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Hey all,

I've just found a marriage record for a cousin of my grandmother, a Dennis Henry Monckton. He married a Leonora Ibbotson Gerrard in Atherton, Lancashire in 1945.

The record lists him as being in the RAF and I wondered what the nearest RAF base/airfield would have been to Atherton. I'm assuming that he would have likely been stationed somewhere up there as he was originally from Pattinham in Staffordshire (in fact, Clive Road Pattingham is still listed as his home address).

There was also an RAF Cosford near his hometown, so I suppose he could have been based there as well, though how he'd have ended up marrying and settling in Lancashire, I wouldn't know.

Does anyone have any RAF knowledge of this area? Any info greatly appreciated!

Hey all,

So I've just run across a wonderful piece of autobiographical writing which confirms my 3x great grandfather as coming from, quote: '[the area] between Coalisland and the Washing Bay - either the high bridge or the big bridge, I'm not sure'.

Do any locals know to what bridge this might be referring to, and where it might be? I know there was once a tall railway bridge called Carson's Bridge somewhere in the area, might that be the one?

Thanks very much in advance!

I've been very lucky to recently hit on a seam of good records that has taken one of my branches back to the 17th century.

I'm currently focused on a Thomas Lovatt who (potential margin for error this far back in a tree notwithstanding) I believe to be my 10x great grandfather.

As Thomas was alive during the civil war, I'm looking to see if there are any clues as to his experiences during that time, whether or not he may have fought, which side he might have supported, etc. I'm hoping some of the military historians on this site may have some insights about life and times during the civil war.

I believe Thomas Lovatt was baptised in 1625 in the parish church at Lapley, Staffordshire, though he probably lived in the adjoining hamlet of Wheaton Aston.

It seems likely that Thomas was the son of Richard Lovatt and Rose Wildie and had three siblings, Mary, Anne and John. Richard looks to have died in 1629/30 when Thomas was only 4 or 5 years old, his mother remarrying in 1631.

Thomas would have been around 17 years old when the king raised his standard in Nottingham in 1642. Lapley itself seems to have been on something of a borderline between the warring factions, at least initially.

Lapley church and the nearby Lapley House (later Lapley Hall) were initially held by a garrison of 70 parliamentarian soldiers captained by a Robert Smith, before falling to a Royalist force in 1643. There seems to have been at least some skirmishing fought in and/or around the village.

The royalist garrison was for a time commanded by William Careless of Broom Hall in nearby Brewood - famous several years later for his night spent hiding in the Royal Oak with Charles II.

As far as Thomas goes, there is definitely a gap in the records around the time of the civil war. I can find no record of his marriage to his wife Margery (surname unknown), nor to the birth of his eldest son Richard. His second child, Ann, appears as normal in the Lapley parish registers, baptised in June 1651, about 9 months after the war was ended at the battle of Worcester. After that, his subsequent children appear in perfect series.

In fact, there seem to be no Lovatt records in Lapley of any kind during the war, including for Thomas' brother and sisters. Given that there do seem to be *some* marriages and baptisms being conducted at the church right through the war, I don't know whether this is simply disturbances to record keeping or whether it actually denotes the family were absent from the area.

So that's the picture so far. I'd be hugely grateful for any thoughts or ideas on avenues of enquiry, or even if anyone could give me a more detailed picture of what was happening in the area during the war.

Thanks in advance! 

Hey all, have a snippet with a couple of words I can't quite make out and was looking for some help.

For context, this isn't a will itself (though bundled as part of the documents). As far as I can see, three sons witnessed and signed their father Thomas Lovatt's will, which he made at home without any legal official present. This document seems to be the three of them confirming that this was a true and final will before the authorities in order to make it legal - I'm not sure of the proper name for such a document!

A transcription of what I can understand so far:

'[The said Thomas] Lovat being sick of the last sickness[?] of earthe[?] he died and having a [...] to make his will [...] in his own dwelling hous in presence of [...] and declare his last will and testament [...] according to the best of the [...]'


Thanks in advance! 

Hi all,

Myself and another distant relative are currently trying to decide on which Mary Masefield is actually our ancestor, who later had children in Blymhill, Staffs. I think there are two main candidates - one born in 1745 to parents John Masefield and Sarah Rutter (we'll call her Mary 1), and another born in 1749/50 to William Masefield and Ann Ward (we'll call her Mary 2). Both were baptised in Blymhill.

The Mary Masefield in our tree married a Joseph Stephenson in Blymhill in 1773. She had seven children in the date range of 1773 - 1786, dying in 1789. If they were Mary 1's children then she'd have given birth between ages 28-41, Mary 2 between the ages 23-36. Both seem feasible candidates to me

I'm not really sure how to narrow it down. William and Ann are married in Blymhill in 1742. They baptise their first child John there in 1745, then Mary in 1750. They appear to have no children in Blymhill after that point, and there are also no burial records for either a William or an Anne Masefield in Blymhill - I'm wondering if the family moved on. If so, I'd imagine that might make Mary 1 the more likely candidate.

Does anyone else have any tips for what you can do when you find yourself in this situation?