clergymen – The Nosey Genealogist's: Help Me With My Family Tree

This week I have been musing upon one of my to-do-lists! I am keen to get back a generation of Thorn’s from Devon, but as yet I do not have enough information to make the break through as to who were my 5x great-grandparents and when and where were my 3x great-grandparents, John and Sara, born?

As more and more datasets are released on the various online subscription sites, however, I periodically revisit this brick wall of mine.

John Thorn married Sarah Branton on the 12^th January 1794 at Charles Church in Plymouth. The bride was of that parish and the groom was a â€œmarinerâ€ with no mention of which parish he was from. I have wondered if this meant that both bride and groom were of the same parish, or did the vicar simply omit to record where John Thorn sailed in from in a busy maritime city such as Plymouth. I have no evidence either way, all I know is that they married after banns had been called and in the Parish Register for Charles Plymouth in the year 1794 and their marriage entry is No: 60.

On the 28 September 1794, however, their first born son John Branton Thorn was baptised at St.Saviours Dartmouth (IGI C050791) which suggests that they moved to this Devon coastal town just after they got married. Was this a case of returning to the groom’s town to live? Or was it where his job took him?

Working back a generation I would now like to identify John’s baptism and then his parents marriage and baptisms. First I need to know John’s age as this information is not given in the marriage register. That is a typical state of affairs for an English Parish Register where very sparse amounts of detail are given. The exception is for the entries to be found in a Dade or Barrington style Church Records, which are named after the clergymen who tried to introduce more fulsome registers, having some success in Yorkshire for a period.

Back to the subject ofÂ John and Sarah Thorn in Devon. By searching in the microfiche records of church registers for Dartmouth, at the Devon County Record Office at Moor Hall in Exeter, I have now discovered the burial of one Sarah Thorn of Townstal (the name given to the Parish of St Clement in Dartmouth and the mother church of St Saviours) on June the 21^st in 1818 at the age of 50 in the St Saviours register for 1818, entry No:190.

I went back through the registers and the Bishop’s Transcripts for 1811 for Townstal and I then found one John Thorne buried on May the 19^th 1811.

I also found a John Thorn buried in St Saviours in 1810 (page 19) who was born in 1769. Could any of these be my ancestors?

Looking at baptisms for any John Thorn around the time of 1768/9 or so I see that Find My Past has some Devon Church Records that can be usefully accessed on line. There is none for the date in question at Dartmouth, but one in Dorset may be a possibility.

My next thought is to check to see if I can find the banns book for Charles in Plymouth and also the one for Dartmouth to see if this provides me with any more clues about where John and Sarah came from and to also check now for baptisms using the microfiche at the County Record office in Exeter.

It is a good idea that you periodically revisit any brick walls that you have as new data may have become available and your skills in family history may have improved since the last time you dusted off the problem. In the next few weeks I am planning a visit the County Record Office to see if I am able to push my tree back another generation.

Watch this space!

The family history websites that I find really useful are Find My Past and The Genealogist.co.uk. To take your family history further I recommend that you to consider a subscription to these websites. Take a look now and see what great data sets they have to offer

Disclosure: The Links in the above are Compensated Affiliate links. If you click on them then I may be rewarded by Findmypast.co.uk or The Genealogist.co.uk should you sign up for their subscriptions.

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Today I wanted to look at Clandestine marriages!

Well what are they you cry?

The answer is that “Clandestine” marriages wereÂ weddings that perhaps had an element of secrecy attached to them.

They may have taken place in another part of the country away fromÂ a home parish, and probably without either banns being read or aÂ marriage licence obtained. The secrecy could have been for allÂ sorts of reasons for example lack of parental consent; or moreÂ salaciously where bigamy was involved.

The facts that fees were paid to the clergymen meant that some wereÂ willing to conduct such marriage ceremonies. What is more theÂ number of such unions were quite enormous, particularly in London.

You will find that certain churches were important centres for suchÂ “trade”and in the 1740s, over half of all London weddings wereÂ taking place in the environs of the Fleet Prison and not all theÂ brides and grooms would have been from the capital city.

“Fleet Marriages” were performed by bogus priests and disgracedÂ ordained clergy. Although there were most probably earlier ones,Â the earliest Fleet Marriage on record is 1613, while the earliestÂ recorded in a Fleet Register took place in 1674.

The Fleet was a jail and so, as such, claimed to be outside theÂ jurisdiction of the church. The prison warders took a share of theÂ profit, even though a statute of 1711 imposed fines upon them forÂ doing so. What this did was move the clandestine marriage tradeÂ outside of the prison. It was in the lawless environs of the FleetÂ that many debtors lived and some of them may well have beenÂ disgraced clergymen. Marriage houses or taverns now carried on theÂ trade, encouraged by local hostelry keepers who sought out businessÂ by employing touts to actively solicit custom for them.

If you wish to search for these Clandestine marriages on line thenÂ you are in luck as you can find them at: www.ancestry.co.uk (Disclosure: Compensated Affiliate.)TheirÂ London Marriage Licences data set allows you access to the detailsÂ of more than 25,000 marriages in London spanning four centuries.

This collection is not just about “Fleet marriages” but is forÂ unions made outside church approval – those away from the spouses’Â normal parish and often you will be able to find the names ofÂ brides and grooms, parents and witnesses as well as residence, ageÂ of spouses and the occupation of the groom. This collection hasÂ marriage licences granted in the dioceses of London by the Bishop’sÂ office from 1521 to 1828, the Dean and Chapter of Westminster’sÂ office from 1599 to 1699 and two offices of the Archbishop ofÂ Canterbury from 1543 to 1869 and 1660 to 1679 and so is anÂ important resource for the family historian.

Take a look at Ancestry.co.uk.

Disclosure: Compensated Affiliate.

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