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.

2 - Great-Great-Granddad was a Cordwainer?

The census is one of the most useful tools available to the genealogist. Since its inception in 1801 it has been carried out every 10 years with only one exception -when the second world war got in the way. The first useful census for our purposes is that of 1841 but this is limited in its information. It holds the names and the ages of each person in the household with the ages of the adults rounded to the nearest five years. From 1851 it also lists the place of birth of each inhabitant and this is the information we are after.

We are very lucky in Lincolnshire as there is a very active Family History Society who, over the years, have indexed all the censuses (or should that be censii!!). This makes it very easy to find anyone of your surname at ten year intervals through the 19th century. Copies of the index are held at the Reference Library, Free School Lane, and at the Archives in St Rumbold St.. If you want to be able to work at home they can also be bought through the FHS. Be prepared though, while some of the enumerators had wonderful copperplate handwriting a few of them could spend their time today writing out doctors prescriptions!!

Census material is held at Lincoln Archives apart from the 1841 which is in the Reference Library. So, armed with the reference numbers from the index to the relevant census, it is an easy matter to check on the entry which interests you. Staff at both places are very helpful and will show you where the films/fiche are kept and how to use the viewers. It is advisable to book in advance as there is only limited space.

The poor of the 19th century were very suspicious of the census thinking that the information could be used against them. When asked the question by the enumerator they could be quite evasive in their answer. Sometimes of course they did not know the answer as the elderly then could be unsure of their age and occasionally the enumerator would 'guess-timate'. Great-Great-Great-Granddad, who moved to Branston from Great Hale when he was but a few months old would have given his place of birth as Branston as "I have always lived here". The moral to this is don't believe implicitly in all that is written. The enumerator and the residents are only human and mistakes are sometimes made.

Most of the Lincolnshire population in the 19th century were involved in farming and the majority of these are classed as Ag. Lab (Agricultural Labourer). Over the years old occupations disappear and new ones replace them. In 1881 William COOLING, aged 67, born in Branston, married and living with his family at Branston gives his occupation as Cordwainer. Later this is replaced by cobbler or shoemaker.
With the family information and census material, with luck, we should now have a line of ancestors back to the early 1800s. The next thing to do is to join all the pieces of information together and for that we will use the Parish Registers.

 

Bits & Bobs

Croxby Baptisms

5th May 1861 - Emma daughter of John & Emma Taylor of Croxby - Labourer.
In the margin    *God-Mother made a mistake and gave the wrong name — it was to have been Eliza.