Churchwarden's Accounts (a Welwyn example)

When they survive the Churchwarden's account books can tell you a lot about what was happening in the village at the time, often mentioning many names.  I have posted details of 

The Churchwarden's Book for Welwyn 1657-1732

which includes items such as

 "These are to certify to whom it may concerne that Ann Harper of the parish of Welwynne in Hertfordshire supposed to be troubled with the disease commonly called the King's Evil hath not (that we know of or ever heard) bin at any time touched by the King's Majesty to the intent to be healed of that disease. Witness our handes & seales this 23rd of March, 1683."

 Collected then for the church of St Alban's in Hertfordshire 16s from persons hereafter names to wit of Gabriel Towerson, Rector 5s, Dr. Luke Eales 5s, John Wilshire 6d, Robert Watkyns6d, Mrs. Vaughan 1s, Mrs. Hester Mead 6d, George Lavigton 6d, Jonathan Wacket 6d, Edw. Rhowgan 6d, Robert Gun 6d, John Twidal 6d, Mrs. Halsey 1s, Total (with 1s received afterwards) 17s. The whole paid by Mr. Halsey to Thomas Juice May 2, 1682.

There is also a much longer list of names of people who contributed to the fund raised to repair the church when the steeple fell down,

Have a look at what this one contains - and it is always worth checking to see what old account books survive for the parishes you are interested in.  You never know what will turn up! The only record I have for the birth of one of my ancestors is a payment made following the birth in an overseer's account book for the mother's "lying in month"

Welwyn gets a face lift

The pages for Welwyn have had a major face-lift to make it far easier to find relevant material. There is now an extensive menu - while the Welwyn home page has thumbnail picture links to the Church, the old Police station, the Great North Road, and Woolmer Green. There are also links to the more significant answers relating to Welwyn. One page on the floods of 1795 (which also affected other parts of Hertordshire) can now be found - when previously it had been "lost" among other pages.

The High Street, Welwyn, from an E. Ashby post card posted in 1905

A number of books about the town currently have skeleton reviews. If you come across any short reviews (and not just for Welwyn) why not ask me about the book - for instance "does it contain any information on ..." and I can usually provide a review which includes a mention of the topics that interest you.

The Saw Family of Tring (19th Century)

Six years ago Nikki asked a question about the Saw family of Tring. Alan has now written to provide some more information about the family and mentions some to the activities over the county boundary into Buckinghamshire. 

Additional comments on answers (and elsewhere on the site) help to make it more useful and interesting for everyone. Have you made a contribution Yet?

The Ruins of Minsden Chapel, near Hitchin

Usually if you ancestors were married in a church the building, although perhaps much changed, is still there. But if, for example, your ancestors were include George Lyle, who married Susanna Hanscombe in Minsden Chapel in 1737, or Enoch West, who married Mary Horn the following year, all you would find if you visited the spot are ruins. I have just posted a detailed account of the history of Minsden Chapel, (which was in the parish of Hitchin, but is now in the parish of Preston) which was published in 1913. 

The chapel has attracted the attention of poets and the article ends with a poem describing the ruins written in the early 19th century which begins.

No pomp of art, no jewelled shrine,
No tombs of gilded splendour shine
     In Minsden's lone remains,
Nor Parian marble's vivid glow,
Nor mimic works of art that show
    The sculptor's faultless pains.

An even earlier poem, written in 1750, sometimes applied to other ruined churches, such as the one at Thundridge, includes the lines:

Is this the place where numerous footsteps trod,
Where living votaries fill'd the house of God?
Where the full chorus of the sounding choir
Bade one loud strain of prayer and praise aspire?
How silent now the desolated spot,
Its paths untrodden and its use forgot!

Tring Tiles - The Boyhood of Christ

14th Century Tiles from Tring Church

During 19th century restoration work on Tring Parish Church a number of 14th century tiles were found that tell the story of the childhood of Jesus (something the Bible forgot to say anything about). While the story they tell is known from contemporary manuscripts this Medieval "cartoon strip" seems to be unique, as no other tiles, made in the same way, are known to tell the tale. The tiles ended up in the British museum (apart from some fragments now in the Victoria & Albert Museum) where they are currently on display in Room 40 (Medieval Europe). For more pictures and the story of the tiles click here. Modern reproductions can be seen in Tring's Local History Museum.

The Mayor of St Albans supports local Football Team

In the past I have posted photographs of a number of  football clubs from about 100 years ago - with requests for information about the clubs and/or the players.

Maureen has come up trumps in that she has identified the well dressed gentleman in the back row of a 1897-8 photograph of the Stanville Football Club. There can be little doubt that he is Thomas Oakley, the owner of a large provisions store in the centre of St Albans, who was Mayor of St Albans in 1897/8. To celebrate the discovery I have created a new page containing a short biography of Thomas Oakley - with links to a useful list of St Albans councillors.

However it would be nice to know the identity of the footballers themselves - and in fact there still a number of old photographs waiting for an identification in the Rogues Gallery.

Major update to Ware pages

Some of the larger towns and village pages are either in need of an restructure, or a restructure has been started and not finished. The problem is that over the last 11 years the amount of information on the site, and waiting to be added to the site has increased significantly, and the original idea of one page per place has proved impractical. Ware ended up with one main page, and one overflow page, plus a few other related pages - such as the one on the Great Bed of Ware.

St Mary's Church, Ware

If you visit the Ware pages you will find there is now a menu - and much more attractive front page - with a 1891 description of the town, and a series of thumb pictures which take you to other pages. The changes will take some time but the first stage will be to add more pictures and to re-scan all the old pictures - so all the post card images will be available in higher resolution simply by clicking on the picture. In addition an index of post card publishers is being built up so allow better dating.

So far the new page for St Mary's (the ancient parish church) is complete with new images and text, and there are new/updated images on some of the other pages. I will report on progress at intervals.

Dr Thomas Marryat & A Happy Child from Barnet c1760

Caroline came up with a unusual question - relating to "A Happy Child" from Barnet who is mentioned in a spiritual song that was circulating in the United States and was first published in Boston, Massachusetts in 1767.

I investigate and find that a Presbyterian Minister, who was also a poet, left a chapel in Barnet in 1760 and went to America. He returned, initially to Ireland, in 1766 (the year before the song was published) and some years later his son married a lady from Boston, Massachusetts!

So he is a prime candidate for being the author - or is he???  I then find a broadside ballad entitled "A Children's Example" in a collection of English ballads, mainly from the 17th century, although some could be as late as 1790. Is it possible that Dr Thomas Marryat wrote the poem when he was at Barnet to frighten children to be good and God loving, had it printed, and then took a copy to America? Or perhaps it was a much older ballard with no connection with the rather eccentric doctor?

I don't know - so what do you think after reading the evidence at Thomas MARRYAT, Barnet, 1760 and "A Happy Child"

Edward Lear and the Old Person of Tring

I visited the Tring Local History Museum today, and noticed that, in addition to many local history booklets, their sales desk had some new post cards including one showing Edwards Lear's limerick about the Old Person of Tring.

So if you are in Tring on a Friday or Saturday why not have a look at this pleasant little museum, run entirely by volunteers.

J. T. Newman - an important Berkhamsted Photographer

Barbara contacted me about some old family photographs by James Thomas Newman, of his family and possible relatives, including some by a photographer called Piggott. I had been planning to update the Newman page for some time - and the revised page gives details of the relationship between Theophilus Piggott, a photographer of Leighton Buzzard, Beds, William Coles of Watford, and James Newman of Berkhamsted. Over the next few weeks (probably after the Olympics) I plan to provide many more examples of Newman's work - and would be very interested to hear from you if you know of examples of his early photographs, books and magazines which used his photographs, and post cards of events (including the Inns of Court Regiment when they were in Berkhamsted during the First World War).