A Hidden Agenda

There is a new list on the block; well it sounds good and street wise but they are calling it the hidden BMD index. Typical newspaper type talk and ever so slightly exaggerated. They are talking about the new site set up using data from the National Archives. The data that is included is from the Non-parochial and Dissenters Registers to be found under the National Archives reference numbers RG4 & RG5. The aim of this site is to provide you with access to various unpublished registries from 1534 to 1865, which can usually provide records of three generations of a family or more. Usually proving to be the only record of the event, these previously unpublished records are a fantastic resource for the family historian. The site says that birth, marriage and death records are the most important way of tracking down your ancestors. The trouble is the BMD records in the General Record Office main index only go back as far as 1837 and even then many events are missing from these records due to the nature of the material. The hidden birth, marriage and death records have been compiled from various unpublished registries and many unusually include records of three generations of a family. These are a fantastic resource for the family historian and often prove to be the only record of the events. But they are not all the BMD entries to be found what of those in the C of E registers? At the end of the day the vast majority of people that lived in the UK were and still are today nominally CofE and their records are to be found (if at all) in the church registers which means that generally you will have to go to the local archives and trawl through unindexed registers until something of interest turns up. I hate to be a kill joy but until the rest of the country is working as hard as Gordon on the Lincolnshire parish registers and the Lincolnshire Family History Society in getting everything in the Lincoln Archives indexed then we still have to do some work for ourselves. Thank goodness. It is rather boring when it is all laid out for you. Work on the Isle of Wight branch of my family tree consists of going to Newport Archive office and opening a large drawer full of index cards, getting out the Barton section, this is my research carried out because everything I need is there. All the parish registers have been copied and entries put into alphabetical order. In addition, never take anyone’s word for anything, always check it out for yourselves. Take a look at www.bmdindex.co.uk/ it does have some interesting links to other sites connected with genealogical suppliers. Oh and I almost forgot. As usual you do have to pay to view most of the details. Before you do pay up though have a quick check of the IGI because many of the entries have already been put on line by the LDS and are available for you to look at for free.
Bits and Bobs
The Old Bailey – 17th July 1728 - Ann Hatfield, alias Pack, alias Selby , was indicted for feloniously marrying William Pack , her former Husband Francis Selby , being alive . It appeared that the Prosecutor came from Stamford in Lincolnshire to look for his Wife, and found her at the Horns in Rosemary-Lane, where he was informed she was married to another Husband, but the latter Marriage not appearing plain, she was acquitted.

It’s a New one on Me

Becoming involved with a new set of clients and one comes into contact with new names. Occasionally one finds something new and this last week I was lucky enough to meet Joanne ISSOTT. This is not a surname that I have ever come across in Lincolnshire and a search of the 1901 census shows why it is so rare. While the various family members seem to have been born in a number of places they were all to be found in St Peter at Gowts or St Swithins. Could these be the start of the Lincolnshire family of today? Hardy ISSOTT is born at Hitchin and putting Hitchen as place of birth into the search of the 1901 census a number of other family members turn up. This time there seems to be several links among the people. Some are tailors and includes another that is living in Kent is a tailoress. Most interesting is the fact that the eldest person in the list is that of Joseph the tailor and he was born in Normanby. Another unusual occupation is that of Louise in Lincoln who is a manageress of a penny bazaar. I wonder where that was. The name ISSOTT is one of a great many variations of a name that dates back to the Domesday Book. Generally the first vowel is always the letter I but the SS can also be Z while the O might be E, A or I and finally the TT might be RD or LT. Permutate any of these and you will find a spelling for the surname ISSOTT. The name comes from the Old French Isalt, Isaut or Ysole
My local history programme has arrived from the Nottingham University. Some of the Day Schools will be held in Lincoln at Edward King House. Did you know that 2007 marks the 850th anniversary of Henry II wearing his crown at Wigford? The event was commemorated by a banquet at St Mary’s Guildhall. To follow on from this a Day School which starts at 9.15am has been set up to take a closer look at the 12th century and its effect on Lincolnshire’s history. The civil war coming to an end and St Hugh of Avalon will take up the morning then after a buffet lunch the Day School will focus on architecture and a detailed examination of (it says here) the ‘Crazy Vault’ in the cathedral and a look at Bishop Hugh’s master mason. The final part of the day which finishes at 5pm is a reconsideration of the role of Lincoln Castle in the years after the Norman Conquest. To book a place or check out the lectures at Jubilee Campus in Nottingham contact the office at 01159514390.

Bits and Bobs

LRSM - 10th November 1809 - On Wednesday the 1st instant JOHN CODD, groundkeeper to Mr Ald GIBBESON of Lincoln, having been at Newark Fair, left the White Swan Inn in that town about three o’clock in the afternoon on his return home: his horse was found about a mile from Newark with one stirrup gone and the bridle broken: the rider has not been heard of since.
Lincolnshire Family History Society Extracts