Julie Goucher ~ Anglers Rest

Continuing the weekly theme, inspired by Family History Across the Seas.

Over the last few weeks I have spoken about the Parish Chest at Puttenham and the Church Records also at Puttenham. I don’t believe that Puttenham is a unique village. There are probably rural communities across the UK where an amazing amount of data relating to early parishioners has survived. Perhaps a curious Religious man who loved his adopted parish, as in the case of Charles Kerry of Puttenham. The Parish Records for Puttenham are fairly generous. Early records exist within the Records Centre and later records are held at the Church for those who wish to visit.

My Grandfather was born in the neighbouring parish of Wanborough, so having spent quite a lot of time in Puttenham and received nothing by hospitality and generosity, I toddled off to the church at Wanborough to seek the details of the Church Warden. I telephoned him and made an appointment to visit and look at the records.

I have to say, this was around 1988 and before the worries of identity fraud had really taken off, so I had, based upon experiences from a parish 2 miles away that I would be met with friendliness and would be welcomed. The was huge reluctance to let me see the registers.

These were not especially modern births, they ranged from 1900 until the 1920s, and at that point, the majority of my Great Aunts and Uncles had passed away, with the exception of 3 of them. There was one chair, so I moved it and sat down with a pencil and my note book to write down the details, the Church Warden hovered behind me then started pacing. I have no idea what his worries were. I suddenly announced that I would be at least 3 hours and that I was more than happy for him to leave me and come back after a time. He did and I breathed a sigh of relief. I continued on my quest and wrote down every single baptism, marriage and burial detail relating to my family names. I had no intention of returning for a while. I mentioned this to my contact in Puttenham who informed me that the Church Warden always behaved like that. I heard a few years later that he had passed away and returned to the parish again, to view the records and meet the then Church Warden. It was a completely different experience.

Regardless, of how I was made to feel, I was adamant that I was not going to be put off looking at the records for my relatives. The moment I saw the entry for my Grandfather in 1908 was a very special one and I was not going to let a stranger spoil it for me. The experience of visiting the Church and simply absorbing the atmosphere, holding the register, looking at the font is a real experience and was well worth the hassle that I had experienced. Time has passed now and the register completed, so the Church have deposited it with the Surrey Records Centre.

The visit was aimed at a completion of seeing the records. I had the data – the names of my Great Aunts & Uncles and when they were born already from the oldest sibling of the family, yet I learnt several new things that day. Firstly, that my Great Grandparents had lost three children, two boys and a girl, all of whom had died within their first year. The little girl had died of convulsions. I also learnt that my Great Aunt who we had all called Doll, because she was christened Dorothy and was so small as a baby that her siblings called her Doll, was in fact not Christened Dorothy, she was formally Christened as Lillian Dorothy.

In the parish of my own Christening, like my Mum and Grandmother before me, I was held, apparently at the font by my Godparents and Christened. I have my original Baptism Certificate which records me as Julie Joyce, which is actually incorrect, although the Baptism record does record the details correctly.  Joyce is the middle name of my Mother, so perhaps it was the same rector who carried out the service.

In these two instances, we have an official record, given to the parents and Godparents that is incorrect, supported by a correct recording in the register along with my birth certificate. We also have family history which conflicted what the official documentation says. Even my Great Aunt, who would have been 15 years old at the time her sister was born was adamant that her sister was christened Dorothy.

We should view the records, both those retained at the church and those given by the church and oral family history in tandem, in this case there is any inconsistencies such as in my case.

Continuing the weekly theme, inspired by Family History Across the Seas.

I believe that we are only limited on where to look for ancestors and their paper trail, by our imagination of where to look for those ancestors!

Poor Law records for one of my ancestral villages of Puttenham shows very clearly that the Budd girls were often pregnant and husband less! Did there parents shake their head and hold their head in their hands as they were informed of another mouth to feed and another absent father? Some things we shall never know, but is true now and I dare say then, if money, and especially other people’s money has to be given to someone then there is probably a trail of paper to support the fact.

Within each parish was a wonderful item called the Parish Chest. Within the walls of the box was kept the documents of the parish and contained therein the hopeful details of our ancestors. This included the Poor Law Records which include Bastardy Bonds and Settlement Records.

Here are the details of the Bastardy Records for Puttenham Surrey
1823 Harriet Budd of Puttenham & Daniel Dolly of Ash
1827 Charlotte Budd of Puttenham & Stephen Hall of Farnham
1827 Harriet Budd of Puttenham & Samuel Harding of Puttenham
1839 Sarah Budd of Puttenham & Henry Nicholls of Aldershot

Also contained within the box would be details of the Parish Clerks, those individuals who were of a certain standing within the village who would ensure that the “right thing” would be done by the parishioners. The Church Warden records and other miscellaneous records relating to the village. 

In 1824, the Village boundaries of Puttenham were walked by various parishioners and this record has survived within the confines of the Poor Law records. The date the boundaries were walked was the 9th April 1824 and I can see that several of my Budd ancestors walked. Richard Budd along with others. They were joined at Pond Head by Richard Budd (Richard Budd’s father) and George Budd.

The Curate of Puttenham was a curious and interesting chap, by the name of Charles Kerry. During the time he was Curate, Kerry recorded all sorts of details about the parish, its parishioners and various other historical details in a series of manuscripts. The manuscripts have survived and were returned to Kerry’s home County of Derbyshire upon his death. Surrey Records Centre have a microfilmed copy of them and I am lucky enough to have photocopies of the manuscripts.

Here is an example of one of the gems, from within the manuscripts

What is wonderful about this pedigree, written by Kerry is the incidental facts that it mentions. Facts that would otherwise be completely unknown to me and fellow researchers. William Budd is recorded as having been bitten by a snake when he put his hand into a rabbit hole. As a result of the bit, William became crippled. Kerry tells us that he attended Sarah Budd (nee Chalcraft) during her last illness and that Richard Budd, my direct ancestor had a fine tenor voice. I can confirm that sometime in the last couple of hundred years, the fine singing voice has been lost within the family! Who says the dead don’t speak?

There might be diaries left by land owners, or jotting parishioners? Perhaps people that do not relate to your specific ancestry, but whose lives would have co existed with ancestors. Are your ancestors written within those pages? 

There are so many places to explore within the parish archives, that perhaps go beyond the official records of the time. Did you ancestor pay a tithe? Did the land owner hold lands in nearby Parishes or Counties? Are there diaries, papers and manuscripts of people in those parishes? Have there been books written about your ancestral parish? If so, look through the bibliography as that might reveal a document or a source that has not been looked at.

What treasures exist in your ancestral parishes?