Suffolk Ancestors

Thomas Scoggins and Elizabeth Lloyd had 11 children between 1777 and 1800. I have just discovered the marriage of Mary their daughter who was born in 1796. Mary was the last one to be discovered. I have accounted for all eleven children now. Ten of them survived to adulthood and married. William I believe was killed in the Napoleon Wars in 1815. Their average age at death was 77 years. Elizabeth and Deborah lived to near 100 years old. It must be assume that our ancestors lived to old age unless we can prove otherwise. They all remained in East Suffolk except for Richard who lived in London. The Ipswich Journal reported the death of Deborah. Some of the facts do not jive with what the records say.

Ipswich Journal; Feb 8, 1889: Whitton: Death of a Centenarian. Last week there died at Whitton an old lady who had reached the patriorenial age of 100 years, named Deborah Baker. The widow of Thomas Baker, a carpenter of Claydon. Mrs Baker who was the daughter of a small farmer, named Scogings was born at Badingham in November, 1788 and was the youngest of thirteen children. The old lady had been a widow 45 years and had eleven children of whom only three survive. Mrs. Baker retained the use of her faculties to within a few weeks of her death. and could also sew, &c, three months ago. She was a small woman active very simple in her manners and mode of living, and it is said a total abstainer for many years. Mrs. Baker was related to Mrs. Edwards, of Baylham, who has attained her hundredth year.

The most important clues in identifying them came from the census records. The fact that Scoggins is a relatively uncommon name and they lived to the census years when the parish of birth was recorded became invaluable clues. English research is a challenge in that death records do not record that parents names. Marriage records after 1837 only record the father’s name and those before 1837 only record witnesses. Mary mentioned above married in Little Blakenham in 1816. That is about 20 miles from Badingham. It is only three miles from where her two other sisters, Deborah and Elizabeth married and lived. A witness at Mary’s marriage was Robert Fenning. Robert Fenning is the husband of Elizabeth. It becomes obvious that we must search for clues in every record we can find. Relying on parish registers alone is not enough.

Church Records

I am often looking at church records of England. I could not do much research without them. As the nineteenth century marched on it becomes apparent that the Church of England was not dominating the religious scene. I am finding fewer of my ancestors in the parish registers as the century moves on. I can find them in the census records and civil registration indexes but not in the parish registers. Few post 1837 nonconformist records have been filmed. Civil registration started in 1837 and becomes the source for documenting people at a price of about $11 per certificate.
After 1876 it is not possible to view Swiss records. Their closure policy is currently at 135 years. That really puts a damper on finding cousins. If they want people to find a new excitement about researching in Switzerland they may want to make that a 80 year closure policy. Those church record before 1876 can be purchased on CD.
I find it interesting that I can find filmed LDS Church records prior to 1907 for members of the church in Switzerland, but in Utah I cannot find them. 1907 appears to be the year that the church started a new record keeping system. Of course there were many fewer members to keep track of in Switzerland than Utah. My great grandfather, Gottfried Jaggi, joined the Church in Switzerland on February 25, 1889 and there is a record of him and for every member of the Solothurn branch going back to the 1850’s. For members of the LDS church anywhere in the world there is a church census that was taken at 5 and 10 year intervals between 1910 to 1960.

Pension Returns WO22

When I was at the National Archives of England I made it a point to check pension returns WO22. This record is available from 1842 to 1862. This set of record records the death of a pensioner and if he moved to a new district. I had John Ridley’s death certificate which stated he died in September 8, 1845 in Brampton. I checked WO22/15 in Carlisle district and found John Ridley. This record verified that my John Ridley was indeed the same John Ridley found in the 7th Regiment of Foot. I also have another ancestor to check in these records, David Auchterlonie. He died in 1861 right after the census. In the 1861 census is says he was a Chelsea Pensioner. There is no other record that mentions anything about military service. There are some clues that he was in the military. He was over 35 when he first married and there is no record of his first marriage. When I find him in WO22 in the Edinburgh district returns for 1861 it will tell me what regiment he served in and then I will be able to recreate his military service and perhaps find the missing marriage record. He lived in Kirkcaldy, Scotland. The reference book that I am using is My Ancestor was in the British Army.

Hand Cart Pioneer William Scogings 1859

The journey of my handcart pioneer, William Bye Scogings, was recorded in journals. From the time he got on the ship in Liverpool till the time he arrived in Salt Lake City there are accounts of the trip. Some of the journals have been partially transcribed and are at the Church Archives website. While on the journey he is mentioned many times by name.

June 18 McIntyre, Thomas, Journal
We have a thunder storm this morning preventing us from starting out early. We try it at 11 o’clock[.] the roads are soft and many pools of water are formed[.] On the roads we make circutious routes to avoid them which makes it very tedious travelling. We reach a place about 5 o’clock tired and weary called "Cleveland" Travelled 10 miles[.] Our little trials are finished off today by the pesty mosquitoes. Prayer by Wm Scroggins.

Smith, John Young, [Diary],
August 14. Sabbath morning. Call to a general meeting when we are addressed by captains of Gen. Br. Scroggins thinks the Sisters are too familiar with Strangers of Gentile and Apostate Trains that we meet and instructs the Saints concerning the Sin of Selfishness . . Time is given to the saints to bear testimony, and a good time is enjoyed.

When they arrived in Salt Lake City there was quite a celebration:

Deseret News; Sept 7, 1859, page 4: News from Utah: Arrival of the handcart company.-- On Friday evening, Mr. J. Harvey arrived from Bridger with the intelligence that Capt. Rowley, with the handcart company, would arrive near the city, Saturday evening, but would not come in till Monday morning. About 2 p.m., on Suuday, a messenger arrived from Elder Benson, who went out to there camp in the morning, announcing that the company were so anxious to come in that Capt. Rowley had resolved to accede to their wishes, and they would arrive at five o'clock. Immediately every house and vehicle in the city was seemingly in motion, conveying those who were anxious to witness the egress of the company from the kanyon in that direction. Within a few minutes of the designated time, the company arrived, escorted by two or three bands of music and a vast concourse of citizens of all grades and professions, and passing through the streets lined with anxious spectators, went to Union Square, accompanied by the thousands that joined the escort as they passed along. It was certainly a stirring scene, and such a one as has not been witnessed for some time past by this community, calling forth many expressions from the beholders, mostly of the joy, but some of detestation that human beings would endure so much, leave their houses in foreign lands, traverse the seas, and cross the deseret plains with handcarts, all for their religion. The liberality of the Saints was abundantly manifest on the occasion by the amount and variety of the provisions that were provided through the Bishops of the several Wards for the wayworn emmigrants composing the company, who were thus made welcome to these once, and will be again, ere long, peaceful vales; for surely "Mormonism," so called, is not dead, as some have supposed; and truth, seemingly crushed to earth, will rise again, although it has not in these days been overcome.

IGI and Research

My aunt did a lot of genealogy work some 40 to 50 years ago. Now as I build onto the tree I can see some of the mistakes. She connected with cousins in England and Australia. It was through correspondence that she obtained much of her information. Back then there was no internet or computers. The latest England census to be released was 1871 and there were no indexes. Those mistakes which seem so obvious today were not so obvious 50 years ago. One particular mistake that I find is that many people who were not born in Badingham are recorded as being born there. That is where the family had lived a generation prior. One family who lived in London has all the children as being born in Badingham. I’ve even seen a few people created out of thin air.

I can now go through and correct all the mistakes except in a couple places. The IGI is set in stone. Therein lies the comments that I have heard about the IGI being unreliable. A distinction needs to be made between member submissions and the record extractions. Any member submission should be verified with a record. That should be a lesson for us today. We better have a record to substantiate a claim. Our mistakes may outlive us and perhaps many generations to come.

Those of us who research on a regular basis know the differences but the casual researcher may not catch on so easily and repeat those errors over again. If no record can be found it may not be best to publish it where it cannot be so easily changed. The IGI is a place to put your names if you want your names to be known for generations to come. The larger it gets the more value it has to the genealogist.

Prior to 1991 there are IGI submission forms that have been microfilmed. These forms tell you who submitted the information and sometimes even sources of information.

National Archives of Scotland

The purpose of going to Scotland was to connect to the homeland of my Scottish Ancestors and access so many of the records that were not available in Salt Lake City. It has been over 10 years since I first visited. I went to New Register House paid a fee and was able to look at births, deaths, and marriages on microfiche and get copies. That was before the time of ScotlandsPeople website. Now for less than $2 I can search the databases and buy a certificate. It is the same for census records. Within minutes it appears on my computer screen. Probate records prior to 1900 can now be searched and bought for less than $8.
A highlight of the visit was to the National Archives of Scotland. Those records referred to in the book, Tracing your Scottish Ancestors were accessible. I’m not referring to microfilm copies. The original documents are available for inspection. I obtained many copies of records. I looked at voter rolls, various tax records, Kirk Session, and church records other than the Church of Scotland. i.e. Antiburgher, United Presbyterian, Free Church, Catholic. I might add that they still are not available online.
I found a set of records only referred to in ‘Militia Lists and Musters 1757-1876’. The author of this booklet noted that he had not examined this set of records. I was quite surprised to find an extensive collection of militia lists mainly from the 1802, 1808 time period for Kirkcudbright County. I have created a website for some of these records.

Hand Cart Pioneer from Lullington England

My pioneer ancestor, Susan Page, came to Utah in 1860 with a handcart company. She was born in Lullington, which has the distinction of being the smallest parish in England. Lullington was a small community of laborers. The Cruckmere River separates Alfriston from Lullington. The Alfriston parish church sits right next to the river and is about a quarter-mile from the Lullington parish church. The picture postcard shows the Alfriston parish church. The Lullington parish church is out of view off to the right. The picture appears to be taken from the vicinity of the Litlington parish church. My ancestors can be found in these three parishes. Today Alfriston is an attraction with hotels and a feel for the past. Alfriston was the main town in the area where many tradesman worked. Life was very hard for the laborers. The book, Crime and Disorder in Late Georgian Alfriston, paints a bleak picture of the laboring class. After 1815 when the Napoleon wars had ended, the plight of the working man became quite hard all over Britain. The change in the poor law in 1834-35 forced the most destitute into work houses instead of outdoor relief. Crime was on the rise. You might even find your ancestors in the quarter sessions records. For the smallest of crime men were transported to Australia or given hard labor. Old post cards provide a look into the past. I found these and many others at a Brighton shop.