Week 33 (Aug. 13-19): Multiples - #52Ancestors

The prompt 'Multiple' bring to mind the marital history of Thomas May, my 3xGreat Grandfather.  Thomas married a total of 5 times, losing several wives in childbirth.

Thomas May was born 20 September 1762 in West Mersea, Essex and was baptised 16 October 1762 at the church of St Peter and St Paul.  He died on 27 February 1843 in West Mersea and was buried on 7 March 1843.  He outlived all 5 wives.

Wife 1 – Elizabeth Godwin
Born 1763 Thorrington, Essex
Married 27 March 1787 Thorrington, Essex
Died 25 August 1790 West Mersea, Essex
Children – Thomas, Edward

Wife 2 – Sarah Sadler
Born 1775 West Mersea, Essex
Married 1792 West Mersea, Essex
Died 7 January 1799 West Mersea, Essex
Children – Betsey (Elizabeth), Sarah, Hannah, John Tickell

Wife 3 – Henrietta Stevens
Born Unknown
Married 12 May 1801 St Mary, Lambeth, Surrey
Died 2 May 1812 West Mersea
Children – Henry John, Mary

Wife 4 – Susannah Balls Green
Born 7 June 1770 West Bergholt, Essex
Married 10 November 1818 Fordham, Essex
Died 11 February 1828 West Mersea, Essex
Children - Nil

Wife 5 – Mary Ann Pullen
Born 13 October 1791 West Mersea, Essex
Married 9 August 1829 West Mersea, Essex
Died 1838 West Mersea, Essex
Children – Edward, Sophia Mary Ann

It is his 4th wife, Susannah Green (nee Balls), where the relationships become truly convoluted.  Susannah's son Isaac (from her first husband John Green) was married to Thomas's eldest daughter Betsy (Elizabeth).  So Thomas became not only father-in-law but also step-father to Isaac, and his new wife Susannah became mother-in-law and step-mother to Betsy.

Week 30 (July 23-29) Free Space - #52Ancestors

Free space in my family history records generally means I have work to do, a gap to fill, a mystery I have not yet solved.  Often when I am looking through my family history notes I will look for the free spaces and pick one in particular to work on and try to fill.

Perhaps it is a missing baptism or burial record, a gap in census records, an unusually long time between the births of children.  Any free space in an ancestor's timeline deserves investigation.

I find it is a useful exercise to go back through my notes, charts and timelines and look for free space, to see what I have missed or not followed up on as well as I should.  It is all too easy to follow the information I do have on to another generation or another individual, to go down the rabbit hole of a new discovery and not return to an individual whose information is incomplete.

Noting the free space in my family history helps to prompt me to go back, research more thoroughly and fill in the gaps, until hopefully on day all those free spaces are filled. 

Week 29 (July 16-22) A Source I Want to Understand Better - #52Ancestors

One particular type of record I have always had difficulty with are shipping records.  Over the years of my research I have slowly learned about these records, but locating my ancestors in shipping and immigration records has always been problematic.

For a couple of my ancestors, making the assumption that they moved directly from A to B let me astray, in one case for several years.  The family of my great grandfather, James Nicholas Clark, came from Bristol in England.  They left England at about the time James was born and eventually settled in Melbourne, Australia.  It took me several years of fruitless searching for their immigration details before I widened my search to find the family first arrived in Launceston, Tasmania, which is where James was born shortly after they arrived.  The family spent at least 5 years in nearby Port Sorrell before travelling across Bass Strait to settle in Melbourne.

So why is it so difficult to find some of our ancestor's immigration records?

• Consider alternate spelling of their name.  The clerk who recorded their embarkation or arrival was unlikely to ask about spelling and just recorded the name as he heard it.
  
• If the person travelled in steerage/was an unassisted immigrant/was a crew member who jumped ship, the details recorded about them may be scant or non-existent.
• Females, children, servants and steerage passengers were frequently left off the passenger lists altogether.
• Did they migrate in stages?  Not everyone went straight from A to B – some visited other points along the way, sometimes taking years to arrive at their final destination.
• Prior to 1852, ship's masters were not required to record the names of unassisted passengers travelling from Britain to the Australian colonies.
• Port Phillip District of New South Wales was established on 10 April 1837.  Victoria was not proclaimed a separate colony until 1 July 1851.  Check NSW records if your ancestor arrived earlier.
• After 1923 records of people arriving by sea and air are held at the National Archives of Australia.
• Not all records have survived the passage of time and remained legible.

Week 28 (July 9-15) Leisure Time - #52Ancestors

A fascinating and often difficult to research aspect of our ancestors' lives is what they did in their leisure time.  How did they relax and unwind?  Did they have hobbies?  Play sports?  Read? Take trips or go on holidays?  For many leisure time would have been rare and therefore precious - so how did they spent that time?

Newspapers have been a great source of information for me about my ancestors' 'play time' and leisure activities.  My Argent ancestors from West Bergholt took part in an amateur concert, reported below in the Essex Standard of Friday 7 January 1876.
 

A similar article reported on a pigeon shooting match in which my great-grandfather Walter Green took part - sadly he lost the match. 

Another newspaper report concerned another great-grandfather, Henry Arthur Pike, who was the umpire for his local quoits club in Bradfield St George.

All fascinating insights into the lives of my ancestors 'Play Time'. 

Family Tree US July-August

The latest issue of Family Tree US magazine is now available free online for Campaspe Library members via our subscription to Libby eMagazines. 

Inside this month's issue : 

• Trio of AI Tools from MyHeritage
• Irish Census released
• Roundup: New and Improved Websites
• Red, White and Blues
• Stories MoreThan Skin-Deep
• The 101 Best Genealogy Websites of 2026
• Learn all about the often-misunderstood ethnicity estimates
• 1930 US Census
• Whole-Genome Sequencing
• Publication-Hunting with Newspaper Finder
• Preserving Old Maps
• Finding Ancestors ‘Hiding’ in the Census
• 5 Steps to Find Your Ancestor’s Deed
• Citing Land Records

 

Week 27 (July 2-8) A Record I Read Differently Now - #52Ancestors

A record I read differently now - almost anything dating before about 1752!  Why?  The change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. 

Today, 1 January was regarded as New Year's Day and celebrated as such, but from the 12th century until 1751 the legal year in England began on 25 March (Lady Day). So, for example, the Parliamentary record lists the execution of Charles I on 30 January as occurring in 1648 (as the year did not end until 24 March), although later histories adjust the start of the year to 1 January and record the execution as occurring in 1649.

Most Western European countries changed the start of the year to 1 January before they adopted the Gregorian calendar. For example, Scotland changed the start of the Scottish New Year to 1 January in 1600 (making 1599 a rather short year). England, Ireland and the British colonies changed the start of the year to 1 January in 1752 (so 1751 was a short year with only 282 days). Later in 1752 in September the Gregorian calendar was introduced throughout Britain and the British colonies. These two reforms were implemented by the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750.

It is important to keep these dates in mind if you have been fortunate enough to trace you family back past 1752, as the calendar used at the time will skew the year in which events, particularly baptisms, marriages and burials, were recorded if they took place between 1 January and 25 March.

 
Consider the example of the baptism records above.  It records the baptism of Susannah, daughter of John Dixon and Susannah his wife on July 8, 1722.  It also records the baptism of Anna, daughter of John Dixon and Susannah his wife on March 17, 1722.   This is going to look very odd on a modern timeline, if you don't take into account that in the modern calendar, Anna is baptised on March 17, 1723 - approximately 8.5 months after sister Susannah and not 3.5 months before her.

Several of my older records make much more sense now that I read them differently.

Cork Graveyards Database at the Skibbereen Heritage Centre

Earlier this year, Skibbereen Heritage Centre added substantially to its Cork Graveyards Database, bringing the total to 109,385 burial records from over 170 graveyards throughout the county. All are free to search online.

The most recent additions to the long-running digitization project relate to North Cork and include burial records from the following graveyards:

Ballinakill, Ballyhooly, Ballynoe, Boherbue, Bridgetown, Brigown, Britway, Carrigdownane, Castlelyons New Cemetery, Derryvillane, Dromtarriffe New Cemetery, Dunmahon, Gortroe, Kilbrin, Kilcrumper Old Graveyard, Kilcummer, Kildorrery, Kilgrogan, Killabraher, Killathy, Killavullen New Cemetery, Kilphelan, Kilroe, Knawhill, Mourneabbey (The Abbey Cemetery) and St Gobnait’s (Gouldshill, Mallow). Scroll down to see the full list of graveyards included in the database. 

The Cork Graveyards Database is hosted on the Skibbereen Heritage Centre website and includes both searchable burial register records and results from several graveyard surveys. An interactive map shows each graveyard included in the project, most of which are cemeteries owned and managed by Cork County Council. Each cemetery is marked with a cross on the map. By clicking on a cross, users can read a short description of the graveyard and check the date range covered by its burial registers – a helpful step before beginning a search.

Individual burial register records typically include the name of the deceased, address, date of death and date of burial. Some entries also contain additional information such as age at death, occupation, the informant’s name (often a close relative), the registrar’s name and grave location. Where available, original register pages can be viewed and downloaded as PDFs by selecting “View Register”.