Astwick & Meppershall parish records

[johnP-bedford]

To quote the words of Donald Rumsfeld

There are known unknowns. That is to say, We know there are some things, We do not know.

... but that's history, we KNEW there were 'lost' registers from Astwick & Meppershall, but these have come to light in recent years and now have been transcribed with the help of the Beds Family History Society, and new versions replace the existing volumes 26D & 36C, & will be available at Bedford & Luton libraries, & at the BFHS library (first Friday of each month) + I have a copy.

JohnP     

[bedfordshire boy]

Thanks John, very useful information.

Astwick (which is where my parents married) is of interest to me - do you know which years were lost and whether these years were also missed from the IGI

David

[johnP-bedford]

David,   It says at the start of the Astwick section. 

The earliest volume said to have run from 1655 - 1717 could not be found when Dr F G Emmison visited Astwick in 1929 & was still missing when the PR was published in 1942. However in 1954 the missing register which in fact is dated from 1564 to 1717 was found among the effects of Miss Bowman of Hitchin & shortly afterwards deposited at the Record Office. 

That being said, I notice that the IGI when accessed though the Hugh Wallis site has baptisms from 1602 & marriages from 1612

[bedfordshire boy]

Thanks John

It seems as though the original transcription must have been taken from the BTs which start at 1602, and it's this transcription which was extracted onto the IGI. But there are holes in the BT which hopefully the new transcript will fill.

I have a Helen Surkitt baptised on 18 May 1656, daughter of my 8xg grandfather and his second wife. I've never found out what happened to her - perhaps she fell down one of the holes in the BT.

Do you think you could have a quick look and tell me what the following entries say, just in case the PR differs from the BT:
Marriage 30 Jul 1655 William SIRCUT/Ann Squire
Baptism 18 May 1656 Helen SIRCUTT
Burial 18 Nov 1657 Elizabeth SIRCUT (is this my missing Helen?)
Burial 23 March 1661 William CIRCUT
Burial 2 Apr 1678 Ann SIRCLE

If there are any other Sircut or variations entries in the new edition I'd love details.

It's bizarre but this is my earliest Surkitt and the son by William's first marriage moved away from the area, moving through Husborne Crawley, Woburn, Harrold and then into Hunts. But in 1934 my grandmother, a Surkitt, moved to Astwick, thus completing the circle. And she wouldn't have had a clue that she was going back to her roots!

Many thanks

David

[johnP-bedford]

Hello David, The Surkitts & various derivations that you listed are in the register as follows.

Marriage 30 Jul 1655 William SIRCUT/Ann Squir * without the e

This is shown as in 1649 - but that could be wrong, as it is an entry on the top of a new page, the previous entry is May 1649 & the following one in Nov 1657,
If you have info that its 1655 then I will email the FHS to get them to check it out. 

Baptism 18 May 1656 Helen SIRCUTT, daughter of William & Anne Sircutt
Burial 18 Nov 1657 Elizabeth SIRCUT daughter of William Sircut

Burial 23 March 1661 William CIRCUT - no other info

Burial 2 Apr 1678 Anne SIRCLE , widow

There are no others mentioned in Astwick.

Regards John

[bedfordshire boy]

Thanks for checking those out John

IGI member submissions have the marriage as 1655, with no extracted entry, implying that it was deleted following submission of an identical entry. Unfortunately there's no burial date for his first wife, who he married in 1640, as a reference point

Regards

David

[cathymcc]

David & John

I have SIRCUTs in my tree spelt over a dozen different ways [usually with a 'C'] in 18th C.

But my ones are from North-East Beds! I have not reseached that branch.

But wasn't there a book written about them in the 1980s by a member of BFH society?  I read it years ago but could not see a link to my branch.


cath

[bedfordshire boy]

They seemed to start in Flitwick and spread all over Beds. I have followed most lines north of Flitwick, except Bedford and Elstow.

Cathy's Martha Circuit line from Willington originated in Haynes via Goldington, and it was that line that spread into many of the villages east of Goldington.

My Surkitts did a tour around Husborne Crawley and Woburn, then up to Harrold before moving to Toseland in Hunts, but I can't link them with the Haynes branch.

I haven't heard of the book, but Alan Cirket worked in the Records Office for many years and he wrote/edited a number of books on Beds, including deciphering Samuel Whitbread's Notebooks

David

[cathymcc]

That is right, David 

And I think it is the Elstow ones who are recorded in hard-copy via BFHS?  And that is not too far back but it ws an interesting read nevertheless.  'Cos they were rebels [I think] - and we all love rebels? 

I doubt if we could ever link the various branches up 
I have tried to link up the LOVELLs in Bedfordshire - and failed miserably!

cathy