Transported for chopping down the family tree

In Australia today it is a matter of pride that one of your ancestors came over as a convict in the 19^th century. Most of those transported were not hardened criminals but ordinary people on the poverty line trying to feed their families, for example by sheep rustling. Some were transported for the oddest of reasons. At Clixby in 1847, Joseph Frow, who was a tenant, chopped down 58 apple, 6 cherry, 3 pear and 6 plum trees and was given seven years transportation at the Lincoln Assizes. Not all who were given this sentence actually arrive in Australia but served their term on a hulk awaiting a ship to take them off to the colonies.

Sadly (some genealogists would say) Ian Seward, of Bracebridge Heath had an ancestor that went to Australia who was not a convict. Ian e-mailed me asking how to get information on his grandfather who emigrated from Lincoln in 1895 after the death of his wife. While it is not easy to find information on emigrants there are several avenues to explore from the UK. As Ian is on the Internet the easiest place to start is at www.rootsweb.com where many lists will be found that covers all interests throughout the world with many links to matters Australian. These range from Australian History through Military History to Genealogy in the various states of Australia. On the net is also the Lincoln list which has a number of subscribers from Australia who are searching for their Lincolnshire roots. Subscribing to a list gives you access to people all over the world on a similar search to yourself, and in the main they are very friendly and helpful.

At the Public Records Office , Kew Gardens, there are many documents concerning emigration including the census of convicts from 1788 to 1859, passport registers (bearing in mind that it was not necessary to have a passport in the 19th century) and passenger lists from 1890 to 1960.

Places to look a little closer to home are the school log books. The Head may have made an entry when the children were removed from school to emigrate and there could also be an item in the local newspapers such as this one from Clixby

Lincolnshire October 21st 1887

CAISTOR - Mr Edward Smith, son of Mr G W Smith, of Clixby Manor, near Caistor, set sail for Buenos Ayres, to take charge of a very large herd of shorthorns formed there by Mr Campbell, Mr Smith's family have been favourably known for several generations as breeders of shorthorns, principally of the highest dairy qualities,

A few entries for Australia can be found on the IGI but the numbers are small compared to the those for Britain. There are new compilations coming out from the LDS under the title Vital Records Index and there is I believe one for Australia which might hold more information and can be ordered in the UK.

And finally, your search could be carried forward by joining the Lincolnshire Family History Society who maintain a list of members interests and may put you in contact with someone who may have already traced the family in question. There are also many Australian members listed who might be willing to help in the search. When you join you have the opportunity of putting your names of interest into the magazine which is then sent to all members. In the magazine you can also find items such as At Sandhurst, Australia on 3/2/1868 Mr Richard Millhouse, harness maker, formerly of Spalding, which was in the September 1999 edition and is full of items of interest including an in-depth article on the Internet as a genealogical resource.

Bits and Bobs Nothing changes

Lincoln St Benedict - Burial Register - John Patrick, age 12, lost his life by fireworks being accidentally lighted in his pocket on 5^th November. Buried 19 November 1823

From FHS Magazine March 1996

No village too small

Having drawn up your family tree it looks a bit on the bare side with all those dates and little else. Its now time to start looking for the fruit on it. As well as for your own interest this will enable you to put some flesh onto the bones of any skeletons found in and out of the cupboard.

There are many sources available but the two main ones easily found at the Reference Library in Free School Lane and in the Lincoln Archives are Kelly's and Whites Directories. Depending on where you live governs the amount of information contained in each publication. For a large town or city such as Lincoln or Boston there may be a complete street by street index of all inhabitants but if you are unlucky enough to have an ancestor who was an agricultural labourer and who lived in a village - and most of us are - then information is not so easily come by. The Directories normally only list the principal inhabitants such as landowners, farmers and those in trade. An entry which is quite typical is this one for Sotby of 1856 from White's Directory

Directory

Coote George, carpenter

Goddard Thomas, parish clerk

Tripp George, shoemaker

Tripp John, vict. Nag's Head

Weatherhog Joseph, shopkeeper & smith

Post from Wragby

Farmers

Baggerley Thomas

Borringham William

Curtois William

Scholey Edward

Scholey Thomas

Stovin George

Frederick Kelly published a Post Office Directory for Lincoln early in the 19^th century and it has carried on until recent years. Don't forget the point I made a few weeks ago that you can't believe all that is written without checking on the original source. As you look through the many years of directories you will notice that what is written does not change a great deal from year to year and with so many villages in Lincolnshire it was not easy for the publishers to check the data. One Kelly's Directory recorded that the was a church in the village of Grasby in 950AD. Over the years I have tried to find the original source of this information without success, but out there somewhere there could be a reference which someone found and putting two and two together came up with three. Information in one directory was sometimes found in a rival publication.

The majority of the population were of course, labourers working on the land and in the mam this multitude was not recorded. To be included one needed a trade or to own land. Reprints of some Directories are still available. Whites 1856 Directory of Lincolnshire and more recently Whites 1872 Directory both make interesting bedtime reading. For those in trade Pigots and Bennets are both good sources with reprints still coming out. Inside you can find adverts such as:-

Cross Keys inn - Grasby

George Roskilly - proprietor.

cyclists & parties catered for. also horsebreaker &

waggonette proprietor. runs to Brigg Thursday

waggonette & dog-cart for hire.

The information found in a directory will include the population taken at the last census, area of land and its rateable value, and items of interest about the village such as:-

SOTBY, an old village of thatched houses, on an acclivity, 5 miles east of Wragby, has in its parish 152 souls, and 1604 acres of land, mostly the property of Robert Vyner, Esq. Lord of the manor. The church (St Peter) is a discharged rectory, valued in the Kings Book at £9 0s l0d, and now at £193 per annum. The Lord Chancellor is patron, and the Rev, John Bainbridge Smith, of Ranby, is the incumbent.

Even the smallest of places gets a mention and they don't come much smaller than this:-

MORTON, in the vale of a rivulet, 9 miles S W by W of Lincoln, is an extra parochial house and estate, containing 6 souls and 710 acres of land belonging to Mrs Solly, and occupied by Thomas Pilgrim, farmer. It anciently belonged to the Knights Templar of Eagle Hall., and usually returned with Swinderby parish.

LDS Tops the Popularity Charts

Whatever your religious persuasion amongst genealogists one of the most popular groups of people are those of the Church of the Latter Day Saints, who have undertaken one of the largest projects ever conceived,.- to index and produce for use by genealogists everywhere, all the marriages and baptisms in the world - yes - all of them. The reason for this mammoth undertaking, and I apologise to LDS members for my simplicity, is to allow the retrospective baptisms of all Mormon family members whenever they were born.

The first product of their labours was the IGI or International Genealogical Index which is on microfiche. It is not complete by any means and there are a number of mistakes but it is of enormous value if you do not know the whereabouts of ancestors. Unfortunately not all Lincolnshire parishes are included and neither are all their registers. If however your search of the IGI does not produce the desired result at least, after checking those parishes and registers which are included, you can now concentrate your efforts on the excluded ones. The IGI has recently been updated with the new material being put onto a CD-ROM.

What can we find out by using the sources already mentioned? Let's look at the IGI and pick a name. Thomas Lilley the son of John and Mary Anne Lilley was baptised on the 12^th November 1820 at North Carlton. Other members of the family are also mentioned at North Carlton but we'll follow up on Thomas. By the time of the 1851 census Thomas, an agricultural labourer, aged 29, had married Sarah, who was born in St Pauls, Lincoln, and they live in North Carlton with their four children. In the preceding seven years or so they have moved around following the work. Moving from Carlton to Lincoln, St Nicholas then Nettleham and in the last couple of years back to Carlton where their youngest son George was born.

By the 1871 census Thomas and Sarah have settle permanently at North Carlton with five new members added to the family, the youngest being Thomas aged 4. Thomas senior is still an Ag Lab now aged 50. Twenty years later in 1891 Thomas is still at Carlton, but now on his own, a widower, with Elizabeth Wakefield from Scredington acting as his housekeeper. The final entry is from the North Carlton parish registers.

North Carlton Parish Register

30th August 1919

Thomas Lilley, of the Bede Houses in Burton by Lincoln buried. Aged 99 or 100.

Said he was born in the same year as Queen Victoria.

Baptised November l2th 1820.

You can see how easy it is from just these limited sources to build a picture of family life during the last century. Further investigation would unearth the maiden name of Sarah and her parents and more items of interest can be added using others sources such as the directories for Lincolnshire.

Bits & Bobs

Navenby Parish Register

Original Gabitus, Codder, buried August 10^th 1779.

A Codder was one who worked with leather such as a saddler; his name was Original,