RootsChat.Com
England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Bedfordshire => Topic started by: Carolynxyz on Wednesday 01 January 14 00:42 GMT (UK)
-
Hello,
I wondered if anyone had a copy of Bedfordshire Muster Lists 1539-1831 who would kindly do a look-up for me, please? I am looking for any Ould/Old in Wymington, especially in the period 1730-1790.
Thanks,
Carolyn
-
No Olds in Wymington at any time I'm afraid, The only Olds in Beds were in 1539 were John in Biddenham and William senior in Eversholt
David
-
Hello David,
Thank you so much for such a prompt reply. I'm now well and truly baffled! I thought for sure that a William Ould would show up there in the 1760s/70s. Could I ask if there are any 18th century militia lists for Wymington/Winnington at all in the book, please? This could be very significant to my research.
Thanks
Carolyn
-
Hi Carolyn,
Wymington has:
- the 1803 muster, which is essentially a census of all men aged between 17 and 55
- 1763, but this is just the men who were chosen by lot, or their substitutes, listed by parish. It's not a full list of the names of the men who went into the hat
- earlier lists are again just the men who were serving and their place of residence. Not a census.
David
-
Thanks, David. I guess that means William Ould could have been in Wymington in 1763, but he just wasn't wasn't chosen.
I appreciate the look-up,
Carolyn
-
Hello Carolyn,
I have the Wymington PR transcripts. Is this the William Old baptised there on 22 May 1743, son of John & Catherine Old; who then married Martha Chapman of Poddington on 4 Feb 1773 by licence & then baptised three children there 1774 to 1784. After pauper William was buried 16 May 1784 there was a subsequent baptism on 30 May 1790 of William son of Martha Old "spurious/poor". Widow Martha then was buried 31 July 1828 aged about 80 (as per NBI). His father John, a grazier, was buried 28 May 1771 & BLARS have his will ref 1772/17. Has your research got the content of this will?.
If this is your William Old why do you think he was not there in 1763 ?
Regards
John
-
Hello John,
Thanks for the reply. Yes, this is my family, and yes, I do have John's will, made 1769, proved 1772. In it, he says that William is living at home with him. His brother, John, my man, is said to be in Orlingbury, and he is on the Militia list for that place in 1762. (John jnr was the son of John by his first wife, Sarah Sturman. ) This list states that he was a servant, presumably a farm servant. I was hoping there would be a similar list for Wymington which might show William's occupation, for the reason outlined below.
I am trying to ascertain the origins of the O(u)ld family. I am speculating it might be Rushden as there were 17th century Olds there, but so far I have been unable to make the link. William, as a pauper, and his wife and children were removed from Wymington to Rushden in 1777, and I am wondering if that was his legal place of settlement, perhaps because he had served an apprenticeship there, or earlier generations had come from there and not gained legal settlement in Wymington.
A few days ago, I was able to confirm through voting lists that William's father, John the grazier, had an association with Wollaston, Northants. In fact, FreeReg has an unknown male bpt to a Thomas Old in Wollaston in 1704, which could be John. It also has a son Thomas bpt to John and Sarah in Wollaston in 1735, though he was then buried in Wymington in 1736. And a Thomas Old, labourer, was buried in Wymington in 1741, so I think Thomas left Wollaston after wife Mary died to live with his son and his family in Wymington. This Thomas Old had the vote in Wollaston in 1702 and 1730, and son John had the vote in 1748, thanks to property he owned in Wollaston, although he was living in "Winnington, Beds". But Thomas was not bpt in Wollaston, nor was he married there.
I am trying to build a time line in the hopes that a clue emerges, and William's removal to Rushden might hold a clue. Why did he become pauperized after the death of his father? Was he in trade, and that failed? Was he grazing with his father until John died in 1771, and he continued the grazing with his mother, Catherine, and when she died in 1776, did the grazing come to an end? I was really hoping to find William's occupation in a militia list to see if that made a connection to Rushden. Ah, well....
Thanks again,
Carolyn
-
William, as a pauper, and his wife and children were removed from Wymington to Rushden in 1777, and I am wondering if that was his legal place of settlement
If he was removed from Wymington to Rushden, then Rushden must have been his legal place of settlement. If a Settlement Examination has survived it should state why his place of settlement was Rushden eg that it was his father's place of settlement or that he'd acquired settlement there by another route.
-
Beds Archives BLARS online catalogue has an entry dated June 1750 regarding the manor house at Wymington which includes Debden close, 36 acres, in occupation of John Old, as well as Whitland ditches 15 acres in occ. of John Old. These same locations are mentioned in 1779 regarding the reassignment of a mortgage where they are in occupation of another person. So I imagine that after tenant John Old & then his widow died in 1771 & 1776 the property & grazing rights was taken over by this other person, thus John's hiers including son William did not automatically inherit the tenancy.
-
This is new information for me, and I thank you very much for it. These are documents I definitely need to get copies of. I'm not sure where William was in 1779, but I suspect it was in Rushden. He had a son baptized there in 1778, and I know he had a daughter Catherine, who was born (somewhere) in 1781 but not baptized until 1784, though that was in Wymington, two months after William died. I guess it is possible that William was brought home to be buried, rather than being put in a pauper's grave, perhaps by his brother, John, who was in Ullesthorpe, Leicestershire, at this time. Incidentally, he first appears in Ullesthorpe in 1779, which is perhaps no coincidence in light of the information you have just sent me! I think John may have come back to Wymington briefly when William died, because at some point, he took his young niece, Elizabeth, home to Ullesthorpe to be raised by himself and his wife. Now, I'm off to ponder the significance of your new information.
Thanks again,
Carolyn
-
I'm still unable to get into BLARS. I get a message that says it is not working properly and will yield no results. This has been the case for a week now. How were you able to get in?
Carolyn
-
A week! They've had that message since late 2011. It just means you can't do a composite search for Ould and Wymington. You can search for Ould and Old though - it just means that you can't restrict the number of hits by adding a place. I've just read the 1750 document that John referred to simply by entering Debden close in the freetext field
-
Got it! Thanks. It didn't occur to me to try the other fields.
Thanks,
Carolyn