Discover Your Ancestors

Issue 089

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A warm welcome to the September issue of Discover Your Ancestors Periodical, your monthly digital family and social history magazine.

Much as we might miss the opportunity to network in person and enjoy a day out, we’re lucky that internet technology has reached the point in 2020 that we can still run mass events that people ‘attend’ from home. This month we see the second online Family History Show, having proven the great success of the format of talks, expert advice and exhibitions with the first such event – very well attended! – in June. See page 26 for more info or head straight to www.thefamilyhistoryshow.com.

Meanwhile as autumn begins it’s time to sit down with a cuppa and enjoy the usual rich mix of research advice and historical context of the Periodical!

Andrew Chapman, Editor.

Articles

The near death of a community

SACRED To the Memory of WILLIAM HANSFORD Aged 61 Years who was killd on the 23 of November 1824 by the Sea overflowing the Village of Chissel his Leg was broken in attempting to make his escape afterwards the House fell on him. FAREWELL MY WIFE AND CHILDREN DEAR MY DEATH WAS SUDDEN AND SEVERE, THE WIND AND SEA ITS FURY BROKE THE WONDROUS WORKS OF GOD BESPOKE MAN’S DWELLING’S LEVELL’D WITH THE GROUND WHEN SOME WERE KILL’D AND SOME WERE DROWN’D THEREFORE O GOD THEIR SOULS PRAY TAKE. IN JOYS ABOVE FOR JESUS SAKE. Those are the words on the tombstone of William Hansford of Chiswell, Dorset, England. The information was sent to me by his 3x-great-granddaughter who had heard I was writing about natural phenomena and their effects on the lives of our ancestors. I made note of the words on his headstone in my 2018 book, Surviving Mother Nature’s Tests.

Was your ancestor a Royalist delinquent?

War costs money. The defeated usually have to pay at least a portion of that cost. When Charles I raised his standard at Nottingham in 1642, effectively declaring war on Parliament, Parliament retaliated by raising an army. At first it depended on voluntary contributions from wealthy supporters, but in November 1642 a Committee for the Advance of Money was established, and demanded a loan ‘on the public faith’ from everyone whose wealth exceeded £100. In the following year, Parliament established a Sequestration Committee to confiscate the estates of Royalist ‘delinquents’, that is, those who had taken up arms for the King. It also established the Committee for Compounding with Delinquents, which allowed sequestrated Royalists to compound (pay a fine) and recover their estates. They were required to pledge not to take up arms against Parliament again. The idea of sequestration and compounding was not unique to Parliament. The Royalists had the same idea; the difference is that they lost the war, and consequently destroyed almost all of their records to avoid incriminating evidence.

The soldier, the priest and the count

Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart was born 5 May, 1880, in Brussels. He was the eldest son of Leon Carton de Wiart, a lawyer (of Brussels and Cairo) who had qualified as a doctor of law in Brussels in 1877, and his mother was Ernestine Zephirine-Emilie Wenzig. Sir Adrian’s paternal family were Belgian aristocrats with his father being a Knight of the Belgian Order and also of the Grand Cross of the Egyptian Orders of Osmandiah and Medjidieh. Adrian’s mother and father had married in Brussels on 15 October 1879 and when Adrian was three, the family moved to Alexandria, Egypt where his father was a leading counsel in the courts there. In later years he would also be called to the English bar as a barrister at law and became a naturalised British subject on 9 October 1900. Sir Adrian himself would also take on British nationality in 1907 while he was serving with the British Army in South Africa, as we can find by searching TheGenealogist’s Immigration, Emigration & Travel records for naturalisation records. By this time he had already been an officer in the British Army for a number of years and so this had seen him lose his Belgian nationality

The tale of a transported felon

As most historians will be only too aware, even in this day of digital archives, we often need to consult several different sources in order to build a picture of our ancestors. Some websites have some documents; others have different ones, which means we need to cross-reference and check these sites and what they hold to ensure we have as many details as possible about an individual.

Is there anybody there?

On February 27 1906, a séance was held on the Grove Estate in Pinner by well-known ‘medium’ Frederick George Foster Craddock. Having charged his attendees – a Colonel Mayhew and his wife, and another man called Mr Sinclair – the 7s 6d. entrance fee, Craddock ‘sat in a chair and made several facial contortions and went into a trance’. After a while the attendees were informed that there were ‘several spirits here’ and the spirit slates were fetched so that communication could commence. The slates were duly placed on the floor, but then disappeared backwards under a curtain, leading the medium Craddock to cry out ‘See! The spirits have taken the slates!’ Unfortunately, Craddock had been a little careless with his performance that night and had forgotten to conceal the wires attached to the slates that allowed him to move them unseen. He then appeared as a manifestation of ‘Dr Alder’ and ‘Uncle George’, but forgot to stick his theatrical beard and moustache on properly. His fate was sealed, however, when he passed on a message from the colonel’s mother to ‘send her love’ from the spirit world. The colonel’s mother was very much alive and well. It is unsurprising, therefore, that Craddock was hauled in front of the magistrates at Edgware Police court on charges of fraud and that he ‘being a rogue and a vagabond, did unlawfully use certain subtle craft, means, or device, by palmistry or otherwise, to deceive the said Mark Mayhew and others’. Craddock was ordered to pay £10 and five guineas in costs

Poll books and Hounslow property records go online

TheGenealogist has just released over 260,000 records into its ever growing Poll Book Record Collection. This useful resource for family historians can be used to find the address of an ancestor’s residence from the period before and after the census records. The newly released Poll Books records range from 1747 to 1930 and join records that also cover periods between the census years.

History in the details: Shop Workers' Dress

Many of our ancestors worked in shops of various descriptions and during the 1800s as urban communities and commerce expanded, retailing became a significant occupation. Initially most counter staff were men, including drapery store assistants, but from the 1860s onwards large establishments and department stores employed more female staff. Shop work appealed to smart, semi-educated girls and by the late 1800s new retailing opportunities also attracted independent middle-class women

Place in Focus: Leicestershire

The first recorded use of the name Leicestershire was in the 11th century. Its boundaries have changed little since the Domesday Survey. In the 7th century, the region formed part of the kingdom of Mercia. In the 9th century the district was subjugated by the Vikings, and Leicester became one of the five Danish boroughs.

September 2020's new books

Life in the Victorian Asylum reconstructs the lost world of the 19th century public asylums. This fresh take on the history of mental health reveals why county asylums were built, the sort of people they housed and the treatments they received, as well as the enduring legacy of these remarkable institutions. Mark Stevens, the bestselling author of Broadmoor Revealed, is a professional archivist and expert on asylum records. In this book, he delves into Victorian mental health archives to recreate the experience of entering an asylum and being treated there, perhaps for a lifetime.

Additional Information

Other Formats

You can buy a printed version of the annual Discover Your Ancestors bookazine directly from the publishers, please see www.discoveryourancestors.co.uk and click on ‘Order print copies’ at the bottom.

Editorial Office

Discover Your Ancestors Publishing,

PO BOX 163,

Shaftesbury,

SP7 7BA

E: [email protected]

W: www.discoveryourancestors.co.uk

Discover Your Ancestors – The Family History Show

The Family History Show, York!

Saturday 22nd June 2024
10:00 –16:00 (GMT)

Put your research questions to an expert, watch a talk, speak to a local society, archive or genealogical supplier.

Free talks all day, held in a large lecture hall.
Free Experts on hand to help with your queries.
Many family history societies, archives and companies will be attending from all over the country.

Special Offer! Buy tickets for £8.00 (£12.00 on the day)

Buy your tickets early and get two for the price of one!

Find Out More Purchase Tickets

Future Events

Unable to make the next show? We also have shows planned for the following locations:

Discover Your Ancestors Periodical is published by Discover Your Ancestors Publishing, UK. All rights in the material belong to Discover Your Ancestors Publishing and may not be reproduced, whether in whole or in part, without their prior written consent. The publisher makes every effort to ensure the magazine's contents are correct. All articles are copyright© of Discover Your Ancestors Publishing and unauthorised reproduction is forbidden. Please refer to full Terms and Conditions at www.discoveryourancestors.co.uk. The editors and publishers of this publication give no warranties, guarantees or assurances and make no representations regarding any goods or services advertised.