show), Jill Smith; Richard Frost; Gordon Ison.

Historical figures mentioned: 
Miss Porter, Mrs Scott; FT Unwin; Octavius Ruse;

Photos in Chapter 18: 

• Quarter page photo of Florence Harben, one of the oldest residents in Norfolk Street.
• Half page photo of Mr and Mrs GB Taylor, outside their fish and chip shop, 62 Norfolk Street. 
• Half page photo of Colin Walsh, director of Book Production Consultants, who had premises in Norfolk Street. 

Discover other roads published in this book: Index of Streets in Down Your Street

Down Your Street, Sara Payne. II East Cambridge. Index of Chapter 5, Orchard Street

Below is a brief overview and index to chapter 5 of Sara Payne's book Down Your Street, to help people decide if it's a book that's of interest to them either for local history research or family history.

This chapter is five pages long and looks at Orchard Street, the date 23 April to 3 May 1984 is given in the page title.  I didn't feel that this chapter had as much anecdotal content as the Maid's Causeway chapter, but the interviews with the residents were exciting glimpses into their past or the past of their house/road.  Orchard Street is a small street, so there are fewer residents to be able to generate these snippets we seek!

Built in 1825, the row of cottages in Orchard Street, Cambridge are chocolate-box gorgeous.

Living people named/interviewed: 
Mrs Kidd, Mrs Gladys Cable, Percy Wing, Sylvia Wing, Miss Kathleen Humm, Henry Humm, Henry Cable, Margaret Cable, John Fletcher, Marjorie Hopkins, Jodrell Hopkins, Paul Jodrell,

Archivists and other authors who helped with background/research: David Chaffin, Miss Ena Mitchell (author of Notes on the History of Parker's Piece), Martha German (of Emmanuel Road)

Historical figures mentioned: 
Charles Humfrey, Miss Annie Ayres, Ann Howard, Duke of Gloucester, Prince Richard, John Clark,

Photos in Chapter 5: 

• Half page photo of Orchard Street in August 1938, 
• Full page drawing of Charles Humfrey, 
• 1/4 page photo of Mrs Gladys Cable with her porcelain cat, 
• 1/2 page photo of the Golden Rose public house in 1912, with what are probably the publicans and a younger woman standing outside (servant or daughter?)

Discover other roads published in this book: Index of Streets in Down Your Street


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Down Your Street, Sara Payne. II East Cambridge. Index of Chapter 4, Willow Walk

Below is a brief overview and index to Chapter 4 of Sara Payne's book Down Your Street, to help people decide if it's a book that's of interest to them either for local history research or family history.

This chapter is five pages long and looks at Willow Walk, the dates 29 December 1983 to 12 January 1984 are given in the page title.

This chapter listed the residents who lived in Willow Walk during the 1851 Census, but not in any detail, just the family names/occupants. e.g. Mr X, wife and daughters. At the time of publication, this information would've been hard to come by for those interested, although now, 30 years on, this information's freely available so it did feel a bit of a "space filler". A few residents had a brief line or two in interview, but nothing too in-depth.

Living people named/interviewed: 
Dorothy Silberston; Frank King, Dorothy King; Robin Anderson, Jenny Anderson; Nick Humfreys; Kirkbride, Carter and Robins, vets; Frank Bush; Philip Nightingale; Mrs Edna O'Connell (Ned); Sir Henry Lintott, Lady Lintott; Dr John Hodgkin;

Historical figures mentioned: 
Charles Humfrey; James Wyatt, RA Surveyor; William Port; Mr Scales; Ian Fleming (not the author); Mary Bernard; John Morton; William Bradford; Misses Curzon, two sisters;

Residents mentioned from the 1851 Census: 
Charles Dyer, William Lofts, Thomas Cole, Thomas Colston, William Thirkettle, Joseph Mansfield, William Hunt, Susannah Jarrold, Matthew Allis, Fanny Vials, Sarah Cullington, Elizabeth Poole, Mary Youngman, Thomas Cross, Mary Barrett, David Rootham, William Lusher, William Smith.

Photos in Chapter 4: 

• Half page photo of houses in Willow Walk
• Half page photo of the pavement along Willow Walk
• Half page photo of Mr Frank Bush in his garage at Willow Walk
• Quarter page photo of the oldest resident at the Church Army Hostel in Willow Walk, Mr Harold Clarke, who was born in Peterborough in 1901.

Historians in Research: 

• Mr AP Baggs, (Tony Baggs) who used to live at Willow Walk, editor of "Victoria County History";

Discover other roads published in this book: Index of Streets in Down Your Street

Down Your Street, Sara Payne. II East Cambridge. Index of Chapter 3, Maid's Causeway

Below is a brief overview and index to chapter 3 of Sara Payne's book Down Your Street, to help people decide if it's a book that's of interest to them either for local history research or family history.

This chapter is nine pages long and looks at Maid's Causeway and Doll's Close, the date 10-17 May 1984
 is given in the page title.

Being much larger than the previous chapters it contains more interviews with local residents, who also fill in some background about their house, their spouses and their work.  Those listed below as living/interviewed are most likely to yield details of their lives, whereas the historical people mentioned might simply be a name on a list of who owned a piece of land a particular house was built on.  The "historical" names are probably of lesser interest, but sometimes there's a nugget of information for those interested in those characters.

Living people named/interviewed: 

• Richard Levente, Madge Levente, Margaret Laing, Mrs Margaret Reiss, Dr Bernard Butts Reiss, Freddie Webber, Dr Lisa Jardine, Kit Martin, Jane Roth, George Kingsley Roth, Mrs CD Newman, Mr & Mrs Smee, CD Smee, Mrs Kathleen Apthorpe Webb, Dr Hugh Apthorpe Webb, 

Archivists who helped with background/research: Catherine Hall (Gonville & Caius Archivist), Roger Lovatt (Peterborough).

Historical figures mentioned: 

• Stephen Perse, Dr HF Apthorpe Webb, Charles Humfrey, Quinlan Terry, Sir George Downing, Mr Ashman, Misses Deighton, Mr Buller, Henry Thomas Hall, William Eaden Lilley, William Eaden, Mr Barker, Sir William Butts, Sir Henry Butts, Edith Wolfe, Blacklee, Apthorpe, Brett, Papworth, Sherwin, Sir Leslie Martin, Baron von Hugel, Parson Kilvert, Mary Kingsley, Kingsley Roth, Rev Sibson, Canon Edward Church, Dr Gordon Simpson, William Waters, Benjamin Jolley, Robert Donat, Ella Voysey, Tyrone Guthrie, Flora Robson, Frederick Apthorpe Webb, Miss Elizabeth Robinson, Sir Clive Sinclair.

Photos in Chapter 3: 

• Half page photo of Doll's Close, Maid's Causeway.  
• Full page view of the roofline of Doll's Close from an attic window of 18 Maid's Causeway. 
• 1/4 page photo of Richard and Madge Levente with two of their cats. 
• 1/2 page photo of Maid's Causeway. 
• 1/2 page photo of Maid's Causeway. 
• 1/2 page Grafton House. 
• 1/2 page 1920s photo of the Zebra public house. 

Overall, the interview with the residents in this piece gave a lot more information about their individual houses and a lot of specific resident names were attributed to invidividual houses.

Discover other roads published in this book: Index of Streets in Down Your Street



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Down Your Street, Sara Payne. II East Cambridge. Index of Chapter 2, Auckland Road

Auckland Road was originally covered in the Cambridge Weekly News on 15 September 1983.

Auckland Road is tucked away behind Newmarket Road, so it's not a road I've ever needed to visit!  This chapter, therefore, had little to interest me personally, but I was interested to read of the history of the land and how it developed a circus field and a cinema.

This chapter is just three pages long. The first page gives an overview and history of Auckland Road, which had been a circus field at the turn of the century and also the site of a cinema.

The overview looks at the major characters and businesses that were in Auckland Road, including the Star Brewery and the Yasume Club.  There is one ¼-page photo of the street.

Photos in Chapter 2:

• Simon Wood, Midsummer Glassmakers

Living people named/interviewed: 

• Simon Wood, Reginald Markham, Edith Bareford, Don Few (of Elsworth), Marjorie Loakes (of Queen Edith's Way) 

Historical figures mentioned: 

• Charlie Chaplin, Thomas Askham, Herbert Robinson, HW Peak, Dillon Clark, Frederick Bailey, Alfred Barnard, Charles Armstrong, Percy Henry Jarvis, Basil Bareford, Mabel Markham, Basil Markham, Alfred Bavey, David Apthorpe, Amelia Apthorpe. 

Discover all the streets covered in this book: Index to Streets in Down Your Street

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Down Your Street, Sara Payne. II East Cambridge. Index of Chapter 1, Abbey Road

This is a quick index to the book Down Your Street, by Sara Payne. ISBN 0907115195 II East Cambridge which I've recently bought.  There's no index in the book, so I've written one out!

Chapter 1: Abbey Road.  
The chapter covers just over four pages.  There's one whole page on the history of Abbey Road and Abbey House itself, with one full page photograph of Abbey House.
After that there's an interview with local residents.

Photos in Chapter 1:

• Full page photo of Abbey House, Abbey Road, Cambridge
• ¼-page photo of Miss Kathleen Morgan, outside her home, 42 Abbey Road. Behind her the bricked up doorway to her grandfather's boot and shoe workshop. 
• ¼-page photo of Mrs Evelyn Harris, Cresta Quality Cleaning. 

Living people interviewed: 
Miss Kathleen Morgan - her grandfather built the house she lives in, he was Ellis John Rolls, Mrs Evelyn Harris

Living people named: 
Professor Peter Danckwerts, Arthur Gray

Historical figures mentioned: 
Pain Peverel, Dr Thomas Wendy, Jacob Butler, Tommy Panton, Leonard Amey, Mr Askham, Lord Fairhaven, Joseph Sturton, Ellis John Rolls, Ranjee, Miss Royston, Horace Lister, Gordon Lister, Dodds, Mr Mason, Mr Brown, Mr Dent, Charles Kidman, Mrs Eley, Robert Eley,

Books mentioned in this chapter as being used in Sara's research:

• Arthur Gray: Cambridge Revisited
• Florence Ada Keynes: Byways of Cambridge History, 1947, ASIN: B0006ARDT0. 157 pages.
  Anecdotes, reminiscences and Cambridge antiquities

Discover other roads published in this book: Index of Streets in Down Your Street

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Down Your Street, Sara Payne. ISBN 0907115195 II East Cambridge

I've just bought a copy of Down Your Street, Cambridge Past and Present, II East Cambridge. Written by Sara Payne this book came out of the newspaper columns she wrote in the Cambridge Evening News in the 1980s.

The book was published by The Pevensey Press, 6 De Freville Avenue, Cambridge, in 1984.  The book states inside the cover that:

"The major parts of the chapters in this book and most of the accompanying photographs previously appeared in the Cambridge Weekly News, and the author and publishers wish to thank Cambridge Newspapers Ltd for their co-operation"

Inside the book has a chapter for each of 25 roads in Cambridge, in each road there's a little bit of history and some informal interviews carried out with the residents of houses in the road in 1981-1984.  These residents tell stories of the street as they have known it - some of them had lived there decades - adding interesting anecdotes.  There are a generous amount of photos too, not just buildings, but the individual residents either in their homes or at work - photos taken just for the book.

The roads this book covers are:

1. Abbey Road, 
2. Auckland Road, 
3. Maid's Causeway, 
4. Willow Walk, 
5. Orchard Street, 
6. Earl Street, 
7. Parker Street, 
8. Park Terrace, 
9. Regent Terrace, 
10. Mill Road, 
11. Suez Road, 
12. Ross Street, 
13. Catherine Street, 
14. Sturton Street, 
15. Sleaford Street, 
16. York Street, 
17. Gwydir Street, 
18. Norfolk Street, 
19. Willis Road, 
20. East Road, 
21. Grafton Street, 
22. City Road, 
23. Eden Street, 
24. Fitzroy Street and 
25. Burleigh Street. 

These roads are parts of areas known as Barnwell, Priory, St Matthews and The Kite.

I've a few ancestors who lived in those streets, plus, growing up, I was often going to those streets so can really understand the areas they speak of!  I've relatives who lived in Sturton Street in the 60s/70s, I went to college for two years in York Street, my great-aunt lived in Gwydir Street, my mother's great-aunt lived in Norfolk Street and I'd often shop in Mill Road, East Road, Fitzroy Street and Burleigh Street before the Grafton Centre was built!  I used to walk through the Kite area, while it was being demolished, as I walked from Drummer Street to York Street every day for two years!

I'll be writing an index of contents for Down Your Way, but as the writing style of the book is a random walk around and interview with residents it might look a little truncated as I can't give more information away without effectively breaching the copyright.

But I hope my simple index will help some people to decide if there might be a snippet contained in the pages that's of interest to them.  In particular, I'll be listing the photos that are in the book, which is most likely to be of most use!

I've not got the book's predecessor yet, Down Your Street, I:  It's on my wishlist.

Christopher Levett, Christopher Levitt, Cambridge. Died in WW1

When I'm looking at the Roll of Honour and I see that they've no real information on somebody, that makes me feel quite sad.  Some young man had a whole life, a mother/father, siblings, his little belongings in his bedroom - and then he was sent to War.... and died.  Often with no body, or a distant graveyard that his mother would never ever visit.

So when I came across the statement "No further information currently available - Cannot find any record of a Christopher LEVETT on CWGC or SDGW" against the Matthew & Son, Cambridge, Roll of Honour.  This was for the employees of the firm who had gone to war and returned - as well as the short list of those who never returned.  The page that started me on this quest is at http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Cambridgeshire/CambridgeMatthewAndSon.html - this is an interesting page in itself as it lists all their employees that went to war and survived.  Elijah Levett is listed (Levett, E), because he survived, with his bad arm.

I felt sad for the lad - and went to see what I could find. Who was Christopher Levett?  I wanted to check that he'd not been lost/forgotten.  So many were as they were so young many didn't leave a widow, or the widow remarried quite quickly.  An orphan, too, might not have much of a trace left.

Everything I do is unsubstantiated as I've used free family research resources to find what I find - and don't have the cash to confirm anything.  With each certificate costing £10, it can often cost you £50-100/person!  So here's what I believe to be the case.

The answer seems to pop up quite easily.  It was a typo in the Kelly's Directory full page advert they took out in the 1929 Edition.

Christopher Levett was actually Christopher Levett.  He died on 31 July 1917 in France.  He had been employed as a vanman for Matthew & Son, Trinity Street.  The Cambridge Daily News had this information when they announced that his widow had received notice that he'd died.

Another of Christopher's brothers worked for Matthew & Son - Elijah Levitt.  Elijah survived the war, but, at the time of his brother's death he was in Epsom Hospital with a badly injured left arm. Elijah Levitt had worked in the wine department of Matthew & Son for many years.

A third brother of the Levitt family also died in the war.  Roger F Levitt.  Roger had gone out to Australia, just before war was declared, to be a farmer, joining his brother Alexander (Alexander had married Fanny Booth in 1910).  Roger Levitt had joined up on 18 August 1815 as part of the 51st Australian Infantry Battalion.  He died on 15 August 1916.  Roger just disappeared during a battle.  He was a stretcher bearer and on that date many stretcher bearers were taken prisoner, so his Unit believed he'd been taken as a PoW, but they didn't know.  An informant told them in January 1917 that this had probably been his fate.  They also noted that his middle initial was "M" (I've no record of Roger being Roger F Levitt, or Roger M Levitt, as the sources I've checked so far just have him as Roger Levitt).  Roger is buried in France.

As for Alexander in Australia, he'd married Fanny Booth at Chesterton Registry Office (Cambridge, England) in 1910.  They continued to live at Narrogin, Western Australia, raising a family until Fanny Levitt died in 1956 and Alexander died in 1966.

There were no parents to mourn Roger and Christopher Levitt.  Their parents, Elijah Levitt and Emma Levitt, had at least 12 children and they died in 1903 and 1907 respectively.  Elizabeth, the older sister of the lads, had got them living with her in the 1911 Census, at Richmond Road, Cambridge.

• Christopher Levitt had married Fanny Robinson and had one child - probably Grace Levitt, born 4th quarter 1916.
• Roger Levitt was single. 

There are photos of Christopher and Roger in the local newspaper in late September 1917.  The military details of these two brothers who died in WW1 are:

• Private Christopher Levitt, Norfolk Regiment, 7th Battalion, service number 20183. Died aged 35.
• Private Roger Levitt, Australian Imperial Force, 51st Battalion. Service number 2705. Died aged 28.

I'm glad Christopher wasn't "forgotten", he was simply not tied up to being the Christopher Levett at Matthew & Son. He is listed on the rollofhonour website, on the pages for St Luke's Church, Cambridge and the Guildhall, Cambridge.

So, as you can see, there's still a lot you can find out from the Censuses.   In all I got carried away and probably looked into the entire family from 1840 through to 1980!  The father, Elijah Levitt, had been a publican at the British Queen Inn, Landbeach when he'd first married Emma Osborne in 1869.  Having (at least) 12 children means there was a lot of information to look into and research/discover etc!

That was a very exciting day spent on what is a "Real Life Detective" game.

Images of England, Chesterton, Cambridgeshire - Contents

Well, my book arrived!  It looks like it's got a lot of great photos in it.  I'll go through and list them at some point.

This book, ISBN number 0752418610, is a paperback produced by the Chesterton Local History Group, specifically Anne Bromley, Alice Zeitlyn, Christine Gibson, Brian Woods, John Norman, Colin Moule and Derek Stubbings.  It costs just ~£12 to buy, so pennies per image!

First published in 2000 it was published by Tempus Publishing Ltd at Stroud.  Tempus also did the typesetting and origination.

The front cover shows an outing on the boat Otter on the River Cam.  Taken at Jesus Lock in ~1896, these men are on an outing of the Licensed Victuallers' Association.

The Foreword is by Mike Petty, researcher/writer/lecturer on Cambridgeshire and the Fens. There is a photo on that page of "Young members of the Chesterton Chapel string band c 1888)".

The Introduction explains the roots of Chesterton - this page has a photo of "Mr Fieldgate, landlord of the Maltsters Arms, with his young family, c 1904".

Acknowledgements go to Cambridgeshire Collection, Cambridge and County Folk Museum, Cambridge Evening News, Chesterton Challenge, Roy's Leisure, Two Tees Boatyard, Mrs P Marsh, Lesley and Derek Flory, Mrs B Hogg, Mrs S Hogg and FH Stanford.  It says that other photographs were supplied by members of the Local History Group.

The main index is broken down into:

Foreword by Mike Petty
Introduction
Acknowledgements
1. The River Cam
2. The High Street
3. Churches and Schools
4. Housing in the Village
5. Mitcham's Corner
6. Public Houses and Inns
7. Almshouses
8. Pye Radio
9. Village Life

Already there are some chapters that seem more enticing to me.  My ancestors lived on the High Street, Chesterton; my mother and ancestors attended the churches and schools and my mum worked at Pye Radio!  I've got a photo of their staff in my collection I'm digitising.

I'm off to pick through it now!  Scouring those old photos for images of where my ancestors lived, shopped, played and knew!

Click here to check out reviews of this book.

Chesterton Cambs Images of England, by Chesterton Local History Society, ISBN 9780752418612

I'm all excited as I've just bought a book, called Chesterton (Cambs) Images of England, ISBN 9780752418612.   This book was compiled and written in 2000, so fairly new.  It is part of the Images of England series, which uses old photographs and archived images to show the history of various local areas in England, through their streets, shops, pubs, and people.

The book about Old Chesterton and New Chesterton contains over 200 old photographs of Chesterton Cambs spread over 128 pages.  I did double check as there are other villages called Chesterton in England, but it's definitely the right place, the Chesterton in Cambridgeshire.

I wonder if there'll be any of my ancestors in the photos that I'll never realise are them.  If your ancestor's a shopkeeper then you're quite likely to be able to find photos of them standing in their shop doorway.  If your ancestors were regular local dwellers, then they might just be passing, or in a crowd, and you'd just not know.

But, it'll be fascinating to see these photos of the places they'd have known, the streets as they'd seen them.

The book's available from a variety of sources, with the most obvious booksellers being ebay and Amazon - and at just a few pennies per photograph this should be invaluable for me to dip into as new information unfolds.  My ancestors were in Chesterton pre-1800, and some modern day descendants are still there!

I'll get round to writing an index to this book .... once it arrives and I set the time aside to go through the book to do that.

Book Information:

Author: Chesterton Local History Society.  Publisher: The History Press Ltd
Publication Date:  1 March 2000  Format:  Paperback
ISBN-10 0752418610
ISBN-13 9780752418612
Series Title Archive Photographs: Images of England
Weight 318 grams.  Width: 164 mm.  Height: 232 mm.  Spine: 13 mm.

Body Exhumed at Chesterton, Cambridge When Neighbours Started Rumours it was Murder!

I love reading old newspapers and finding strange events.  Just this week I found a body that'd been exhumed at Chesterton, Cambridge, in 1881.... so I had to read on and then do a little "outline research" to find out what happened!

The story begins before 1881, as Joseph and Harriet met and married in 1868, having four children, all born in Chesterton.  But this story of a part of Joseph's life hit the newspapers in late September 1881 when a body had been exhumed from St Andrew's churchyard in Old Chesterton, Cambridge.  What caught my eye was that I had a LOT of family living there at the time, so was intrigued to read on as my great-great grandmother/grandfather would've been of a similar age and so would've known this couple, who lived at High Street, Chesterton.

It was on 14 August 1881 that Joseph Doggett, husband of Harriet Doggett, died at home, aged just 38 years.  He was buried on 17 August 1881 in St Andrew's churchyard.  Harriet Doggett was about three years younger than Joseph and at the time of his death she had four children by him.

However, when Mrs Harriet Doggett attended church just a few weeks later with a 'new man' the tittle tattle and rumours started.  Such an explosive rumour was built up that one local resident even sent anonymous letters to the local Coroner suggesting to him that the late Joseph Doggett had been poisoned!  The rumour was that Harriet had put something in his tea - and one resident even telegraphed distant newspapers to inform them of a "supposed murder near Cambridge".

A Coroner has the power to order an exhumation only where he has received information that the death was not due to natural causes. A reasonable suspicion it wasn't natural causes could be sufficient.  Exhumations are not common, they are an exception.

So, up Joseph came, bless him.

The Coroner, Mr CW Palmer, held an inquest at the Union Workhouse, with a jury of local people from New Chesterton.  He started by telling them that it was important that they only listened to the evidence given in the inquest and to set any rumours aside.  The Coroner also told the people present that he'd received anonymous letters and he hoped they would not bother themselves, or the Coroner, again as any future letters would be ignored.

Giving evidence were Edward Reader, Sexton of St Andrew's Church - he had buried Joseph on 17 August and exhumed him on 17 September 1881. He confirmed that the body he exhumed was the same one he'd buried the previous month.

Dr Anningson of Grantchester and Mr GE Wherry carried out the post-mortem.  Dr Anningson gave his evidence of the examinations they performed and their conclusions.  An ulcer they found was sufficient to have been the cause of death. He said he'd discovered nothing to show that death had been from anything but natural causes. He also noted that Joseph had a weak heart.

Mr Wherry then stood and said he agreed with the findings of Dr Anningson and that a perforating ulcer in the stomach is a well recognised disease and that, from what he saw, Joseph Doggett must have had this problem for some time.

Harriet Doggett was asked for her evidence.  She said that Joseph was a brewer's labourer and had first fallen ill on the Friday before he died (Friday 12 August).  Harriet had been out at work and when she came home at about 7-8pm Joseph was in bed and told her he had diarrhoea.  Harriet sent somebody to Dr Waller's to get some medicine, which she gave to Joseph. Joseph said he'd been shaking, so Harriet made him some hot beer.   On the morning of Saturday 13 August Harriet went to work, leaving Joseph in bed; she was at work all day, returning again in the evening.  Joseph was up and sitting in a chair when she returned - and he said he had left the house in the afternoon. He had taken some of the diarrhoea medicine that morning.  On the Friday evening he said he was feeling better.   Harriet went to the Doctor for more medicine and the Doctor said he'd come to see him if he got much worse.

Harriet and Joseph went to bed about midnight and she was awoken in the night to find Joseph getting undressed - he said he'd been outside in the yard.  She got up and lit a fire to make a Linseed Poultice.  Joseph kept going downstairs another 2-3 times and Harriet found it hard to get him to stay in bed.  Joseph died in Harriet's arms, before she could get him to bed.  She said he'd been wandering and saying he wanted to do his work.  Harriet said she hadn't realised he was so ill and if she'd have known she'd have gone for the Doctor.

Joseph died at about 3am on the morning of Sunday 14 August.

No Doctor had seen Joseph for some time.  Dr Ransom hadn't seen him for 6-8 weeks, yet he issued the death certificate to Mrs Allman when she asked for it.  Mrs Allman helped Harriet to lay out the body.

There was some discussion over how the Death Certificate had been obtained and it appeared that the Doctor shouldn't have just written one out and handed it over.  But, the Coroner was happy that nobody was covering anything up and that the Doctors involved were honourable professionals, so he simply rebuked them over their slackness in writing out a death certificate so readily.

The Coroner didn't call any further witnesses and asked the Jury to consider just two points:

1. What was the cause of the man’s death?
2. Whether any person had done any act about which would render him or her responsible to the law 

He said he'd asked two Doctors to carry out the post-mortem since the Death Certificate had been written without Dr Ransom seeing the patient.  He also noted that it was a matter of extreme regret that Dr Ransom had written out the Death Certificate without seeing the patient before he died, which was unquestionably a want of judgement on his part, but the Coroner was sure it wouldn't happen again.  In the event, what Dr Ransom wrote on the certificate matched what the patient had presented with 6-8 weeks prior to his death.

They found that Joseph Doggett died of natural causes.

Poor Harriet, what a horrible last month she must've had.  So what happened next?

It seems that Harriet, widowed and with four children by Joseph, remarried in 1882, to John Norfield, a man about 13 years older than her.  They then had a couple of children together.  John died in 1911, aged 75, and Harriet died in 1919, aged 70.  Both are buried in St Andrew's Churchyard, Chesterton.

As I said earlier, my great-great-grandparents were also living in High Street, Chesterton, at the time of Joseph's death.  And, with the aid of the Census returns of 1881 I'm off now to find out how many doors away they were!  I wonder what my GG-grandparents made of it, which side of the fence they sat on.

Old English Social Life as told by the Parish Register: Gender in the Parish Registers

Although in modern times we accept that some people change genders during their lifetime, or simply cross-dress, whether for enjoyment or due to their preferred sexual orientation, it's not something we tend to think about too much in the case of our ancestors.  However, people were still people back then, with the same thoughts and desires.  You can sometimes see entries in the Parish Registers of men dressed as women and women dressed as men - and people who lived their entire lives dressing as the other gender openly within their community.

I've recently picked up a copy of "Old English Social Life, as told by the Parish Register" and on page 250 is such an entry referring to the burial of a Mr Russell.  The Parish Register of Streatham, in April 1772, records the following entry:

"Russell. - N.B. this person was always known under the guise or habit of a woman and answered to the name of Elizabeth as registered in this parish Nov. 21st 1669, but at death proved to be a man."

A full account of this character is given under the head of "Streatham Worthies" in Mr Frederick Arnold's "History of Streatham".  It appears from the entries in the parish registers that his father, John Russell, had three daughters and two sons - William, born in 1668, and Thomas in 1672; and it is probably that the above person (commonly known as 'Betsy the Doctress') was one of these. Lysons tells that, in the course of his wanderings, this eccentric individual 'attached himself to itinerant quacks, learned their remedies, practised their calling, and that this knowledge, combined with his great experience, gained for him the reputation of being a most infallible doctress.'  In his disguise he was a very convivial old lady, it being his practice to treat his companions at the village ale-house.

A similar case bearing on our subject is reported to have happened early in the present century.  The person who acted as parish clerk, and was always dressed as a man, and had, moreover, been married to a woman some time before her death, was found at her decease to be a woman. And in the register of St Bodolph, Aldgate, under July 17, 1655, we find this entry:

'William Clark, son of John Clark, a soldier, and Thomasine, his wife, who herself went for a souldier, and was billetted at the Three Hammers, in East Smithfield, about seven months, and after was delivered of this child . . . She had been a souldier by her own confession, about five years, and was some time Drummer to the Company.'

There are more instances within the book, which is a fascinating read to pick up and put down on a whim. Perfect bookcase fodder!

Transcribing for BillionGraves.com

If you're frustrated by some of the aspects of researching your family tree - and want to help out others, the website BillionGraves.com is where you can do just that, from the comfort of your own armchair.

BillionGraves.com is a worldwide graveyard website where some people take photos of graves in a churchyard and they can either transcribe them themselves, or leave them on the site for other people to transcribe.  This is a great idea and it is an active website where thousands of graves have already been photographed and transcribed.

I transcribe gravestones for BillionGraves.com when they're either graveyards where my ancestors and their relations might be buried, or where I know the local area - I select these because they're of most interest to me, so I am more motivated to keep checking for new graves to transcribe.  But you can pick any graveyard for any reason.

All you do is sign up for an account, login and start transcribing.  There's no commitment, you could simply do one/day if you have low enthusiasm levels! Over the coming years this will turn into a great resource.  Already there's a new feature whereby if you're transcribing a grave it suggests results from the LDS website at familysearch.org as possible matches for the grave and if you can see that they are the same person you can "connect" the grave directly to the online record with just one click.

Try it and see what you think!

Researching Old Books

I love researching old books that have a connection to specific people.  I've recently picked up a copy of Old English Social Life as told by the Parish Register by TF Thiselton Dyer simply because somebody had written his name inside the cover.

Walter Marshall, April 1899, The Cloisters, Windsor Castle!
Who was this Walter Marshall, I wondered?  When and where did he live, when and where did he die?  I wanted to see if I could find his story.

As it turned out, Walter Marshall was quite easy to find!

Born in 1859 in Peterborough, (which is now part of Cambridgeshire), Walter Marshall was the son of the Reverend Frederick Anthony Stansfield Marshall and Helen Wilhelmina Stansfield Marshall. He was one of many children.

Walter Marshall married Leonora and they had four children, Kenneth, Phyllis Marshall, Mary Marshall and Campbell Marshall - all of whom were born at Windsor Castle.

Walter Marshall died in Christchurch, Hampshire in 1921.  The borders between the counties changed since that date, so Christchurch is currently in Dorset!

The book I've got must have been written in his hand, rather than by somebody who gave him the book, so it's possibly a book he bought for himself.  It's full of great stories that can be found scribbled in parish registers by vicars/similar of the parishes.  I LOVE reading parish register notes, they can be so amusing, or insightful.  e.g. I have one instance where a married woman's given birth to a baby, which would then gain the married woman's surname - and the vicar's made a note that the lady in question had already left her husband and been living with another chap for the last two years.  Simply looking at free online birth registers it'd be easy for a genealogist to get the wrong father on the family tree!

Anyway, back to Walter Marshall, once you've found the identity of somebody you can then use a lot of free resources to find out more about their life, I've jotted some findings below:

• 1859: There is a birth registered in 2nd quarter 1859 in the Peterbro Registration District.  This is probably him.  This is where you have to be careful with free resources as you can't check further.  Sometimes you have to go with the balance of probability unless you've a vested interest in absolutely guaranteeing you've got the right person. I am 99.99% confident this is the correct birth and will leave it at that.  
• 1871 Census: Walter was aged 11 and a scholar at a school in Clifton, West Riding, Yorkshire.  This is where the paid services give you more as you'd be able to, more easily, work out the name of the school where he was living.
• 1881 Census: Walter was aged 21 and is listed as a visitor to the household of a Mr & Mrs Young at Blackheath Park,Charlton next Woolwich, London, England.  His occupation was described as Medical Student (Ak). 
• 1888: Married. Walter Marshall married Leonora Hemery in the Brentford Registration District in the 3rd quarter of 1888, which can be found on FreeBMD.  Leonora was the daughter of John and Anna and was from Arundel, Sussex.
• 1889: Birth of son Kenneth, registered in Brentford Registration District, 3rd quarter 1889. FreeBMD
• 1891 Census: Walter was aged 31 and was the Head of the household and living at Upper Cloisters, New Windsor, Berkshire, England with wife Leonora Marshall, aged 32, and their one year old child Kenneth Marshall, who had been born at Bedford Park, Middlesex.  Walter's occupation was listed as "Clerk In Holy Orders Minor Canon St Georges Windsor". They had three servants also living in the house. 
• 1893: Birth of daughter Phyllis at Windsor Castle. Registered in 1st quarter, 1893. FreeBMD.
• 1895: Birth of daughter Mary at Windsor Castle. Registered in 4th quarter 1895. FreeBMD.
• 1898: Birth of son Campbell at Windsor Castle. Registered in 3rd quarter 1898. FreeBMD.
• 1901 Census: William, aged 41, was living with his wife Leonora Marshall, aged 43, in Ewhurst, Sussex.  He is a Clergyman with the Church of England.  They have with them daughters Phyllis, 8, Mary, 5 and son Campbell Marshall aged 2.  All three children were born at Windsor Castle. They have one servant also living with them. 
• 1911 Census: William and Leonora are living in Brighton, Sussex. The 1911 Census is harder to find/read for free than the others, but with some tenacity it's possible to pluck the relevant household members, although it is also possible to miss some!  Your success depends on the individuals and location involved. 
• 1921: Walter Marshall died in 1921 in Christchurch, which is now in Dorset, England. Using the online probate and wills search, you can see "MARSHALL the reverend Walter of the Vicarage Christchurch Hampshire clerk died 6 March 1921. Probate to Leonora Marshall widow. Effects £1032 18s 11d"
• 1939: Wife Leonora died in Southampton

What's interesting about researching old books is that it's affordable to do as you can buy the book, do your research and then sell the book on, possibly even to somebody related to that person if they wish to own a unique piece of their family history.  So it can break even as well as giving you hours of enjoyment, but, from a research perspective, it provides new challenges as you're working in areas and lifestyles outside of your usual family tree, so you're having to find and use new sources of information - it all adds to your skills and knowledge!

Using "paid for" services, such as Findmypast and Ancestry, it's possible to get a lot more detail about somebody's life.  You might be able to find them in the parish registers, see who were witnesses at a marriage, or get a baptisms/christening date and location. It adds an entirely new level to what's possible!
Sometimes you might simply investigate the outline of somebody's life, like I have done above - and other times you might get caught up as you discover somebody that piques your interest and you're prepared to go the extra mile!  I'm afraid I'm addicted to buying and researching old books.

Just a simple outline then brings further queries - such as where is Kenneth Marshall as he's disappeared between 1891 when he was aged 1 and the 1901 Census when he wasn't with the family.  You then need to investigate whether he's away at school, as a boarder, or died.  Or maybe it's a mis-transcription - only a closer look would give the answers, this is more easily done with the site subscriptions.
In this instance, as the family appeared to have remained in one place, Windsor, it's possible to take a quick look at what FreeBMD offers as a clue.  However, a quick look shows that the family name appears too frequently to help.  But, you can find Kenneth Marshall in the 1901 Census, listed as a boarder at College Green, Worcester, where he is at school, aged 11.

Similarly, the death of Leonora Marshall is probably the one registered in the Aldershot Registration District in 1939, aged 80.  But this is based purely on the ages matching, the rough location matching - and the records available in FreeBMD.  What you do is start with an idea and then use other sources and resources to try to find out more about the person that died on that date. Having said that, a quick look at the UK Wills search site gives "MARSHALL Leonora of Greenfields Crondall Southampton widow died 2 March 1939.".  The word "widow" gives one more clue that you've got the right person - personally, for my own 'interest' this would be enough 'evidence' for me.  Looking at the newspapers for 1939, Leonora's death was given some column inches, from which it can be seen that Leonora was buried at Crondall. Among the mourners were her son Campbell, a married daughter and an unmarried daughter, as well as some grandchildren and other relatives which tied this burial back to the Hemery family.  So it's definitely the correct lady and burial.  Also, from the newspapers, in August 1939 a Memorial Cross of beaten silver cross was given to Crondall Church in her memory by her sister, Deaconess Hemery.

Of course, any of the above could be proven/disproven only by careful study and, possibly, access to specific family records.

Mini projects like this can simply sit on your bookcase, mysteries to be solved at a future date!  New sources and resources are coming online all the time and it might be tomorrow that the next mystery can be solved!

I bought the book in Christchurch, Dorset, so it'd be an interesting project to map out the whole family tree to see where it might've come from.  If I guess that it's from a house clearance of one of Walter's great-grandchildren, then, looking at my own family timelines, it'd be the equivalent of, say, me clearing out my mother's house where she'd kept a book as a memento of her own grandmother!

Additionally, the book contains another little "hidden secret to be uncovered", there's a slip of paper inside the book - maybe it's marking a particular page, or maybe he had the book with him when somebody called to make arrangements and he scribbled down their name and slid it into the book .... it could be the names of a couple he married, or some other event.  This piece of paper isn't dated, it simply says:
Hilda Violet
Edward Susan Cornaby
7B Terr Laburn

E&OE.

Do You Want to Transcribe Records from Parish Records?

As you know, not all parish registers have been transcribed - and, every organisation has transcribed their own.  When you view a transcription of a parish register it is done by an individual or an organisation and then is available by a variety of methods.  It might've been a member of a Family History Society, who then publish the records for sale on CDs, or it might've been a volunteer for FreeREG.  The LDS volunteers also transcribe parish registers.

The thing with transcribing is that you transcribe exactly what you see - and the thing is that different people will see different things!

I was looking at the parish registers for a parish yesterday and I could see what looked like the name "Moose".  But I "knew" heuristically that it was actually Moore.  Reading/understanding old hand-writing is a bit of a skill, brought about from practice.  But, it's also about knowledge.  If I'd not know the name Moore existed I'd have never seen the correct Moore there, I'd have transcribed it as Moose - and descendants of Mr & Mrs Moore might never have found their ancestor's records as the search results wouldn't show Moose as an option in case they'd selected for "sounds like/similar to", which, for a lot of records, would've given them too many results.

So, it's not as straight forward as you think!

But, there are lots of opportunities to transcribe parish registers.  I'm registered with a few of them.

FreeREG are always looking for transcribers - unfortunately, when I contacted them, they wanted people who already had the parish registers to submit their transcriptions to them as their access to the originals had been withdrawn.  They do have some parish registers where they provide you with the originals and you transcribe those, but not in my area.  I don't like to transcribe away from areas I know as I feel that I don't have the local knowledge of names/place names to be able to do a good job of it.  They certainly have a need for transcribers in Lincolnshire, Kent, Essex and Sussex at the time of writing.  My interest was in a part of Cambridgeshire/Huntingdonshire though.

LDS, who run the FamilySearch.org website, also make records available for transcription.  For me, I've not yet seen a parish I'd like to transcribe.  But one day I will!

If you are interested in volunteering for transcription work, then check out FreeREG and the LDS first, as those routes are the simplest.  But there are others out there looking for volunteers if you take the time to search for them.

Upton, Huntingdonshire, Parish Registers

The parish registers for Upton, Huntingdonshire are not widely available.  Hopefully this will change in time.  I'd really like to see the registers for 1700-1800 or so!  So I've had a look at what's available.  I believe the Finding family will be found in those registers, so where can I see them?

The originals are held at Huntingdon Records Office, but only for 1801-1837. I still need to find out more about these.  There is a transcription available from the Cambridgeshire Family History Society, Huntingdonshire's a small place so was "absorbed" into Cambs some years ago.  Records are split between Huntingdonshire and Cambridgeshire Records Offices, which is awkward (unless you're very local).

National Burial Index:
There are some entries from the National Burial Index, in the date range 1605-1837.  These are available through Findmypast. For Upton cum Coppingford the NBI only has four entries (with that exact spelling):
Francis Finding 1807
Mary Finding 1765-1837
Thos Finding 1757-1828
William Finding 1806
I've already got these in my record set as I'm a member of Findmypast.  So, nothing new there for me today! But it's good to revisit old searches, in case there's been an update since you last/first looked.

FreeREG:
This database holds some of the records, from 1755-1877, with the last update being performed in November 2014.

Looking for members of the Finding family on there, without giving it any date criteria, I found the same records as when I last checked, namely:

Baptisms: 
Ann FINDING 4 Feb 1788
John FINDING 25 Jul 1790
Mary FINDING 4 Aug 1793
Elizabeth FINDING 16 Apr 1797
Sarah FINDING 13 Jan 1799
Phebe FINDING 5 Feb 1809

Marriages:  
Ann FINDING & 25 Jan 1815
Elizabeth FINDING & George ROBERSON 9 Dec 1817
Jane FINDING & John STOKES 14 Oct 1822
Phebe FINDING & William SNARY 28 Jan 1828

Burials:
Frances FINDING 5 Mar 1807
Thos FINDING 22 Aug 1828
Mary FINDING 19 Oct 1837

But, there are more, spelt slightly differently.

Of course, the Holy Grail of parish registers is to have access to (preferably to own) a copy of the actual register itself.  Clearly touching the original would be out of the question in most instances - and impractical - what you need is a good image of each page so you can visit/re-visit those pages on a whim, from the comfort of your own sofa.... perchance to spot something you didn't spot before.  I love Vicars' notes round the edges of parish registers, they can really be useful.

Baptisms, Donington in Holland, 1866-1870

Here's the latest batch of baptisms in Donington in Holland  in Lincolnshire that I've skimmed through trying to find one family.  As I've gone through, looking at the original parish register images on Lincstothepast I've jotted down every surname, to make sure I am doing a proper job in my search - and, then, because it's a shame to waste it, I'm posting the surnames here!

These are simply how the names quickly looked to me as I skimmed down each page looking for one family - so spellings are to be taken with a pinch of salt.  I'm confident of most of them - and so if you can spot something that's close to what you're after, it might just be the baptism you need to complete your set - and you can just go to Lincstothepast and see the parish registers for yourself.

1866

Buttle, Colman, Richmond, Crampton, Smith, Pacey, Rice, Harrisn, Gutteridge, Bardely, Eyeions, Wilkinson, Bett, Cook, Pickworth, Wander, Millson, Bowis, Wight, Newton, Richardson, Dawson, Lawley, Storey, Baxter, Hodson, Growcock, Rawlings, Thornhill, Chessington, Constable, Rowe, Stoyman, Wiyer, Jollye, Hyme, Senior, Barton, West, Horton, Smith, Smith,

1867

Eckerley, Hickinbottom, Goose, Newton, Moore, Boyer, Knowles, Loveday, Manning, Cox, Moore, Motley, Haw, Gutteridge, Rice, Rice, Bothamley, Moore, Key, Flowers Hitchen, Stennett, Newcombe, Johnson, Wander, Spinks, Grayson, Aspland, Breeton, Mellson, Launders, Coy, Hodson, Richardson, Grason, Wander, Kitchen, Woods, Pacey, Kirk, Dods, Cook, Swyman, Cook, Martin, Hempsall, Horten, Stennett,

1868

Staples, Hickinbottom, Burril, Kirk, Barnsdale, Hickinbottom, Jollye, Bett, Haw, Eadington, Jordane, Rowe, Cook, Lumby, Picken, Thornhill, Crampton, Rawlings, Richmond, Gutteridge, Elsam, Senior, Chessington, Hyme, Hyme, Cooke, Knowles, Storey, Boyce, Cook, Vouch, Gleed, Anyman, Hardy, Barnsdale, Barnsdale,

1869 

Constable, Stevenson, Loveday, Pickwall, Thompson, Moulds, Fuller, West, Gutteridge, Richardson, Hooten, Moore, Roberts, Key, Brooks, Hodson, Barwick, Barton, Weathers, Kitchen, Steel, Howe, Watson, Newton, Manton, Manton, Johnson, Jollye, Barton, Bothamley, Everington, Millson, Miller, Cocks, Cocks, Goodacre, Wilkinson, Wander, Pacey, Mowlson, Crampton, Cook, Weathers.

1870

Spinks, Hickinbottom, Stennett, Botley, Harrison, Westland, Weatherhogg, Wanty, Lane, Bothamley, Elsey, Knowles, Elsam, Hodson, Brocklesby, Harrison, Hooten, Austin, Hickinbottom, Clarke, Barnsdale, Rowe, Thornhill, Gibson, Senior, Green, Moore, Rawlings, Rawlings, Gutteridge, Dawson, Steele, Herd,

Parish Register Notes: 

Some of the notes scribbled around the edges of the pages - this vicar does like his notes!
1866: There's a note in the margin alongside the baptism of George Pepe Smith to say he is 3 years old.  Baptised on 6 December, with his sister Lorna Jane. Son/dau of Robert & Martha Smith, labourer of Northorpe.
1867: Note in the margin is unreadable unless you're determined. It is against the baptism of Elizabeth daughter of Proctor and Sarah.  It looks like it says see .... May 9 1869, so I'm guessing the vicar's spotted an error at a later date that needs correcting.
1869: There is a note alongside the baptism of Albert Langton Constable. This error was certified in the presence of ... and the vicar's name's been changed/crossed off on the register.
1869: Note in the entry itself says that Edward Henry Manton, son of Edward & Mary was 3 years old when baptised alongside his brother Alfred Manton who was 11 months old.
1870: There is a note alongside the baptism of Mary Hickinbottom, daughter of James & Mary. NB Mary Hickinbottom was born 14 May 1869.
1870: Note in margins about Chessington. It seems to be a long note about where she'd lived. It's not clear why it's there, but if Chessington's who you are after, you'll be willing to spare the time to fathom it out!

Previous surname transcriptions from the same baptism parish registers of Donington:

• Baptisms Donington-in-holland 1849-1855
• Baptisms Donington-in-Holland 1856-1859
• Baptisms Donington-in-Holland 1860-1865

It's very slow and it seems never ending!  I have found few entries of the family I am after.  I've got the "essential" one though, now just trying to collect the set.

Baptisms Donington in Holland, 1860-1865

This is not a full transcription of the Parish Register for Baptisms at Donington in Holland, 1860-1865, but simply the surnames on the pages.  The original images of the parish registers are freely available online for you to look through at the Lincstothepast website, but if you've no clue what might be in there it's difficult to contemplate wading through 40 years' worth.  I was looking through, for myself, for one family name, so jotted down every surname I passed, to ensure I stayed focussed - and it seemed a waste to then bin that list.  I am not a transcriptionist, so didn't spend any amount of time on the spellings of the names, I've simply reproduced here the name as it first appeared to me, without inspection or cross-checking.

This is the third list so far, I've also listed the surnames 1849-1855 and 1856-1859.

1860

Tutton, Gleed, Newcombe, Dods, Wells, Parker, Franks, Wyer, Barnsdale, Harrison, Chessington, Crampton, Crampton, Elsam, Richardson, Elsam, Lumby, Barton, Hempsall, Haw, Staples, Hardy, Wright, Pike, Howard, Picken, Bond, Bools, Duell, Hutton, Bemrose Barnett, Moulds, Horby, Millson, Kirk, Grundy.

1861

Gibbons, Elsam, Woodhead, Baxter, Cook, Pretty, Jackson, Sykes, Hodson, Gutteridge, Newton, Gadsby, Cook, Pick, Hope, Walker, Marshall, Fowler, Holmes, Coupland, Aspland, Kitto, Kitto, Thompson, Gleed, Lawrence, Dansby, Abbott, Ebb, Ebb, Harrison, Spinks, Richmond, Thorogood, Dunn, Barnsdale, Constable, Manton, Elsam, Meads, Smith, Dods, Chessington, Gunn.

1862

Cooke, Tutton, Cocks, Buttle, Woods, Cook, Dawson, Crampton, Thorp, Franks, Staples, Meredith, Molson, Breeton, Moore, Southern, Southern, Pearce, Hempsall, Bothamley, Thornhill, Howard, Smith, Wright, Jolly, Horby, Priestley, Millson, Kirk, Eyeiams, Harrison, Pike, Woodhead, Lumby, Gibbons.

1863

Bacchus, Picken, Barton, Booles or Bools, Tunnard, Bates, Cook, Cook, Seymour, Hitchen, Bell, Spinks, Aspeland, Rowe, Enderby, Priestley, Rawden, Barnsdale, Dods, Elberson, Richmond, Jollye, Harrison, Eckherley, Elsam, Wetherall, Burton, Shaw, Maidens, Staples, Cocks, Crampton, Groose, Partridge, Breeton, Evans.

1864

Barnsdale, Sykes, Robinson, Robinson, Hempsall, Newton, Woods, Smith, Cook, Preston, Rice, Eyeions, Wright, Chessington, Lumby, Eaton, Buttle, Pickworth, Ludlow, Moore, Dawson, Maplethorpe, Moore, Picken, Millson, Bothamley, Horby, Grayson, Fowler, Green, Tunnard, Jaques, Richardson, Hitchen, Woods, Rowe.

1865

Pike, Elsey, Seymour, Tebb, Newcombe, Cox, Rice, Barnsdale, Gleed, Goodyear Thompson, Eckersley, Mason, Knowles, Hooton, Smith, Elsam, Jollye, Enderby, Barton, Waite, Constable, Gibbons, Cork, Wells, Codington, Spinks, Breeton, Rippon, Cook, Moore, Barnsdale, Hitchen, Hempsall, Marshall,

Notes in the Margins of the Parish Register.

Vicars write notes in the margins that are sometimes quite useful, here are some I spotted when I was writing the above names down:

1860: There is a note in the margin by the vicar. NB Isaac was eight yrs of age when he was baptised and christened. This note refers to 30 September 1860, Isaac Bools, son of Edward & Eliza. Fen End, Donington. Labourer.

1861: There is a note at the top of the page. NB Mary Pretty was baptised at the age of 17. NB Frank Hodson wa baptised at the age of 20.

1861: Note beside Maria Holmes, daughter of Elijah & Ann. A relative of Dunn the ... (teacher?)

1862: Note from vicar re Buttle. In ... christian name is given Jeremiah... is it William Jeremiah. See Jan 4 1866.

1862: There i s an asterisk against Walter, son of Nathaniel Clark & Ann Southern that says born January 1861

1862: There is an asterisk against Charles Woodhead, son of John & Mary, in the bottom margin saying born July 9th.

1863: There is a note, it's unclear who about.  Born after the death of his father who died in ... (there's a place name I can't read).

1864: Note at the bottom Buttle see 1862 and 1866.

1865: There is a note alongside Caroline Elizabeth Rippon, daughter of Edwin & Eliza, to say she was 7 months old when baptised on 21 October

Baptisms Donington in Holland, 1856-1859

This is not a transcription, it's just me jotting down the surnames as I search through the images of the original parish registers of Donington in Holland for baptisms that Lincstothepast have made available on their website.  The volume covers 1849-1889 in total.  For 1849-1855 or an explanation of why I've done this, see my other post: Baptisms Donington in Holland, 1849-1855.

1856

Cook, Churchill, Duel, Parkin, Marshall, Cocks or Cox, Wanty, Wright, Leedle, Jazzaman, Jackson, Heard, Hackforth, White, Haw, Barton, Bannister, Pearson, Hope, Cocks, Enderby, Bacchus, Dawson, Southern, Walker, Smith, Gunn, Hutchesson, Woods, Bradley, Evans, Hollingsworth, Buffam, Sykes, White, Moore, Newton, Hutton, Hutton, Hutton, Hisset, Gadsby, Holmes,  Gibbons,

1857

Lunsby, Weathers, Worden, Johnson, King, Baxter, Baston, Pell, Childs, King, Elsam, Wright, Rowe, Mold, Lawrence, Richardson, Evans, Dasby, Elsam, Farrow, Dolby, Dolby, Dolby, Smith, Gunn, Southern, Bothamley, Wonsdale, Sykes, Brown, Constable, Barnsdale, Hitchen, Clarke, Bemrose, Baley.

1858

Stanshall, Pearce, Hutchesson, Wanty, Pretty, Pretty, Grundy, Steele, Haw, Fawn, Bowles or Bools,  Cocks, Cherrington, Donsby, Holt, Simpson, Simpson, Hope, Duell, Pearson, Rice, Priestley, Holland, Kid, Hackforth, Wright, Bromley, Dods, Hempsall, Enderby, Oates, Oates, Gadsby, Richardson, Hutton, Lumby, Leedle, Newcombe, Lane, Gibbons,

1859

Newton, Bardney, Harrison, Cox, Thornhill, Rippon, Picken, Fowler, Davey, Dixon, Lawrence, Hunt, King, Bacchus, Coupland, Cocks, Thompson, Hardy, Evans, Baxter, Cook, Constable, Walker, Jackson, Martin, Woods, Dunn, Marshall, Knowles, Dawson, Richmond, Smith, Sykes, Elsam, Rice, Beemrose, Garner, Waite, Barnsdale, Cocks, Dykes, Harmes Rowding, Cook, Hunter Rowe, Bothamley,

Oddities in the Parish Registers:

There are some notes in the margins, made by the Vicar: 

1857: On 6 September Thomas and Anne Dolby had three children baptised.  Margaret, Anne Jane and Elizabeth.  All daughters of Thomas and Anne.  The vicar has scribbled some birthdates in the margin.  They look like: Margaret, infant born 31 July 1857 abode Uppingham; Anne Jane born 2 November 1854 at Wisbeach; Elizabeth born 15 October 1859 at Wisbeach. 

1858: In 1858 the Vicar's written a note at the bottom of the page: NB Sarah & Ann Pretty were baptised as adults. Sarah lived servant with myself and ... with Wm Dods Esq of Donington. These two baptisms were performed on 7 February 1858 by John D Greenside and the parish registers recorded the same information for both Sarah and Ann: Pretty, daughter of Samuel & Ann. Abode Gosbarton. (father's) occupation  Cottager. 

1858: The entry for two Simpsons has notes in the margin saying "one month" and "12 months".  There's also the letter "C" dotted around quite a few entries and I think this indicates the mother was churched one month after the birth and the child was baptised on the same day. The "C" is most likely the Vicar's indication that he performed a churching. George and Anne Simpson brought their two children in for baptism at the same time, the notes in the margin indicate Alice is 1-month old and Martha Justina is 1-year old. 

1859: There is a note by the vicar in the bottom margin, dated two years after the baptism as he wrote the wrong mother's name in the parish register.  This note refers to the baptism of 10 July 1859 of Charles Henry Dunn, son of Edward & Elizabeth. Abode Donington, Brazier. NB The wife of Edward Dunn is entered by mistake under the name of Elizabeth, her name is Rebecca. 29 May 1861. 

1859: There is a note in the margin, NB Frederick William was 16 months. This is for the baptism of Frederick William Cocks, son of Thomas & Sarah, baptised 22 September 1859. Abode Donington. Trade/profession Shoemaker. 

E&OE

Baptisms, Donington in Holland, 1849-1855

I set out to look through the Baptisms Parish Register for Donington 1849-1889, seeking any baptisms by one particular family, but I realised that it's easy to get distracted and daydream, then not be sure what you've actually checked and if you were thorough, before wandering off for a coffee and not getting back to what you were doing!

Lincstothepast have put scanned images of the original parish registers for Donington in Holland online - and you can go through, image by image, looking for what you're after.  While this is fabulous, I do find the interface tricky to use, it's like trying to paint your hallway through your letterbox!  You can view the originals here: Donington Baptisms 1848-1889

So, I needed a way to stay focussed and to not skimp and give up, so I decided that if I wrote down the surnames from each baptism, then I'd at least know I'd checked and done a thorough job.  And, if I'd written them down, I might as well publish the list, in case in benefitted others who were daunted by the task - not knowing "IF" somebody "MIGHT" be in there, it's tough to get motivated to start some days.

What is below is not a transcript of the parish registers for the baptisms at Donington, it's just the surnames as I've seen them as I quickly scanned through.  I have not attempted to get every name 100% perfect, nor spent any time viewing tricky ones from 100 angles to get it right. I am not a transcriptionist, so wasn't trying to create a definitive data set for formal public viewing and publication, simply waymarkers and clues.

But, if there's anything that looks vaguely like the name you're after, then it might get you the baptism you're after!  Where it says "... or ..." that is what the Vicar wrote, they are his alternative suggestions for the name he thought he was hearing.

This volume commences with baptisms on 7 September 1849.

1849

Hackforth, Thorndon, Thomson, Cook, Dickinson, Mold/Moulds, Spring, Ashden, Woodford, West, Clare, Woods, Abel, Bulmer, Metcalf, Houghton or Hooton, Broughton, Cooper, Jackson, Higginbottom or Hickinbottom, Middlebrook,

1850

Clifton, Holmes, Cousins, Haw, Teedale, Smith, Cox or Cocks, Jonge, Clements, Lamb, Haw, Rose, Hubbard, Smith, Bowles, Banister, Barnsdale, Fox, Hector Rowe, Stennett, Fairweather, King, Gibson, Thyme, Ward, Willson, Bacchus, Luesby, West, Marshall, Bates, Smith, Davy, Slight, Hutchesson, Donsby, Clifton, Sheffield, Beadley, Mettam, Rippon, Croft, Heard, Story, Basford, Brookes, Foster, Kettleborough, Cook,

1851

Forster, Worsdale, Richardson, Cox, Bankes, Baxter, Garrett, Moose, Recott, Grayfield, Marvin, Smith, Banton, Bulmer, Hickinbottom, Hutchinson, Wilder, Woodcock, Haw, Creasey, Wilson, Haw, Haw, Holt,
Hanwell, Gibbons, Hicksworth, Wigelsworth, Fox, Moles or Moulds, Sleight, Bowyer, Smith, Wilson, Cox or Cokes, Storey, Metcalf, Johnson, Hackforth, Leedale or Leedle, Clifton, Gunn, Ward, Marshall, Buffam, Hutchesson, Pell, Houghton or Horton, Gunn, Abbott,

1852

Cox or Cocks, Dawson, Storey, Hollingsworth, Martin, Holmes, Gibson, Gibson, Woods, Barnsdale, Rowe, Bacchus, Bilton, Bannister, Singleton, Holt, Rippon, Beecham, Southern, Hubbard, Wanty, Elsam, Foster, Knowles, George, George, George, George, Aspiland, Walker, Elsam, Buggels, Wiggelsworth, Donsby, Moxon, Walker, Bradley, Dexter, Hyme, Cheeseman, Reams, Davy, Hague.

1853

Fountain, Ward, Woodhead, Wander, Fowler, Sykes, Worsdale, Hickinbottom, Cook, Cocks, Sleight, Bell, Barton, Hutchinson or Hutchesson, Richards, Grundy, Walker, Haw, Willson, Nodd, Cook, Fanshall, King, Head, Gibbins, Hurter Rowe, Gunn, White, Jacklin, Hickinbottom, Wright, Holmes, Thompson, Steel, Baley, Constable, Rippon, Leedale or Leedle, Johnson,

1854

Wigelsworth, Sykes, Martin, King, Abel, Moles, Donsby, Hutchinson, Houghton or Hooton, Brown, Bardney, Southern, Holt, Saunders, Flowers, Bannister, White, Slackforth, Hague, Dawson, Pearson, Elsam, Marshall, Flint, Woods, Hollingsworth, Evans, Hutchenson or Hutchesson, Churchill, Wright, Hubbard, Gadsby, jacklin, Bromley, Pell, Slight, Constable, Foster, Gibson, Wanty, Tebb, Adcock, Slope,

1855

Fowler, Baston, Dexter, Moore, Thorpe Holland, Richardson, Steel, Cook, Grundy, Blanchard, Fryer, Roe, Sykes, White, Hempsall, Bools, Harrison, Ric, Knowles, Houghton or Hooton, Taylor, Baxter, Cox, Stainton, Jacklin, Thompson, Barndey, Baley, Constable,

At this point I was on page 20/105 and hadn't found who I was after, so, to be frank, I was a bit bored of it.  I will be returning to scan/transcribe the rest of the surnames in that volume.  Hopefully it'll help somebody who is running out of steam!

1856-1859 I've done here: Donington 1856-1859

Funny Things Found in Parish Registers:

Sometimes vicars make notes in the margins, I found the following notes and curiosities in this volume:

• 1853: In 1853 there is an * against Hunter/Rowe.  It looks like it might be indicating a child out of wedlock between Jeremiah Hunter and Elizabeth Rowe, but there's no explanation for the * on the page. 
• On page 11 there is some handwritten stuff in the bottom margin: NB Mary Singleton was not living with her husband. I think that's a polite way of saying the baby is illegitimate!
• 1852: In 1852, Harvey & Susannah George brought in four babies to be baptised at the same time.  24 August 1852, Sarah Ann, Mary Ann, Susannah and Elizabeth Ann.  Harvey George is a labourer, from Donington. John D Greenside, the vicar, didn't make any note about ages, or anything else though. 
• 1851: Hutchesson caught my eye - I wasn't looking at the parish, but it suddenly seemed to say to me that the couple were from Histon.  Well, I know Histon Cambs, so wondered if that was what it said. The whole entry appears to say: Baptised on 26 December 1851.  William Walton, son of Henry Gee & Elizabeth Hutchesson of Histon. Blacksmith.  Of course, it could say they are from Hinton!

From mid 1855 people are beginning to have addresses put into the abode box, not just the village name, but identifiers such as "Back Lane", or "Fen End".

So, I hope that helps somebody.  At least I am confident that for what I was looking for I have checked 1849-1855 thoroughly and didn't find the John (and potentially others) I was after.  They must've lived elsewhere the cheeky monkeys. 

The Cost of Baptisms, Marriages & Burials

I was about to go through the Donington in Holland Baptisms parish registers for 1849-1889 when I noticed that inside the front cover there were some hand-written words.  So I looked.

It's the Church Price List!  The cost of baptisms, marriages, burials and churchings - and it answered one question I've had on my mind.  I'd noticed that a lot of events seem to have occurred on Sundays in the past; this is quite unusual in modern times, so I wondered about that - from the is price list it seems that maybe there was a discount on Sundays for some events!

Donington Baptisms From: Lincstothepast.

No charge for baptisms on Sunday but the Parish Clerk expects 6d a child on a week day.
Certificates of Baptism and Marriage and Burial 2s 6d
Stamp 1d
Search for every year after the one specified 6d
Churchings. In the appointed year 6d
In private view 1s 0d or more

For those who don't understand those strange prices, this is pre-decimalisation.  Decimalisation of UK currency occurred in February 1971 when we moved from 12 pennies to the shilling, 20 shillings to the pound, to a decimal system.

12d = 1s. Twelve pennies = 1 shilling.
20s = £1. Twenty shillings = £1.

To convert these pre-decimal prices to modern prices, I've made a little list for you:

• 1d = said as "one penny", after decimalisation it was called "one old penny".  This is 1/240th of £1 and therefore has to have the lowest possible value in modern currency.  Initially set to be worth ½p in new decimal currency (£0.005), the half-penny has been withdrawn from modern UK currency.
• 1s = said as "one shilling".  This is 1/20th of £1.  It is 5p in modern currency (£0.05)
• 2s = said as "two shillings".  This is 1/10th of £1.  It is 10p in modern currency. (£0.10)
• 6d = said as "sixpence", it's six old pennies.  This is 1/40th of £1.  It is 2½p in modern currency (£0.025)
• If something is shown as, say, 2/6, or 2/6d, it is read as "two and six", meaning "two shillings and sixpence" (which, by the way, is 1/8th of £1 and 12½p, £0.125)

Finding Families Connected to Your Tree

Increasingly you'll find that other people have one of your ancestors in their tree - for every wife or husband you add into your tree as you discover a marriage, there's the potential that somebody else is researching their family - and this can be a great way to discover more about your own ancestors.

Each time I add new people into my tree I have a quick look to see if they are on the family tree of other people - and, increasingly, they are!  This is great because that means you've the potential to get more clues as to the lifestyle of your own ancestors.

Coming from a long line of agricultural labourers, with women who didn't really have jobs - they were cleaners, or looking after the home/kids and doing general seasonal farm work, I suddenly hit something new!

In looking at my great-great-great-grandmother's siblings, I discovered Alfred Finedon Stokes.  He languished on the tree, untouched, for over a year, until the day I stared at the tree and thought "who today?" and thought I'd have a quick look at the line of siblings.  I discovered that Alfred had children - and they'd married and had children - and there they were .... people doing something different.  Alfred's daughter Eliza Jane Stokes married Mr Charles Thomas Haley Waite.

By this time I was at the stage where people were born in ~1900 and I seem to have tapped into a theatrical connection, actors, actresses and musical hall entertainers.  The person I'd discovered was Ruby Waite, who married a Mr Walter Snelson.  But, Ruby's brother seemed to also be in the entertainment game.  And, the bonus find - somebody else had compiled a page of information about one of their ancestors, with a great publicity photo - and in the photo was Ruby Snelson (nee Waite) aged about 15!

For now they're just sitting on the tree as I need to take time out to investigate that family further, to see who was involved and what they did.  They appear to have become acquainted with the Snelson family, who organised stage entertainments and stage shows, including Shakespeare plays.  As this is a new industry to me that's now on the back burner!  Without spotting the connection, Ruby Waite would've simply sat on the tree as born, married, had children, died.  These discoveries were made possible not with Censuses and Parish Records, but by searching old newspapers online, which I do through Findmypast - that's why I prefer Findmypast to Ancestry, as I find the old newspapers more informative once I've got names on the tree.

Some families have great photo sets, my family haven't fared so well, so I've a shortage of photos of my own.  There's not even a wedding photo for my own parents!  Or my grandparents!  Almost nothing.  On one side I have just two family wedding photos from 1955 containing my grandmother and my great-grandmother - and then she's tiny and sideways on.  On the other side I've a photo of my granny aged about 20 and then aged about 70! The photos I've found of my ancestors' siblings through the efforts and websites of other people has been very exciting!

The Internet is a wonderful place for doing research online and easily tapping into all the further information you need - plus there's the chance you'll have some unexpected photos that drop into your lap!

Cambridgeshire Hearth Tax Returns: 1664, Michaelmas

The earliest full modern Census in England was in 1841, but there are records from before that time that you might be able to tap into to get a clue about ancestors.  Of course, as usual, the best records are kept on those with the most money (home and land owners) and the poorest (criminals).  But there's always a chance you'll find something.

One set of records pre-1841 Census is the Hearth Tax returns.  In Cambridgeshire this Census style return was created at Michaelmas in 1664 - some considerable time before 1841.  If you say there are four generations per century, that's reaching back 6-7 generations.  However, population was much smaller then!

The Hearth Tax was a tax on the number of fireplaces in a house.  As most people will have had one fireplace per room, it makes sense that bigger houses can be taxed more!  You can look at the Hearth Tax Returns from Cambridgeshire at the National Archives in London, but, for most people, that's somewhere they'll never get to!
At Cambridgeshire Archives there are some alternatives you can check out:

• Hearth Tax returns for 1662, 1664 and 1674 for most of Cambridgeshire on microfilm. 
• Hearth Tax returns of 1672 for the hundreds of Papworth, Northstowe and Chesterton on microfilm (no other areas, just those three).
• You can view an indexed transcript of the 1674 returns compiled by Norman & Vicky Uffindell.

But, if you're the sort of person who likes to have your hand on your information, kept in your study or on your bookcase, then the great news is that Nesta Evans & Susan Rose, of the Cambridgeshire Records Society, produced a book, "Cambridgeshire Hearth Tax Returns Michaelmas 1664" providing a complete transcript of the 1664 returns (with added information from the 1662 returns) together with detailed information on the Tax, local population and social structure of Cambridgeshire at that time.

You can contact the Cambridgeshire Records Society, who will be pleased to sell you a copy for £24 (£16 for members).  The book is approximately 450 pages, of which ~330 are the records themselves and the rest is information and explanations.

• ISBN Number:  ISBN 0 904323 15 3
• 
  
• 
• Publication Year:  2000

However, you can find copies online a little cheaper if you want to use the difference in cost for other genealogical expenses.  You can buy it online at Amazon.co.uk

Cambridgeshire Hearth Tax 1664

When I last looked it was possible to get a copy for about £17 - giving you £8 to spend on another certificate, BMD records CD from your local Family History Society, or another book!

There's no point buying this book until you've got back as far as 1800 at least and feel confident that your ancestors were settled in Cambridgeshire.  For some people this won't be hard, some families have lived in the county "forever"!  Mine are mostly in Cambridgeshire, with only about 5-10% having left, but I'm not really sure where they started from.  Maybe they just turned up in Cambridgeshire in ~1800.  Maybe a trip to the local archives to check out those microfilms might be on the cards first!  Then it'd be time for a shiny new book on the study wall!

Finding Gravestones and Monumental Inscriptions for Free

I often find one of the hardest pieces of information to track down is a confirmed death and burial of somebody.  It seems that the information is the most locked away and hidden.

FreeBMD will give you the registration area where somebody died, but that's probably an area of 10-20 miles radius.  If somebody's not moved around much and if the local parish registers have been transcribed on FreeREG, you might get lucky.  But what then?

It's a forever moving target, but there are an increasing number of websites that are photographing, recording and publishing gravestone information online.  No one site has everything though - and I've probably had the best results from using Findmypast, which you can get a free trial for to see if it suits your needs for your family tree research.

For local records, every county differs - some will have extensive transcriptions freely available, others make you stump up hard cash for a downloadable PDF/CD from the local history society. You should really get to grips with the local resources in each county you're researching.  Online Parish Clerks, OPCs were transcribing a lot of this information, but only in a handful of active counties.

Below are some of the sites I use when I first start searching for graves in England:

• Findagrave: Can be difficult to search - I prefer to search it from Google to land on the main page for the graveyard, then click on search all interments. 
• BillionGraves: I've transcribed a few hundred headstones on this site.  It can be a bit resource hungry on older PCs though. 
• CWGC: The Commonwealth Graves Commission has information on people who died in, or as a result of, WW1 and WW2, among others.  Along the same lines the War Graves Photographic Project tries to help people locate a specific war grave.
• Deceasedonline: An increasing number of local authorities are making records available through this site - and it can be great if you do find somebody listed as it often gives the date of death, date of burial/cremation and the location.
• GravestonePhotos: an ongoing project to photograph and list headstones. 

Which is Better? Findmypast or Ancestry?

This is the question we always ask ourselves - which is better, Findmypast or Ancestry?  And the answer is not black and white.  The two sites both offer Census returns for all the Census years in the UK, but then you have to look at how you research your family tree and what records you're after.  There's also the issue of location.

It's a tough choice.  Some people will alternate their memberships, or buy a year on one and just 2-3 individual months/year on the other site, once they've got a real need for what they think they can get on the other one.

Below are my personal opinions of the two main ancestry sites in the UK:

Findmypast: 

• Parish Records: This site has more parish records than any other site.  It's the parish records where you'll get the details of who married who, who was buried and when, who had babies baptised.  For me, this is a clear winning feature of the Findmypast site. They are working with local Family History groups to transcribe the parish records and get them online, so coverage across the UK is variable and you need to see what's available in the areas you're interested in.  
• 1939 Register: Findmypast is the only site that has the 1939 Register.  To access the information you do need to either PAYG or be a fully paid up member of at least the UK records.  Wait for a discounted membership offer and join then to access all the details.  This has been handy for me to see the future-married-names of female members of the family in my tree!
• British Newspapers: Findmypast has, in my opinion, the best interface for searching the British newspapers.  I've found more information from old newspapers than in the parish records and it's helped me to see inside the lives of my ancestors.  I know those who didn't send their kids to school, the ones who stole chickens and what the brides were wearing on their wedding day.  What newspapers of the day printed is invaluable detail that you won't get from other record sources.

Ancestry.co.uk

• User Trees: Ancestry has probably the biggest collection of user trees that you can access.  If you find somebody on your tree, the chances are somebody else has them - and a quick search of the user trees will show them all.  You can't use this feature as part of a free trial though, you do need to be a paid up member. 
• Censuses: While both sites do offer full searchable access to all the Censuses, I do find Ancestry's easier to download.

Both sites offer similar pricing models, with regular discounts and free weekends throughout the year.

For me, I'd have to say Findmypast - but this is because I limit my ancestor searching to England and I value the Parish Records and the 1939 Register.  I can get the Census returns from either site.  However, I am on the verge of also joining Ancestry as I've reached a point where I think contacting other users re their trees is about the stage I am at.

Best advice is to try to build your own tree with both sites, using a free trial, then decide which one you think offers you the best access to the most relevant records!