RootsChat.Com
England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Buckinghamshire => Topic started by: mead researcher on Wednesday 23 August 17 00:54 BST (UK)
-
Hi there from Down Under
When I first joined rootschat years ago it was as I was researching my MEAD ancestors.
Much has been achieved since then and while there are still mysteries the 3 that concern me today are:
Charles MEAD's wife Sophia nee DIMMOCK and some of their children are living at what we think says "Barracks".
When visiting years ago we tried via many different local sources to ascertain what that might mean and where it was in the village.
The general feeling was that it was a lot of families living together in close proximity to each other....
So my first Q is - can anyone shed light on the mystery of "Barracks" or whatever it might be...?
2nd Q - while Sophia is at Barracks and is the Head of the household, labourer's wife - where is her husband Charles in that year - 1851....?
(He was born December 1818 in Stewkley - parents we think were Thomas MEAD and Mary nee DICKENS.)
My 3rd Q concerns 1841 as no matter what I try I am unable to locate this MEAD family.
Charles and Sophia were married 25 June 1837 and by 1841 had 1 son living Benjamin born 23 December 1839 (2 sons John Charles b and d 1838 - Thomas b and d 1839).
I realise it was a long time ago and there may not be answers to my Q's but remain hopeful that someone "on the spot" may have better luck that I have had :)
Regards
Barbara in Australia
-
In 1841 the family are living in Edenbridge, Kent:
Charles Mead 20 R.R. Lab.
Sophia Mead 20
Benjamin Mead 2 - all shown as not born in county and remember ages were rounded down for adults in 1841 census.
Annette
-
1851 census.
Stewkley, Buckinghamshire, England
Reg District. Winslow
Sophia Mead Head F 31 England
Mary Mead Daughter F 8 England
Joseph Mead Son M 2 England
Eli Dimmock Nephew M 5 England
Benjamin Mead Son M 11 England
Elisabeth Faulkner Visitor F 15 England
Sarah Dimmock Niece F 0 England
-
Thanks for that info. Annette, very good to have after all this time.
Thanks also to Bucksboy - I did have that 1851 info. but am still missing where Charles was in 1851.
And as for "Barracks" - any ideas...?
Charles and Sophia MEAD were my Great-Great-Grandparents
Barbara
-
Barracks, would indicate a Military base. Army Barracks would suggets that Charles Mead was possibly in the Army. This may explain why he's not in the 1851 Census.
He could be in foreign parts of the world. I would suggest a look up in FindMyPast for any possible military records, or any other site that may hold them, if any exist.
-
Thanks for that suggestion - worth following up :-)
Barbara
-
Are you looking for Charles' parents?
Years ago I bought a database of names in wills made by a man named Shrimpton, who transcribed them at Aylesbury.
There's a will in 1840 of Matthew Mead, of Stewkley, with these names:
1840 Matthew Mead, of Stewkley
Sons Charles, James, John, Richard, William
Granddaughter Sarah Anne Mead, of Stewkley
Wife Rebeccah
-
Hi re the 1851 census for "Barracks" Stewkley, Winslow, I have attempted to located the Enumerators Walk for Stewkley but have been unsuccessful, but would suggest that households comprising trades such as Ag Labs/Bricklayers/Straw Plaiters etc etc is highly unlikely to have been anything to do with the Army?!
Keyboard86
-
I agree, keyboard86. Was looking at it from the enumerators walk too and looking at a map of Stewkley would suggest it was between South End (at bottom of high street) and Orchard Lane which is on the left (as you look at map).
Must have been a shortlived address as it doesn't seem to exist before 1851 or after.
Annette
-
Barracks was also used as a term for a encampment of huts/tents etc where labourers were housed during a temporary project or new working area or potentially in a remote place where nowhere else for labourers to live. examples I know of would be for navvies on railway or dam construction projects, people settling round new coal mines in South Wales and for slate quarry workers in remote areas of Snowdonia
Anyway, think this is Charles in 1851 - lodging with a family in Colsterworth, Lincs
John Ashwell 46
Eliza Ashwell 43
John Ashwell 18
Ann Ashwell 15
Charles Meade 30 - railway labourer, married b Bucks, Studeley )as transcribed by Ancestry but image could be Stukely or similar]
Joel Cotter 21 - lodger, railway worker
HO107, 2102, 161, 29
In 1841 he is surrounded by "R R labourers" - wondering if this is rail road, i.e. he's a navvy of some sort
-
Well done, good find. Never thought of Barracks as been described. I live and learn, as always.
Steve. :)
-
Thank you, thank you, thank you Mabel Bagshawe.......
His whereabouts in 1851 has been a mystery for a long time.
And also to your suggestions re the name "Barracks".
On our visit to Stewkley and Wing years ago we had the pleasure of meeting and spending time with local Author Robert DICKENS who wrote the 2 small "Stewkley in Camera" books.
He was also a local historian and together we did all we could, including poring over old maps, and your interpretation is also all we could suggest.
Now knowing that Charles moved around working on the railways (Kent 1841 Lincolnshire 1851) it lends credence to why he wasn't at home in Stewkley.
Thank you for taking the time to reply with that information.
Barbara
-
I'd forgotten the railway navies' barracks connection but now I remember seeing a TV programme a number of years ago regarding building of the railways where they highlighted at least two instances where the name barracks remained in the area long after the navies had moved on. I also remember that the Ordnance Survey recorded several instances of this when they did their detailed survey of the country in the mid 1800s.
-
Thanks for that artifis, every little bit of info. adds to the picture.
Barbara
-
I'd forgotten the railway navies' barracks connection but now I remember seeing a TV programme a number of years ago regarding building of the railways where they highlighted at least two instances where the name barracks remained in the area long after the navies had moved on. I also remember that the Ordnance Survey recorded several instances of this when they did their detailed survey of the country in the mid 1800s.
Was that Programme, Time Team, with Tony Robinson. Somewhere in Yorkshire I believe. It maybe worth looking for that episode, which may give the flavour of the conditions and hardships in these 'Barracks'.
I've just googled, it was Rise Hill, North Yorkshire, available to view on U Tube.
Steve. :)
-
I suspect you're right Steve, I used to watch all those programmes but also tucked away at the back of my mind is another programme about railways and the conditions during the building of them.
-
Thanks Steve - I had a look and can't get to see it - got the message when I chose the Rise Hill story:
This video contains content from LDS, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds.
However I have found a few interesting sites with info. on the early railway building days.
Thanks again.
Barbara
-
How far back do you have this family? Were they in Stewkley as far back as you know? I have quite a lot of information about Meads in Stewkley, going back to the 15th century.
There was a John Mede of Stewkley, husbandman, in Common Pleas records in 1484 and 1501. He or his son, also John Mede, was in the lay subsidy rolls and muster rolls in the 1520s. A Thomas Mede of Stewkley, probably a son of John, appears in muster rolls and subsidy rolls in the 1530s and 40s and left a will in 1569. The parish records begin in the 1540s and after that it’s possible to build a more complete lineage.
wills:
https://sites.google.com/site/meadfamilyhistory/home/wills/bucks/wills
https://sites.google.com/site/meadfamilyhistory/home/counties/bucks/wills-database
Parish records (1538.1638)
https://sites.google.com/site/meadfamilyhistory/home/counties/bucks/baptisms
https://sites.google.com/site/meadfamilyhistory/home/counties/bucks/marriages
https://sites.google.com/site/meadfamilyhistory/home/counties/bucks/burials
Medieval records
https://sites.google.com/site/meadfamilyhistory/home/counties/bucks/bucks-medes
From various records:
https://sites.google.com/site/meadfamilyhistory/home/counties/bucks/stewkley
-
Hello Vance
Are you connected...?
I have to say that after all my initial research when I found they were my direct ancestors (Charles MEAD and Sophia DIMMOCK) it began to get very confusing due to the number of Mead families and names that were duplicated.
So I may not even have the previous generations back from those two correct....
If you feel inclined have a look at the following link re MEAD from my website:
http://www.kirchneryoungtreeoflife.bndon.com/mead/mead_desc.htm
Then, if you see glaring errors I would be happy to look into them further.
At this stage I would have to go trawling through my early research to check documentation, so will leave it as it is for the present.
Regards
Barbara
www.KirchnerYoungTreeOfLife.bndon.com
-
Hello Barbara,
I don't know if we're connected. My earliest known Mead ancestor was married in Watford, about 25 miles away towards London, in 1545. I don't know where he was born, so I've been looking at all of the Meads from around 1400 to 1650. There were a lot, especially around Stewkley, Soulbury, Whitchurch, and around Princes Risborough, Saunderton, Horsington, Bucks.
I haven't searched through all of FamilySearch, but below is some information from wills that confirms what you have for the earlier generations: Thomas / Joseph / Joseph.
From the wills, Thomas (died 1710) was married to Catherine. From other information I have, he was born in 1666, the son of Edward.
Edward was born in 1629, the son of Bennet/Benedict and Grace Hogge.
Bennet was born in 1591, the son of John.
John was born in 1557, the son of Thomas and Isabel.
Thomas Mede was an archer in the musters in 1535 and is found in the lay subsidy tax rolls in the 1540s. I have a copy of his will, dated 1569.
Thomas is probably the son of John Mede of Stewkley, who was in the muster rolls in 1522 and in the lay subsidy rolls in 1525.
Earlier there was a John Mede in the court of Common Pleas in 1484 and 1501. The earlier one is likely to be the father of the one in the 1520s, since there's a 40-year gap, though theoretically they could be the same person. The one in 1501 could be either the father or the son. As a very rough estimate, I'd say that Thomas was born around 1510, his father John in about 1480, and grandfather John in about 1450.
The earliest record I've found for them is from a Common Pleas case of debt in 1484:
1484 Michaelmas/dorses 2026
Bucks. Nicholas Funteyn, of Wynge, versus Robert Mede, of Whitechyrche, cordwainer; Thomas Kente, of Redyng, Berks, draper; John Mede, of Stuckley, husbandman. Debt.
Second entry:
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT3/R3/CP40no890/bCP40no890dorses/IMG_2026.htm
Since there's a Robert Mede of Whitchurch in the same entry, it's possible that Robert and John Mede are related. There were several Medes in Whitchurch at that time.
1710 DA/WE 51/168 Thomas MEAD of Stewkley, Testator
Sons Benjamin MEAD, Jonathan MEAD, Joseph MEAD, Matthew MEAD, Richard MEAD, Thomas MEAD
Daughter Elizabeth MEAD
Wife and executor Katharine MEAD
1723 DA/WF 73/192 John MEAD of Stewkley, Testator
Son William MEAD
Wife and executor Christian MEAD
1725 DA/WF 74/241 William MEADE of Stewkley, Testator
Wife and executor Elizabeth MEADE
1734 DA/WF 80/133 Catherine MEAD of Stewkley, Testator
Sons Benjamin MEAD, Jonathan MEAD, Joseph MEAD, Matthew MEAD, Richard MEAD, Thomas MEAD
Former husband Thomas MEAD
Nov 02 1734 DA/WF 80/162 Elizabeth MEAD of Stewkley, Testator
Daughter Elizabeth MEAD
Son Thomas MEAD
May 29 1760 DA/WF 94/47 Matthew MEAD of Stewkley, Testator
Brother Benjamin MEAD
1765 DA/WF 96/47 Joseph MEAD of Stewkley, Testator
Son and executor Joseph MEAD
Wife Elizabeth MEAD
1784 DA/WF 104/71 Benjamin MEAD of Stewkley, Testator
Son and executor Benjamin MEAD
Son Thomas MEAD
Grandson Matthew MEAD
1833 DA/WF 120/14 Matthew MEAD of Stewkley, Testator
Sons John MEAD, Matthew MEAD
Wife and executor Elizabeth MEAD
1840 DA/WF121/173 Matthew MEAD of Stewkley, Testator
Sons Charles MEAD, James MEAD (executor), John MEAD, Richard MEAD, William MEAD
Wife Rebekah MEAD
Granddaughter Sarah Ann MEAD
-
Here is another possibility. In the will of Matthew Mead of Stewkley, cordwainer, in 1840, he has a son named Charles. Matthew is the son of Matthew (will 1833):
1833 DA/WF 120/14 Matthew MEAD of Stewkley, Testator
Sons John MEAD, Matthew MEAD
Wife and executor Elizabeth MEAD
1840 DA/WF121/173 Matthew MEAD of Stewkley, Testator
Sons Charles MEAD, James MEAD (executor), John MEAD, Richard MEAD, William MEAD
Wife Rebekah MEAD
Granddaughter Sarah Ann MEAD
In a publication of the Bucks Record Society, The Buckinghamshire Posse Comitatus 1798
http://www.bucksrecsoc.org.uk/BRSpub022.html
pages 188-189, there are, in Stewkley:
William Mead, farmer
Matthew Mead senior, cordwainer
Matthew Mead junior, cordwainer
Joseph Mead, servant
Joseph Mead, labourer
Thomas Mead, labourer
The elder Matthew, born, say, 1760, is the grandson of Benjamin:
1784 DA/WF 104/71 Benjamin MEAD of Stewkley, Testator
Son and executor Benjamin MEAD
Son Thomas MEAD
Grandson Matthew MEAD
And Benjamin is the son of Thomas and Catherine (wills 1710 and 1734)
1710 DA/WE 51/168 Thomas MEAD of Stewkley, Testator
Sons Benjamin MEAD, Jonathan MEAD, Joseph MEAD, Matthew MEAD, Richard MEAD, Thomas MEAD
Daughter Elizabeth MEAD
Wife and executor Katharine MEAD
1734 DA/WF 80/133 Catherine MEAD of Stewkley, Testator
Sons Benjamin MEAD, Jonathan MEAD, Joseph MEAD, Matthew MEAD, Richard MEAD, Thomas MEAD
Former husband Thomas MEAD
From there back it’s the same as before.