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.