Sunday, May 16, 2010

John Ridley in Pay Lists - WO12

When I was at the National Archives many years ago I looked through the Pay Lists for the 7th Regiment of Foot. I knew from the pension records that John Ridley had served 16 Years, 10 months and he was discharged on Oct 21 1821. I ordered a series of pay list that for the 7th Regiment starting in the 1804 -1806 time period. (WO12/2542) I was thumbing through the actual pay list books that the regiment carried with them. I found in the list where John Ridley first appears. It was on May 10 1805 the he joined the 7th regiment of foot, he had volunteered from the militia. Many of the men on the list had joined from the militia about the same time he did. His pay due was 15 shilling. There is a column on the preprinted form that says ‘in lieu of Beer’ He received his pay in beer. Everyone on the page received some of their wages in lieu of beer. The list is dated June 7, 1805 at Wakefield. It appears that he joined the regiment while it was at Wakefield, Yorkshire.
I followed the movements of the regiment through the pay lists. In 1808 the regiment went to Nova Scotia. It was there most of the year. In early 1809 I find a list of men who were killed in the siege of Martinique, 38 privates and 7 officers. Over the next five years the regiment was in Denmark, Spain, Portugal, and France. In 1815 it says they camped near Paris. The 7th was in many battles and suffered many casualties. John Ridley was wounded twice.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Scottish Records Online - 1797 Horse Tax

It has been about three years since I put a transcription of the 1797 horse tax for the Pairh of Urr in Kirkcudbright on a website. Today I have discovered that the horse tax lists for the entire country have been digitized and is now online. There is no searchable index. The images of the lists can be downloaded or saved. The lists are organized by county and then by parish. The name of the man who had the horses is recorded as well as how many horses he had and how much tax was paid. It also records the name of the land or estate that he occupied. Typically parish registers do not record the estate a family lived on. The horse tax is one source of many that one would put on his or her list to look at while at the National Archives. Also on this website is a record of all land owners in Scotland in 1872. I look forward to more records being put online. The guide for these little known or used records is the book, Tracing Your Scottish Ancestors.
At ScotlandPeoples website the probate indexes are available to 1900. They just put Catholic records on their website. The price to access these records is very reasonable and sometimes free. The record that I think would be of most value will be the militia lists created prior to and during the Napoleonic Wars (1800 to 1815). Kirkcudbrightshire has milita records that cover most parishes in the county. I have put the parish of Urr militia records online

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Flory's in Tattingstone

I have been attempting to assemble some of the Flory families in the Clopton and Burgh area of Suffolk. There are just enough of them to cause some confusion since there were 7 brothers marrying in the mid 1700’s, namely ; Richard, John, Isaac, William, Benjamin, Jonathan, and Thomas. As the generations continued they had a tendency to use the same given names. I have identified 27 of their children. There could be as many as 15 more that I have not found yet, because the parish records provide little identifying information. Much of the research is based on the assertion that families lived in the same parish for many generations. When a family moved some parishes or miles from where they were born it becomes a bit more difficult to identify them. I found a marriage of Jonathan Flory to Elizabeth Smyth in 1778 in Tattingstone. This marriage record states that Jonathan is from Clopton. They went on to have 10 children in Clopton. Tattingstone is about 10 miles south of Clopton on the other side of Ipswich. Susan the sister of Jonathan died in Tattingstone in 1795. I know this for certain because in a rare instance of record keeping the burial record records her father’s name and mothers maiden name; Jonathan Flory and Mary Abbot. I found 2 families in Tattiingstone that could have a connection to Clopton. There was a Thomas born about 1752 and one about 1757. Their children were born between 1786 and 1802. There is a headstone and will for the Thomas that died in 1812. It is the other Thomas that died in 1810 at the age of 53 that appears to have a connection to Clopton. His birth year of 1757 fits with being a son of Jonathan Flory and Mary Abbot. He married Sarah Potter in 1784 in Tattingstone. He named a daughter Ursula. The fact that two other family members have been identified there and his birth year fits; and Ursula is a family name points to him being from Clopton. The parish registers of Clopton has a Thomas born in 1755 and 1758. It appears that Sarah Bobbit married the Thomas born in 1755 who is the son of Benjamin and Elizabeth Flory. As I looked through the Bishop Transcripts of Tattingstone I seen a number of Abbots’s, so it appears that Mary Abbot may have been the connection to Tattingstone to begin with.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Scoggin Family in 1600 Suffolk England

I was looking at the new Suffolk Burial index that came out this past year (2009) and found some new burials for Scoggins in the 1600's. The last update for this index was in 2004. There are now over a million names in the index. It can be purchased from the Suffolk Family History Society. I found some Scogging's in the parish of Shimpling in West Suffolk. Where is Shimpling? It is some miles south of Bury St Edmunds. I have access to some parish register transcripts and found a number of children who were christened there starting in 1663. Robert and Grisiel Scogging had 6 children between 1663 and 1677. It appears that Grisiel died as Robert and Bridget continue on where Robert and Grisiel left off. Robert and Bridget had 4 children between 1682 and 1688. There is a Robert who was born in 1668 who could very well be the Robert of Helmingham. Helmingham is about 15 miles east of Shimpling. The last record of any Scogging in Shimpling is in 1708 when Robert died. I assume that this Robert is the father of the family, but I do not know for sure. It appears that the children of this family moved to other parishes. Is it the remnants of this family that we find in East Suffolk? The east Suffolk Scoggins do not have the given names of Bridget or Grisiel as found in Shimplling. None of the children were named Grisiel or Bridget, just Robert's spouses.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Lord or Loyd or Lloyd in Hemingstone

I have been looking at records for Elizabeth Loyd (1756-1835) daughter of Richard Lord and Deborah Hagar. Elizabeth married Thomas Scoging in Otley, Suffolk County, England in 1776. One clue in the marriage record is that Richard Loyd was a witness. Soon after the marriage they settle in Badingham. The IGI has Loyd as a variant of Lloyd, but it appears that it in not so in all cases. I have studied the parish registers of the Lord family of Hemingstone. I discovered that the surname for the children who were born in the 1750's and 1760's was spelled Lord. The children I found who were marrying in the 1770's was spelled Loyd. Richard Loyd was a witness to many marriages in this time period. In one instances Loyd and Lord is written on the same certificate. In the 1790's and forward Loyd is no longer used. It was in a 20 year time period that the surname Loyd was used in Hemingstone. Further clues: There are no other Loyd or Lord families in the vicinity. A couple of the Scoging children settled in Hemingstone. Thomas Scoging snd Elizabeth Lord named a child Deborah and Richard.
Richard Lord died in 1803 at the age of 81 in Hemingstone. Richrd Lord Junior (1752-1801) died at the age of 48 in Hemingstone. No wills or headstones can be found for the family.
I also discovered a few more Mormon handcart pioneers that descend through the line of Richard Lord (1752-1801) who is the brother of Elizabeth Lord (1756-1835) Richard had a son named Rueben. Reuben is the father of Harriet (1817-1896) and Charles (1823-1857) who were Mormon hand cart pioneers. William Bye Scogings (1822-1886), hand cart pioneer, is a second cousin to Charles and Harriet Lord. Harriet (1817-1896) came to Utah in the 1850's with her husband, Edmund Kindred and family. They settled in Springville, Utah.
I have created a separate gedcom on my website for all the children who descend from Richard Lord and Deborah Hagar of Hemingstone.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Utah Digital Newspapers

I have been searching the newspapers of Uintah and Duchesne Counties in Utah for tid bits of information about the Scogings on the website, Utah Digital Newspapers. One surprising find was that they were known as Scroggins. Myton is about 12 to 15 miles south of Cedarview.
On May 14, 1908, the Uintah Chieftain was launched in Myton with this fanfare: "Today the Uintah Chieftain makes its bow to the settlers of the former Uintah Indian Reservation".
The Myton Free Press
Feb 20 1919 page 2
Philip Scroggins has moved back to Bennett. He occupies the Rasmusen quarters. For the past two years he and his family have resided in Cedarview.

Mar 6 1919 page 2
Leeton: Mrs Philip Scroggins left Saturday for Cedarview to attend her mothers funeral.

Sep 18 1919 page 4
Leeton: Philip Scroggins and family also Richard Colton have moved from their ranches to Bennett for the school term.

Dec 4 1919 page 4
Leeton: Phil Scroggins has started building on the town site at Bennett.

Mar 9 1922 page 4
Alton Scroggins is reported to have tuberculosis in a very bad state.

Mar 30 1922 page 4
Leeton: George Evans and Oral Scroggins left last Tuesday for Salt Lake City where they were to be united under the bands of matrimony. They got as far as Roosevelt and the mud and failure of the stage to arrive forced them to remain their several days during which time they suffered a nervous shock but recovered the following Sunday when the mud laden stage started toward Price. Everyone here wishes them well in their new undertaking.
The place names are farming or ranching communities. Indian Bench is south of, Bennett, and Leeton is north of Bennett. Cedarview is about 5 miles west of Bennett. Montwell and Cedarview is in the same area. Montwell is no longer on the map. Roosevelt was the market or main community in the area now and then.
The Scroggins were part of the land grab that took place in 1905 when the government opened up Indian land for homesteading on the Uncompahgre and Uintah Reservations. It was reported that Alton Scogings was the first white to be born on the Indian land in 1905. The land was harsh and barren. Now to look at a aerial view it is just roads and empty lots where houses use to be.

I found some articles in the Salt Lake Deseret News pertaining to Rockville that are of interest. This is where William Bye Scogings was from 1862 to 1877. Rockville is 300 miles south of Salt Lake City. There are many articles pertaining to communities throughout Utah in the Deseret News. I could not get the search engine at the website to pull up Scogging. I found the article searching for Rockville.
Deseret News 1867 Aug 21 1867 page 6
Rockville, Kane Co., July 29
Editor Deseret News: Dear Brothers: - A few words from the upper valley of the Rio Virgin, will probably be interesting to the very numerous readers of the News. The weather has been hot and dry thus far through the summer. The wheat crop is light; there was but little cotton planted, and that is late; corn and cane are excellent; fruit is average. Health is generally good, though this climate is a little severe on children. Education is progressing, though feebly as yet. Improvements are advancing steadily. Religion is reviving. Our morals are not tainted with "regenerators." The Indians are quiet, and peace prevails. The 20th anniversary of the entrance of the Pioneers into Great Salt Lake Valley was celebrated in the usual manner, with a right good will, evincing that the people here duly appreciate the labors of that noble and honored band of veterans. Finally, "Mormonism" in these craggy regions is in the ascendancy. Yours, morst respectfully, G. Spilsbury

Deseret News Aug 19 1868 page 7
Celebration of the 24th in the Settlements
At Rockville, Kane Co., the people were fully up to the times in festive matters. They wasted their full complement of gunpowder, had a procession, music, speeches &c. In the afternoon the children had a dance in which a few of the Lamanites, attracted by the sound of the violin, participated. In The evening there was a ball for the citizens. Committee of arrangements, Thomas Bowman, H.B. Scogging, J.C. Hall
H.B. Scogging is William Bye Scogings.

Friday, February 5, 2010

London Marriage Registers on ancestry.com

I have a number of marriages that I identified through the civil registration indexes in the London area. Since there are a number of churches in each district it would be unlikely that I would find the specific church the marriage took place in. I don't have access to all the church records nor the time to search them. I was going to have to buy the certificates from the registrar office.
How complete is this ancestry marriage index? I found 12 marriage records of the Scoggins that I am researching. I found almost every marriage I was looking for. This tells me that this index, linked to images, is very extensive. Yes, I was able to download the images as well. I also found a marriage not recorded in the civil registration indexes. My pioneer ancestor, William Bye Scogings, married Sarah Raper about 1850 in London. I found that marriage in the parish of St Mary, Rotherhithe. Now I have the certificate. I thought I would never find that record. He joined the Mormons in 1853. Sarah never did join. The story goes that he had to choose between his family and the Mormons. William left his family in 1859 for Salt Lake City never to see his family again.
It use to be that a methodical search was required to find most records. Now with the indexing that is going on it is increasingly only necessary to know the name and the place and the search engine finds the records. The new term added to the genealogist vocabulary is 'wild card'. The methodology of genealogical research is changing with this massive indexing effort. It pays to know the subscription sites. Library's now have subscriptions to some of these sites so it may not be necessary to buy one. The largest free site is familysearch.org and there are many others as well.
I would imgine that a small portion of the records in the world are indexed, and the subscriptions sites focus on those records of most use to the researcher ranging from census record, church records, directories, military records, etc.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

John Rawling Scoging (1778 - 1827)

The will of Thomas Scoging in 1785 mentions his son Robert Scoging (1742-18??). It does not say where he is. He is not an executor in the will so it appears that he is not close-by. He is the oldest surviving son. He married Elizabeth Rawling in Ipswich in 1772. Elizabeth's father, John Rawling was a man of means. When he died in 1779 he left 20 pounds for his grandson, Robert Scogging then age 5. John Rawling had property in Lindsay. Lindsay is about 13 miles from the parish of Clare and about 13 miles from Ipswich in the opposite direction. The parish of Clare is where we next pick up the trail of Robert Scoging and Elizabeth Rawling. They had six children; Robert, Elizabeth, John Rawling,Susannah, Mary, and Thomas. Robert is married in Falkenham, Suffolk in 1796, and John Rawling is married in London in 1810 and he is a victualer. I believe that I have found Thomas in London as well. The burial record of John Rawling Scoging has recently been found in St Leonard Shoreditch. Lacking direct evidence the following clues provide convincing evidence of the connection of John Rawling Scoging in London to our Scoging family. Due to the rarity of the surname 'Scoging' and then being combined with 'Rawling' and his age being recorded on the burial record as 49, I feel certain that this must be the son of Robert Scoging and Elizabeth Rawling baptized in 1778 in Clare. His name at baptism was recorded as John Ralling Scoging. John Rawling Scoging married Elizabeth Stuckey in 1810 in Shoreditch and they had 6 children. When Harriet died in 1876 she left a fortune of nearly 5000 pounds. It appears that she inherited it from her marriage in 1829 to Daniel Hagen. This is the wealthiest Scoging family we have in our family tree. The search continues for the burial, and probate records of Robert Scoging (1742-18??). I think it may be in London.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

The Will of Thomas Scoging (1709-1788)

Some weeks ago I found the will of Thomas Scoging in the Norwich Consistory Court. Prior to 1858 people had a variety of options of which court to prove their will. As these will's are indexed and put on line it will be much easier to find them. I found a reference to Thomas's will on ancestry.com.
"first I give and devise unto my son Thomas Scoging All that piece of Ground situate in Badingham aforesaid with Cottage there upon lately built.... Also I give and devise unto James Aldous of Badingham aforesaid Labourer All that piece of Ground situate in Badingham aforesaid with a Cottge thereupon lately built.... First I give and bequeath unto my son Robert Scoging and to my Daughter Elizabeth Rye (wife of Richard Rye now or late of Swilland in the said County Yeoman the sum of five shillings each....hereof I do give and bequeath the same unto my Sons William Scoging and the said Thomas Scoging share and share alike.... appoint my said Sons William Scoging and Thomas Scoging Executors of this my last Will and Testament... I have hereunto set my hand and Seal this fourth day of May in the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty Five."
It appears that Thomas was what would be termed an 'owner-occupier' or freehold property owner. From the generation of Thomas to his children and grandchildren times were changing. This change brought hardships on the working class. Two of the major changes were; first, The labourers were no longer living-in with farmers, and they were hired as need be; second, enclosure or the loss of common rights denied them firewood, and the animals shared in common. This met that most relied on parish relief many months every year. To compound the problem there was inflation. The labourer force was increasing and the population as a whole. Many in the following generations were classified as labourers. No probate records can be found for William, Thomas, or Robert. An excellent book pertaining to eighteenth century England is English Society in the Eighteenth Century, Second Edition (The Penguin Social History of Britain) I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about England in 1700's.
As I read this book it appears that the same problems that plagued their society still exist in our society and will always exist, i.e., inflation, unemployment, technology advances displacing workers, corruption, political scandals, crime, etc.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

William McMurray goes down with the Titanic

I was surfing the web recently and discovered that one of my 1st cousins went down on the Titanic. I never could find him on the census, it was because he was a steward on steamships that crossed the ocean. He was on the steamship 'Republic' in 1909 when it was struck by the Steamship 'Florida' off the coast of New York and sunk. The nearly 2000 people on the ship were able to evacuate. William received an award on that occasion. I remember watching a documentary on the cause of the collision on PBS. William is now part of history displays and information can readily be found about him on various websites due to his fate on the Titanic. He must have been very good at his job, since he was on two of the premiere steamships of that era. What a coincidence, both sank.
familysearch.org has now indexed Cheshire parish registers and now I have his birth date as well as those of his siblings. They were all born in Birkenhead which is just across from Liverpool where there was shipyards. He married Clara Jones in 1902 in the Liverpool area. They had three children; May, Ivy, and Ernest. From a website I learned that Ernest was on the 'Laconia' in 1942 when it was torpedoed by German submarines. This is a well known incident, not only for the large loss of life but how the allied bombers responded. The submariners started rescue operations as they were unaware that 1800 Italian prisoners of war were on board. The submariners were bombed so they ceased rescue operations and changed there future policies on rescue operations. Ernest was lost. I have learned about this from web pages. I do not have any documentation nor access to it as it would be at the National Archives at KEW. The genealogy of William McMurray is on my website.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Google Earth uncovers Brown Homestead in Dry Fork Canyon

David Emanuel Brown (1851-1927) was a most remarkable man. He was a carpenter, builder, and farmer and left a mark in every community that he lived in. By wagon he traveled from Georgia to Monroe, Utah then to Marysvale, then to Dry Fork Canyon in Uintah County, Utah where he homesteaded land next a Utah State Monument, 'Remember the Maine'. It is a painting on the side of a cliff. The family arrived the same year that the painting was completed, 1898. I have the homestead case file describing the land. His nine children all lived in Uintah and Duchesne counties and have written a history of their times there. I hope to get in on the website soon. Their lives are interwoven with the lives of the Philip Scogings and Mary Elizabeth Brown, his daughter. David moved his family to Marysvale and this is where Mary met Philip Scogings. Soon after David move to Uintah County, Philip and Mary followed. Were talking a lot of cousins growing up in rural Utah, over 40. After 10 years in Dry Fork Canyon he then homesteaded the land of his daughter, Martha Jane in Cedarview. Cedarview was about 35 miles west of Dry Fork. By visiting Cedarview one can get an idea of the hardships and the wear the land had on its occupants. It was in Bennett, Utah, not far from Cedarview that the family of Philip Scogings and Mary Brown homesteaded.