Excise officers

[Redroger]

Simon, I wonder if you could help me please? In my tree I have a Thomas Ovens, who was believed to have been an excise officer at or near Heckington Lincs in 1739. Ovens is a very rare surname in Lincolnshire, and I have been unable to find any earlier trace of him on site I can access.

[newburychap]

TNA has a lot of material on excise officers - but they are not catalogued by name.  You really need to go to TNA and go through the minute books that contain entries on postings, promotions, disciplinary measures etc.

It can be a frustrating process as you can only order 3 items at a time and it only takes a couple of minutes to check the index of three minute books and find no reference you are interested in.  Then follows a 30 minute wait for the next three books to arrive.

My experience came from following the career of an officer who served from 1709 to 1715 - I found four entries in the 20+ books that cover the period.  One day I may return to check the books in more detail as there is at least one posting I have missed by just checking the name in each book's index.

Excise officers did not serve in their home town - to prevent corruption/favouritism etc.  The chap I was researching left the service when he married a girl in the town where he was officer (his choice would have been to resign or move).

[Redroger]

I have no idea where Thomas Ovens came from or where he went to, I only know that his daughter Elizabeth was born in Heckington in 1739, and by implication he was still in the vicinity in 1764 when his daughter  married into my tree in neighbouring Great Hale.

[wetpawprints]

Simon

I would be most grateful if you could look up my exciseman ancestor on Athens please?

He was John Winteringham (Wintringham) c.1780.
I have listings of him being an excise officer on his childrens christenings:
Lockwood, Yorkshire 1809
St Helens, Lancashire 1814
Liverpool, Lancashire 1817
Liverpool, Lancashire 1819
I have no record of his death and cannot trace one anywhere either. On the 1841 & 1851 census his wife is shown as 'widow of excise officer' and her death certificate states her occupation as 'widow of supervisor of excise'.

I do hope to be able to visit the National Archives one day but any information at all would be wonderful.

Trish

[Lookin2]

yelclub

Re Excise Officers.  Celia Cotton http://www.bhsproject.co.uk did extensive research on my Excise Officers and she has written an article on her website to help others who are searching.  You may find it of interest.  Lookin2

[fruitlady]

Simon,
Another request for you to look up on ATHENS.  My ggg grandfather John Davison was an excise officer.
20th January 1825 he was assigned to Egton Ride, Whitby Collection, late of Workington ride, Cumberland Collection
14th July 1827 was replaced at Egton Ride due to death
His burial at Glaisdale lists his age as 34 so probable birth in 1793.
I believe there are several excise officers with the same name. In the minute books I was able to go through on my last trip to England (when I found the above) I would find John Davison going from one ride to another but not the same ride as the last or next reference.
Any help would be appreciated.
Sue

[Scranpot]

Hi Newbury Chap

I've just found your posts about Excise Officers, and wonder if you could suggest how I could take forward my research?

I'm trying to find out about William Bate, who was named as an Officer of Excise, of London, in his father John Bate's will dated 1796. I found a reference to a William Bate in the National Archives Customs index as entering the service in 1836 - too late for my William Bate, but I thought he might be a relation and I was in London anyway so I visited TNA to look him up. (I completely relate to your 'three documents at a time' frustration!)

He doesn't seem to have been a relation of my William Bate, however, and one of the advisers there said I probably wouldn't find any relevant records as early as the 1790s: but there are references in your posts to Officers of Excise much earlier than the 1790s. Can you advise where I might pursue my search?

The other slightly confusing thing about my William Bate being an Officer of Excise is that the evidence indicates that he was a Catholic, and I thought Catholics were barred from public office until the 1820s ...

Scranpot

[floraflossieflo]

Wow, so delighted to have found this thread.  I have an ancestor who was an Excise Officer, and we have his qualification certificate from 1819, the date and location of the birth and baptism of all his children as he and his family moved around the country, and even a letter from his wife to him in one place.  But I'd still value any information on him or more detail on how he would have worked. 

His name was George Penny, born and Christened in Colton, Lancs, in 1797 and qualified in Lancaster, for 'Surveying a Soapery', in 1819, married Margaret Marsh in Hanmer, Flintshire, whilst living in Ellesmere. His children were born and/or Christened at Manchester, Ardwick, Chester, Rusholm, Birmingham, Worcester, and Alcester.  He died at Stourbridge in 1850. 

I know he travelled by horse, with pistols, a lantern and a tinderbox, and I assume that Excise officers were not the most popular of people with some folks.  Did they stay in an area and keep an eye on several places, did they 'survey' several types of manufacturers and did they have standard report forms, in fact any information that people can supply, I'd be very interested to receive. 

I do hope some of those in the know are still checking into this thread, and would be delighted to hear more from you. 

Many thanks,

Flo

[Lookin2]

The site below has info on Excise Officers and how to find them  Lookin2

www.bhsproject.co.uk