Ancestry Hour Blog Spot

Six Lead-lined Coffins - Who Lies Within? The Sibbits of Ancroft

29/7/2022

Part 1. Background

Hidden behind a large, padlocked oak door in Ancroft Church is a burial vault containing six lead-lined coffins. It is small with a low vaulted brick ceiling and stone walls. Even with the door open a torch is required to penetrate the intense darkness to reveal the three coffins lying shoulder to shoulder, three to either side.

Scraps of what was possibly once a mortcloth on coffin nearest to the door.

To the left, the heads of the coffins rest in niches cut into the walls, to the right, the stone niches support the feet. The coffins are so close together it is impossible for a person to pass between them or to see what supports them underneath. The original wood of the outer coffins is largely gone, rotted away with time in pitch-black silence and with it any visible means of identifying the occupants if indeed they ever existed. If the supports are made of wood and as rotten as the coffin casings, there is an overwhelming sense that the slightest knock could send their cargo crashing to the floor at any moment. A scattering of debris and sections from the collapsed wooden sides litter the floor and a couple of scraps of what may once have been a mortcloth remain on the surface of the coffin nearest to the door.

So, who are the six individuals sleeping in this cramped space and how long have they lain in what is essentially an above-ground crypt? The church records do not distinguish between burials in the churchyard and the vault and there is no sign of any surviving breastplates that might hold a name, a date or other clue to help identify the occupants. Strange perhaps given a lead-lined coffin would have been a considerable expense.

Modified image of the coffins in the vault

… The engraved breastplate was the most important item and usually the first to be added if a coffin had any fittings at all. [1]

But then, if the vault and its occupants all ‘belonged’ to a single family would name plates be required at all?

I confess I knew nothing about the burial vault at Ancroft until I was contacted in March last year by local historian Julie Gibbs asking if I was connected to the Sibbit family of Ancroft Greenses. The answer was yes, descendants and relatives of the Smiths of Horncliffe Loanend attached themselves to members of the Sibbit family by marriage not once, or even twice but three times in the same generation! Brothers Robert and James White Smith sons of George Smith of Ancroft, (eldest son of George Smith of Horncliffe Loanend and his wife Christian Trotter), both married daughters of John Sibbit of Greenses House. Robert married Mary Ellen Sibbit a daughter by John’s first wife Catherine Sutherland in 1882 and James married Catherine Sibbit a daughter by his second wife Mary Anne Smith in Edinburgh in 1885. The third family member to marry a Sibbit was a Trotter second cousin, Esther Hislop, who married Adam Sibbit Junior, a medical doctor, at Prestonkirk in 1886. Needless to say, there are more interesting connections too. As a result, George Aynsley Smith did a bit of research into the family and traced the Sibbit family tree back to the mid-eighteenth century. A great foundation to build upon and from some further investigation intriguing stories are coming to light to attach the frame.

But what has this to do with the burial vault? Julie was searching for descendants of Adam Sibbit Esq of Greenses House.

In 1810 the Bishop of Durham granted Adam Sibbit the faculty of a burial-ground or vault, within the north side of the tower on the west end of the Chapel; length from north to south eight feet three inches; east to west twelve feet two inches, inside measure.[2] His wife Isabella Yellowly who died the following year was likely the first to be placed in the vault and Adam himself joined her in 1812. But so many questions remain; who WAS Adam Sibbit, what was his family’s connection with Ancroft and not least who are the other four individuals in the vault? Included at the end of this instalment are links to some useful sources used along the way.

Ancroft Church and links with the Sibbit Family

Image of Ancroft Church taken from Raines 'History of North Durham etc ... Note the tree visible through the top of the tower.

In 1828, Parson and White describe the church at Ancroft as

… an ancient edifice covered with red tiles and having a large ash tree growing in the middle of its decaying tower. Though it was anciently a chapel to the curacy of Holy Island it now enjoys the privileges of a distinct parish.

And Raine’s ‘The History and Antiquities of North Durham’ contains a more detailed description of the tower.

… In one of the stories [sic] is a fireplace, and the lintel of one of the doorways is formed of the lid of a stone coffin disturbed for the purpose, upon which there is a rude carving of a sword. The floors of these upper rooms, which were of wood, fell long ago, and a thriving ash growing out of the stone groining over the ground floor amid their rubbish, vegetates at large like a plant in a pot half-filled with soil, and peers over the parapet. A small bell given by Mr Sibbitt of the Greens (the chapel was before without one), hangs in a small turret on the western wall.[3]

Raine continues

The churchyard is very large and belongs to Mr Sibbit of Greenses; a portion only adjoining the church is occupied by graves. Has the rest ever been consecrated? There are traces of a boundary fence between the two.[4]

Ancroft Greenses – Adam Sibbit’s home

Greenses House circa 1860 before bay windows were added. Courtesy of Berwick Record Office BRO 1016/1

It is helpful to note that Ancroft consisted of four townships: Cheswick, Scremerston, Haggerston as well as Ancroft itself. Ancroft township contained three villages of Ancroft, Cheswick and Greenses. Until 1843 Ancroft and its associated townships lay in Norham and Islandshire that was part of Durham rather than Northumberland as it is today. (A map showing the extent of the Parish is available through the Parish Council Website
https://northumberlandparishes.uk/ancroft/map.)

Further extracts from the 1828 Parson and White directory describe Ancroft Greenses, the home of Adam Sibbit as … a village in the township of, and 1 ½ miles NW of Ancroft and 4 miles south of Berwick, where there is a large brewery and coal mine called Unthank Colliery of which J Sibbit Esq is the lessee.[5]

Greenses House circa 1880, after bay windows were added. Courtesy of Berwick Record Office (BRO 1016/2)

Adam’s Will proved in 1813 contains a detailed description of the house adjoining ‘garden, shrubberies, plantations and pleasure grounds’ that enables visualisation of the layout as it was in his day. With additional outbuildings: back kitchen, laundry business, office and room above the office, a four stalled stable and chaise house and a hovel covered with blue slate, two byres, a dove cott, pig houses, calf hovels and a large yard. Together with a large grass field formerly called Wadeup Close and Dove Cott Close then known simply as the Lawn. As well as other business interests, breweries, quarries, collieries etc., the Will also includes details of his other landholdings at Longdykehall, Allerdean and Allerdean Mill.

Map of Allerdean Mill in 1812, extracted from Adam Sibbit's Will (DPR/I/1/1813/S7/14)

There were periods when the Greenses was let and times the census bustles with the activity of later Sibbit Families, but slowly their numbers dwindled until just three remained in 1891. By 1901 the only residents were a gardener and general servant.

Ancroft Greenses House after further modification in the 1930s. Courtesy of Berwick Record Office (BRO 1016/3)

Today, the house at Ancroft Greenses is called Allerdean Grange. As well as the name (which changed between 1901 and 1911) the house has seen several transformations and modifications. But today, possibly barring the render, the frontage appears similar to a photograph dating from the 1880s. The pair of bays must have been a contemporary addition as they are absent in an earlier photograph said to date from the 1860s. A set of sale particulars circa 1991 for the house and adjoining cottage show further modifications to the frontage and east gable end. They describe the house as dating from the seventeenth century and state.

The properties reputedly have connections with Cromwell and John Wesley and they undoubtedly retain the charm and character of former times … [6]

On census night 1911, a Mr Thomas Chisholm, ‘Landowner' of Scremerston was in occupation at the house, now called Allerdean Grange, suggesting a change of ownership may have coincided with the change in name.

Allerdean Grange, circa 2006. Photograph by Raymond Chisholm CC

Sibbit land Occupation and Ownership at Ancroft

The Grey family held the manor of Ancroft from the mid-fourteenth century.

…The whole manor of Ancroft so afterwards passed to the Greys of Heaton and Chillingham, in whom it descended till a partition of the estates of that family was made under the following circumstances. Mary Grey, the only daughter of Ford Lord Grey (who died in 1701) and the wife of Charles Bennet, the first Earl of Tankerville, claimed all the estates of her father as his heir. Her uncle, Ralph Grey, Governor of Barbados, who had succeeded to the title of Lord Grey of Wark upon the death of his brother, her father, put in a similar claim under a settlement of his grandfather, William the first Lord Grey. The question after somewhat of litigation was compromised by a partition of the estates.

The agreement which bears the date 10 May 1703, was confirmed by an Act of Parliament 2 Anne 1704. The manor of Ancroft with other considerable estates was ceded to Ralph Lord Grey and by his will, 10 March 1704 settled upon his nephew Henry Neville Esq., with remainder to his cousin John Grey of Howick, Esq and his heirs. Neville after taking the name of Grey, died s.p. and Ancroft is now the property of the Right Hon. Charles Earl Grey of Howick, the descendant of the John Grey who was second in the entail…[7]

Regardless of the Grey monopoly, pockets of Sibbit ownership at Ancroft begin to appear in documents dating from the mid-seventeenth century.

From Raine's History of North Durham (Footnote ‘s’ reads: Abstract of Longdyke Hall and Ancroft Green. R Weddell Esq., solicitor, Berwick.)

(Footnote ‘s’ reads: Abstract of Longdyke Hall and Ancroft Green. R Weddell Esq., solicitor, Berwick.)

But still earlier links to the village and its surrounds are proven through the Inventory of John Sibbit of Ancroft dated 1631. Administration was granted to his son Matthew Sibbit of Ancroft who in turn died the 8th February 1640. His Will of 1639 provides evidence of his wife Philadelphia, a daughter Margaret, married name Steele, and two sons Edward and John. Son John died at Ancroft Mill in 1682 and his Will names sons Matthew and Thomas, daughters Phillis Archbald, Elizabeth Dodds, Elinor Sibbit and two grandchildren. His Will was witnessed by Adam Sibbit of Ancroft and although the exact degree of kinship between John and Adam is not yet known, they were almost certainly related.

Extract of Matthew Sibbits Will, (DPR/I/1/1639/S4/1-2) Courtesy of Durham Univeristy Archives

This Adam Sibbit died in 1691 and also left a detailed Will. It is from him, that Adam Sibbit of Greenses House and owner of the burial vault descends through a succession of eldest sons.

(With Adam Sibbit who died at Ancroft Greenses in 1812, this line of at least five successive generations of inheritance by the eldest son came to an end.)

The Estate papers of the Howick Estate, held at Durham University Archives, also contain evidence of Sibbit occupation and bolstering of land holding and farming interests through rental.

25 November 1756-Ancroft Town Farm (lease and counterpart). Sir Henry Grey to Edward Sibbitt [sic] of Ancroft, gent.[9] Likely to be Adam’s uncle. [8]

10 May 1831-Part (189 acres) of Ancroft North Farm. To John Subbitt [sic] of the Greenses in the Chapelry of Ancroft, gent.[10] John was either Adam’s nephew or great nephew[9]

This collection relating to the Grey’s Northumberland Estate, referred to as the ‘Howick Estate’ contains important historical information. As well as Ancroft, the estate included farms at Howick, East and West Learmouth, Downham, Presson, Tithe Hill and Howburn on Tweedside and the Chevington Estate south of Howick in mid-Northumberland.

… Besides these there were a few more isolated properties such as Cold Martin in the Parish of Chatton, Fleehope in the Cheviots, Burton in the Parish of Bamburgh and Budle on the coast.

The records contain

…deeds of some of the Northumberland properties which date from the sixteenth century, [including some relating to Ancroft] most of the material falls into the period 1780-1930, but numerous items will be found both before and after these dates.

The papers provide a detailed record of the management of this extensive northern estate and are rich in correspondence, accounts, farm leases, rentals, surveys, valuations, estate plans, household books and vouchers. [10]

Making them a rich and valuable source for researchers.

In addition to Inheritance and Estate information, the newspapers also bear evidence of land, farming and business interests further afield, including Alnwick, Felton and Longhoughton. Doubtless, as research continues, more places, partnerships and interests will come to light.

A Bit About Adam

Full siblings of Adam Sibbit

Adam was baptised at Felton the 5th June 1746, the eldest son and third of six children, 4 girls and 2 boys. His father was Matthew Sibbit and his mother Matthew’s first wife Mary Cook. Matthew Sibbit farmed at South Acton, near Felton, possibly where he was born, circa 1720. The farm formed part of an estate owned by the Adams family to whom Matthew was connected through his mother, Isabella Adams. At the baptism of Dorothy Sibbit at Norham in 1754, their father Matthew is described as of Shoreswood. This suggests the farm of South Acton was successfully let following an advertisement in the Newcastle Chronicle in 1751.

Extract from Newcastle Courant October 1751. Courtesy of British Newspaper Archive

Adam’s mother died when he was nine years old and his father married his second wife Hannah Selby, daughter of Captain Gerard Selby of Beal and Holy Island, at Belford in November 1757. The couple provided Adam with a further five half-siblings, although two died in infancy. All the baptisms of this second brood also took place at Norham whilst Matthew resided at Shoreswood and where he remained until his death. An apprenticeship enrolment for Adam’s half-brother Matthew to James Bell Burgess and Merchant of Berwick in 1774, describes Matthew as late of Ancroft Greenses, suggesting the continuation of the family’s interest.

Half siblings of Adam Sibbit

In the 1760s, notices advertising the sale of Ancroft Greenses begin appearing in the press, although it was clearly never sold. It is not yet known why, but the notices continue to appear through to 1774, after Matthew was lost in quicksand off Holy Island in 1771. The administration of his estate was undertaken by Adam as his eldest son, along with William Smith of East Newbiggin (of whom more in Part II) and George Robinson of Ancroft. In the renunciation by Matthew’s widow, annexed to the Will she refers to Adam as of Ancroft Greenses.

Taken from Raines History of North Durham re sale of Ancroft Greenses in 1763

Little is known about Adam’s formative years such as where he was educated etc. but he undoubtedly spent much of his childhood at Shoreswood. To date, the next sighting of him is in the Norham parish register of 1768 where on 3rd June he and Barbara McDugil [sic] of Thornton baptised a daughter Margaret. Little would the 22-year-old Adam have known at the time, but this would be the only child he would father.

In November 1773 Adam married his first cousin Isabella Yelloly at Belford. Isabella’s mother Margaret Sibbit was sister to Adam’s father Matthew Sibbit, therefore the pair shared mutual grandparents in Adam Sibbit senior and Isabella Adams. In 1794 Adam and a member of the Yelloly family were noted to have interests in Maltings and Brewery in Walkergate, Alnwick. This would be in addition to his other interests in a large Brewery at Berwick.

Adam and Isabella were married for 38 years but the union was not blessed with children. Isabella pre-deceased her husband by a matter of months. She died at Ancroft in April 1811 and he on Old Years Night in 1812. Yet he still found the time to marry again in the intervening period. His second wife Hannah Brankston was aged 43 at the time of her marriage, some 22 years her husband’s junior. So, although still possible to bear a child, her age at marriage suggests the desire for an heir was not an overwhelming factor.

Probate Copy of Adam Sibbits' Will

In terms of tracing his closest blood relatives, his illegitimate daughter Margaret and her children are his only known direct descendants. Margaret and her husband Robert Dunlop are mentioned in Adam’s Will, although her mother is named Barbara McDonald rather than McDugil [sic] as per the Norham Register. She also received a small bequest

I also give and bequeath unto Margaret Dunlop Daughter of Barbara McDonald and now the wife of Robert Dunlop of Slainsfield in the Manor of Etal and County of Northumberland Colliery Agent or Bankman the sum of five hundred pounds of lawful money.[11]

As did her children, to be paid when they reached 21 years of age

… Then I do hereby give and bequeath the said legacy or sum of £500 to all and every of the Children of the said Margaret Dunlop in equal proportion share and share alike…

Indeed, Adam’s Will comprehensively encompasses many of his remaining relatives. I find myself warming to him as I read as he leaves provision for many of his siblings nieces and nephews. One of the main beneficiaries under his Will was Robert Sibbit, eldest and ‘the natural son’ of his brother Edward. There will be more about the pedigree, the people and their stories at the end of next month in Part 2. Some of whom have taken a globe-trotting route back to Tweedside - think Scotch Herrings ‘in prime order’, barrels of salt beef, pork and ox tongues by the half keg shipped from London and Cork on sale in Jamaica in 1793...

To be continued ...

Footnotes & Links

[1] Sarah Hoiles, ‘Early Victorian Coffins and Coffin Furniture’
https://cemeteryclub.wordpress.com/2013/11/07/early-victorian-coffins-and-coffin-furniture/
[2] WM Parson and WM White, Vol II of the History, Directory and Gazetteer of the Counties of Durham and Northumberland etc., 1828
https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_MbA3AAAAYAAJ/mode/2up
[3] ‘Monumental Inscriptions. On a monument affixed to the north wall of the nave: “Sacred to the memory of Isabella, wife of Adam Sibbit, Esq. of Greenses House, who departed this life April 7, 1811, aged 64 years. Also, to the memory of Adam Sibbit, Esq who closed an industrious and benevolent life the 31st day of December 1812, in the 67th year of his age’. Rev James Raine, The History and Antiquities of North Durham, 1858.
[4] Rev. James Raine, The History and Antiquities of North Durham, 1858. P.217
[5] WM Parson and WM White, Vol II of the History, Directory and Gazetteer of the Counties of Durham and Northumberland etc., 1828
https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_MbA3AAAAYAAJ/mode/2up
[6] Berwick Record Office, (BRO 1016/4) Particulars relating to the sale of Allerdean Grange circa 1991.
[7] Rev James Raine M A, ‘The History & Antiquities of North Durham’, London, 1852.
[8] Durham University Archives, GRE/X/P75, 1734-1762, Farm Leases.
[9] Durham University Archives, GRE/X/P79 , 1802-1845, Farm Leases
[10] Durham University Archives, Estate records of the Earls Grey and Lords Howick 1522-1980.
https://reed.dur.ac.uk/xtf/view?docId=ark/32150_s1gf06g268w.xml
[11] North East Inheritance Database, (DPR/I/1/1813/S7/1-27) http://familyrecords.dur.ac.uk/

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Navigating the Sea of Records: Royal Marine and Royal Navy Ancestors

23/6/2022

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By Richard Holt

The author of this month's blog is Richard Holt, professional genealogist at Holt's Family History Research. Richard is latest addition to the #AncestryHour team of experts providing help and support during our live Twitter sessions. Based in Cambridge but born in Buckinghamshire, his geographical expertise and specialist interests will add a new dimension to the Tuesday evening get-togethers. To find out how #AncestryHour's thriving community could help your research move forward head to our 'About' page or contact us for more information.

*****

Wednesday 3rd February 1909: ‘Found Dead’ in St. George and the East Workhouse

The body of Thomas Buyrns, aged 79, was found dead in the St. George and the East Workhouse on Raine Street, Wapping. An inquest followed on 5th February conducted by Wynne Edwin Baxter, Coroner for the County of London. Baxter was the Coroner who conducted the inquests for the Jack the Ripper victims as well as the inquest into the death of Joseph Merrick (1862-1890), who was known as ‘The Elephant Man’. The inquest determined that the death was of natural causes with the cause being given as syncope, cardiac degeneration and bronchitis. [1].

St George in the East Workhouse, Raine Street, London (London - London VII.78, Revised: 1894, Published: 1896) Courtesy of National Library of Scotland (CC-BY).

This story was the catalyst for my love and appreciation of the Admiralty records. Thomas Buyrns (1830-1909) was my third great grandfather, and it was locating his death that set me on a path of discovery. Thomas was formerly a stevedore; a person employed at the docks to load and unload ships. While this occupation was linked to ships, Thomas’ connection to the Admiralty was still shrouded in mystery. Thomas’ death certificate recorded his name as ‘Thomas Matthew Dunmore Buyrns’. While I had come across the name Thomas Matthew Buyrns in many records, this was the first time the name ‘Dunmore’ had appeared.

The Shipping Entrance, London Docks, drawn and engraved by John Charles Varrall for the 'Walks Through London', published by William Clarke, New Bond Street, 1817, Public Domain.

The name ‘Thomas Matthew Dunmore Buyrns’ was the breakthrough I needed to take this family line further back in time and discover the immensely fascinating history of this family. Thomas Buyrns had married twice, although the information in both parish register entries was confusing and contradictory. The first marriage to Sarah Cocks on 7th May 1854 claimed that Thomas’ father was Thomas Buyrn a Butcher; while the second marriage to Caroline Way on 31st October 1869 claimed his father was Matthew Buyrn a Marine. I was not able to locate anybody with these names that matched the claimed occupations. This was a veritable ‘brick wall’.

Marriage of Thomas Buyrn and Sarah Cocks, St Mary, Whitechapel, 7th May 1854, London Metropolitan Archives: P93/MRY1/047.

Marriage of Thomas Matthew Buyrn and Caroline Way, Christ Church, St George in the East, 31st October 1869, London Metropolitan Archives, P93/CTC2/025.

One of the tools in any genealogist’s tool box should be the ‘archive catalogue’. I would not be able to do my job without regularly referring to the catalogues from hundred of archives. Helpfully, many archive catalogues are pulled together on The National Archives’ catalogue ‘Discovery’.[2] It was searching here that I came across the entry for ‘Thomas Matthew Buyrn Dunmore’ amongst the application papers to Greenwich Hospital School (ADM 74/217/90)

Greenwich Hospital, in the painting London from Greenwich Park, 1809 by Joseph M. W. Turner, Public Domain.

It was pursuing these application papers and the surviving Bishop’s Transcripts for East Stonehouse, Devon that led me to the conclusion that Thomas’ father was named Matthew Buyrn, but had in fact joined the Royal Marines in 1812 under the name John Dunmore. The application papers, along with those for two of Thomas’ siblings, provided information in relation to John Dunmore’s service history. This was the breakthrough needed to advance my research. I wrote about name change under the blog post ‘Matthew Buyrn or John Dunmore?’. (You call also read about some of Matthew Buyrns’ life after he was discharged from the Royal Marines in ‘Life After the Royal Marines - Theft, Fraud and Imprisonment’.)

Greenwich Hospital School Admission Papers for William Dunmore, The National Archives, ADM 73/217/91.

Navigating the Records - Royal Marines

There are a wealth of Admiralty records held at The National Archives. If you’re lucky enough to come across a record detailing the service history of a Royal Marine or someone in the Royal Navy, this will give you a head start. It can often be quite daunting knowing where to start looking for information. For example, within ADM 1, there are 31,116 files and volumes alone. I will outline a few of the key places to look for information about an ancestor’s service history using my ancestor ‘John Dunmore’ as a model. While John Dunmore was in the Royal Marines, some of these records apply to researching individuals who were in the Royal Navy. I will try to outline when this is the case.

A Private of the Royal Marines, Public Domain

The first place to look for a Royal Marine would be the Attestation Forms in ADM 157 which covers the years 1790-1925. Please note that not all Attestation Forms survive, as is the case with John Dunmore. There is a search function which allows you to search by keyword and you can enter the name of the marine here. If the Attestation Form does not survive, I would suggest consulting the Description Books in ADM 158 which summarise information given in the Attestation Forms and are therefore a useful substitute. If using the Description Books, you will need to know the Division to which your ancestor belonged. This can therefore make things more challenging if this is not known. If you happen know their Company number, you can use the fold-out appendix in Thomas Garth’s ‘Records of the Royal Marines’ to find out the Division.[3] Helpfully, the entry for John Dunmore’s attestation in the Description Books showed his age, occupation and that he was born in Edmonton, Middlesex.

John Dunmore, Royal Marines, Description Books, A-Z Attestations, 1809-1814, The National Archives, ADM 150/8 f. 213

For many people, knowing the name of one of the ships that their ancestor served on is the only point of entry for reconstructing a service history. If you have the name of a ship, the muster rolls can be searched to locate the individual. Once located, the muster rolls can be searched backwards and forwards to find the dates of admission to, and discharge from the ship. These records are found in ADM 36, ADM 37 and ADM 38.

The musters will usually name where the individual was admitted from and discharged to, thus allowing these leads to be followed up in other records or the muster rolls of other ships. The muster table at the front of each muster will also give the places where the ship was located at various times. It is useful to look under the various categories of individuals in the muster, as sometimes an entry may be found under the list of supernumeraries. The muster books also record promotions, so these can be used to find out how your ancestor rose amongst the ranks. The musters sometimes record an individual’s place of birth along with their age.

Muster Table for the HMS Boyne for 1st January - 28th February 1815, Located at Portsmouth, Hampshire and Cork, Ireland, The National Archives, ADM 37/4328.

Additional records that provide more information on the day-to-day life onboard the ship include the various ships’ log books.[4]

The other place to look for information is in the Effective and Subsistence Lists held in series ADM 96. These are lists of individuals who are not currently serving on board a ship and they show the subsistence pay received during this time. The earlier records are on large printed sheets of paper, but the latter records are in book form. They record ‘from whence’ a person came, often naming a ship. When an individual was removed from the list, the ship they were admitted to will be recorded. If they were not admitted to a ship, the reason for removal should be noted. These records are also arranged by Division and Company. The following example is from the ‘1st Company’ to which John Dunmore belonged. It is my belief that these records are often an underused source of information. They are not catalogued very well and can be difficult to use, however they do provide a steppingstone, allowing the researcher to trace an individual’s service history more accurately.

Effective and Subsistence List, 1st Company, Chatham Division, 1st October - 31st December 1812, The National Archives, ADM 96/316.

The Allotment Registers are another key source of information, particularly if you’re lucky enough to have an ancestor who allots part of their pay to a family member. These are found in ADM 27 and contain details on individuals who were in the Royal Marines as well as in the Royal Navy. An entry in the Allotment Registers will record details such as the number of children that the individual had, the name of the relative they are allotting their pay to, along with their relative’s place of residence. When an individual’s ancestry is unknown these records can be particularly useful.

Allotment Declaration Lists, The National Archives, ADM 27/30

HMS Bramble, A Man of War Cutter of 10 Guns, Knell, William Adolphusm Knell, Artist; Newton Smith Fielding, Engraver, Published 1840, Public Domain.

John Dunmore was on board the HMS Bramble in 1825 when “the Articles of War, and the Abstract of the Acts of Parliament were read to the Ships Company” (ADM 37/7064).

The sources discussed above are only a very small number of records that can shed light on your ancestors. While some relate only to Royal Marines, others contain details of those in the Royal Navy as well. There are also many other records in other collections, such as the War Office collections, where information relating to John Dunmore’s pension is found. For a thorough guide to naval records, please see Randolph Cock and N. A. M. Roger’s guide ‘A Guide to the Naval Records in The National Archives of the UK’ which can be downloaded free of charge as a PDF file. [5]

Endnotes

[1] Certified Copy of an Entry of Death, Thomas Matthew Dunmore Buyrn, General Register Office, March Quarter, St George in the East Registration District, Volume: 1c, Page: 1909.
[2] Discovery, The National Archives, available at: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/, accessed: 22nd June 2022.
[3] Garth, Thomas, Record of the Royal Marines, PRO Publications, 1994. [Note: The fold-out appendix is between pages 54 and 55.]
[4] How to look for records of… Royal Navy ships’ log books, The National Archives, available at:
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/royal-navy-ships-voyages-log-books/, accessed: 22nd June 2022.
[5] Cock, Randolph & Rodger, N. A. M, A Guide to the Naval Records in The National Archives of the UK, The Institute of Historical Research and The National Archives, 2006.

Other Useful Guides and Information

Pappalardo, Bruno, Tracing Your Naval Ancestors, Public Record Office, 2003.
Brooks, Richard & Little, Matthew, Tracing Your Royal Marine Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians, Pen & Sword, 2008.
Van der Merwe, Pieter, A Refuge for All: A Short History of Greenwich Hospital, Greenwich Hospital, 2010.
Rodger, N. A. M, Naval Records for Genealogists, Public Record Office, 1998.
How to look for record of… Royal Marines officers, The National Archives, available at: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/royal-marines-officers/, accessed: 22nd June 2022.

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The Role of the Census Enumerator

25/3/2022

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Love him or hate him, the Census Enumerator is one of those unknown faces who crosses your path, almost on a daily basis, whilst you research your Family History and someone you just can’t live without! But who was this mysterious character that could make you yelp with delight one minute, then cry with frustration the next. The role of the Census Enumerator for many of us, is something that you maybe wouldn’t give much consideration to, unless you were stuck with a census brick wall to knock down. But by understanding his role a bit more, it might help you to unlock a mystery or two and might even help you demolish your own brick wall.

The first census was held in England and Wales in 1801 and this was taken in every County and was just a basic national headcount. In some parishes, if you are lucky, there are some unofficial lists of inhabitants, but as this was not an official undertaking, surviving records are sparse. It was not until 1841, that a full countrywide census was taken and the names of all the occupants of every household were recorded. The 1841 census and subsequent censuses, were administered in census districts which were based on the registration districts used in the civil registration of births, deaths and marriages. Each census district was sub-divided into enumeration districts and each enumeration district contained approximately 200 households, or an equivalent area, that the average enumerator could be expected to get round in a single day.

The enumerators were selected for their local knowledge, intelligence, education, reliability and respectability. The role of the enumerator was to deliver to each household a Householder’s Schedule, with written instructions on how the form was to be completed. The head of the household was required, by law, to complete the form on the Sunday night of the census, detailing all those persons who were sleeping in the house that night. Night-workers who were away working, but would be returning to the household that morning to sleep, were also to be listed. Special forms were supplied for asylums, hospitals, schools and similar institutions with over 100 occupants. The enumerator returned the following day and collected the Householder’s Schedule and they checked the contents for discrepancies and clarified anything they did not understand, or helped the householder to complete the Schedule, for example if they could not read or write.
Once all the Householder’s Schedules were collected, the enumerator entered all the particulars in the Census Enumerator’s Book and it is these books that we regularly search on sites such as Ancestry and FindMypast. Both sets of documents were then submitted for checking and examination by the district registrar before they were sent to the Census Office in the General Register Office in London. There they were again checked, and with a few exceptions for the 1841 – 1901 census, the Householders’ Schedules were then destroyed. The exception being the 1911 census Householders’ Schedules, which have been retained.

The data provided was then analysed and recorded in a series of tables as a final Census report. We sometimes forget that the population Census was actually taken for a reason and that it wasn’t actually intended to be used for genealogy purposes! The information taken during the census was used by the Government to plan public funded services including healthcare, housing, education and transport. Under the Hundred Year rule, the data was and still is inaccessible to the general public for 100 years, but after that, it becomes a treasure trove for anyone tracing their family tree.
There was also specific definitions that the Enumerator’s had to adhere, for example:

A household is defined as: “One person living alone, or a group of people (who do not have to be related) living at the same address who share cooking facilities and share a living room or sitting room or dining area”.
A householder is defined as:
“A person who usually lives at this address and, on their own or with someone else: owns or rents the accommodation, and/or pays the household bills and expenses”

So how can understanding the role help you find that elusive ancestor of yours?

Whilst it’s fantastic that all the Census records are now available online, taking things into context is vital when studying the lives of our ancestors. It’s far to easy to grab the image that you were searching for, add those details to your tree and move onto the next one. If you can, time permitting, you should always look at your ancestors neighbours, look at neighboring streets on the pages either side, were there any common occupations amongst them? What were the living conditions like, are we talking about a cramped two up, two down terraced house, or maybe a more middle class suburban life? Ask yourself these questions and you can quickly learn about the social context in which your ancestors lived. Are we in a rural location with agricultural labourers a plenty? By posing these questions and using the information from the adjacent pages of the census, you can quite quickly get a “feel” for the life that your ancestor was leading. I always check the first and last pages of a registration district schedule as well, sometimes you might find some additional notes made by the enumerator at the time, which can give you a real insight into the task he was undertaking and the area that your ancestor lived. Take time to understand the abbreviations used in the schedules, MS = Male Servant., FS = Female Servant and IND = Independent means are just a few examples. Also the definition of a border is different to that of a lodger, so you will gain more from your results if you understand the roles and terminology. I urge you next time to walk the whole route with the enumerator, follow the whole schedule, ideally whilst looking at a relevant map.

A large quantity of maps are available to view online at the National Library of Scotland website. NLS Website It’s by comparing the two side by side, that you get a much more rounded view of the place your ancestor lived and the role of the enumerator itself.

If you understand more about the role of the enumerator itself, it can also help you understand how easily your ancestor might have slipped through the net. Although in reality, not many actually did slip through the net, it’s more a case of transcription errors and people turning up in the places that you didn’t expect. On a ship for example, in a hospital, institution, or workhouse, where in many cases individuals were only listed by their initials. A lot of the times, the accuracy and the amount of effort that went into the finished article, that we search online, depended on the integrity of the individual enumerators in the area that you are researching. Local accents will always sway what is finally recorded, in a similar way to the early parish registers’s, an enumerator could only write what he thought he heard, if the head of the household could not read or write. So bear in mind local dialect and accents when carrying out your searches. A reason for a missing ancestor from a census return could be varied, but the most likely explanation is that they are there, but you just can’t find them, but that’s whole different story.

Not all Census Enumerator’s were ‘happy with their lot’, some were extremely disgruntled about many aspects of the job, but most were unhappy about what they got paid, given the level of responsibility they were undertaking and also to a lesser extent, the risk they were taking. Walking the back streets of Victorian London for example wasn’t for the feint-hearted! Professional Researcher and Author David Annal gives an excellent example of this in his excellent book:
Census The Family Historian’s Guide Published by The National Archives link available below
Census The Family Historian’s Guide

There there are many great examples, but I have chosen this particular entry for Mortlake in 1871 and this is viewable on the major websites and can be found at the start of the enumerator’s schedule.
“Very badly paid. I think if Government Officials had to do it, they would be paid treble the amount”

Let me finish with this one……………
A Census Enumerator approached the house of Mrs Karen Mills. After asking her a series of questions and taking down her replies, he asked her age. She chuckled bashfully and replied, “have you asked the Hills family next door?” “No” was his confused reply. ” I’m about as old as them” she told the Enumerator.
The next week she went to check her updated details and she saw this
Name: Karen Mills
Age : As old as the hills
Be careful of what you say………..
Further reading why not try Peter Christian and David Annal’s Census: The Family Historian’s Guide and Emma Jolly’s Tracing Your Ancestors Using the Census (Pen & Sword) both packed with lots of helpful information and books that every aspiring Family History Researcher should have in their collection.

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The Forgotten Heroes of Family History - discover why business records make brilliant sources!

26/1/2022

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Cashbook Purchases 1877. Private Collection

Old business records and account ledgers may not always be welcome reminders of times past for everyone, but for the historian, what's not to love? Sandwiched between the salaries, rent, and vehicle HP are the stories of people – business owners, their associates, employees, suppliers, customers, and even on occasion, the people who went before. Changes in the economic and political environment, social customs and logistics are reflected in numbers with notes pencilled in the margin. The history of land, buildings, streets, villages and cities lie buried behind the unwritten words on the page. Passport visas tell of exotic travel as do condolences written in foreign hands. The disruption caused by War – friend become foe, identity cards, letters and communications from far-flung places, hospital beds and the ‘Ministry’. Hidden amongst the mundane are snippets of daily family life, important dates and events. Business records really can be the forgotten heroes of family history.

It was Susan Smith, a farmer and researcher from Darlington who, in telling the story of her findings amongst the pages of an old family ledger, reminded me of the rich pickings business accounts can be! First though, here is Susan’s story .

“Mother Died Dec 19th 1921.”

After my grandfather, George Herbert Stephenson, died in 1986 I inherited his old account books and papers which accumulated over a lifetime involved in haulage and farming in and around Piercebridge, County Durham. The biggest treasure of all was his earliest account ledger, covering the 1920’s period when the brothers were haulage contractors.

Picture An old accounts ledger with red leather spine and gold lettering

The old ledger belonging to Susan's grandfather. Private Collection.

As I run my fingers across the cover of this ledger I can feel the same bumps and grooves that my grandfather would have felt; the scuffs at the edges of the book cover, the lovely ornate embossing around the edges of the oxblood-coloured leather encasing the corners and spine. Its fusty smell betrays its age. His entries a tangible connection to those who went before. He would have opened this ledger every day to record the comings and goings of the business. Filling it with the social history we family history enthusiasts crave.

Today, in my minds-eye I can see him sitting at his desk, pencil in hand and licking the point of the lead before writing an entry. The picture below is of the last pages in this ledger, entitled ‘This Page for local news only.’

Picture Local news entries in a ledger dated 1921

The page in the ledger '...for local news only.' Private Collection.

The first entry in these pages at the top of page 169 simply states “Mother Died Dec 19th 1921“.

Picture Page heading with words 'Mother died Dec 19th 1921'

Enlarged view of local news page.

I was hit with a wave of sadness upon reading this, how would my grandfather have been feeling when he sat to write those words? You see to me, this entry seemed devoid of feeling - just a statement of fact on a page amongst the other local news and business of the day, such as:-

2 load manure for school
Bought Grainger horse £15
Roand cow calved.

At the time of his mother’s death my grandfather would have been 24 years old but his youngest brother Stanley, only 13. 'Mother' refers to my great grandmother Florence Mary Stephenson. (nee Wilson). Perhaps the reason for my grandfather’s seemingly emotionless ledger entry can be found in a newspaper report the day after her death.

Picture Newspaper clipping containing death notice of Florence Stephenson

Clipping from Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail. Tuesday 20 Dec 1921.

It appears Florence had been feeling unwell for a few days when she left the family home in Piercebridge and 'later her body was discovered in the Tees'. Florence had drowned.

Her Death Certificate was illuminating:-

So perhaps my Grandfather was in shock or denial, or just grief-stricken when he wrote the words “Mother died” in the Ledger here before me.

Picture extract from death record of a suicide

Extract from Florence's death certificate.

ENDS

'Personals' in Business Records

Business records are often brimming with snippets recalling events in personal lives as well as charting the history of a company. Way back in April 2014, I delved into the company archives of Naylor Hewitt Ltd., later Connolly Shaw Fruit Brokers. Like Susan, amongst the ‘variegated’ selection of business papers in an old black tin box belonging to Richard (Dick) Hewitt my maternal grandfather, are carbon copies of family announcements.

Picture An old black tin strong box with Naylor Hewitt Ltd written on it.

The old black tin box of Naylor Hewitt Ltd. Private Collection.

There are letters of congratulations on the birth of a child (himself in 1908) and letters of condolence in both English and Spanish on the sudden death of his mother in September 1960. Through the memories of those whose lives she touched, the letters provide insights into the character and personality of the lady under the big Edwardian hats!

There are more arrivals, passings and ‘joinings together’ in faded fuzzy ink, typed on fragile tissue paper. From the births and marriage notices of his children to the death notice for his own relative named Florence. His aunt, Annie Florence (Florrie) Dryden - Benson nee Hewitt who died at Platts Lane, Hampstead in 1950.

Picture An old telegram bTelegram Book and extract from May 1890.ook and extract dated May 1890

Telegram Book and extract from May 1890. Private Collection.

Florrie Hewitt and her brother Nat appear as ‘bairns’ in telegraphic messages from the 1890s. They were sent from their father James Hewitt whilst traveling on business visiting growers & suppliers. This note tells of the evening entertainments he enjoyed. A night out at the ‘Alhambra’, a theatre and music hall in Leicester Square deprived of its license in 1870 for presenting the ‘Can-Can’, too racy for Victorian sensitivities.

‘When it opened in 1854 The Alhambra Theatre hosted one of the few bars to accept women without the escort of a man. Once described as the “greatest place of infamy in all London”, it had a reputation for banging nights out.
The leading ladies of the stage would descend underground after their performance, declaring, “Come, won’t you bring me my liquor?”. They would flirt, eat oysters, drink champagne and make eligible acquaintances.
Lost in a fire in 1882, the site was rebuilt but said to be cursed by housing such debauchery and eventually demolished in 1936 to become the Odeon Theatre.[1]

The snippets of social history and private lives lie juxtaposed with prices of ‘New York Pippins’, ‘Duke of Wellington’s’, ‘Naples Lemons’ and broccoli. The names, Senior Garcia, Knill, White, Keeling and Bulman. ‘Five baskets of tomatoes’ and Fyffes who were ‘sending bananas tonight that are scarce and dear’ to arrive in Newcastle before breakfast.

Picture Accounts for Flowers Hotel in Southampton and Gardners Hotel in Guernsey 1898

Accounts for Flowers Hotel in Southampton and Gardners Hotel in Guernsey 1898. Private Collection.

Hotel bills provide further evidence of James Hewitt’s travels. Tea, aerated water and lemonade suggest an abstemious lifestyle. Or, perhaps not wanting to pay London prices, he travelled with supplies tucked away in his luggage. The telegrams portray an efficient businessman who bestowed a good deal of love and a great many kisses on his family from a distance.

Picture James Hewitt's red leather accounts book showing entries from Nov & Dec 1879.

James Hewitt's red leather accounts book showing entries from Nov & Dec 1879. Private Collection.

His little red pocketbook from the 1870s records the trading with growers and wholesalers. Vegetables, fruit and flowers sourced from around the world were shipped into Newcastle by steamship and train. The cashbook from the 1880s reflects the changing face of logistics. Rent for stabling, clipping of horses and straw in place of garaging, servicing and fuel for vehicles today.

Picture Purchase ledger for November 1877

Purchase ledger for November 1877. Private Collection.

World War I

Time passed and the ‘bairns’ joined the business. Then, in 1914, trade and associated transport were disrupted by War. Young men sent to the front, the losses, sometimes personal, of those who did not return were felt keenly at home.

Picture Employees names and addresses circa 1917

Employees names and addresses circa 1917. Private Collection.

Names, addresses and ages of those who remained, listed and posted in clear public view by order of the government. The human side of the business on display.

Picture Correspondence from British Consulate and Foreign Trade Dept 1916

Correspondence from British Consulate and Foreign Trade Dept 1916. Private Collection.

Trading restrictions enforced and friends mistakenly caught betwixt jealous informers and zealous bureaucracy. The folders of letters tell of loyalties and friendships forged during this period that lasted generations. Shortages and salvage incentives reflect the hardships and the horrors of war. The public urged to cut back; nothing was to be wasted. Even fruit stones were salvaged to combat poison gas at the front. The poster’s message is strong and clear.

Picture WW1 salvage campaign for fruit stones and nutshells to make charcoal for masks against poison gas.

WW1 salvage campaign for fruit stones and nutshells to make charcoal for masks against poison gas. Private Collection.

A ledger covering the period is yet to give up its secrets. To date, the contents remain hidden behind the security of a brass Brahma lock that has long since lost its key.

The history of buildings and places

The Dispensary, 14 Nelson Street, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Documents record post-War business expansion and a merger with Connolly Shaw Ltd. The acquisition in 1927 of the Old Dispensary at 14 Nelson Street in the heart of Newcastle’s iconic Grainger Town soon followed. It was a significant purchase of a building with human history at its heart. The history of the Dispensary, however, predates its time at 14 Nelson Street.

The Dispensary was established in April 1777 and funded through subscriptions, gifts and legacies. Its first site was in The Side but in 1782 or 1783 it moved to Pilgrim Street where it remained until 1790. For the next fifty years, the Trustees leased a building in Low Friar Chare. At the expiry of the lease, the Dispensary moved to 14 Nelson Street, where it remained until 1928. Its final move was to 115 New Bridge Street which was still its home when it finally closed in 1976.[2]

Picture Offer letter fort the purchase of the Dispensary, 14 Nelson Street, Newcastle in 1927.

Offer letter for the purchase of the Dispensary, 14 Nelson Street, Newcastle in 1927. Photographs Commons Media, Newcastle Libraries & Creative Commons, Geograph.org. Letter Private Collection.

During the fifty years the Dispensary was located on Nelson Street, in ministering to the City's sick, it touched the lives of thousands of individuals. It witnessed the Cholera epidemic of 1853 and lost one of its own a decade later. Dr William Thomas Carr MRSA contracted a fever ‘in the course of his arduous and dangerous duties as a medical officer of the Dispensary’ and died on November 29th 1863.

Today, all that remains of the building purpose-built to house the Dispensary in 1836, is the façade. It provides an elegant frontage to the Eldon Shopping Centre behind.

The Fruit Exchange, Spitalfields, London

In 1929 Connolly Shaw Ltd was among the six founding members of the London Fruit Exchange in Spitalfields, London.

Opening in 1929, when the volume of imported produce coming through the docks more than doubled in the ten years after the First World War, the mighty Fruit & Wool Exchange in Spitalfields was created to maintain London’s pre-eminence as a global distribution centre. The classical stone facade, closely resembling the design of Nicholas Hawksmoor’s Christ Church nearby, established it as a temple dedicated to fresh produce as fruits that were once unfamiliar, and fruits that were out of season, became available for the first time to the British people.[3]

The exchange closed for business in 1991 and the building has been the subject of redevelopment in recent years. Its distinctive frontage at 1 - 10 Brushfield Street has, however, been retained.

Another World War

Picture Selection of Air Mail & letters from Spain during WW2 bearing Censor stamps

Selection of Air Mail & letters from Spain during WW2 bearing Censor stamps. Private Collection.

The expansion of the 20s was followed by the global depression of the 1930s. But there is little evidence retained from the latter period in the Black Box. Before heading towards, the next collection of documents bears testimony to the disruption of WW2. Letters from Spain with the stamps of Franco, Forces Airmail from the Egyptian desert, both franked by the Censor are filed alongside an unusual Red Cross Telegram.

Picture Red Cross Telegram from Holland dated 1944.

Red Cross Telegram from Holland dated 1944. Private Collection.

A telegram from Buenos Airies reading ‘Cordially with you on Victory Day’ and a newspaper cutting of rebuilding at Hull rounds off the second period of global conflict. There is also quantity of documents relating to the relocation of premises, markets and re-development of Newcastle City Centre and a mountain of records that could yield some interesting economic data. But the collection culminates with cards and letters bearing ‘best wishes for a long and happy retirement’. The final piece of correspondence is dated 25th June 1974. It is my grandfather’s resignation as Director of the company with effect from the end of the month.

Picture Newspaper cutting showing Connolly Shaw Fruit Market rebuilt after WW2.

Newspaper cutting showing Connolly Shaw Fruit Market rebuilt after WW2. Private Collection

His black tin box contains 100 years of history of the fruit trade and encompasses three generations of the same family. Skimming through the contents is a vibrant journey alongside interesting people and thought-provoking places. I feel I now know them a bit better for it, but I can’t help the odd pang of nostalgia for a past I never knew!

A wee bit of fun to end

I couldn't help but smile when I found this note dated 2 Feb 1906 regarding a one penny overcharge. A reminder of the old adage, 'take care of the pennies and the pounds take care of themselves'. But as it was kept, it clearly amused my grandfather too!

Picture Note of an overcharge of one penny dated Feb 1906.

Note of an overcharge of one penny dated Feb 1906. Private Collection.

Footnotes

[1] The Lost Alhambra, Leicester Square
https://www.thelostalhambra.co.uk/

[2] The National Archives Kew,
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/8e55bb34-bcea-498f-8a47-7f9644c682b1
(Tyne and Wear Archives catalogue is unavailable at the time of writing due to essential maintenance.)

[1] Spitalfields Life, ‘So Long, Spitalfields Fruit & Wool Exchange’
https://spitalfieldslife.com/2012/10/11/so-long-spitalfields-fruit-wool-exchange/

Links to further information

The Alhambra

Memoirs of a Metro Girl. The lost Moorish palace of showbiz and sin: The story of Leicester Square’s Alhambra
https://memoirsofametrogirl.com/2021/05/05/alhambra-leicester-square-history-victorian-theatre/

Theatres Trust Database, the Alhambra
ttps://database.theatrestrust.org.uk/resources/theatres/show/3263-alhambra-theatre-london

Cinema Treasures, The Alhambra
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/30493

The Old Dispensary & Newcastle’s Grainger Town

Historic England, 14 Nelson Street
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1024812?section=official-listing

English Heritage, Newcastle's Grainger Town An Urban Renaissance, London, 2003. (84 page pdf downloadable publication about the history of Grainger Town and recent conservation project.)
https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/newcastles-grainger-town/newcastles-grainger-town/

The London Fruit and Wool Exchange

Spitalfields Life, At The Fruit & Wool Exchange, 1937
https://spitalfieldslife.com/2020/01/11/at-the-fruit-wool-exchange-1937-x/ (Some wonderful articles on this website!)

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Are You a Genealogist or Family Historian?

19/1/2022

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The problem that I find with labels, whether you give them to yourself or you are given them, is that they can actually be slightly misleading. My original tongue-in-cheek title that I gave myself, at the start of the blog; ‘Enthusiastic Amateur’, although only meant as fun, can actually have a negative impact on how people might view you. The word amateur can imply either a lack of experience or level of expertise and can also suggest a lack of quality. I am sure many of the amateurs amongst us, including myself, would feel slightly aggrieved at being thought of in that way. So, therefore, the name that we give ourselves can potentially be more significant than we actually realise. You could also consider at what point and what level of experience do you consider it reasonable to give yourself a “Title”.

The results were quite revealing. The two most common replies were indeed ‘Family Historian’ and Genealogist and there was a noticeable difference between the replies from UK ‘Genies’ compared to my American friends. It does appear that there is a divide of opinion across the pond. It might well be a cultural difference in language? I would love to hear your views on the subject.

In my view, a ‘Family Historian’ is someone that researches people, places, cultures, heritage and the context of where and when our ancestors lived. Whereas a Genealogist implies somebody who just researches pedigree’s (family tree’s), of course, I am sure that some of you will disagree with this.

There were certainly lots of variations of both these terms, some humorous and others, just a subtle variation of the original two; Here are just a few examples of the alternatives;

Genealogy Geek, Collector of Stories, Family Researcher, Historical Researcher, Story Teller, Armchair Genealogist, Story Keeper, Family History Keeper, to name but a few.

So, has my own opinion changed from my original thoughts? Whilst I am still very much ‘enthusiastic’ and I am still not a ‘professional’, I have opted to change my title to ‘Story Teller’, which best describes what I am trying to achieve, but Family Historian also ‘fits’ rather nicely. Does any of this really matter and is it really that important? Yes, if you hope to make a living at Genealogy or Family History, but less so if you are a hobbyist, such as myself.

If you have your own thoughts, I would really love to hear from you and maybe you call yourself something entirely different. Over the years, I have also affectionately referred to myself as ‘The Happy Reaper’ because of my obsession with trying to find the final resting places of as many of my Ancestors as I can, but that’s an entirely different story.

Just for fun, I have created a few new titles for you all to enjoy. Maybe you fit into one of these categories instead?

Tree Harvester – Someone who collects and ‘hoovers up’ trees and people from anyone’s tree they find on our favourite Genealogy website, probably has a tree that contains over 50, 000 names on it.
Cut and Paste King – Someone who thinks in Genealogical terms that GPS means Global Positioning System. Somebody that is quite happy to cut and paste any relative facts from someone else’s tree and thinks that as far as verifying the details are concerned, they are happy that “it must be a fact, because I saw it online”.
The Magpie – Who hasn’t been attracted by that ‘Bright Shiny Genealogical Object’? We all have to a certain degree, but it takes strong willpower and discipline not to spend all day, every day, chasing ‘Fools Gold’.
The Ethnicity Expert – Takes a DNA test purely for the Ethnicity Estimate and frustratingly for you and me, has no interest in Family History or building a family tree. Never replies to a DNA message.
The Surfer – Spends many days aimlessly flitting around our favourite websites with no structure or method and repeats the same searches again and again and again……

The Archiphobe – Someone that thinks that all records are online and has never left the comfort of their armchair, very dismissive of others who suggest that there are ‘other records available’.
The Finisher – Someone who has obviously ‘finished’ their family tree and cannot understand why the rest of us are lagging behind.

So which one are you?………………

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Was Christmas Crackers? Religious reforms and repeals on both sides of the Border

30/12/2021

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Susie Douglas at Borders Ancestry

Decorative box lid for Tom Smith's Christmas Crackers from 1911 Unknown artist in 1911, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Religious Reform in Seventeenth Century England

As Christmas and New Year festivities for some have been curtailed for the second year in a row my thoughts drifted to the time of the seventeenth century when celebrating Christmas was outlawed in 1643. The period 1638 to 1660 was a turbulent time of Civil Wars that

…witnessed the trial and execution of a king, the formation of a republic in England, a theocracy in Scotland and the subjugation of Ireland. [1]

It was also a time of religious reforms that sought further distance from the Roman Catholic Church. The traditional festivities associated with the 12 days of Christmas fell out of favour as the Protestant faith replaced Catholicism on both sides of the Border. The trappings that accompanied certain religious feast days particularly Christmas were deemed unbiblical, ‘popish’ and ‘a time of wasteful and immoral behaviour’. The Puritan Parliament in England passed an ordinance on 19th December 1643

… encouraging subjects to treat the mid-winter period 'with the more solemn humiliation because it may call to remembrance our sins, and the sins of our forefathers, who have turned this feast, pretending the memory of Christ, into an extreme forgetfulness of him, by giving liberty to carnal and sensual delights'.[2]

The festive period is steeped in traditions drawn or adapted from bygone eras reaching back deep into prehistory.

The origins of Christmas stretch back thousands of years to prehistoric celebrations around the midwinter solstice. And many of the traditions we cherish today have been shaped by centuries of changing beliefs, politics, technology, taste and commerce.[3]

'Lord of Misrule' & the Christmas Cracker

Some traditions are highly symbolic, but one is downright bonkers! Have you ever wondered why, after a delicious meal washed down with a goodly amount of Christmas ‘spirit’, we pull crackers, wear paper crowns and tell appalling jokes? Well, crackers also owe their origins to ages past and the tradition of ‘Misrule’, itself based on the Roman Feast of Saturnalia.

Christian Wilhelm Allers, 1888. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Particularly popular in the time of the Medieval Manor and Tudor Courts, the ‘Lord of Misrule’ (in Scotland the ‘Abbot of Unreason’) was appointed from the surfs or peasantry to preside over Christmas festivities. His ‘rule’ turned the usual social order on its head so that fools became Lords or Kings and vice versa. It involved colourful pageantry, drunkenness and associated revelry but its popularity began to wane during the protestant reign of Elizabeth I. The rise of the Puritan movement in the seventeenth century saw Misrule abolished altogether along with other Christmas activities such as dancing, drinking, non-religious plays and singing carols.

Even after the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 when Christmas festivities re-emerged, the ‘Lord of Misrule’, deemed too disruptive, remained banned. It was soon forgotten altogether until it re-emerged in the guise of a cardboard tube with a ‘banger’ invented by Tom Smith in 1847. Over the years the contents of the cracker have changed from sweets and trinkets to include the terrible jokes and paper crowns we know today as a nostalgic salute to the ‘Lord of Misrule’.

The Scottish Ban on Christmas

When it comes to banning Christmas, however, Scotland has an 80-year head start. Although the English Reformation began in circa 1527 with Henry VIII’s break from Rome, the religious reforms of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, although slightly later, were more far-reaching. The first meeting of the General Assembly, the supreme court of the Church of Scotland was held in 1560. Some vestiges of the old Christmas traditions survived, for a short time at least, as records of the Palace of Holyrood bear witness.

In the Christmas of either 1563 or 1564, Mary, Queen of Scots (r. 1561-1567) held a ball at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where she and her guests celebrated the ‘Feast of the Bean’. The ritual began at the start of the Christmas period and involved hiding a bean in a cake: the person to find it would be crowned ‘King/Queen of the Bean’. In this year, Mary Fleming, who was one of the Queen’s ladies, found the bean and was dressed in the Queen’s clothes as a prize.[4]

A formal outright ban, however, was lurking on the horizon.

In 1575 the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland abolished ‘all days that hereto have been kept holy except the Sabbath day, such as Yule day, saints’ days and such others’. Nevertheless, Scots continued to celebrate Hogmanay. Changes in church government meant that in 1640 and again in 1690 Parliament abolished the ‘Yule Vacance’ observed by the courts. The 1640 Act stated:

“….the Kirk within this kingdom is now purged of all superstitious observations of dates…thairfor the Saudis estates have discharged and simply dischairges the foirsaid Yule vacance and all observation thairof in tymecoming”

TRANSLATION
“…the Kirk within this kingdom is now purged of all superstitious observation of days…therefore the said estates have discharged and simply discharge the foresaid Yule vacation and all observation thereof in time coming”[5]

Link to
Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707 (www.rps.ac.uk)

Reforms Repealed

'Peasants Celebrating Twelfth Night' (1635). David Teniers the Younger 1610 - 1690, Flemish. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In other words, ‘The Christmas holiday and associated festivities are cancelled for the foreseeable future.’ So, it would seem the Puritan Parliament of 1643 was playing catch-up with its neighbours north of the Border. The Restoration in 1660 saw the ban on Christmas overturned in England, but Scotland did not follow suit. ‘While part of each act was repealed in 1686 and 1712 respectively, the Church of Scotland continued to discourage ‘Yule’ celebrations.’ Although Christmas became a Bank Holiday in Scotland under Lubbock’s Bank Holiday Act of 1871, shops and businesses were under no obligation to close. Here, Hogmanay continued to be the focus of mid-winter festivities. Christmas remained suppressed by the Church until the pressure of commercialism and economics prevailed in the period post-WWII. The unravelling of Scotland’s Christmas story continues in the NRS Blog of 2018.

The period of administration following the execution of the King in 1649 was the first attempt at uniting the nations of England, Scotland and Ireland under one government and creating a tolerant national protestant church. The Civil Wars and associated hostilities were a bloody time that witnessed a huge loss of life – estimated to have been as much as 7% of the population. The National Archives online learning resources contain interesting documents from the period (including the affects on lives of women) and the BCW Project is essential reading for anyone interested in the prominent people, places and politics during this fascinating period in history. For a glimpse at daily life of ordinary folk in the seventeenth century, ‘Sex, Lice and Chamber Pots in Pepys' London’ on the BBC History website provides a light-hearted look! For a longer and more absorbing post-Christmas read, the historical novel ‘An Instance of the Fingerpost’ by Iain Pears, comes highly recommended! Although fictitious and set in Oxford after the Restoration in 1663, many of the characters are actual historical figures and the preceding Cromwellian period is never far away.

End Notes

[1] BCW Project, British Civil Wars, Commonwealth & Protectorate 1638 – 1660 http://bcw-project.org/
[2] Historic England, Did Oliver Cromwell really ban Christmas?
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/what-is-designation/heritage-highlights/did-oliver-cromwell-really-ban-christmas/
[3] English Heritage takes a tour of ‘Christmas’ through the ages starting 5000 years ago with the Neolithic
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/christmas/the-history-of-christmas/
[4] Christmas at the Palace of Holyroodhouse
https://www.royal.uk/christmas-palace-holyroodhouse
[5] National Records of Scotland, Christmas Banned in Scotland
https://blog.nrscotland.gov.uk/2018/12/10/christmas-banned-in-scotland/

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“I’ve done a DNA test.”

24/11/2021

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Genealogy enthusiast, Susan Smith of Darlington, shares the story of how she became hooked on history ..

The McDermott Family

That’s what Mother suddenly came out with one day about 3 years ago.
It certainly came as a surprise to me! I had previously had a passing interest in my family history and an Ancestry.co.uk subscription on and off for a few years, but the thought of Mother taking a DNA test was a daunting yet curious and exciting prospect.

It all came about when a distant relative contacted Mother out of the blue, asking her if she would agree to take an Ancestry DNA test as they were exploring the paternity of someone in their own family history. Mother was his closest living relative (or not as it turned out!).

My Mother’s family history research began when her own Mother died in 1998 and she received a bundle of papers to sort through. In amongst the various old passports, driving licences, Cooperative Stamp Books and pension paraphernalia was her Fathers Birth Certificate.

And something was missing.

The story Mother had grown up with was that her father, Stanley McDermott, was the youngest of nine children and his parents were Thomas and Susan McDermott of Bradbury, County Durham.

But these names were not written on his birth certificate!

Stanley McDermott

Stanley’s mother was named as Mary Agnes McDermott and there was no father named.

This was the spark that ignited Mother’s family history research. She spent many hours talking to family members, trawling the St Catherine’s House Index at the County Records Offices, searching newspaper archives, micro-fiche and as many old documents as she could. Soon a lovely hand drawn family tree took shape and a folio of newspaper clippings, BDM certificates and handwritten stories grew. But this ground to a halt when all the stories and the leads dried up.

Fast forward to the DNA test in 2018.

I found the whole process of using DNA to confirm your ancestors super interesting. It appealed to the scientist in me that chromosomes could be matched and used to find unknown relatives.

Once Mothers DNA results appeared on her Ancestry account my curiosity sprang to life and I had to begin to investigate who Mother’s biological Grandfather actually was. Initially, I was faced with a huge list of her relatives, there were more than 17000 of them and we didn’t recognise ANY of their names. So the process of finding out who all these people sharing DNA with my Mother were began. Since then family history has become an obsession!

*****

We would love to make this slot a regular feature, so do send us the story of how you caught the #familyhistory bug. Please email your 500 to 750 words and a couple of pics to the team and we shall share them with the #AncestryHour followers!

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Ancestors in Agriculture? Sources to find their amazing lost voices.

27/10/2021

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Susie Douglas of Borders Ancestry considers some sources when the voices of agricultural workers can be found.

Making Hay at Longhoughton, Northumberland circa 1920s.

January 1 [1833]
'Here my friends, we are just entered again upon another New Year!!!
Struggling against debts, taxes, tithes and feudal impositions, these are trying things.'

The above extract dated 1st January 1833, is the opening line from the diary of William Brewis, a farmer of Throphill Hall Farm, Mitford. It covers 17 years from 1833 until his death in 1850. It reflects upon the concerns, economic and political of the time that faced farmers in rural Northumberland and beyond

There is much to learn about rural life of the period from diaries such as these which provide vital social commentary. And it was not all doom and gloom! There are family celebrations, fairs, festivals and other occasions of social and sporting events. William's political persuasion and his views on local, national and even international matters are never in doubt. Despite being his personal account, it is packed full of other people. He even had plenty to say about some of my own ancestors who happened to be his relatives too!

This month's blog addresses a point raised amongst the fantastic feedback to 'Eight Easy Ways to create compelling Ancestral Life Stories'. Most ancestors will not have left diaries, letters, or had books written about them so how is it possible to learn more of their journeys?

Voices from the past are everywhere, often hidden in plain sight. It's a case of knowing where to look and thinking 'outside the box'. They appear in books, old documents, newspapers, oral recordings, and in other people's diaries such as Williams. Farmers aside, a large percentage of the population was employed in agriculture as Hinds, Shepherds and Labourers. Huge numbers of people lived a transient life as they moved from farm to farm, often on an annual basis.

Among the hinds* there are not many to be found who were born in the parish where they are at present employed; and very few are there who drew their first breath in the cottage which is now assigned to them, or even on the property which they enrich by the sweat of their brow. They are hired, for the most part, from year to year, on an agreement which binds them to their employer for twelve months, beginning and ending about Whitsuntide ...

* The hind is an agricultural servant, whose engagement generally lasts for a year, and for whom a cottage is provided by his employer during the period for which he is hired. He is bound to find a woman to perform fieldwork.[1]

Female Farm Worker at Longhoughton 1920s

This provision of a female outworker as part of the Hind's 'Bond' or employment contract was peculiar to Northumberland, the eastern Scottish Borders and the Lothians. Author Dinah Iredale's guest blog of February 2014, provides an excellent overview of this practice. Her book 'Bondagers: The History of Women Farmworkers in Northumberland and South East Scotland' is an excellent source of information and references. Many of the quotations within this blog come from within its pages. Particularly the chapters covering Flitting, Hirings and workers' accommodation.

The Flitting

Before the Flitting and Hiring, came the 'Speaking', where the farmer and hinds would discuss a potential extension of his contract for another year. The Hind was under no obligation to accept an offer and had the right to move and find another situation.

'Flitting Day' in Northumberland was the 12th May. (In the Scottish Borders and Lothians it was the 26th May which sometimes caused logistical issues.) Although referred to as 'The May' it bore no resemblance to festivities held elsewhere. Hastings Neville in 1909 recalls the scene as '… roads morning to evening thronged with carts piled high with the furniture and bedding of a large proportion of our population.' He further recalls ' the furniture in one cart piled to a dangerous height, with the grandfather clock lying lengthwise and risking its life on the top. In the second cart are the women and children seated on the bedding, caring for the caged canary and the cherished pelargonium which grew at the cottage window…'[2]

There are mixed accounts over the 'flitting'. Some look back with affectionate nostalgia at what must have been quite an upheaval to undertake every year.

'Well there were usually three carts. Oo got a' the furniture on the three carts. Usually, the third yin wis what they ca'ed a short cart, that was a sma' yin. And the mother usually went in the wi' the youngest bairns and the cat, if ye had yin, or the pig in a bag. It would lie squealin in the straw.'[3]

Photo courtesy of Northumberland Communities: Farm workers, or hinds, with their families and horses and carts at the Lamb Inn at Ancroft on "Flitting" day circa 1880. https://communities.northumberland.gov.uk/005380.htm

Another lady recalls 'the cat would be the first thing to be 'packed' on flittin morning, in case it disappeared during the flurry'.[4]

The 'flit' was so ingrained in some that even in old age they persisted with the annual move. One chap of 80 employed at East Bolton in 1910 when asked if he would stay replied, ' I've nivver been ony mair than a year in ony place an' I'm no 'gain tae begin in my old age.'[5] And another, on finally deciding to stay put, asked the farmer 'if he might have a couple of carts for a short time … Just to ta' take the furniture a bit doon the road.'[6]

Others seem relieved to see the back of it.

'I'll tell you what I like best? Not having to flit every year. It was awful, thon flittin'. I remember driving a horse and cart through the square in Kelso with all the furniture and my mother up at the back.'[7]

Older family members living with the next generation were also involved in the 'flit'. There are tales of 'Granny' passing away the previous night, but due to the shortage of time, being bundled in with the furniture to be dealt with on arrival at the other end!

Very often the vacated cottage would receive its new occupants later the same day. Leaving the vacated cottage clean and tidy with coals and kindling ready for the incoming tenants to light a fire seems to have been an unwritten code. That was if the fire grate had not gone on the cart too, as was usual in earlier periods.

Housing

There are many accounts of the accommodation provided for farmworkers, some foul and some fair. It is generally accepted that before the nineteenth-century reforms, the state of housing throughout Northumberland, the Scottish Borders and Lothians was generally poor. Some accounts dating from the twentieth century are not pretty reading either. W.S. Gilly D.D., Vicar of Norham (1831) and Canon of Durham drew attention to the poor conditions of labourers' cottages and campaigned for changes. He refers to the cottages as 'miserable hovels', where 'the walls look as if they will scarcely hold together' and 'the thatch yawning to admit wind and wet'. His book 'The Peasantry of the Border: An Appeal on Their Behalf' contains some useful background information.

In 1805 George Culley and John Bailey noted in a report that they had seen some significant housing improvements. That '…those [buildings] erected of later years are better adapted to the various purposes wanted on extensive farms and improved cultivation…' . Whereas their predecessors were 'very shabby and ill-contrived.'[8] (Those built from the mid-eighteenth century onwards often followed the same pattern of my own home. A long row of stone cottages, (6), of two rooms roughly 5m x 4m with a single door and two windows. There was a separate row of buildings housing the pigsty and the 'netty'.)

An interesting snippet on the state of a vacated cottage appears in Walter White's book 'Northumberland and the Border':

'See an empty cottage before the hind has brought in his lumbering box there's, chairs and table, before he has set up his grate in the empty fireplace, fitted his window to the empty hole in the wall and you will think it's not good enough to be a stable.'[9]

And another quoted from a first-hand account:

‘… about ninety years ago when there were no ovens and no windows; when people shifted they had ti' take their windows and fireplaces with them. No, the houses weren't all alike, the windows were different sizes, and they had to be made right with boards and cow dung.'[10]

Female Farm Worker with Cows and Calves at Longhoughton early 1950s.

Other commentators note that, 'in the poorest dwellings the division between man and beast was only a low wooden partition. It was reckoned to be beneficial to 'let the coo see the fire'.[11]

This is no isolated comment as there are frequent references to man and beast sharing a roof with little to separate them. When trying to connect with ancestors, it is helpful to list the things they did NOT own or even have access to. By today's standards toilets and running water were non-existent. In the words of Jean Willis of Alnwick in the 1920s and 1930s, 'the water tap [standpipe] served seven families and was a good distance from the house…. The netty was outside and … the wooden seat had two holes, a high one and a low one for a child.' (I remember the old disused 'double seater' outside the farmhouse at Longhoughton, but don't recollect a difference in the height of the seat!) Jean continues, 'The one netty had to serve three families ( about 15 people). It was no use if you were in a hurry and someone else was in. There was no sink to wash your hands after.'[12]

It was not all grey, grim and smelly, though, as when 'put to rights' it was possible to make the cottages into a surprisingly comfortable and colourful home. As noted by the Rev Gilly as he describes the dresser with its 'large blue dishes and plates, some of Staffordshire ware, and other of Delf, intermixed with old china or porcelain tea-pots, cups and saucers…' and a 'handsome clock in the tall case and a chest of drawers'. He also remarks that there are books in most households with family bible taking pride of place. All this once past the cow that greeted him immediately inside the door!

Standards of accommodation mattered, and a Hind was not above asking his prospective employer 'What sort of cottages have you?' before accepting a position.[13] At the Hirings in the late-nineteenth early twentieth century, another man's view was, 'family came first' and that 'a good house was worth £1 a week in the wage.'[14]

Making Hay at Longhoughton, Northumberland circa 1920s.

Memories of the 'Hirings'

These were often large gatherings where workers would be well turned out, sometimes wearing an emblem of their trade, such as a tuft of wool, whipcord, or a sprig of hawthorn in their hats. In 1827, Alexander Somerville, hoping to be hired as a Carter, also put a piece of straw in his mouth to show he was looking for a position.

The Hirings were criticised as demeaning for those looking for work. In 1913 the general secretary of the Scottish Farm Servants Union noted '…the farmers went through the men pretty much the same way as they did their cattle.' With another lady remarking that 'my old aunt was a bondager. She said they used to stand on the cobbles at Alnwick and the farmers used to look them up and down as if they were horses.[15]

An extract from the recollections of John Clay of Kerchesters, Sprouston and later Chicago suggests that some farmers also found the Hirings, an uncomfortable experience.

John Clay of Chicago. Account dated circa 1877.

John even found hiring casual labour by the week distasteful.

John Clay of Chicago. Account dated circa 1877.

As the Hirings were also an occasion for folk to gather, it was a boom time for irregular marriages and socialising. Others went for this entertainment such as two girls who went to the hirings 'for sport'. 'The girls go the hirings and like it. They wear their best clothes and their white veils and bonnets. They often look a lump better than the gentry, for they look fresher like.'[16]

There was also the inevitable element of drunkenness and disorderly behaviour. In 1875 at the March Hirings at Alnwick, Thomas Waite employed by John Smith of Longhoughton became involved in a brawl in which a policeman lost his life. (Later found to have been due to a heart attack rather than the ensuing riot.)

Looking deeper into the lives of agricultural ancestors makes for a fascinating study. Uprooting family and belongings, sometimes on an annual basis may sound unsettling by modern standards. But voices from the past often speak fondly of the event. The crowded cottage with little privacy, no 'facilities' and a cow in the back room is beyond the comprehension of today's demands of at least one toilet per resident backside. But the past often tells of a warmth, colour and family unity absent in the present. Far from lost or even unrecorded, numerous sources contain the voices of rural men and women from the past. It is perhaps a case of tuning the modern ear to the correct frequency so they can be heard.

Stacking Bales at Longhoughton, Northumberland circa early 1950s. Spot the ever present family pet!

Footnotes

[1] W. S Gilly D.D. 'The Peasantry of the Border: An Appeal on Their Behalf' 2nd Edition, London, 1842
https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/_/NexK1GL4XWAC?hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjUo-eX6efzAhUllIsKHUMUB1MQ7_IDegQIBxAD
[2] Rev. Hastings M Neville, ‘A Corner in the North: Yesterday and Today with Border Folk’, 1909
[3] Ian MacDougall, Bondagers. Eight Scots Women Farm Workers,
Tuckwell Press, 2000. Mary King b. 1905 describing a flitting circa 1916. Cited in Dinah Iredale 'Bondagers'
[4] Barbara W Robertson, 'Family Life: Border Farm Workers in the Early Decades of the Twentieth Century', Scottish Life and Society. The Individual and Community Life, John Donald, Edinburgh, 2005. Cited in Dinah Iredale, 'Bondagers'.
[5] Bolton Parish Description, Scottish Women's Rural Institute, 1974. Cited in Dinah Iredale's 'Bondagers'
[6] Ellingham Women's Institute, Collectanea. Scraps of English Folklore, XI, 1904.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0015587X.1925.9718328
[7] The Scotsman, Wednesday 5 July 1978. Liz Taylor interview with Mary Rutherford formerly of Mellerstain.
[8] John Bailey and George Culley, 'General View of the Agriculture of Northumberland, Cumberland and Westmorland.' 1805. Available through Google Books
https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/General_View_of_the_Agriculture_of_the_C.html?id=A3ZbAAAAQAAJ&redir_esc=y
[9] Walter White, Northumberland and the Border, London, 1859. Available through Archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/northumberlanda00whitgoog/page/n7/mode/2up?view=theater
[10] Rosalie E Bosanquet, 'In the Troublesome Times' 1929. Second-hand copies are readily available to purchase online.
[11] Ian and Kathleen Whyte, 'The Changing Scottish Landscape 1500 – 1800', 1991. Cited in Dinah Iredale 'The Bondagers'.
[12] Dinah Iredale, ‘Bondagers: The History of Women Farmworkers in Northumberland and South East Scotland’ 2nd Edition, Berwick, 2011. p. 105.
[13] Henley, 'Employment of Children, Young Persons and Women in Agriculture' Royal Commission on Labour, HMSO, 1867.
[14] Minnie Bell, School of Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh. Cited by Dinah Iredale.
[15] Katrina Porteous, 'The Bonny Fisher Lad', People's History Series Ltd, 2004. May Douglas, cited in Dinah Iredale's 'Bondagers'.
[16] Arthur Wilson Fox, 'The Agricultural Labourer: Report upon The Poor Law Union of Glendale' (Northumberland), Royal Commission on Labour, HMSO, 1893. Cited in Dinah Iredale’s, 'Bondagers'

The ancestor that never was

23/9/2021

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Rachel Bellerby of Family Tree magazine reflects on saying goodbye to an ancestor who was never hers, due to a long-ago error that some of us might also have made…

Sarah Palmer, born in Keighley, West Yorkshire in 1835. I’d found her via her marriage to my 3 x great-grandfather and discovered her date of birth from census records. She was the brick wall I just couldn’t break down and she was my 3 x great-grandmother. Or so I thought.

Sarah was one of the ancestors on what was one of the easiest branches of my tree to trace. As a family history newbie 15 or 20 years ago, I’d shied away from the Irish branches of my tree (and there were quite a few), taking comfort in the fact that Sarah’s line was largely UK-based, in an area local to me and should, therefore, be easy to trace.

An unbreakable brick wall

Try as I might, though, I could never get beyond Sarah’s birth. I couldn’t find a record of her parents’ marriage, or see them on any census. The only records that might work were for families miles away from Keighley. Ancestry sent me record hints, offering related records from far and wide but none fitted. I think even at that early, inexperienced stage, I knew that something wasn’t right. And so, I left Sarah and carried on building my tree, learning new skills and connecting with other researchers. But something kept calling me back.

I was fond of Sarah Palmer. She was born just down the road from me. She was alive when the Bronte sisters were a few miles away in Haworth, she would have been about twelve when Charlotte Bronte published Jane Eyre. It was time to go right back to basics.

That long-ago mistake comes to light

So, it was back to the starting point and hopefully, with more experience behind me, I might be able to make progress. As it would turn out, the answer had been there all the time. Looking at the marriage details again, I realised that I’d never examined the original record. As a newbie, I’d been happy to accept the transcription I’d found at face value and had diligently copied the details down onto my tree. So now for a look at the original record and there it was – Sarah Milner.

Even though the brick wall had come tumbling down before my eyes, I couldn’t help feeling a little sad. I’d lived with Sarah Palmer for so long she actually felt like a relative. Not this Sarah Milner. But of course, soon after came the rush of excitement that I’m sure many of us feel on finding a new ancestor – time to dive into the records, find her mother and father’s marriage, a new maiden name to discover, where are they on the censuses? So much to explore – and of course (blush) checking the original record each time.

And so it was goodbye to the Palmers and hello to the Milners. It’s been lots of fun tracing the Milner line and in that exciting way that family trees tend to do, the Milners have led me down an exciting route. I’ve followed them to Georgian Manchester and on to a textile trader in Lower Saxony, Germany. My journey will go on. I do miss Sarah Palmer. Without knowing it, this Yorkshire lass from my own neck of the woods has led me on a record tracing adventure across the North Sea. Maybe she was never mine, but I won’t forget her.

(photo by Renee Fisher on Unsplash)

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How Much Does Your Past Shape Your Future?

18/7/2021

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Can you be defined by what your ancestors did or who your ancestors were?

This is probably a question that can equally be aimed at psychology students as well as Historians or Family Historians and one that is probably far more advanced than my level of education! Having said that, I do have my own thoughts and views on the subject, as I am sure you all have.

I would say that to a certain degree a lot of what shapes us today is inherited and part of our DNA, but not everything about us, comes from inherited DNA. We also learn from a young age from what we see and what we are surrounded by, a child will learn from a step-father equally as much as from a biological father. What we do learn and discover does not necessarily have to define us, we are all individual and unique and although we learn through both nature and nurture, there is also a certain amount of 'free spirit' within all of us. It is that 'free spirit' and ability to challenge what we know and what we accept, that makes us all different. The amount of 'free spirit' in each and every one of us will be different, even siblings can be vastly different in their make up.

Life experiences also play a big part in shaping who we are today, both good and bad experiences will shape our thought processes, but again they do not have to define who we are today. These life experiences should help us with future decision making, although some people struggle to learn from past experiences. Your current life is, to a large extent, the result of your past actions, choices and experiences, but you don't have to be defined by them.

Our memories can also cloud our thought processes in both a positive and negative way. When I think about my childhood and the school holidays, for example, all I can remember are gloriously sunny days and playing out every day. The reality is of course that I am only remembering the good bits, we no doubt had just as many awful summers back then as we do today, but my selective memory only picks out the 'good bits'. Memories can also be heavily influenced by emotions, both good and bad, those emotions then become permanently attached to the memories. Our past shapes the person that we are today for the good and the not so good. How we view our past experiences both consciously and subconsciously will shape how we approach life today.

Therefore, can we be defined by what our ancestors did?

You are not your past, nor are you your ancestors past. Your past does not define your future, but it certainly helps to shape it, either consciously or sub-consciously.

Nobody can predict the future and what it will bring. But, it is important to recognise that the only way you can plan for the future is by drawing on your memories of the past. Whether that includes your ancestral memories and the memories of your ancestors is still up for debate.

I don't have the answers to the original question, but I would be really interested to hear the thoughts of others, especially those who have real life experiences that they can say have defined their own lives.

My Dad sadly died when I was just 3 years old, I was too young to have any memories of him, do I think it shaped my future? Absolutely, of course it did. It totally changed my life, without me even realising it. I grew up with a completely different life to the one that I could have had. As I have grown older, that thought has filled my head all the time. The 'what-if's' and the moments that I have missed. Has that shaped my future, definitely it has, but so have many other things? We are all a mixture of a lot of things and what happens in our past will definitely be a part of who we are today, but not every part. We are defined and shaped by our past, our present and we also have the power to influence and make changes in the future. So, our past does shape our future, but it doesn't have to define who we are today.

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<<Previous

​Part 1. Background

​Ancroft Church and links with the Sibbit Family

​Sibbit land Occupation and Ownership at Ancroft

​A Bit About Adam

​Footnotes & Links

By Richard Holt

​Navigating the Records - Royal Marines

Endnotes

​Other Useful Guides and Information

​“Mother Died Dec 19th 1921.”

​'Personals' in Business Records

​World War I

​The history of buildings and places

The Dispensary, 14 Nelson Street, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

The Fruit Exchange, Spitalfields, London

​A wee bit of fun to end

Footnotes

​Links to further information

​The Alhambra

​The Old Dispensary & Newcastle’s Grainger Town

​The London Fruit and Wool Exchange

Religious Reform in Seventeenth Century England

​'Lord of Misrule' & the Christmas Cracker

​The Scottish Ban on Christmas

​Reforms Repealed

​Further Reading

​End Notes

Genealogy enthusiast, Susan Smith of Darlington, shares the story of how she became hooked on history ..

The Flitting

​Housing

Memories of the 'Hirings'

Footnotes

Other Links

Author

Archives

Part 1. Background

Ancroft Church and links with the Sibbit Family

Sibbit land Occupation and Ownership at Ancroft

A Bit About Adam

Footnotes & Links

Navigating the Records - Royal Marines

Other Useful Guides and Information

“Mother Died Dec 19th 1921.”

'Personals' in Business Records

World War I

The history of buildings and places

A wee bit of fun to end

Links to further information

The Alhambra

The Old Dispensary & Newcastle’s Grainger Town

The London Fruit and Wool Exchange

'Lord of Misrule' & the Christmas Cracker

The Scottish Ban on Christmas

Reforms Repealed

Further Reading

End Notes

Housing