Visiting ‘Mecca’

Due to unforeseen circumstances on Saturday I ended up giving out the seeds to grow your own family tree for Zoë Tomlinson and Lindvm Heritage at the Lincolnshire Archives. I was rather dubious giving the talk at such short notice because part of it usually includes an introduction to work on the internet and carrying out research thereon. We managed to get over it and the staff at the Archives were at their usual friendly and helpful best. If you want helpful people, go to the archives. During the day I was helped by the students asking their questions at just the right moments. Although they all insisted they were beginners they seemed to have already carried out work on their trees quite ably.

Louise Gardner is looking for Hearley/Hurley of London in 1880. At that time the Hurley family was concentrated in the Cardiff and Taunton areas. The London contingent seems to be mainly to be born in county Cork, Ireland. We can see from this surname how it is pronounced. It sounds like here-ly as opposed to her-ly. The name comes from a place by the same name. The English version is the village of Hurley just outside Maidenhead.

Chris & Alan Flintham are working on the Goodwin line and especially that in Nottinghamshire at the turn of the 19^th century. The flintham family that I found in Nottinghamshire had many links to Lincolnshire. Several of these are born in Upton or Althorpe. Meanwhile in Lincolnshire the flintham families are in many instances living in villages around Lincoln. This is another that originates from a place name and they haven’t moved very far over the centuries with the village being just outside Newark. Goodwin however always makes me think of the time before the conquest and the fight between Saxons and Normans. The name was originally a font name starting as Godwine from the Old English god, god and wine, friend, protector and lord and is to be found on a number of occasions in the Domesday Book.

Marie Nicholson is looking for Solomon Nicholson of around 1860. Assuming this is the right man there is only one entry in Lincolnshire for 1881. He was a Joiner and lived in Pelham Cottages, St Marks. Born in Thurlby he was married and his wife Sarah is a Lincolnshire lass from Cherry Willingham. Nice and easy origin. This was the son of Nicholas at some time in the past.

Sheila Bradley has her problems with her family tree having roots in Derbyshire. The Farnsworth family came centuries ago from one of the two villages called Farnsworth on the coastal edge of Lancashire. By 1881 the concentration has moved to Derbyshire and in decreasing numbers throughout Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire. The village gets its name from the farmstead where the ferns grow according to the Oxford Place-Name Dictionary.

Bits and Bobs

LRSM – 30^th Oct 1818 - On the 16th instant died at Coningsby, James BAKER, shoemaker. On the day after his burial, his disconsolate widow went to be married to one John FOY, an Irishman. The number of persons assembled at the Church to witness the ceremony became so disorderly that the parties could not be married, but the clergyman ordering two Peace Officers to attend the next day, the ceremony was then performed. Some of the rioting multitude, when the newly married couple were returning from Church, endeavoured to get a halter around the bride´s waist, and they pulled the poor woman about in such a manner that they actually broke one of her arms, to the utter disgrace of themselves and the spectators.

From Fosdyke to Traf

From Fosdyke to Trafford
After my report on the arrival of the latest Lincolnshire Family History Society magazine a reader of this column decided that he would like to get hold of a copy and rang me up to find out how.  The magazine can be obtained by filling in a membership application form and sending it with £10 to Mr D Mosley, Whitby Crescent, Woodthorpe Notts, NG5 4LY.  The forms can be found at the above address, the Archives or the Monks Way Research Centre.  
My caller was also at the archives when we did the tour last week and while there carried out a search for Herbert Fowler TRAFFORD of Metheringham.  It turns out that his parents were William and Kate who had five other children according to the 1901 census.   Although William was Metheringham born and bred his wife was born in Middle Rasen.   With a middle name FOWLER one has to wonder if this was from Kate’s side of the family. TRAFFORD has a placename for its origin, FOWLER is an occupation.
Penny FORSDYKE is looking for her ancestor who came from Cambridgeshire at around 1880.  A check of the 1881 census shows that although they might have come from Cambridgeshire and Linton in particular they had not been there very long.  The eldest head of family is Jesse who came from Debenham in Suffolk and worked as a Joiner in the same place is Alfred who might be a possible brother is a journeyman butcher.  According to the book the name comes from the Lincolnshire place name Fosdyke which is quite close to the Wash and Norfolk and seems to be the only one on the map.
The next name is one of the most famous.  When anyone asks what name goes with ROYCE we all know the right answer.  ROLLS has its main concentration in the Dorset area with a small outpost in London which is the area that Harriet ROLLS is interested in. the surname rolls has a myriad of spellings and these range from ROLL to ROWLES via ROLF and ROUFE plus a dozen more.  One of the first mentions of this name is that of a peasant in Lincolnshire going by the name of Rolf of Ormesby in 1147 but there is mention of a Rolf in the Domesday Book.  The name is Scandinavian in origin and started its life as the Old Norse name Hrolfr.  It became a common name in Normandy as ROUL.
A final name is that of SPENCER for Susan THORNALLY.  The name SPENCER is a popular surname with high concentrations throughout England.  The reason for this popularity is due to the occupation of a SPENCER or as was listed in 1204 as Robert le Despenser from the Ancient French espenser, the dispenser of provisions therefore a butler or steward.
One thing I would have liked to have started is that of Archive CD Books -  producing CDs from out of print books by scanning into the computer then sell at a reasonable price.  The company now has bases in a number of countries and is producing their works for the genealogist.  Last year Archive CD Books built a school in Kenya, the Dago Kokore Primary School, from scratch. They fitted out the whole school, paid for resources, and also paid the modest fees for all of the children to attend.  In January 2007 there will be another batch of students starting school.  The 40 children will cost £25 each for three years education and they are already three-quarters of the way to the target.  To give your help just buy your CD of the Lincolnshire census etc.
Bits and Bobs
Horncastle News - September 12th 1903 - The Board of Trade has received through the Foreign Office, London a silver cup for Mr Arthur SMITH, Master of the steam trawler ´Stratton´ of Grimsby, awarded to him by the King of Denmark in recognition of his services for rescuing the crew of an Icelandic fishing boat from the Westmanna Islands, in April this year.