Wisdom Wednesday: 10 Dates In History of Non-conformity

In 2012, I wrote several blogs about my family and their religious beliefs. Although I could find their life events from the early 1700s to the 1850s recorded in the local parish registers, they became members of non-Church of England sects when the emigrated. I am still interested in non-conformists as the Brits call those who are not members of the Church of England (COE).

I found a new UK genealogy magazine at Barnes and Noble, called “Discover Your Ancestors". It is really an annual publication of TheGenealogist.co.uk. The good article that caught my eye was by Luke Mouland, a Dorset-based genealogist. In “Preaching to the People,” Mouland puts the relationship of the non-anglicans to the state-run church into historical context.

For example in 1662, the Act of Uniformity was passed calling for all ministers to be ordained in the COE. Over 2000 Puritan ministers broke away. The government wanted to discourage any further dissent and imposed fines on anyone worshiping anywhere other than a parish church so the 1670 Conventicles Act was enacted. (Mouland defines a conventicle as “any religious assembly outside the Church of England.”) The people who attended these services were fined between five and ten shillings. A much greater fine of 20 or 40 shillings was levied on a person who allowed their home to be used for a service.

Mouland’s article is accompanied by a timeline with ten important dates from the time of Henry the eighth’s founding of the COE and 1902 when some form of equality of religions was agreed to in the country.

1662 – Act of Uniformity required ordination of clergy within the COE and 2000 minsters left the church, mostly to become Puritans. Laws to punish non-conformists were enacted.

1672 – Declaration of Indulgence – an attempt by Charles II to give religious freedom to dissenters.

1689 – Toleration Act – religious freedom given to those willing to take oaths of allegiance.

1714 – Schism Act – People must be a member of the COE if they wanted to found a public or private school or act as a tutor.

1753 – Marriage Act – marriages must be performed according to the rites of the Church of England. See 1836.

1812 – Relief Act – repealed most of the 1670 Conventicle Act and generally made concessions on dissenters’ places of worship

1828 – Prohibitions against holding political offices by non-Anglicans were removed.

1836 – Marriage Act – changed 1753 law and non-Anglican churches were given the right to marry people; civil marriage allowed.

1868 – Abolished payment of church rates for non-members.

1902 - Education Act – parochial schools integrated into the government school system and begin to be supported by taxes.

None of the equality of religion we know in this country came easily in Britain. For example, in the early 19^th century, three acts gave different rights to three separate religious groups: 1813, the Unitarian Relief Act; 1818, the Wesleyan Methodist Metropolitan Registry Act; and 1829, the Catholic Emancipation Act. I recommend consulting a lot of experts, if you need to search in the early records of any non-conformist religion.

Resources:

Mouland, Luke. Discover Your Ancestor, Issue No. 2, “Preaching to the People” Tring, Herts: Discovery Media Group, 2013.

Christensen, Dr. Penelope. Researching Non-Anglican Records. Toronto: Heritage Productions, 2003.

Wisdom Wednesday: UK Census Changes Discussed

After a census, every country takes some time to assess how things went and how they can improve. The UK Office of National Statistics (ONS) is exploring options to change the census in England and Wales through a program called ‘Beyond 2011’. I like to think of myself as progressive and a bit of a risk taker, but proposed changes to documents so at the heart of genealogy are unnerving.

ONS research has resulted in the view that there are two possible approaches to census-taking in the future. In late September, a public comment period was started to gauge reactions to these proposals:

·        a census once a decade - similar to the 2011 Census but primarily online; or
·        a census using existing administrative data and compulsory annual surveys.

“Both approaches would provide annual statistics about the size of the population, nationally and for local authorities, as we do currently. A census using existing data and annual surveys would provide statistics about population characteristics every year. An online census would provide more detailed statistics but only once a decade.” (ONS)

Various users will have different views on the approaches, depending on how they use the data, and ONS welcome input from anyone. They will accept comments until 13^th December 2013. You can find the consultation documents and a link to the online questionnaire here.

If you look through the documents, especially supplement C2 –Summary of Uses of Census Information, you will see a nicely written and accurate summary of how genealogists use the censuses already in the public domain. However, I don’t find the sentence that says they will continue releasing the censuses through 2111 all that comforting. ONS seems to think I should not worry about the genealogy community one hundred years from now, but I do.

Please contact ONS at beyond2011@ons.gov.uk if you have any questions, comments or wish to discuss further.

Thanks to FFHS for forwarding the original release from ONS.

Wisdom Wednesday: Land Description by Map Reference

Of the essential clauses in a deed, the land description is the most unfamiliar to the average genealogist. I explained the metes and bounds system of land measurement in a blog posted 13 Oct 2011, and I described the Government Survey System in two posts, 15 and 22 Aug 2012. The first system is used in the state land states; the thirteen original colonies and Maine, Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Texas and Hawaii. The other 30 states are called federal land states.

A third system that is used in both state and federal land states refers to a lot number on a plan for a subdivision. Depending where you live in the U.S., it might be called the recorded plat, recorded map, recorded survey or the lot-block-tract system. Briefly, a map of a large tract of land has been surveyed into smaller lots, the subdivision named and the new lots numbered. Then the resulting map is recorded at a county land records office. From that time, a legal description of one of the small lots can just refer to the number on the recorded map.

You might think this seems like a modern suburban subdivision which it is.  If you think that you would not be able to find an older deed that uses this method to describe land, you would be wrong.  I have found a deed from 1843 in Massachusetts and 1850s Pennsylvania. So be ready.

Here is an example from a turn of the 20^th century Montana deed:

 

 

 

Necessary information:

            Name of subdivision: Seymer Park Addition, Block 17, City of Helena
            Lot Number(s): 1,2,3
            Where map recorded: Office of the Clerk and Recorder, Lewis and Clark County

Wisdom Wednesday: Essex Pilgrims and Adventurers

The first time I saw the trailer for the new PBS series, Last Tango in Halifax, I was on vacation in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I remarked to my husband that it would be fun to watch because we might see places where we had just been. As most of you now know, the TV series takes place in Halifax, Yorkshire. Um…

Luckily, a recent find at a used book sale was easier to decipher. I quickly realized it was not about pilgrims in Essex County, Massachusetts.

      Smith, J.R. Pilgrims & Adventurers: Essex (England) and the Making of the United States of America. Chelmsford: Essex Records Office, 1992, 64 pp.

John Smith has written at least nine local history books for the Essex Records Office where he was the senior archivist in 1992. In this book, he concentrates on the contributions of Essex men in Virginia, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and Georgia. The book is notable because of its illustrations which include maps, drawings and paintings from the ERO collection which are impossible to find on this side of the Atlantic. There are at least a dozen photos or old engravings of parish churches, for example.

Some of the names included are John Winthrop, Thomas Hooker, George Washington, and William Pynchon, but lesser known settlers, names abound. It has an extensive index.  This is the type of book that could have a big impact on a small number of researchers and serves as a reminder that each county record office may have a similar publication. (The Norfolk Record Office has an online exhibition titled, “Norfolk’s American Connections” at www.archives.norfolk.gov.uk. )

To see if the book is still available new, contact the Essex Record Office that does not seem to have a shop on their web site.

Essex Record Office
Wharf Road, Chelmsford, UK Cm2 6yt
+44 1245 244644
www.essex.gov.uk (Click on “Libraries and Archives” at left on screen.)
email: ero.enquiry@essex.gov.uk

Wisdom Wednesday: Visiting a Parish Church – The Interior

A visit to the UK and some of the ancestral villages is exciting. The parish church should be near the top of the agenda. Not only did family events take place here, but there may be important genealogical clues in the monuments and memorials on the interior.

It is exciting to be there, and it is tempting, and for some of us unavoidable, to hurry through and try to see everything at once. Try to slow down, or do the run through and then start again for a slow leisurely stroll around the interior, pencil and notebook in hand. Okay, ipad or iphone in hand.

The walls and floors of even the small churches have some stone or brass tablets or monuments that can help in family research. To have such a memorial, a family would have to have considerable means, however.

If you enter by the front door, your will probably see a rack of pamphlets highlighting the history of the church building and the interesting plaques or memorials it contains. This information may be available on the parish website so you can preplan your visit.

Among the newer memorials might be ‘Rolls of Honor’ for casualties of the Boer War (1899-1902), World War I and World War II. They give the name, rank, regiment and sometimes the battle where the service man or woman died. No matter where your family fell on the economic scale of this parish, a relative’s name might be found here.

There are two types of older stone monuments – tombstone effigies and memorial tablets. Effigies or figures representing a dead person have been used in church monuments since the twelfth century, usually lying on top of a coffin or coffin shaped stone box on the church floor. The older carvings are flatter and the later ones more three dimensional.

Memorial tablets, also called wall monuments or wall tablets, are stone panels engraved with genealogical information and commemorative poems or phrases. They look like one sided tombstones embedded in the wall, and they could usually fit within a rectangular space 2-3 feet wide and 3-4 feet tall.  Having been in common use between the 16^th and 19^th century, their decorative style depends on when they were produced.

Last, but hardly least, are the monumental brasses. These are engraved metal plates attached to the wall or floor which shows both human figures and symbols to represent the person who has died. There may be as many as 8000 remaining in England, but many were destroyed during the English reformation and later in the time of Oliver Cromwell.

The deceased and members of his family are commonly depicted wearing the clothing and uniforms of the time period.  Others have Christian symbols or are depictions of biblical stories. They date from the thirteenth to the seventeen century.

Rubbings of these brasses have been a popular pastime, but ask permission before attempting an art project. Many parishes forbid it and have reproductions for sale as an alternative.

Sources:
Friar, Stephen. The Companion to the English Parish Church. London: Chancellor Press, 2000.

Mellen, Rachael. A Practical Guide for the Genealogist in England, Second Edition. Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books, Inc., 1987.

Wisdom Wednesday: FFHS Notes from the Field

Mid-September will bring some happenings at research facilities in the UK. The Federation of Family History Societies has sent notices of these events and closings. You can get this information firsthand by subscribing to the ffhs-news at their website www.ffhs.org.uk. (It is the second link at the top right of their home page.)

Friday, 13 September 2013– Closing of Reading Room at the Royal Free (Hospital) Archive Centre, London


The Royal Free Hospital is transferring its archive collections to London Metropolitan Archives. The collections are due to become available there in early 2014. During the move, the staff will continue to answer as many enquiries as possible, subject to staff and document availability. Contact them at www.archive.enquiries@nhs.net

Saturday, 14 September 2013 - Essex Record Office, Chelmsford
75th Anniversary and Open Day, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, free admission; details at www.essexrecordsofficeblog.co.uk/ero75

Essex has one of the longest-established Record Offices in England. This year, it will celebrate 75 years of preserving the county’s past by holding an Open Day with various activities including behind-the-scenes tours, displays, archive films and an opportunity to ask questions at the research helpdesk.

15 September 2013 – Spring 2014 - Manchester City Library, Deansgate

The current temporary arrangements will change on 15 September, when the Manchester Room at Central Library, Elliot House, Deansgate, and the Greater Manchester County Record Office will both close. From then until Manchester Central Library re-opens there will be restricted access to their holdings. You can find more details at www.archiveslocalstudies@manchester.gov.uk which has a fair number of online resources available.
Manchester and Lancashire Family History Society will remain open during this period.

Wisdom Wednesday: Overseers v. Guardians of the Poor

Overseers and guardians of the poor are not interchangeable terms for people who administered the early UK poor laws. The important factor is the time period. Overseers were in charge of relief before 1834, when the new poor laws created Poor Law Unions and Boards of Guardians.

During the 1500s, the ecclesiastical parish took over local government from the manor. Parishes did their work through the local vestry (town council) and the Justice of the Peace. From 1572, the vestry appointed one or two overseers (depending on the size of the parish) for a one year term.  Because they were unpaid, these administrators were from what we would call the middle or upper classes.

The job was a complicated balancing act between deciding who needed assistance and the taxpayers’ ability and willingness to pay. Through it all, they kept good records of their work which allows us to see who paid rates and the assessment of their property values and who received assistance…how much, for how long and why.

In 1834, the philosophy of how to assist the poor changes. Workhouses become universal. Little relief is available to anyone who will not live in the workhouse. The administrators are now called guardians but their balancing act is much the same.

The LDS Family History Library and www.familysearch.org are the best places to find copies of rate and account books generated by any poor law officials.