Sunday, April 30, 2006

Good Old eBay

Good Old eBay

The internet selling site eBay has some Lincolnshire items for sale with surnames attached;  the first is an  indenture for land in Skirbeck Quarter.   Dated from 1860 it is worded thus “This Indenture made the Seventh day of November One thousand eight hundred and sixty between Edward HILLSON of the hamlet of Skirbeck Quarter in the parish of Skirbeck in the county of Lincoln Gardener of the first part, the said Edward HILLSON and Elizabeth his wife (Devisees in fee under the will of Edward HILLSON late of Skirbeck Quarter aforesaid Gentleman deceased) of the second part and Valentine PEPPER of Carrington in the County of Lincoln Farmer of the third part ..... to the mortgage and the price paid which was £1,150”.  A fair sum of money for the 19th century.  The surname PEPPER comes from the original occupation as a dealer in pepper, a pepperer or spice dealer and is linked to the French variation PEEVER.  It was to be found in 1298 when John PEPPER alias PEYUER is listed in one of the  London rolls.
Next is an Indenture Deed  in the parish of Wigtoft for the Release of a cottage and lands in Wigtoft, Lincolnshire, between Grace CHAPMAN of Swineshead, spinster, and James HOLBOURN of Wigtoft, grazier. Dated 21 January 1784 in the 24th year of the reign of George III. The property consists of  All that cottage with a piece of ground adjoining of half an acre in Hofleet in the parish of Wigtoft now in tenure of Richard WARRINER. Also land in Wigtoft Marsh. CHAPMAN comes from the Old English ceapman who was a merchant or trader.  The area in London known as Cheapside comes from the same root and ceapman had a market there.
Finally from the same vendor is an Indenture Deed in the parish of Helpringham An indenture regarding property in Helpringham, Lincolnshire, between Eustace PHILIPS of Lincoln, coal merchant, William DURANCE of Helpringham, butcher, and Mary his wife, and Boaz BAXTER of Helpringham, gentleman.  Dated 21 April 1774 in the 14th year of the reign of George III. The property consists of: All that cottage with yard, barn, dovecoat and outbuildings in Helpringham in the tenure of Edmund FRITH.  Surnames such as FREAK, FIRTH, FRITH, FRIDD and FRIGHT and the latecomer THRIFT all come from the Old English firhþe or fyrhþe which was a woodland.  The TH pronounced in FIRTH is the Old English þ.
 Bits and Bobs
The following link was given on the internet www.fred.net/jefalvey/execute.html.  This link is for a page on Newgate Prison in London and the List of Executions from 1606.  Newgate Prison was probably the most notorious prison in all England and one that almost everyone has heard of.  A prison has stood on the Newgate site for almost a thousand years. The first prison was nearly as old as the Tower of London and much older than the Bastille. It is first mentioned in the reign of King John and in the following reign of Henry the III, (1218), the King expressly commands the sheriffs of London to repair it, and promised to repay them from his own exchequer. This shows that the prison was under the direct control of the King at that time. The prison itself was originally above the gate or in the gatehouse.  Carry out a search for the word Lincoln and the first entry for Lincoln that comes up is - HORRY, William Fred     1872  01 Apr   Murder of wife; Lincoln.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

New Database Online

New Database On-line

The 1837 online website now has a facility for looking up living relatives and ready to be searched through by those with a need. Living Relatives is a premium database, allowing you to search the current electoral roll, telephone directory (business and homes) and directors’ details to find up-to-date contact details. The service costs just six units per search across all three datasets - less that the cost of standard directory enquiries.  You do have to upgrade from the standard subscription to get access but it could be very cost effective if it saves having to look through a county’s electoral roll.  There is also a section for unusual names.  A few that have been found in the public domain are Shrove TUESDAY, Preserved FISH and Shutters WINDOWS.  The longest name that has been found for the site was that of KONSTANTYNOPOLITANCZYKIEWICZOWNA which had originated in Poland and before anyone asks I do not have the foggiest idea as to its meaning although I do make out Constantine as a start.
This is a cautionary tale for the users of the IGI.  Mark VERNON was searching for his SCAMAN family but it appeared that they must have emigrated rather earlier than he had expected as there was absolutely no sign of them anywhere in the IGI.  Mark was fairly certain that they were still in Lincolnshire and was lucky enough to already know their birth dates and the place of birth – Swaby of his great-great-great-grandfather.  Bernie carried out some research for him and found that what was written in the parish register as SCAMAN had been read by the transcribers of the IGI as SEAMAN.  No doubt there are people out there pulling out their hair trying to fit this SEAMAN family into their tree!!
Mrs HALL of North Hykeham has traced her maiden line back to John CUBLEY born in 1781 in Donington according to the 1851 census.  His son was also a John.  One possible addition to this family is that of James who appears on the 1841 census and who seems to be looking after his widowed mother Mary.   Another piece of information I found on the IGI is that of a John being baptised in Donington in 1784 who was the son of Francis and Martha née PATMAN of Horbling who were married in 1783.  Several other members of the family were born in Holbeach. The earliest place that I found them in is that of Harlaxton with the marriage of William to Agnes WAYT.  This seems to be a family of Ag Labs who eventually put down roots in Gedney and stayed there.  The name CUBLEY comes from the village of the same name.  This village is west of Derby and originally was the ‘leah’ belonging to Cubba.  PATMAN comes from the pet form of Patrick.
Bits and Bobs
Nettleham Register – Jan 20th 1790 – Clerks wages are as follows – Each messuage payes at Christmas and at Easter 6d and each cottage 2 ½ d and according to the old custom everyone who occupied a plow gave a pye.  But some made the pye so mean of bones or even of what was not fit to eat that it was thought proper to pay 4d instead of the pye.  So each possessor of a plow pays 4d more than what is charged upon a messuage or cottage.  William HETT curate.
Bob Kershaw in the Lincolnshire Family History Society Magazine 2001

Friday, April 14, 2006

Lancashire Links

Lancashire Links
Gordon on blueyonder is looking for the surname COWLAYSHAW; rather a rare commodity in Lincolnshire when the 1881 census was carried out for there were just two people, father and daughter, with this surname.  Matthew, the father, was from Derbyshire and died in Barnetby in 1893, aged 77 years, although at the time of death was living in Gainsborough.  At the same time there was a much larger number of COLLEYSHAW families in the county.  The eldest members were born and lived in the Folkingham - Heckington area.  There is a COLLEYSHAW family in Derbyshire but  they came from Metheringham possibly due to the father Charles working on the railway.  These surnames along with the variation COWLISHAW and many others come from one of two places it is suggested.  One in Derbyshire and the other in Lancashire.  The Oxford Dictionary of Place-names comes up with just the Lancashire .  There is some debate as to whether the first element – COWLI –could be a personal name, Cola, which turns up in COLLINGHAM and COLLINGTREE.     The second element –SHAW – is a grove as in BIRKENSHAW which is a grove of birch trees.
I had a letter from Woodhall Spa this week.  Marie is interested in her family names TETLOW and NEAL.  The easiest one to explain is that of TETLOW, well it would be if I could find it on the map.  The book says that it is a Lancashire village and in 1389 it is recorded as Richard de TETLAWE in that county but not in my gazetteer. This information most likely comes from the same source as that on the TETLOW website at www.tetlow.co.uk.  There it says that ancestors to the family were living in Oldham in the 14th century. In 1321, Adam de TETLOW'S son Richard was granted lands in Werneth by Robert de OLDHAM. Fourteen years later, Richard obtained by grant further land in Northwood. On his death in 1337, the sheriff was ordered to enquire about his holdings in Oldham and Crompton. Adam had another son, Hugh, who in 1340 granted to his mother lands in Coppedhurst with the remainder to his brother Roger. In 1375, Roger de LANGLEY gave Richard, son of Richard de TETLOW, his land in Manchester, Crompton and Oldham and in 1391, Richard confirmed to Robert WALKER, chaplain, a burgage and messuage in Oldham and Manchester.  An interesting item on the site is the coat of arms On a silver shield a black diagonal band with a scalloped edge, on each side a narrow red band.  This was  granted on 10 September 1760 to TETLOW of Houghton, Lancashire, and ended up in the 'Guinness Book of Records'.  The crest recalls the grantee's feat of writing the Lord's Prayer on a silver penny with a quill pen and required the Herald Painter to repeat this achievement
NEAL and its multitude of variations, however, comes to England by a rather circuitous route.  The Old Irish niall was a champion and was latinised to Nellis.  The visiting Scandinavians or Vikings  then took the name to their settlement in Iceland and thence to Norway as Njall.  Later the Norsemen became Norman and it entered the French language and is brought to England with William in 1066.  in Scotland and the border country the Irish name was taken straight there by the Vikings.  The latinisation this time gave Nigellus and Nigel. This resulted in the large number of McNEAL and O’NEIL  families.  We know that the two are the same for in Yorkshire is to be found Robertus filius NIGELLI and Robertus NEL being the same person in 1221.
Bits and Bobs
The  most difficult census to transcribe and read is that of the 1841 census because the enumerators used pencil thus making the microfilm  almost illegible in places - so it's good to know that Ancestry's transcribers are making a special effort for us.  Very  soon the 1841 Census of England & Wales is going to be made available at Ancestry and it has been mentioned that this could be before the end of the month.  Assuming that the costs will not change then a trip to www.Ancestry.co.uk with a visa card and your access to £4.95 will let you have 10 views of the enumerators records over the following 14 days.  A reasonable cost I thought.

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Oops Missed a bit

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Oops - Missed a bit last week

The name that I mentioned last week SCATCHERD which was of interest to Mike Parker was left with out any explanation as to its origin. The Old Norman French escache which today is echasse is a stilt and was most likely a derogatory term for some one with long legs. This explanation is further reinforced by the fact that the French word eschasseriaux is a man with a wooden leg. As with many similar French words such as estage if you remove the ‘e’ at the beginning the word you will recognise it as stage.
Mrs C WOOLLEY of Kexby has written in with a request for me to look at the SHAW family of Grimsby. Sadly there are a number of SHAW families in Grimsby and without a date, name or age it is rather difficult to pin point any particular one. However looking at the 1901 census there is just the one family in Grimsby whose head William H was born in Grimsby. A second individual is George aged 70 years who lives in Clee and is the Primitive Methodist Minister there – BUT – I am unable to say where he was in 1881 for I can’t find him listed in the census. William H is an educated man and is a Clerk to the Council. A search of the 1861 census gives us the information that William lives with his father George whose occupation is tailor, in Cleethorpes Road. George obviously believes in education for another son is a scholar at 13 years of age and takes in a boarder who is also a clerk. Somewhere along the line the family gets a link to London when Mary Jane marries James THAYERS of Chelsea.
The name SHAW comes from the Old English word sceaga for a copse or small wood and the person who dwells nearby. The WOOLLEY surname is also connected to a wood and the village of Woolley. The nearest one to Lincolnshire is in the west riding of Yorkshire and gets its name from the nearness of a wood that is frequented by wolves.
Alison posted a plea on the internet for any information on William QUINCEY who she thinks was born around 1740 in Sutterton. In 1773 William married Ann HILL. His father was also a William and he married Jane nee LUCEY of Sutterton in 1739. Alison is interested in any facts or information on this family and if you have them in your tree just drop me a line. The origins of the QUINCEY family go back to northern France and the village with the name Cuinchy. One of the earliest QUINCEYs is that of Saer de QUINCY who was a Templar in Oxfordshire around 1160. Later holders of the surname may be from Quincy villages in the Seine region.
Bits and Bobs
Louth Petty Sessions 11 May 1848
Wm. SLEIGHT, gardener, was charged by a prostitute named HOODLASS with being the father of her bastard child: case dismissed.
Grantham Petty Sessions 19 May:
Thos. CULLEN, of Rolston, a farmer's son, was accused of being the father of the illegitimate child of Ann ROBINSON. It was stated that defendant had pressed the poor girl to take something to destroy the child, and failing in that, the night before she left he fired a gun at her in the garden, the object of which may be imagined. The poor girl's evidence being deficient, the order could not be granted.
Anne has been busy looking at the newspapers again and the complete version of her findings can be bought from Lincolnshire Family History Society on microfiche.