I worry sometimes about my ability to maintain some sort of concentration but today this weakness has been a blessing. I thought I'd write about Thomas Staden in today's blog entry and, by way of preparation, I went to Google and entered his name. Of course, his less-than-illustrious descendant Walter Thomas Staden was conspicuous amongst the search results and this led me to the wonderful Old Bailey website (http://www.oldbaileyonline.org) where I found one of my ancestors on the right side of the law for a change.
Richard Markham Culpin (1841-1895) was the son of James Culpin and Harriett Markham and started his working life in St Ives as a Post Office Messenger (1861 census). By 1871 he was a Police Sergeant in Kensington so it was no great leap to decide that he was the "Policeman P97" of the following tales.
In 1868, the Old Bailey saw the case of Johnson & Webb, up in front of the beak for "Stealing a lamb, the property of Daniel Phillips". The main witness for the prosecution was "Richard Culpin (Policeman P97)" who kept watch to catch Messrs Johnson & Webb with the lamb actually in the pot. These gentlemen lived and worked on Mr Phillips' farm and it seems that they tried to pass it off as bacon but the long arm of the law knew his stuff. The defendants went down for twelve months each.
In the second case, in 1869, Richard only got a partial result. The case was against Edwards Sims and Martha Lewis for "unlawfully attempting to break and enter the dwelling house .... with intent to steal". Or, according to William Larigan, Policeman P125, "for attempting burglariously . . . " What an excellent word! Anyway, my ancestorial Plod (Policeman P97) turned up just after the attempt and found a chisel lying on the lawn outside the kitchen window, together with a knife and a file. He concluded that "they would be useful instruments for getting into a house". Sims got two years but Lewis, who appeared to be an astonishingly useless look-out, was let off.
By 1881, Richard seems to have forsaken the constabulary and has married Selina Garland; together they are running a lodging house in Skegness. He was in the same business ten years later and died in 1895 in Derbyshire.
Remember the word of the day: Burglariously.
21 January 2009
20 January 2009
Across the seas . . . .
On this auspicious day let me bring out my very own George Washington.
That's George Washington Debney, the fourth child of Catherine Culpin and George Debney, born in Buntingford, Herts, in 1847. I don't know much about him yet because he and his family went to Australia, voluntarily, in the early 1850s. I know that his mother, Catherine, died in 1858 in Castlemaine, Victoria and his father in 1878 in Melbourne. I must do some more work on them.
Catherine was the aunt of my own great-great grandfather Millice Campbell Culpin and she was one of quite a few Culpins who went to the Antipodes. Australia has some excellent archives, many of which are now online, and I have already discovered a Newspaper Index which brought forth a few little snippets. I particularly appreciate the Australian War Memorial, a magnificent institution, which has even shown me a few photos.
I'm being slightly sidetracked by the new US President's Inaugural address and also quietly amused by the ear-muffs worn by the US Naval Guard! Even allowing for the distortion of distance by the tv cameras, there seem to be people standing in the cold for hundreds of yards along what I think is called The National Mall (that's Maul, obviously). Apparently the out-going Vice President damaged a few muscles whilst carrying boxes out of his official accommodation!!
Onwards, I feel the need to search for Debneys in Oz.
That's George Washington Debney, the fourth child of Catherine Culpin and George Debney, born in Buntingford, Herts, in 1847. I don't know much about him yet because he and his family went to Australia, voluntarily, in the early 1850s. I know that his mother, Catherine, died in 1858 in Castlemaine, Victoria and his father in 1878 in Melbourne. I must do some more work on them.
Catherine was the aunt of my own great-great grandfather Millice Campbell Culpin and she was one of quite a few Culpins who went to the Antipodes. Australia has some excellent archives, many of which are now online, and I have already discovered a Newspaper Index which brought forth a few little snippets. I particularly appreciate the Australian War Memorial, a magnificent institution, which has even shown me a few photos.
I'm being slightly sidetracked by the new US President's Inaugural address and also quietly amused by the ear-muffs worn by the US Naval Guard! Even allowing for the distortion of distance by the tv cameras, there seem to be people standing in the cold for hundreds of yards along what I think is called The National Mall (that's Maul, obviously). Apparently the out-going Vice President damaged a few muscles whilst carrying boxes out of his official accommodation!!
Onwards, I feel the need to search for Debneys in Oz.
18 January 2009
Pier of the Realm . .
No, that wasn't a speeling mistook.
It was an entry in the 1851 census for someone who may be related to an ancestor of mine Confused? You will be! But concentrate, I may ask questions later . . . .
I was tracing a lady who I first discovered as Sarah Cavan. She then married Joseph Staden, or Sladen, and they had a lot of children with the middle initial "L". When I found her marriage register entry, I noticed that she married as Sarah Lambart; so I checked for a birth and found two:- Sarah Sophia Cavan and Sarah Sophia Lambart, same place, same reference. So, I guess they're the same person. She also seems to have some wonderfully named brothers - Octavius Cavan (don't think he's the eighth, though), who morphs into Octavius Henry Lambart, and Arthur Lambart Cavan, who simply drops the Lambart.
Pah! I'm just glad I'm from peasant stock - imagine how confusing it must be to have to keep track of which name to use and when!
And just to confuse me further, I now need to find out whether she really married a Sladen or a Staden. All their children are registered as Sladen but she keeps appearing in the census as a Staden. Aaaaargh.
Pier of the Realm . . . . still making me chuckle.
Have a good day!
It was an entry in the 1851 census for someone who may be related to an ancestor of mine Confused? You will be! But concentrate, I may ask questions later . . . .
I was tracing a lady who I first discovered as Sarah Cavan. She then married Joseph Staden, or Sladen, and they had a lot of children with the middle initial "L". When I found her marriage register entry, I noticed that she married as Sarah Lambart; so I checked for a birth and found two:- Sarah Sophia Cavan and Sarah Sophia Lambart, same place, same reference. So, I guess they're the same person. She also seems to have some wonderfully named brothers - Octavius Cavan (don't think he's the eighth, though), who morphs into Octavius Henry Lambart, and Arthur Lambart Cavan, who simply drops the Lambart.
Pah! I'm just glad I'm from peasant stock - imagine how confusing it must be to have to keep track of which name to use and when!
And just to confuse me further, I now need to find out whether she really married a Sladen or a Staden. All their children are registered as Sladen but she keeps appearing in the census as a Staden. Aaaaargh.
Pier of the Realm . . . . still making me chuckle.
Have a good day!
16 January 2009
Found him . . . .
It's taken a while on the 1911 census site but I've finally found my great-grandfather & his second wife. OK, so it's only been online for a couple of days now but I knew exactly where Isaac should have been and I knew when & where he was born . . . . . and could I find him? Hmmmm.
And then I saw a tip on one of the mailing lists I subscribe to (or to which I subscribe, depending on who's reading this); to search with only christian name, dob, place of birth etc, simply put a comma and a space in the surname box. And it works - yippeeeee!!
Another of the mailing lists brought forward a new, to me, website which could prove useful to people with ancestors who died in the Peterborough area. It's the Book of Remembrance for Peterborough Crematorium and obviously doesn't include everybody who, er, used their services but it's at:-
http://www.scribesplus.co.uk/peterborough/browse.php
So far I've managed to find a number of Culpins commemorated there - not sure if they're in the main file but I'll check over the weekend.
I also found a few more Stadens in the census; including a duplicate - unless there were two Annie Stadens born in Cambridge in 1905/6. I've checked all the various sources for an additional "Annie-birth" and can't find one so I suspect that both families, her widowed father on one hand and her aunt & grandmother on the other, claimed her. Thanks for including her, dear ancestors, but do try not to confuse me again!
Back soon.
And then I saw a tip on one of the mailing lists I subscribe to (or to which I subscribe, depending on who's reading this); to search with only christian name, dob, place of birth etc, simply put a comma and a space in the surname box. And it works - yippeeeee!!
Another of the mailing lists brought forward a new, to me, website which could prove useful to people with ancestors who died in the Peterborough area. It's the Book of Remembrance for Peterborough Crematorium and obviously doesn't include everybody who, er, used their services but it's at:-
http://www.scribesplus.co.uk/peterborough/browse.php
So far I've managed to find a number of Culpins commemorated there - not sure if they're in the main file but I'll check over the weekend.
I also found a few more Stadens in the census; including a duplicate - unless there were two Annie Stadens born in Cambridge in 1905/6. I've checked all the various sources for an additional "Annie-birth" and can't find one so I suspect that both families, her widowed father on one hand and her aunt & grandmother on the other, claimed her. Thanks for including her, dear ancestors, but do try not to confuse me again!
Back soon.
13 January 2009
So it's here . . .
This morning I got the email telling me that the 1911 census has gone live. Funny tho', I'm not as excited as I thought I would be - maybe it was the beta-testing which got it out of my system.
So, after a morning out, I decided to look for Bert & Blanche - and, this time, I found the right combination, hiding in West Ham. Actually, they're still where they were living three years previously. Quite pleased with this find!
Interestingly, Bert's mother was living/staying with them, which would make sense as her husband had died the year before and they had left Woolpack Farm in 1905. There was a flurry of newspaper articles in this year as the village of Hemingford Grey gave James a portrait (of himself) and an illuminated address (answers on a pc, please!) in recognition of his service to the village over the previous umpteen years.
One of the best bits was contained within the Hunts Post article about the sale of farm stock in October 1905; amidst the horses and oil paintings was this sentence:-
"A very fine cockatoo, which by the bye was exceptionally talkative at the sale, made £7 2s 6d."
Fantastic! But makes me wonder why he wouldn't take the bird with him to his next house. Takes all sorts, I suppose.
Anyway, back to the census. More soon.
So, after a morning out, I decided to look for Bert & Blanche - and, this time, I found the right combination, hiding in West Ham. Actually, they're still where they were living three years previously. Quite pleased with this find!
Interestingly, Bert's mother was living/staying with them, which would make sense as her husband had died the year before and they had left Woolpack Farm in 1905. There was a flurry of newspaper articles in this year as the village of Hemingford Grey gave James a portrait (of himself) and an illuminated address (answers on a pc, please!) in recognition of his service to the village over the previous umpteen years.
One of the best bits was contained within the Hunts Post article about the sale of farm stock in October 1905; amidst the horses and oil paintings was this sentence:-
"A very fine cockatoo, which by the bye was exceptionally talkative at the sale, made £7 2s 6d."
Fantastic! But makes me wonder why he wouldn't take the bird with him to his next house. Takes all sorts, I suppose.
Anyway, back to the census. More soon.
4 January 2009
People finding . . .
Thanks to a very wise friend of mine, the less-technical approach to computer mending was not required (although a new wireless dongle-thing was) and all is well again with my machine. As you can tell, it is now talking to the internet again quite happily (she says, with fingers well crossed!)
The 1911 census-testing was great fun and I found quite a few people. My maternal grandmother was exactly where the stories said she would be in Sussex; her future husband precisely where I thought he would be, although his name had been reversed and slightly mangled - I didn't report it as requiring correction because I didn't spend the money to see the actual household entry; perhaps when I've saved up!
My great-uncle Ben, who was to die three years from then, was not where I thought he would be - I expected him to return to Stretham, the village where he was born, but he was still in Ely with his aunt.
George Staden, my g-grandfather, was living with his father-in-law in Cambridge, together with his wife and daughter. Interesting because I'd been told that, as he suffered from TB all his life, he was often unable to work and, therefore, at times they (his little family) lived with various of his brothers-in-law (who, incidentally, were reported to have a low opinion of him because of this - hmmmmmm.)
I did look for Bert & Blanche Freeman and their sons but they eluded me; the search facility was not as useful as the Ancestry version for the other censuses and I couldn't find the right set of Albert, Blanche, James & Millice. I suspect that I might have been more successful if I'd looked at a couple of transcriptions but, at over £1 each, I wasn't going to waste the money at this point. I'll just have to wait until it comes out properly.
Point to ponder:- the difference between the 1911 & 1921 censuses will be enormous; not just the Great War casualties and movements but also the 'Flu epidemic. There's a good subject for a Phd thesis!
The 1911 census-testing was great fun and I found quite a few people. My maternal grandmother was exactly where the stories said she would be in Sussex; her future husband precisely where I thought he would be, although his name had been reversed and slightly mangled - I didn't report it as requiring correction because I didn't spend the money to see the actual household entry; perhaps when I've saved up!
My great-uncle Ben, who was to die three years from then, was not where I thought he would be - I expected him to return to Stretham, the village where he was born, but he was still in Ely with his aunt.
George Staden, my g-grandfather, was living with his father-in-law in Cambridge, together with his wife and daughter. Interesting because I'd been told that, as he suffered from TB all his life, he was often unable to work and, therefore, at times they (his little family) lived with various of his brothers-in-law (who, incidentally, were reported to have a low opinion of him because of this - hmmmmmm.)
I did look for Bert & Blanche Freeman and their sons but they eluded me; the search facility was not as useful as the Ancestry version for the other censuses and I couldn't find the right set of Albert, Blanche, James & Millice. I suspect that I might have been more successful if I'd looked at a couple of transcriptions but, at over £1 each, I wasn't going to waste the money at this point. I'll just have to wait until it comes out properly.
Point to ponder:- the difference between the 1911 & 1921 censuses will be enormous; not just the Great War casualties and movements but also the 'Flu epidemic. There's a good subject for a Phd thesis!
1 January 2009
It's next year . .
So, here it is - 2009. And does it feel any different?
One thing I have managed to avoid this (last) year is the dreaded "round-robin" letter, where people, who you don't see from one year to the next, send out a letter describing their family achievements of the year. It always includes their marvellous offspring, who have always passed two dozen exams with flying colours, come top in the Pony Club competitions and will be joining the Royal Ballet next year!
Funny that we never receive one where Crispin has just been sent down for supplying the sixth form with drugs and Henrietta is awaiting a bail hearing for shoplifting!!
However, in the spirit of the above, I will now summarise my year for posterity . . .
I went to the British Library once; to the Records Office a few times; to Huntingdon library two or three times; to see I"m sorry I haven"t a Clue in Cambridge and to see John Barrownman in London (my, but he was good!); to the village of Tuddenham; to Scotland twice, once to travel on the West Highland Line to Mallaig - that was just amazing; took up swimming again (but haven"t been since the school holidays started - ooops); saw the Prince Caspian film and the Quantum of Solace film (I"d happily go and watch Daniel Craig opening an envelope) and have seen other friends and drunk a great deal . . . and coffee too!
Happy New Year!!
One thing I have managed to avoid this (last) year is the dreaded "round-robin" letter, where people, who you don't see from one year to the next, send out a letter describing their family achievements of the year. It always includes their marvellous offspring, who have always passed two dozen exams with flying colours, come top in the Pony Club competitions and will be joining the Royal Ballet next year!
Funny that we never receive one where Crispin has just been sent down for supplying the sixth form with drugs and Henrietta is awaiting a bail hearing for shoplifting!!
However, in the spirit of the above, I will now summarise my year for posterity . . .
I went to the British Library once; to the Records Office a few times; to Huntingdon library two or three times; to see I"m sorry I haven"t a Clue in Cambridge and to see John Barrownman in London (my, but he was good!); to the village of Tuddenham; to Scotland twice, once to travel on the West Highland Line to Mallaig - that was just amazing; took up swimming again (but haven"t been since the school holidays started - ooops); saw the Prince Caspian film and the Quantum of Solace film (I"d happily go and watch Daniel Craig opening an envelope) and have seen other friends and drunk a great deal . . . and coffee too!
Happy New Year!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)