RootsChat.Com
General => The Common Room => Topic started by: Megatill on Sunday 25 November 12 04:55 GMT (UK)
-
My particular ancestry is in Leicestershire, and I am tracing one family - William Tilly (also Tilley, Tillie, etc.) who married in 1790 Elisabeth (also Elizabeth, etc.) Bates in Burton Overy.
I have already found 2 children baptised in Burton Overy
When I search William in the FamilySearch.org database, with wife Elisabeth, the search pulls up a number of children for Burton Overy, Leicestershire, and some for the Langtons (Church Langton, Tur Langton, etc. - referred to as East and West, Langton).
My question is - is there any reason that a family located in one town (Burton Overy) would get their children baptised in two (or more) Parishes (Church Langton)?
Thank you!
Megan in Sydney
-
It may have been done so that they could claim Parish Relief or the equivalent in those parishes.
It was common among Traveller families for that reason.
-
All sorts of reasons are possible. It is certainly not unusual for christenings of siblings to take place in various neighbouring parishes.
Often the nearest church (maybe across a footpath across fields) was not the church of the parish, so a family may swap to worshipping there just out of convenience, especially if they have a growing family to take with them. Or maybe friends worship somewhere else, so they go elsewhere for a few years with them. Or maybe a new vicar arrives who they don't like as much, so they try a neighbouring parish church (which might not be far away,).
-
Thank you to Rancegal and Lizdb for your responses.
Personally, I do not think Parish relief was the reason, but it is obviously a consideration. Their children seem to be baptised in Burton Overy, then Church Langton and then Burton Overy and then Church Langton... every child a swapped Parish.
All other events occurred (as far as I can see, right now) in Burton Overy.
I will try the Church records to see if the Minister traveled between Burton Overy and Church Langton - that means the current FamilySearch.org indexes will be superseded by the "original" record/image.
Church Langton is only 4.4mi southeast of Burton Overy, which is very 'walkable'. However, there are a lot of Parishes closer to Burton Overy which could have been chosen instead, as they would have been quicker to get to. It's the fact of the distance of 4.4mi which is the puzzle for me - "why that specific parish".
I will never know the real reason why the family did what they did; but your two responses seem to indicate that there was no "church law/requirement" that 'made' them swap between the two Parishes.
Megan in Sydney
-
Are you sure that the family was resident in the same place throughout? It wouldn't be uncommon to move around, usually for work-related reasons. Farm workers especially might be taken on by a different farm each year.
-
Hi Sloe Gin,
There are Tilley families in Burton Overy for as far back as I have gone to date (1400s).
My interpretation of that fact is that they (the Tilley family) had some sort of occupation that made them invaluable to the community.
For all the intermarriages into the Tilley family over those centuries, only a few came from the Langtons (Church, Tur, Thorp). Some also came from Kibworth Harcourt/Beauchamp.
It is my belief (from the later census records) that the elder boys went further afield, but always married and lived in Burton Overy.
Megan in Sydney
-
Do you know what William Tilly's occupation was?
-
Hi Sloe Gin,
No, I do not know the occupations at the moment. The FamilySearch.org indexes (indices) that prompted this thread do not contain Occupation details.
I have yet to find the original documents/copies to view.
Megan in Sydney
-
You say the parishes are 4.4 miles apart. Do you mean the centre of the parish? If they lived within a parish, but near the parish boundary it might only be a short way to the neighbouring parish?
This became clear to me when I visited the place when some of my ancestors came from. They too had some children chr in one parish and others in a neighbouring one. But when you saw whereabouts the farm where they worked and lived was, it wasnot very close to the parish church of the parish it was technically in - but you could see the spire of the neighbouring parish church just across the field. You could easily see why they had spells of worshipping there instead.
Many parishes are large areas, and so if you lived near the parish boundary you would not be 4.4 miles from the neighbouring parish!
-
Hi lizdb,
I used the Parish Locator program (PARLOC) and searched for Burton Overy. PARLOC gives a list of the parishes around a town/city for various distances.
Unfortunately, I have no idea where the family resided, so I can not tell if they were centrally located in the Parish or located on the periphery.
Maps are good at giving locations, but unless you have terrain contours showing, it's hard to understand whether you are walking up-hill, or sliding down-hill. Thus, effort is only an estimate!
My question has basically been answered - the responses to date seem to indicate that there was no "church law/requirement" that 'made' them swap between the two Parishes.
Megan in Sydney
-
Maps are good at giving locations, but unless you have terrain contours showing, it's hard to understand whether you are walking up-hill, or sliding down-hill. Thus, effort is only an estimate!
You might find the Ordnance Survey's Get-a-Map useful: http://getamap.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/getamap/frames.htm
-
Hi GrahamSimons,
Thanks for the Ordnance Survey website - I'll check it out!
However, I don't know how valuable it will be for this particular thread.
As I've said, "I have no idea where the family resided, so I can not tell if they were centrally located in the Parish or located on the periphery."
Thus, a map is moot in this instance.
Megan in Sydney
-
Unfortunately, I have no idea where the family resided, so I can not tell if they were centrally located in the Parish or located on the periphery.
In that case, it's quite feasible that they moved about and that they did actually live in the respective parishes at the time of the baptisms. If William was a farm worker, he may have worked on different farms and lived in tied cottages.