Polstead, Suffolk - August 2011
Wordless Wednesday is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.
Month: November 2011
St Mary's Church, Polstead, Suffolk - August 2011
Are you trying to trace members of your family in Polstead?
Wordless Wednesday is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.
I posted a photo last week of Rothwell’s market cross – a replica of the medieval one, which originally was close to the current site. I have several census returns where the address is simply “Near Crop” or “New Cross”, or maybe they are the same? In the following instances, they look quite distinct:
1861 England census, Rothwell – detail
1871 England census, Rothwell – detail
In fact, the second one may even be “Near Cross”.
Samuel Nunns and his wife Sarah, my Elsie‘s great grandparents, were living at “Near Crop”, Rothwell at the time of the 1861 census.1 Their children were Henry 9, William 8, Thomas 6, Joseph 5, and Sarah 1. Ten years later, the family are at “New Cross”, Rothwell, and with two more children: John 7 and Charles 6. Sarah is not listed this time. The four older boys are now working in the coal mine along with their father.2
By 1881, Sarah is widowed and living at 12 Cross Street with sons William, Joseph, John and Charles.3 Meanwhile, her eldest son Henry has married Tamar Dickinson and is living at 21 Cross Street along with children Sam 7, Elizabeth 5, John 4 and Joseph 1.4
At Rothwell Library, a helpful staff member pointed out the “new cross” on an old map, and mentioned how her family had lived near there. Perhaps this is the area of “New Cross”? I was looking for Cross Street which is still there, though most (if not all) of the old houses seem to have gone. Cross Terrace is also there – did the old houses on Cross Street look similar to these?
Cross Terrace, looking down Cross Street, Rothwell – August 2011
By 1891, both households had moved from Cross Street, to other streets in Rothwell that I failed to locate during the summer.
This week I discovered a fascinating document – Rothwell Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan – which details the town’s historic areas, one of which is Cross Terrace. Apparently all round that area is the “historic core” of Rothwell. There’s a whole heap of information about the history of the town and its architecture. On the Leeds City Council website, there are similar Conservation Area appraisals for other towns, including Oulton. The references at the end of each document are definitely worth a look, if you’re interested in the local history.
- “1861 England Census, Samuel Nunns (35) household, Rothwell, Yorkshire,” Ancestry.com, http://www.ancestry.co.uk/, accessed 30 Dec 2010, digital image, citing PRO RG9/3359, folio 6, page 5, GSU roll: 543120, Hunslet registration district, Rothwell sub-registration district, household 22, 07 April 1861.
- “1871 England Census, Samuel Nunns (44) household, Rothwell, Yorkshire,” Ancestry.com, http://www.ancestry.co.uk/, accessed 30 Dec 2006, digital image, citing PRO RG10/4517, folio 6, page 5, household 26, GSU roll: 848472, Hunslet registration district, Rothwell sub-registration district, 02 Apr 1871.
- “1881 England Census, Sarah Nunns (56) household, Rothwell, Yorkshire,” Ancestry.com, http://www.ancestry.co.uk/, accessed 05 Aug 2011, digital image, citing PRO RG11/4494, folio 5, page 3, GSU roll: 1342076, Hunslet registration district, Rothwell sub registration district, ED 1, 03 Apr 1881.
- “1881 England Census, Henry Nunns (29) household, Rothwell, Yorkshire,” Ancestry.com, http://www.ancestry.co.uk/, accessed 30 Dec 2006, digital image, citing PRO RG11/4494, folio 5, pp 4-5, GSU roll: 1342076, Hunslet registration district, Rothwell sub-registration district, ED 1, household 21, 03 Apr 1881.
Anthem for Doomed Youth
What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?
Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons.
No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells;
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, –
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles calling for them from sad shires.
What candles may be held to speed them all?
Not in the hands of boys but in their eyes
Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.
The pallor of girls’ brows shall be their pall;
Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.Wilfred Owen, 1917.
Original poppy image sourced from FreeFoto.com
Replica of Rothwell's market cross, thought to be close to the site of the original medieval cross, August 2011
Wordless Wednesday is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.
I am still behind in all my filing and sorting and such like, and not much, if any, progess has been made since September.
Happily though, my grandfather’s biography is finished. Shrieks of joy and jubilation! Two weeks ago I finally submitted my Lecture 2 assignments for the course I’m doing with IHGS. It’s taken me a year to do the first two lectures, and I have 22 more to go…. I think I may need to speed up a little.
I’m hoping a task list might help me get focussed over the next month. There are six more weeks before the kids break up for Christmas, so I have to make the most of my kid-free time. These are my priorities for November:
- outstanding emails
- lecture 3 assignments
- regular blogging (including finishing my West Yorkshire research trip series)
- filing and inputting data for maternal side
- book tickets for WDYTYA? Live in February
Sorting Saturday is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.
One of the tasks I wanted to accomplish in West Yorkshire was to visit and photograph houses and areas where my ancestors had lived. I had a lot of addresses from censuses and certificates, copies of old maps from Rothwell Library, and Google Maps.
Of course, many of the old buildings are gone, and streets renamed, re-routed or just plain disappeared. And there’s only so much driving around small villages that three young kids will (quietly) put up with. So it was a case of trying to do as much ground work as possible, before coming up again on my own sometime.
Two things I will have next time:
- Contemporary maps for all areas and time periods (where possible)
- Much better knowledge of architectural history
My 4 x great grandparents, George and Elizabeth Kemp, were living in Altofts at the time of the 1851 census. Living with them was their four year old son Thomas, and one year old daughter Hannah, as well as a servant, Mary Ramsden (whose occupation is listed as “Nurse”).1 Where I had just a village name for an address, I headed for the local Church of England church and took a snap, which is exactly what I did for Altofts (see yesterday’s post!).
In 1861, their address was “Wellington St, Whitwood” in the parish of Featherstone.2 I found a Wellington St between Castleford and Whitwood Mere, but didn’t think it was the right one, so left it. (Looking at Google maps now, it is possibly the right place, so I need to check this again on a contemporary map.) Thomas and Hannah/Anna are still living with their parents, along with siblings Sophia 9, and Sarah Ann (my 3x great grandmother) 5. Sophia was born in Castleford, and Sarah Ann in Whitwood, so the family had moved around a bit.
By 1871 they had moved to a “Cottage” in Oulton with Woodlesford.3 On the census, they have been enumerated near to Mill House Flat, though I couldn’t locate this either. Son Tom is the only child left at home, and Elizabeth’s father, James Dickinson, is also living with the family, along with Georgiana Haigh 7 “Adopted child”.
In 1881, George and Elizabeth are still in Oulton, with no specific address, with a nine year old grandson, Thomas J. Kemp, living with them.4 (I haven’t worked out whose child he is yet, nor what happened to him after they both died.)
Their daughter Sarah Ann had married Alfred Cockerham on December 23, 18715 and in 1881 were also living in Oulton, in Chapel Yard.6 With them were their daughters Mary A. 8, Sophia 5, Alice (my 2x great grandmother) 3, and their one year old son George. Boarding with the family was Thomas Rimmington, Alfred’s (first, once removed) cousin, 72.
Chapel Yard, Oulton, Yorkshire - August 2011
I met some lovely women as I was wandering around, and they told me that there used to be more cottages similar to this one:
House in Chapel Yard, Oulton, Yorkshire - August 2011
It’s really only a short lane, and down the end are some more cottages and other buildings.
End of Chapel Yard, Oulton, Yorkshire - August 2011
Turning around and going back out to the main street, on the left is the chapel the lane was named after, presumably!
The chapel of Chapel Yard, Oulton, Yorkshire - August 2011
- “1851 England Census, George Kemp (age 40) household, Altofts, Yorkshire,” Ancestry.com, (http://www.ancestry.co.uk/, accessed 05 Jun 2011), citing PRO HO107/2326, folio 395, p 10, GSU roll: 87562-87564, Wakefield registration district, Bretton sub-registration district, ED 11, household 36, 30 Mar 1851.
- “1861 England Census, George Kemp (age 50) household, Whitwood, Yorkshire,” Ancestry.com, (http://www.ancestry.co.uk/, accessed 05 Jun 2011), citing PRO RG9/3439, folio 99, p 24, GSU roll: 543132, Pontefract registration district, Pontefract sub-registration district, ED 19, household 99, 07 Apr 1861.
- “1871 England Census, George Kemp (age 61) household, Oulton with Woodlesford, Yorkshire,” Findmypast, (http://www.findmypast.co.uk/, accessed 10 Jun 2011), citing PRO RG10/4516, folio 68, p 5, Hunslet registration district, Whitkirk sub-registration district, ED 5, household 23, 02 Apr 1871.
- “1881 England Census, George Kemp (age 71) household, Oulton with Woodlesford, Yorkshire,” Ancestry.com, (http://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed 05 Jun 2011), citing PRO RG11/4493, folio 93, p 7, GSU roll: 1342076, Hunslet registration district, Whitkirk sub-registration district, ED 6, household 36, 03 Apr 1881.
- England, marriage certificate of Frederick [Alfred] Cockerham and Sarah Ann Kemp; 23 Dec 1871, Wakefield; 1871 Dec [quarter] 09c [vol] 33 [page], General Register Office, Stockport.
- “1881 England Census, Alfred Cockerham (age 30) household, Oulton with Woodlesford, Yorkshire,” Ancestry.com, (http://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed 06 Jun 2011), citing PRO RG11/4493, folio 94, p 10, GSU roll: 1342076, Hunslet registration district, Whitkirk sub-registration district, ED 6, household 57, 03 Apr 1881.
St Mary Magdalene, parish church of Altofts, in the diocese of Wakefield, Yorkshire - August 2011
St Mary Magdalene, parish church of Altofts, in the diocese of Wakefield, Yorkshire - August 2011
In my last post, I shared my daughter’s discovery of the gravestone of my 4 x great grandparents, George and Elizabeth Kemp, while on holiday in West Yorkshire over the summer. We found it in the churchyard of St John the Evangelist in Oulton.
On returning home, I decided to see if I could find the burial records online – Ancestry now have a huge swathe of West Yorkshire records on their site1.
I found a record for George Kemp in 1882, and noticed some interesting annotations in his entry:
Burial record of George Kemp, 1882 - detail
I checked pages 130 and 161 of the register and found the following entries:
Burial record of Elizabeth Kemp, 1890 - detail
Burial record of Thomas Kemp, 1895 - detail
I guessed that the “No.74” on each record was related to their shared grave site. Searching back through the register to the first page, I found the following annotations:
Burial Register, St John the Evangelist, Oulton - detail
This is what I can make out from the text:
The numbers in red are the numbers of the graves as shown on the Plan of the Graves in the Churchyard
“No. ” […] inserted by H[?]
[….] have added all the graves I know, up to [1839? 1939?] without the “No. “
So, there was a Plan! I wonder where it is now?
- Ancestry.com. West Yorkshire, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1813-1985 [database on-line], accessed 02 Sep 2011. Original data: Yorkshire Parish Records. Leeds, England: West Yorkshire Archive Service.
