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.