RootsChat.Com

  I would like the first name in this clip to be John Craft, but I can't quite convince myself. The other names are for comparison, but probably not much help.

   Being at a loss for a project recently, I went back to some of my early research done with Bishops Transcripts in the Cathedral Archives. I was mainly adding dates of burial, and found that in several entries, the parson added the person's age, presumably because it was unusual. The oldest was in 1769, and he died aged 93. Several others died in the early to mid 1800s, aged between 83 and 89, 3 men and 2 women. They were probably all agricultural workers, living in tiny villages in the North Downs.
   It was very useful in confirming years of birth so I knew I had the right people. There are altogether too many Atwoods in some of these places!

   I have gone back to one of the more elusive Pays, and the notes I have for the Hearth Tax have him in Hailes Bridge borough, Blackborne Hundred. I have found the Hundred, but not the Borough. From what I know, he lived in Mersham, but that does not seem to be in that Hundred.
   I would also like to know how he came to be in Mersham!

   I am not sure if this my computer or a more general problem, but for several weeks now Outlook has been behaving oddly. It is slow to open up, but my son tells me that could be because of all the security I have! The messages then do not open properly first time, just bringing up grey bars instead of text. There are other oddities which are hard to describe, so I will leave it at that.

   The grandchildren have just been to North Wales, and we were talking about placenames. I know there are many beginning with Llan, which on-line translators have as Church. Is this correct? There are also many Llanfihangels, and I have a vague memory that the second element of this is Michael. Am I right?