News and Blog

The latest news and information from the Achievements team.

  1. Genealogical research in Kent

    Whilst genealogical research usually involves standard records across the British Isles, it is of course essential to understand the situation with local county records.  Our headquarters is situated in the historic city of Canterbury in Kent, and Kent is certainly an interesting county from a genealogical point of view.

    Parish registers are the primary source for family history research prior to 1837, when civil registration of births, marriages and deaths began, and recently there has been an extensive programme to fully index and digitise all surviving Kentish parish registers (bar those still held in private hands). Whilst this is a huge boon for genealogical research, it should be noted that the transcription process is far from perfect, and so creative searches are often required. But this shouldn’t diminish the usefulness of digitial access to these registers.

    Kentish wills prior to 1858 were proved in the probate courts of the Archdeaconry Courts of Canterbury and Rochester and the Consistory (or Bishop’s) Court of Canterbury. There is one Peculiar probate jurisdiction in Kent, being that of the Rector of Cliffe. The excellent volume The Phillimore Atlas and index of Parish Registers provides individual county maps showing in which probate jurisdiction a particular parish was situated.

    The highest probate court in England and Wales was the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. This meant that that these wills were proved under the jurisdcition of the Archbishop of Canterbury, but the Prerogative Court was actually in London (or Oxford during the Civil War in the 1640s) rather than in Canterbury itself.

    Other useful genealogical sources include records of the Poor law, and for Kent a significant publication has been produced for those records covering Mid Kent.  This, and many other Kent-based sources are held in our extension library at our Canterbury HQ.

    Contact us today if you have any Kent ancestors to see how we can help.

  2. The plague registers of 1625

    Everyone has heard of the Great Plague, which swept Europe and England in 1665, and which some estimates suggest up to 100,000 died. It is also likely you have heard of the Black Death which struck Europe from 1348-1351 in the 1300s, and in which millions of people lost their lives.

    But these weren’t the only plague epidemics which killed significant numbers in England. The burials recorded in parish registers reveal that significant outbreaks took place in other years. Outbreaks are evidence at various points after 1538, when parish registers were first instituted by Thomas Cromwell, and 1625 was the most significant 17th century outbreak after that of 1665.

    Taking the parish of Stepney as a guide for the 1625 outbreak, the first burial to have ‘plague’ entered by the clerk as the cause of death was on 18th April that year. This was of one Sarah Rumard, the wife of Marmaduke, a mariner of Ratcliffe. No burial for him was apparently present in Stepney, so he may have survived this epidemic.

    As spring progressed into summer, more and more burials were shown to be due to ‘plague’, with the hot summer months of July, August and September revealing page after page of plague deaths in the burial register. Plague entries continued in large numbers until October, thinning out from then. One or two plague burials a month then occurred from January 1626 as evident in the parish register.

    It is these type of events which our ancestors, if they were lucky, lived through and would have had a significant impact of their lives. When conducting genealogical investigations in the 16th and 17th century, if a family or individual disappears from view then could they have died of plague?

  3. Why employ a professional genealogist?

    There are many reasons why you may turn to a professional genealogist to further your genealogical research.

    Brick Walls – it may be that you have a specific family history ‘brick wall’ – where you can’t progress any further back – that you would like help with solving. Using an experienced professional means they know the best ways to sleuth out those ancestors hiding from us behind assumed names, incorrect transcriptions, omissions from sources, and a myriad of other scenarios.

    To check existing research – alternatively, it could be that you would like a professional researcher to look over your own research to ensure that it is correct.  Family history research is often a solo pursuit, and sometimes another pair of eyes can help analyse the research with a fresh perspective.

    Time – it may be that your own investigations have yielded some results in census returns or General Registration, but you don’t have the time to delve any further. Or even time to start at all. This is definitely when it’s time to reach out to a professional to do the hard work for you.

    Archives required –  your own searches may have exhausted online resources, and it is now time to move to on-the-ground records held in county record offices or archives.

    Using professional, accredited genealogists gives you peace of mind that they are qualified and experienced in undertaking genealogical research. Accreditation in the UK is via the Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives as well as the Register of Qualified Genealogists, and our lead researcher Elizabeth Yule is a full member of both organisations.

    If you have any research requirements, be they large or small, contact us today to find out how we can help you continue on your genealogical journey.

  4. Need an original Christmas gift idea?

    It is that time of year again, when you need a Christmas present idea for someone who has everything! Well, why not give commission a bespoke, unique gift this Christmas and give a voucher for family history research. We can provide individual Christmas messages on a gift certificate to give to the special person in your life. Their family history will then be researched by our team of expert genealogists, providing them with a gift like no other.

     

    Click here to contact us to find out more about our Christmas gift certificates.

  5. Christmas gift ideas

    It is never too early to think about getting organised with Christmas presents, and so why not treat a loved one to the most unique gift of all, that of genealogical research. Get in early to present a completed genealogy on Christmas Day, or why not take advantage of our Gift Certificates instead.

    With various gift options available why not contact us today to find out how we can help organise your Christmas!

  6. Achievements is 60 years old

    Celebrations are ongoing this month for our Diamond Jubilee, marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of Achievements and its sister organisation the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies.

    To mark this, a week long series of zoom events is being held next week from Monday 18th October.  There is a range of topics on offer, covering various aspects of genealogy and family history research from experts in the field.  Topics include Trafalgar, managing digital record and ‘Mummy, what did you do in the Great War?’

    To see the full list of tutorials given, and details on how to book, click here.

  7. New series of Who Do You Think You Are starts next week

    We are all super excited that the new series of Who Do You Think You Are starts next week, on Tuesday 12th October 2021.  Comedian Josh Widdicombe is the subject of the first episode, with other celebrities whose family history has been researched being Judi Dench, Alex Scott, Joe Sugg, Ed Balls, Pixie Lott and Joe Lycett.  We are promised subjects from 1930s fascism to Shakespeare, and we await the new series with anticipation.

    If you would like to find out about your family history, click here to find out how we can help!

  8. Deceased named in census returns

    When undertaking family history research, you never quite know what you might find.  If a birth or death took place on the day of the census, then this may be reflected in the enumeration.  For example, this unnamed lodger in the 1861 census was given the occupation ‘since died’, poor fellow.

    Presumably he had passed away after the census forms were given to each household, but before they handed them back to the enumerator – whilst the fact that they had recently died had been recorded, their name, age and place of birth had not.

    The 1911 census was the first enumeration to ask specific details of how many children, living or deceased, were born to married women.  This census therefore sometimes sees the names of deceased children recorded, such as with this Lucas family in the 1911 census:-

    Young Ellen Irena Lucas was shown as ‘dead’, but was listed in order with her other siblings. It was her father who filled in this enumeration form, and it seems that he was a little unsure of her precise name.  In fact, her birth was registered as Ellen Helena whilst her death was recorded under the forenames Irene Helen.  Ellen Irena in the 1911 was another version.

    It’s always worth finding a family in as many census returns as possible, to see what tidbits may have been recorded by the census enumerator.

    Need help with searching the census with your own family tree?  Contact us today to find out how we can assist.

     

     

     

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