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.

Cambridgeshire Electoral Registers 1832-1932

Findmypast have released the Electoral Registers of 1832-1932, which includes the Cambridgeshire Electoral Registers and the Huntingdonshire Electoral Registers.

From 1832 if you were eligible to vote then your name was on the list.  Being eligible changed over the years, women didn't get the vote at all until 1918.  In the early days, to be eligible, you pretty much had to be male and a resident or house owner.  The electoral registers were compiled every year, although not all will have survived, of course.

If you are trying to find family before the 1840 Census, then this might be your best chance.  I've several people in my family tree who died between 1832-1840, so I'll be looking for them in the Electoral Registers.

The Electoral Registers 1832-1932 comprise of 5.4 million images, containing 220 million names.  With a good wind and some luck you might find your lost people in there!

I've people to find in the Huntingdonshire Electoral Registers and the Cambridgeshire Electoral Registers, so this is a short post!

Having had a quick look, one of the families I was after isn't found earlier than 1885, which is annoying - but I have to be grateful that the records are online at all :)  Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.... I have to remember to be grateful at what IS there and not annoyed by what is NOT there!

Betsy Williams, Oldest Resident of Chesterton, -1910

My eye is always drawn to statements of "the oldest resident of" pieces in old newspapers, so Betsy Williams of Chesterton caught my eye this morning.

In 1910 Betsy Williams of Chesterton died and the newspapers announced her death, along with the fact that she was the oldest resident.  I love it when the newspapers give a long obituary/biography - so handy for today's family history researchers. So I had to look her up!

The Cambridge Independent Press reported the occasion as

Death.— The death occurred Tuesday morning of one the oldest inhabitants of Chesterton. Mrs Betsy Grove Williams, widow of the late Mr Benjamin Williams. The deceased lady, who was 90 years of age, was well known and much respected in Chesterton.

Her husband, who was formerly in the employ of Mr Philip Beale, Cambridge, died twenty two years ago, but there are nine children surviving. One served for twenty seven years in the Scotch Royal Rifles, going through the Zulu War. Another, who in twenty one years in the Army Service Corps, saw service in Zululand and in Egypt, and the husband of her eldest daughter served for twenty-two years in the Royal Navy. 

There are about sixty grand-children, while the great grand-children number even more. The funeral takes place to-day, Friday, Old Chesterton.  

Looking at FreeBMD, the death was registered with an age of 89 years.

Betsy was buried on 14 October at St Andrew's Church, Chesterton.  Benjamin Williams had died, aged 69, in 1888 and was buried 6 September at St Andrew's Church, Chesterton.

A quick look through the IGI showed that, from Censuses, Betsy had been born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.  The 1881 Census had Betsy and husband Benjamin living at 10 Albert Street, Chesterton, with two of their children: Albert L Williams aged 19, born in Bury, Suffolk; and Mary L Williams aged 16, born in Cambridge.  Benjamin was listed as an ironmonger's porter and had been born in Lambeth, Surrey, so they were both "incomers" to the village.

I love thinking about the fact that my great-grandmother might have known of Betsy - although she had been living in the St Luke's area of Chesterton, which is about a mile from Old Chesterton where my great-grandmother was bringing up her own family.  She'll have heard the news of Betsy's death and, who knows, maybe watched the funeral from the cemetery wall.  The news will certainly have been the talk of the week.

The social history surrounding ancestors really helps to build up a good local picture of what life was like, people they might've known, events they might've attended - and more!  After a while you even begin to feel you "know" these people!

Sources: FindMyPast, FreeBMD, FamilySearch

Image: FreeBMD

Violet Speed, Chesterton; Violet Culley, Nottinghamshire. 1872-1918

This is one of my "random finds" posts.  I have an interest in the Chesterton, Cambridgeshire area and noticed an ex resident being returned to be buried in 1918, so I figured that was worth noting.  When you're researching family history, anybody that wanders away from home is called a stray - many family history sites keep lists of strays to help people track down where people have ended up, but it's an ad hoc thing and there's no central database.

St Andrew's Church,
Chesterton, Cambridgeshire

So here it is, along with a little more research/background information:

Funeral.—

The funeral took place at St. Andrew's. Old Chesterton, July 18th, of Mrs. Violet Culley, who died at her home at Nottingham at the age of 46.  Mrs. Culley was the fourth daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Charles Speed, of 19, Waterside, Old Chesterton. She leaves a husband and six children to mourn their loss. Two of the sons serving their country, one in Egypt and one in France.

1872	Violet Speed was baptised in Chesterton, Cambridgeshire, on 22 September 1872, daughter of Charles Speed from Barton and Emma Speed from Stow cum Quy. 1
1881	Census. Waterside, Chesterton, daughter, aged 8. With parents/siblings: Charles/Emma and George, Elizabeth Emily, Lilly, Adelaide, James Harry.  1
1891	Census. Chesterton, daughter, aged 18 1
1895	Marries William Culley, from Old Basford, Nottinghamshire, at Chesterton, Cambridgeshire (FreeBMD). CAMDEX Ref 331/RO/CHEST/09/141.
1895	Possible William C Culley born, Cambridge. Camdex. FreeBMD has it listed as William Charles S Culley. 4th qtr
1897	Possible Ivy E Culley born, Cambridge. Camdex. FreeBMD has it listed as Iva Emma EH, 2nd qtr
1899	Possible Bertram T Culley born, Cambridge. Camdex. FreeBMD has it listed as Bertram Tom. 2nd qtr.
1901	Census, St Andrew the Less, Cambridge. With husband and three children: Wm Chas S, Ivy EEH, Bertram T
1911	Census,  With husband and children: William Charles, Ivy, Tom. Will be others, need to see original census as children born in different places 1
1915	Archibald CM Culley born, Nottingham (FreeBMD)
1918	Dies in Nottingham, buried in Chesterton, 18 July. St Andrew's Church, Chesterton.

At the time of her burial, her father was already deceased - he, too, was buried in St Andrew's Chesterton, in 1908.

Violet was living at 27a Kirke White Street, Nottingham when she died, aged 46.²

Violet Culley was buried in St Andrews, Chesterton, on 18 July 1918.

Sources:
<sup>1 Familysearch.org
2 Burials list for church


Image: Robert Edwards</sup>

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

Caldecote Parish Registers and other Records from CFHS

Cambridgeshire Family History Society (CFHS) have many transcriptions of parish registers and other records, so I need to make a list of the ones I want for Caldecote.  Some of those will include other areas I am interested in, e.g. Bourn, Toft and Kingston - and some other records transcriptions will cover even wider areas, e.g. the Petty Sessions.

But, it's a good idea to make a list of what's available, so I know what I need to buy!  It's that dreadful time when you do need to put your hand in your pocket and get the full set of records in your hand, saving you weeks/months of poncing about online trying to do it all for free.

So, here's my CFHS Wishlist:

• Caldecote Parish Registers 1599-1950.  £12 as a CD/download.  Reference number  CD/PR/042. 
  
  
  This also includes the Bourn Parish Registers for 1559-1950.  These will give me the years covered by FreeREG and a further 120 or so years!  It seems to be the most comprehensive transcriptions of parish records available for Caldecote - as the CD includes Bourn and everybody seemed to float between the two villages.  The transcriptions from Caldecote Parish Registers can be viewed, for free, at a Family Research Centre of the LDS, but even the travel to my "local" Centre would cost £5 in fuel. A CD in my own hand gives me 24/7 access on a whim :)  Bargain.  Who'd not want a copy of this??
  
  When you look closer though, the CD doesn't contain all entries from all dates.  Caldecote Marriages are for 1604-1949; Caldecote Banns transcriptions cover 1760-1950; Caldecote Baptisms are transcribed for 1640-1950 and Caldecote Burial transcriptions cover 1640-1950.  So I am unsure where they got the 1599 description from - maybe they found a few sheets, or transcribed a bit more, but didn't update the image as that was harder to do :)
• Cambridgeshire  Monumental Inscriptions for places A-I.  £12 as a CD/download.  Reference number CD/MI/002.  This CD covers Caldecote, as well as many other places.  It's part of a trilogy of CDs and I do intend to get the full set covering Cambridgeshire in time.

Personally, I find the descriptions of what you actually get a little lacking. I don't want to pin all my hopes on something being magnificent, that turns out to be not very useful at all.  That's the sole reason I've not bought them to date, to be honest :)

As I can't view the contents without buying, I'll just have to bite the bullet at some point.  Just these two genealogy CDs would give me all the records available - and (potentially) all the headstones in the graveyards (potentially?), it'd mean I'd have a full set of everything from the parishes of Caldecote and Bourn in one go, for just £24.  And then I could move on - it's surprising just how many parishes you do ultimately feel the need to get the records for.  It's best not to leap in really and consider carefully how far you're prepared to look for where ancestors disappeared to or from!

To compare the CFHS CD with FreeREG, FreeREG says it covers Caldecote from 1604 to 1988, so it looks like the CD will be almost the same data, except banns won't be on FreeREG (maybe).

I've spent months wasting time on the free sites only feeling I've got "so far" into the available data and nailing this once and for all is worth the small cost, although, in this case, FreeREG does seem to compare very well.  The two datasets are from different transcribers.  FreeREG will have been transcribed from the originals via the LDS; CFHS were members transcribing from the originals many years ago.  So both sources were transcribed from the originals, but different people, so there might be just a tiny difference that fills a gap!  (For comparison of Bourn, FreeREG covers 7162 records from 1563 to 1876).  Of course, FreeREG doesn't cover banns (to my knowledge).

I'm off to serve dinner now .... gotta keep the strength up for the next set of mysteries and curiosities I uncover!

Image: CFHS Shop

Caldecote and Bourn Banns Online

Having spent some time going through the parish records for Caldecote and Bourn in Cambridgeshire, I noticed that a few of the marriages had a note in them that the couple were married by banns.  I've never looked at, or looked into lists of banns, so I am now looking at where I can see the banns online, or on CDs.  I'm sure the Cambridgeshire Family History Society have probably transcribed the banns and sell them on a CD, but first I looked online.

Findmypast seems to have a simple way to search through the banns and so I looked - to discover that neither Caldecote nor Bourn are currently online at Findmypast.  I looked to see which Cambridgeshire parishes are on FMP at present and the list is:

Abington Pigotts, Arrington, Bartlow, Benwick, Bottisham, Boxworth, Brinkley, Burrough Green, Burwell, Cambridge, All Saints, Cambridge, Holy Trinity, Cambridge, St Andrew The Less, Cambridge, St Barnabas, Cambridge, St Clement, Cambridge, St Edward, Cambridge, St Paul, Cambridge, St Philip, Carlton, Castle Camps, Chatteris, Cherry Hinton, Chippenham, Conington, Cottenham, Downham, Dry Drayton, Dullingham, East Hatley, Elsworth, Ely, Holy Trinity, Ely, St Mary, Fen Drayton, Girton, Grantchester, Great Abington, Great Eversden, Guilden Morden, Hardwick, Harlton, Hinxton, Histon, Horseheath, Ickleton, Isleham, Landbeach, Linton, Little Abington, Little Shelford, Lolworth, Madingley, Manea, March, Newton Near Cambridge, Papworth Everard, Papworth St Agnes, Rampton, Sawston, Shudy Camps, Stuntney, Swaffham Prior, St Mary, Swavesey, Thriplow, Trumpington, Tydd St Giles, Upwell, Christchurch, Waterbeach, Welney, Wentworth, West Wickham, West Wratting, Westley Waterless, Whaddon, Witchford, Wood Ditton

However, although they don't (at the time of writing) have the parishes I was after, I have spotted a couple of parishes of potential interest in that list!  So all is not lost as I can use those to search for other marriages I was looking for.

What Are Banns?

When you marry at your leisure, banns are read out in your local church on three consecutive Sundays during the church service - giving people, who probably knew you, the chance to object to the marriage if they have any valid and legal reason why you shouldn't be married.  e.g. if they knew you'd already married elsewhere, or some other reason.  As a rule it tends to be just part of the process and, to date, I've never heard of a wedding being halted as somebody did come forward.  I'm sure it must have happened to somebody somewhere .... but it's not common.  Banns can be read at more than one church if you married away from your usual place of abode, so if you discover two sets, don't be surprised.

Cambridge Banns Online at Findmypast

There were 28,364 banns listed in the Cambridge parishes at Findmypast.  I had a quick look through for the main family names I'm interested in in the area, but nobody I was after appeared in the lists.  I searched for two surnames and got 11 results for one and 8 for the other.

Ely Holy Trinity Banns Online at Findmypast

Surprisingly, when I checked this list for one surname of interest it gave me 112 marriages by banns at the church, ranging between 1755 and 1878.  I am interested in proving/disproving a marriage there in 1830 so further refined the list down to first name/surname at Ely Holy Trinity and that one is listed, so I've bookmarked it for next time I am a member of Findmypast.  I keep a free account on FMP and bookmark those I am interested in until either a free weekend, or a one-month pass, which is just £9.95.  It's not worth paying to look at one entry, which is why I bookmark them!

After this I ran out of time for today! So I'll have to continue looking for the banns at Caldecote and Bourn another day, later in the week.

Image CC 3.0