The Value of the Printing Press to Genealogists

According to Wikipedia, “The world's first known movable type printing technology was invented and developed in China by the Han Chinese printer Bi Sheng between the years 1041 and 1048. In Korea, the movable metal type printing technique was invented in the early thirteenth century during the Goryeo Dynasty. The Goryeo Dynasty printed Jikji in 1377 by using a similar method. . . The invention of movable type mechanical printing technology in Europe is credited to the German printer Johannes Gutenberg in 1450.”

The latter, of course, is particularly important to Western Civilization, not to mention historians and genealogists. The expansion and use of Gutenberg’s printing press made for very quick set-ups of pages using moveable metal type and allowed the printing of thousands of pages per day. Copies of inexpensive books by leading scholars and religious leaders of the day, including the Bible, and textbooks for many subjects, were produced in large quantities resulting in widespread dissemination of knowledge and education of the masses, until then something only available to a few in the elite classes.

The first English-language book was printed in 1475. By 1500, printing presses in use across Europe had produced tens of millions of copies of books of all types.

 

Woodcut of a printing press in use around 1568; downloaded December 30, 2014 from Wikipedia: “At the left in the foreground, a "puller" removes a printed sheet from the press. The "beater" to his right is inking the forme. In the background, compositors are setting type.”

What was also made possible was the keeping and distribution of many types of records, not the least was information about births, marriages and deaths. While, for many decades and centuries afterward, parish records continued to be the main source of genealogical information, over time such records could be collated, printed, stored and made available to a large audience. Eventually even the Churches had printed forms on which to record names and dates.

 

The diffusion of the moveable-type printing press; downloaded December 30, 2014 from article by Jeremiah Dittmar titled Information Technology and economic change: The impact of the printing press. (2011).

Widespread printing carried with it the need for standardization in the spelling of common words and names and a consequent increase in literacy. People learned to recognize (read) and reproduce (write) their own language and, of course, their own names and with that, began to identify themselves on paper in a consistent manner. The English language underwent significant structuring as a result of the explosion of the printed word carrying with it the requirement for regularity of spelling, grammar and definitions. The first Dictionary of the English Language was published by Samuel Johnson in 1755, which became a hallmark in the organization of the language.

Most genealogists may find that consistency in spelling of their family names began with the spread of printing presses, the profusion of books available and the increase in literacy. What other aspects of normal lives might one envision happened with people having increased access to books and newspapers?

Wayne Shepheard is a volunteer with the Online Parish Clerk program in England, handling four parishes in Devon, England. He has published a number of articles about various aspects of genealogy and is a past Editor of Chinook, the quarterly journal of the Alberta Family Histories Society. Wayne also provides genealogical consulting services through his business, Family History Facilitated.

Finding and Using Apprenticeship Records

In tracing English ancestors, important information about individuals and their families may be contained within apprenticeship indentures. I learned quite a lot about them in another course presented by Stuart Raymond of Pharos Teaching & Tutoring Limited titled, appropriately, Apprenticeship Records.

Such documents often contain a wealth of data including, among other things: the names of the Apprentice and his or her parents; the name of the Master, his occupation and his address of residence or business; the trade, of course, in which the Apprentice was being trained; the term of the apprenticeship; wages to be paid; names of other parties to the agreement such as parish representatives, local poor law overseers or charity representatives, witnesses to the signatories of the agreement; and the any of term considerations by the Master, such as a job offer or support to join a guild. Many children were put into apprenticeships by parish officials such as Poor Overseers in an attempt for their own advancement and to get them off poor relief.

Copies of actual apprenticeship indentures may be found in a wide variety of places:

·         Local record offices

·         The National Archives (TNA)

·         Family papers

·         Records of Poor Overseers

·         Guild and union records

·         Charity records

·         Family history and other historical association publications

·         Library, museum and university files

·         Court records

·         City or town archives

·         General searches of the internet

One can search the records of the TNA or related sites directly. A general search for “apprenticeship” from the Home page brings up 185 results as a starting point to look for further files. Starting at the main Discovery page of TNA, a search for the term presently brings up 78,909 results which can be further broken down by date, parish, family names, etc. Of these, 2,442 are TNA files from records of 63 different government department collections, of which 181 can be downloaded directly. A whopping 76,467 are from other archives tied into the TNA website. These include local and county records offices, archives across Britain, societies, museums, trade organizations and universities. Copies of any of these can be ordered.

Many other websites and directories, such as Access to Archives (A2A), Archon and the National Register of Archives (NRA), have now been incorporated into the Discovery section of TNA. Archives Hub remains as another source of historical documents and information worth checking out.

As part of the Apprenticeship Records course, there was one exercise in which we were to source an apprenticeship indenture and produce an abstract of it, describing all of the information about the particular Apprentice.to find a suitable indenture, we first did a search of Google Images and searched for “apprenticeship indentures”. Hundreds of examples come up from which to select. You might try such a search for your own ancestors as a starting point.

Anyway, for this assignment I found an interesting document about an apprenticeship to a wig maker. I have no wig makers in my family so I was curious about this particular occupation and the people involved in it. From the Google Images search I later tracked down the indenture that had originally been posted on a website about the music hall and theatre history in London, dedicated to Arthur Lloyd (1839-1904), actor, comedian, singer, songwriter and music hall performer. So I had lots more information about how individuals in this particular occupation were employed.

 

An Indenture for the apprenticeship of Louisa Taylor to William Clarkson, Wig Maker, in 1886 - Courtesy David Sweetman, Great Grandson of Louisa Taylor, who, according to the 1911 census at the age of 38, was still working as a Wig Maker; downloaded January 19, 2011 from http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/Backstage/ClarksonWigs.htm

The indenture has a great deal of information about Louisa Taylor: her residence address; her father’s name, the wages she was to be paid; and the obligations of both her and the Master, William Berry Clarkson. The requirements of the Apprentice shown appear to be standard terms, as part of printed form, with blanks filled in by hand reflecting the gender of both Apprentice and Master. A hand-written note was inserted into the printed form concerning wages to be paid and amounts are hand-written at bottom of document. This suggests that Clarkson wanted an assistant as much as an apprentice.

On a page of this site dedicated to William Clarkson there are photos of the former location of Clarkson’s Wigs on Wardour Street (previously Wellington Street), London, including one of a plaque commemorating “Willy Clarkson 1861-1934”. William Clarkson was quite a famous individual apparently. A search for any surviving papers of Clarkson’s estate might reveal more details on the occupation of wig maker as well as on individuals taken on as apprentices.

Part of the assignment was to source other information about the people, in particular the Apprentice. Using the notes on the indenture and the descriptive information on the Arthur Lloyd website, I was able to find census data on Ancestry and FindMyPast for Louisa and her family from 1881 through 1911. The censuses give data from which birth information might be found and certificates ordered for Louisa, as well as marriage certificates for her parents, Charles Taylor and Rosina Louisa Cullen (her maiden name was determined from the 1891 census when Charles’ mother-in-law was living with the couple). A further search of FreeBMD showed they were married in the December quarter of 1863 and registered in Lambeth RD. It appears, at first look, that the births of their children were registered in Strand RD but a search of Lambeth RD records might also be done.

An additional search of FreeBMD for Louisa came up with a marriage of Louisa Taylor to Ernest Sweetman in 1894. We saw on the Arthur Lloyd website that the indenture image was contributed by Louisa’s grandson, David Sweetman. The 1911 census showed Ernest, Louisa and three children. It also listed her as a wig maker confirming this was the right family. Interestingly, her daughter was also described as a wig maker.

 

1911 England Census – showing the family of Ernest James and Louis Sweetman; copyright The National Archives (image downloaded December 23, 2014 from Ancestry)

I did not review all of the local parish registers for additional family members but those around the addresses shown on the various censuses would be worth looking at. Copies of birth, marriage and death certificates could also be ordered from the General Record Office.

It was an interesting course. I recommend it. The assignments gave me an appreciation of the information that is contained on such documents as apprenticeship indentures proving one should not leave any stone unturned in the search for our ancestors.

Wayne Shepheard is a volunteer with the Online Parish Clerk program in England, handling four parishes in Devon, England. He has published a number of articles about various aspects of genealogy and is a past 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 to all the readers of this blog. Time to put away the genealogy now and concentrate on our families that will join us in celebrating the holiday season.

A Special 100th Birthday

Last Wednesday, December 10^th was the 100^th anniversary of my father’s birth. My sisters and I celebrated the occasion together with a special lunch. It is an interesting experience to so closely connect with an event a century old within one’s own family.

My father packed a lot of activities and events into his life, and went through a lot of ups and downs along the way, before he died at the relatively young age of 68. I have now gone beyond him in longevity, something which I value and appreciate, as would he I think.

William Calvin Shepheard was born in 1914, just after the start of the Great War. Growing up on a farm east of Calgary, Alberta, I doubt whether he would have been aware of, or affected much by that conflict although I do know there were members of the community who participated in the war efforts, both here and overseas. What more concerned the people were building new homes, raising families and surviving the harsh winters on the prairie, as many of them were newcomers to the region and the country.

 

Bill Shepheard as a two-year old in 1917

My father’s extended family was very close-knit, not uncommon in rural communities. He went to school and participated in many social activities with all of his cousins. One of them actually introduced him to his future wife at a local community dance. Farm work was shared among family members, all of the children having chores to do when they were young. As they grew into adulthood they also became part of the workforce operating the family enterprises.

He married, Norma, his sweetheart on October 1^st, 1939, about which I wrote in my blogpost earlier. They spent almost 35 years together before her untimely death in 1974.

Bill left the farm in the late 1930’s to study electronics with Coyne Electrical School based in Chicago, Illinois. For most of his life he worked as an electronic technician: fixing radios, televisions and all manner of electrical appliances. He was naturally independent and entrepreneurial, something he likely learned in his early days tending to a myriad of farm jobs and responsibilities He established his own businesses on a couple of occasions during his electronic career.

He volunteered during the Second World War, joining the Royal Canadian Air Force. For several years, as a member of the force, he participated in, and taught courses to others concerning electronic-related equipment and methods, in particular related to aviation.

 

William Shepheard, LAC - 1942

He loved to take on new projects, and even built a home from scratch in the late 1940s. He was a ardent photographer and was one of the early users of the home-movie camera. We have countless photographs and hundreds of hours of 8 mm movies of family picnics and vacations, Christmas celebrations and general family activities. I have mostly converted them all now to digital formats – just in time, as many of the old films and negatives have deteriorated badly.

Dad was involved in community activities with the Kiwanis Club and the Calgary Movie Makers Club. All of us kids remember the many Christmas and other parties with friends he and my mother developed with members of those groups, and the fund-raising activities for which we were enlisted. He was even, for a short time, part of the Calgary Auxiliary Police program.

He was very much a family man, a trait developed during his farm upbringing. He was always very pleased when all of us, along with several cousins on many occasions, got together.

 

Bill with his family at Christmas 1981

I cannot begin to describe or list here all of the things my parents were involved with over the years but it seems that, looking back, they were always busy with friends or family doing something.

In later life, he left the electronics world and bought a golf course business located in central British Columbia. It was a sort of return to the land but, more importantly, another chance to run his own business.

Over the years he had medical problems to deal with, some very serious. They all interrupted his work and family-life but he persevered through all the setbacks. The one thing he could not fight successfully was the cancer that took his wife, my mother, at the age of only 57. It was a devastating blow that I believe he never entirely recovered from. He did marry again, I think for the companionship he had missed, but that union did not work out as both of them hoped it would.

He died in 1983, just nine years after my mother’s passing, succumbing to heart disease brought on, partly I am convinced, by a life-long smoking habit. His early death does not diminish what he accomplished or what kind of man he was. What good character traits I have come in large part from him (the bad ones cannot be blamed on either parent I’m afraid).

It was a hundred years ago that William Calvin Shepheard arrived on the planet – quite an amazing number when I think it was only one generation back from me.

Happy Birthday Dad!

 

Bill Shepheard – 1982

Wayne Shepheard is a volunteer with the Online Parish Clerk program in England, handling four parishes in Devon, England. He has published a number of articles about various aspects of genealogy and is a past Editor of Chinook, the quarterly journal of the Alberta Family Histories Society. Wayne also provides genealogical consulting services through his business, Family History Facilitated.