Q - Questions

Genealogy is all about questions. What do you know? Who do you remember? What was it like? Where did you live?

Some people answer willing to share, flattered that you have asked. Others don’t. Nothing to know here, what do you want to know that rubbish for? Some answers are chinese whispers with just a skerek of truth woven in. Other questions get answered with answers which create more questions.

There are so many places now to search and research, compared with what was available sixty or so years ago. But there is always a question before you begin, where can I find out about…?

Most of the records we seek are full of answers to questions posed by officials. What is your name? Where were you born? What is your occupation? When were you born? What is your father’s name? How old are you?

Slowly we can build a picture of the people we have never met and put their lives in context. See the world as they saw it, imagine their wonder if they could see today’s world (or maybe their despair).

Would the people who didn’t want to answer questions, or who gave vague answers be surprised about what we have been able to discover anyway? Would they feel that the past had been honoured, the people respected, their lives cherished?

I hope so.

Week 1: I'd like to meet #52Ancestors2023

More often to answer this question I would choose a brick wall ancestor, closer in time, but since I am still waiting for that wall to fall, I have looked further afield this time.

Who would I like to meet? This guy.

Thomas Davys, the elder, the younger, the even younger

Thomas Davys the elder of Milverton in the county of Somerset and his son Thomas Davys the younger are parties to an indenture dated “the second day of March in the fifth year of the reign of the Sovereign Lord George…” So when was that? And what is the indenture for or about?

George I ascended the throne of the Kingdom of Great Britain on 1 August 1714. If he is the Sovereign Lord George named in the indenture, then the fifth year of his reign would have been 1719.

This date ties in with the date of the marriage (about 1719) of Thomas the younger to Jane Helling/Hellings, the daughter of John Helling/Hellings of Raddington which is also referred to in the indenture. The indenture pertains to land, messuages and buildings in four parts making up the lease of the Hagleigh Tenement and to me is being divided as a marriage settlement with Thomas the elder retaining one quarter along with stipulated barley fields and use of the cider wring and mill.

At this time a Thomas Davys also owned the manor of Raddington, in a parish adjacent to Milverton where Hagleigh is. At British History Online digitised copies of “A History of the County of Somerset” and other counties are available to read free. There is a wealth of information about each parish including, geography, church history, local government as well as the history of any manors. For Raddington the history of the manor dates from 891 A.D. In their commentary it states that in 1718 James Waldegrave (later the 1^st Earl Waldegrave) sold the manor to Thomas Davys the younger. The Waldegraves had held the manor, or had interests, in it since the mid-1500s. James Waldegrave seems to have disposed of a number of land holdings around this time. 

Here is where it gets trickier, British History Online (BHO) also states that in 1719 Thomas the younger settled the manor of Raddington on his father – Thomas the elder. That has always seemed a bit out of order to me, why would a son be buying an estate and then gifting it to his father? Surely if he had the financial backing to be entering these sorts of transactions then his father would also have means? BHO cite a source but I can’t work out whether it is the indenture I have “read” and we have partially deciphered or a separate one. I am thinking there may be a separate document that has either been lost to time – or is lost to me at this point. I also think that they could be citing the Hagleigh Indenture and misattributing the intention. 

The descriptor for the indenture at The National Archives states that it IS for the settlement of three quarter parts of the Hagleigh Tenement in the parish of Milverton on Thomas Davys the younger and his wife to be Jane Hellings prior to their marriage. The length of the lease was three lives (99 years) determinable from the deaths of Thomas the elder his wife Judith (nee Burchell) and Thomas the younger. A note on the outer wrapping of the indenture claims that the leasehold was granted by Lord Lymington to the first Thomas Davys who came from Wales. Another Thomas? But when? The family seem well settled in Somerset in the mid-1600s, if not before. 

I would really like to talk to Thomas to determine just what the indenture is telling us 300 years later. The thing is, I’m not sure just WHICH Thomas I need to speak with, and I’m not sure if there might be more than one indenture I need to ask about.

Thomas the elder; husband of Judith Burchell and leaseholder of the Hagleigh Tenement since when? Thomas died in 1724, but his wife Judith lived to be 100 and died at Hagleigh Bridge in December 1770.

Thomas the younger; husband of Jane Hellings styled himself as “Lord of the Manor”. Pretty flash we all thought when we discovered him in our tree, then we discovered that when he died in 1783 he left no will and left a debt-ridden estate.

Thomas the grandson. As the eldest son Thomas inherited the manor and its debt from his father. This Thomas had studied at Balliol Oxford and was ordained in the Church of England. He had the Advowson of Raddington from 1749-1784 and two of his younger brothers also lived on the farms that made up the estate. Sadly Thomas died in March 1784 and the debt-ridden estate passed to his brothers James, George and Benjamin.

Here also BHO has conflicting information compared to the Clergy of the Church of England Database, with the order of clergy at Raddington. It would appear the brothers separated the Advowson from the rest of the estate after Thomas' death.

I have got a list of questions for the three Thomas’, and I am sure they would all have extremely interesting stories to tell. Maybe one of them would know about that "first" Thomas Davys from Wales as well.

#52Ancestors, Week 5, In the Census

Searching for connections and reconnecting

Back in the early 1990’s when the 1881 UK census was the only census available freely to researchers with roots in the United Kingdom, (and only on CD or microfiche) many researchers spent hour upon hour trawling through fiche after fiche in darkened Family History Centre rooms and libraries.

We had only begun piecing together information in my maternal grandmother’s family from the little information she had given away to us over the years. My Dad and I spent hours in the evenings at the Family History Centre reading church records hoping to find something concrete. Sometimes we went alone.

We knew from Nana that her mother’s family was from the “Black Country” and that she had a brother. We also knew that Nana’s grandfather married three times and that she also had two half siblings. Her mother’s brother and a half-brother (although I don’t think that Nana referred to him as such) had emigrated to the US. We knew their names and the names of their wives. We also knew an elderly aunt had emigrated to the US.

Between 1989 and 1991 some certificates were purchased from the GRO and we discovered that my great grandmother had been born in Wolverhampton on 17 July 1878[1], and that her parents were married in Dudley in a Primitive Methodist Chapel on 23 August 1875[2] (a WHAT !!?? – researching Primitive Methodism soon became another obsession). We also learned that her mother died in Wolverhampton on 5 May 1879[3]. What became of the children ?

I remember Dad’s jubilation when he returned home one day from the library with a piece of paper detailing the residents of one household in Dudley.

Residence: Paradise, Dudley (Worcs), Staffordshire, England[4]
Henry James	Head	Male	62	Leintwardine, Herefordshire, England
Elizabeth James	Daughter	Female	34	Leintwardine, Herefordshire, England
Albert Kelsey	Grand Son	Male	4	Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England
Laura Kelsey	Grand Daughter	Female	2	Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England
Amnie H Richards	Niece	Female	15	Mold, Flintshire, Wales

So, here she was, living with her grandfather and aunt…and a cousin ? To be fair, we didn’t make much more progress until the arrival of that wonderful phenomenon – the internet. I dabbled, I joined Ancestry in 2002.

One day (5 March 2003) while dabbling, I came across a post on a bulletin board -remember those ? Someone in the US had come across that same census entry. She was looking for more information about the Henry James family, last known living in Dudley with a daughter, niece and two grandchildren. I posted a reply, from work. Could it be ?

On returning to work the next morning there was a reply email. Needless to say, not much work was done that day. I couldn’t wait to get home. I replied, I sent the email to my Mum and Dad, I rang them to make sure they checked and read their email. I was dancing on air. The poster, was the great granddaughter of my great grandmother’s brother Albert who had emigrated to the US. We are 3^rd cousins. We knew they existed somewhere in the US – they had no idea we were down here in New Zealand searching the same tree.

Since then we have filled out the family so much more, broken some brickwalls down and reconnected with other members of the extended Kelsey family all over the planet. There are still some brickwalls to smash, but to think this all began with people on opposite sides of the Pacific, reading microfiche in Family History Centres and libraries.

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[1] Certified Copy of an Entry of Birth, Laura Ellen Kelsey, General Register Office, England.

[2] Certified Copy of an Entry of Marriage, Thomas Kelsey and Mary James, General Register Office, England.

[3] Certified Copy of an Entry of Death, Mary Kelsey nee James, General Register Office, England.

[4] "England and Wales Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q27F-JV6M : 13 December 2017), Henry James in household of Henry James, Dudley (Worcs), Staffordshire, England; from "1881 England, Scotland and Wales Census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing p. 2, Piece/Folio 2881/23, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,774,821., accessed 4 February 2018.

#52Ancestors, Week 4, Invite to Dinner

The prompt for this week “Which ancestor would you most like to invite to dinner?”

Well ! There are a few contenders to choose from.

All of my grandparents – to be able to ask all the questions we didn’t ask and to share what we have already found. They’d be amazed, I think.

A couple of great-great-grandparents, the ones we know a little less about. Maybe a few even further back. But I think the obvious one to choose would be one of my maternal great-great-grandparents.

Julius Fuller.

He has been a brick wall since forever, at least 40-50 years. There were all sorts of stories about him, most have turned out to be just that. Stories. Warped with time and telling. All my other brick walls have been slowly broken down. But Julius just refuses to give anything up !

What do we know ?

·         His father was William, a miller. (source: marriage certificate & death certificate)

·         His mother Elizabeth. (source: 1851 UK census)

·         He was born in Essex (source: 1851 UK census and death certificate)

·         He, himself was a journeyman miller and later a miller in his own right. (source: 1851 UK census & NZ electoral rolls and newspapers)

·         His wife was the daughter of a baker & confectioner. (source: marriage certificate, baptismal records and 1841 & 1851 UK census’)

·         They married between census’ and then left for New Zealand in 1860 leaving no further clues in England (apart from a niece and nephew who were named for them both, shortly after they left).

·         They had only two children.

·         He had several mills in Canterbury, New Zealand

·         His wife died when the children were relatively young

·         He may have remarried.

·         He died at his son’s residence a few months after his youngest sons marriage.

The stories

·         His wife died, or left him (and went to Australia) and he needed to find a wet-nurse. WRONG, the children were eighteen and twelve when their mother died.

·         He married again, and this wife ran off with all his money (source: letter from Auntie Hilda to Mum & Dad, Intentions to Marry & church records Christchurch Library)

·         His son John lived with the Turner family down the road from his future wife. WRONG (I think) he lived with his elder brother in the house that later became the Turner’s – and Julius lived there too until his death.

So, please come to dinner Great-great-grandpapa Julius, I’ve got so many questions for you.

·         Where you really born in Rayne, Essex ? I’ve been there you know, no sign of you anywhere.

·         When were you born ?

·         Were you baptised ? Where ?

·         What was your mother’s maiden name ?

·         Do you have any siblings ? specifically one named Henry who might have gone to Australia ?

·         Was that your sister Mary Ann who married your future brother-in-law Thomas Horskins ?

·         Where were your parents from ? When did they die ?

·         Did you know your grandparents ?

·         Were you gypsies ?( your great-great-great-granddaughter’s question – not mine)

·         Where did you learn your trade ? Did you serve as an apprentice somewhere ?

·         Did you meet your nephew Julius when he toured New Zealand in his role with the Salvation Army ?

·         Did you really marry Ellen Morris ?

·         Was she the woman who went to prison in Wellington for attempting to defraud an insurance company after a fire at her millinery business ?

·         What happened at Pleasant Point to put you in arrears ? Was that Ellen taking your money ?

·         What happened to her ?

It would be great to know a little more about you.

#52Stories, Week 43, How do you believe the human race came into existence on this planet at this time ? Do you believe in religious explanations, scientific theories, or other conclusions ?

So this could be controversial.

Big Bang ?

Creationsim ?

Bible stories ?

Intergalactic travellers ?

It could be any of them. Who really knows ? George Lucas may be right. Alderaan looked pretty Earth like, even Naboo and Tatooine could be mistaken for some parts of our planet.

We are animals. Like other animals we share Earth with, we live in communities – mostly in peace. We have evolved, as some of them have too. We are the same but different. We have embraced technology and are on our way to destroying the planet with our consumerist materialism and excessive waste.

We are homosapiens, but also part Neanderthal, we’ve been here awhile. Were we here with the dinosaurs and managed to survive the big freeze ? Or did we come later ?

Whatever happened and whenever or how it happened every religion has the SAME story in their teaching, with similar values and similar festivals. So maybe there is some truth in those tomes. In our hunger for technology we just haven’t unravelled the riddle yet.

Whichever theory you believe is up to you, and I accept that we will all have different opinions. I'm not sure myself and I don't have any strong leanings one way or the other. Logically science seems like the winner, but I feel there must also have been an event that resulted in those stories in the Torah, Bible and Koran. Surely ?

Anyway, one thing is for sure. We ALL need to take better care of our home. We need to work together in a balanced and controlled way to ensure that neither pollution nor a minor community ends up destroying Earth. That is one big bang we don’t need.

If we are to survive here while searching for our own Alderaan, Kobol or Risa out there amongst the exoplanets in other galaxies we need to be sure we are all on the same page. 

There is no Planet B, we can’t leave home just yet.

#52Stories, Week 10, Do you know the story of how your parents met and fell in love ? What about your grandparents ?

I know that Dad met Mum when he was working at Whakamaru or Maraetai and living in the single men's quarters, Mum was still at high school in Mangakino. Before she left home to study nursing and while he was still studying engineering - working in construction of hydro stations on the Waikato river.

What about the next generation back ? Why didn't I ask this question years ago ?? 

My maternal grandparents must have met in Christchurch somewhere. My Uncle thought they had met at Coleridge hydro power station when it was under going a construction expansion; that Nana was working at the hostel and Grandad was living in the single men's quarters. Mum thought that Nana had worked at a dentist surgery in Christchurch before she married.

Their wedding certificate gives their addresses as Merivale and Riccarton. Grandad's parents lived in Middleton Road Riccarton, so I know that part is right.

Nana had only arrived in New Zealand on November 1st, 1929. She arrived in Auckland and travelled by train then ferry and another train to Greymouth on the West Coast where her sister and husband had settled after arriving in New Zealand in 1926, and where there was a now baby niece to get acquainted with.

So at some point before December 1931 she must have moved back to Christchurch for employment. Grandad was a Fitter, he had completed his apprenticeship with P & D Duncan Ltd in Christchurch. Did they simply meet on the tram ? Merivale and Riccarton aren't that far apart. At a dance ? at church ? or at the dentist ? or did Nana know someone who knew the family ? Mum says he was in a band and played xylophone and maybe sax too, all his siblings played instruments as well...I guess we will just have to keep supposing now though.

As for my paternal grandparents - same thing. 

Nana worked for a time as a waitress in Auckland while she studied shorthand typing at night school. She later worked for Ellis & Burnand in Hamilton. Her sister Maude worked at the Central Waikato Electric Power Board. So did Pop. Did Maude introduce them ? Or again did they meet at a dance, or church ? 

Both of their families lived in Hamilton East. There were also lots of people in the timber trade in both families; builders and saw-millers. Did they meet by chance that way through relatives doing business together ? or through Nana's work at Ellis & Burnand ? More supposing to do.

Some people keep diaries. I used to, now I blog intermittently. Nana Davys did, but I don't think we will find anything in any of them to solve this question. But wouldn't it be grand if we could uncover these facts 

"April 1, met someone today. He seems kind and thoughtful, just the sort of person I hope I will marry one day."

But no.

For generations further back there are stories about how some met, others can be pieced together through census locations and social times. But we will never know for sure.

The lesson here is to ask while you still can. Record the answers and tell others your own story and theirs to pass on and enrich the history of your family for the next generations.

History is not just in the distant past, it is yesterday. What you do today will be history tomorrow. Somebody some time in the future will be interested in our lives too, and what we did, and how we interacted with each other. How the global or local events impacted our lives.