Hi Len, Shirburn Castle was for some time a recusant Catholic centre, held by the CHAMBERLAIN family and passing via marriage to to the GAGEs of Firle, Sussex. Thomas Gage inherited the castle but conformed to Anglicanism in 1715 (reconverting to Rome on his death-bed). Soon after becoming an Anglican, Gage sold the estate to Baron PARKER and the small Catholic community soon dwindled. However, the 1767 "Returns of Papists" show one Catholic family still there. Names are not given but it comprised a 53-year-old farmer, sons aged 1 and 3, and daughters aged 3 and 8. Presumably the wife and mother was either dead or not a Catholic. They were all natives of the village. There was also an 82-year-old widow. It appears that no records of RC baptisms, confirmations, marriages or burials survive for Shirburn (which is frequently spelled differently and sometimes confused with Sherborne, Dorset!). So two points that might just apply are: 1) The possibility that, in the 17th and early 18th century your targets were Catholics. 2) There might be a link with Firle in Sussex, as servants and estate workers sometimes moved from one estate to another under the same ownership. Regards, Tony -- Tony Hadland www.hadland.net Oxfordshire, England

Tony; Thank you for the suggestions. For some years I have held the believe that my ancestors actually were employed by the Shirburn Castle estate. My ancestor James STANMORE was born at Shirburn in 1835 and my other ancestor William HOLLY was born in Shirburn in 1721. Thanks again. Len Heyward -----Original Message----- From: oxfordshire-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:oxfordshire-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Tony Hadland Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2012 9:19 PM To: oxfordshire@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [OXF] STANMORE/HOLLY Hi Len, Shirburn Castle was for some time a recusant Catholic centre, held by the CHAMBERLAIN family and passing via marriage to to the GAGEs of Firle, Sussex. Thomas Gage inherited the castle but conformed to Anglicanism in 1715 (reconverting to Rome on his death-bed). Soon after becoming an Anglican, Gage sold the estate to Baron PARKER and the small Catholic community soon dwindled. However, the 1767 "Returns of Papists" show one Catholic family still there. Names are not given but it comprised a 53-year-old farmer, sons aged 1 and 3, and daughters aged 3 and 8. Presumably the wife and mother was either dead or not a Catholic. They were all natives of the village. There was also an 82-year-old widow. It appears that no records of RC baptisms, confirmations, marriages or burials survive for Shirburn (which is frequently spelled differently and sometimes confused with Sherborne, Dorset!). So two points that might just apply are: 1) The possibility that, in the 17th and early 18th century your targets were Catholics. 2) There might be a link with Firle in Sussex, as servants and estate workers sometimes moved from one estate to another under the same ownership. Regards, Tony -- Tony Hadland www.hadland.net Oxfordshire, England ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Interactive Oxfordshire parish map: http://searches.oxfordshirefhs.org.uk/pardata.html ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to OXFORDSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message