Empty Glasses # 4 (with final summary)

My maternal grandmother and her ancestors are last, but certainly not least of the four posts about my family history. My grandmother May Bracegirdle married Sidney Bulpitt (see #3) in or about 1915. Their elder daughter, my mother Mary, was born in late September 1915. May and Sid would have a second daughter, Lillian some 7 years later.

 Sidney and May Bulpitt with elder daughter Mary, my mother.

 3 generations: May, Mary and Ann (me looking coy)

The back of the photograph (above) was inscribed by Lillian (my Aunt Lil)  : "Mum & sister Mary & Ann. This picture went through the 1939 war pinned on many gun site walls" May, my grandmother, was born on 19 May 1894, daughter of Sarah (formerly Petch) and John Bracegirdle. May had borne a son out of wedlock (father unknown) in 1910. Her son, John, was raised by May's mother, Sarah.

Sarah and John Bracegirdle, my great-grandparents

Who was John Bracegirdle, my great grandfather? Where was he born? This has proved to be one of the most stubborn of brick walls in my family history. I know from census returns that he was a groom and servant at a picturesque and historic stately home in East Yorkshire: Burton Agnes Hall, shown here. His place of birth on census return for 1891 was given as "Fulford", a village not far from York. I have been able to find no records of any Bracegirdle families in that area, nor have any helpers on genealogy message boards I've approached for assistance. Bracegirdle is an unusual surname. It derives from an occupation:

This most interesting and unusual surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a metonymic occupational name for a maker of breech-girdles, that is a maker of belts for holding up breeches, from the Olde English pre 7th Century, Middle English "brec" (Old French "braie"), breeches, with the Olde English "gyrdel", a girdle, belt. The surname is particularly widespread in the county of Lancashire (and Cheshire)...... The first recorded namebearer appears in London in the late 13th Century............(See here).

I was close to my grandma, May, having spent some years of my childhood during World War 2, living with her and grandad. I used to ask her about her father. He had died young, she said, when she was around 4 years old, her memories were hazy. His death certificate is recorded in 1898, his age then noted as 37, which might be an approximation, as on his marriage certificate in 1890 he was listed as age 27. My grandmother told me, when asked where her father came from, that he was "a foreigner". "Foreigner" in those days probably meant someone not from the surrounding area, rather than someone from another country. She would usually add that he "liked his drink", something that might have led to his early death. One of her clearest memories of her father was of him coming home one Christmas-time, drunk and carrying a pig under his arm! I believe I'd have rather liked my great grandfather! No such tale was a helpful lead to John Bracegirdle's origins though. The letter below, dated 13 Dec. 1896, was treasured by my grandma, as a memory of her father. He is writing to his mother and father(presumably his in-laws for this to have remained in my grandma's possession) for an invitation to visit them at Christmas-time. Whether this was the Christmas when John arrived the worse for wear, and bearing a pig, isn't known!

John Bracegirdle appears in the 1891 census return as age 28, married, "groom/domestic servant in Burton Agnes, born "Fulford". I obtained a copy of the marriage certificate of John Bracegirdle and Sarah in the hope of finding helpful clues. It certifies that the pair were married in Nafferton on 26 November 1890, when he was 27, she 23. His occupation is noted as "Groom", place of residence: Burton Agnes, his father's name is given as another John Bracegirdle, occupation "Labourer". Sarah is listed as "spinster", residence at time of marriage: Nafferton, her father William Petch, "Labourer". Witnesses were George Wilkinson and Mary Petch, Mary A. Staveley, all relatives or neighbours of Sarah. If John Bracegirdle truly did come from Fulford, I doubt he'd have been thought of as "a foreigner" by my grandmother. As there's no sign of any Bracegirdle families in that area, I suspect that either the census taker misheard or misinterpreted the place name - or that my great grandfather had tried to cover his tracks for some reason. I suppose there is always the chance that he was son of a pair of travelling agricultural servant/labourers who spent a shortish time in Fulford and gave birth to a son, between census times - a 10-year gap. I suspect, though, that John Bracegirdle could have moved to Yorkshire from rural Cheshire, where there are to be found numerous Bracegirdle families.

I tracked down any likely John Bracegirdles  in Cheshire, also in Lancashire, and came up with one I consider a likely "favourite": John Bracegirdle born in Knutsford (Knutsford.....Fulford.....ripe for misinterpretation?) who was 17 and a groom/domestic servant to a veterinary surgeon in the census for 1881. I've been unable to pin him down in an 1871 census at age 7 so far though, if his father's name really was John, but there are several other John Bracegirdles aged 7 listed with fathers of different first names. John Bracegirdle's true origins will remain a mystery for ever, I fear.

Sarah, John's wife and my great grandmother, remained a widow for some years after John's death.

 Sarah Bracegirdle, my great-grandmother

She married Henry Earnest Waites in 1910. Sarah and her second husband brought up my grandmother's son, John and eventually they ran a small farm in Gembling, East Yorkshire.

Sarah worked at one point, my grandmother told me, as caterer looking after workers on a larger farm. She was always remembered by relatives as a "wonderful cook", a title my grandmother and my aunt inherited, though my mother and I missed out - at least on the "wonderful" part! I met my great grandmother several times, remember her as a tall, slender - almost gaunt - lady, but no more detailed memories remain.

Sarah's parents were William Petch of Nafferton and Martha (formerly Wilkinson, of Brigham). William, born in Hutton Cranswick, worked in the Nafferton flour mill, is listed in the census of 1901, then aged 54 as "weighman miller in flour mill", Nafferton, East Yorkshire.

William Petch , his wife Martha below

His wife, Martha is noted as aged 53. Also listed as living (or visiting) at 70 Station Street with William and Martha are some grandchildren: Florence (11), Fred (4), Mary (6) (should be May) and Alice (2), along with "visitors", Sarah Bracegirdle (widow, 32), John Petch (28), Mary Petch (24), Thomas Tomlinson(30), Hannah Marson (17) and Thomas Sawdon (21). The three male "visitors" all farm servants. Quite a house-full! I wonder if that census was taken close to some holiday time, or maybe near the date of a  wedding when family members gathered together. Sarah and May are the only pair present I fully recognise as mother and daughter - my grandmother and great grandmother.

The family tree of the rest of the Petch family has always been a huge mystery to everyone; my mother, her sister and I have giggled over it more than once. I knew Florence and Alice as older "aunties", but neither was my grandmother's sister - maybe they were her cousins, but even she, and they, seemed hazy on that score.

William Petch was born about 1848, his father John Petch born 1815/18, Hutton Cranswick , married Sarah Jefferson (1816-1851). John Petch's father was another John Petch (1791/2)born in either Hutton Cranswick or Louth, Lincolnshire, who married Mary (possibly Mary Wallis). Both Johns were agricultural labourers. There's a muddle here, I'm not yet clear on it. This photograph of a John Petch comes from ancestry.com, it appears in several different family trees which must be loosely linked to my own, if this is, indeed the same John Petch, grandfather of William (my great-great grandfather). I'm not happy with the "Louth, Lincolnshire" connection, but it could fit. In the census of 1871 a John Petch, aged 80, married to Mary, is noted as born in Hutton Cranswick. That is my John Petch. In earlier census returns a John Petch with a wife Mary (nee Wallis) was noted as born in Louth Lincolnshire - but resident in Hutton Cranswick.

The following links are not 100% certain due to the above confusion: Father of the senior John was another William Petch (1770-1847), his wife was Jane (nee Wise 1769-1823). William's father was yet another William Petch, married to another Jane (nee Green).

PETCH: The surname, Petch, is said to be of medieval French origin and derives from the Old French "pech(i)e", the Latin "peccatum", meaning sin. A curious nickname surname, it was probably used more often in jest than as a mark of censure, or even in the ironical sense, as in the case of Robert Pecce, the Bishop of Coventry in 1123! The following examples illustrate the name development from the earliest recording ... Haimund Peccatum, Hamo Pecce (1121 - 1160 Suffolk), Rotbert Pecceth (1123 Anglo Saxon Chronicle), William Pesche (1178 Pipe Rolls Yorkshire), Gilbert Pechie (1200, Pipe Rolls, Cambridgeshire), Geoffrey Pech (1191, Pipe Rolls London), Richard Pechee (1275 Hundred Rolls Norfolk). In the modern idiom the variant include Pe(t)chey, Peach(e), Peech, Petch(e). From HERE.

(From Wikipedia)

Pipe Rolls were financial records maintained by the English Exchequer, or Treasury. The earliest date from the 12th century, and the series extends, mostly complete, from then until 1833. They form the oldest continuous series of records kept by the English government, covering a span of about 700 years. The early medieval ones are especially useful for historical study, as they are some of the earliest financial records available from the Middle Ages.

Returning to my great grandmother's father, William Petch - his wife Martha Wilkinson's family can be traced back to early 18th century:

Martha's father was James Wilkinson (1828-1876 ) born in Skerne, married to Frances of Kirkburn (1829-1892). James Wilkinson's father was George (1787-1876) born in Cherry Burton, married to Martha Jane (formerly Ness 1789-1834) of Nafferton, daughter of John Ness of Wansford and Martha(nee Marson 1761-1816) of Nafferton. Martha's parents were Richard Marson (1722-1794)of Nafferton and Mary Haggard of North Frodingham (1722-1759).

Those place names seem scattered but all are close together in the same area of East Yorkshire.

My maternal great grandfather's origins remain a mystery, but female lines in this branch of my genealogy are strongly based in East Yorkshire.

Turning down an empty glass for my grandmother May, with all her, and my, ancestors, known and unknown.

And when Thyself with shining foot shall pass Among the guests star-scatter'd on the grass, And in thy joyous errand reach the spot Where I made one - turn down an empty glass!

FINAL SUMMARY

Gathering the 4 family strands together: my traceable ancestor lines derive from East and North Yorkshire, Suffolk and Essex, Wiltshire and Hampshire, possibly Cheshire. Further back than documentary evidence allows, it's likely that a few elements in these lines had their deepest roots in France (Vasey, Petch) and in Scotland (Scott).

 The "brick-walls" encountered so far are:
 a)Who were my paternal grandfather's father and antecedents?
 b)Was John Thomas Midgley the biological father of my paternal grandmother, or was she daughter of his wife Fanny(his second cousin) before they married?
c) Where did my maternal great-grandfather come from, who were his family?

A last photograph, small one but one I've always loved,  taken some time after my father had suffered injuries in a motorcycle accident. A friend had encouraged him to try to drive the motorbike and Dad had managed to throw himself off it into the road and damaged his face quite badly. You can still see signs of some dressings I think. He had scars for the rest of his life. It could have been horrendously worse.  This little pic of an ice cream party, with Dad, Mum, Grandma May and me carries a very happy memory.

Empty Glasses #3

My mother's father, my maternal grandfather, was Sidney Bulpitt. Like my paternal Grandad Scott, so with "Siddo" or "Daddy Sid"(pet names for him), he also had made his way up to Yorkshire from the south of England in his youth, looking for better work opportunities. I sometimes tell myself that genes from these two wandering grandfathers of mine shaped my own wanderlust. My parents were great wanderers also, in their day.

 Bulpitt is a fairly unusual surname. It's thought to derive from the place from whence families of Bulpitts, Bulpits, Bulpens, Bulpins, Bulepin etc.originated: the bull pit would have been a pit or depression in the ground where a bull or bulls were kept, either for stud purposes for the area, or a pit where bulls were kept for the ancient and very nasty "sport" of bull-baiting. The Bulpitts, and other versions of the name, must have lived near to a bull pit, I guess. The word bull came from Old Norse 'boli', which morphed into Old English 'bula'. The surname was first noted in the county of Somerset, adjacent to, and to the west of Wiltshire where Sidney Bulpitt was born. Many of his antecedents came from the county adjacent to Wiltshire to the east : Hampshire.

I've come up with little, other than names and dates and places, on this branch of my family, but as will become obvious, I do have more old photographs of some of these relatives than I do of the relatives in my father's lines. Sidney Bulpitt was born on 10 June 1890 in a rural village, Upper Chute, in Wiltshire. His parents were Charles Bulpitt and Caroline (nee Newman/Smith). He was, I think, seventh of 10 or more children. Some of his siblings: William, Alice, Emily, Frederick, Albert, Mary, Susan, Lillian, Eliza, Dolly and Ruth, born between 1877 and 1900. Sid's mother Caroline's parents were Henry Smith born in Fyfield, Hampshire and Sarah Newman. Henry Smith was son of John and Mary Smith of Fareham Hampshire, born around 1810; Sarah's parents: Edward and Louisa Newman of Andover, Hampshire, born around 1812.

 Sid's parents seated, and 5 of his elder siblings. 

 Caroline Bulpitt centre, daughter Dolly left, an in-law ? at right

Sid's youngest sister emigrated to Ontario, Canada. I met three of his other sisters, who all, eventually, made their homes around London; also knew one of his brothers, Albert, "Uncle Bert". I met Bert when I lived for a year or so in the south of England, in Brighton, where he had worked for most of his life as chauffeur to a wealthy family. He was a bright, happy guy, full of fun. My grandad was a fun guy too, in his own way. If stories are to be believed (they probably are)Sid was something of a philanderer in youth, in middle-age too, but his marriage to my grandmother lasted long enough for them to celebrate a Diamond Wedding anniversary (60 years).

 Sid with his sisters

 Sid and Micky

 Sid's brother Albert ("Bert") and wife Rose

In the 1911 census, at age 21, Sid was  listed as a carter, working on a farm, boarding with the senior carter in Wherwell, a village in Hampshire. By 1915 though he had moved some 240 miles northward to East Yorkshire and had married my grandmother, May. They had two daughters, my mother, Mary, and her younger sister, Lillian. Once in Yorkshire Sid didn't stay with agriculture or horses and carts for very long. He somehow learned how to drive one of those new-fangled horseless carriages, and worked as driver for a local taxi firm in the market town close to where he lived.

My mother is in the car somewhere, Sid at the wheel

Sid with a  rather more stately vehicle

When a local 'bus service needed drivers Sid became one of the first 'bus drivers in the area. Just before World War 2 he had somehow saved enough to buy his own taxi, and for many years was the local taxi man.

 Sid and his taxi

When business became scarce, years later, he drove an ice cream van around local villages in summertime, along with various other jobs at the  post-war airfield close to his home. He had a streak of ingenuity in him - he electrically wired the little cottage where he and grandma lived most of their lives together. His knowledge of electricity was negligible, but that didn't stop him! It's a wonder the cottage didn't burn down, but it didn't. I lived with "Siddo and Nanny" for a couple of years or so, as a very young child, during the worst of World War 2.

Sid lost most of his his sight in his last years - but never lost his determination to overcome all difficulties.  He died in 1978.

One of the last photos of Sid and May with my parents and me

So - what of Sid's parents, Charles and Caroline, and their history?

Charles caused confusion. I have to thank someone who must be a distant relative of mine for shedding light on the muddle. On a genealogical message board some years ago he'd asked for assistance. He too had encountered confusion. He had obtained marriage and death certificates for Charles Bulpitt, his great-great grandfather. Charles was married to Caroline Newman in 1876 in Chute, Wiltshire, on the certificate Charles' father is noted as George Bulpitt. Census returns for 1871, 1881, 1891,1901 and 1911 all show Charles being born in Hurstbourne Tarrant, a village about five miles north-east of Andover, Hampshire, between 1843 and 1847. However, there is no Charles Bulpit(t) registered as born around that time or in that area. The death certificate shed some light. Charles is described there as Charles Warwick Bulpitt (died 1922 in Chute). A Charles Warwick is shown born around 1846 in Hurstbourne Tarrant - the birth certificate named his mother as Louisa Warwick, no father is listed. In the 1851 census there is a Louisa Warwick (Aged 25) unmarried, and living with her father in Hurstbourne Tarrant, but no sign of a Charles Warwick (or Bulpitt).

In the 1861 census a 15 year old Charles BULPIT, born in Hurstbourne Tarrant, was living with grandparents, John and Eliza Bulpit in Andover, Hampshire. John BULPIT aged 56, carter, born in Hungerford, Berkshire. Eliza aged 52 born in Pambourne (Pangbourne?) Berkshire. Charles, aged 15, grandson/carter, born in Hurstbourne Tarrant.

 In census of 1851 the same John and Eliza Bulpitt had a son, George aged 24, listed as living with them, he born in Hampstead Marshall. John and son George were both agricultural labourers. No sign of Charles in 1851. In 1861 George BULPITT appears as married and living in Andover. If this is the same George Bulpitt, he was then an innkeeper, his spouse Ann, formerly Ann Potter, who had been living next door to the Bulpitts in 1851 with her innkeeper brother.

 It would appear, then, that Sid's father Charles was born out of wedlock, but was acknowledged by the father, George Bulpitt, as his son.

 John Bulpitt's father was another John Bulpitt (born 1761), his wife was Martha, formerly Martha Shepherd, and that's as far as I've been able to trace the Bulpitt name, no extra detail has emerged, so far.

 So...Louisa Warwick was my great-great grandmother. She didn't marry George Bulpitt, though their son took his name. Louisa possibly married another George later on - a George White/Wight in 1853 in Andover. I cannot be certain this is the same Louisa Warwick, but it seems likely. Louisa Warwick's father and his antecedents can be traced back to the mid 1600s, but nothing is known of them other than their names. Louisa's father was Richard Warwick, beyond him were another Richard, two Williams, a Stephen and an Edward Warwick, he born 1624. These Warwick men married women from families of Cummins, Potticary, Cowdery, Welloway, and Moore.

 Turning down an empty glass to my grandfather Sidney Bulpitt then, along with his, and therefore my, ancestors.

And when Thyself with shining foot shall pass Among the guests star-scatter'd on the grass, And in thy joyous errand reach the spot Where I made one - turn down an empty glass!

Empty Glasses #2

#1 in this proposed 4-part series featured my paternal grandfather Edward James Scott and his forebears. His wife, my paternal grandmother was Mary, maiden name Midgley. I am fortunate that local genealogists linked to the Midgleys had already done much digging in the parish registers of East and North Yorkshire before I ventured down this family history rabbit hole. Thanks to them I've been able to delve much deeper into this particular part of my gene pool than I could manage in Grandad Scott's case.

 MIDGLEY the name: Two possibilities: 1) an old Yorkshire name, probably first arising in West Yorkshire, where there's a village called Midgley; how, or if the East and North Yorkshire Midgley branch links to the village isn't clear. 2) A derivation of Michelson or Mitchelson. There is evidence that a Christopher Midgley on the Acklam Land Tax Assessments, in successive years, went from signing Chris. Michelson to Chris. Midgley. Christopher's father was John Mitchelson.  I haven't yet connected John and Christopher to my direct line of Midgleys, but my forebears have clear connections to Acklam, so I'd say that it's highly likely that this is where my line of Midgleys got their name, rather than from a village in West Yorkshire.

My own relatives can be traced back to the mid-1700s; beyond that though, the families of several Midgley spouses, my 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th 8th 9th and 10th great grandmothers, can be traced back - and back - into the 1500s.

My Midgley line's earliest known character was a Richard Midgley probably of Sheriff Hutton, Yorkshire, born about 1734. His son Richard, born 1769 married Hannah Nichols on 6 December 1790 in Kirkby Grindlyth on the East Yorkshire Wolds. Richard the younger was Parish Clerk as well as being involved in some form of agricultural employment. He and Hannah had 10 children. Hannah, maiden name Hicks, hailed from Hutton Bushel, a village between Pickering and Scarborough. Maps below show the general area involved in the family history included in this #2 chapter. Click on an image for a bigger version.

Richard and Hannah's large family and their descendants formed a tangled Midgley network around the Wolds of East Yorkshire, North Yorkshire and the Moors. It was very easy to be led astray once entering this network, due to many similarities of first names in similar time spans. More than once I followed mistaken threads and had to start over.

Of Richard and Hannah's ten offspring, two are significant to my own line: Thomas Midgley born 10 June 1801, and Benjamin born 10 January 1812 - both recorded in Kirky Grindlyth parish, though the nearby village of Duggleby could well have been their home. The reason I link to two members of Richard and Hannah's offspring: Benjamin's youngest daughter married one of Thomas's grandsons. That caused lots of confusion! Thomas Midgley and his wife Mary (nee Wallis) had a son, Abel. Abel and wife Elizabeth (nee Boyes) had a son, John Thomas who married Benjamin Midgley's youngest daughter Fanny. John Thomas Midgley, born in 1861 in Acklam, and Fanny Midgley born 1863 in Duggleby are recorded as marrying in 1887. They became parents of William, born 1889, Emma Midgley, 1890, Ben Midgley, 1892, Tom Midgley, 1894, George Midgley, 1896 and Ida Midgley,1898.

However, and it's a big however, in the census of 1891 there's another offspring listed as daughter of the couple, born 1885, before their marriage. This daughter, Mary, then aged 6, was my grandmother. By the 1901 census Grandma was listed as "servant to veterinary surgeon", and by 1911 she was married to Grandad Scott and mother of four, with six more to come.

Now - was Mary, my grandmother, the daughter of both partners, born before they married, or was she daughter of one partner only? Her name would still be Midgley either way. I'll never know this, it's a second brick wall in my family history, matching that of Grandad Scott's unknown father. The fact that Fanny and John Thomas were...(?) second cousins, or cousins once removed does mean that, in any event, the onward reach into the past, via Midgley spouses will remain relevant to my own genealogy. I think it more likely that Grandma Mary was definitely Fanny's daughter, if not also John Thomas's. This was Mary Midgley/Grandma Scott:

I have hazy memories of her. She'd visit us during my young childhood, every Friday evening, never failed to leave a shilling for me. She was known as a sweet-natured, hard-working woman. She brought up 10 children of her own and several grandchildren whose parents were encountering difficulty. She attended "chapel" every Sunday, the strangely named Primitive Methodist Continuing Chapel. Grandma died in 1952. I met Fanny Midgley, my great grandmother, just once when I was very young, around 4 or 5 years old I think. My only memory is of a lady in a long dark dress, and of feeling afraid of her. I was told by my parents, amid laughter, that my only comment to my great grandmother had been "I don't like you!" What a charmingly outspoken brat I had to be! I hereby apologise.

 Fanny Midgley's father, as mentioned above, was Benjamin Midgley. Her mother was Mary, maiden name Bogg, born in Duggleby 1821. Mary Bogg's parents were Jonathan Bogg and Margaret Vasey. Whereas most of the later Midgleys were agricultural labourers of one sort or another, several of the Boggs, from various census entries, appear to have been tradesmen, such as grocer, postmaster, joiner. Margaret Vasey, Jonathan Bogg's wife and my 3rd great grandmother was born in Allerston, North Yorkshire. Her family line is capable of being traced way back, via her father William Vasey.  

VASEY:

 Ruins of Rievaulx Abbey

Vasey the surname (and its several alternative spellings) is said to have originated with those involved in the Norman invasion of England. First recorded spelling of the family name is, it is thought, that of Robert L'enveiset, dated 1131, in the register of Rievaulx Abbey, in North Yorkshire, during the reign of King Henry 1st of England (1100 - 1135).

Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. Surnames in every country have continued to "develop" resulting in variations of the original spelling. L'enveiset became De Vesci; De Vesci became Vasey, Vasie or alternative spellings. At a website 1066 Medieval Mosaic in the section titled THE BATTLE ABBEY ROLL. WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE NORMAN LINEAGES, the Vesci chapter outlines the De Vesci family's tangled ties with lands in a newly Norman England. My interest is in a particular area of Yorkshire, and place names there are mentioned as having been, at some point in the mists of time, in ownership of some member of the De Vesci family. Allerston, Hutton Bushell, Pickering Marishes are mentioned - all villages or areas which turn up regularly in relation to my Vasey connection. It'd be good to feel fairly confident that the Vaseys named below had some kind of family link to those De Vesci characters from Norman France, but I have no proof.

How the surname might have appeared in this area otherwise is puzzling though: My Vasey line proceeds via: Margaret Vasey (my 3rd great grandmother), her father, William Vasey (1756-1823), his father Matthew of Marishes Vasey (1690-1784). Matthew's father was Thomas of Marishes Vasey (born between1640 &1665, died 1704). Thomas's father was Matthew of Boswell Moor Vasie (1603-1664) and his father was another Thomas Vasie, born 1580. Place names involved are in a tightly bounded area around Allerston and Pickering (see map above). I haven't yet been able to identify "Boswell Moor", but suspect it could have been the name of a single farm or piece of land in the same general area as Marishes - on the edge of the Yorkshire Moors.

The last mentioned Thomas Vasie is my 8th great grandfather. There the direct Vasie name trail ends. Before leaving the Vaseys though, there's this (click on it for a bigger version). It must refer to the Matthew Vasey noted as "of Boswell Moor", due to the date. Which could be a clue that the location of Boswell Moor was really the same as Marishes, as in the name of his grandson Matthew.

 King Charles II

Restoration of the Monarchy, after the Civil War and Oliver Cromwell's time in power, occurred in 1660. Prince Charles (King Charles the Second)whose father had been beheaded, had been in exile until 1660 by all accounts. I guess he could have slipped into England from Europe, to a quiet port on the Yorkshire coast - there were many - and made his way inland across the area near Allerston. OWSTON Another name of interest, linking to the Vaseys, comes via the wife of my 6th great grandfather Thomas of Marishes Vasey, she was Elizabeth Owston. The name Owston almost certainly refers to a location. There's a village of Owston in South Yorkshire.

 Some of the modern Owston family have taken their genealogical investigations to extreme levels - DNA testing. An article titled Owston DNA Studies: Another F2642 Y-DNA Mutation Reported refers. There has, so far, been no definite conclusion as to origins. A recent test shows links to France. That's not surprising because William the Conqueror, after victory in 1066, gifted his many royal relatives, nobles and hangers-on with big chunks of England to play with. Reference the De Vesci's (aka Vasey) above! The Owston's history is tied up with the Vaseys:

Earliest known Owston is Peter, my 10th great-grandfather, and his wife Petronel my 10th great-grandmother. (Taken from THIS website)

Peter Owston the husbandman of Sherburn, died in 1568 leaving quite a young family made up of three sons, all minors (under twenty one years)....... Peter lived through interesting times. He would have probably been born during the reign of King Henry VIII, seen the abolition of the Monasteries, the rise of Protestantism, possibly heard of the Pilgrimage of Grace and known about the other risings in the North. Petronel survived at East Heslerton with her second husband and was probably the "Widow Borman" who was buried on the 7th April 1594 at West Heslerton.

In spite of misty notions that "we" (via Owston and Vasey connections) could possibly have roots originating in characters involved in the Norman invasion of England, most of my ancestors have remained within the levels of, at best yeoman (owned own farm), or husbandman (tenant or smallholder); the majority, pre-World War 1, were just lowly agricultural labourers, the females domestic servants to the gentry. Others linked to my Midgleys, through marriage and reaching back into the 1600s, include surnames Fiddis, Belt, Hopkin, Smartfoot and Lawne.

 So...concluding my paternal family history wander, a photograph from a Scott family wedding at which both Grandma Scott (Midgley) and Grandad Scott were present, though oddly standing apart, he at the back of the group, she at the front. (Click on photo for a bigger version). In other wedding pictures the same thing happened - Grandad was obviously camera shy! The wedding here was of my father's younger brother, George, just after World War 2, so mid-1940s. My Dad is on George's left and my Mum, whose family history will follow in chapters #3 and #4, is the one in the snazzy hat behind Dad's left shoulder. Grandma Scott is to my Mum's left. Where's Grandad Scott? Hiding: back row second from right. See the Scott likeness, Grandad and sons? I'm not familiar with most others in the photo, relatives of Uncle George's wife, Nan, whose father was the guy in military uniform. I think Dad's youngest sister, Mary, is present but almost hidden behind Grandma; the rest of the Scott clan must have been about their business elsewhere on that occasion.

For Grandma Scott, the Midgleys, Boggs, Vaseys, Owstons, and all others who made up this branch of the family, I turn down an empty glass.

And when Thyself with shining foot shall pass Among the guests star-scatter'd on the grass, And in thy joyous errand reach the spot Where I made one - turn down an empty glass!

Helpful sources on Midgley family history: Bonson History - Midgleys of the Wolds Midgley Webpages, East Yorkshire.

Empty Glasses #1

First decision - what to title the four essays I hope to complete, touching on my family history? I had the draft titled Family History #1. A bit dry that! I went to what has always been a fruitful source of inspiration The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, as translated into English by Edward FitzGerald. The last quatrain:

And when Thyself with shining foot shall pass Among the guests star-scatter'd on the grass, And in thy joyous errand reach the spot Where I made one - turn down an empty glass!

My father's father, or poshly stated, my paternal grandfather - his name was Edward James Scott - was born in 1882 in Suffolk, in the south-east of England. Before getting into the family line that led to Grandad Scott, my Dad, then me, I sensed a mystery connected to the surname itself: Scott. I'll delve into that before getting to specifics, for thereby hangs a tale. Many stories start long before they begin.(I borrowed that good line from Terry Pratchett's Small Gods.) SCOTT - the simplest and most obvious origin of the surname has to come via early wanderers from Scotland who, back in medieval times on settling in England, would have been given names such as Robert the Scot, or Robert Scotus, later becoming Robert Scot(t). There are other theories though. A book, History of the Scott Family by Henry Lee states:

"Historians claim that the name of Scotland itself was derived from the family name; in fact, claim that a family of primitive gypsies gave a name to the country in which it located instead of a country giving a surname to divers wanderers from its borders. In support of this theory Boethius, Vermundus, Cornelius and Scaliger claim that the name of Scott originated from Scota, the daughter of the Pharaoh who was drowned in the Red Sea. The story told in support of this origin of the name follows : Gathelus, a son of Cecrops, King of Athens, being banished from that kingdom, fled to Egypt with a large band of followers. This was in the time of Moses and Pharaoh being engaged in war was glad to accept the aid of the followers of Gathelus, whom he made a general of the combined forces. The enemy nations were subdued and as a reward Pharaoh gave his daughter Scota in marriage to the victorious Gathelus. Later Gathelus and Scota, with a goodly following, escaping from the plagues in Egypt, fled to Spain, naming that portion of the country Port Gathale which is now known as Portugal. Here Gathelus gave to his followers the name of "Scottis" from the love he bore his wife Scota. After years of war with the natives of Spain these nomad "Scottis" once more set sail and landed in Ireland from whence they afterwards went over to the northern part of the adjacent island of Britain, naming the country Scotland or the land of the Scottis. This theory of the origin of the name is treated by many historians as fabulous, but Geoffrey Keating, the Irish antiquary, claims that the followers of Gathelus and Scota landed in Ireland A. M. 2736 (B. C. 1303); and a number of ancient antiquaries and historians agree that the name of Scott is derived from the Egyptian Scota.

A tall tale indeed, but interesting - and who could ever prove it true or untrue now?

There are numerous Scotts to be found among the clans of Scotland and in English counties near to the Scottish border, with a rather sparser sprinkling of the name throughout England. Whether some Scottish wanderer back in the mists of time travelled as far south as Suffolk isn't known, but there has been a clutch of Scotts in the county for centuries. A little more research threw up the first evidence of Scott surnames in the south of England generally, in Kent to be exact.

The book mentioned earlier tells that

Sir William Scott, the founder of Scots Hall and the Scott family of Kent, was the son of John Scott, seneschal of the manor of Brabourne, Kent. Sir William was a Justice of the Common Pleas, appointed 1336, and knighted on the day Edward the Black Prince was created Duke of Cornwall. He died in 1350. The tradition is that Sir William was descended from a younger brother of John de Baliol, King of Scotland and of Alexander de Baliol, Lord of Chilham, Kent. Family records show that in 1402, Peter de Coumbe made a settlement of the Manor of Coumbe in Brabourne, on William Scott who died in 1434. He is credited with the building of the Hall, afterwards known as Scots Hall, and had two sons, John and William. The latter, Lord of the Manor of Woolstan and founded of the family of Scott of Chigwell, died in 1491. The elder, Sir John, Sheriff of Kent in 1460, was knighted and made Comptroller of the Household by Edward IV in 1461. He was also Lieutenant of Dover Castle, Warden of the Cinque Ports and Marshal of Calais. He died on 17th October 1489.

Now I come from a long line of oppressed and downtrodden, nameless and faceless English peasants, "ag labs" (agricultural labourers) and domestic servants. I have no pretensions to grandeur whatsoever, in fact my socialist blood would boil at the very idea! However, the Scott strain found in Suffolk is said to be an offshoot of the Kentish Scotts of Scots Hall. One of the earliest references, in Suffolk Probate Records, is of an Adam Skott de Bradfield who, in 1474/5 left his estate to George Scott and Benedict Freg. Several Scotts were living around Rattlesden and Bradfield area of Suffolk in the 1400s to 1600s - a location not a long distance from where my Scotts would have been labouring in the fields some decades later.

One family of Suffolk Scotts, including Thomas, Elizabeth and their children, along with Thomas's mother Martha, widow of Henry Scott of Rattlesden, hightailed it to New England in the vessel "Elizabeth" of Ipswich, Suffolk on the last day of April 1634. One son, Roger Scott remained in Rattlesden until his death. The Scott adventurers settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts, later moved to Ipswich, named after its original in Suffolk, England. Thomas Scott was town officer in the US version of Ipswich, in 1653. I noticed that a wife of one of the Scotts who emigrated to the US was executed as a witch after trial in Salem. There are several Scott lines in Norfolk (the county adjoining Suffolk to the North). I've read that Scottish prisoners from the English Civil War's Battle of Dunbar in the mid-17th century were sent to Norfolk as labourers on the drainage of the fens. There would have been a few Scotts among them for sure, or if not, and if they survived their ordeal as prisoners and were later released or escaped, they'd soon have become known as, for instance, James the Scot, then later James Scott.

 Onward to the nitty gritty: My Dad didn't know much about his father's background, only that "he had walked up to Yorkshire from Suffolk when he was quite young". That'd be no "walk in the park" - it's 220 miles via today's roads. An uncle and a cousin I once approached for further information on Grandad Scott had no more clear information; my Uncle thought Grandad had come from Essex, my cousin thought Birmingham. This was the first mystery I tackled trying to construct our family tree. It turned out that there was probably some truth in all three ideas.

Grandad Scott was born in Suffolk, on 9 March 1882. I have it documented by his birth certificate, and in several other places in online census returns. It was in a small village called Stoke-by-Nayland. That area of England is known for its pastoral beauty. The Cornfield by John Constable. Click on image for a bigger view. (For US viewers - corn in Britain = wheat, not sweetcorn as in USA) Many of the paintings by John Constable, like the one above, feature lovely landscapes not a stone's throw from the village where Grandad was born. He did paint one featuring the very village, Stoke-by-Nayland, but online version doesn't translate well to computer screen. The beauty, for Grandad and his mother, Mary Ann Scott, born about 1857, must have ended abruptly though. Mary Scott, my great-grandmother, bore her son out of wedlock. In census returns for 1861, 1871 and 1881 she is found living with her parents William and Lucy Scott, and her siblings, in Stoke-by-Nayland or neighbouring villages. By 1881 Mary was acting as housekeeper to her then widowed father. By the 1891 census, though, Mary, aged 33, son Edward, then aged 9, and a daughter Alice aged 5, are listed as inmates in the Stanway Workhouse, just over the southern Suffolk border in Essex. She is noted as "unmarried" he as "scholar".

What happened between 1881 and 1891 and the name(s) of the father(s) of her children will forever remain a mystery. I thought it strange for her to be admitted to a workhouse outside of her birth county, but research indicates, with some confusion, that it's likely that Stanway Workhouse (see below) just over the Essex/Suffolk border was an available venue for paupers from certain parishes in Suffolk, possibly due to extent of Poor Law Unions' borders, or other legalities.

Life in workhouses in the 19th century would have been grim, even grimmer, I suspect, after the Poor Law Amendment Act was passed in 1834. Emphasis in earlier times was more towards the relief of destitution rather than deterrence of idleness which characterized many of the institutions set up under the Act. Archived records of admissions to Stanway Workhouse were destroyed, so any hope of my being able to find out exactly when Mary and Edward were admitted are gone. Census states that Alice was born in Stanway; Edward wasn't born there, that's the only clue I have. Perhaps Mary and Edward had remained living with her father, William, for several years, then Mary became pregnant again and her father threw her out. Or maybe that happened immediately on the birth of Edward. I'll never know.

A Minute Book of the Workhouse Guardians is stored in the Essex Records Office, searching through it may or may not throw up some snippet of information, but I'm not convinced it would be worth the expense of paying a professional to do the research.

 I've wondered whether the name Edward might be a clue to my Grandad's father. There's no other Edward in this Scott line that I know of and babies, back then, seem to have been named in accordance with a kind of family name cycle. Grandad's middle name, James, matches that of Mary's grandfather, for instance. I looked around the census return for any Edwards living near Mary and her father in 1881, spotted a couple in a likely age group, but reading something into that would be mere speculation. Mary was still listed at Stanway Workhouse in the 1901 census, with a daughter Lily aged 4. I haven't yet found trace of Mary, Lily, or Alice in 1911; perhaps in the intervening 10 years all three had died, or Mary had died, and Alice and Lily had left to seek work and/or married. More on workhouse life at this link.

Grandad would have left Stanway Workhouse to try to find employment at a fairly young age - around 12 or 14. Exactly when he set out on his walk northward, or how long it took, I don't know. He could well have made many stops, taking work along the way. In the census for 1901, aged 20, he had arrived in an East Yorkshire village, Londesborough, is listed as "boarder" and shepherd at Londesborough Wold Farm. In 1904 he married my grandmother Mary, and by the 1911 census they were living in Driffield, an East Yorkshire market town, at Wold House Cottages. Grandad was still a shepherd, with 4 children, my father being the youngest at that time, aged 1 year. There would be 6 more children to come. Grandad would serve in World War 1, come home with a leg injury, and later obtain work as postman, a job he did until retirement. I found a record of his appointment on 17 September 1920 in the British Postal Service Appointment Books - records are now online.

My own memories of Grandad Scott begin in the early 1950s after he had retired from work. We used to go together to the cinema quite often, both enjoyed that a lot. He lived just around the corner from us in those days, used to like to visit the local auction saleroom and bring my parents boxes of bargain treasures he'd found there. I remember finding all kinds of interesting books and bits and pieces among those bargains. He was a keen gardener, often brought us baskets filled with his home-grown veggies. He had some other amazing skills too, he could repair clocks, made a hobby of it in fact. Also, my father told me, when all the kids were young Grandad would sit at a sewing machine making or re-making clothes for them all - 10 of 'em - so it was no mean task!

 There's little more to tell via hard facts, other than that Mary's father, William Scott, born about 1821 was a son of James Scott and his wife Ann (formerly Lee). William was born in Ashbocking, Suffolk and appears to have moved to live near Stoke-by-Nayland, probably for work reasons; there he met his wife Lucy (formerly Lucy Shepherd). So far I can find background family links for neither Lucy nor Ann my 2nd and 3rd great-grandmothers. William and James were agricultural labourers, working on some of the many farms and estates of the landed gentry and aristocracy in Suffolk. James, born about 1791, was a son of John Scott, about whom little is yet discovered, probably born around 1768/70. John, who, in genealogical terms is my 4th great-grandfather, was possibly farming as a tenant, a step up from labourer, though the work would have been much the same. I found a Land Tax Redemption record for a Jno Scott which indicates he was a tenant of land of the Earl of Ashburnham and C. Boone in 1798 in Ashbocking, and owed 15 pounds 16 pence in land tax. Whether Jno Scott and my John Scott are one and the same isn't 100% certain, but if they are it could be at around this point that my line of Scotts links to the early Suffolk Scotts. John would have to be a brother, cousin, cousin once removed, whatever, to a direct line of the Rattlesden Scott line (Roger being the only male of that brood left in England after the 1634 exodus to the USA.) From thence, a link to the Kentish Scotts and thence to the old, true Scottish Scott line.

On the other hand, for all I know my stragglers could be descended from some random band of travelling gypsies, or a Scottish prisoner deposited to work in Norfolk after the Battle of Dunbar, bearing the Scott name. I'd be very happy with that too! My Scotts could also have been labourers moved by some aristocratic landowner from an adjoining county to work on more far-flung areas of his lands, which would make further research difficult and results nebulous. I've taken my Scott line, with a fair amount of certainty, back to the mid 1700s, but there the trail ends, unless other information surfaces.

Grandad died in December 1958. His eldest son, my father, died in April 1992, and my father's 9 siblings, as far as I know, have all now passed on too. Our version of the name Scott is carried on via four (I think) male cousins of mine. #2 of this series of 4 posts will (in due course) be about Grandad Scott's wife, my paternal grandmother. I've been able to delve much further back into the mists of time in her case, mainly due to the work of other, distantly related, amateur genealogists. For now, I toast members of my Scott line, known or unknown, and in their honour now turn down my empty glass. For old Suffolk maps, hat tip to Foxearth.org