New online prison records a "must" for convict research

I recently gave a talk on finding convicts online. I spoke about the useful details that can often be found in prison and hulk registers and gave an example of the wonderful information that I had found years ago about my ancestor, Charles Christmas, in the register of the Cumberland hulk.

The register of convicts in the hulk Cumberland, moored at Chatham, with gaoler's reports, 1830-1833 is at The National Archives UK, reference ADM6/418. The register had been filmed as part of the Australian Joint Copying Project, but it took a long time to search and eventually find my ancestor. I was very lucky as this register gives details of place of birth and the address of parents which I had not been able to find in any other record.

Fortunately, this and many other prison and hulk records are now indexed and available online at findmypast.co.uk with more to come over the coming months.

Here is a taste of what can be found, using Charles Christmas' entry in the Cumberland register of 1831 as an example:


Number:                         1314
Name:                            Charles Christmas
Age:                               22
Offence:                         Uttering a forged order for goods
Convicted
    When:                        12 May 1831
    Where:                       Old Bailey
Sentence:                       14
Character from Gaoler:   Here before
How Disposed of:            VDL Lord Lyndoch 14 July 1831
Where Born
    Town:                          Eagle Street, Holborn
    County:                       Middlesex
Hair:                                Dark Brown
Eyes:                               Light Grey
Eyebrows & Lashes:        Dark Brown
Nose:                              Com.
Mouth:                            Com.
Compl:                            Dark
Visage:                            Long
Make:                              Mid
Marrd. or Single              Single
Height
    Ft:                              5
    Inches:                       3
Read or Write:                Both
Trade:                            Labourer
Remarks:                       Lower part of the face very narrow. Pitted with the small pox scar on the left side of the forehead. Right arm C.O.M. B.K.S. Left arm CCMB. Rope and anchor.
Address:                         Parents lives (sic) at No. 16 Berwick Street, Soho, London.

Good Hunting!

My great grandfather's tragic death in Manchester

My great grandfather, Ernest Evans, died on this day ninety three years ago at the age of 54. He lived in Manchester where he was a stocktaker at a cotton warehouse owned by Horrocks Crewdson.

I had known that Ernest died in 1919 but had never bothered to get his death certificate. As most of his sons and grandsons had  died from or suffered heart attacks I thought that this was most likely the cause of his death. However, having learnt from past experiences that assumptions should never be made when researching family history, I finally decided that I might as well obtain his death certificate.

When the death certificate arrived I opened the envelope thinking that it probably wouldn't be of much interest. I skimmed across the first few columns and then came to the "Cause of death". I was stunned. "Suicide by hanging in the dwelling house". There was also information that a certificate had been received from the Manchester coroner following an inquest on 18th July 1919.

I started searching for details of the inquest hoping that it might shed some light on why Ernest was driven to hang himself, but unfortunately the inquest records for Manchester at that time haven't survived. I also searched newspapers available online, including those in the British Newspaper Archive, but was unable to find any reports of his inquest.

Why did he commit suicide? Maybe the end of the First World War the year before he died had something to do with it. Many men were returning home looking for jobs, so older workers might have lost their jobs. The British cotton industry was in decline which would have made matters worse in places like Manchester.

I would be grateful for any help in finding out why my great grandfather died so tragically.

Agricultural labourers found in old newspapers

There were nearly 1.5 million agricultural labourers, farm servants and shepherds listed in the 1851 English census - the most common occupation group. Agricultural labourers were often described as "Ag Labs" in the census. I had always pictured my agricultural labourers from Somerset as wearing smocks and floppy hats, drinking cider and working for the local Squire.

I was searching in the online British Newspaper Archive and decided to try looking for my Napper family from the South Petherton area of Somerset. I had previously searched without success in other British online newspaper sites. Much to my surprise I found some of my Napper relations in the Western Flying Post, Sherborne and Yeovil Mercury.

In the edition of October 20 1849, for example, there is a report of the annual meeting of the Chard, Crewekerne and Ilminster Labourers Friend Society at which awards were presented to "deserving labourers". According to the report:

"One of the prizemen was deserving of particular notice, his name was Charles Napper of Lopen, he had brought up twelve children without parochial relief, for which on a former occasion he received a prize from the Society: he now received a prize for long service. His wages averaged about eight or nine shillings a week."

In another article in the November 10 1849 edition of the same newspaper there is a report of the annual meeting of the South Petherton Agricultural Society. In this report over twenty labourers who won prizes are listed together with the names of their employees.

My ancestor James Napper, who was described as an agricultural labourer in the 1851 census, was found in an advertisement for a land auction at South Petherton in the September 3 1850 edition of the Sherborne and Yeovil Mercury. Details were given of four pieces of land that he was leasing at Watergore.

I've found the British Newspaper Archive to be a great resource and I'm sure that there are many more "Ag Labs" waiting to be found.

150th Anniversary of the Departure of the Boanerges

One hundred and fifty years ago today two young married couples and about 450 other emigrants left Southampton for Australia on the Boanerges.  The ship sailed on the evening of Tuesday March 18th 1862. The temperature was about 40°F, and an east to northeasterly wind was blowing. By the next morning a mist had set in, however, there was no rain. The emigrants started their voyage on a relatively calm sea.

The two couples were sisters Eliza NAPPER and Fanny NAPPER and their new husbands, Robert DENMAN and Simeon IRELAND. Both couples had married a week earlier at South Petherton, Somerset. Eliza and Fanny had visited a studio with their mother to have their photograph taken shortly before departure. They never saw their mother or father again. Simeon and Fanny IRELAND were my great great grandparents.

I have written an article about this voyage which I am happy to send to anyone who is interested.

Apprenticeship Records Help to Find a Birthplace

Richard Purnell was a cordwainer in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire. He married Ann Powell in Monmouthshire in 1744, but his birthplace was a mystery. There were very few Purnells living in or near Abergavenny and none appeared to be related to Richard. There were a couple of potential candidates for his baptism but I had not been able to confirm which was the Richard of Abergavenny - until I checked the UK Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices' Indentures, 1710-1811 on Ancestry.co.uk. Images of the original Apprentice Books from The National Archives, UK series IR1 are now available online.

I found that Richard son of Elianor Purnell had been apprenticed to John Everett of Dursley, Gloucestershire, cordwainer, on 28 April 1730. This tied in nicely with the baptism of Richard Purnell, son of Thomas and Elinor, in the neighbouring parish of North Nibley on 20 January 1716/17. Together with other information gathered since, I have now confirmed that this is the Richard who later moved to Abergavenny.

English and Welsh Poor Law Union and Workhouse Records Online

The National Archives UK website has recently added a searchable index of records of 23 Poor Law Unions in England and Wales. Images of the original records can be downloaded free. The records start in 1834 and extend to 1871 in some cases.

The records don't just include the names of the poor, for example, the Truro Poor Law Union has a "Statement of Medical Officers' and Schoolmaster's and Schoolmistresses's Salaries" for the Quarter ended Christmas 1848.

I've already found a petition from several residents of St Agnes in Cornwall (including one of my Boundy family members) requesting that the parish should not be moved to the Camborne Union.

I'm sure there is lots more to be found.

Travelling on the Sophocles to Australia in 1923

My grandparents emigrated to Australia from England in 1923 with their two young sons. They had great hopes of creating a new life for themselves on a farm in Victoria. They sailed from England on 12 September 1923 on the Sophocles.

Here are some of the passengers on board the ship.

Passengers on the Sophocles

The Sophocles at sea