OUSE

?OUSE

Passed on via the internet was the following information that I thought interesting having never come across the MOUSE family name. Family bible undated but first family entry is 1846 belonging to the GROOBY family from around the Long Sutton area.  It  is a bit worn and a few pages are torn but most of it is intact as are most of the colour plates which are very nice in their own right. The entries for the GROOBY family date back to 1846 starting with the birth of William GROOBY he married Emma MOUSE [I think it is "M"] on Oct. 20th 1870 at Long Sutton church.   However some research into the GROOBY family tree turns up the information that William is in fact from Helpstone in Northamptonshire according to the 1881 census and his wife is from Gedney Dike.  Who was Mrs GROOBY?  There is a number of MOUSE family members but these  all live in Bedfordshire.  Using the wildcard ‘?’ search we have as a result DOUSE, HOUSE and ROUSE individuals and of these only William and Mary ROUSE are living in Gedney and they have children born in Long Sutton.  Also from  Helpstone and living in Spalding with Spalding wives are a couple more GROOBY families and the oldest of all these is Solomon who was born in Spalding.  The family liked biblical names for this was the son of Zachariah GROOBY. There must be a story here as to why the family flits backs and forth apart from the fact that there would be relatives in both places.  Almost all occurrences of the GROOBY name are around the Fens and it is of a locational origin. The village in Leicestershire that goes by the name Groby is pronounced as Groobi and it is here that they all came from.  
MOUSE is unusual and  found almost exclusively in Bedfordshire. It is not in the dictionary but of those that had mouse in the word seem to be linked to the colour grey.  ROUSE on the other hand is numerous and found south of a line drawn between the Bristol Channel and the Humber.  Again its origin is from the colour and the Ancient French word rous or red.  
The name HOUSE was concentrated in the Dorset area with an outcrop in the highlands of Scotland.  It is believed that the name came from the person concerned being employed at ‘the’ house which was most likely of a religious nature.
Finally the name DOUSE or DOWSE or one of the other variations.  The Old French dous or doux meant pleasant or sweetly smelling and was also used a female Christian name. It was also used occasionally as a male name along the lines of Hilary and Leslie.
The National Archives who run a family history service at Myddleton Street in London has decided that the time is right for the whole of its service to come together at Kew.  However the Office of National Statistics has no plans at present to close or move its part of the Family Records Centre.  What difference will this make to the family tree researcher?   I suppose it all depends on your reason to visit Myddleton Street. If it is for the certificates then no change but if its for the census then Kew will be the place.
For those of you who are just starting out on the family history trail and would like to know more about how to go about it and the data sources that are available to the family researcher then the workshop being held at Grasby Village Hall on Sept 10th is just for you.  For more information please give me a ring on 01652 628337 or send an email to ifor@familyroots.org.uk
Bits and Bobs
What the Papers Said - Sept 28th 1792 Marriage - On Thursday se’nnight was married at Carlby in this county, Mr James GLENN, farmer, to Mrs HODGKIN, a most disconsolate widow for 20 days.