1773 – 24 Westgate Street

Posted on December 6, 2019 by Liz Jack

John Webb was recorded as being one of the Aldermen of the city of Gloucester when he purchased the property at 24 Westgate Street. No occupation or trade is given for him so it is assumed he was a ‘gentleman’.

John purchased the property in 1773 after the death of Jane Punter. Whether he lived in the property or just rented it out to others is not known. In fact, very little is known of him at all – the name John Webb was quite a common one in Gloucestershire at that time so it is difficult to distinguish one from another. When he sold the property again, in 1781, to Meshach Charleton, John Webb was said to be ‘of Wotton in the county of Gloucestershire’. That could have been Wotton, an area on the outskirts of the city or it could have been Wotton under Edge – the former seems more likely.

Soon after he sold the property, John Webb died. From his will, proved in 1785, it would appear that he did not marry or have children, as only his three brothers, Thomas, Richard and the Reverend Benjamin Webb, and their offspring are mentioned. Interestingly, one of the witnesses to his will was Meshach Charleton.

Can we rely on Parish Register entries?

Posted on November 25, 2014 by Liz Jack

Looking for the baptisms of the children of John Harris in Kings Stanley, I came across these entries on a microfiche.

Samuel Harrisson, son of John Harrisson, baptised last day of July 1653
John Harrisson, son of John Harrisson, baptised 14^th October 1655
William Harrisson, the 3^rd son of John Harrisson, baptised 25 December 1657

Checking a microfilm of Kings Stanley parish register entries for the period that followed, I also found:

John Harries the son of John Harries was baptised the 14^th day of October 1655.

I did not find baptisms on this film for either Samuel or William. The three Harrisson entries were not on the microfilm and the one Harries entry was not on the microfiche! So, what was the explanation?

I ordered up the original register and checked the entries, all as above. There was nothing that I could see in any part of the book to indicate that any part had been copied at any time. The book appeared to be organised in 4 sections. The first section held baptisms, the second had marriages, and the third burials. The fourth section seemed to be a general section. At the end of the first section, I found the first three Harrisson entries just as they were shown on the fiche. After the marriages and burials, I found the baptism for John Harries as it had been on the film.

So, all four entries were there in the registers, as you would expect from filmed documents. So – what happened? After discussion with the archivist on duty and another experienced researcher, we all agreed that it was extremely unlikely that a John Harries, son of John Harries, was baptised on the same day (14^th October 1655) as a John Harrisson, son of John Harrisson. We agreed that there was most probably only one family, father John and his sons Samuel, John and William.

So, which surname is the correct one – Harries or Harrisson? From other, later entries in the registers, Harrisson or, more usually, Harrison, seems to be the most reasonable choice but – are our assumptions correct? There were, of course, no bishops transcripts for the 1650s so we cannot check those. Can we trust the parish registers?

Settlement Examination

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Liz Jack

When a woman was left with illegitimate children after her partner had died, she was examined by the local overseers of the poor to find out which parish she belonged to. Such an examination happened to Ann Howell …

On 27^th April 1832, Mitcheldean Overseers of the Poor examined Ann Howell, the daughter of Evan and Mary Howell of Lampeter in Pembrokeshire as to where she had been born. She was 47 years old and in need of help from the parish. Her examination revealed a long story involving much travelling.

In 1813, Ann had been hired by Captain James Probert of St. David’s at £5, presumably in a domestic capacity. After she left Captain Probert’s employ she ‘connected’ with George Sleeman Kendal, a malt mill grinder. She never married him but lived and travelled with him. In 1814, she became pregnant and was delivered of a male bastard child at a lodging house in Pembroke. The child was baptised Thomas Sleeman Kendal in Peterchurch, Herefordshire. In 1820, Ann had a female bastard child at Brockway in Hewelsfield who was baptised Mary. In August of that year, a male bastard child called George was baptised at St Mary’s church in Swansea.

Then the family moved to Ruardean and finally Mitcheldean. In May 1822, a son called William was baptised, the following July a daughter called Margaret arrived on the scene and, finally, a sixth child, a boy called Evan after his grandfather, was baptised at Mitcheldean in August 1825.

The following year, George Sleeman Kendal died and Ann stated that she did not know his legal place of settlement but only that it was near Penzance in Cornwall.

If it weren’t for this examination document, how confident would you be in tying the various baptisms together into one family?

Illegitimacy

Posted on January 28, 2014 by Liz Jack

Every time we go back a generation, we double the number of ancestors that we can add to our family tree, except when we come across an illegitimate child. As the base born child was baptised with the mother’s surname, it is normally very difficult to find out the name of the father. Where would you start looking?

Apprenticeships for poor children

Posted on January 24, 2014 by Liz Jack

Some apprenticeships were organised by the overseers of the poor in a parish in order to enable a poor child to provide for himself and his family in future years. These documents may be found in the parish chest and can often give a little more information than expected.

For example, an apprentice indenture, dated 12^th January 1772, found in the Down Hatherley records, relates to young William Gibbs and informs us that William was the son of the late John Gibbs who was a labourer from the hamlet of Wotton, and that his mother was Dorothy who was then married to John Finch of Wotton, also a labourer. William was being apprenticed to John Blanch who was a cordwainer in Down Hatherley.

Many years later, on 28^th February 1801, William Gibbs was declaring to the overseers that George Piff of Down Hatherley had his apprenticeship indenture. No reason was given for why he did not have it himself.

A week later, William Gibbs was examined by the authorities – presumably he had become dependent on the parish for some reason. In his examination on 4^th March 1801, he declared that he had been born in the hamlet of Wotton in the parish of St Mary de Lode and, about 27 years before, had been apprenticed to John Blanch of Down Hatherley, cordwainer, with whom he had served 5 years. This qualified William for settlement in Down Hatherley and therefore to support from the parish.

On 6^th March 1801, the overseers of Down Hatherley were ordered to pay William Gibbs the vast sum of 3 shillings per week.

Guilds

Posted on January 23, 2014 by Liz Jack

Early tradesmen and women were organised into guilds. Today, there are over 100 guilds, each with its own crest and associated patron saint, a list of which can be found online. Some archives exist, consisting of information on apprentices, freemen, minutes of meetings and requests for help from petitioners. However, there is no central repository of their records; most are based in London at their guild headquarters. Some information, particularly on apprentices and freemen may be found locally. For Gloucestershire, we have two good books which contain transcripts on apprentices between 1595 and 1834 and their masters and one which lists freemen from 1641 to 1838. These records don’t necessarily relate to a Gloucestershire person – either the apprentice, the master or even the freeman could be from another county. An example of an entry in the Apprentices book is:

Ref: 1/549 1641 Nov 1

Draper, John son of Thomas, upholsterer, dec’d, of Gloucester to Plomer, Robert & Christian, 8 years, pewterer, 20s.

Check out my chapter on Apprentices and Freemen to find out more about guilds, apprentices, masters and freemen.

Sexton’s registers

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Liz Jack

I recently found a source of information that I hadn’t come across before – maybe because not many seem to exist for Gloucestershire – sexton books. The duties of the sexton varied; usually he was the grave-digger, possibly the bell-ringer and general odd job man associated with a church. He was employed by the church, often for many years, and therefore his appointment, pay, etc., should be included in the parish chest records. He recorded the burials in the churchyard and usually noted the name, date of burial, age of the deceased and a location for the grave. In some cases, there may even be a map of the churchyard.

So far, I have found 8 sexton registers – for Blockley, Cirencester, Minchinhampton, Newnham & Parkend, Painswick, Rodmarton, St Mary de Crypt in Gloucester and Cheltenham Methodist Church.

Pre-1841 Census with names

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Liz Jack

My book, Discover Gloucestershire Ancestors, lists the 10 pre-1841 censuses which include names as opposed to the merely statistical data that the government of the day required. They are from Arlingham, Aust, Bisley, Great Badminton, Hawkesbury, Horsley, Kemerton, Naunton, Stratton and Stroud.

Today, at Gloucestershire Archives, I discovered an 11^th pre-1841 census – this one for Rendcomb. Dated 1831, it mentions 30 inhabited houses, the number of families in each and how many families are involved in agriculture, trade or other occupations.

Two columns identify the number of males and the number of females in each household but of most interest to the family historian are, of course, the names of the heads of each household. The surnames are: Reeve, Cox, Harding, Orchard, Price, Chappel, Hayward, Guise, Jayne, Williams (2), George, Trotman, Preston, Potter, Munday, Golding, Neal, Crump, Gegg, Barradine, Painter, White, Tayler, Griffin, Line, Newman and Burrows. Two properties did not have a head of household but were just called Barn Field and Marsden Farm but both had residents.

So – having found an 11^th early census, I am wondering if there are more out there for the county – can anyone tell me of others?

Coroners’ Records

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Liz Jack

I came across a very sad entry in the Coroner’s Records today. Dated 4^th February 1904, it stated:

At Whaddon, on George Leonard Salt, aged 1 year and 8 months, son of George Henry Salt of The Brickyard, Whaddon, ridge tile maker, died on the 2^nd day of February from phosphorus poisoning (secondary cause convulsions) caused by sucking England’s Glory matches.

Jury 12/-, Room 2/6d, Med. Wit. £2-0-0d, Wit. 2/-.

Gloucestershire Archives Reference: CO3/2/3

England’s Glory matches were made in Gloucester by S.J. Moreland and Sons. The story reminds me of my school history lessons when we were taught about ‘phossy jaw’ and the strike of the London Match Girls in 1888.

You can find out more about Gloucestershire Coroners’ Records from my book Discover Gloucestershire Ancestors, Volume 1. You can only purchase it through me or the GFHS Family History Centre. You can order online now, at:

www.hidden-heritage.co.uk/books/discover-gloucestershire-ancestors/