Still at School

 

Having spent the afternoon working at Grasby Primary School building 'affordable homes for birds' I was beginning to wonder about the subject for this week. Then Julie came to the rescue with a request to look at her name of interest – URWIN. This is an ancient name that goes back to the time of the Conqueror's invasion and the Domesday Book. EUERUINUS was living in Hampshire in 1066 and twenty years later when the Domesday Book was written Gilchrist filius ERUINI could be found in Norfolk. Although the name had its origins down south the main concentration for it in 1881 was in the area of Durham. During the next hundred years plus the main concentration moved just a few miles up the road to Newcastle although there are pockets of URWINS throughout the country, it is from Newcastle that Julie's family came. Not a very numerous name and in the 1901 census there were less than 140 individuals in Newcastle. The greater number of these lived in Elswick. Not many were straight forward labourers but were clerks of one sort or another. They worked for banks, builders, ironmongers, railways and the Cooperative. One piece of information that Julie gave me was the family tale that the URWINs came from Ireland. In the 1901 census there is but one person with Irish ancestry and this is Margaret aged 63 and born in Ireland. Her husband, Thomas H, was a Dental Surgeon. I wonder if this is the family. The name is derived from the Old English Eoforwine which means a boar-friend although I must admit I am unsure what that means but I think that sincerity and trustworthiness comes into it.

The name I have been working on just recently is that of HARMSTON. The family comes from the Folkingham area and the search is on at the moment for the marriage of John & Mary. Thus far there has been a distinct lack of success for there is no mention of the marriage in the Lincolnshire Family History Society fiche for 1754-1812. The mention of John being married to Mary comes from the baptism of James so there is always a possibility that there is an error in the register if the priest filled it in at a later date. A look at the Bishop's Transcripts might resolve this. The problem here is that you do not know if the BT was taken from the register thus perpetuating the mistake. A check of the registers for another birth could help especially if there is no burial of a Mary but this is a burial at some stage of the wife of John.

Bits and Bobs

LRSM -1st January 1875 - Public Notice; Whereas I, John NUNDY, of Wispington, Farmer, have raised a report calculated to injure the characters of the Sons of Mr Joseph WALTER of Barsey Walk, Farmer, and Mr Andrew EVISON of Wispington, Farmer, by charging Mr WALTER´s Sons with taking my Pigeons, and Mr EVISON with receiving them, knowing them to have been so taken. Now I do hereby publically declare that such charges are utterly untrue and without foundation, and I regret having said anything that could reflect on the honesty of either Mr. WALTER, his Sons, or Mr. EVISON, all of whom I believe to be perfectly honest and honourable men. Signed this 29th day of December, 1874. John NUNDY; Witness R. CLITHEROW, Solicitor, Horncastle.

NEWTON was Here

 

Sondra HALLIDAY emailed me at Ifor@familyroots.org.uk asking for information on a windmill at Colsterworth. In 1772, when Samuel PICCAVER died, his will mentions the fact that he is the owner of the village mill. Is there any evidence of this mill today? Arthur MEE's Lincolnshire doesn't mention any mill but if you take a look at old-maps.co.uk you will find evidence of three mills in the vicinity two of which are quite near Woolsthorpe manor. In the church at Colsterworth there is a memorial to Sir Isaac NEWTON who was the lord of the manor of nearby Woolsthorpe and baptised in Colsterworth church. This is also the burial place of the NEWTON ancestors. One item of interest that was at the church in 1919 was the sundial that NEWTON made when 9 years old and the penknife he used for whittling wood. In an article I found on NEWTON there is mention of a windmill being built near his school. He watched day by day with great interest the workmen engaged in constructing a windmill in the neighbourhood of the school, the result of which was that the boy made a working model of the windmill and of its machinery, which seems to have been much admired, as indicating his aptitude for mechanics. Could this have been the building of the mill later owned by Samuel? By 1919 however the miller is listed as being Ralph Henry NETHERCLIFT – miller (steam) so it looks as though the village has kept pace with modernity and the windmill was no more. HALLIDAY the surname comes from the fact that at one time this would be given to those born on a Holy Day such as Easter or Christmas. NEW-TON however is from one who lived in a New Town of which there were many and this also applies to NEW-PORT and NEW-CASTLE.

The surname CRAMPTON, which is the one that Sheila FROST is interested in, is not very common around Lincoln and is concentrated more towards Nottinghamshire. William CRAMPTON can be found on the 1841 census and he was born in 1817 in the parish of Washingborough but where did he come from? One of the best aids to research you can get is the series of indexes on microfiche that are produced by the Lincolnshire Family History Society. These cover just about everything in the marriage line from 1700 and work is going on to complete baptisms and burials for the county. There are few entries for CRAMPTON but one that might fit the bill is that of John who marries Ann TALKS in 1807 at Canwick the next door parish. The origin of CRAMPTON is unsure. With the –TON ending one must assume that it derives from a place name. This would be OK except that there is no place listed. The same can be said for CROMPTON as this is a variation. If one adds in the accent then there could be a candidate in CRUMPTON and then the explanation is from the Old English crump. Have you heard of the musical instrument - a crumphorn? There is also the rhyme which mentions the cow with the crumpled horn. This is named so because the meaning of crump is something which is bent or crooked. A town with a bend or corner in the middle.

Did you pick up on the item in Bits and Bobs last week? Was the item put into the original newspaper as a hoax? If you don't know what I mean just try writing out the inscription that was found on the bowl and then alter the spacing a slightly.

Bits and Bobs

Friday 21^st April 1809 – On Tuesday the 11^th inst. as William BOROUGHS of Marston near Grantham, was passing through the Churchyard there, he was struck to the ground by lightning, and it was a considerable time before he recovered his senses. His clothes were much scorched, but he was not personally injured.

Lincolnshire Family History Society Journal February 07

What Does One Do?

 

I have a little book, a Ready Reckoner, dated 1807 which I bought for a few shillings some time ago and realise that I should really sell it on as it is part of someone's tree. The name inside is George WILES, Louth, and at the time of his acquiring it I feel that he was about 13 years of age. My reason for thinking this is that there is a date inside for the year 1823 and on the inside at the back there is written July 28^th 1810. He also wrote, as one does at that age, on the inside. "The Rose is Read, the Grass is green, the days is past That I have seen and when I am dead Go toul the bell and Take This Book and use it well." This has been written several times. Other items of interest are the name Francis SPENCER on the same line as is written Horkstow and another name that might be, although it is difficult to say for sure as it is mixed in with other writings, Martha HOED or HOOD or HOCKNEY. A quick search has turned up George, I think, in the 1881 census. He is aged 71 and born in 1810 which links in to the date in the book and lives with his wife Jane, born Bigby. He was born in Little Carlton and farmed in Ludborough and both of these places are in the Louth Registration District. The name WILES is thought to come from an occupation such as a trapper of fish or especially eels. The Middle English wyle was a wicker trap.

Jayne SUMMERS lives in Telford and has a Lincolnshire ancestry. Her maiden name is ELDRED and through her research has managed to get back to a James at around 1762 in Thurlby. The name ELDRED goes right back to at least 1066 and is mentioned in the Domesday Book. The origin of the name is as a counsel either Ealdræd as the old counsel or Ǽoelræd and a noble counsel. If this family is one on your tree then get in touch with Jayne at jasummers@btconnect.com who is waiting with bated keyboard for your email.

 

Bits and Bobs

4th November 1882 - Louth Advertisers - Mr Editor: The object of this letter is to inform you of a curious fact which I think will be interesting to many of your readers. The Sexton of our Church was engaged a day, or two ago, digging a grave in the Churchyard. When at a depth of four feet his spade struck something which repelled it. He at first thought it was a stone, but he discovered the object was round and had a rim of dark colour; in shape something like that of a pudding basin. The Sexton carefully dug around the object and at last succeeded in disclosing a large round vase, of ancient design, more than two inches thick and of a very brown earthy colour. Around the vase were a great many cabalistic signs picturing men in armour etc. The vase must be Roman, from the following inscription in half-worn letters around the rim: ´ITI SAPIS SPOTANDITIS AB IGONE´. The vase has been sent to a Gentleman in Louth interested in antiquarian relics for his opinion. I am, etc J.B., Laceby, 30 Oct 1882.

Where is it now and what was it?

Do Your Bit For The Environment

This week sees the start in Grasby of a series of mini-projects financed by CSV Action Earth and Morrisons. The amount of money is small but it is just enough to put on an event that can make a large difference. The criteria are that it must be environmental so could be bird cakes, boxes, feeding stations or planting wildflowers. If you are interested then go to the website and get an application form and enjoy the community work.
The names that came up during the first mini project consist of font-names and locations. BENNETT for example comes from the Old French Beneit that became the quite common Christian name Benedict in the 12th century. ROBERTSON along with the hundreds of other names ending in -SON very nearly all come from a Christian name such as Robert, Richard or William whose male offspring became ROBERTSON, RICHARDSON and WILLIAMSON and so on down through the centuries. Still on the subject of William as a Christian name we have in Grasby the name GILLMAN. Although it does not look much like it the name William is the origin here. The French for William we twinners know from Sillè le Guillaume which is the town next to our twin village in France. The surnames from the same root are many and various and include such as WELLMAN, WILLIMAN and the one nearest to the original, GUILLERMAN. On the other hand HASWELL is a locational name and comes from the dweller whose home was at a well that had lots of hazels around it. Similarly a prime site on which to live was one that was good enough to be labelled a fair field and naturally enough that resulted in the surname of FAIRFIELD. A slightly different type of location is that of LAYCOCK for this is a parish by the same name. In this case it is most likely to be Laycock in the west riding of Yorkshire.
A question of interest that appeared recently on the ‘net is that of Kath HEYWOOD who is looking for the youngest children of Mary & Robert GOLLING of Grantham. The mystery comes about by the death of the parents in 1842. William aged 10 years just disappears and is never seen again it seems for neither the death nor marriage can be found. Susannah age 6 years is thought to have lived in Lancashire for some time and where she had an illegitimate daughter in 1864. Where did they disappear too? Drop me a line if you know. The name GOLLING is another of those with a Christian name origin. This has the same origin as JOLLANDS and GOLLANDS. All these are from Joel-in which is the diminutive of Joel.
Bits and Bobs
THE GRIMSBY GUARDIAN AND GENERAL ADVERTISER - 25th September 1855 - Christopher HARPER, apprentice to Joseph APPLEYARD of Cleethorpes, tailor, John ROBINSON of Cleethorpes, fisherman, Thomas GRANT of Cleethorpes, fisherman and George DABB, carrier between Cleethorpes and Grimsby, were summoned at the instance of Superintendent CAMPBELL, who caught them in a garden in the parish of Scartho, on Sunday night, the 16th instant, stealing apples. They were each fined 10s and the costs, in each case amounted to 12s