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Ancestry Daily News
7/23/2002 - Archive
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Quarter Sessions Among the English Parish Record Collection Part Three: Quarter Sessions Records and Your Research |
Quarter Sessions Among the English Parish Record Collection Part Three: Quarter Sessions Records and Your Research
There are several uses for quarter sessions records. Lists such as
tax returns serve as reference points indicating where and when someone was
assessed, thereby making it possible to confirm a person was alive and resident
in a particular place. Material related to enforcement of the poor laws can
reveal information about relationships and individual life histories. There
are records that provide evidence of religious convictions, occupations, jury
duty, sales and contracts, felonies, and the details of land enclosures.
Evidence found in quarter sessions can sort out confusions between members of
one family or between two people of the same name. There is also a great deal
to be learned about local history.
Among the Chester Quarter Sessions materials on the Lancashire, Cheshire, Flintshire
CD-ROM is this extract concerning the Legal settlement of Inhabitants:
To the Overseers of the Poor of the Township of Namptwich [sic]. Whereas you
have made complaint unto us, whose names are subscribed, two of his Ma'ty's
Justices of the Peace and Quorum that Eliz. Wilson, George, Richard, Hannah
and William her children are lately come into your Township, endeavouring to
settle there as Inhabitants thereof and do not rent to the value of Ten Pounds
per Ann. there, nor have delivered Notice to you in writing of their house of
abode or the number of their family, but are and we do adjudge them likely to
become chargeable to your Township contrary to the form of the Statute in such
case provided. And whereas it appears to us upon Oath that the place of the
last Legal settlement of the said Elizabeth Wilson, George, Richard, Hannah
and William her children is in the Township of Wistaston in the County of Chester.
These are therefore in his Majesty's name to Command you on receipt hereof to
convey the said parties forthwith out of your Township the next and directest
way to the Township of Wistaston aforesaid, and to leave them there together
with this Warrant or a true copy thereof with the Overseers of the Poor, who
are hereby required to receive and provide for them according to Law. Given
under our Hands and Seals 18 Dec 1729. Robt. Lowe, Wm. Maisterson. (F.4, D.2,
S. Chester, 13 Jan 1729/30. 3 Geo. 2nd)
It is an example of the court being involved in a removal order, one made in
order to send Elizabeth Wilson and her children back to Wistaston, their place
of legal settlement and the parish responsible for their care. This linking
of mother, children, and parish is potentially useful for research into a family
with a common surname. The family had not traveled far, as these are adjacent
parishes. The records of the overseers of the poor in Nantwich, Wistaston, and
other parishes nearby may reveal more.
A quick check of the holdings of the LDS Family History Library shows that microfilm
copies of quarter sessions records of Cheshire can be viewed on microfilm, but
the parish chest records of the overseers of the poor begin after 1729 in both
locations. Those for Wistaston start in 1735, close enough that early years
should be examined. The Cheshire Record Office website offers information on
its quarter sessions holdings and its catalog is on-line (www.cheshire.gov.uk/recoff/home.htm).
There is plenty of history in this extract. If you read about these two parishes
in the Topographical Dictionary of England (Samual Lewis, 1831) you discover
they are situated in a fertile plain and that cheese production and shoemaking
were important at the time. The late 1720s were years of great hardship due
to successive seasons of poor weather and bad harvests. The Cheshire Local History
Association offers publications, including a new historical atlas of the county
(www.cheshirehistory.org.uk).
Some detail of the rules of the poor law emerges from the example. Settlement
could be achieved if a person occupied a dwelling worth ten pounds per year;
for most people it came by birth or through one's husband. An extract like this
one should initiate several actions.
1. Locate any new place names on maps and in topographical guides.
2. Set the information in context by finding out more local history.
3. Identify the new facts and follow through: look at the actual source and
look for other records that can be accessed because of the information found.
Keep in mind that what is found among quarter sessions records on the English
Parish Record CDs is either in the form of a finding aid or just a part of the
record. There is more to be discovered. This is where family history gets interesting,
through gaining an understanding of the setting, using different records and
finding insights into the people themselves.
Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA (Scot) has been researching her British ancestry
for thirty years. She is an instructor and study tour leader for Samford University's
IGHR, and teaches for the online family history program of Vermont College.
Sherry is President of the Association of Professional Genealogists. She is
the author of:
Your Scottish Ancestry: A Guide for North Americans
Your English Ancestry: A Guide for North Americans
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