The Archive CD Books News Archives

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Old Newsletter Index

Archive CD Books News

These are the archives of old Archive CD Books Newsletters.
To subscribe to receive the current Archive CD Books News in text format by e-mail go to:
http://www.british-genealogy.com/mailman/listinfo/cdbooks-news

Archive CD Books News : April 16 2004

In this news:

* Write a biography of each of your ancestors
* Latest CD Releases
* Census project news
* Special Offers
* Scanning church registers
* A diamond digger in Cornwall? 1881 Census
________________________________________

It is not the number of branches on your family tree that matters, or
how far it goes back in time.... but how many leaves... and the
situation of the tree in relation to its landscape.
________________________________________

Writing a biography for each of our ancestors in immensely interesting!

Start with a *time line* that includes *everything* that happened to
them.

1. marriage of their parents.
2. birth/baptism of all of their siblings
3. changes of address
4. occupations... with dates
5. marriages of siblings
6. deaths of siblings
7. deaths of cousins and uncles and aunts
8. deaths of parents
... etc.
9. death of the subject person.

Put them all in date order, and record the place where each event
happened.

That is then the framework for the study into the person. Then start to
fill in the details.

1. information about the places where they lived.
(Much can be gleaned from county directories).
... even include things like the name of the village
school teacher, the name of the local shoe maker, etc.

2. Glean information from local newspapers for the dates
in your time line. For Nottingham, the "Nottingham Date
Book" is invaluable. What was happening at the time?

For example, on the day that my great grandparents had one of their
children, which happens to coincide with the date of the census, they
were not at home.... why not? Because there was a 3ft deep flood in
their street at the time!) Why did they move soon afterwards? You can
imagine the discussion that took place in the Neep household!

Why did that same great grandfather of mine move from Norfolk to
Nottingham in 1872? Why did several of his brothers and sisters do the
same? What was happening in his time-line at that time? It was really
simple to discover the reasons why after looking at that.

Why, in the late 1700s, did John Neep name his first son Francis instead
of John? Simple... a few months earlier, John's uncle *Francis* died and
left him his farm! The time line revealed it.

"I know almost nothing about my ancestors. Their diaries, if they ever
kept them, would have seemed very ordinary to them, but not to me!"

But... It is possible to reconstruct those diaries as if they had
written them ;-)

Try it... even just for one person at first. You will find the exercise
to be immensely fascinating.

__________________________________________

LATEST CD RELEASES

** The City of Lincoln Directory 1867
Alphabetical lists of all the principal householders, a classified trade
and professional list, a complete street directory and a list of
carriers etc.
http://www.archivecdbooks.ie/acatalog/lin-directories.html

** Lacselles and Hagar's 1848 Directory of the Town of Nottingham
Also the Parishes of Basford, Bridgford, Carlton, Lenton, Radford,
Sneinton, Wilford and Wollaton.
http://www.archivecdbooks.ie/acatalog/ntt-directories.html

** Wright's 1862 Nottingham and Suburban Directory
In addition to the directory for the town of Nottingham, this volume
also covers the areas of Adbolton, Arnold, Basford, Beeston, West
Bridgford, Bulwell, Carlton, Carrington and Sherwood Hill, Cinder Hill,
Clifton, Colwick, Edwalton, Gedling, Lenton, Ruddington, Sherwood &
Mapperley, Wilford and Wollaton.
http://www.archivecdbooks.ie/acatalog/ntt-directories.html

** History and Directory of Newcastle Upon Tyne. 1887
A typical directory containing the names of residents along with their
trades and addresses. Everyone is included from shirt makers and potato
merchants to masons and surveyors.
http://www.archivecdbooks.ie/acatalog/nbl-directories.html

** Kelly's Directory of Northumberland 1921
Contains a wealth of county information and is illustrated with plenty
of adverts and a large pull out map
http://www.archivecdbooks.ie/acatalog/nbl-directories.html

** Stemmata Alstoniana
A collection of genealogical tables and memoranda relating to the
ancient families of Alston
http://www.archivecdbooks.ie/acatalog/gen-pedigrees.html

** The History of the Tweedie or Tweedy Family
"A record of Scottish Lowlands life and character by Michael Forbes
Tweedie 1902."
http://www.archivecdbooks.ie/acatalog/gen-pedigrees.html

** Mannex & Co. 1854 History Topography and Directory of Mid-Lancashire
The book covers a large area of Lancashire, including Blackburn, Bolton-
le-Moors, Burnley, Bury, Chorley, Haslingden, Prescot, Preston, Wigan,
and all surrounding villages and townships.
http://www.archivecdbooks.ie/acatalog/lan-directories.html

** Kelly's Directory of Liverpool 1881
Contains a street and suburb directory, which lists the head of every
household living in that street, as well as alphabetical lists of
residents and their trades.
http://www.archivecdbooks.ie/acatalog/lan-directories.html

_________________________________________________________

CENSUS PROJECT NEWS

1881 CENSUS !!! AVAILABLE NOW

Search the www.familyhistory.org site for your ancestors in the 1881
census, or refer to the transcripts on the LDS CDs - make a note of the
census piece and folio number - and then order just that part of the
original census that you need from Archive CD Books.

Think of it like this: for just GBP 6.00 you can have all the *original*
pages of the census books for a whole registration district on CD FOR
RESEARCH OR SIMPLY TO PRINT YOUR OWN COPIES OF THE ORIGINALS!

* St. Austell Registration District (296) RG11/2299-2305 - GBP 6.00
* Truro Registration District (297) RG11/2306-2314 - GBP 6.00
* Falmouth Registration District (298) RG11/2315-2320 - GBP 6.00
http://www.archivecdbooks.ie/acatalog/con-census.html

There are more 1881 censuses to come *very* soon.
The next batch will be.... wait and see! (Not Cornwall)

other news:

** Release of the 1841 Lincolnshire census is now imminent. Place
indexing only left to be done. Rob is working on it now. (He was on
vacation last week).

** More of the London 1871 districts will be released this week and
during the next couple of weeks.

** Many more films have arrived from the PRO, for various census years
(see below for more details)

** Replacement films for the Kent 1861 are due to be delivered to us 21
April. (We do not yet have an estimated delivery date for the
replacement Sussex 1861 films). We have now been informed by the PRO
that we shall receive the 1861 films for Cambridgeshire Registration
Districts on 6 May.

** Films for 1841 Devon and Gloucestershire are now here. Others are on
order: Cambridge (expected 27 April), Essex, Norfolk (expected 5 May),
Suffolk.

** Films for 1871 London/Surrey Metropolitan Districts, London/Kent
Metropolitan Districts, Surrey registration Districts and Middlesex
Registration Districts are all here and waiting to be scanned.

** Films for the following 1871 censuses are on order: Cornwall, Devon.
Dorset, Norfolk, Staffordshire, Worcestershire.

** The PRO sent us some 1851 films in error instead of some for another
year which were ordered. They turned out to be for a totally different
county even..... but that gives us some extremely interesting 1851's for
Halifax, Bradford, Hunslet, and Leeds Registration districts. But if
films are here, then we'll scan them! Full details later.

** For the next nearest releases of 1841, 1861, 1871 and 1891
see: http://www.archivecdbooks.ie/books/census/status.html

I'm keeping it up my sleeve what the next 1881 releases will be.
More news on those in next week's newsletter.... when they will be
released!

__________________________________________

SPECIAL OFFERS

1. GLOUCESTERSHIRE 2 CDs FOR THE PRICE OF 1
A 2 for 1 offer on all Gloucestershire CDs ordered during the month of
April.
Order two and get the cheapest one free. Or order 4 and get 2 free
THIS CD OFFER ENDS 9.00am (British Time) 1 May 2004
* THIS OFFER IS ONLY AVAILABLE FROM THE ARCHIVE CD BOOKS UK SITE *
http://www.archivecdbooks.ie/acatalog/gls.html
The on-line order form will list the full price of two, but as credit
cards are processed manually, you will get the cheapest one of the two
free. (This offer *excludes* ALL census sets, and any other CDs which
are subject to advance orders being placed).

2.FREE CD FOR FIRST TIME BUYERS
With your first order for any CD from the Archive CD Books catalogue,
you will automatically receive the superb 1791 Universal Directory of
Britain CD as a FREE GIFT. (Normal price GBP 34.94)

Five huge volumes covering London and the main towns and villages in
England and Wales. It is a fabulous resource for family historians, with
hundreds of thousands of names and addresses.

This offer is available *only* from :
1. the Archive CD Books Canada site for Canadian residents.
http://www.archivecdbooks.ca/
2. The Archive CD Books UK site.
http://www.archivecdbooks.ie/index.htm

So go tell your friends!
__________________________________________

SCANNING CHURCH REGISTERS

"I know you have told me in the past that you had no Parish Records for
the area, but I have noticed on the MDX list there are a lot more people
than I seem to be struggling with finding information from that area. I
understand you may not have been able to get at the records themselves
etc."

That's the reason. It applies to the vast majority of church records.

1.
The original records are stored in an archives or county record office.
Those places are very reluctant indeed to allow them out for scanning.
The only person who can request that they are released is the present
incumbent of the church. (Even then, he will find it difficult, although
he/she has every right to request the registers).

In defence of the archives and record offices, they are very (and
rightly so) concerned about transporting them, conditions and safety of
storage, etc.

Very rarely, it can happen, and we can get our hands on them for
scanning. Also, some registers are still stored at the church, and then
the vicar comes to us and asks us to scan them. An instance of that, for
example, was the Bootle (Cumberland) Parish Registers.

2.
The alternative is to scan from films that have been made of the
registers. That is OK, but not as good as scanning the originals. (For
example, the St' Luke's Chelsea Registers that we scanned were done that
way).

However.... and it is a big however..... Permission to scan the films
must be obtained from the present incumbent (vicar) of the church, who
owns the perpetual copyright in those registers.

That is much harder to obtain than it might first seem. The problem
falls into two areas:

a. the vicar will not give permission

b. the vicar would give permission, but he refers to the Bishop,
who then advises that permission for scanning should not be
given. The vicar will not go against the Bishop's wishes,
even though the *responsibility* for permission lies solely
with the vicar.

The Bishops (not all) have their reasons for refusal. I am aware of
those reasons. And I have to respect them.

So you see... we were *very* fortunate with the St. Luke's Chelsea
registers.

One way you can access church registers is to lay your hands on films of
them at your local LDS Family Record Centre. They can order them for you
from Salt Lake City.... *if* the registers have been filmed.

Now.... having said all that, yes... we are in discussion with several
county record offices / vicars / bishops to obtain permission to scan
registers. But that takes a lot of time.

_________________________________________________________

STORY OF A DIAMOND DIGGER IN CORNWALL

Paging through the Cornwall 1881 census today, Rob and I encountered
something really unusual...

A diamond digger! Or to be more precise - a "diamond digger's wife"
.... and a really interesting conundrum of relationships.

RG11/2301 folio 79 (St. Austell)

Jane WEST head Marr 37 Diamond Digger's Wife

and... watch these relationships:

Mary Rowse WEST, step dau, unm, 20, Servant (Domestic)
Hannah WEST , step son, unm, 13, scholar [sic for step daughter]
Richard WEST , step son, , 10, scholar
William John SHERMAN, son, , 6
Albert Henry WEST , son, , 1
Martin Richard WEST, step grandson, 5mo.

The first point is... where is Jane's husband???
Obviously a Diamond Digger.... in Cornwall?
No... he is not in the 1881 census...
where would one dig diamonds? South Africa ???

Interestingly, a couple of doors away is another woman as head of
household, again "Diamond Digger's Wife"... and again no husband to be
seen.

Those relationships: Note that they are as the relationship to the head
of the household... Jane WEST.

So Mary Rowse & Richard must be the children of the husband's first
marriage.

William John SHERMAN was *her* son... from her first marriage...

Albert Henry was the product of their marriage.

But who is Martin Richard... the step grandson? Obviously the child of
one of the missing husband's children. An illegitimate son of Mary Rowse
WEST? As it turns out later... yes!

We looked at the 1891 census next.... for a 10 year old Martin Richard
WEST, to see who he might be living with. But he doesn't show up at all.
.... and a search of FreeBMD on-line revealed:

Deaths Jun 1881
WEST Martin Richard 0 St. Austell 5c 82

Awwww! He died as an infant, not long after the 1881 census was taken.

Anyway.... back to this missing husband. Who was he??

Bearing in mind that daughter Mary Rowse WEST was 20 in 1881... would
she show up in the 1861 census?... with her parents?

YES!

RG9/1547 folio 62

Samuel WEST head, mar, 27, Tin Miner
Sophia WEST wife, mar, 26
Mary R WEST daur, , 9 months.

So our missing husband in the 1881 was Samuel WEST... and here with his
first wife in 1861.

so far so good....

We wondered if he could be found as a child in the 1841 census?
.... and he is... again in St. Austell. (although the ages don't match)

Richard WEST 40, Tin miner
Mary WEST 40
Emma WEST 10
John WEST 10
Mary WEST 7
Samuel WEST 3
Frederick 2
Catherine 3

A quick look at the IGI on-line shows:
Samuel WEST baptised 30 Mar 1834, Roche, Cornwall
son of Richard WEST & Mary.

In 1841 the census was carried out on 6 June... So he was really 7 years
old in 1841... exactly the right age to be 27 in 1861.

So far so good...

But where was Samuel the ex-tin miner, the missing husband in 1881? ....
digging diamonds. Note... a humble tin miner.

So we looked for him in the 1891 census.... and ....

RG11/1822
St. Austell...

Samuel WEST head, marr, 57, Farmer (he's home!)
Jane WEST wife, marr, 56
Richard WEST son single, 21, Labourer
William SHERMAN stepson, 17, Labourer
Albert H WEST son 11, scholar
Priscilla WEST daur 7, scholar
Laura WEST daur 6, scholar

Note how the relationship to the head has changed now that Samuel is
back home as the head of household. William SHERMAN is now the stepson,
and Albert H is the son.

But we can learn more!

Albert is 1 year old in 1861.... therefore father Samuel can only have
departed in 1860 at the latest.... and Priscilla is 7 in 1891, and
therefore Samuel can only have been away (digging diamonds) until 1883!

He was away digging diamonds for just two or three years!
Returns.... and now.... he is a farmer.

One wonders where the money came from to buy a farm?
Digging diamonds? ;-)
Tin miner made good!

And finally.... remember that neighbour in 1881 whose husband was also
away digging diamonds.... they don't show up *at all* in the 1891
census. I guess that they all upped and went to South Africa.

...... just a bit of fun with the censuses. Neither Rob or I have any
connection to the family, but it just perked our interest to find a
diamond digger's wife in the 1881 census pages.

You can search a transcript of the 1881 Cornwall census on line at
http://www.familysearch.org
And many of you will have the LDS CDs of the transcript of the 1881
census too....

but *NOW* you can have copies of the REAL 1881 census pages, hand
written enumerators' books.... for the St. Austell registration
district, on CD from Archive CD Books... for just GBP 6.00

Search the www.familyhistory.org site for your ancestors in the 1881
census, or refer to the transcripts on the LDS CDs - make a note of the
census piece and folio number - and then order just that part of the
original census that you need from Archive CD Books.

Think of it like this: for just GBP 6.00 you can have all the *original*
pages of the census books for a whole registration district on CD FOR
RESEARCH OR SIMPLY TO PRINT YOUR OWN COPIES OF THE ORIGINALS!

CD Ref. C1881COR-08
St. Austell Registration District (296)
RG11/2299-2305
GBP 6.00

CD Ref. C1881COR-09
Truro Registration District (297)
RG11/2306-2314
GBP 6.00

CD Ref. C1881COR-10
Falmouth Registration District (298)
RG11/2315-2320
GBP 6.00

Available *NOW*
(and there are more to follow)

Further details of the places in each can be seen at:
http://www.archivecdbooks.ie/acatalog/con-census.html

_______________________________________________________________

Rod Neep
April 16 2004

http://www.british-genealogy.com/mailman/listinfo/cdbooks-news

Old Newsletter Index

General email : enquiries@archivecdbooks.org
Phone: 01594 829870 (from outside the UK +44 1594 829870)
Archive CD Books Ltd.
5 Commercial Street
Cinderford
Gloucestershire GL14 2RP
England

. . Old Newsletter Index	Archive CD Books News These are the archives of old Archive CD Books Newsletters. To subscribe to receive the current Archive CD Books News in text format by e-mail go to: http://www.british-genealogy.com/mailman/listinfo/cdbooks-news
	Archive CD Books News : April 16 2004 In this news: * Write a biography of each of your ancestors * Latest CD Releases * Census project news * Special Offers * Scanning church registers * A diamond digger in Cornwall? 1881 Census ________________________________________ It is not the number of branches on your family tree that matters, or how far it goes back in time.... but how many leaves... and the situation of the tree in relation to its landscape. ________________________________________ Writing a biography for each of our ancestors in immensely interesting! Start with a time line that includes everything that happened to them. 1. marriage of their parents. 2. birth/baptism of all of their siblings 3. changes of address 4. occupations... with dates 5. marriages of siblings 6. deaths of siblings 7. deaths of cousins and uncles and aunts 8. deaths of parents ... etc. 9. death of the subject person. Put them all in date order, and record the place where each event happened. That is then the framework for the study into the person. Then start to fill in the details. 1. information about the places where they lived. (Much can be gleaned from county directories). ... even include things like the name of the village school teacher, the name of the local shoe maker, etc. 2. Glean information from local newspapers for the dates in your time line. For Nottingham, the "Nottingham Date Book" is invaluable. What was happening at the time? For example, on the day that my great grandparents had one of their children, which happens to coincide with the date of the census, they were not at home.... why not? Because there was a 3ft deep flood in their street at the time!) Why did they move soon afterwards? You can imagine the discussion that took place in the Neep household! Why did that same great grandfather of mine move from Norfolk to Nottingham in 1872? Why did several of his brothers and sisters do the same? What was happening in his time-line at that time? It was really simple to discover the reasons why after looking at that. Why, in the late 1700s, did John Neep name his first son Francis instead of John? Simple... a few months earlier, John's uncle Francis died and left him his farm! The time line revealed it. "I know almost nothing about my ancestors. Their diaries, if they ever kept them, would have seemed very ordinary to them, but not to me!" But... It is possible to reconstruct those diaries as if they had written them ;-) Try it... even just for one person at first. You will find the exercise to be immensely fascinating. __________________________________________ LATEST CD RELEASES The City of Lincoln Directory 1867 Alphabetical lists of all the principal householders, a classified trade and professional list, a complete street directory and a list of carriers etc. http://www.archivecdbooks.ie/acatalog/lin-directories.html Lacselles and Hagar's 1848 Directory of the Town of Nottingham Also the Parishes of Basford, Bridgford, Carlton, Lenton, Radford, Sneinton, Wilford and Wollaton. http://www.archivecdbooks.ie/acatalog/ntt-directories.html Wright's 1862 Nottingham and Suburban Directory In addition to the directory for the town of Nottingham, this volume also covers the areas of Adbolton, Arnold, Basford, Beeston, West Bridgford, Bulwell, Carlton, Carrington and Sherwood Hill, Cinder Hill, Clifton, Colwick, Edwalton, Gedling, Lenton, Ruddington, Sherwood & Mapperley, Wilford and Wollaton. http://www.archivecdbooks.ie/acatalog/ntt-directories.html History and Directory of Newcastle Upon Tyne. 1887 A typical directory containing the names of residents along with their trades and addresses. Everyone is included from shirt makers and potato merchants to masons and surveyors. http://www.archivecdbooks.ie/acatalog/nbl-directories.html Kelly's Directory of Northumberland 1921 Contains a wealth of county information and is illustrated with plenty of adverts and a large pull out map http://www.archivecdbooks.ie/acatalog/nbl-directories.html Stemmata Alstoniana A collection of genealogical tables and memoranda relating to the ancient families of Alston http://www.archivecdbooks.ie/acatalog/gen-pedigrees.html The History of the Tweedie or Tweedy Family "A record of Scottish Lowlands life and character by Michael Forbes Tweedie 1902." http://www.archivecdbooks.ie/acatalog/gen-pedigrees.html Mannex & Co. 1854 History Topography and Directory of Mid-Lancashire The book covers a large area of Lancashire, including Blackburn, Bolton- le-Moors, Burnley, Bury, Chorley, Haslingden, Prescot, Preston, Wigan, and all surrounding villages and townships. http://www.archivecdbooks.ie/acatalog/lan-directories.html ** Kelly's Directory of Liverpool 1881 Contains a street and suburb directory, which lists the head of every household living in that street, as well as alphabetical lists of residents and their trades. http://www.archivecdbooks.ie/acatalog/lan-directories.html _________________________________________________________ CENSUS PROJECT NEWS 1881 CENSUS !!! AVAILABLE NOW Search the www.familyhistory.org site for your ancestors in the 1881 census, or refer to the transcripts on the LDS CDs - make a note of the census piece and folio number - and then order just that part of the original census that you need from Archive CD Books. Think of it like this: for just GBP 6.00 you can have all the original pages of the census books for a whole registration district on CD FOR RESEARCH OR SIMPLY TO PRINT YOUR OWN COPIES OF THE ORIGINALS! * St. Austell Registration District (296) RG11/2299-2305 - GBP 6.00 * Truro Registration District (297) RG11/2306-2314 - GBP 6.00 * Falmouth Registration District (298) RG11/2315-2320 - GBP 6.00 http://www.archivecdbooks.ie/acatalog/con-census.html There are more 1881 censuses to come very soon. The next batch will be.... wait and see! (Not Cornwall) other news: Release of the 1841 Lincolnshire census is now imminent. Place indexing only left to be done. Rob is working on it now. (He was on vacation last week). More of the London 1871 districts will be released this week and during the next couple of weeks. Many more films have arrived from the PRO, for various census years (see below for more details) Replacement films for the Kent 1861 are due to be delivered to us 21 April. (We do not yet have an estimated delivery date for the replacement Sussex 1861 films). We have now been informed by the PRO that we shall receive the 1861 films for Cambridgeshire Registration Districts on 6 May. Films for 1841 Devon and Gloucestershire are now here. Others are on order: Cambridge (expected 27 April), Essex, Norfolk (expected 5 May), Suffolk. Films for 1871 London/Surrey Metropolitan Districts, London/Kent Metropolitan Districts, Surrey registration Districts and Middlesex Registration Districts are all here and waiting to be scanned. Films for the following 1871 censuses are on order: Cornwall, Devon. Dorset, Norfolk, Staffordshire, Worcestershire. The PRO sent us some 1851 films in error instead of some for another year which were ordered. They turned out to be for a totally different county even..... but that gives us some extremely interesting 1851's for Halifax, Bradford, Hunslet, and Leeds Registration districts. But if films are here, then we'll scan them! Full details later. ** For the next nearest releases of 1841, 1861, 1871 and 1891 see: http://www.archivecdbooks.ie/books/census/status.html I'm keeping it up my sleeve what the next 1881 releases will be. More news on those in next week's newsletter.... when they will be released! __________________________________________ SPECIAL OFFERS 1. GLOUCESTERSHIRE 2 CDs FOR THE PRICE OF 1 A 2 for 1 offer on all Gloucestershire CDs ordered during the month of April. Order two and get the cheapest one free. Or order 4 and get 2 free THIS CD OFFER ENDS 9.00am (British Time) 1 May 2004 * THIS OFFER IS ONLY AVAILABLE FROM THE ARCHIVE CD BOOKS UK SITE * http://www.archivecdbooks.ie/acatalog/gls.html The on-line order form will list the full price of two, but as credit cards are processed manually, you will get the cheapest one of the two free. (This offer excludes ALL census sets, and any other CDs which are subject to advance orders being placed). 2.FREE CD FOR FIRST TIME BUYERS With your first order for any CD from the Archive CD Books catalogue, you will automatically receive the superb 1791 Universal Directory of Britain CD as a FREE GIFT. (Normal price GBP 34.94) Five huge volumes covering London and the main towns and villages in England and Wales. It is a fabulous resource for family historians, with hundreds of thousands of names and addresses. This offer is available only from : 1. the Archive CD Books Canada site for Canadian residents. http://www.archivecdbooks.ca/ 2. The Archive CD Books UK site. http://www.archivecdbooks.ie/index.htm So go tell your friends! __________________________________________ SCANNING CHURCH REGISTERS "I know you have told me in the past that you had no Parish Records for the area, but I have noticed on the MDX list there are a lot more people than I seem to be struggling with finding information from that area. I understand you may not have been able to get at the records themselves etc." That's the reason. It applies to the vast majority of church records. 1. The original records are stored in an archives or county record office. Those places are very reluctant indeed to allow them out for scanning. The only person who can request that they are released is the present incumbent of the church. (Even then, he will find it difficult, although he/she has every right to request the registers). In defence of the archives and record offices, they are very (and rightly so) concerned about transporting them, conditions and safety of storage, etc. Very rarely, it can happen, and we can get our hands on them for scanning. Also, some registers are still stored at the church, and then the vicar comes to us and asks us to scan them. An instance of that, for example, was the Bootle (Cumberland) Parish Registers. 2. The alternative is to scan from films that have been made of the registers. That is OK, but not as good as scanning the originals. (For example, the St' Luke's Chelsea Registers that we scanned were done that way). However.... and it is a big however..... Permission to scan the films must be obtained from the present incumbent (vicar) of the church, who owns the perpetual copyright in those registers. That is much harder to obtain than it might first seem. The problem falls into two areas: a. the vicar will not give permission b. the vicar would give permission, but he refers to the Bishop, who then advises that permission for scanning should not be given. The vicar will not go against the Bishop's wishes, even though the responsibility for permission lies solely with the vicar. The Bishops (not all) have their reasons for refusal. I am aware of those reasons. And I have to respect them. So you see... we were very fortunate with the St. Luke's Chelsea registers. One way you can access church registers is to lay your hands on films of them at your local LDS Family Record Centre. They can order them for you from Salt Lake City.... if the registers have been filmed. Now.... having said all that, yes... we are in discussion with several county record offices / vicars / bishops to obtain permission to scan registers. But that takes a lot of time. _________________________________________________________ STORY OF A DIAMOND DIGGER IN CORNWALL Paging through the Cornwall 1881 census today, Rob and I encountered something really unusual... A diamond digger! Or to be more precise - a "diamond digger's wife" .... and a really interesting conundrum of relationships. RG11/2301 folio 79 (St. Austell) Jane WEST head Marr 37 Diamond Digger's Wife and... watch these relationships: Mary Rowse WEST, step dau, unm, 20, Servant (Domestic) Hannah WEST , step son, unm, 13, scholar [sic for step daughter] Richard WEST , step son, , 10, scholar William John SHERMAN, son, , 6 Albert Henry WEST , son, , 1 Martin Richard WEST, step grandson, 5mo. The first point is... where is Jane's husband??? Obviously a Diamond Digger.... in Cornwall? No... he is not in the 1881 census... where would one dig diamonds? South Africa ??? Interestingly, a couple of doors away is another woman as head of household, again "Diamond Digger's Wife"... and again no husband to be seen. Those relationships: Note that they are as the relationship to the head of the household... Jane WEST. So Mary Rowse & Richard must be the children of the husband's first marriage. William John SHERMAN was her son... from her first marriage... Albert Henry was the product of their marriage. But who is Martin Richard... the step grandson? Obviously the child of one of the missing husband's children. An illegitimate son of Mary Rowse WEST? As it turns out later... yes! We looked at the 1891 census next.... for a 10 year old Martin Richard WEST, to see who he might be living with. But he doesn't show up at all. .... and a search of FreeBMD on-line revealed: Deaths Jun 1881 WEST Martin Richard 0 St. Austell 5c 82 Awwww! He died as an infant, not long after the 1881 census was taken. Anyway.... back to this missing husband. Who was he?? Bearing in mind that daughter Mary Rowse WEST was 20 in 1881... would she show up in the 1861 census?... with her parents? YES! RG9/1547 folio 62 Samuel WEST head, mar, 27, Tin Miner Sophia WEST wife, mar, 26 Mary R WEST daur, , 9 months. So our missing husband in the 1881 was Samuel WEST... and here with his first wife in 1861. so far so good.... We wondered if he could be found as a child in the 1841 census? .... and he is... again in St. Austell. (although the ages don't match) Richard WEST 40, Tin miner Mary WEST 40 Emma WEST 10 John WEST 10 Mary WEST 7 Samuel WEST 3 Frederick 2 Catherine 3 A quick look at the IGI on-line shows: Samuel WEST baptised 30 Mar 1834, Roche, Cornwall son of Richard WEST & Mary. In 1841 the census was carried out on 6 June... So he was really 7 years old in 1841... exactly the right age to be 27 in 1861. So far so good... But where was Samuel the ex-tin miner, the missing husband in 1881? .... digging diamonds. Note... a humble tin miner. So we looked for him in the 1891 census.... and .... RG11/1822 St. Austell... Samuel WEST head, marr, 57, Farmer (he's home!) Jane WEST wife, marr, 56 Richard WEST son single, 21, Labourer William SHERMAN stepson, 17, Labourer Albert H WEST son 11, scholar Priscilla WEST daur 7, scholar Laura WEST daur 6, scholar Note how the relationship to the head has changed now that Samuel is back home as the head of household. William SHERMAN is now the stepson, and Albert H is the son. But we can learn more! Albert is 1 year old in 1861.... therefore father Samuel can only have departed in 1860 at the latest.... and Priscilla is 7 in 1891, and therefore Samuel can only have been away (digging diamonds) until 1883! He was away digging diamonds for just two or three years! Returns.... and now.... he is a farmer. One wonders where the money came from to buy a farm? Digging diamonds? ;-) Tin miner made good! And finally.... remember that neighbour in 1881 whose husband was also away digging diamonds.... they don't show up at all in the 1891 census. I guess that they all upped and went to South Africa. ...... just a bit of fun with the censuses. Neither Rob or I have any connection to the family, but it just perked our interest to find a diamond digger's wife in the 1881 census pages. You can search a transcript of the 1881 Cornwall census on line at http://www.familysearch.org And many of you will have the LDS CDs of the transcript of the 1881 census too.... but NOW you can have copies of the REAL 1881 census pages, hand written enumerators' books.... for the St. Austell registration district, on CD from Archive CD Books... for just GBP 6.00 Search the www.familyhistory.org site for your ancestors in the 1881 census, or refer to the transcripts on the LDS CDs - make a note of the census piece and folio number - and then order just that part of the original census that you need from Archive CD Books. Think of it like this: for just GBP 6.00 you can have all the original pages of the census books for a whole registration district on CD FOR RESEARCH OR SIMPLY TO PRINT YOUR OWN COPIES OF THE ORIGINALS! CD Ref. C1881COR-08 St. Austell Registration District (296) RG11/2299-2305 GBP 6.00 CD Ref. C1881COR-09 Truro Registration District (297) RG11/2306-2314 GBP 6.00 CD Ref. C1881COR-10 Falmouth Registration District (298) RG11/2315-2320 GBP 6.00 Available NOW (and there are more to follow) Further details of the places in each can be seen at: http://www.archivecdbooks.ie/acatalog/con-census.html _______________________________________________________________ Rod Neep April 16 2004 http://www.british-genealogy.com/mailman/listinfo/cdbooks-news
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