Piper in Toppesfield, Poppyhold Lands

[Piperatthegates]

Hi this is my first rootschat posting 

I am researching the Piper Family name in Toppesfield, Essex. The Parish records held by Essex Records Office are damaged, does anybody have any ideas as to where to look now?

Finally does anybody know what Poppyhold lands are, twice now looking at wills I have come across this phrase and cant seem to find out exactly what it means.

[suffolk*sue]

Pipers listed in Toppesfield in the 1841 census.




PIPER  JAMES   55  WOOD LAND FARM     
   
PIPER  MARY   50    WOOD LAND FARM   
   
PIPER  STEPHEN   50    WOOD LAND FARM     

[cep]

Could the word be Copyhold?

"At its origin in medieval England, Copyhold tenure was tenure of land according to the custom of the manor, the "title deeds" being a copy of the record of the manor court.

Copyholds were gradually enfranchised (turned into ordinary holdings of land—either freehold or 999-year leasehold) during the 19th century."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyhold


Regards   CP

[Piperatthegates]

Hi,

Thank you both,

C.P.
I think you are right with the Copyhold. Looking at the will I copied at E.R.O again it is not exactly how the P in Pyper (Piper) was formed so it could be a stylised C that I mistook for a P, and it certainly fits in the context. yet again you have come up trumps 

suffolk suepip
Thank you also. I had not yet found them in the 1841 census, my searches with C.P. and others help had taken me to Toppesfield earlier than 1841 and I had yet to fully backtrack.
If I am right then James is married to Sarah and Stephen is James's brother. The family was living in a farm called Woodleys in 1727 (Jeremiah Piper, Will) and 1824 (Isaac Piper, Will), so hopefully that is the same farm, even though it was supposed to be sold under the terms of the 1824 will. Thats rather nice to think it was in the family for over 100 years.

Thank You both for your help it is greatly appreciated

[Piperatthegates]

Ooops 

Sorry, for Sarah read Mary

Sarah is a popular Piper name!

[Clincher]

Hi, Perhaps you already know this and have already tried what I am going to suggest.
Although the original parish registers have been badly damaged by damp (which would have greatly affected the quality of the microfilming process), it is possible that some transcripts may help you.
If you log on to the website of Essex Record Office which is

http://seax.essexcc.gov.uk

then click on 'Guest'
then enter 'Toppesfield registers' in the search box you will see details of the transcripts I mean.
I hope they are of help to you

[Piperatthegates]

Hi,

Unfortunately it's the parish registers at the Essex Records Office that are damaged, There is a transcription, but I cannot tell how accurate it is, as apparently on the originals only the first couple of entries on each page are legible and the rest is lost.

I have heard of Bishops transcripts but I dont know where or if these are available, or even if they are in a better state than the ones at the records office.

Thank you for the thought though. 

[Piperatthegates]

Hi All,

As is often the way over night I reflected on what Clincher suggested and my response, and I felt I should elaborate.

Firstly I would like to thank Clincher who obviously has looked on SEAX for the information I would need, which is very good of him.
Toppesfield is one of those places that just screams out "Brick Wall".

Firstly at the Essex R.O. someone has kindly damaged the Toppesfield microfische that holds the Births and Deaths records so it is not available. So you go into Seax and discover that the original Parish registers were damaged by damp, however there are transcriptions. You order those up and they appear incomplete, presumably they were transcribed after the damp got to the originals.
 Finally, last Saturday I asked if it was possible to see the original Parish records and the staff (who are excellent if I may say) understandably were reluctant, but one of them ordered it up for themselves so that they could examine it and tell me more about it. This they did, and the records have places where only the first couple of entries are visible, which ties in to my suspicion that the Transcriptions are incomplete, (there are whole years where nothing happens etc..). I wrote down all of the Pipers throughout the whole book and that has helped a bit.

I have now started in on wills, etc as the parish records look a dead end, but as a genealogy novice I am running out of ideas, are there any other avenues that I can approach, I am back to 1727 and a Will written by Jeremiah Piper who left his farm to his son John, who left it to his son Isaac, who had the children James and Stephen from the 1841 Census who appear to be living in the same farm house.

Anybody have any ideas where to go now? I have only been interested in genealogy for about six weeks and even though I have some research experience in other fields I am stumped 

Again I would like to thank Clincher for the time and thought he put into his reply, it seems a blind alley, but the thought was there and that means a lot when your stuck.

[Clincher]

Thanks for the pm - no problem, honestly. If you go back to the ERO website and search for 'Toppesfield Bishop's Transcripts' you get the reference D/CR 378 which covers only 1800-1886. Maybe they are not the period you need.
Bishops' transcripts were completed in the parishes periodically (I can't remember how often) and submitted to the deanery and/or diocese. Their purpose was a kind of back-up to the original parish registers which history had shown were subject to the perils of inadequate care and attention - not least, apparently, in Toppesfield. It's bad luck when that problem affects your family history search as badly as this.
An afterthought: If you look at Essex RO Information leaflet no 2 that expands on what I've said and refers to (a) the possibility that some Essex BTs are at Guildhall Library in London (b) Boyd's register of Marriages may have been compiled from unscathed originals and is available on open access shelves at ERO (c) Hearth Tax Assessments and Settlement Orders are indexed on microfiche which are filed below the drawers where the parish microfiche are stored