Blog
Archive for January, 2012
Ask the Expert – name change
Our resident expert Stephen Rigden, pictured below, answers your queries.
From Ron Bowyer:
‘I have Leonard Ernest Perschky (born in Camberwell in the fourth quarter of 1910) marrying Bertha Annie Geen (born in Lambeth in the first quarter of 1918) in the fourth quarter of 1938. I have been unable to find their deaths.
I have found a Leonard Ernest Percy, born on 11 December 1910 who died in Lambeth in the first quarter of 1971 and Bertha Agnes Percy, born on 18 February 1918 and died in Southwark in August 1995. It is possible they changed their name by deed poll? Can I accept these as the same people?
I also have a Henry Sidney Perschky, born in the second quarter of 1894 in Hackney. He does not show up in any records after the 1911 census. I have found a Henry Sidney Percy, born 2 May 1894 who died in Hackney in the fourth quarter of 1872. Again, is it safe to accept him as the same person?’
Stephen says:
‘Dear Ron, thanks for your question. This looks like a very interesting family and I must confess that I had expected them to have been mid-19th century immigrants. The census returns back to 1841, however, show the whole family with London and Middlesex places of birth and solidly Anglo-Saxon names (rather than, say, Jewish or Slavic).
I would imagine that if you take research back into the 18th century, however, you will discover German roots (although not necessarily from within the borders of modern Germany – they may perhaps have been from what is today Poland or the detached Kaliningrad oblast of Russia). You will of course need to consider name variants along the way – by which I mean, as well as clerical misspellings, names rendered in different orthographies but phonetically identical, such as Perschke and Pershke.
This brings us on to your specific question. The short answer is yes: I am reasonably confident that the index entries you have found under the last name Percy relate to the Perschky births. Sometimes where there has been a formal or informal change of name, this will be recorded on the death certificate.
When this is the case, however, the General Register Office customarily indexed the entry under both the original and the assumed last name, and I assume this isn’t the case here, or you would have found the entries under Perschky. The surest way to advance research to the point of confidence and prove your assumptions would be to obtain all certificates, birth and death, to verify the matching dates.
My understanding is that changes of name by deed poll were the exception rather than the rule in the early and mid-20th century. Many people changed their name informally. Others did go through a solicitor and obtained a deed poll but did not publish it. The copies were held by the individual and the solicitor, and not registered or lodged anywhere, meaning that (unless they are held in family papers) they become untraceable.
There was (and still is) no legal requirement to enroll or lodge a deed anywhere. It is true that The National Archives has a collection of deed polls under shelf references C54 and J18, which has been accessioned from the Supreme Court, and that, from 1914 onwards, these same enrolled deeds were also published in the London Gazette (searchable online at www.london-gazette.co.uk/search). It is unlikely, however, that TNA’s collection exceeds five per cent of all name changes within the period it covers (1851 to circa 2003).
There can be various reasons underlying a change of surname. Sometimes it is for pragmatic reasons of convenience – in other words, to make the name easier for others to pronounce and to no longer have to spell it out to them. Others change their name to escape prejudice, e.g., to have a less obviously German or Jewish name, or to escape a crime or shameful incident, or to cut ties with another branch of the family with which there has been an argument. Doubtless many findmypast.co.uk users would be able to suggest other reasons for a change of name from their own researches.’
If you’d like to send your question to our experts, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account. Unfortunately our experts only have time to answer a few queries each month. If yours wasn’t answered this time, you could be lucky next month!
Ask the Expert – Somerset soldier
Our resident military expert Paul Nixon, pictured below, answers your queries.
From Wendy Thomas in Australia:
‘I would like to obtain the Service Record for Elijah Francis who died and was buried on 27 July 1852 in Dinapore, Bengal, India. Elijah was aged 30 and his date of birth was given as 1822. He was a Corporal in HM 29th Regiment. I would like to find out if this Elijah Francis was born in Stoke Lane (Stoke St Michael) in Somerset on 16 January 1823 and baptised in that parish on 23 February 1823. His parents, Samuel and Ann Francis, moved to Bath in around 1830.
I obtained this information about his death and the film (number 98990) hoping it may provide more identifying information, but it did not. I would appreciate any assistance you may provide.’
Paul says:
‘Hello Wendy, thanks for your query. The 29th Regiment of Foot had been in India since 1842 and would only return to England in September 1859. In the interim, as well as venturing into Burma, the regiment took part in operations now known as the 1st Sikh War (1845-46), 2nd Sikh War (1848-49) and Indian Mutiny (1857-59).
Assuming that Elijah joined the regiment as a young man, the majority of his service would have been overseas and he may well have qualified for the Sutlej Campaign Medal and the Punjab Campaign Medal. Without a surviving service record for him you’ll need to see if he’s mentioned in a regimental description book. These survive in WO25 at The National Archives in England, pieces 266-688 covering Infantry of the Line, among others.
Descriptions typically give name, rank, regiment, height, age, description (complexion, hair colour, eye colour and sometimes “visage”), county where born, parish where born, trade and former service (where applicable). Here, it’s the where born and age which will enable you to tie him in to Stoke Lane in Somerset. You can call up these National Archives files yourself or engage a researcher to do this for you. While you’re at it, also have a look at WO12, the muster books and pay lists, as you’ll be able to track his career with the 29th through these.’
If you’d like to send your question to our experts, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account. Unfortunately our experts only have time to answer a few queries each month. If yours wasn’t answered this time, you could be lucky next month!
December newsletter competition winner
We’re pleased to announce the winner of our December newsletter competition. We asked you this question:
‘What is the name of the column in the 1911 census that tells us about our family’s health?’
Congratulations go to Diane Lyddon from Barnstaple who correctly answered ‘infirmity column’. Diane wins a brilliant Panasonic digital camera.
Thanks to everyone who entered – you’ll find the next competition question in our January newsletter, coming very soon.
brightsolid wins Best Genealogy Organisation of 2011 award
We’re very pleased to announce that our parent company, brightsolid, has been awarded Best Genealogy Organisation of 2011 in the GeneAwards 2011.
The award recognises the millions of new records that findmypast.co.uk published last year and highlights our investment in quality records. Also cited are the launch of findmypast Ireland and the British Newspaper Archive, as well as Find My Past the TV show.
See all the details of why we won
Search new London Docklands baptism records
We’ve just published 16,696 new London Docklands baptism records on findmypast.co.uk – excellent news for all of you with Docklands ancestors.
Further details of these baptism records are as follows:
St Dunstan, Stepney: 10,035 baptism entries spanning 1668-1679
Christchurch, Spitalfields: 6,661 baptism entries spanning 1843-1875
This brings the total amount of London docklands baptisms on findmypast.co.uk to 535,210. You can find full details of the coverage of these records in our knowledge base.
We are working on this ongoing project in association with Docklands Ancestors and will be publishing further updates in the coming months. Find out more about this project
Start Your Family Tree Week competition winners announced
We’re very pleased to announce the lucky winners of our Start Your Family Tree Week competition.
Our winners are:
Claire Stafford, Grant Feltham, Andrea Heath, Rachel Willis, Mary Napper, Katherine Walsh, Maureen Bowler, John Lock, Joanne Collins, Richard Wilson, Jill Marquis, Anne Brown, Christine Hughes, Diane Dare, Ruth Elizabeth Hogan, Diane Gow, Louise Booth, Brenda Wordsworth, Lorna P Cowan, Jane Cree, Steven Shaw, Mary de Burgh, Amanda Prowse, Scott Hamilton, James Stewart, Christine Bone, Christine Hodgetts, John Perfect, Sue Herrington, Janet Taylor, Ann Evans, Carole Davies, Rosemary Rowley, Janet Digby, Kate Taubman, Susan Steel, Jane Roberts, Margaret Lawrence, Leona Thomas, Julie Griffiths, Helen Scott, Laura Clarke, Richard Spencer, Roy Norris and Stuart McGee.
Our winners have been awarded some fantastic prizes – see what they won
Take a look at the correct answers to our questions:
26 December:
Q: How many generations can you record on our free family tree chart (including yourself)?
A: Four
27 December:
Q: Where was Merry Christmas born in 1874?
A: Midhurst, Sussex
28 December:
Q: How old is the one child named Mistletoe in the 1911 census?
A: 10
29 December:
Q: In what year did Joan Christmas marry Peter Tree?
A: 1956
30 December:
Q: How many people called Holly Berry are there in the 1901 census?
A: Two
31 December:
Q: According to ScotlandsPeoples’ occupations guide, what is a Laxfisher?
A: Salmon fisherman
1 January:
Q: What discount code will save you 10% on a findmypast.co.uk subscription until 31 January?
A: NEWYEAR12
Thanks to everyone who entered – we hope you enjoyed it!
New Cheshire parish burial records published
Search 3,749 new Cheshire parish burial records on findmypast.co.uk
These records could provide essential new information for those of you with Cheshire ancestors.
Further details are as follows:
Type of records: Burials
Number of records: 3,749
Date range: 1800-2002
Parish / place: Appleton
The Cheshire Family History Society provided findmypast.co.uk with these records, in association with the Federation of Family History Societies.
Search for your ancestors in the 1881 Scottish census
We have just published the 1881 Scottish census on findmypast.co.uk
The census recorded the population of Scotland at over 3.7 million in 1881 and we’ve freshly transcribed these records to ensure your ancestors’ details are accurately recorded.
We’ve already published the 1841-1871 Scottish censuses on findmypast.co.uk. 
You’ll be keen to search the 1881 Scottish census for the ancestors you’ve traced in the previous censuses. If you haven’t been able to find your ancestors in the earlier Scottish censuses, now’s the time to search the 1881 census to see if they make an appearance.
Our high quality transcriptions make it easy to discover the crucial details about your ancestors’ lives. It is not possible to view the original census images on findmypast.co.uk, due to the General Register Office for Scotland’s licensing regulations.
We will publish future Scottish census on the site in the coming weeks.
Search the 1881 Scottish census now
1911 census reveals potential abduction
Maureen Selley, chairman of Devon Family History Society, got in touch with us about this intriguing discovery in a 1911 census return. Is there a simple explanation, or does the record tell a more scandalous tale? Read on for Maureen’s story…
News of the release of the infirmity column of the 1911 census came at just the right time, while I was preparing for a family history slot on BBC Radio Devon. A quick trawl through my own family’s 1911 images revealed no infirmities, so I was pleased to see items in the press and in Nick Barratt’s blog mentioning a ‘stinking proud’ daughter – ideal!
Looking at the image for Richard Woodward in Avon Road, Highbury, Islington, however, I noticed that both descriptions, ‘Feeble Minded & Stinking Proud’, probably referred to Richard’s wife, who was called ‘Wife abducted’. His daughter had no name on the census return, but was also described as ‘abducted’. The enumerator put a line through ‘& Stinking Proud’ but accepted Richard’s description of his unnamed wife as feeble minded:
Click to enlarge
A quick search of the 1891 and 1901 censuses revealed Mrs Woodward as Blanche and their daughter as Maud. Richard Woodward married Blanche Emily Creasy in the June quarter of 1890. Maud, their only child, was born a respectable 9-12 months after the marriage (June quarter 1891), so not in the same year, as it might appear from Richard’s 1911 census entry.
What was going on? Was Richard a deserted husband? Had his wife and daughter really been abducted? Was he feeling hard done by or simply completing the 1911 form with his tongue very firmly in his cheek? Richard was in his mid-30s when he married Blanche, who was 13/14 years his junior. Perhaps Blanche had found herself a toy boy?
Searching findmypast.co.uk for the ‘abducted’ wife and daughter revealed that they stayed with their Creasy relatives on 1911 census night at High St, Hadlow, Tonbridge:
Click to enlarge
Ellen Creasy (nee Pine) was Arthur Creasy’s second wife. His first wife Susannah (mother of Harold) was alone in 1901 and died later that year. Husband Arthur was not positively identified in 1901.
I then noticed the faint pencilled note below the family listing on the Creasy 1911 census image. It appears to have been written by the enumerator and says ‘No. 3 Harold Creasy apart from wife’.
Harold’s wife, Mary Eldridge Creasy, (nee Simpson) and her son, nine month old Arthur Harold John, were staying at 29 Duckett Road, Hornsey, with Mary’s parents.
So, abducted Blanche and Maud were just visiting…weren’t they?
View previously hidden details of your family's health in 1911
We’ve just published the ‘infirmity’ column of the 1911 census on findmypast.co.uk. If your ancestors completed this part of their census return, you’ll be able to see fresh information about your family’s illnesses and conditions in 1911.
Under data protection regulations, this potentially sensitive information had to remain hidden until now – we’ve just made it available for the first time.
It’s possible to discover really detailed information about your family’s health. The census image below shows Elizabeth Eleanor Thorp from Yorkshire who is recorded as having ‘one eye removed in 1907 for disease (gout)‘ – click the image to enlarge it.
Click to enlarge
Other examples we’ve found in the infirmity column show that our ancestors weren’t afraid to reveal their quirks and eccentricities: ‘A taste for drink combined with gout’, ‘stron and hearty would like to be married’ and ‘sound as a bell thank god’.
We have also just revealed any recorded details of children born to women in prison who were aged three or under at the time of the census.
Until 31 January 2012, we’re offering you the chance to view the 1911 census at hugely reduced prices. View a 1911 census original image for 10 credits (previously 30) and a transcript for 5 credits (previously 10).
Any 1911 census images and transcriptions you viewed on findmypast.co.uk from 1 December 2010 will be free to view again. This is because, following feedback from many of you, we made it possible to save the records that you’d already viewed from 1 December 2010. You’ll need to re-view any 1911 census records you looked at before this date. Make sure you take advantage of our reduced prices until 31 January 2012 – why wait?