Geoffs Genealogy Update 29 October 2007
Monday October 29th, 2007 | Geoff
Yes, I know I’m late with this post. I’m sorry to have disappointed my avid readers over the past few weeks, but I simply have not found time to post until now. How hectic life is for a treer!
What have I been doing since I last posted to this blog?
Well, I’ve attended two family history fairs- at Shrewsbury and Telford – and I’ve been editing the next edition of the Shropshire FHS Journal – due out in December. On top of that I’ve been obeying the edict of Voltaire and concentrating on my garden. There is so much to do in the garden in the autumn, and I’ve been assiduously tidying things up for the year. In fact the weather in the UK is quite warm for the time of year, so my plants have gone on flowering through the autumn. A lovely show. All ripped out now, though.
On top of all that I have been working hard on my family history records. I have had great fun these past few weeks on a number of activities. Firstly I updated all my Culshaw information, and then had the delight of receiving some lovely Culshaw photos from Chris. Wonderful! I’ve mentioned previously how much delight I get from seeing photos of people whose names appear on my family tree and this was joy unabated! I’m sorry to say that photographs are an area where my records are severely lacking – my family simply don’t seem to have kept any. Most disappointing, but I truly treasure the pics that I have.
I’ve spent much time working on the Archer records. It had been my hope that by the time Brenda returns from Canada I would have completed this work and sent her my tree, but I’m afraid I have failed to meet this deadline. However, I’m not too far away from completing the task, so I hope it won’t be many more days before I can commit a package to the post. Sorry Brenda, if you are reading this.
I think I mentioned , a few weeks ago, that we were planning to visit London and enjoy a tour of the new Haberdashers’ Hall. Well, Helen and I did, indeed, go to London a week ago but, alas, were not able to go to the Hall. This was because the Haberdashers’ Company received a late booking for the hall, and it was being used for a function on the day. This was a big disappointment for us, but we hope to be able to go to the metropolis next Spring, and maybe then we shall be able to visit Haberdashers’ Hall.
Having got over that disappointment we put our time in London to very good use. We went to Guildhall Library and consulted some parish registers and probate records, gathering a clutch of Archer entries which in part confirmed Brenda’s work, and in part added new information. Having enjoyed success at Guildhall Library, we hurried off on the tube to Islington and visited London Metropolitan Archives, where we enjoyed further success. I was able to see a couple of entries in the Middlesex Deeds Registers that related to the property transactions of John Bankes. Neither of these gave me any more genealogical information, but were further grist to the mill. We also found a number of parish register entries relating to our research on the Collyer, Smedley, Heppell and Hunt lines and the apprenticeship indenture of Samuel William Archer (1790 – 1870). This last record held a bit of a surprise insofar as Samuel, who was a Watch Maker, was a Freeman of the Baker’s Company. I realise that Freemen did not necessarily have to be free of the Company strictly related to their trade – after all, John Bankes – a Carpenter and property dealer – was a Freeman of the Haberdashers’ Company – but it certainly seems a trifle odd to me that a man who served his time as an apprentice watchmaker became a Freeman of the Bakers’ Company. This situation seems to have arisen because Thomas Ward, Samuel’s Master, was himself Free of the Bakers’ Company, so presumably the same applied to all his apprentices.
It all goes to show that we never know what the next treeing discovery will bring. Life truly is full of surprises!
After a burger on Euston station we made the journey back to the midlands, arriving at home a bit tired, but thoroughly satisfied with our efforts for the day.
I think that is an appropriate point at which to close for tonight. Happy hunting to you all!
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