Assignment
As a good proportion of the exercises for Chapter 2 would involve quoting sections of the book I will discuss my understanding of the chapter and provide examples from my own research which help to illustrate the points raised.
The first section deals with the primary objective the research question. This may be considered to be the most important stage before any research is undertaken.
Planned questions should be focused, on an individual. Any already documented evidence should be reviewed so that the specific information needed to answer the question can be targeted appropriately.
Most questions look at relationships.
I have an Ann Taylor who married Peregrine Rosling in Billingborough, Lincolnshire, England 13 May 1819 (1) and she died 16 Oct 1878 in Swinstead, Lincolnshire, England aged 79 years (2) her year and place of birth from the census records is 1796 - 1801 Billingborough, Lincolnshire, England (3,4,5,6).
My question is who were her parents?
I have Nathaniel Gadsby who married Elizabeth Bemrose in Ruskington, Lincolnshire, England 25 May 1815 (7) and he was buried 2 Jan 1856 in Castle Bytham, Lincolnshire, England age 69 years (8) his year and place of birth from the census records is 1781 - 1786 Aserby, Lincolnshire, England (9,10)
My question is who were his parents and where was he born?
There is more than 1 place in Lincolnshire that could be a contender for Aserby you need to take in to consideration the local pronunciation.
Identity questions such as What was the maiden name of Mary Eley? the wife of Edward Eley and mother of Louisa Richards who had been married to Thomas Richards in Jersey but had then discovered after the birth of their daughter that he was already married. She was born in Millbrook, County of Southampton and married Edward Eley in Titchfield, County of Southampton.(11)
Activity questions such as When and where did Thomas Richards who bigamously married Mary and fathered a child Louisa who was a private in his majesty's 76th Regt of foot (11) serve in the aforementioned regiment?
Finding a record of his service could also provide clues to his identity.
In the sources I have used to discover the information I have about these individuals I have both original records such as the settlement examination and derivatives such as the transcription by the Lincolnshire Family History Society. I have transcribed the information in the settlement examination and that transcription is a derivative record.
There are various types of information in the settlement examination and to make it easier to describe I have included a copy of the transcription for Page 76 below.
76
Town and County
of The
Examination of Mary Eley
Southampton
now Residing in the Parish of Saint Michael
of the said Parish of Saint Michael
Wife of Edward Eley ˆin the said Town and County, Labourer
taken on
Oath, this 10th Day of July
1827 before us two of his Majesty’s Justices of
the Peace in and for the
said Town and County,
touching the place of the legal Settlement of
her
Daughter Louisa Richards of the said Parish of Saint
Michael, Singlewoman
The said Examinant saith, That she was born
at the Parish of Millbrook
In the county
of Southampton as she
hath heard and believes where her Parents
Then resided but whose place of Settlement was the Parish of
Titchfield in
The said County
of Southampton as she
hath also been informed and believes
That her father died in the Poor House at the said Parish of
Titchfield and
That her mother is now living at and receiving two shillings
weekly from the
Said Parish of Titchfield That this examinant was never
apprenticed nor ever
Served as a yearly servant for one whole year That upwards
of nineteen years ago she
Went to Jersey and was
married to Thomas Richards a private in his majesty’s 76th Regt of
foot then on duty in the said island and remained there some months after her
Marriage when the Regiment was removed to Colchester
in the County of Essex and
From thence to Black Heath camp that her said daughter
Louisa was born at
Colchester in the said county of Essex but in what parish this examinant
Does not know and this Examinant further saith, that the
said Thomas
Richards to whom she was so married as aforesaid was a
married man at the
Time he married this Examinant and that while the Regiment
lay at Black
Heath camp his wife and three children came there to him
which when this
Examinant knew as she saw them there and was informed by a
man in the
Same Regiment that it was his the said Thomas Richard’s wife
and that he
Knew her to be such the said Examinant left the said Thomas
Richards and came with her said daughter to her parents who
then resided in
Hamble in the said county of Southampton
that this Examinant then
Worked at various places and about 13 years ago she was
married to her
Present husband at Titchfield church that some time after
her second
Marriage the said Thomas Richards came to see this Examinant
but she
Refused to see him and since that time she has never seen or
heard of
Him
Sworn before us
John Jolliffe The
Mark X of
Mayor Mary
Eley
Richard Eldridge Orders
made (out same day to) Augst 14th
1827
to Titcfield Hants
( ) crossed out
The information about her birth and her parents is going to be secondary or indeterminable and the information about her experience will be primary. Some of the information regarding the wife and children of Thomas Richards will be of indeterminable origin since it is unknown as to how the man in the same regiment knew that she was the wife (was he at the wedding).
I have books about people living in the areas where my family lived that have made mention of relatives. I have not made use of these for anything other than providing suggestions. However if I was unable to find original records these authored works could be invaluable in reconstructing the family. One family said to have 22 members was much easier to distinguish once I was aware of this fact.
Many of the sources we commonly use provide direct evidence to answer our research questions.
Negative and indirect evidence may be more difficult to determine for example one of my ancestors appears to be missing from the 1881 Census for England and Wales, I know from a copy of a letter that he was at some point a soldier and he is not listed with this occupation on any of the other censuses. It may not be unreasonable to consider that he was possibly missing from the census because he was not in the country and was serving as a soldier at this time. I have since discovered his military record and he attested in 1887 under his second forename which appears to have been the name he used for many years. It lists his address which I recognize as being his mother's home and gives a further clue as to where he may be living in 1881. I feel I may need to make better use of timelines if I am to fully understand and use indirect and negative evidence in determining proof statements.
The distinctions we use for sources and information help us to assess whether we have answered our question using the best available evidence.
By understanding why a source was created and how it was created or what created it and by whom and when and where, in other words the 5 W’s, we can strengthen the evidence to answer our research questions.
It is not enough to find a source of information we need to look at exactly what it tells us that is pertinent to our research and whether we need further information from another source before we have the evidence needed for genealogical proof.
Evidence is entirely dependant on the research question which is why it is important to clearly define our goals as questions before we start our research process.
- "England Marriages, 1538–1973 ," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NX7F-9JQ : accessed 08 Mar 2014), Peregrine Rosling and Ann Taylor, 1819.
- Source: [S259] Death Certificate Rosling Ann
Data
Entry Date: 18 October 1878
Certainty Assessment: Primary evidence
Source: [S1551] Census 1841 Class HO107 Piece 622 Book 30 ED 3 Folio 9 Page 11 Peregrine Rosling Swinstead,Lincolnshire,England
Where Within Source: Class HO107/622/30/3/9/11
Data
Entry Date: 6 June 1841
Certainty Assessment: Secondary evidence- Source: [S1561] Census 1851 Class HO107 Piece 2095 Folio 91 Page 12 Schedule 36 Peregrine Rosling Swinstead,Lincolnshire,England
Where Within Source: Class HO107/2095/91/12/36
Data
Entry Date: 30 March 1851
Certainty Assessment: Secondary evidence
- Source: [S1577] Census 1861 Class RG9 Piece 2315 Folio 30 Page 11 Schedule 42 & 43 Peregrine Rosling Swinstead,Lincolnshire,England
Where Within Source: Class RG9/2315/30/11/42 & 43
Data
Entry Date: 7 April 1861
Certainty Assessment: Secondary evidence
- Source: [S1638] Census 1871 Class RG10 Piece 3311 Folio 26 Page 4 Schedule 18 Edward Rosling Swinstead,Lincolnshire,England
Where Within Source: Class RG10 Piece 3311 Folio 26 Page 4 Schedule 18
Data
Entry Date: 2 April 1871
Certainty Assessment: Secondary evidence
Transcription from Lincolnshire Family History Society confirmed by viewing online images at Find My Past http://www.findmypast.co.uk/
"England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JC73-R5Q : accessed 08 Mar 2014), Nathaniel Gadsby
"England and Wales Census, 1841," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MQ1G-SYP : accessed 08 Mar 2014), Nathaniel Gadsby, 1841.
"England and Wales Census, 1851," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/SGNS-K9G : accessed 08 Mar 2014), Nathaniel Gadesby, 1851.
Registers of examination as to Settlement 1711-1901 Southampton City Archives Service Settlement Examination for Louisa Richards Single woman St Michael Parish 10th July 1827 Pages 72,76 and 79 Digital images
(Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2007)
