Interested in the Loft

The new Lincolnshire Family History Society magazine has arrived and one of the items I liked this time was the article on General Loft who had visited Grasby. This is written by Tinribs in addition to which there is the view from the family side written by John Henry Lofts great great grandson. The articles remind us that the Lincolnshire Family History Society has transcribed the notebooks of General Loft and published them on a CD. Loft’s claim to fame for the genealogist or village historian of Lincolnshire is through his travels in the county between 1826 and 1844. He recorded anything and everything that took his fancy and noted both the churches and families. Many of the items he recorded have now disappeared and some of them never existed but were just the local gossip. Items such at the “I was told at Barton St Mary that Elizabeth Walker was a Lady of easy virtue who raised a good property by that means”. If she is in your family tree then she is definitely worth investigation. A second item that is worth a mention is that of the robber named bailey who was one of the outlaws of ‘Kippy Koppy Wood.’ Where did that name come from? This is just one of several extremely interesting articles but you will have to get the Journal to read the rest.

Helen dodd, who lives in Woodall Spa is looking to put on a workshop for the children and to take a look at surnames. One of the names that she mentioned is that of priestner. Now every one of the names that has priest in the word is linked to a man of the cloth. Priestman is a servant of a priest, priestland lives on a piece of land that belongs to the priest and priestley dwells in the clearing in the priests woods, except that I can’t find priestner in the dictionary. Could it be that the word was just a corruption at some time in the past? It might be from Prester which is thought to be a nickname for someone that was either priest like in bearing or the complete opposite somewhat along the lines of calling someone that was BIG by the name LITTLE.

Dodd was a personal name that seems to have been used throughout the whole of the country.

Bits and Bobs

Tuesday Oct 25^th 1898 – Long Sutton – On Wednesday last Mr Charles biggadike drove into the White Lion Yard with a load of pigs from Spalding; and as soon as he had jumped out the horse bolted. The cart was upset and the pigs scattered in all directions. The animals, very young ones, went scampering all over the Market Place and the search for them lasted most of the night. One pig was found in Mr neaverson’s at the Crown and Woolpack Hotel sitting against the back kitchen fire!

Lincolnshire Family History Society Journal