Confusion in Names and Places

Here is another example of how family historians can be confused by different surname spellings and references to places. As the OPC for Plympton St. Mary parish in Southwest Devon, I get lots of queries about birth, marriage and death records for that area. Unfortunately Plympton St. Mary is also the name of the Registration District for civil registration of births, marriage and deaths after 1837. The two are often confused with each other.

I recently received the following request for information from a lady in Australia: “Would you have any information on the birth of William Sherrell born about 1820, also who were his parents. William is my 2nd great grandfather. I believe his son, James Cawse Sherrell, born and died in 1850 is buried at St. Mary. Any information on this family would be very helpful.”

There were a number of facts here that should have allowed us to find the family: their names, of course; the birth dates of the father and son; and the possible birth and burial place of the son. But nothing showed up in my inspection of the birth or burial registers of either Plympton St. Mary or Plympton St. Maurice parishes, for which I have copies of all of the registers.

I asked the researcher about the references she had used to identify the people concerned and got some additional information back: “James Cawse Sherrell was born and died in 1850 at Plympton St Mary, Devon. Ref: England and Wales birth and death records. I thought there might be records relating to his grandparents, James and Honour Sherrell.  The other family connection are the Cawse family. William Sherrell married Jane Cawse in 1845 at Plymstock, Devon. I have been trying to find any records for John and Jane Cawse who were the parents of Jane who married William Sherrell.”

Now I had some more names and areas that might help in the search: the “England and Wales” records, presumably the civil registration of births and deaths; an 1845 marriage in Plymstock parish; possible parents’ names for both William Sherrell and his wife, Jane; and the maiden name of Jane. I did not know, at this point, whether the family historian had actually seen any birth, death or marriage entries, from either the General Record Office or parish registers, but I had a suspicion that, for the 1850 birth and death, at least, she was looking at Plympton St. Mary Registration District, not Plympton St. Mary parish. The registration district contains records from 24 individual Devon parishes, including Plympton St. Mary, Plympton St. Maurice and Plymstock.

I did a quick search on FindMyPast for William or Jane Sherrell, using the years provided and came up with possible baptisms for William in Egg Buckland parish and Jane in Plympton St. Maurice parish. An 1845 marriage entry was found for William Sherrell, a wheelwright, and Jane Cawse, in Plymstock, that gave the couple’s ages and names of their fathers. The groom’s father was James Sherrell, labourer, and the bride’s father was John Cawse, shoemaker.

I also found an 1851 census record for the family of William and Jane Sherwill, living in Plymstock parish. The surname seemed too similar to Sherrell to be anyone but the right people, especially when additional data showed: their ages fit with the other records; he was a wheelwright; he was born in Egg Buckland; and she was born in Plympton. There were two children listed, Sarah, age four and born “at sea” and William, two months of age and born in Plymstock. From there I went back to the baptism register of Plympton St. Maurice and found Jane’s baptism in 1823, along with three siblings. The father was shown as a cordwainer which seemed to confirm this was the right person.

The main differences between what the Australian descendant had, and what I found in the parish records, were the names of the parents: James and Elizabeth Sherell, rather than James and Honour; and John and Elizabeth Cawse, rather than John and Jane Cawse.

A further search on Ancestry yielded an 1853 passenger list to New South Wales, Australia for the same family. The family researcher confirmed this was her family and the entry was one of the records that started her on her journey through Devon sources.

At this point we believe we are the right track with these two families and the search has expanded to include the Devon parishes of Broadhempston, Egg Buckland. St, Budeaux and Stoke Damerel, as well. Unfortunately not all of them have Online Parish Clerks like me, so assistance will be sought from the Plymouth and West Devon Record Office and the Devon Family History Society, among others places.

The important things to note in this example, which allowed us to identify members of the families of William Sherrell and Jane Cawse were the similar sounding surname on the 1851 England census and the fact that the reference Plympton St. Mary was for the registration district, not the parish. Both are very common mistakes encountered in the search for ancestors.

Wayne Shepheard is a volunteer with the Online Parish Clerk program, handling four parishes in Devon, England. He serves as the Editor of Chinook, the quarterly journal of the Alberta Family Histories Society. Wayne also provides genealogical consulting services through his business, Family History Facilitated.

Use of Land Tax Records: Cornwood Parish, Devon, England

[This write-up was first published in the July 2013 issue of Chinook, the quarterly journal of the Alberta Family Histories Society.]

Land taxes were first instituted in Britain in 1692. This levy was in addition to other taxes which were or had been in force, including the following:

·   Poor Rates –  assessed following the Poor Law Act of 1601 on land owners to finance the support of the poor within parishes

·   Hearth Tax – a tax on each fire-hearth in a household assessed between 1662 and 1688

·   Window Tax – a tax on houses, with rates being assessed on the number of windows in a domicile introduced in 1696 and in effect until 1851.

No doubt the new forms of taxation were intended as a way to recoup the costs of the war against the Catholic King, James II, in previous years, as well as a way to cement the authority of the new parliament under William and Mary, installed as monarchs in 1689. In any event, it was decreed that a tax would be imposed on land owners throughout Britain but be administered locally. The tax existed until 1963 when it was finally repealed.

Changes instituted in 1780 meant that an individual had to be registered in the Land Tax assessment in order to vote. Lists of the proprietors or land owners, occupiers, land descriptions and amounts to be paid were recorded on Land Tax Assessments for many areas. Preservation of the records prior to 1780 is sporadic for many English counties. In 1780, the lists started to be used to identify qualified voters in the parishes and were thus duplicated and stored with Quarter Session records. Many areas thus have fairly complete lists between 1780 and 1832.

The Reform Act of 1832 changed the rules governing who could vote for members of parliament and how the boroughs represented by such members would be organized. After passage of the act, the land tax lists were no longer used to define lists of voters and copies were no longer kept as part of parish records. Again, for many parishes, the lists are incomplete after 1832.

The lists usually contain, for the most part, only the male household heads. If a married man died, the property may have been passed down to his widow, in which case her name might appear on the list, as either a landowner or occupier. If she remarried then her property could then be listed under her new husband’s name. A careful inspection of the lists over time is necessary to see if events such as these occurred.

The Land Tax Assessments provide a sort of census as they identify all of the heads of families occupying lands in the various parishes. The parcels, in most respects, can be correlated with those described in the Tithe Apportionments complied in the early 1840s. Together they allow an historical summary to be made of both families and their primary residences over the latter part of the 18th and early part of the 19th Centuries.

The amounts of tax paid give an indication of the relative economic status of proprietors and the size of parcels. A change of names can indicate inheritance, reflecting the death of individuals which, in turn, can be correlated with parish registers to better identify specific individuals and families.

I obtained a copy of the 1781 to 1832 Land Tax Assessments for the parishes I look after, as an Online Parish Clerk, in Devon – Cornwood, Harford, Plympton St. Mary and Plympton St. Maurice. My own family had been residents of Cornwood since at least the early 1600s. The lists proved very useful in identifying the specific properties they owned or rented over several decades before the national censuses.

1781 Land Tax Assessment for part of Cornwood Parish, Devon, England; superimposed on page are entries for two properties owned by Nicholas Shepheard and a portion of the document showing him as an Assessor and Collector

My 5th great-grandfather, Nicholas Shepheard, was shown as the owner of three major properties in Cornwood – Rook, Greenland and Knott – until his death in 1786. He was also one of the tax assessors and collectors for several years. Knott appears to have been sold in 1810 as, afterward, it no longer appears under the Shepheard name. All of the lands listed were passed down to Nicholas’ eldest son, also named Nicholas, who is shown as the owner until his own decease in 1820. After 1820, the Rook and Greenland properties are shown in the possession of his brothers, Arthur and Samson Shepheard. The lists also show several other family members as tenants on various parcels around the parishes.

Combining the Land Tax Assessments, Tithe Apportionments, parish register entries and national censuses, it has been possible to demonstrate the ownership and residences of many Shepheard families over 130 years.

The Land Tax Assessment image is used here with the kind permission of Devon Heritage Services.

Wayne Shepheard is a volunteer with the Online Parish Clerk program, handling four parishes in Devon, England. He serves as the Editor of Chinook, the quarterly journal of the Alberta Family Histories Society. Wayne also provides genealogical consulting services through his business, Family History Facilitated.

Merry Christmas

Were any of your ancestors baptized or married on Christmas Day?

Christmas in Cornwood and nearby parishes in Devon has been a time when many families chose to have their children baptized at the local parish church, whether born then or not. The earliest Christmas Day entry preserved in the Cornwood baptism register was for Richard Maddocke, baptized in 1689. No doubt there were earlier ones however few records are available prior to 1685. In nearby Plympton St. Mary parish, the earliest Christmas Day baptism on record occurred in 1608.

1689 December 25 - baptism entry for Richard Maddocke, in Cornwood parish register

It was not uncommon for more than one family to have a child baptized during the Christmas season, particularly if any of December 24^th, 25^th or 26^th fell on a Sunday. In my four parishes, Cornwood, Harford, Plympton St. Mary and Plympton St. Maurice, the most baptisms on any of those days was four: Sunday, December 24, 1837; and Tuesday, December 26, 1971, in Plympton St. Mary parish. 

In the 1837 Christmas Eve baptisms only one of the children had been born in December of that year. Possibly the parents waited until this special day when many of the relatives could come to Plympton St. Mary to attend the ceremony. Similarly in 1971, the four children baptized on Boxing Day had been born in April, September (2) and November.

Christmas Eve, 1837 baptisms in Plympton St. Mary parish, Devon

Between 1685 and 1995, there were 38 baptisms on Christmas Day in Cornwood parish, seven in Harford between 1699 and 1993, 69 in Plympton St. Mary between 1603 and 1982 and 16 in Plympton St. Maurice between 1616 and 1963.

Marriages were not quite as numerous. In Cornwood, there have been a total of 11 marriages on Christmas Day between 1685 and 1994; in Harford, only two between 1699 and 1978; in Plympton St. Mary, 32 between 1603 and 1975; and in Plympton St. Maurice, 11 between 1619 and 1971.

These are just some interesting statistics but probably not overly important in the greater scheme of things. From a genealogical perspective, however, many of the entries suggest that Christmas period baptisms do not necessarily represent the time those individuals were born. In the baptism registers of my four parishes, birth dates are shown for 96 individuals who were baptized on December 24^th, 25^th or 26^th between 1648 and 1979. None of them were born on any of those dates. And only 25 were even born in the month of December.

There is probably no doubt that residents of the parish celebrated Christmas enthusiastically, especially in the 17^th, 18^th and 19^th centuries, possibly more so than in later decades.

A charity was set up in Cornwood Parish, in 1700, in which my 6^th great-grandfather, Nicholas Shepheard, played a role. The Rooke Charity combined with another established by Reverend Duke Yonge in 1811. Initially organized to assist the poor of the parish, it continues to this day helping out many residents in the community. Among other initiatives, every Christmas they give all old age pensioners £25 each.

In Cornwood, at least, traditions continue. Each year the members of the community participate in a special event – turning on the Christmas lights. The Churchwarden for St. Michaels and All Angels Church, Marilyn Sharpe, had the honour of flipping the switch on the evening of December 7^th this year.

Afterward, everyone celebrated the event in Cornwood Square with tasty mulled wine and mince pies with clotted cream, and participated in the singing of Christmas carols.

Marilyn Sharpe turns of the Christmas lights

Cornwood residents enjoy the singing of Christmas carols

Whatever your traditions are, I hope you enjoy every one of them. May I take this opportunity to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous year in 2014!

Baptism images reproduced here are used with the kind permission of the Plymouth and West Devon Record Office (PWDRO), Images were downloaded from FindMyPast. Cornwood photos were taken by Kelvin Butcher, to whom I would like to express my thanks and appreciation for allowing me to reproduce them here.

Wayne Shepheard is a volunteer with the Online Parish Clerk program, handling four parishes in Devon, England. He serves as the Editor of Chinook, the quarterly journal of the Alberta Family Histories Society. Wayne also provides genealogical consulting services through his business, Family History Facilitated.