And there's always the old family photo albums to flick through, bringing back memories and the annual anecdotes.
Here are a few names and faces from my old albums.
Friday 23 December 2011
Faces from the old albums
Christmas is a time for being with and catching up with family, all those Round Robin newsletters, the cards from cousins you barely keep in touch with ...
And there's always the old family photo albums to flick through, bringing back memories and the annual anecdotes.
Here are a few names and faces from my old albums.
Top pic shows Charles Holder and his son Percy; middle pic is Frances M Bates; bottom pic is Marion (nee Bates) Holder. Marion and Frances were sister sof my great grandfather John P Bates, seen below.
And there's always the old family photo albums to flick through, bringing back memories and the annual anecdotes.
Here are a few names and faces from my old albums.
Thursday 22 December 2011
Death on the track
My father's lifelong passion for steam railways stems from his own father's and grandfather's connection with the M&GN railway: both worked their way up from porters to become signalmen, working across East Anglia.
Today, through a contact on Genesreunited, I discovered that we have another railway connection. My great grandmother's uncle, William Crowson, was hit and killed by a steam engine at March railway station, Cambridgehsire at 12.45pm on 29 October 1908.
From an old newspaper cutting sent to me by the new contact, a distant cousin, it is clear that William died in a tragic accident when he momentarily lost concentration crossing the tracks after a nine hour shift as a goods engine driver. He had lived at March for over 26 years, and left a widow in her 50s and a large family.
A sad end to a railway career.
Today, through a contact on Genesreunited, I discovered that we have another railway connection. My great grandmother's uncle, William Crowson, was hit and killed by a steam engine at March railway station, Cambridgehsire at 12.45pm on 29 October 1908.
From an old newspaper cutting sent to me by the new contact, a distant cousin, it is clear that William died in a tragic accident when he momentarily lost concentration crossing the tracks after a nine hour shift as a goods engine driver. He had lived at March for over 26 years, and left a widow in her 50s and a large family.
A sad end to a railway career.
Tuesday 20 December 2011
Monday 28 November 2011
Long lost cousins - discovered at last?
My grandma is 90 next year and her sister turns 88 in January. Their mother, Bertha, died in 1925 and neither of them remember her face. They had no contact with their maternal family after their mother died and were raised by their father and stepmother.
My grandma has (or had) just one memory relating to her mother's family. She could recall walking along a street in Bolton, holding her father's hand and knowing she was off to see Aunt Martha.
That memory must date from when my grandma was no older than 4.5 years. Bertha died aged 31 in June 1925, leaving two daughters under the age of four, her parents were dead but she had sisters - at least one of whom, Martha, was alive. However, both Martha and her husband died in autumn 1926 - when Martha was only 43.
For years I couldn't trace Bertha and Martha's two sisters - Jane and Edith. Then I found in the 1911 census that Edith was actually called Ada. More years passed but no news of either sister.
Until today. And once more I owe it all to Probate records! I was browsing the Wills on Ancestry and found one for Martha - in the Admin note it named her son Robert and an Edward Holgarth. A new name! A neighbour, a friend - a relation of her dead husband? Or - pot of gold - a relation of one of her sisters?
A quick search for Edward Holgarth revealed he married my grandma's aunt Ada in 1916 and had one daughter - a cousin! - in the 1920s. She went on to have two daughters and died in 1943, aged 55.
So now the hunt continues for eldest sister Jane Elizabeth Chadwick...
My grandma has (or had) just one memory relating to her mother's family. She could recall walking along a street in Bolton, holding her father's hand and knowing she was off to see Aunt Martha.
That memory must date from when my grandma was no older than 4.5 years. Bertha died aged 31 in June 1925, leaving two daughters under the age of four, her parents were dead but she had sisters - at least one of whom, Martha, was alive. However, both Martha and her husband died in autumn 1926 - when Martha was only 43.
For years I couldn't trace Bertha and Martha's two sisters - Jane and Edith. Then I found in the 1911 census that Edith was actually called Ada. More years passed but no news of either sister.
Until today. And once more I owe it all to Probate records! I was browsing the Wills on Ancestry and found one for Martha - in the Admin note it named her son Robert and an Edward Holgarth. A new name! A neighbour, a friend - a relation of her dead husband? Or - pot of gold - a relation of one of her sisters?
A quick search for Edward Holgarth revealed he married my grandma's aunt Ada in 1916 and had one daughter - a cousin! - in the 1920s. She went on to have two daughters and died in 1943, aged 55.
So now the hunt continues for eldest sister Jane Elizabeth Chadwick...
Tuesday 22 November 2011
Family tree research knowledge
After 24 years of family tree research, it seems my experience is worth something! Today I undertook a consumer workshop for a website design company employed by a history website, the aim of which was to iron out issues with a proposed redesign. It was fun and also interesting to hear my own answers to questions about my research methods, interests and needs.
Monday 21 November 2011
Real life gets in the way
Real life gets in the way of my hobby, hence not having done much family tree since April or May. My excuse is that I spent quite a lot of the summer on the world's most remote inhabited island, Tristan da Cunha. A British Overseas Territory, there are 262 islanders - and only seven surnames. The musuem features and 'island family tree' on its wall, showing how all the islanders are related, right back to the founding father, William Glass, who settled there in 1815.
I certainly got my family tree fix on that trip!
I certainly got my family tree fix on that trip!
Wednesday 27 April 2011
Bates
Most people know at least one person with my surname - in my life, I've gone to school with, lived next door to and worked with people called Bates. Movie stars and authors boast the name. At least two of my close friends have Bates ancestors (I've done their trees). But none of us is related.
I know this because I have traced my Bates line back nine generations to Joseph Bates who lived in Great Witchingham, Norfolk. To find a possible link to any other living Bates* I have to go back five generations: my great x 3 grandfather William had two older brothers, and the male offspring of the elder brother were producing male Bateses into the 20th century.
Since I started researching my family history way back in 1987, it was clear that Joseph Bates was at the top of the tree - in 24 years I've not been able to establish where he came from. Until today! I need to check the registers as the information has been gleaned from Archdeacons Transcripts (ATs) available free online at FamilySearch.org but the information makes sense...
Tree-topping 'Joseph Beates' married Hannah Miller at a central Norwich church in 1736, both parties noted as 'of Great Witchingham', and their only child John Bates was baptised in Great Witchingham in 1738. Hannah died when her son was very small as Joseph took a second wife, Sarah Fuller, at Great Witchingham in 1739, going on to have eight children with her. Joseph died in 1766, Sarah in 1769.
It appears that the tree-topper was baptised at Felthorpe, Norfolk on 10 January 1707/08, the son of Joseph and Mary Bates. Felthorpe is close to Great Witchingham and the age would fit. Also, John (born 1738) is documented in various sources as owning property and land in Felthorpe, assets that he could have inherited (wills and court rolls need to be checked).
The ATs also reveal that Joseph's father was dead by the time he was born: Joseph Bates was buried on 28 August 1707 - four and a half months before his son's baptism.
Checking FreeREG, there is a possible marriage of Joseph's parents: Joseph Beates married Mary Parker of Swannington in 1705 at Wood Dalling. Both villages are neighbours of both Great Witchingham and Felthorpe. The Parkers of Swannington can be traced back to the 1640s.
So, I now have a different Joseph Bates atop my family tree!
*Strictly, there is one in addition to me and my dad: the unmarried granddaughter of my great grandfather's brother is called Bates and lives in Nova Scotia.
I know this because I have traced my Bates line back nine generations to Joseph Bates who lived in Great Witchingham, Norfolk. To find a possible link to any other living Bates* I have to go back five generations: my great x 3 grandfather William had two older brothers, and the male offspring of the elder brother were producing male Bateses into the 20th century.
Since I started researching my family history way back in 1987, it was clear that Joseph Bates was at the top of the tree - in 24 years I've not been able to establish where he came from. Until today! I need to check the registers as the information has been gleaned from Archdeacons Transcripts (ATs) available free online at FamilySearch.org but the information makes sense...
Tree-topping 'Joseph Beates' married Hannah Miller at a central Norwich church in 1736, both parties noted as 'of Great Witchingham', and their only child John Bates was baptised in Great Witchingham in 1738. Hannah died when her son was very small as Joseph took a second wife, Sarah Fuller, at Great Witchingham in 1739, going on to have eight children with her. Joseph died in 1766, Sarah in 1769.
It appears that the tree-topper was baptised at Felthorpe, Norfolk on 10 January 1707/08, the son of Joseph and Mary Bates. Felthorpe is close to Great Witchingham and the age would fit. Also, John (born 1738) is documented in various sources as owning property and land in Felthorpe, assets that he could have inherited (wills and court rolls need to be checked).
The ATs also reveal that Joseph's father was dead by the time he was born: Joseph Bates was buried on 28 August 1707 - four and a half months before his son's baptism.
Checking FreeREG, there is a possible marriage of Joseph's parents: Joseph Beates married Mary Parker of Swannington in 1705 at Wood Dalling. Both villages are neighbours of both Great Witchingham and Felthorpe. The Parkers of Swannington can be traced back to the 1640s.
So, I now have a different Joseph Bates atop my family tree!
*Strictly, there is one in addition to me and my dad: the unmarried granddaughter of my great grandfather's brother is called Bates and lives in Nova Scotia.
Saturday 23 April 2011
Liverpool leads
I'm not a Scouser. I sometimes describe myself as a Brummy, but then I did spend almost ten years in the city as a child and teenager and my parents still live there. But I am definately not a Scouser.
However, since being a very small child I've known that my maternal grandmother's father was born in Toxteth Park - making him a Liverpudlian by birth. In a family of secrets, this was one fact (about the only one) that was common knowledge. Even before I became interested (ok, obsessed) with my family history, I had researched enough to know that Toxteth Park was a rather rough and ready district, down by the docks.
My great grandfather Tommy Meehan was born in 1884 in Toxteth Park. Two years later his sister Annie followed. Before Tommy and after Annie, all the children in this Irish Catholic family were born in Bolton - where their parents had married in 1872. So why the move to Liverpool for a few years? I'd always assumed it was an economic move: 'let's try life in the big city, can't be worse than this mill town!'. But then they went back to Bolton, so maybe it was that bad after all.
Or were there other reasons for the family move? Recent Catholic church records published by Ancestry.co.uk reveal that Tommy and Annie were both christened in Our Lady of Mount Carmel church in Toxteth; they were born at different addresses (which supports the evidence that the family moved regularly - moonlight flits, maybe?); and best of all - their godmothers were Meehans, too.
Until this point, I had no information about Meehans in England prior to the 1872 wedding and that great grandfather Tommy was named after his father and grandfather (gleaned from certificates).
The records reveal that my great grandfather's godparents were Mary Meehan and Patrick McMara; Annie's godparents were Esther Meehan and Bernard Caufield.
So - two new Meehans!
Initial research suggests there are two Esther Meehans to consider: firstly, the wife of John Meehan (born Esther Hatch), and secondly, the wife of another Thomas Meehan. The latter had two children in the same years as my Tommy and Annie and on both occasions recorded an address within three doors of my Meehan family. Were there cousins called Thomas Meehan, both in Liverpool in the mid-1880s, and is that why my great grandfather's parents moved to Liverpool, to join their extended family?
As always, one genealogical answer throws up many further questions!
However, since being a very small child I've known that my maternal grandmother's father was born in Toxteth Park - making him a Liverpudlian by birth. In a family of secrets, this was one fact (about the only one) that was common knowledge. Even before I became interested (ok, obsessed) with my family history, I had researched enough to know that Toxteth Park was a rather rough and ready district, down by the docks.
My great grandfather Tommy Meehan was born in 1884 in Toxteth Park. Two years later his sister Annie followed. Before Tommy and after Annie, all the children in this Irish Catholic family were born in Bolton - where their parents had married in 1872. So why the move to Liverpool for a few years? I'd always assumed it was an economic move: 'let's try life in the big city, can't be worse than this mill town!'. But then they went back to Bolton, so maybe it was that bad after all.
Or were there other reasons for the family move? Recent Catholic church records published by Ancestry.co.uk reveal that Tommy and Annie were both christened in Our Lady of Mount Carmel church in Toxteth; they were born at different addresses (which supports the evidence that the family moved regularly - moonlight flits, maybe?); and best of all - their godmothers were Meehans, too.
Until this point, I had no information about Meehans in England prior to the 1872 wedding and that great grandfather Tommy was named after his father and grandfather (gleaned from certificates).
The records reveal that my great grandfather's godparents were Mary Meehan and Patrick McMara; Annie's godparents were Esther Meehan and Bernard Caufield.
So - two new Meehans!
Initial research suggests there are two Esther Meehans to consider: firstly, the wife of John Meehan (born Esther Hatch), and secondly, the wife of another Thomas Meehan. The latter had two children in the same years as my Tommy and Annie and on both occasions recorded an address within three doors of my Meehan family. Were there cousins called Thomas Meehan, both in Liverpool in the mid-1880s, and is that why my great grandfather's parents moved to Liverpool, to join their extended family?
As always, one genealogical answer throws up many further questions!
Monday 11 April 2011
Norfolk news - an Indian connection!
Just back from four glorious days in Norfolk exploring the churches, attractions, pubs and railways that make the county such an idyllic English getaway.
On a visit to Great Witchingham church, more of a pilgrimage to see the Bates family graves we first discovered 24 years ago - and carefully transcribed and photographed then - we got a shock.
Re-reading one of the tombstones, it struck me that the death place of the deceased (Thomas Bates, brother of my great x 3 grandfather) was noted as Ranpore in India. I gawped! Inside the church we found a transcription of the memorials (newly placed since our last visit in April 2010) that duly noted the Indian connection.
Thomas was a carpenter in his early 70s in Lenwade in the 1871 census, living with his spinster daughter. His wife had died a few months before. With 15 months of the census, he has travelled to and died at Ranpore in India.
How on earth can I explian that!
Tuesday 15 March 2011
Birthday
Happy Birthday to me. And today I remember my great aunt Freda, my lovely Aunty Freda, who told me wonderful stories, was great company and provided a link to my ancestors.When I held her hand I knew that hand had once ben held by people born in the 1820s. Amazing.
So here is Freda as a young woman (top) and on her 1930 wedding day with my grandparents and great grandparents (mad hat alert).Saturday 12 March 2011
Wedding Wall
The whole country has gone mad for the latest Royal Wedding, between Prince William and Kate...sorry, Catherine Middleton (what would be wrong with Queen Kate? It's not exactly as if the previous Queen Catherines had a lot of fun!).So here are some happy nuptials from my family tree, my own Wedding Wall.
First, the happy day in 1970 when my own wonderful parents tied the knot on a gusty August day in Blackburn. I have always marvelled that they married so young - my mother was 21.5 years old! Most of the people in the picture are now dead, the church is long gone and the town itself...well, if you've ever been to Blackburn no more needs to be said.
Back to Farnworth in 1920 and my great grandmother Bertha looks ever so slightly delirious with delight in her floppy hat and white dress. Great granddad Tommy Meehan had fought throughout WW1, ending up being rsponsible for the well-being of thousands of Chinese labourers brought over (enslaved) to dig trenches.The others in the picture are two of his sisters, Polly Critchely and Rose Littler (left), and brother in law James Littler. Shortly after this, Rose emigrated to Canada while Tommy & Bertha named their first daughter (my grandma) after her.
Summer 1935 in Whaplode, Lincolnshire and the wedding day of my grandparents Geoff and Ruby. Gathered here we have a jolly little band of (left to right): Desmond, Tony & Richard Warner (my gran's half brothers); Denzyl Cartledge (my father's cousin) and Nancy Hewson (my gran's cousin).The happy couple honeymooned in Wales and lived in Whaplode for a few years before moving to Spalding, where my dad came along. He stayed in contact with Nancy, and her daughter Diane can be seen on the church steps in the top photo.
Wednesday 9 February 2011
Uncle Albert Edward Bates in India
A splendid and evocative photograph of my great x2 uncle Albert Edward Bates, taken in India in the early 20th century. Possibly the only Bates to wear a pith helmet! A well travelled man, he was born in Norfolk, served in India and The Cape, and then spent many years in Canada where he died.
Monday 7 February 2011
Missing Thirtle
What is a Thirtle?
A Thirtle is one of, if not the most elusive of ancestors! Over two decades the Thirtle (first name Charlotte) has eluded me, foiling my quest to name all of my great grandmother Mabel's great grandparents' parents (I know, I should get out more).
So, Charlotte Thirtle (or Thurtle) - where are you? This is what I know about her.
Married on 17 October 1819 at Horsford in Norfolk to James Booty, Charlotte Thurtle was about twenty years old. A woman who would appear to be her sister, Susannah, witnessed the wedding along with the groom's brother, Thomas. Susannah had been baptised in Horsford in June 1798, as had her siblings William (bp1791), James (bp1794) and Elizabeth (bp1810) - children of James Thirtle and his wife Ann. No baptism for Charlotte, though.
Late 1821 brought Charlotte's first child, John Booty, and he was baptised privately* on Christmas Day. On 6 January 1823, Susannah Thirtle married Thomas Booty at Horsford - two sisters married to two brothers, all living in the same village. Cosy.
But then just weeks later tragedy struck the Booty family: James, aged just 24 years, died and was buried on 19 February 1823, leaving Charlotte a very young widow with a toddler. Charlotte carried on with life and on 2 August 1824 married her second husband, a man originally from outside the village called John Jarvis. He was from nearby Corpusty and was 21.
Their son, James William Jarvis, was baptised privately on 15 May 1825 - a cousin for Martha Booty (Susannah and Thomas's first daughter).
November 1826 was a momentus month. On 12 November, Susannah and Thomas had their second daughter Charlotte (after her aunt, I believe) privately baptised. The two sisters now had four children between them: Charlotte with two boys and Susannah with two girls. A week later at Horsford, on 19 November 1826, Susannah buried both her husband and her sister.
Thomas Booty had died in Horsford aged 31 years and his sister in law Charlotte Jarvis - who had moved to her husband's village of Corpusty - had died aged just 27 years. Poor Susannah must have been beside herself.
It appears that Charlotte's older son, John Booty, remained in Horsford and lived with his maternal grandparents James Thirtle (died 1832) and Ann (nee Woodcock, died 1843) - he was living with his widowed grandmother for the 1841 census. His half brother James William Jarvis was raised by his father John and stepmother: within three months of Charlotte's death John had foudn a new wife in Maria Wright alias Bird** whom he married at Corpusty on 4 February 1827. James William Jarvis grew up, married and had ten children; he died aged 87 years in March 1912. His father John and stepmother Maria died within days of each other in January 1863.
Widowed Susannah Booty remarried, on 28 December 1828, and by her second husband James Doughty had a son James (who died in infancy) and a daughter Elizabeth before she died, aged 34 years, in May 1833. James Doughty himself died aged 33 years in November 1834.
So the story of Charlotte Thirtle is one of tragically early demises. Having searched the registers of Horsford to no avail, I'll keep checking other parishes in the hope of finding her baptism and the proof that Charlotte was the sister of Susannah, and daughter of James and Ann.
*Private baptisms for the labouring classes occurred when the child was perhaps not expected to survive. The act was undertaken either at the child's home or that of the curate or Minister. The child had then to be received in church at some point - if it survived. If it didn't, it could be buried in consecrated ground.
** Maria Wright was the illegitimate daughter of Margaret Wright, baptised at Briston in 1805 (so aged 22 when she married Jarvis); Margaret married Thomas Bird in Corpusty in 1828 (register reference to 'Maria Wright alias Bird' predates Margaret's and Thomas's wedding).
A Thirtle is one of, if not the most elusive of ancestors! Over two decades the Thirtle (first name Charlotte) has eluded me, foiling my quest to name all of my great grandmother Mabel's great grandparents' parents (I know, I should get out more).
So, Charlotte Thirtle (or Thurtle) - where are you? This is what I know about her.
Married on 17 October 1819 at Horsford in Norfolk to James Booty, Charlotte Thurtle was about twenty years old. A woman who would appear to be her sister, Susannah, witnessed the wedding along with the groom's brother, Thomas. Susannah had been baptised in Horsford in June 1798, as had her siblings William (bp1791), James (bp1794) and Elizabeth (bp1810) - children of James Thirtle and his wife Ann. No baptism for Charlotte, though.
Late 1821 brought Charlotte's first child, John Booty, and he was baptised privately* on Christmas Day. On 6 January 1823, Susannah Thirtle married Thomas Booty at Horsford - two sisters married to two brothers, all living in the same village. Cosy.
But then just weeks later tragedy struck the Booty family: James, aged just 24 years, died and was buried on 19 February 1823, leaving Charlotte a very young widow with a toddler. Charlotte carried on with life and on 2 August 1824 married her second husband, a man originally from outside the village called John Jarvis. He was from nearby Corpusty and was 21.
Their son, James William Jarvis, was baptised privately on 15 May 1825 - a cousin for Martha Booty (Susannah and Thomas's first daughter).
November 1826 was a momentus month. On 12 November, Susannah and Thomas had their second daughter Charlotte (after her aunt, I believe) privately baptised. The two sisters now had four children between them: Charlotte with two boys and Susannah with two girls. A week later at Horsford, on 19 November 1826, Susannah buried both her husband and her sister.
Thomas Booty had died in Horsford aged 31 years and his sister in law Charlotte Jarvis - who had moved to her husband's village of Corpusty - had died aged just 27 years. Poor Susannah must have been beside herself.
It appears that Charlotte's older son, John Booty, remained in Horsford and lived with his maternal grandparents James Thirtle (died 1832) and Ann (nee Woodcock, died 1843) - he was living with his widowed grandmother for the 1841 census. His half brother James William Jarvis was raised by his father John and stepmother: within three months of Charlotte's death John had foudn a new wife in Maria Wright alias Bird** whom he married at Corpusty on 4 February 1827. James William Jarvis grew up, married and had ten children; he died aged 87 years in March 1912. His father John and stepmother Maria died within days of each other in January 1863.
Widowed Susannah Booty remarried, on 28 December 1828, and by her second husband James Doughty had a son James (who died in infancy) and a daughter Elizabeth before she died, aged 34 years, in May 1833. James Doughty himself died aged 33 years in November 1834.
So the story of Charlotte Thirtle is one of tragically early demises. Having searched the registers of Horsford to no avail, I'll keep checking other parishes in the hope of finding her baptism and the proof that Charlotte was the sister of Susannah, and daughter of James and Ann.
*Private baptisms for the labouring classes occurred when the child was perhaps not expected to survive. The act was undertaken either at the child's home or that of the curate or Minister. The child had then to be received in church at some point - if it survived. If it didn't, it could be buried in consecrated ground.
** Maria Wright was the illegitimate daughter of Margaret Wright, baptised at Briston in 1805 (so aged 22 when she married Jarvis); Margaret married Thomas Bird in Corpusty in 1828 (register reference to 'Maria Wright alias Bird' predates Margaret's and Thomas's wedding).
Friday 4 February 2011
The Hills are Alive! Well...
I made an old woman jump recently.
Picture the scene. An Archives search room, silent other than for the whirr of micro film readers and the occasional pencil sharpener.
Suddenly, the beardy and slightly youthful (compared to the other researchers, at least) amatuer family tree detective exclaims "YES!" followed by "Found you!". The little old lady fair jumped from her chair. Glares worthy of Paddington Bear over half moon specs ensued, although I'm sure I detected a knowing nod from one old chap who looked as if he was checking for his own baptism record from the mid-18th century.
Fellow geneal-addicts will recognise that this was a Eureka moment for me - I had found a long searched for lost ancestor. I found the lead in a Will and I wholeheartedly recommend researchers to check out Wills for information/confirmation of relationships and social status - even suggestions fo family feuds. Even if your own ancestors didn't write a Will (or have anything to leave!), do check out Wills from people in the same community as they may receive a legacy or be Executor/Executrix to an aunt - or a witness at the signing of a Will. Servants and friends are sometimes named.
Similarly, Terriers can provide great leads on where your ancestors' homes and lands were located.
My whoop of joy was caused by finding the Will of Francis Hill of Itteringham in Norfolk, dated 1689. He mentions his wife Barbary, five sons and several grandchildren. One of the grandsons is Henry Hill, who was at the very top of my family tree for over 20 years. So this single document has taken me back two generations (I think Francis Hill must have been born about 1620), provided a detailed overview of the wider family, where they lived and what they did - and also given me solid leads for tracing other Hill families in central Norfolk.
YES indeed!
Picture the scene. An Archives search room, silent other than for the whirr of micro film readers and the occasional pencil sharpener.
Suddenly, the beardy and slightly youthful (compared to the other researchers, at least) amatuer family tree detective exclaims "YES!" followed by "Found you!". The little old lady fair jumped from her chair. Glares worthy of Paddington Bear over half moon specs ensued, although I'm sure I detected a knowing nod from one old chap who looked as if he was checking for his own baptism record from the mid-18th century.
Fellow geneal-addicts will recognise that this was a Eureka moment for me - I had found a long searched for lost ancestor. I found the lead in a Will and I wholeheartedly recommend researchers to check out Wills for information/confirmation of relationships and social status - even suggestions fo family feuds. Even if your own ancestors didn't write a Will (or have anything to leave!), do check out Wills from people in the same community as they may receive a legacy or be Executor/Executrix to an aunt - or a witness at the signing of a Will. Servants and friends are sometimes named.
Similarly, Terriers can provide great leads on where your ancestors' homes and lands were located.
My whoop of joy was caused by finding the Will of Francis Hill of Itteringham in Norfolk, dated 1689. He mentions his wife Barbary, five sons and several grandchildren. One of the grandsons is Henry Hill, who was at the very top of my family tree for over 20 years. So this single document has taken me back two generations (I think Francis Hill must have been born about 1620), provided a detailed overview of the wider family, where they lived and what they did - and also given me solid leads for tracing other Hill families in central Norfolk.
YES indeed!
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