Exploring the familysearch pilot site in search of the GRAHAM family

Today I have been reviewing my notes on Thomas KINGHORN (3x great grandfather) from London to see what else I need to research and it occurred to me that I was still hadn’t entered some of the details for his third wife, my 3x great grandmother Isabella GRAHAM.

From the census I knew she was from a place called Staindrop, Durham and from her marriage certificate that her father’s name was Joseph GRAHAM (and he was a labourer, no surprise there). Using this information I had previously located a baptism record for Isabella on the FamilySearch Record Search Pilot Site but hadn’t really followed it up.

One of the datasets on the pilot search is the Diocese of Durham Bishops’ Transcripts, which includes Staindrop parish. This collection isn’t index, so it has been a case of going through page by page searching the baptisms, but that isn’t so different from looking at the microfilm, or the original register for that matter.

The image quality is pretty good, certainly as good as you would find on some of the pay to view records on other sites. The image download speed is pretty good as well, the only thing that I did find annoying is that there aren’t (or don’t appear to be) any keyboard shortcuts. It would be nice to be able to move around the images and go to the next image without having to use the mouse all the time. Still it is a very good site and free, so I can’t really complain.

As this is the bishops’ transcripts it has the burials as well as baptisms and marriages, so with any luck and a bit more searching I expect to be able to find the burials of Isabella’s parents (Joseph GRAHAM and Elizabeth STAMP) in the same parish, as well as baptism records for her siblings.

Some of the baptism entries I have found (pre-1813) are quite detailed, for instance it list the number of the child (eg 3rd, 4th or 5th) and gives Joseph’s wife as Elizabeth daughter of Robert STAMP, which gets me another generation back.

A large helping of sunshine and with a pinch of genealogy

It has been another beautiful day here in Sussex, I don’t think I saw a single cloud in the sky. I am quite glad I was not out walking in the sun today! I had to go down to Brighton to get some shopping in the morning (before it got too busy).

I couldn’t resist a visit to the Brighton History Centre whilst I was down there. I spent a while scrolling through newspapers on microfilm trying to find some mention of the death of Abraham KINGHORN.

Abraham was the son of my 3x great grandparents Thomas and Isabella KINGHORN, and he died in the Brighton Registration District in Q1 1886 aged only 30. I felt sure the fact that he was only 30 years old when he died might have made the newspapers, but so far I have been unable to find a mention. It looks like I need to order a death certificate, to find out the story behind his early death.

Today I also ordered a couple of certificates, Harriet WRAIGHT’s (or WRIGHT) birth and William GEERING and Emily GREEN’s marriage). Hopefully they should enable me to finally complete the list of my 3x great grandparents.

I also made a start on one of the books in my to be read pile, London: A Social History by Roy Porter. This is of course background reading for my Thomas KINGHORN research, but also an attempt to learn more about our capital city, about which I know shamefully little.

Time to put my feet up and enjoy the sunshine

Another working week draws to a close, and what a beautiful day it has been, bright and sunny most of the day, the weather forecast for the weekend is much the same.

I have already done my fair share of walking this week (over 40 miles) so I shall probably take it easy this weekend and I have no research trips planned either, so definitely a weekend for staying at home and enjoying the sun in the garden.

I have a pile of books (in fact several piles, much to my wife’s annoyance) that are waiting to be read. I have just returned two books to the library, one I have finished (and need to try and get my own copy) and the other I barely started, but rather that keep renewing it, I have admitted defeat and returned it. I really want to read it, but I have so many others waiting as well that I will come back to it at a later date.

Then there are all the ebooks and pdfs on my PC that I need to read, they will have to wait (until it rains) because I can’t sit out in the garden with a cold drink and enjoy the sunshine with them quite so easy.

All that being said I’m sure something will get in the way of my plans, I will probably get distracted by something else, but it is nice to pretend that I have my weekend planned out!

Thinking about KINGHORN migration

I said in yesterday’s post that I needed to find some new avenues to explore on my research projects, so in an attempt to breathe new life into my floundering Thomas KINGHORN research (my 3x great grandfather), I have turned my thoughts to migration.

Thomas KINGHORN (4x great grandfather) and his wife Margaret had (to my knowledge) six children. It appears that at least half of these moved to London (including my 3x great grandfather) in the first half of the nineteenth century. This raises lots questions which I would like to explore further.

• Which of the six children actually migrated and which stayed in Carlisle?
• When did they migrate? Did they all move at the same time?
• Where did they settle in London? What influenced that choice?
• What was the reason they left Carlisle? Was it to find work? To live with other family members? Was it for better living conditions?
• How would they have travelled down south? Did they use the mail coach?
• Why did they chose London? Why not Glasgow, Edinburgh or any other northern city?

Some of these are obviously going to be easier to answer than others (the who, when and where), but hopefully once I have established these facts I can see if any patterns emerge and if any conclusions can be drawn from the data.

Even if I can’t answer all the questions, it is going to help me build up a picture of the family as a whole, which will ultimately help my understanding of the lives of both of my Thomas KINGHORNs.

Gruesome discovery in a Carlisle Coffee House

Talking of distractions, I came across a rather gruesome burial entry in the St Cuthbert’s, Carlisle, Cumberland Bishop’s Transcripts at the weekend.

“A Man Name unknown packed in a Box & brought by a Manchester Coach” was buried at St. Cuthbert’s on the 10th December 1827. His abode was given as “Coffee House Parish of Saint Cuthbert Carlisle”, and his age was “Supposed 50 years”.

I would love to find out more about this burial and the story behind it,  but I will resist the urge, even though I am sure there is a really interesting story behind it, I am sure the local newspaper would have covered it.

Am I the only one who sees a story like this and wonders if there is a genealogist somewhere who is looking for this man, cursing the fact that they can’t find a burial record for him?