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Tag: genealogy

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Christmas Weddings – Myth or Fact?

Christmas wedding

Christmas weddings are understood by many genealogists and family historians to have happened more frequently than weddings on other days. Others say this is simply not true. Surprisingly little in the way of actual research appears to have been done on the subject. Do we just notice a Christmas wedding between our ancestors more than we notice one held on a more ordinary day?

Why would anyone marry on Christmas Day?

These days, no one would really consider getting married at Christmas. Churches are busy, friends would be unlikely to attend as they would be visiting with their family, finding caterers would be horrendously difficult…but go back a century or two and things were very different.

In the days before trade unions were formed and worker’s conditions were improved, it was rare to get more than one day off each week. People worked extremely long hours and often had only Sundays for themselves. The only time of year when people knew they would have two days in a row off was at Christmas. Christmas day was a day off to attend church. However, the next day (Boxing Day or St Stephen’s Day) was one of the four bank holidays for the year from 1871. This meant that there were always two days off. This often also allowed people the luxury of travelling home if they’d been working away, so it may also have been the only time of year for many families that they could all be together. Therefore the rumour of multiple Christmas weddings makes logistical sense.

It is also said that ‘batch weddings‘ were often offered at Christmas, especially in poorer areas. This was to encourage people to marry – the cost could otherwise be prohibitive at several shillings. There does not appear to be much in the way of documentary evidence to support this practice, although reports of local churches doing it can be found occasionally in the newspapers.

What about Christmas weddings in my family tree?

I have long believed that Christmas weddings were in fact a ‘thing’. From the earliest days of my interest in family history, I have noticed what seemed to be more frequent than expected marriages on that date in my tree. I wish I could run a report to analyse my tree for occurrences of that wedding date (maybe this could be assigned as a holiday project for a younger family member to get them into genealogy!). However, I knew if I took a quick look I’d have no trouble finding some. Bingo! Within five minutes I had found my great grandparents Frederick Seal and Rose Davies. They married in 1902 at St George, Hockley, Birmingham. This church is a major one in my paternal family tree.

Christmas wedding Seal Davies
My great grandparents Frederick Seal and Rose Davies married on Christmas day 1902.

I didn’t need to look much further to find that Fred’s uncle Thomas Pearsall married Elizabeth Adcock on Christmas day in the same church in 1889.

Christmas wedding Pearsall Adcock
Frederick Seal’s half-uncle Thomas Pearsall also married on Christmas day in the same church, 13 years earlier.

Checking the marriage registers for several years revealed that Christmas weddings are not a myth. At least not at this church or in this era. Away from the Christmas period, there was a wedding approximately every week or two. Each Christmas day, between ten and thirteen couples were married there.

Christmas wedding St George church

When I jumped forward a couple of decades in the same register, the pattern was gone. There were occasional Christmas day weddings but no more frequent, and probably less so than other dates. This rather neatly coincides with the improvement of working conditions, allowing people more freedom to choose the date of their nuptials.

What about your family? Were Christmas day weddings common for your ancestors? Comment below!

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Ferdinando Kuffeler – Sheep of Many Colours?

Kuffeler galleon

For the past couple of weeks, I have dwelt on the darker side of our family histories. The black sheep and the shame they brought to their families at the time. Sometimes looking at their actions through our current day values rehabilitates them and shows them just to be human. Sometimes what they did will remain a dark stain on the family tree for all time.

Occasionally, however, it is difficult to know whether someone was a black sheep or just had a very exciting and unusual life! I have an ancestor who I am hesitant to label a black sheep using the limited amount of information I have. I have my suspicions he wasn’t always the ‘good guy’ but suspect his full story will never be known.

The glimpses into his life that I have found have intrigued me and left me wanting more. But for a man who clearly lived his life to the fullest, he left remarkably few records of it. Okay, that’s probably not true. There will be records somewhere. It’s just time to pull out all stops to find them. And perhaps I shouldn’t be writing about him till I’ve done that, but he irresistibly draws me in while we’re on this topic of ‘outrageous ancestors’!

Captain Ferdinando Kuffeler

Ferdinando Kuffeler was born in 1646, the son of Johannes Siebertus Kuffeler and his wife Catherine Drebbel (daughter of Cornelis Drebbel). I am yet to find evidence of his baptism. He may have been born in London where his father operated a dye works in Stratford-by-Bow. More likely he was born in the Netherlands, where the family also had dye works in Katwijk and Hulckenstyn near Arnhem, and where his younger brother Edward was baptised. My next step in locating his baptism records will be to do a deep dive into Dutch records around these areas in particular.

The first official records I have of his existence appear in 1668. On 22nd October, a marriage allegation is completed in London, showing him to be a bachelor of St Margaret’s Westminster, and his intended bride Katherine Graves of St Clements Danes. That very same day, they rushed off to the Chapel of the Holy Trinity in Knightsbridge and got married. In that same year, he is listed as a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber of Charles II. This is somewhat unsurprising, given that his grandfather had been at the court of James I, and his father had been involved in attempting to develop an exploding torpedo for Charles II.

Marriage allegation Ferdinando Kuffeler
Marriage allegation between Ferdinando Kuffeler and Katherine Graves.

Bigamist or widower?

At some stage, probably in the early to mid-1770s his wife bore him a daughter, Catherine. No baptism has been found, but she married in 1697 at St Margaret’s Westminster, to a John Burchett. I have found no evidence of Ferdinando and Katherine having any other children together.

Recently I found a Dutch book of pedigrees published in 1760 which contained the Kuffeler family, including Ferdinando. Known names and dates tallied well and it provided the names of several additional siblings to Ferdinando that I had not known of. It even stated categorically that Ferdinando had one child.

Kuffeler dutch genealogy
Genealogy of the Kuffeler family published in the Netherlands in 1760. Ferdinando is stated to have one child…

I flipped the page expecting to see the child listed as being Catherine. But no…it was a Leonora! Herein lies another mystery. Was he widowed and did he remarry in the Netherlands? If so, why would the book not show both sets of offspring?

I am slightly suspicious that Ferdinando may have had a family on both sides of the sea. I have not found a marriage for him yet in the Netherlands, nor is his Dutch wife named in this document. No burial record for Katherine has yet been found.

kuffeler dutch genealogy
…but this child is not the one he had he had in London!

Interestingly, Leonora’s son Abraham Engelgraaf was living in London at the time of his death in 1775, which names the same wife as in the document shown above – so the family definitely had links with England. Whether or not the Engelgraafs and Burchetts knew one another is yet to be discovered, however!

Privateer or Scammer?

Now here is where I get really mystified as to how so little has been written about Ferdinando. Look at the advertisement below, found in a compendium called Rariora. The story sounds like an Errol Flynn-style swashbuckling adventure! Interestingly he is referred to as Captain Kuffeler, hinting at some kind of military, perhaps naval career. No evidence has been found so far that this is the case.

Kuffeler galleon
Broadsheet advertisement for sale of shares in the Spanish Galleon booty found in ‘Rariora’.

There are a couple of possibilities here. Ferdinando really was taken prisoner and learnt of the wreck of a Spanish Galleon loaded with treasures galore. Or he made it up. Did he really swear an oath in Chancery? He may have, but it hasn’t turned up in the catalogue of the National Archives. Still digging. Did he really get a licence to fish for the wreck, or is it some elaborate hoax? Still looking. Regardless, at least one person bought shares…

Kuffeler Gostwick bill of sale
Indenture of Assignment of a grant of 120 shares in the Spanish Galleon wreckage to Charles Gostwick of St Giles in the Fields.

Mr Charles Gostwick, a gentleman of St Giles in the Fields bought 120 of the 1000 shares from Ferdinando. If the expedition was successful, presumably he ended up an extremely wealthy man. I suspect he didn’t.

We know the Ferdinando Kuffeler selling the shares was the same Ferdinando as the one married to Katherine Graves (as if the strikingly unusual name wasn’t enough!). Take a look at the bottom of the Indenture and you can see his faint signature. A great match for the one on the marriage allegation.

I have as yet found no further mention of Ferdinando in records of the time, official or unofficial. He seems to have disappeared completely though he managed to remain partially obscured for most of his life.

Forgive me for doubting his integrity, but at this stage, I am unconvinced that he does not for one reason or another, deserve the black sheep title. Either way, he’s definitely a fascinating ancestor, about whom I hope to learn much much more…

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Edward Girling – Black Sheep

Edward Girling is my three times great grandfather, and one of my grimmer black sheep ancestors. Last week I wrote about the spice that can be added to your family tree when you research the people that didn’t quite fit the mould of the rest of the family. In many cases, it can bring interest, joy and even humour into the tree. But at other times it can also be confronting and unpleasant to see the results of your forebear’s choices in life. I have two such ancestors, both named Edward (you’ve already heard the tale of Edward Field) and both responsible for the death of an immediate family member.

 

Who was Edward Girling?

Edward Girling was born in 1811 in Sandiacre, Derbyshire. He was the son of a self-described ‘quack doctor’ named William Girling, and his second wife Charlotte (nee Wilkinson). There is rarely a Girling in my tree who is not somewhat eccentric at the very least!

At the age of 21, he married Mary Boot and soon after the young couple and their daughter Charlotte moved to Birmingham where Edward worked as a scale beam maker. Three more children were born to Edward and Mary during the next twelve years.

Along came my great great grandmother…

Then in 1850 my great-great-grandmother Eliza was born. This child was different from the rest, however. Her mother was not Mary Boot, but Sarah Girling, nee Bytheway! Sarah had been married to a William Bennet Girling of London, but he had left her for another woman a few years previously, whom he subsequently and bigamously married. Sarah named Edward as the father of Eliza, and DNA matches have confirmed that we are linked to the Sandiacre Girlings. I have yet to connect the two Girling branches but it seems odd that both men that she bore children to shared the same unusual surname.

By that time, Edward’s younger brother Reuben had also moved to Birmingham with his family, taken up the same trade as Edward and lived nearby. One of his sons founded Girling Brakes, so they’re not all a bad lot!

The Death of Mary Girling

Fast forward to 1885. On the 15th of June Mary Girling was found dead in the marital home. Following an inquest held on the 19th June, a warrant was issued for the arrest of her husband. Mary’s cause of death had been deemed to be ‘syncope, consequent upon chronic bronchitis’. Edward was accused of wilful neglect of his wife during her illness, and charged with manslaughter.

The Birmingham Calendar of Prisoners (see below) outlines the bare bones of Edward’s case. But as I mentioned last week, black sheep often provide us with further sources of information.

Girling Calendar of Prisoners
Edward Girling’s entry in the Calendar of Prisoners.

Edward Girling in the News

Even by today’s standards, this was a sensational case. It was seized upon not only by the local press but all over the country. Newspapers from the Aberdeen Evening Express to the Luton Times and Bedfordshire Advertiser were reporting on the ‘deplorable character’ who was Edward Girling. And as is the situation today, not everything they said was accurate. Some of it was worse.

It seems that Mary had been living out of the marital home earlier in the year, as their youngest daughter was dying. Mary was living with her to provide nursing, comfort and assistance around the home. The daughter passed away in February and by Easter Mary had moved back in with Edward.

Girling inquest

The inquest of Mary Ann Girling, as reported by the Birmingham Daily Post, 20 June 1885

The newspapers had reported that by this time he was living with his brother’s widow Fanny. Shocking stuff. Except that none of his dead brothers had been married to a Fanny. The brother that lived in Birmingham was still alive and married to a Lavinia. The newspapers either didn’t know (or decided not to report) that Fanny was actually his daughter-in-law, not widowed and they had been living together on and off as man and wife since at least 1871, when they are together on census night! Fanny’s children/Edward’s grandchildren were raised from early childhood by their father John. Edward and Fanny reportedly spent much of their time carousing at local drinking establishments.

Mary suffered from chronic bronchitis. In the weeks preceding her death, she had become bedridden and required assistance and medical attention. Her granddaughter Caroline and a neighbour Emma Layton had been trying to help her by visiting and bringing food and medicine. Mary had said she was being starved and beaten, and indeed the neighbour had been threatened with a stick when she brought some broth around for Mary resulting in police intervention. However in the fortnight before she died, no one had been able to see her, as Edward and Fanny had taken to locking her inside when they went out drinking for the day. When asked to provide a doctor they always said they were going to but didn’t.

The Trial of Edward Girling

Girling trial

Report on the trial of Edward Girling. Birmingham Daily Post, 7th August 1885.

The trial had been delayed when Fanny ran off in early July. She was charged with absconding to avoid giving evidence. The reason she gave was that she was being threatened by relatives of the deceased. I have as yet found no documents to support her having suffered any consequences of either this or for the death of Mary.

When the trial finally took place in early August, the ‘decrepit old man’ had obtained no legal counsel and defended himself against prosecutor Mr Etherington Smith. Unsurprisingly, given the shocking evidence provided by Henry Hawkes the coroner and multiple witnesses, it was a short trial. He was found guilty by the jury and received 18 months of hard labour at Winson Green prison in Birmingham. It would have and should have been a longer sentence, but the judge took pity on him because of his age. Nonetheless, he died soon after he did his time. I’m not sure he would have been mourned by anyone other than perhaps his daughter-in-law and girlfriend Fanny.

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The Black Sheep Ancestor: Take One Family Tree, Add a Dash of Spice…

Black sheep
Where are the black sheep in your family?

What is a black sheep ancestor?

A black sheep ancestor is one who brings shame to the family. The term originates from black wool being traditionally less valuable than white because it is unable to be dyed.

It may be as simple as being a little eccentric or rebellious in a family that is otherwise highly conformist. It may be a young woman who gave birth out of wedlock. Or it could be a family member who commits a crime. Regardless, the black sheep is a disgraced family member who is often shunned by the rest.

Why are black sheep ancestors so interesting?

It is human nature to be intrigued by people who live outside of society’s norms, whether they be criminals or people who have unusual or extreme lifestyles. Look how popular true crime, crime dramas, murder mysteries, reality shows, and soap operas are on TV. Some of the most popular authors are those who write about criminals, fictional or not. Historical criminal figures such as Ned Kelly, Al Capone and Jack the Ripper intrigue us to this day and are unlikely ever to be forgotten.

Black sheep also add colour to our family history and every family has at least one! The great thing about discovering a black sheep ancestor is that there is often a lot of information available about them!

Skeleton in the cupboard
Every family has skeletons in the cupboard. Credit: Wellcome Library, London.

How do we find out about them?

The first hint we get of a black sheep is often the absence of open information within the family though. Perhaps the great-uncle that older family members only whisper about. Maybe the cousin no one speaks about. Perhaps an entire line of the family tree is not discussed. The black sheep is not usually what you are going to hear about when collecting oral history (unless you’re really lucky!). People like to keep the family skeletons in the cupboard, not bring them out to be talked about. Whatever you happen to pick up or overhear is likely to be inaccurate and incomplete. Make sure you cross-check every detail for clues and construct the best timeline you can. Then you need to verify and fill in the gaps using information from outside the family.

Luckily, the more notorious or outrageous the black sheep is, the more information is available. And even if the wrongdoing was only minor, there is likely to be documentary evidence somewhere.

Some sources to consider

A great place to look is in newspapers. Crimes are often reported on both at the time and when the trial occurs, and these reports tend to be a lot less dry to read than the formal documents. Depending on the paper they can actually become quite lurid, for example, the ‘penny dreadful’ illustrated papers of Victorian England.

Some of the sites to check out for newspapers include the British Newspaper Archive (also available through FindMyPast), Newspapers.com (also via Ancestry), Trove (free site for Australian newspapers), and Papers Past (free site for NZ newspapers). Also, do not neglect looking for local history books.

Black sheep reporting
You may be lucky enough to find a dramatic and illustrated version of your ancestor’s misdeeds in a ‘penny dreadful’ newspaper!

For the actual facts about the crime, trial and punishment, there are multiple sources of information such as inquests and coroner’s reports, police gazettes, court records, gaol and prison records and multiple forms of convict documents (about which expect a future blog!). Pictures and/or physical descriptions of the black sheep are not uncommon in several of these documents.

If they left the country, you may find them on passenger lists, or they might have passport applications you can consult.

Illegitimacy black sheep
Young woman accusing married man of fathering her unborn child. Credit: Wellcome Collection

The parish chest can also be revealing. Poor law records such as removal and settlement examinations and orders can provide a lot of information. For illegitimacy see if any bastardy bonds are available. DNA can also be a useful modern tool for validating paternity!

One place where family members might speak out a little is in their will! And if there were legal quarrels in Chancery all sorts of family gossip can be found if you know where to look!

All the feels…

Finding a black sheep ancestor can stir up all sorts of mixed feelings. It is natural to want to feel proud of your family, and believe they are good people. It can be quite a blow to realise that some of them just weren’t likeable (remember my Edward Field?). This doesn’t apply to all, or even a majority of the black sheep though. People were often just doing their best to survive in harsh times.

Remember they were living in different times, with different societal expectations. Most of us today would be considered black sheep if we were transplanted into the 19th Century! Don’t be quick to judge. Take into account the time period and circumstances, and put their story into context. Was it really so wrong to steal food during a famine? Wrong enough to potentially be hung or transported across the world?

At the same time, it is important to be sensitive to the potential ongoing feelings of shame or embarrassment in living relatives who are of an era incompatible with the actions of the black sheep (e.g., unwed mothers, convict ancestry). Do not hide the truth, or worse cover it with white lies. However, be careful how excitedly public you go with information if someone still with us can be hurt.

Convict black sheep
Have you found any convict ancestors? (A.k.a Australian ‘royalty’!)

Next week, I will tell the tale of one or two of my many black sheep, as I have written far too much this week already! In the meantime..who is YOUR black sheep and what did they do?

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Walking the Streets of My London Ancestors – The East End

Wilkes St, Spitalfields
John and Sarah (nee Morter) Rigby were living here at Wilkes St, Spitalfields in 1861, when the census was held and when their son John married Charlotte Teague.

While I was in London attending RootsTech, I put aside a day to go wandering. Not so much tourist-style wandering, but ancestral wandering. A maternal branch of my family has strong roots in the East End of London, so I decided to walk in the footsteps of my London ancestors for a day! It is something I heartily recommend you do if you get the opportunity. However, as with trips to the archives, preparation is key. If you know exactly where key events occurred in your ancestors’ lives, or exactly where they lived, and worked, you can literally stand where they stood. An amazing feeling!

Preparing to visit your ancestral neighbourhood

Go through the documents you have collected for the ancestors in the area you will be visiting. Look for addresses, landmarks, churches, workplaces, schools etc. Make a note of the addresses. I made a spreadsheet so I could sort by street name, ancestor, event and so on. I added an additional column for ‘current street name’. Why? Because street names change more frequently than you might think! London was extensively bombed during WW2, and also underwent a lot of growth prior to that. Many many old street names were lost. I found this site invaluable in finding the current day names for 19th-century London addresses.

The next item I looked for to help me was an old street map. By using a street map from the era of your ancestors you can see not only where the streets are in relation to one another but, for example, how comparatively rural the area may have then been. Over the decades, streets may have been partly demolished, changed course or extended. I found a map from 1853, another from 1882, and even one from the late 1700s. I printed all these out, highlighted the relevant streets and attached my spreadsheet. Now I was ready to visit my London ancestors! Using Google Maps on my phone once there I could chart a course for my East End wandering.

The local church

The first place I stopped was St Matthew’s church in Bethnal Green. It wasn’t the only church used by my London ancestors. They often got married down the road at Christchurch Spitalfields. But for baptisms, burials and regular Sunday worship, this was their main church. When I arrived, to my surprise it was open, an unusual thing these days! Then I remembered it was Sunday. I tiptoed inside hoping to get a quick look at the interior, but I was spotted by the small congregation and ended up attending the service (and having a cup of tea with them afterwards!)

St Matthew's church, Bethnal Green
St Matthew’s church, Bethnal Green

The church had been badly damaged during the war, so the inside was quite modern. The old font that many of my family had been baptised in was gone. But it was lovely to spend a little time in the space where so many of their significant life moments had occurred. A little later in the day I popped into Christchurch Spitalfields too.

St Matthews Bethnal Green plaque inside church
Plaque commemorating the bombing of St Matthew’s church in Bethnal Green.

The neighbourhood

Leaving the church, I followed the trail on my map and began seeking out the addresses my London ancestors had occupied. My main people from this neighbourhood were the Morter, Rigby, Teague, Townley, and Wright families.

Turning onto Brick Lane, I was suddenly confronted by market stalls, buskers, crowds and the smells of delicious foods! Brick Lane Market is held on a Sunday. I love markets! The sun was shining, I was on a genealogical adventure whilst simultaneously experiencing a market. Could life get any better?

Bacon St, Shoreditch
Bacon St, Shoreditch. Formerly Thomas St, this street is the epicentre of my mid-1800’s London ancestry. John and Sarah (nee Morter) Rigby lived at number 5 in the 1861 and 1871 censuses, and Sarah’s mother died there in 1866. Enoch Teague as at 17 at the 1851 Census, his wife Sarah (nee Townley) having died at number 19 in 1842. Their daughter Charlotte was at 23 in the 1861 census living with her married sister Emma.
Cygnet St, Shoreditch
Cygnet St (formerly Swan Yard and Swan Terrace), Shoreditch. Between 1815 and 1820, John and Sarah (nee Wright) Morter were giving Swan Yard as their address as they were baptising their children, including their daughter Sarah. By 1841, Sarah junior was married to John Rigby and they were living in Swan Terrace at the time of the census.

Some of the original buildings at the addresses could still be found, however by no means all of them. Many old houses had been bombed and since replaced by office buildings, a school and a park. This was especially apparent when I visited New Inn Yard in Shoreditch, where hardly an old building could be seen.

New Inn Yard, Shoreditch
New Inn Yard, Shoreditch. When John and Sarah Morter left Swan Yard, they moved here and continued baptising several more children. From this we know that they lived here for at least 16 years. Nothing remains of the buildings of the time.
10 Hanbury St, Spitalfields
This was formerly 10 Brown’s Lane (now Hanbury St), the home of Charlotte Teague in 1861 when she married John Rigby. The blue plaque at number 12 is to commemorate the birthplace of Bud Flanagan in 1896. Just across the road, Jack the Ripper claimed his 2nd victim, Annie Chapman at number 29 (long since demolished).

Get walking!

I recommend walking in your ancestors’ local area if you get the opportunity. If nothing else it will give you a feel for the relationship of the addresses and landmarks to one another and the local geography. This will give you better insight when researching.

In my case, I truly felt a sense of belonging as well. I felt happy there. This feeling often occurs when I visit places that my family inhabited. I wonder if it is as simple as enjoying being there and seeing how my ancestors lived. Or is it something deeper? Is there something to epigenetic memory inheritance? Does it feel like home because part of me recognises it as such?

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Rootstech London – Yes, Another Genealogy Conference!

genealogy rootstech

Last week marked the end of my epic genealogy road trip. What better way to see it out than by attending RootsTech London, the third and final genealogy conference of the trip?

RootsTech is normally held in Salt Lake City in Utah, USA and is organised by FamilySearch. RootsTech is the world’s largest family history technology conference, and in this, its 10th year, they decided to hold their first international conference in London, England.

The Venue

The venue was ExCeL, a massive exhibition centre in the Docklands area. It was so large in fact that ExCeL were also able to simultaneously hold a Comic-Con on the second and third day of RootsTech! This was possibly the most unusual combination of conferences to hold in one venue. At least we didn’t have to worry about accidentally going in the wrong door, the two groups of conference attendees could not have looked more different! Common ground was found, however. Family trees were posted outside the RootsTech hall for Game of Thrones, Harry Potter and The Simpsons which generated lots of interest from strangely dressed people!

RootsTech London Excel
ExCeL London – site of RootsTech London

Keynote Speakers

There were keynote speakers on each of the three days, each giving their own perspective on the importance of family history in their lives.

On Thursday, historian Dan Snow told an extraordinarily moving tale of an ancestor of whom he was not proud, and the part he played in the unnecessary deaths of thousands of soldiers in World War 1.

Friday’s keynote speaker was Kadeena Cox. She is a British Paralympian with a truly inspiring story of courage and perseverance. Although she had not really worked on her family tree as such, both her immediate and extended family played a huge part in her success. Her tales of her West Indian heritage were full of warmth and humour. She was genuinely thrilled when she was given the gift of some further generations of her family tree and some DNA kits!

On Saturday, Donny Osmond revealed that not only was he an entertainer, but also an avid family historian and keeper of the Osmond family genealogy. He spoke and sang to an enthusiastic crowd. Sadly the queues were so long to meet him afterwards that I missed out on being one of the lucky ones!

RootsTech London Donny Osmond
This was as close as I got to Donny Osmond!

The Program

I was spoiled in the previous couple of conferences I’d been to. The first had three streams of concurrent sessions and the second was a single stream. At this conference, for every timeslot, there was a choice of about 10 talks to attend. I’d narrow it down to two or three then really struggle to decide which to attend! I ended up going with talks that covered topics that I’d not been exposed to so much in the previous conferences on this roadtrip.

On Thursday I attended several talks on Welsh genealogy. Given that I have Welsh ancestry on both sides of my family and there are unique challenges in researching the Welsh, these were very useful indeed. I also attended a class on online church court records by Colin Chapman because, well…Colin Chapman! What a legend, 70 years in the profession and he’s still as enthusiastic as ever.

Friday was a bit of a mixture of topics for me, but with a definite Irish flavour predominating. Same on Saturday – workhouse records, DNA, and a bit of fangurling again, this time Nick Barratt talking about legal sources.

Exhibition

It’s always good to spend plenty of time in the exhibition area. Firstly, as a refugee from the corporate sector I know what a huge investment companies make to support these conferences and how much that keeps the prices down for consumers. Also, it’s great to see what’s new or improved from companies whose products I use, and from companies I have not experienced before.

RootsTech London sponsors
An event like this would not be possible at an affordable price without the support of sponsors.
RootsTech London exhibition area
RootsTech London exhibition area
RootsTech London Exhibition area
RootsTech London exhibition area

There was plenty to explore in the Exhibition hall, and I especially enjoyed looking at the latest tech offerings for analysis of DNA.

Sadly, I also came to the conclusion that my fondness for books is perhaps straying into the realms of addiction. I ended up purchasing six books from the excellent Pen & Sword range. This meant having to dispose of several items of clothing and footwear to get them in my suitcase. However the conference special price meant that I was getting six for what two would cost me back in Australia!

I also took advantage of conference specials to take out long-considered memberships of the Society of Genealogists and the Guild of One-Name Studies. I can’t get wait to start digging around in their online resources, and to register at least one of the One-Name Studies I’ve embarked on over the years!

Networking

Sounds so clinical doesn’t it? It’s such an integral part of every conference, meeting new people and catching up with old friends. In the last couple of months, I feel like I’ve forged several new and wonderful friendships which I hope to continue growing. The genealogical community is a warm, welcoming and friendly one. Ironically, you immediately feel like family. I believe there were around 5000 attendees at RootsTech London. I absolutely did not meet everyone, but those I did meet were lovely!

All in all, RootsTech London was excellent, and I do hope they continue to hold international RootsTech conferences!

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Walking the Streets of My Birmingham Ancestors – Kings Norton

This week I am back in England, staying in the Midlands with my remaining close English family. Much of my family history has links to Birmingham and the surrounding areas. I was born there and many of my family lines extending back for several centuries are within the modern-day boundaries of Birmingham. Indeed, my maternal grandmother lived in the (now) suburb of Kings Norton right up to her death in 2007 without even knowing of the depth of her heritage there.

Map Kings Norton
Map showing location of Kings Norton, on the edge of modern day Birmingham

My family links to Kings Norton, however, precede the commencement of parish registers and on some lines go back at least 700 years. It seems as though almost all genealogical roads lead to Kings Norton on several branches of my tree, both maternal and paternal. I’ve often wondered if that is why I’ve always felt a connection to Kings Norton village green or whether it’s just because it is a lovely little historical oasis in a large city.

Kings Norton
Kings Norton St Nicolas’ church and the Saracen’s Head

It actually blows my mind to think that so many of my ancestors crossed paths on a daily basis with each other in what was at the time a small rural village. Their descendants gradually dispersed from Kings Norton to other towns, villages and cities such as Birmingham, Stratford on Avon, Dudley, and even further afield. Yet the lines still managed to merge again by the 20th century to produce my generation who are now living in Australia!

Kings Norton village green
Kings Norton village green

As you know by now, the thing I love about genealogy is not the names and dates but the stories of my people. So today, I’d like to share a tale about one of my least favourite ancestors. We all have black sheep, and they often create the best family stories!

Edward Field (1623-1685) of Kings Norton

The Field family of Kings Norton, Worcestershire had been in the village for many generations and were quite powerful and well-respected in the area. Edward was the son of William Field of Bells Farm which still exists today. William had taken ownership in 1638 and lived there at Bells Hall with his family.

Bells Farm today

In 1642, the Civil War broke out. Although nearby Birmingham was strongly on the Parliamentarian side, Kings Norton and William himself were staunchly Royalist. Bells Farm was situated on the road that commanded the east, and while he was building fortifications and digging tunnels, the tradespeople of Birmingham were making weapons for Cromwell’s army.

Prince Rupert and his troops turned up in 1643, finding a friendly local welcome (including the Field family), and overpowered the Parliamentarians, almost destroying Birmingham in the process. However later in the year Cromwell’s army made a comeback with large numbers of men and heavy artillery and attacked Kings Norton. William had to surrender.

There is no further trace of William. He was never seen again. There is no burial record and his body is not in the family crypt. He is believed to have been executed and his body dumped.

Edward, a young man of about 20 years of age, profited well from his father’s death. Naturally he inherited Bells Farm, which had been damaged during the battle but was then left alone. He also however mysteriously managed to acquire several other properties and much wealth. To do so at this time indicates that he was in favour with the Parliamentary forces, despite them having seen his father and the village of Kings Norton as enemies.

By the time Edward died in 1685, he was a very wealthy man indeed. He had repaired and several times extended Bells Farm, to the point where by 1666 he was paying Hearth Tax for seven fireplaces. His will is voluminous and his six children each inherited properties and a significant amount of money (except his son John who got his watch and his books!). No trace of his inventory has been found though I hope it turns up one day as I’d love to see the list of items he had acquired!

Edward was clearly a resourceful young man, who saw which way the winds of war were blowing and switched sides. To have profited so immensely, it is hard not to believe that he must have betrayed his father to assist the Parliamentary forces in breaching the fortifications of Bell Hall. Whether or not he realised it would result in his father’s death is a matter of conjecture, as is whether he ever felt regret at what he had done. Whatever the truth I do not like this ancestor. But hey, it makes a fabulous family story!

Worcestershire resources are scarce!

One of the great things about having so many ancestors from a single village is that over the years I have gathered quite a collection of resources about it. Parish register copies, local history books, collections of memorial inscriptions, some poor law records, loads of local wills etc. Being in Worcestershire, there is comparatively little available online that isn’t just indexes and transcripts. Even then it is not well covered in comparison with other English counties.

Shout out to Familysearch, FindMyPast, Ancestry, etc…please get around to digitising and publishing Worcestershire records!

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How to Get the Most Out of Visiting Archives

archive shelves

It often feels like all the world’s knowledge must be found somewhere on the internet, but you’d be surprised how much can only be accessed by visiting archives. For every amazing available on-demand item we download, there’s a hundred more sitting in boxes on shelves. Some of these boxes have not been opened in years. Some of these boxes contain the answers to our family mysteries. By visiting archives, we can demolish some of our brick walls.

Don’t be complacent and think that everything will be digitised and available online in the next couple of years. There is so much out there that the crucial documents you need might not be digitised in your lifetime!

Archives – what are they, and how do they differ from libraries?

archives

An archive exists for the preservation and safe storage of the items within it. A library, on the other hand, exists to provide access to the public for its materials, most of which can be borrowed and removed.

Archives contain books, documents, manuscripts, scrolls etc which you can consult within the archive only. They may not leave the building, and they are not usually on open shelves for browsing.

Archives exist at national, regional and local levels, and as they contain the original items, there is little overlap between the contents. It is wise to search them all!

Searching archives

The first rule of searching archives is: you do not wait until you get there. The second rule of searching archives is: you DO NOT wait until you get there!

Although the documents themselves are mostly not yet online, most archives have websites with some level of catalogue search on them. The catalogue search functionality may be absolutely brilliant, such as Discovery at the UK National Archives, or it may just be an email address to write with an enquiry. Whichever end of the spectrum your target archive is at for searching sophistication, use it before you go there.

For anyone with ancestry in the UK, I mentioned the National Archives Discovery portal for a very good reason. Discovery does not just tell you what is in the National Archives, but also what is to be found in over 2500 archives across the whole of the UK with just one search. A marvellous time-saver, definitely check it out if you are planning any archive visits there. It also lets you know if any of the documents it uncovers for you can be downloaded. Hint: if they can, take that option. You’ll need every moment you can get in the archives for those items which have not yet been digitised. Lastly, it also provides access to details such as the opening hours and requirements (appointment? readers ticket?) of the other archives so you can factor these into your plans.

When you have decided the date of your trip to the archives and you know the documents you are going to consult, preorder them. Many items are stored offsite. If you do not preorder them, you could face a long wait while they are transported to the archive building.

National Archives search page

Visiting archives

The day has come, you know what you’re going to be looking at, all items are ordered. Now you just need to show up and start researching.

Helpful hints:

  • Prioritise research lines – start with the ones most important to you, or where the documents you’ve ordered are most likely to open floodgates of information that lead to other items needing to be ordered. You can work your way through the other lines while you wait for further orders to arrive.
  • Do not take pens with you, they will not be allowed in. Take at least two pencils.
  • If allowed, take your research notes and/or laptop/tablet and a charger, as well as a phone or camera to capture images.
  • Be prepared to put your bag into a locker, you may not be able to take it in with you.
  • Take ID, they may require it.
  • Eat and drink before you go in. You are likely to be there for longer than you expect.
  • Take another layer of clothing, no matter what time of year. Archives are notoriously cool. If you are shivering you won’t concentrate well.

I wish you all the best of luck in making your way through your list of items and finding all sorts of information that you’d never have found anywhere else. Don’t forget to keep a record of the collection title and reference numbers etc for your citations. You might want to recheck it in the future for further detail, or someone else may want to consult it, so you need to know where the information came from!

archive shelves
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Genealogy Cruises – Week 2 – A Great Way to Learn

Today is the second last day of my genealogy cruise adventure around the Mediterranean. We are currently docked at Le Havre fairly unexpectedly though, as we outran Hurricane Lorenzo to get to safe harbour. As if genealogy wasn’t exciting enough!

Family History at Sea

So what did we learn about over the past two weeks? Well, the topics were many and varied but the themes were based mainly around research in the British Isles. We had some fantastic speakers including Paul Milner, Mia Bennett, Sue Swalwell, Janet Few, Michelle Patient, Rosemary Kopittke, Eric Kopittke and Chris Braund.

Even when ashore, genealogists manage to find the cemeteries! Cheryl Benson, Sue Swalwell and myself at St Paul-de-Vence in the south of France.

England

The English topics really plunged us headfirst into record sets beyond the usual births/baptisms, marriages, deaths/burials and censuses that we all head to as our first ports of call. We gained valuable insight into the history, context and where to find records such as:

  • land and property
  • probate
  • chancery
  • quarter sessions
  • parish chest and poor law
  • occupational, guild and freeman
  • landed and titled people
  • nonconformists and recusants
  • newspapers
  • maps and gazetteers
  • directories and almanacs
  • and some very handy sessions on some overlooked sources from the 17th century right through to the 20th!
Paul Milner leads us through church and diocesan records in England

Ireland

Ireland had some great sessions covering sources, maps and tools and how to break through brick walls.

Scotland

Sessions included both well known and more obscure sources to be found online as well as a lecture on Burghs, their records, and where to find them. Some gems here!

‘Mistress Agnes’ (who looked suspiciously like Janet Few!), leads us through an evening of life in the 17th Century.

Other areas

Across the water on the European mainland, German immigration and locating the place of origin of a German ancestor provided useful insights, along with the use of Central European maps and gazetteers and a session on Danish genealogy.

Immigration patterns for Australia and New Zealand and how they can help you work out why people went where they did proved fascinating.

DNA as a genealogical tool was also well-covered, with an introductory session for beginners. For more advanced users there were also sessions on using AncestryDNA, Thrulines and Theories of Family Relativity as well as case studies.

There was a five part Writing Workshop to encourage us all to get our stories (or those of our ancestors) down on paper rather than leave them as a list of names and dates. Hopefully you will see a few books borne of this cruise!

Mia in the Research Brickwall workshop, ready to present my own personal brick wall nightmare!

Last but not least, there were research help zones for participants to pose questions about their own research to the speakers. There was also a fantastic research brick wall workshop, where we worked as a group to come up with ideas to help each other with long-standing research problems (including mine!)

Participants ranged from hobbyists through to professional genealogists, but everyone learned something new, including the speakers. Family history is one of those subjects where you will never know everything there is to know. It’s a constant learning curve!

Genealogy cruises are fantastic!

I thoroughly recommend that if you get an opportunity to do so, take genealogy cruises. They are intense, but lots of fun and a great chance to delve deeply into subjects and gain confidence in your research skills.

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Genealogy Cruises – Week 1 – The Adventure Begins and Ancestry Breaking News!

genealogy cruise

This week, I have been lucky enough to be cruising the Mediterranean! However, it has not been all about sitting by the pool with umbrella-decorated drinks. In fact, I am yet to do that, the schedule is packed! Yes, it’s another genealogy conference. No, really.

Genealogy cruises

Unlock The Past have been running genealogy cruises for several years now to various destinations and following different themes. This is the first time I have managed to take part. This cruise is around the Mediterranean for 14 days. The topics are quite varied, but the themes are broadly research in the British Isles and Europe, DNA and writing. All of these are very relevant to my research, so I have been looking forward to this conference hugely!

So how do genealogy cruises work?

The days you are at sea (including the evening of departure), lectures are held all day. We all dine together at the same time then return to lectures. This is no junket! It is concentrated doses of amazing information and discussion.

No lectures are held while the ship is docked in port – at those times we are free to explore and we emerge, blinking, into the sunshine! This is actually very helpful, I’m sure it gives our brains time to digest the previous presentations in the background as we walk the streets of the city we are in. We return to the ship, have dinner and back to lectures afterwards.

Week 1 highlights

We have had lots of fascinating presentations so far from some great speakers, and I’ve decided to give an overall summary next week of what was covered, especially since some of them are part of a series as yet not completed. But mostly because…drumroll…there has been some breaking news I’d like to share while it is hot off the press! This news had a roomful of genealogists at the end of a long day of lectures oohing and aahing in excitement. We were packing up to go to dinner when one of our speakers, Michelle Patient, rushed into the room after a teleconference with Ancestry to tell us about some new developments.

What is Ancestry up to?

Firstly, the search page will now contain the ‘What’s New’ section in the top right corner to make new additions and updates to record sets more visible and transparent.

Secondly, search results will be able to be filtered by date and place to make it easier to find the right ones amongst the huge numbers of results generated. This is in beta, so will only apply initially to births, marriages and deaths.

Thirdly, the positively clunky mobile app is getting a long overdue makeover to make it, well, useable! I think I actually squealed at this announcement!

And last but not least, there will be further tweaks to Thrulines. You will now be able to see if new matches have been added – ‘updated’ will appear in the top right corner of the ancestor tile. If a new Thruline is generated for an ancestor, ‘new’ will appear in the top right corner. You will also be able to see how many Thrulines an ancestor has by hovering over their tile.

These changes will be rolled out during October, so look out for them. I think they will definitely improve our user experience. These changes have come from feedback provided to Ancestry, who have been actively working with genealogists around the world to make the site more user friendly. Kudos to them for this, I think these improvements are a very positive step in the right direction!