Cheshire Farms - BOSLEY

[JDGen]

Hi Mike,

Your local library may have access to the Gale Newspaper collections - otherwise it is possible to get access with a subscripton.

A couple more ideas for you:

Leases - I have copies of leases both 3 life and counterpart from some of my farming families.  The 3 life leases are especially interesting as they are often amended with births and deaths of the named leasees.

MI's - sometimes mention the name of the farm

Oaths of Allegiance 1723
Poll Tax
Hearth Tax

There are a number of societies who published collections of information during the Victorian period, often taking earlier historical documents as their source, for example:
"Cheshire Notes and Queries - a quarterly journal of matters past and present connected with the County Palatine of Chester"
"The Cheshire Sheaf"
"Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society"
If you go to http://archive.org/index.php and put Cheshire in the Search with media type text you will see a large number of books.  I've found some real gems in here such as a list of tithes from 1710 showing my 7xggrandfather Roger Bankes in Runcorn.

Parish Records - I don't mean the register, but the notes in the register about parish officials, pew seat allocations etc -  and also the records of the parish such as paying for someone to catch rats, administration of funds to the poor etc.

These are all sources where I've found information to really make the family history live.

Hope this helps,

Jean

[Jayson]

Hi Mike

The paper that you should focus on is the Chester Chronicle as this covers farm sales for the whole county. 

The sales are really easy to find and usually cover no more than one page so you don't have to go through pages and pages.  I found a sale yesterday for a particular farm I'm researching. 

Papers are a real gold mine of information.  Quite often when someone leaves a farm they will sell all or most of their household furniture too.

The Chester Chronicle is available on MF at the Cheshire Record Office.

Good luck - Jay 

[mike1979]

Thanks Jayson
I can see the Cheshire Chronicle online from 1806 - do you know if it was published before then?  I'm trying to trace the farm in the C18th.
Thanks again
M

[JDGen]

In my previous post I mentioned the Gale Newspaper Collections - these have the 17th - 18th Century Newspaper collection which appears to have the Chester Chronicle from 1775 - 1784.

It's best to leave your search fairly open and then discard things that don't match rather than the other way round otherwise you might miss something - for example, Adam's Weekly Courant is also a Chester paper and included in the above collection

Also try searching for the placename as you may pick up peripheral references.

Jean

[mike1979]

Thanks again all - quick question, are the Gale Newspapers available online?  From the website it seems that it is only available  in libraries etc?  I Iive in Singapore so do most of this stuff online you see.
M

[JDGen]

Hi Mike,

It's available here via either pay per view or subscription:

http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/

Jean

PS. If you state on you profile where you are we will be able to give you more realistic information

[Jayson]

Hi Mike

The Chester Chronicle was first published in 1775.  The Adams's Weekly Courant much earlier - about 1730ish

Jay

[Samsmate]

Hi Mike please can I enquire about your interest in Swans Lake Farm. I understand the house burnt down in a fire some time ago and only a barn remains. The property/remains are on some land co-owned by a friend. I am looking for any information about the farm and if any pictures are available. thanks Martin

[mike1979]

Hi Martin
I don't have any pictures and haven't looked into this part of my family for a while.  My Shaw ancestors lived at Swans Lake farm in the 1700s - Samuel and Sampson seem to be common family names.  I do remember finding a list of burial plots in the Bosley register from 1566 which includes; 'Samuel Shaw for Swans Lacke' so the family may have been there many generations earlier than I have been able to find in the registers.
I also have some old tithe maps of the farm and surrounding fields.
Would be great to share any information of common interest - I'd love to visit one day.  I grew up in South Manchester so not far away but now live in Vancouver.
Thanks for getting in touch
Mike