Some ‘new’ online sources for Medieval Genealogists

 For today’s blog post, I wanted to share with you all three websites that I have discovered recently. They do all have a Medieval theme, but I hope they show that Medieval research is not all dusty documents and trying to read Latin. They are by no means ‘new,’ but they are new to me. That just goes to show how much there is for us all still to learn- there is so much out there to discover!

The Gough Map

The first source I wanted to share is not a database as such, but a map. It is called the Gough Map of Great Britain and is considered to be the earliest map of Great Britain (as we would recognise it). There is much more information about the map on its dedicated website, but it seems that to this day, its origins are still unclear. Who made it? Why was it made? Exactly when was it made? Researchers are still looking for definite answers to these questions, but they believe that the earliest text dates from the 1370s. Other text has been dated to the 15^th century, which suggests that the map was in use over a fair amount of time.[1]

The Map itself was part of the Linguistic Geographies project, which (in brief terms) hoped to learn more about the map itself and to present a searchable, digital version for all to be able to access.[2] The team was made up of many individuals from Queen’s University, Belfast, University of Oxford and King’s College, London,[3] with research apparently still ongoing.[4]

What can it do?

The website lets the user search for a modern place name and will then bring that up on the Gough Map. Beware that only a place name on the map will be returned. It sounds obvious, but not every place name of every town, city and village is included! There are a couple of ways to search: either through the Digital Map tab or the Search tab. The former is perhaps a bit more exciting, as it shows the map alongside the search box. Something else to be aware of, is the form of the map itself. To our view, Britain looks as if it has fallen over and is shown on its side! It takes a bit of getting used to, as does the level of accuracy. For the time, it is pretty impressive, but it is worth remembering the time in which it was made and the lack of modern tools that we have today.

Coming from the South West of England, naturally I wanted to see how that part of the country was represented. Both Somerset and Dorset were clearly named in red. I could also see Bristol and Exeter clearly marked. Dorchester was a bit more difficult and I had to use the search function to pinpoint that one- some of the text is not clear, due to its age. As mentioned above, not all towns and villages are marked, and that seems to be particularly the case in the South West. The map is a bit more detailed the further east and north you go, but it is interesting to see recognisable place names that have survived all of this time.

It has to be said that it probably won’t appeal to those not interested in mapping or with a specific purpose in mind, but I found it a fun diversion for a little while. I think it is worth exploring even if it is just to marvel at how remarkable it is for a document of its age. There are also various blog posts on the website, as well as some interpretive essays (under the Contexts tab) which give some further insight into the map and how it has been used in research so far.

The Southampton Tudor Project (Tudor Revels)

The next website is more of a database and particularly useful for those with ancestors or a general interest in Southampton (Hampshire, England). Focusing on the Tudor period of history, the website contains information for Southampton individuals between 1485-1603 and (as it notes on the website), it takes advantage of the high volume of Southampton related records that survive from that time.[5]

Like the Gough Map project website, Tudor Revels has many articles of interest relating to research performed with the available records, as well as a very useful page of links to other websites which relate to Southampton and Hampshire research. But the most amazing thing is the Records page. As the website also states, the goal was to reach 5,000 individual record entries by the end of 2013, so that gives you some idea of the scope of the project! Obviously, as researchers we should be checking the original sources wherever possible (we are all only human and errors can creep in- it is also good practice too), but as a starting point for this period of Southampton’s history, this is a wonderful resource!

I know that when I first began researching in the Medieval and Early Modern period I did feel a bit all at sea, as the sources available are so different to the ones I had been using for later periods. I feel that there is also a slight shift in mindset too. Instead of being given a good amount of information from records such as the Census, you do have to pull out smaller snippets of information from a real variety of resources. Then comes the evaluation as to whether those snippets of information are related and can help to connect the family you are working on. So a project such as this is most helpful for a variety of reasons. Firstly, it does make the records both more accessible in terms of understanding and use (the step of extracting information from the records has been performed, with any potential language barrier being overcome) and also for those not located within travelling distance to the archives where they are held. Secondly, if an individual appears multiple times over the years, the search function should be able to capture that. This also makes it quicker for the researcher in the first place, as they do not have to spend the time trawling through the records themselves. Thirdly, there always seems to be a ‘References’ tab on each person’s entry so that the original could be accessed and checked in the future.

Photo by Denny Müller on Unsplash. Not all Medieval Genealogy is like this!

What can it do?

It is true that there are always caveats and that is the case for any resource. There still needs to be an evaluation of the entries found, to assess the relevance to the research being performed. Also, we do have to remember that there is the possibility of human error in entering data, not to mention errors made in the original record (it can happen!), spelling differences, palaeographical issues, translation issues and probably others which I have not mentioned. That all being said, this is a resource that is still well worth exploring for yourself.

There is the ability for a simple or advanced search, the latter enabling the use of specified search terms including name, dates, nationality, parish and trade. There are also currently 20,412 individual entries (ordered by name) which is more than a fair amount.[6] Sadly, my target surname of ROWSELL (which I always use as it is useful for my One Name Study) returned no results at all. That is not surprising, as my theory is that the name is much more Somerset based in general. However, picking the name ‘Robert’ at random, returned over 800 results, all of which can be sorted by date (ascending or descending). Each person entry contains timeline, details, finances, and biography tabs (as well as the references tab). Not all of these tabs are populated, but the timeline for one Robert a Bere records entries that could be attributed to him between 1513-1528. This Robert was a carter and possibly born in around 1490. It seems that he took trips carrying goods to Sarum (Salisbury, Dorset) on a fair few occasions and the sources for this information can be found in the References tab. Sometimes I feel that the references could be a bit fuller, so that they connect more easily with the bibliography of records used on the website. But, I would certainly recommend having a look if you have ancestors from Southampton, or are interested in the area during the Tudor period.

England’s Immigrants

The final website I want to talk about in this post is another database of names, but as the title suggests, this concerns those who immigrated to England in the Medieval period. This project has captured names from a slightly earlier period to the Tudor Revels, as the target period here is 1330-1550. It is a joint project between the Universities of York and Sheffield, along with The National Archives (Great Britain) and the Humanities Research Institute.[7]

Now, many of these websites and databases are not necessarily created specifically with genealogists in mind, but the outcome is that they can be useful to those from multiple disciplines. Historians researching all aspects of this period of history would no doubt find it useful, as well as us genealogists. Imagine in this case, that you came across an ancestor who seems to have been a migrant in this period. This would be a good resource in which to help with research into that ancestor. In modern thinking, we perhaps think that migration is a newer phenomenon and that our ancestors did not move around a great deal at all. That may have been the case for some. I certainly have ancestors who stayed generation after generation in the same village or area. But there is always an exception which proves the rule. There are those that did move around more that we thought they would have. Recently reading The Book of Margery Kempe[8] really brought that home to me. My thoughts on that work would fill another blog post I am sure, but simply put, she was a Medieval woman alive in the early 1400s and undertook many religious pilgrimages. She travelled to Jerusalem and Santiago de Compostela in Spain. She travelled to what we would now consider to be Germany and that is not to forget the amount of travelling she undertook around England. My point here, is that people can and did travel, so it is not so impossible to think that some of our ancestors could have been immigrants from other lands, even during this earlier period.

What can it do?

The England’s Immigrants website contains around 64,000 names which are fully searchable. The resources used come from a variety of sources, but the one which made me aware of this website, is taxation documents.[9] There were various taxes on immigrants into England and where these documents survive, they can tell us a little about those who migrated into the country from elsewhere. There is a detailed background section on the website which goes into this in more detail,[10] but the search function works much like the Tudor Revels project website. There is a simple or advanced search, the latter enabling the searcher to specify things such as name, dates, occupation, title, relationships, nationality, document type- the list goes on. There is also the option to browse the entries instead. It needs to be remembered though, that at this time, it was not just those who came from the continent or beyond who were considered immigrants, but also anyone coming in from Scotland or Ireland too.

One aspect I did like regarding the search function of the database, was the option to filter by place of residence. I was then able to narrow by county, so naturally I chose Somerset. There are not as many entries for Somerset as for other counties (I believe the sources have not all survived quite as well), but there were entries right through from the 1330s to the 1540s. There were also a range of nationalities represented, including ‘Dutch’ (which may mean German more than Dutch), Norman, Irish, Hollander, Breton and Fleming to name a few. The largest group by far were classified as French- they accounted for 91 of the 745 entries. It is worth bearing in mind here, that some entries may not have a defined nationality attached and that the nationalities used may be slightly different to what we would think of them as today.

Each individual record contains (where available) name, place of residence, place of origin, nationality, duration of stay, the document the information was taken from (with much fuller references!) and links to other people or entries. I was interested to find a man from Picardy named Peter le Monyer who was resident in Wells, Somerset in 1337. He came from Amiens and was a domicile in the household of William de Montagu. A bit closer to home, a Utrechter named John Vanuttricioum was resident in Crewkerne, Somerset in 1436. There was also a Norman from Rouen name Clement Rowsell in 1544, who had been resident in England for 20 years. I see a possible future avenue of research for a connection between ROWSELL and potentially French origins in terms of spelling and local corruption of that spelling…!

Overall though, this is another website I would recommend, even if it is just to explore the early immigrants to your own area.

In conclusion…

I am sure there is much more that I could say about all three of these websites, but I will finish here by insisting you go and explore them yourselves. Until next time!

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[1] Bodleian Libraries. The Gough Map of Great Britain: About. http://www.goughmap.org/about/ : accessed 02 November 2022.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Bodleian Libraries. The Gough Map of Great Britain: About- Project Team. http://www.goughmap.org/about/project-team/ : accessed 02 November 2022.

[4] Bodleian Libraries. The Gough Map of Great Britain: Home- The Gough Map of Great Britain and its Making. http://www.goughmap.org/ : accessed 02 November 2022.

[5] The Southampton Tudor Project. Tudor Revels Southampton; About & Links- The Southampton Tudor Project: From Records to Revels. http://www.tudorrevels.co.uk/links.php : accessed 06 November 2022.

[6] The Southampton Tudor Project. Tudor Revels Southampton; Welcome to the records. http://www.tudorrevels.co.uk/records.php : accessed 06 November 2022.

[7] England’s Immigrants 1330 – 1550: Resident Aliens in the Late Middle Ages. Home: Welcome to the England’s Immigrants database. https://www.englandsimmigrants.com/ : accessed 06 November 2022.

[8] Windeatt, Barry, ed. (2004) The Book of Margery Kempe. Annotated edition. Suffolk: Boydell and Brewer Ltd.

[9] England’s Immigrants 1330 – 1550: Resident Aliens in the Late Middle Ages. Home: Welcome to the England’s Immigrants database. https://www.englandsimmigrants.com/ : accessed 06 November 2022.

[10] England’s Immigrants 1330 – 1550: Resident Aliens in the Late Middle Ages. Background. https://www.englandsimmigrants.com/page : accessed 06 November 2022.

It's good to be back...

 Welcome to my latest blog post! It certainly has been a little while since the last one, but life has conspired against me being able to write recently. Life has been extremely busy, what with client work, tutoring work with the University of Strathclyde and I have also moved house! So all in all, a lot has been going on in the last few months.

However, I do now have some time to share my thoughts with you all again and I am very excited to do so! So what have I been up to otherwise? Well I am continuing research on my One Name Study. I read an email from the Guild of One Name Studies recently and liked how the author had described their ONS as a marathon and not a sprint. That certainly applies to mine too. After having put together a fairly complete database for Somerset Rowsell births last year (see my previous post on the subject), I have been extending that to Rowsell births for the rest of the country. To begin with, I did think about doing that after I had completed databases for Somerset marriages and deaths too, but I was on a roll and decided to keep with the births for the moment! It is going slowly but steadily, as there is quite a lot of data to deal with, but hopefully that will be complete soon. Then of course, I have to think about how to share the information with you all. GOONS does have guidance on that, so that is something else I will explore in the upcoming months.

I have also been delving further into the research I undertook for my MSc Dissertation and have been ploughing on with trying to transcribe and translate Medieval Inquisitions Post Mortem, specifically for Somerset women. Women can be an under researched group of individuals at times and the IPMs themselves certainly need a great deal of further research, as so many have not even been transcribed (let alone translated). This sadly makes them pretty inaccessible for the researcher in general, so I hope to be able to contribute (eventually!) to rectifying that situation. Sometimes you just need a catalyst to get you back into researching or thinking about a particular area again, and mine had to have been the talk I recently presented for the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy. This was based on the IPM work I have finished to date and was a great start to doing in person talks again! I am due to give the same subject to the Frome Family History Group in March next year, which I am very excited about. I met the group when I attended the Frome Family History Day back in May this year.

A great day was had by all at the Frome Family History Show back in May. Image © 2022 Shersca Genealogy.

Some of you may remember my previous blog posts regarding one Gouly de Chaville (click here and here for a link to these posts) and the legacy of his surname. At the time of writing, there was so much more that I could have said, so I hope to write some more about him. I hope to do some more research on his grandchildren and great-grandchildren too, as there is some exciting research to be done in Australian and South African sources. One day, perhaps this might even lead to another One Name Study, but one step at a time! It will have to go in the queue behind my other idea for an ONS: Incledon. That surname is another story altogether, but it is a side of my own family that has presented quite the brick wall, so I have been wondering if an ONS approach might help.

There are of course many other things that I might be writing about as the year goes on (forgive me but I think in Academic years rather than calendar years at the moment!), but everyone has to start somewhere, especially after such a break as I have had. The other problem is that there are so many ideas to put down, that finding the time to explore them all is difficult. So in the vein of taking it step by step and starting somewhere, I will probably concentrate on the main three above. Due to time constraints, I won’t be able to post quite as much as I have in previous years, but do look out for my posts on the first week of the month.

I look forward to sharing what I have found with you all again, and remember that you can find me on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, blogger.com, Tumblr and the blog section of my website.  

A meeting of Archaeology and Genealogy: Part 2

 It is very satisfying when a blog post comes together unexpectedly. All of a sudden, something sparks an idea and off you go! I had not intended to write a second instalment about the meeting of Archaeology and Genealogy, but here it is!

The beginning of an idea

The first part of this idea explored the presentations of the Society of Antiquaries Conference: Seals and the People of Britain. Out of all of the presentations, of most interest to me was Helen Geake’s Women and their Seals. A discussion of the seals catalogued by the Portable Antiquities Scheme, Helen Geake’s presentation introduced me to a further aspect of Medieval history and one that may be useful for research into Medieval ancestors. This post is a continuation of the idea of Genealogy working together with other disciplines, but this time in the area of burials.

Burials, but a different approach?

Burials are of course events that genealogists are very familiar with. They are a fundamental event that becomes even more so before the introduction of Civil Registration in 1837. Therefore, they are nothing new to genealogists and you may wonder what more I can say about them in this post?

The point I hope to make, is how we can improve our work in genealogy by considering separate, disparate aspects of research all together. The end result could then be a better understanding of not only our ancestors, but of their way of life and how they understood their world. This is something that we can then pass on to our clients, to help them better understand their own ancestors. Additionally, we might just realise how much we can learn from other historically based disciplines and how much they can learn from us.

Photo by Meta Zahren on Unsplash.

Another meeting of Archaeology and Genealogy

Earlier this month, I was lucky to get tickets to Professor Alice Roberts’ latest tour, discussing her book ‘Ancestors.’[1] I am sure you can understand the appeal for a genealogist of a title like that! I am by no means an archaeologist, but I have always found that area of historical research fascinating. In some ways, it is the polar opposite to genealogy- we examine documentary records to research our ancestors and archaeologists use objects to do the same. If you have ever watched programs like Time Team, you will know that the two are not always mutually exclusive either. Digs that focussed upon uncovering buildings or structures within written history often used documentary records to aid the investigation (where possible).

So naturally, I jumped at the chance to hear Alice Roberts speak. As you may expect from someone with her experience, the presentation was engaging and accessible, especially for those of us who aren’t so familiar with the archaeological world. I am still in the process of reading the book, but the presentation dealt with some of the subjects included within. These subjects are seven specific burials and more specifically, what they can tell us about our ancestors. Whether that is what the bones can tell us, what the grave goods can tell us, or what the DNA can tell us. The latter reminded me of Adam Rutherford’s A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived,[2] which also goes to show how all of these different disciplines are interlinked; DNA research, Archaeology, Anthropology, Historical research in general and of course, Genealogy. We simply focus on different facets of the same entity.

What can genealogists learn from other disciplines?

Whilst Alice Roberts focuses upon burials from pre-history in ‘Ancestors’ (as a Somerset person, ‘Cheddar Man’ is of great interest) it got me thinking about how genealogists consider burials. As I mentioned above, we are used to using written burial records, which do not always contain a great deal of information. We then have to assess these in relation to other records to ascertain the likelihood that the record pertains to the person we are looking for. But what other techniques do we use, or even could we use?

Obviously, as genealogists we are not going to go around digging up graves. Most of us would not have the requisite skill and the ethics surrounding excavation is a big consideration and best left to the professionals! So, I am not suggesting that we dig up our ancestors, but the next best thing for us are grave memorials. We all know that in general, the wealthier the person, the more likely it is for them to have a headstone or some other memorial. But what do we do with a memorial if we find one (the issue of transcriptions surviving where the original memorial has not, is something to discuss another day)?

What else can burials tell us?

Dutifully, we gather the name, the age and place of death and burial, along with the names and information of any other family members recorded. But do we always go further than that? Do we think about the way in which information is recorded or whether it looks particularly intricate for instance? What about the location of the burial or memorial, or even the location of the church/graveyard it is in? On the other hand, what about the lack of a memorial? Small things such as this may indicate a particular religious persuasion, the level of wealth and status or perhaps even how the subject was thought of by the people left behind. A particular inscription (biblical or otherwise) may suggest that the person was well loved or thought of. On the other hand, the subject may have chosen the inscription themselves. In some cases we may never know, but does this show pragmatism or narcissism?!

A view of some of the ornate looking memorials in Chelmorton churchyard. © 2021 Shersca Genealogy.

I have spoken about my summer trip to Derbyshire a lot in my last few posts (it obviously had an impact), and I am reminded of this again. Chelmorton (the village I was staying in), of course had its own church surrounded by graves. I happened to notice the ornate nature of many of the headstones- indeed they were certainly more ornate than many I have seen on my trips around Somerset graveyards. But what does this mean? Does it mean that those being buried in Chelmorton were wealthier? Or is it an example of a tradition of using more ornate headstones in that particular area? Some more research would be needed to understand the differences here and why they may have come about. It does indicate though that yet another aspect beyond collecting family information is that of wider societal views and trends.

A meeting of more than archaeology and genealogy

So, whereas Alice Roberts is largely interested in pre-history, the techniques of looking at more than just the ‘bones’ as it were, is still applicable to genealogy and family history. Perhaps there are sources that historians and archaeologists use that genealogists could also utilise (and vice versa)? Future research would be needed to fully explore this, but one example is the Portable Antiquities Scheme that I mentioned earlier. Not only does it contain seals (of various dates and materials), but coins, jewellery, vessels of different purposes and much more. This can all help us to understand the world of our ancestors. As Alice Roberts uses bones and grave goods, we can use documents, memorials, objects and history to help in our understanding.

We may be purveyors of family trees, but really we are also historians and social ones to some extent too. Without the ‘why’ surrounding the names and the dates, there is not as much meaning. What many people enjoy are the stories, and without investigating the wider background, the stories of our ancestors are left a little bare. There is so much more that cross-disciplinary work can tell us, whether that is local/social history, archaeology or DNA research.

© 2021 Shersca Genealogy.

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[1] Roberts, Professor Alice. (2021) Ancestors: The Prehistory of Britain in Seven Burials. London: Simon & Schuster.

[2] Rutherford, Adam. (2017) A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived: The Stories in our Genes. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

Continuing Professional Development- Chore or Challenge?

 The inspiration for this post came about from several different threads that I have had in my mind recently. Firstly, my attendance at the Register of Qualified Genealogists Conference (which took place on 25 September) and the Society of Antiquaries Conference on 09 October. And secondly, my intention to apply for full membership of AGRA (the Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives). Other thoughts have been simmering in the background, which have prompted me to think about the subject of Continuing Professional Development (or CPD).

Who needs to undertake CPD?

CPD is of course not unique to genealogy and family history- you find the idea in every job and occupation. The intention is to encourage employees to continue to be the best they can be in their job, by keeping up with current developments or by continuing to learn about best practices in their job, for example. This is something that employers are encouraged to offer, so what about those of us who are self employed, or are only researching as a hobby? Should we be concerned about CPD too?

The short answer is of course, yes, but this leads onto my point of CPD being a chore or a challenge. Those of us who do not have CPD in-built into our lives via an employer, have to work a little harder to fulfil the needs of CPD. This is where CPD can become a chore. Speaking from my own experience, thinking of CPD as a separate “subject” which has to be approached clinically (be planned, written down and evaluated), can frankly turn it into a chore.

My own experience of CPD

Perhaps it is just the way my brain works. My first career was in music, and so I was used to thinking creatively for a large proportion of the time. That is not to say that logic, planning and evaluation did not play a part at all, but everyday I had to learn how to elicit emotional responses from my work. Therefore for me, the idea of analysing the learning that I do fills me with dread, as it feels as if it takes away the feeling of having learned it in the first place. Perhaps I operate on a more instinctive level in some aspects of my life.

For me, I have had to learn to think differently in the way I approach CPD (which is still ongoing by the way!). I still find it much easier for there to be an organic initial approach. By way of explanation, I mean that I respond much better to things that I can relate to and have not had to attend, just for CPD purposes. I am sure I am not alone there, but of course life does not always work that way and a certain amount of compromise is needed!

There is no doubt that I enjoy learning. I always have, so there is no issue in undertaking CPD itself. I just prefer it when things fit together without forcing the issue. That seems like a vague statement, and indeed it is difficult to put into words exactly what I mean. An example would be my recent trip to Derbyshire (you can find the post I wrote about that here). There were so many interesting places to visit, especially from a historical point of view. I did not plan to visit specific places because they filled a certain CPD need, but because they seemed interesting and I wanted to learn about them. They just so happened to fulfil a CPD related purpose as well. After visiting Hardwick Hall, I bought Bess of Hardwick’s biography (written by Mary S. Lovell), which turned out to be much more informative and fascinating than I could have predicted (I sometimes find biographies difficult to get through, depending on the writing style). Unwittingly, I now have a much more informed understanding of not only Bess of Hardwick’s life, but also of the intricacies of Tudor court relations, the role of Lord of the Manor in the period and other small aspects of everyday life that sometimes get overlooked. As a text, it was very readable and also helped to put Bess into the wider context of her time.

Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash.

So, with my interest in Medieval and Early Modern genealogy, you could say that I undertook a good bit of CPD there. However, it was completely unplanned and that sort of CPD makes more of an impression for me.

CPD and Society Membership

But, as I mentioned earlier, life does not always work that way. As a consequence, I have to temper my instinctive way of thinking with a little bit of planning and organisation, in order to get the best from my CPD experiences. My attendance of the RQG and Society of Antiquaries conferences are a case in point. They did not come about by happy accident, but by concerted thinking about what they may have to offer in terms of CPD. As a result, I also found them full of interest and useful from a CPD standpoint.

Another point to consider, is that any professional organisations that a person joins may have their own ideas concerning CPD. Both the RQG and AGRA stipulate the provision of ongoing CPD for members. It is something that you must do to be a part of their organisation. This is again where the ‘chore’ aspect of CPD rears its head. In order to prove that you have undertaken CPD, these organisations ask that it is all recorded. Now, that is actually a very logical approach. Even if membership of professional organisations is not a goal, keeping track of the CPD you have done means that you can remind yourself of what you have already achieved. Reflecting on learning undertaken can help us grow and identify areas of improvement, or areas in which we would like to learn more.

On the other hand, this requires further time. Not only do you have to undertake the CPD activity, but you have to write it down and reflect later. This is not something that comes naturally to me, but as I have said, I have had to adjust my thinking a little. In an already busy life, the additional step of writing down and reflecting can get put to the bottom of the pile, even if the CPD activity is undertaken. Building time into the day/week/month to update a CPD log can be a helpful way to go and eventually it should become second nature. It is a) a necessary step in order to belong to certain professional organisations and b) beneficial to our CPD journey in the long run.

Just keep learning!

At the end of the day, interest and curiosity in our subjects is the key. CPD needn’t be a chore but a wonderful challenge. A challenge to ourselves to keep learning and finding out more about a subject that we are passionate about already. And the ‘chore’ portion can be mitigated with a little organisation and a realisation that both our own learning and the areas we work in deserve that little extra effort.

There are bound to be those whose experience with CPD has been different to my own. My own approach is neither right nor wrong, or the only way of approaching the issue. I only hope that if you have struggled a little with the idea of CPD, that you can still be inspired by your subject and that CPD becomes more challenge than chore!

© 2021 Shersca Genealogy.

A Genealogist in Derbyshire

 Sometimes the inspiration for a post comes from an unexpected place. I spent some time in Derbyshire this year, and whilst I wasn’t intending to work, the history of the place inspired me. It turned out to be a bit of a busman’s holiday I suppose!

Chelmorton and Buxton

Perhaps I should not have been surprised, as there are a lot of historical locations and attractions around Derbyshire. Right on the doorstep of the place I was staying was the immensely historical Church Inn of Chelmorton. As well as being situated in the highest village in Derbyshire, the history of the pub stretches back to at least the 17^th century. Across the way from the Church Inn, is the village Church itself. St. John’s has a large set of graveyard memorials, many of which are much older, and more ornate than any I am used to seeing around Somerset.

Some of the ornate-looking memorials in Chelmorton Churchyard. The ones at the back all belong to the same family plot. © 2021 Shersca Genealogy.

On a visit to Derbyshire, I of course had to visit Buxton. I will admit that I spent most of my time at the bookshop, Scrivener’s, and I even managed to pick up some good bargains on genealogical/historical books. One of my favourite finds was Brass Rubbing by Malcolm Norris. Although published in 1977, I hope that the images of female brasses will help me in my quest in reproducing a woman’s outfit from the 1460s/1470s. This is around the time when one of my ancestors (Joan Sydenham) died. You can find out more about this quest (and my reasons for pursuing it) in one of my previous posts here.

Chatsworth and the Hunting Tapestries

The big excursions for me were visits to Chatsworth House (how could I not?), Hardwick Hall and Eyam. I have been to all three of these places on a previous visit, but it was many years ago now and it was great to be able to look at them again with fresh eyes.

Chatsworth obviously has bags of history in the form of the Dukes of Devonshire and their ancestors, but this time the most interesting part for me was their most recent exhibition. The ‘Life Stories’ Exhibition runs until the beginning of October this year and explores certain individuals through a specific painting or object. Henry VIII’s rosary was particularly fascinating and was quite frankly, far too large to be carried around on a regular basis in my opinion! Bess of Hardwick’s pearl necklace was another fascinating object. Although a replica of an original, it was apparently made from 1000 pearls. Given the nature of pearls and the way they are made, this was quite simply a statement of Bess’ accumulated wealth and status. The icing on the cake for me this time though, were the Devonshire Hunting Tapestries. Originally belonging to the Cavendish family, they are now part of the V&A Museum collection in London. The Museum has loaned them back to Chatsworth for this year, and they are quite a sight to behold!

Now, I am not the biggest fan of hunting scenes on the whole, but I am sure you can guess where this is going. The tapestries have some wonderful examples of period clothing! They are a little bit earlier than my target period, but are terribly interesting and useful nevertheless. Who knows, perhaps I may expand my efforts to other Medieval periods in the future?

Hardwick Hall and Bess of Hardwick

Chatsworth was not the only place where I encountered Bess of Hardwick. As I have already mentioned, one of my other excursions was to Hardwick Hall. For those in the know, I will not have to tell you that Bess was the wife of Sir William Cavendish and the ancestor of the Dukes of Devonshire. Bess also had a hand in building both Chatsworth and Hardwick Hall. The National Trust property stands right next door to the old Hardwick hall, which is looked after by English Heritage.

But there is much more to Bess’ story than merely being the sire of an illustrious family. Bess experienced widowhood four times in her life; she outlived all four of her husbands and used her widowhood to great advantage. Climbing up the social ladder, her fourth (and final) husband was the 6^th Earl of Shrewsbury, George Talbot. On the other hand, her first husband (Robert Barlow) had been of a significantly lower status. Bess’ third husband, Sir William St Loe, is on my to-do list to look into- his surname is curiously similar to that of some locations and places in Somerset.

Increasing my reading list further is the biography of Bess’ life: Bess of Hardwick, First Lady of Chatsworth, by Mary S. Lovell. In light of my Medieval interests and in particular those relating to Medieval women, Bess’ story is a fascinating one for me. She may not have been a Somerset woman, but she was a powerful and important one nonetheless.

Scrivener's Bookshop in Buxton. Definitely worth a visit! © 2021 Shersca Genealogy.

Eyam, the 'Plague Village'

My final outing in Derbyshire took me to the village of Eyam (not pronounced ‘I-am’ as my Somerset brain initially thought!). Famous for being the ‘Plague Village,’ the museum contains a fascinating exhibition concerning the plague in Eyam. It then makes sense walking around the village and seeing the places mentioned in the exhibition.

Since my first visit, the curators of the museum have significantly re-vamped and improved the exhibition. Consideration is given to the sort of disease that might actually have run rampant in the village (possibly not Bubonic Plague), how it might have gotten there, as well as the human cost. What particularly impressed me was the amount of research that had been done in local surviving records from the time, both to give a picture of the families that had succumbed to the plague, but also to try to get to the bottom of the facts of the matter. I remember reading in the exhibition that the estimate made at the time of the death toll and the number of survivors might be somewhat conservative in both cases- other documents and pieces of evidence from the time suggested different figures.

Most people will remember that the Plague swept through England in the 1300s, but will have forgotten that there were various outbreaks since then. The outbreak in Eyam took place in 1665-1666. The exhibition is perhaps particularly poignant at the moment with the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, as the villagers of Eyam made the decision (back in the mid-1600s) to isolate themselves from the outside world, in order to stop the spread of the disease. In an era when the exact cause of disease was not fully understood, the villagers were ahead of their time.

The memorial to the Reverend of Eyam who served during the Plague, and to his counterpart from the next village (who supported him throughout). © 2021 Shersca Genealogy.

What cannot be forgotten though, were the devastatingly sad stories of people being the only survivor in their families, parallels which can certainly be drawn today. As a genealogist though, seeing that the time and effort had been made to record the stories of these families (by using good research) was great to experience. It is a visit I would certainly recommend to anyone in the Derbyshire area.

So that is about it for my history inspired holiday to Derbyshire. If you are ever in that area (if you are not lucky enough to live there already), then I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!

© 2021 Shersca Genealogy.

Rowsell or Rousell? Why I began my One Name Study.

 My One Name Study began in a similar way to many others: I came across an ancestor with a particularly interesting surname. After looking further into that person and her ancestors, I also found that I was hitting potential brick walls if I wanted to get back any further. After further research, there seemed to be a whole raft of people with the same surname in certain areas around where my ancestor lived. This led to the question: could they be related in any way? Now, I cannot quite remember the point which I discovered One Name Studies and the process of beginning one, but begin I did.

The beginning of the Rowsell ONS

This all started a few years ago now, without much direction and with less experience than I have now. I am sure that I will look back in a few years’ time and think much the same thing! In any case, I started gathering UK Census information and I also started looking at Parish Registers, wills and a few other bits and pieces. As I said, not much logic and direction. Then, when I visited Family History Live in 2019 I discovered the Guild of One Name Studies (brilliant acronym of GOONS!). After joining the society, their “Seven Pillars of Wisdom” text helped me to structure my research more and I have made better (and more logical) in-roads into my surname search. In fact this was the subject of my very first blog post, two years ago now! My progress is perhaps not as rapid as some, as I have both my genealogy business and my work tutoring with the University of Strathclyde filling my time. But, I try to do what I can when I can, as I am determined to get to the bottom of my Rowsell ancestors!

Mary Ann Rousell (1832-1929)

The beginning of the story starts with the discovery of Mary Ann Rousell on my maternal line. She was the mother of my great-great grandmother (Sarah Hawker), who came from Odcombe, Somerset. Sarah was the ancestor who had an illegitimate child with her sister’s husband. You can read all about that in my previous blog post, A Family Mystery Finally Solved.

Back to Mary Ann then. Having worked backwards through her life, I eventually found out that Mary Ann was born Mary Ann Rousell, in Merriott, Somerset. Her baptism took place in Merriott on 25 November 1832, to Robert and Ruth Rousell. Robert was a weaver.[1] She lived with her mother Ruth in 1841 (in Merriott),[2] and possibly lodged with a family in Crewkerne in 1851,[3] the year before her marriage. Mary Ann’s marriage took place in the Beaminster district of Dorset, to Simeon Hawker in 1852. [4] Luckily for me, there was only one marriage ever recorded in the Marriage Indexes for a Simeon Hawker, as the couple were not married in the parish church (I just haven’t gotten around to buying the certificate yet)! The couple then made their lives in Odcombe, Somerset, Mary Ann outliving her husband Simeon and likely passing away in 1929.[5]

Mary Ann Rousell with her husband Simeon Hawker. I've always been impressed with Simeon's beard! © 2021 Shersca Genealogy

A Rowsell mystery

The mystery for me came with Mary Ann’s father Robert, and his father. I managed to find a baptism that was likely Robert in Merriott in 1791, born to Robert and Hannah Rowsell[6] but no matching baptisms for Robert senior. It is possible he may have come from one of the surrounding villages. My current hypothesis is Seavington St. Mary, but this is really why I began my Rowsell One Name Study. I dearly wish to discover the origins of Mary Ann’s family. As the surname is quite abundant in South Somerset, I felt that a One Name Study would both help me to find Mary Ann’s origins and any connections between the families that share the name. Another important point is the difference between ROUSELL and ROWSELL. You might have noticed that Mary Ann was ROUSELL, whilst her father Robert was ROWSELL. Any interchangeability between these variations is another aspect I wish to discover. Did the families with different variants specifically use that variant and no other, or were they liable to change over the years and different circumstances? Illiteracy and local pronunciation may have had an impact on this, but from the beginnings of my research, it seemed that the different variations were more common in certain areas.

At this point, I must not forget the third variation of ROWSWELL. Of course, there may be other spellings such as ROUSEWELL, and then there is the issue of ROSWELL, ROSEWELL and any possible link to the surname RUSSELL. These issues will be tackled at a later date, and my current efforts are concentrated on the main three variations: ROWSELL, ROUSELL and ROWSWELL.

Somerset Births, Marriages and Deaths

Making my One Name Study official certainly helped me to focus my efforts, and so I have been gathering data from the most obvious place to start: the England and Wales Births, Marriages and Deaths indexes. I have begun with Somerset and then hope to expand those to the rest of the UK at a later date. I am part way through compiling spreadsheets to record the Marriages and Deaths indexes data, but I have now completed the spreadsheet for the Somerset Births index. Of course, there will be further data to collect as further years become available. For now though, I have collected data for all Rowsell births (with the two variants) for Somerset between 1837-2006. I have used various different databases at various points of the research to enable me to cross check entries, and it also became clear that I would need to set some rules regarding the areas considered to be ‘in Somerset.’ Due to the changing boundaries over the years (significant changes happening in 1936 and 1974), I have had to think about which places were within the county at which time and how that will affect my data collection.

As a result though, I am excited to be at the point where I could perform some basic analysis on the numbers of Somerset Rowsell births. At a basic level, I can now tell how many births there were, which district they were located in, and the split between the districts. At the moment, it seems that ROWSELL is by far the most common spelling, followed by ROWSWELL and with ROUSELL the least common. Time will tell what that means for Mary Ann’s spelling of Rousell versus Rowsell, as I also hope to create family trees for the different families- I may be able to discover any links between families and the different spellings used.

Some basic analysis

Looking at the number of births by decade, there does seem to be an increase throughout the Victorian period and a general decline throughout the 1900s. This may tally with the Victorian population explosion and later decline, but what interests me most, is how the births are spread between the different registration districts. Currently, my initial thoughts that the surname is very much a South Somerset name could be correct. The top four districts with between 150 and about 300 births each (looking at the first period of 1837-1936) are: Chard, Taunton, Yeovil and Langport. Each of the other 15 districts of the period all had under 100 births. The chart you can see is a rough layout of these figures (and gave me a chance to play around with pretty pictures!). I am really looking forward to digging deeper into this and then to comparing these figures to what was going on nationally.

A basic graph which shows the distribution of Somerset Rowsell births between 1837-1936. © 2021 Shersca Genealogy

So, the research goes on. I know I still have a long way to go, but I am definitely looking forward to finding out where this research leads!

© 2021 Shersca Genealogy

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[1] Baptisms (PR) England. Merriott, Somerset. 25 November 1832. ROUSELL, Mary Ann. Collection: Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1914. www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 25 July 2021.

[2] Census records. England. Merriott, Somerset. 06 June 1841. ROUSELL, Mary Ann. PN: HO107/940. FL 41. BN 5. ED 19. p. 8. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 25 July 2021.

[3] Census records. England. Crewkerne, Somerset. 30 March 1851. ROUSELL, Mary. PN: HO107/1928. FL 376. SN 105. ED 8a. p. 29. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 25 July 2021.

[4] Marriages indexes (CR) England. RD: Beaminster [Dorset]. 3^rd Q., 1852. HAWKER, Simeon. Vol. 5a. p. 637. www.freebmd.org : accessed 25 July 2021.

[5] Deaths indexes (CR) England. RD: Yeovil [Somerset]. 4^th Q., 1929. HAWKER, Mary A. Vol. 5c. p. 402. www.freebmd.org : accessed 25 July 2021.

[6] Baptisms (PR) England. Merriott, Somerset. 05 January 1791. ROWSELL, Robert. Collection: Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1531-1812. www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 25 July 2021.

Genealogy and Dressmaking?

 Just a few weeks ago, I attended the University of Kent Medieval & Early Modern Studies (MEMS) Festival. By now, you probably know that Medieval genealogy is a big interest of mine and so it is not surprising that the MEMS Festival would be appealing. The Festival itself was a large affair, taking place over three days. There were four sessions a day (each split into two different subject areas), which included two to three presentations of papers. The sheer volume of papers and speakers was phenomenal! Not having been to a MEMS Festival before, I don’t know how it usually works (this year it of course took place online), but I wondered if perhaps it was trying to fit a little too much in? The talks I attended were very brief and there was not the time for the speakers to go into any great detail. In any case, it was quite a feat of organisation and my hat goes off to the organisers at the University of Kent for pulling it all off, despite the usual technical hitches.

Inspiration from MEMS Fest

The talk I was most interested in was in the section ‘Needlework of History.’ That particular section included talks on the topic of historical clothing and needlework used in devotional books. Cecilia White’s (from the University of Kent), ‘Recreating Historical Clothing’ was of particular interest, as I have recently been thinking more about the clothing our ancestors would have worn. In a bid to further understand my Medieval ancestors and those I research, I have begun a new side project. Eventually, I hope to make my own Medieval outfit of the sort worn by one of my own ancestors, Joan Sydenham (neé Stourton). I did write a previous post (or two) about the Stourton family and my own connection to them, which you can find here and here. I am still seeking further confirmation (research has been almost non-existent recently due to COVID restrictions in archives), but what I have so far looks promising!

Whatever the outcome for my own Medieval connection, going through the process of learning about (and subsequently trying to recreate) Medieval clothing will better help me to understand what life was really like for my Medieval ancestors. The more well to do women would likely not have made their clothes themselves, but the act of choosing cloth, learning about sewing methods and taking the time to put that into practise to make a garment, will add to the background knowledge that I have when I research. Understanding the period will help to make me a better researcher.

Why bother making historical garments?

Gaining further knowledge of the period is exactly the sort of thing that Cecilia White’s talk suggested. Making a historical garment can tell us information about those who wore it, beyond the genealogical. For instance, if a garment uses a lot of material, then the wearer would need to have been wealthy enough to afford it. Likewise, something I had not considered was the potentially unwieldy nature of some garments. If people were wearing these sorts of garments on a daily basis, then they would have been wealthy enough to not need to undertake many activities in such a restrictive garment. It is a case of practicalities- those who needed to work, needed garments that allowed them more freedom of movement. Those who did not need to work (or perform the same sort of activities), could wear garments that were more of a fashion statement. This then becomes a statement of status too.

Where can I find information on the topic?

As well has having attended Cecilia White’s talk, I have found many channels on YouTube that also cover the same subject. Cecilia herself is an ‘experimental archaeologist,’ someone who tries to recreate items from history using any physical and documentary evidence gathered. Whilst the YouTubers do not label themselves so formally, to my mind, they are practising a form of experimental archaeology, in searching for patterns of the time, looking at the materials that would have been used, the type of person that is being portrayed, and garment construction techniques of various periods. Those channels that I have found so far concentrate on a range of periods and not just Medieval dress, but they are fascinating to watch! The below is a list of those I have looked at so far and have found to be interesting and useful in content:

• Bernadette Banner
• Prior Attire (the channel that started it all!)
• Morgan Donner
• Lady Rebecca Fashions
• Abby Cox
• Nicole Rudolph
• V. Birchwood- Historical Fashion
• And for something more general about sewing: Evelyn Wood
• (it goes without saying that any opinions etc. on these channels are their own- I am not affiliated with them in any way)

How will I go about this?

So for my own project, I plan to try to recreate the sort of outfit that may have been worn by my ancestor, Joan Sydenham. Joan died on 21 April 1472[1] and the family were based at Brympton, near Yeovil, Somerset. There are various stages to this project, which I plan as follows:

• Research- looking for sources that tell me what Joan might have worn. I am particularly interested in looking for Wills that might include clothing, and monumental inscriptions and other images which might show what a woman of the time was wearing. The second portion of the research will be to look at texts which have been written by other authors who have researched sewing and dress-making techniques of the time. I already have my YouTube channels and The Medieval Tailor’s Assistant by Sarah Thursfield, but there are others that I wish to look at.
• Planning- Thinking about the time period, Joan’s social rank, her marital status (a widow in this case). These will all have a bearing on the layers needed to produce the full garment, which can then be drafted using methods of the time.
• Production- The final stage will be making the garments- yes garments plural! Not only will I need to make undergarments, outer garments and headwear, but I am also planning to test each one out first before I cut up proper fabric! I am more at the beginner end of sewing, so this is an important step for me. Learning to fit will also be a bit of a learning curve, so test pieces will be a must!

There is a lot to think about in a project such as this and as I have more experience in knitting than in sewing, it will take some time. I am not giving myself a particular time limit (due to work pressures and my recent shoulder and wrist issues), but I will keep you updated as I go along. There are many videos of this sort of thing on YouTube now, so I will instead keep blogging and writing about it instead. The below photograph is a sneek peek of my first attempt at what The Medieval Tailor’s Assistant calls a fillet. Something a bit like a hairband made of material, that probably sits under most headdresses.

The part-finished prototype of a Medieval style fillet. I really got to practice oversewing! © 2021 Shersca Genealogy.

Next time, I hope to have the whole thing!

© 2021 Shersca Genealogy

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[1] Inquisitions Post Mortem. England. Crewkerne, Somerset. 31 October 1472. SYDENHAM, Joan. Collection: Chancery: Inquisitions Post Mortem, Series I, Edward IV. Reference: C 140/42/45. The National Archives, Kew, London, England.