Advice please - Genealogists' Forum

Asa · #1 08-04-13, 16:54

I have two sets of great x 6 grandparents who were farmers in the parish of Pishill, Oxfordshire. Pishill parish registers are practically non-existent until the end of the C19th but my families left a lot of wills, which - thanks to British Origins index, the NA and Oxfordshire FHC - I've been able to prove my descent and sort out their children and grandchildren.

It seems that at least one of these famillies was long established in the parish and wider area and there is one will from 1702 I'm yet to get which looks likely to be an ancestor - however, my 6x great grandfather was born c1710/15 so not likely to be in that.

Can anyone suggest other ways to get around this lack of parish records in this period?

(I'm not about much tonight so apologies if I take a while to acknowledge any replies)

kiterunner · #2 08-04-13, 18:21

Presumably it isn't a simple case of looking at the Bishop's Transcripts instead?

Asa · #3 08-04-13, 18:27

No sorry I should have said they're not in existence either I'm told

ElizabethHerts · #4 08-04-13, 18:32

Asa, I am in a very similar situation in Oxfordshire.

Today I received four wills from Oxfordshire, and they are all connected to my family, but I still can't work out the relationship between them.

I have a Mathew Parratt leaving an inheritance to Richard Parratt, the son of Humfrey/Humphrey, but no further information and I can't seem to get any further.

Have you tried asking the Oxfordshire History Centre (or what ever it is called now)?

They have been doing a digitisation programme, so perhaps that will make it easier to search for people outside the expected parish. I should say, you just have to hope that some of them strayed into neighbouring parishes.

Good luck!

Phoenix · #5 08-04-13, 18:57

If manorial records survive, these can show inheritances.

If you can access wills cheaply, it is worth looking at everyone in the parish, to pick up married daughters etc.

Would any have been sent to schools/universities whose records survive?

Have you looked at TNA's catalogue to see if there are any chancery or exchequer cases?

There are lots of C17th sources which can help: window tax/hearth tax/free & voluntary present etc etc etc but the early eighteenth century seems to have a dearth of useful records.

Lindsay · #6 08-04-13, 19:53

I've found Access to Archives can throw up all sorts of unexpected records - and not necessarily in the county you expect.

Asa · #7 08-04-13, 20:39

Thank you everyone.

Elizabeth, I've been looking at transcripts of neighbouring parishes and have had a fair bit of luck so I'll do that. The Oxon wills have been such a blessing! Pishill - Pish'ill in case any one was wondering is very near the Bucks border too.

Phoenix and Lindsay I will try A2A - it's one site I forget about too often.

Phoenix I have never looked at manorial records so perhaps I need to learn a new skill. These two families seem to be mostly marrying locally so it might be worth buying some wills making educated guesses. I thought there is a lack of sources for this time. I'm guessing they're not educated people because they mostly make their mark.

Thank you all - I can't complain too much because there are a handful of baptisms in the 1740s that have survived and two of them are mine .

ElizabethHerts · #8 08-04-13, 20:42

I ordered some transcriptions of Buckinghamshire PRs from Buckinghamshire F.H. Society, which arrived today. Huge amount of information for £22.75.

I looked at something similar for Oxfordshire F.H. Society, but it was much more expensive. I don't know if you can view them free of charge at the History Centre.

Must try A2A again.

ElizabethHerts · #9 08-04-13, 20:50

I remember now - I did try A2A for Humfrey Parratt but had to try lots of different spellings, all to no avail.

The search facility isn't very good.

I like the one for Bucks. wills - if you have "Parrott" you can put in "Par" and it comes up with everything. It works with just two letters - I have Egelton, Eggelton, Eggleton, Egleton, Eglington etc. and if you put Eg you get all the hits. It makes life a lot easier.

Phoenix · #10 08-04-13, 20:53

Asa, I once spent a whole week at the Hampshire Record Office, trawling through manorial records and ended up with very little to show for it.

On the other hand, in Wiltshire I was able to establish three separate branches of a family. I think they must have been non-conformist because the parish registers survived, but they weren't in them!

The one huge draw back to manorial records at that period is that they are in Latin. However, like wills, a lot is standard formula. Thes days, with cameras, scanners etc, you can take away the bit you want to transcribe at leisure.