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Topics - Andrew Tarr

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19
Northumberland / Joseph Pears in Hunstanworth
« on: Wednesday 06 February 19 15:28 GMT (UK)  »
I suspect that Ancestry may be missing some 1851 census records.  I am fairly sure of finding some Pears (b.1790 or 1832)  in the lead-mining parts of this district, but after progressively widening my search I cannot find anyone in Hunstanworth at all in 1851.  I would try FindMyPast, but my sub just expired, so I wonder if anyone here has any ideas?

20
The Common Room / Missing burials, pre-registration
« on: Sunday 10 December 17 09:45 GMT (UK)  »
I'm transcribing records for Formby, a parish north of Liverpool on the west coast.  Most of the burials belong to local families, but there are two clear reasons why some deaths will never appear in any record.  The first (simple) one is that the minister never copied up the burials for 1790, which would probably amount to 20 or 30 individuals.  The second reason - which applies presumably to people from other parishes - is the number of deaths at sea, which washed up on Formby beach and received proper burial.  Some years this source amounted to 6 or more bodies 'cast up by the Tide'.  Sad.

21
The Lighter Side / Yule Humour
« on: Saturday 09 December 17 11:11 GMT (UK)  »
From the latest Cheshire ANCESTOR (magazine of the FHSC) you may enjoy this tale - it may even help you to understand complex family relationships ...

22
The Common Room / Apparent 'epidemics'
« on: Sunday 19 November 17 09:56 GMT (UK)  »
While transcribing for Formby I came across this seemingly devastating surge in burials, at something like five times the normal rate.  From December 1728 to February 1729 each month filled a whole page in the register.  It seems the reason was a prolonged spell of cold weather following a poor harvest.  One wonders how the gravediggers kept up with demand, especially with the ground frozen hard?

23
The Lighter Side / Clerical self-expression
« on: Sunday 05 November 17 17:49 GMT (UK)  »
These two entries from the early 18th century are amusing for their expansiveness or possibly irritation ...

24
The Common Room / Papists in the 18th century
« on: Monday 09 October 17 17:22 BST (UK)  »
While transcribing baptisms for Formby church I have come across a strange footnote saying that some children's names 'cd. not be procured being papists'.  Why would that have been?

25
The Common Room / A cautionary tale
« on: Wednesday 27 September 17 09:34 BST (UK)  »
For about ten years I had been unable to find an ancestor in the 1851 census, until a reply from a less blinkered RootsChatter showed that he had been hiding in plain sight.

Ralph and Elizabeth married in early 1849 in Newcastle on Tyne, witnessed by Thomas and Sarah.  That finding, now confirmed, was in some doubt because her name was recorded as Andrews instead of Anderson.  We knew that Ralph was born in 1816 and Elizabeth (his second wife) in 1825.  In 1851 she was with her first child at a distant aunt's, with no sign of Ralph.  Eventually I found him with Thomas and Sarah, still in Newcastle; Ralph's age was given as 28 (actually 35) and the others 38 (close, but not exact).  Sarah, who had married Thomas in 1836, was Ralph's sister, 6 years older - so she should have known his age  >:( .
The moral of the tale is to allow for a wide margin of inaccuracy when searching.  I had probably asked for birthdates within 5 years of 1816, which wasn't enough.

26
The Common Room / Royal Marines in the Napoleonic War
« on: Monday 21 August 17 09:40 BST (UK)  »
I am satisfied that this pair are/were my g-g-g-grandparents, after marrying in St.Andrew's church, Plymouth, which seems to have specialised in naval marriages.  They came from neighbouring villages in mid-Somerset and may have been childhood sweethearts, for her to have made what would have been a longish trip to Plymouth (she was baptised in 1782).

The first child I have found for them appeared in 1814, when Thomas was still a 'seaman', and possibly still serving at sea.  Four years later my direct ancestor Ann was born, and Thomas has become a blacksmith in the next hamlet, where there seems to be another - possibly a cousin - of the same name.  Their last child was born in 1820 when Thomas had settled in Alford as an 'ag.lab', which he remained.

Sophia died aged 55 in late 1837 ('husband a labourer'), and two years later Ann married James Allwood/Allard (both parents still unable to sign).  In 1843 Thomas married his recently-widowed neighbour, where he appears in 1851.  He died in 1857, and is recorded not as an ag.lab, but a Greenwich Pensioner, confirming his naval identity.

I have had no joy searching for his Marines history - can anyone suggest a pointer?

27
Somerset / Allwoods of mid-Somerset
« on: Friday 11 August 17 20:47 BST (UK)  »
I am trying to identify the parents of James Allwood, an Ag.Lab born in West Lydford in about 1813.  His father was named as Thomas when he married Ann White of Alford (the next village) in 1839, shortly before his first child Silas was born.  I haven't managed to find any likely Thomases on the available datasets.  Any helpers?

There is an 1814 christening in Bruton (not far away) which only mentions his mother Mary.  Maybe Thomas is a mythical creature?

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