Tracing Your Ancestors from 1066 to 1837

by Jonathan Oates

Individuals and groups petitioned the monarch for a particular favour. Those created from the thirteenth to the early seventeenth century can be viewed online at TNA’s website and can be searched by name. They are particularly numerous in the fourteenth century. Most were sent by the middling people and the wealthy, though some are from villeins.

  Plea Rolls

  Actions brought under common law in the courts of the Exchequer, Common Pleas and King’s Bench can be found, up to 1482, in A Calendar of Pleas and Memoranda Rolls.

  Civil Court cases can also be found in the press, especially in The Times, and these can be searched for online at The Times digital archive. This can be a useful entry point into the archives of the legal system. Another good entry point is to try an online search on TNA’s catalogue for Equity Pleadings.

  Chapter 7

  PUBLISHED SOURCES AND LISTS

  The printing press had come into being in England in the later fifteenth century, but was little used at first. By the eighteenth century, literacy was becoming more the norm for some in society. Urban-dwelling men were more likely to be able to read than their rural counterparts and women. They helped to generate a demand for the written word, and the published word became more common in that century. Even when people were not literate, they usually knew someone who was who could read to his friends and neighbours, perhaps in a public place such as an inn, and published matter often went through several hands.

  Newspapers

  Although there were newspapers of a kind during the Civil Wars of the 1640s, these were primarily propaganda sheets and in any case ran for fairly short runs. The first long-standing newspaper was The Oxford Gazette, later The London Gazette, in 1665. Other newspapers appeared and, with the ending of official censorship in 1695, many more appeared. Most were two or four pages long. Some were thrice-weekly such as the fore-mentioned Gazette, and some were weekly. The first daily was The Daily Courant in 1702. Until 1712, these newspapers were all published in London. The first regional newspaper was The Newcastle Courant, followed a few years later by The Leeds Mercury. By the mid-eighteenth century there were few major provincial towns or cities, certainly not in the north of England and the Midlands, which did not have their own newspaper; some had two or three. Towns in the south-east of England, being so near to London, were rather slower to publish their own, save for The Kentish Post, based in Canterbury. Most were weekly. None was published on a Sunday until 1822. There were also monthly magazines, such as The Political State of Great Britain, 1711–40, and better known, The Gentleman’s Magazine, first published in 1731 and which continued until 1868. TNA has sets of these and the latter are available at the British Library, too, as well as many other institutions, and online on ancestry.com.

  Newspapers, then as now, carried national, foreign and local news. They covered war and political controversy. There was financial and shipping news. Crime was a feature. Here is one example:

  Last Tuesday, John Franklyn, John Cochis and Annie Hipson were committed to Salisbury Gaol, for counterfeiting the coin of this kingdom, several pieces of false coin and tools being found upon them, diligent search is making after several others.

  They also carried advertisements and personal news of deaths and marriages. To give two examples, taken from The General Advertiser of 1746:

  Yesterday was married, at St. Paul’s, Mr Ambrose, an eminent attorney in Bishopsgate Street, to a Miss Clark, Daughter of Mr Clark of Gray’s in Kent, a beautiful young lady with a considerable fortune.

  A few Days since died at his living of Aston Clinton in Bucks; the Rev. Dr Waldo, minister of that place, aged 75; about a fortnight before his death, apprehending his Approaching Dissolution, he preach’d his farewell sermon to his congregation, which was so moving and pathetic; as drew Tears from his Auditors, he was possess’d of a very good Temporal Estate; which he has left to his eldest son, Mr Waldo, a career in Newgate Street. The Gentleman’s Magazine included national and foreign news, archaeological finds, book reviews, poetry and politics. For our purposes, the two main sections are probably ‘Domestic Occurrences’ and the Births, Marriages and Deaths sections. The former includes accounts of unusual deaths and accidents. In November 1807 we learn of a fire at Mr Bentley’s warehouse on Fleet Street, London, and of the death, by disease, of Mr Summerfield’s 2½-year-old son in Westminster. The births are mostly those of the offspring of gentry, nobility, clergy, merchants and officers, and likewise for marriages. Deaths are rather more substantial, with obituaries often included. These include humbler folk. For instance, on 25 September 1807:

  Accidentally shot, Andrew James Bazell, a corporal. He was the non commissioned officer of a small detachment of soldiers for escorting three deserters to the depot in the Isle of Wight. While the party was refreshing themselves at a little public house between Ashford and Hampton, Anson, one of the privates, was laying down his arms and accoutrements, when the piece suddenly went off, and lodged its contents in Bazell’s body, below his right arm, which caused his instant death. The deceased and Anson were particularly good friends.

  The Annual Register, 1797. Author’s collection.

  A similar publication was The Annual Register, first published in 1758 and still in publication at the time of writing. However, as its name suggested, it was annual, unlike the monthly Gentleman’s Magazine. It did, as ever, include births (parents’ names and sex of baby, with date), marriages and deaths of the better off in society. Promotions in the armed forces and church are also listed, though selectively. In its ‘Domestic Occurrences’, it lists news, often including violent deaths and murderous attacks. However it is not well indexed and includes a great deal of foreign news. It can be seen at TNA and some libraries.

  In 1785 The Times was first published, and this has the advantage that it can be searched online. Initially it was four pages long and was published daily, Sundays excepted. It carried far more detail than the newspapers of the earlier part of the century. Property adverts were a major feature and often detail the contents of the house, listing furniture and objects therein. As ever, births, deaths and marriages were included. Trials of criminals were given in far more detail than had been the case hitherto. Civil cases were often printed on the front page, with cases before the Court of Common Pleas and the Court of King’s Bench. Again, these were detailed, though not verbatim, accounts of the cases heard in court, with synopses of evidence and legal arguments. Bankrupts are listed, though briefly, as in the following example from 1829, ‘Joseph William Coe, Bath, silk mercer, June 18, 19, July 17th at the Bankrupts’ Court, Basinghall Street, solicitors Messrs Stokes and Hollingsworth, Cateston Street’.

  Local newspapers carried as much international and national news as other periodicals, with very little local news. What little there was was contained in a section headed ‘Country News’, meaning news of events outside London. Newspapers often cut and pasted news from other newspapers to include in theirs. They were often only two or four pages long, with almost no pictures. Advertisements, then as now, take up much of each newspaper. These are often for property, listing the seller, but also for other goods. Sometimes theatrical performances are advertised, giving company members. Bankruptcies are listed. So too are women who have fled their husbands, with the latter stating that they will be no longer responsible for their departed spouse’s debts!

  The best single source, though far from comprehensive for the local press, for newspapers in the UK is the British Library Newspaper Library at Colindale, a short walk from the tube station. Some of the newspapers have been microfilmed but many are still available in paper format. These newspapers are listed on their website, so you can determine what they have and for which dates (it is possible to search by title and place). The British Library itself at St Pancras holds a fine collection of national newspapers from 1625–1800, all of which is microfilmed. The Bodleian Library also has collections of local newspapers, too. County libraries usually have their county newspaper to be viewed; Oxford Central L
ibrary’s local studies room has the Oxford and Reading Gazette to view, and Newcastle’s City Library has copies of the three Newcastle newspapers from the early eighteenth century onwards. Not all early copies of these newspapers survive. There are very few editions of The Newcastle Courant from 1712 (the year of its founding) to 1718. There are no known copies of The Leeds Mercury from 1745–9.

  The great difficulty with using these is that so few have been indexed, however, and few newspapers, have been digitized prior to 1800 (The Times being the exception). A small number of nineteenth-century newspapers, both national and local, have been digitized and so can be searched with ease. These can be viewed for free at institutions which have subscribed to the site, otherwise payment is necessary. Ancestry.co.uk has Andrew’s newspaper index cards (1790–1976), which include many references to births, marriages and obituaries.

  British Library Newspaper Library, Colindale, 2011. Author’s collection.

  Indexes of newspapers are few and far between, but as always, it is worth enquiring if an index has been created by volunteers or staff. Most only cover a few years, however, and they are not always complete. An exception is The Gentleman’s Magazine, for which there is an index for obituaries and biographies from 1731–80 and for marriages, 1731–68. Each volume is also indexed, for names. The first twenty volumes are available online at ancestry.com. The British Library has had forty-nine nineteenth-century newspapers digitalized, so these can be searched online (www.nineteenthcenturynewspapers/bl/), and of these, thirty-five cover the years prior to 1837. This is a subscription site and so fees must be paid for searches, but some institutions and libraries do subscribe to it, allowing their readers to search for free.

  It should be stressed that, unlike newspapers in the twentieth century and beyond, most of the births, marriages and deaths recorded are of those of the nobility, gentry and clergy. If your ancestor was an army officer who was killed or wounded in battle he may well have been given an honourable mention; but the rank and file are not named therein. Poorer people’s deaths tend to be published only if there was something unusual about them; perhaps a fatal accident, murder, suicide or extreme (and often spurious) longevity. However, people from the middling ranks might be included in county newspapers. For example, The Sussex Weekly Advertiser for 11 February 1793 noted ‘last Thursday, died, at East Hoathley, Mr Thomas Turner, many years a shop keeper at that place’, yet the death of John Lucas, a Leeds teacher and antiquarian, did not merit a reference in The Leeds Mercury in 1750.

  Lists of people might also be published in newspapers if they were involved in a particular activity. The London Gazette listed in 1745 those who attended the Archbishop of York’s meeting at York when he preached against the danger posed by the Jacobite rebellion of that year. The same newspaper also listed those merchants who supported the government at this time by accepting notes as well as coinage. After the rebellion was over, The York Journal listed, parish by parish, all those in the city (about 2,000 names are listed) who had subscribed to the paying of forces raised against the Jacobites, together with the sums paid and noting a small number of defaulters.

  Directories

  Readers will be familiar with telephone directories. Directories of another kind, though essentially the same, have existed since the seventeenth century. The first-known English directory was published in 1638 for London; there was not another until 1677; and then not until the next century, but after 1734 they were more regular. However, by the later eighteenth century, major provincial cities, such as Liverpool, began to publish them. Some volumes covered several counties. The Universal British Directory (published in the 1790s), a work of several volumes, covered the whole country. One well-known firm of directory publishers in the early nineteenth century was Pigot’s, from 1814–53, and they also aimed at national coverage.

  At first, directories were listings of merchants in the city, in alphabetical order, with their address and type of business. Later they tend to list nobility, gentry and clergy (known as the ‘principal inhabitants’), shopkeepers and publicans, though for villages they will be organized by village, no address being given. They may be organized alphabetically or by type of trade.

  These are of immense importance for anyone whose ancestor was in business in the seventeenth to the nineteenth century; though only a minority of towns and cities are included until the late eighteenth century. For the majority of people who were not in trade or were among the nobility, gentry or clergy, there will be no mention of them whatsoever. Labourers and domestic servants are unremarked upon.

  Let us illustrate this with an example taken from Pigot’s Directory for Middlesex for 1832. It is divided roughly by parish, in alphabetical order, though in some cases some small parishes are lumped together with their neighbours. So, for Isleworth, which had, in 1831, a population of 5,590, we learn about this village ‘delightfully situated on the northern bank of the Thames’, the key businesses, the churches and local charities. Then there is a list of the nobility, gentry and clergy, numbering fifty-one, including such notables as the Duke of Northumberland of Syon House and the Earl of Jersey of Osterley Park. There are women, too, in the list, albeit in a minority and never being graced with Christian names, such as Mrs Thompson on Gumley Row and Miss Golding of Church Street. Then there are about 150 others, including schoolmasters, market gardeners, publicans and shopkeepers of many descriptions, divided by trade. Again, although there are a few female names, such as Mary Pyke and Elizabeth Rance, milliners both, these are in a very small minority (under 5%). About 4–5% of the village’s inhabitants are listed, but with an average household of five, the directory has listed about one-fifth of its householders.

  Directories can be found in county libraries, county and borough record offices. The best collection, however, is at the Guildhall Library, where there are directories from across the country. Most directories are in paper format. Some have been digitized. A small number from 1750–1919 were digitized by a project based at Leicester University, www.historicaldirectories.org/hd/ Some others can be found at www.Genuki.org.uk.

  Poll Books

  Although Parliament was first summoned in the thirteenth century, and each county or borough returned two members to the Commons, as voted in public by the forty shilling freeholders, the names of voters were not recorded until the end of the seventeenth century. This was because there were fears of corruption. Parliament passed laws to state that books could be published which listed those who had voted in each constituency and the candidates that each had voted for. These books were known as poll books, but they were not published every year. Elections were held at least every three years up to 1715, then every seven years thereafter, but could be held earlier if the government decided. There was an election in 1747, six years after the previous one, because the government estimated it would do better then, which indeed it did. Constituencies were far from equal; with Old Sarum famously having an electorate in single figures whilst Yorkshire had about 15,000 voters, yet each returned two members.

  Only a minority of adult men could vote. Yet it has been estimated that, in 1715, about 20 per cent of men aged 21 or more could vote; at the very end of our period, the Reform Act of 1832 increased this number a little. Voting rights depended on a man holding property which yielded a certain annual income.

  Poll books then list the men who voted, arranged sometimes by parish, sometimes by alphabetical order of surname, with the candidates they voted for; not always both from the same party. The listings are usually alphabetical within the parish. Some poll books also give the voter’s occupation. That for York in 1741 lists these; mostly shopkeepers and craftsmen, but also some working men such as labourers and sedan chair men. You will also learn what your ancestor’s political affinity was.

  Poll books were only created after a contested election, not every year. And not every election was contested. If opposing politicians could agree to send one member each to Parliament, then there would be no ele
ction and thus no poll book.

  Poll books are usually to be found in county and borough record offices covering that particular county or city. See Gibson’s Poll Books, 1696–1872. The best single national collection is held at the Guildhall Library, covering 1696–1868, though with many gaps. The Institute of Historical Research on Malet Street also has a sizeable collection, and is on open access, but entry is restricted unlike at the Guildhall Library.

  Pamphlets

  Many other published works were created, especially in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. There were political tracts and religious sermons, both of which could be very popular indeed. There were also novels by the likes of Samuel Richardson, Henry Fielding and Jane Austen. None of these are of direct genealogical importance, but they indicate what your ancestors may have read, or may have had read to them.

  Gentry and Nobility

  There are books listing gentry and peerage, which includes their ancestors, in some cases back to the Middle Ages. The first such was Debrett’s Peerage in 1802, followed by his Baronetage of 1808. Subsequent editions were brought out as the century progressed. These two were eventually combined into the one volume. Another series was Burke’s Peerage of 1826, and published annually from 1847 to 1940, and then irregularly subsequently. Burke’s Landed Gentry began to be published in 1837, though did not appear as regularly as the Peerage. The updated versions of these books included new families who had risen through commerce and other means. However, doubts have been cast on the accuracy of these volumes, with Professor Freeman in 1877 describing the claims made in the latter as ‘much wild nonsense’. More recent editions are generally accepted as being more accurate.