>From another board. I found it very interesting. > -----Original Message----- > From: Ann Farnsworth [SMTP:afarn@airmail.net] > Sent: Friday, June 29, 2001 8:26 PM > To: TXFREEST-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: [TXFREEST] Tracing English ancestors > > FINDING ENGLISH ANCESTORS IN THEIR NATURAL HABITAT > By Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CGSM > > Tracing English ancestors should be easy for Americans > because the language is the same, right? Wrong. Not > only do the Brits drive on the other side of the road > but they have some curious terms relating to > localities. Although many of these designations are > not commonly used today, it's helpful to understand > them when doing genealogical research. Here's just a > sampling: > Hundred. A subdivision of a county, so named for its > having originally contained either 100 families, 100 > fighting men, or 100 hides of land (roughly 12,000 > acres). > Hide of Land. An amount of land sufficient to support > one family; under old English law totaling 60 to 120 > acres or more, depending on local usage. The hide was > the basis of the earliest taxation and the basis for > mustering the primitive English militia, the fyrd. > Tithing. A unit of civil administration containing 10 > hides of land. > Chapelry. A part of a parish that has its own small > chapel. It may have a separate church register. These > are often indicated on parish maps. Some of your > ancestors' records may be in the regular parish book, > others in the chapelry. > Shire. A county. > Union. A unit of joint administration where two or > more parishes cooperate on the operation of a > workhouse for the poor. > Wapentake. An administrative division of the English > counties of York, Lincoln, Leicester, Nottingham, > Derby and Rutland -- the area of the former Danelaw > (that part of northern and central England once > controlled by the Danes and later, the Norwegians). > The term is of Scandinavian origin and originally > meant the taking of weapons; it later signified the > clash of arms by which the people assembled in a > local court expressed assent to its decision. > Manor. An estate under the ownership of a lord > entitled to hold its own court. > Liberty. A manor, or group of manors, or other area > lying outside the jurisdiction of the sheriff, and > having a separate 'Commission of the Peace.' > In gazetteers, you will often find the different > jurisdictions of a parish listed. These can be > important to genealogical research. For example, manor > records are major sources for proof of relationships > in the 15th-17th centuries. If you're having trouble > locating an English place name, possibly it is a farm > name or house name. There's now a gazetteer of British > place names on the Web: > http://www.abcounties.co.uk/newgaz/ > If all you have is the name of the shire for your > ancestor's origins, start a search in the market > towns. They are usually where hiring fairs were held, > and it may have been in the market town where your > ancestors met and married. Hiring fairs started as > early as the 14th century in England, and your > ancestors may have worked and lived in a market town, > and additional records about them may be in that > locality rather than in the parishes of their births. > English gazetteers note localities that were market > towns. If libraries in your area do not have good > gazetteers for England, consult Wilson's 'Imperial > Gazetteer of England and Wales,' which is on > microfiche and available at many Family History > Centers. For a Web site pertaining to British > counties, parishes and localities, see: > http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~jimella/counties.htm > > For additional links for English genealogical research > visit: http://www.cyndislist.com/england.htm > > > > > ==== TXFREEST Mailing List ==== > Support free genealogy on the Internet. Join Rootsweb.com today. > http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html > > > ============================== > Visit Ancestry.com for a FREE 14-Day Trial and enjoy access to the #1 > Source for Family History Online. Go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/subscribe/subscribetrial1y.asp?sourcecode=F11HB