Illustrating Your Family Tree

Herbert Ingram came from Boston and was the son of a local butcher. He became its MP and there is a statue of him in St Botolph’s church in Boston. His claim to fame is that he was the founder of the Illustrated London News which has an archive on their Web site www.iln.co.uk/iln/ and very interesting it is too. If you like to illustrate your family tree with pictures from the time then this is worth a look. I thought Herbert might be someone to look at for the column but when I checked against the 1881 census he couldn’t be found. My initial reaction was that he must have died before this date as he would have been 70, however there was more to it than that. Born in 1811 he moved to and worked in London before starting his own business in Nottingham. He noticed that every time a publication had an illustration it increased its sales so decided to bring out his own. With just sixteen pages and two illustrations per page he was soon making £12,000 a year. He became MP for Boston in 1856 and was attacked for running his campaign in the ILN and the Punch magazine. Four years later he took his family to America to find material for the ILN and while on board the Lady Elgin the ship collided on Lake Michigan and sank he and drowned almost all the other passengers. The name Ingram has three areas of high concentration. One in Scotland, one in Wales and the third is in the Dorset area of England. Originating from the Old German Engel-rammus, Angle raven, there are many people recorded in the Yorkshire area with the name in the 12^th century no doubt coming from invaders.

The recent couple of columns have generated some phone calls to clarify a few points. The first answer needed was for Mr Wright for the telephone number to contact Ancestry.com. This can be found on the web site and is 0800 404 9723 (free phone) Representatives are available from Monday to Saturday, 9am to 12pm.

Mrs Young would like to find the place to get a copy of the book, Volume 94, recently sent out by the Lincoln Record Society. The best place to find it is the society itself. The books are not cheap and the most cost effective way of purchasing a copy is to join the society. They have a website from which the membership application form can be downloaded. The secretary can be reached at the Cathedral Library, The Cathedral, Lincoln.

Bits and Bobs

LRSM - August 21^st 1795 - MARSTON FEAST - We the inhabitants of MARSTON, near Grantham, having duly considered the bad consequences attending Country Wakes and Feasts, which, tho originally intended for Religious Meetings, are now quite perverted, serving chiefly to encourage Drunkenness the Inlet of Vice and Prophaneness; and further considering that the present alarming high Prices of Provisions, must nearly involve every poor Family in insurmountable Debts and difficulties; which to prevent and keep our Parishioners from such Embarrassments, as well as to check the rapid Growth of Vice and Immorality, we have unanimously agreed to discontinue our ANNUAL FEAST and to give this Public NOTICE, of our Resolution to abolish it. Given under our hands this 16th day of August 1795. (signed) Thomas EDINBOROUGH, Alexander Wright, William GEESON, Thomas WORTH, Richard HARMSTONE, Samuel HUCKERBY, Noah ROPER, William WING, D METHERINGHAM.