Week 27 (July 2-8) Family Business

This week 52 Ancestors is focusing on 'Family Business'.  While many of my ancestors were farmers and farm labourers, there were also a number of business owners, including my great great grandfather John Thompson Argent.

John Thompson Argent was born 3 November 1819 in West Bergholt, Essex and baptised 10 December 1819, the son of John Argent and Amy (Watts).

 John's father, also named John, was listed as a miller on his son's baptism record.  John Senior ran the Newbridge Mill in West Bergholt, and John Junior would grow up to learn the trade from his father.  

The family can be followed through the census records with both father and son listed as living at Newbridge Mill, West Bergholt in the 1841 census.  By the 1851 census John Jr has taken over the mill from his father and is listed as a miller and farmer of 100 acres living with his wife Emma, son John and daughters Emma and Ada, as well as 2 servants.  The same census lists John Senior as Miller and Farmer living in Crouch Street, St Mary at the Walls, Colchester.

Newbridge Mill, West Bergholt

John Thompson Argent continues to be listed as Miller and Farmer at Newbridge Mill in the 1861, 1871, 1881 and 1891 censuses, running this business until his death on 22 January 1894.

Website Wednesday - The Digital Panopticon

The Digital Panopticon traces London convicts in Britain and Australia, 1780-1925.  The database traces the lives of 90,000 convicts sentenced at the Old Bailey between 1780 and 1875, linking Old Bailey trials to relevant entries in fifty databases of criminal justice and civil records. The 'Life Archives' allow users to discover both the pre- and post-trial histories of Old Bailey convicts. They allow users to see differences between the punishment sentences handed down by the court and the punishments convicts actually experienced, and make it possible to compare the impact of imprisonment and transportation on convicts' lives. 

Datasets include :

Trial Records

• Old Bailey Proceedings 1740-1913
• Old Bailey Associated Records 1740-1834
• Newgate Calendars of Prisoners for Trial 1782-1853
• England and Wales Criminal Registers 1791-1892

Post-Trial and Sentencing Records

• Capital Convictions at the Old Bailey 1760-1837
• Home Office Criminal Entry Books 1782-1876
• Judges Reports on Criminals 1784-1827
• Petitions for Pardon 1797-1858

Transportation Records

• Middlesex Convicts Delivered For Transportation 1785-1792
• British Transportation Registers 1787-1867
• Convict Indents (Ship and Arrival Registers) 1788-1868
• Surgeons Notes from Transport Vessels 1817-1857

Colony Records

• New South Wales Convict Indexes 1788-1873
• New South Wales Convict Savings Bank Books 1824-1868
• Van Diemen's Land Founders and Survivors Convicts 1802-1853
• Van Diemen's Land Founders and Survivors Convict Biographies 1812-1853
• Van Diemen's Land Convict Labour Contracts 1848-1857
• Western Australia Character Books and General Registers 1850-1868
• Western Australia Convict Probation Records 1850-1868

Imprisonment Records

• Bridewell House of Correction Prisoners 1740-1795
• Deaths in London Prisons 1760-1869
• Hulks Registers 1801-1879
• Prison Registers 1770-1951
• Middlesex House of Detention Calendars 1836-1889
• Newgate Calendars of Prisoners 1855-1931
• UK Convict Prison Captions and Transfer Papers 1843-1871
• UK Licences for the Parole of Convicts 1853-1925
• Metropolitan Police Register of Habitual Criminals 1881-1925
• Prisoner Photograph Albums 1871-1873

Records of Convict Tattoos

• Tattoos, 1793-1925

Civil Records

• Records Associated with London Lives 1740-1800
• Census Returns for England and Wales 1841-1911
• FreeBMD Deaths, 1837-1925 

Week 26 (June 25-July 1) Favorite Name

The given names of our eighteenth and nineteenth century British ancestors were drawn from a surprisingly small pool.  The four most popular male names were carried by one in every two males, and the top thirteen male names were carried by 87% of the male population.

In the 1700s the top five names for each gender were :
Boys - John, William, Thomas, Richard and James
Girls - Mary, Elizabeth, Ann, Sarah and Jane

In the 1800s the top five names for each gender were :
Boys - John, William, James, George and Charles
Girls - Mary, Anna, Emma, Elizabeth and Margaret

There were, of course, always fads among names - copying that of the current Monarch and their family, for example, or using a traditional name common in your own family, or following popular fads.  Horatio, for example, made a brief surge in popularity after Nelson's victory at Trafalgar.  Similarly, Adolf disappeared from German communities after World War 2.

Then there were also the commonly used spelling variations, abbreviations and diminutives.  For example, if you don’t know that Polly was a diminutive of Mary or that Nellie was a diminutive of Ellen and Eleanor and Helen, you may struggle to find your ancestors’ entries.  Harry for Henry, Bill for William, Fred or Alf for Alfred, Dick for Richard, Charlie or Lottie for Charlotte, Maggie, Meg or Maisie for Margaret.  Elizabeth was another extremely common name with multiple diminutives - Eliza, Liz, Lizzie, Betty, Betsy, Beth, Bessie, Lisbeth, Liza - the list goes on.  

I have one female ancestor, baptised Elizabeth, who was known throughout her life as Betsy.  This was the name she used in census records, her children's birth/baptism records and on her death certificate and burial record.  The only time I can ever find her referred to as Elizabeth is at her baptism.

Family Tree US Magazine

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 :  

• What's in a (Papal) name?
• Tear down that brick wall
• 23andMe declares bankruptcy
• Budget cuts threaten libraries and archives
• Military Honors
• Best websites
• Signs of life : vital records
• America the beautiful
• Book reports
• Tree tips
• Fraternal records
• Using the FamilySearch Catalogues
• Saving diaries, calendars and planners
• Using record hints
• Organising genelaogy 

Website Wednesday - Families in British India Society

Did your family spend time in India during the time of British rule?   The Families In British India Society (FIBIS) is a self-help organisation devoted to members researching their British India family history and the background against which their ancestors led their lives in India under British rule.

Their database has a number of resources available to search, and recently 15,376 names from the Times of India arrival and departure notices for 1896 have now been uploaded to the FIBIS database website. This batch comprises of 8,023 arrivals and 7,353 departures and brings the total number of arrival and departure notices transcribed by this project to 501,298.

The FIBIS database contains a number of other resources, including bonds, cemeteries and monuments, censuses, civil service records, directories, maritime records, military records, railways, schools and orphanages, and wills and probate.  All are fee to search.

Who Do You Think You Are Magazine

The latest issue of Who Do You Think You Are magazine is now available free online for Campaspe Library members via our subscription to Libby eMagazines.

Inside this month's issue : 

• Artificial intelligence How AI is transforming genealogy
• First names What your ancestors' forenames can tell you
• The history of driving How cars transformed Britain
• Eureka Moment Lynne Dixon discovered she's related to a pioneering female architect
• The Irish Famine The best websites
• Around Britain Berkshire family history
• And more... 

 

Week 25 (June 18-24) FAN Club

One of my earliest memories as a child is of being allowed to stay up late to watch reruns of the original TV series of Star Trek.  My mother, sister and I were all huge fans, and even my father became involved in our Trekkie obsession. 

For several years mum was a member of the Star Trek fan club Astrex, and I can remember receiving their newsletters in the post and us all sitting down to hear the latest news and read fan stories.  

When the Star Trek films first began with Star Trek : the Motion Picture in 1979, it was a huge treat to go to our local cinema and later to watch the films at home on video and later DVD.

When cleaning out the family home I rediscovered some old copies of Astrex, including several short stories written by mum.  I was also quite surprised to uncover a certificate from the fan club sent to mum for her contributions.

A member of the fan club indeed!