Seeking BEARD watermen

[penbex86]

On that basis, I have just done another ancestry search on Thomas and Mary Annie to clarify things for you.
They were very wealthy the Beards, owning a fair bit of land and buildings. Look how many lodgers, servants etc were living in them and the adjacent outbuilding on the 1861 census which seems to roughly match up with dates.

Weirdly, my Nanny Florence, whom married into the Stephan family was a Cullis. Another well-known local name...

I THINK they may have owned a pub before the General Gordon. I recall reading something about the Pheasant Inn...it does say innkeeper on the census...

The 1841 census which seems to match up shows Thomas Beard living with his father (another Thomas, a waterman!), mother Ann and what is likely to be his brother, Richard.

Unfortunately, dates on census records seem to vary. The ones I've now got for Thomas vary on him being born 3 years either side of 1818...

Moderator Comment: census images removed for copyright reasons - see http://www.rootschat.com/forum/copyright.php.

[madeley]

I am sure i have seen headstones in Barrow church yard relating to Beard watermen might be worth you having a look sometime, also the Ironbridge gorge museum have a library at Coalbrookdale with lots of photos and all sorts of info about the local area, give them a call they may have something of use to you they are very helpfull.

[Emjaybee]

My Thomas was resident in The Rhydd, upstream from Upton on Severn, in 1841. He was a fisherman. There are two Thomas and Anne marriages (father and son marrying the same name) it looks like the Brosely Beards are a diffent family.

However, in the past information has arrived from across the world to set the record straight, we shall wait for Rootschat Magic to happen again. I waited a year last time!

Thanks to all for your interest.

Mike

[SeaBee23]

Thanks penbex & madeley,
Thomas Beard on the William in 1881 is not as I suspected the same Thomas I have, the ages are too far apart 1818 against 1811.
I have been researching my Beard roots on the Severn for several years and have connections with Beard's in Broseley, Gloucester, Stourport and finally Wolverhampton once the river trade ended.
Madeley, I am interested in the Beard watermen you mentioned in Barrow churchyard, I will pay them a visit next time I am in the area.
Regarding books the mentioned for Severn researchers;  apart from Severn Traders by Colin Green and Barges and Bargemen by Trinder, Trinder & Cox's  Miners and Mariners of the Severn Gorge is also a fine book.
This is an interesting thread, thanks all.
Chris

[bristolloggerheads]

Thomas Beard's commonplace book details events in the 1820s and 1830s so it is likely that it will not be that of either Thomas born 1811 or 1818.

Peter

[penbex86]

Does it Peter?
It's not likely to be of much interest to me then to be honest. I have received a response from Shropshire Archives as follows. Not being related to the Beards directly, I wouldn't have much hope in aiding them.

Dear Penny,
 
Thanks for emailing - I have details from our conservator, Andrew Davidson
which he gave me last week in reply to yours and other queries we have had
about the Alderman Jones notebooks.  I'm afraid it is not ggod news, but
this is his reply:
 
These commonplace books are in such condition as to require a great deal of
work even to make them safe for a careful photographer.  They are actively
losing text from the edges which are curled and dogeared.  The binding is
crude and in places stab-stitched, requiring excess pressure on delicate
paper in order to fully turn pages.  The conservation of these items is
necessarily complex. The mixture of single leaves and bifolios and the
general condition of the paper speaks of two months work to me.  That is a
four figure sum in any conservator's language.  If a compelling case could
be made for the conservation of these items it may be possible to apply for
a grant.  However, the ownership of this item is not clear and that would
have to be resolved before any of the likely  funding bodies would consider
making a grant available.
 
If you would like to make a compelling case we could then consider what we
need to do to resolve the ownership issue, but I have to say that if we
start to get drawn into an excessively  time consuming search for Alderman
Jones' decendants and then legal processes we might have to call a halt.
 
Please let me know your thoughts.
Regards
Andrew.  Senior Conservator.  Shropshire Archives.
 
best wishes
Liz Young
senior archives assistant.

[SeaBee23]

Hi Penny
Many thanks for posting the reply from Liz Young and Andrew Davidson at Shropshire Archives regarding Alderman Jones  Notebooks.
I fully understand the fragile nature and financial implications of conserving of the said document, however could we not have an overview of what is contained within it.
As a Beard researcher I would probably only be looking for names/dates of people or vessels and connections between them if these are contained within the book.
Maybe someone at Shropshire archives could go through the notebook and produce a brief description of its contents, I have no idea how extensive or useful it is as I have never seen it.
Also where does the link with Alderman Jones stem from? I understand the notebook is the observations and impressions of Thomas Beard.
Thanks
Chris

[penbex86]

Hi Chris

I dont know the connections im afraid. I was told that Beards diary is contained within the alderman notebooks and to check it out by a fellow researcher!

Unfortunately, that is exactly what I asked for; some sort of overview or photographic record. I'm sure if handled delicately they could at least preserve it in that form but as with you, I just don't know how large the book is and therefore, how big a job it is. Evidently though, unless someone is going to battle and claim it (which I cant because I'm only connected to the Bards by marriage), it won't be repaired.

[bristolloggerheads]

I don't think its a case of a Beard claiming it - rather descendants of the Alderman not claiming it.