Folkestone Parish Records

[bean]

Hi,

Does anyone have access to these records?
i'm trying to find the baptism/christening record for Richard Banks.
He was born in June 1791 in Liskeard, Cornwall BUT the family was from Kent and his uncles & siblings, if i've got the right people, were baptised/christened in Folkestone. I'm trying to confirm his parents, who i hope are Laurence Banks & Ann Sladen.
Any help anyone can give me would be great,

regards,
Bean

[casalguidi]

Hi Bean

The Folkestone baptisms and marriages have been transcribed (up to 1840) on http://familysearch.org though, as any index, they are open to error.

Note:- the batch number for Folkestone is P020721. 

Have your tried Penny's Folkestone site at:
 http://freepages.genalogy.rootsweb.com/~folkestonefamilies

I see that she has some SLADDEN baptisms on there - but no BANKS.  Why not email her about the SLADDENs - it may lead to something.

A good source for Folkestone families c1800 is the napoleonic papers 1803.  These list heads of household and other able bodied males with their occupations and their duty in the likely event of evasion.  It would usually give (for each household) name, age, abode and occupation of head and number of adult males (over 15 I think without looking it up), adult females and number of children (under 15?).  If the family were living in Folkestone at this time, any Richard of the right age might not be listed by name as he was too young but you should be able to see how many children were in the household - maybe that would help you decide?

They may have now been published by the Folkestone & District FHS

http://www.folkfhs.org.uk/publications.htm

or available at The Heritage Room, Folkestone Library, Grace Hill, Folkestone if you are interested.  They do up to half an hours research for free - after that there is a charge - if I am up to date with their policy.  Maybe you could get there - they have lots of "goodies" for Folkestone families.

I would say that SLADDEN is a "Folkestone" name - I have come across it many times over the years but not noted anything because it wasn't of interest to me at the time.

Were they mariners?  It just might explain why they travelled from Folkestone to Cornwall - if you are on the right line.  In the late 1700s there were a number of folkestone women who went to Holland to have their children - to give them dual nationality so that they couldn't be press ganged into the navy.  As far as I am aware, there are no offical records of such but the story crops up now and again in reports of old smuggling cases.

Could Richard have been born before marriage?  There was this, custom I suppose you could call it, in ancient Folkestone that a woman wasn't worthy of marriage until she had proved herself capable of bearing a child.  Such was this local tradition, that the local curate offered a gift of a teapot to any couple marrying where the bride wasn't with child or had already had a child.  I think I remember reading somewhere that it was only claimed once! 

You say that Richard was born Jun 1791 LIskeard, Cornwall - may I ask where this information comes from?  Did he live in Folkestone?

Hope you find this of some interest

Casalguidi

[Adi1962]

Bean,

You could try this site.  http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~folkestonefamilies/index.htm not visited it for a while myself, so cannot be certian it will help.

alos this is the Parish Church for Folkestone  http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~folkestonefamilies/eanswythe.htm but bear in mind there are many other churches in Folkestone which they could have used.


Adrian

[Adi1962]

looks like Casalguidi beat me to the post.

Adrian

[casalguidi]

Hi Adrian

There was only the one church in Folkestone until 1852 unless, of course, they were baptists or quakers.  Just thought I had better post to avoid any confusion.

Best wishes

Casalguidi

[casalguidi]

Hi Bean

I've now realised that this family that you are interested in were not the usual "run of the mill" working class.  Hence some of my earlier posting probaby won't apply!

http://genforum.genealogy.com/sladden/

If this is the case, then I would think that it would be more feasible to look to see if Lawrence BANKS left a will.

One of the messages on the above mentioned site refers to Boys Hall, Willesborough but it is not totally clear to me whether it was Elizabeth BANKS (dau of L & A) who lived there or her SLADEN husband - it reads like it was Elizabeth BANKS but I can't be certain.  The postings only mention daughters Alice & Elizabeth for L & A but the information might not be complete.

Just in case you don't know - there are three sets of wills that may include people living in this area of Kent pre 1858:

Archdeaconry court of Canterbury for people living in Archdeaconry parishes

Consistory court of Canterbury for people living in Consistory parishes

Prerogative court of Canterbury covering the whole country.  The wills of many "more well to do" people were proved in this court as well as those of many seamen - the latter often left their effects to  fellow shipmates.  These PCC wills are online at:

http://www.documentsonline.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

Good luck

Casalguidi

[bean]

Hi Casalguidi & Adi1962,

Thanks both of you for your replies.
i've got the will of Laurence Banks but it doesn't mention children by name. . If i've got the right line then they definitely lived at Boys Hall. Richard was born in Liskeard, this is confirmed by his birth info in census data. Again if i've got the right line a lot of them did end up in Cornwall. I'm trying to confirm that Richard IS the son of Laurance Banks so i'm trying to find confirmation in his christening/baptismal record. Would it be likely that his father would be named in the parish record of his marriage?

Bean

[casalguidi]

Hi Bean

If the marriage took place after mid 1837 then, yes, his father would be named.  If the marriage took place prior to this date, there was no provision to list the father's name but it is possible that the names of witnesses may help.

Also, a lot of the wealthier people married by license so it may be worthwhile to check for a marriage license if the marriage took place prior to 1837 - it won't list the father if he was "of full age" ie. over 21 but may give some other clue.  The Canterbury marriage licenses have been published (available in main Kent libraries and probably elsewhere) and there are also some on http://www.ancestry.co.uk but I am not sure of the covering dates.

Just a couple of things to think about though you may have already:

Have you checked for wills of Lawrence & Ann's parents or their siblings to see if there is any mention of Richard?

Have you checked for monumental inscriptions of this family?  They were often quite lengthy for the "well to do" and often mentioned family relationships.

Don't Ashford library have anything on the family at Boys Hall?

What about the A2A catalogue:

http://www.a2a.org.uk/

Was Lawrence BANKS a freeman?  If so, were any of his children freemen by right of birth?

Casalguidi

[bean]

Hi Casalguidi,

The marriage was in 1817 in Herefordshire so pre civil reg.
However the family of the bride were solicitors and doctors so hunting for a marriage license maybe worthwhile. I hadn't thought of looking to see if Grandparents or Uncles had left anything in their wills to Granchildren etc so that's two lines of enquiry you've given me. I think i'll start with them and see where i end up.

Thanks a lot,

Bean