I seem to have hit a brick wall researching my ancestor James Best FINMORE and any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. His birth details were difficult to find as he was known as James Best FINMORE throughout his life (and death) but I eventually found his baptism recorded under the name James Finmore BEST. The baptism took place in 1790 at Oxford St. Thomas. The mother was Jane BEST and the birth was recorded as 'base born' i.e. illegitimate, and no father is recorded. As James used the surname FINMORE throughout his life, and for christening his children, does this perhaps suggest that the father's surname was FINMORE? Any thoughts on how it might be possible to ascertain who was the father would be gratefully accepted. Other possibly relevant information is as follows: - There is a birth of an Edward BESST (sic) recorded to mother Jane in Oxford St. Thomas in 1788. It seems likely that Edward is James’s brother or half brother. James was apprenticed to Richard ROUSE, Cabinet Maker. His sponsor was an uncle, Thomas LINDSAY / LINDSEY, a sergeant in the Oxfordshire militia. A Thomas LINZEY married Elizabeth BEST in 1793 in Oxford St. Thomas. I searched for births of siblings named Jane and Elizabeth BEST of the right age and found Jane, born in Oxford Holywell in 1765 to Matthew and Jane, and sister Elizabeth born in 1768. There is also a brother William born in 1766. There is a good probability that this is our Jane. James married Maria HAYES at Abingdon St. Helens in 1815. I have details of the subsequent census records and BMD information for the family and descendants. James died in 1841. Other records in the OFHS index which may or may not have connections are: - • Matthias Best married Jane Mason in Oxford St. Aldates 30/09/1765 • Jane Best died aged 39 in Oxford St. Mary Magdalen in 1804 • Matthias and William Best, sons of Matthias died in Oxford St. Aldates in 1767 • Elizabeth Best died aged 74 in Oxford St. Giles in 1845 Thank you. Frank CARTER Devon

I'd say it was very likely that his father's name was FINMORE, though I wouldn't rely on the spelling being exact. I think it was common for mothers of illegitimate children to give them the father's name as a middle name when the father didn't own up, to try to shame him into admitting parentage, & to let everyone know. I'd look for any FINMORE (& similar) males around that time, particularly named James. Also, there might be a record somewhere of the father being forced to pay to help support young James, perhaps the parish taking him to court. On 07/08/2012 13:56, Frank Carter wrote: > I seem to have hit a brick wall researching my ancestor James Best FINMORE > and any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. > > His birth details were difficult to find as he was known as James Best > FINMORE throughout his life (and death) but I eventually found his baptism > recorded under the name James Finmore BEST. The baptism took place in 1790 > at Oxford St. Thomas. The mother was Jane BEST and the birth was recorded as > 'base born' i.e. illegitimate, and no father is recorded. > > As James used the surname FINMORE throughout his life, and for christening > his children, does this perhaps suggest that the father's surname was > FINMORE? Any thoughts on how it might be possible to ascertain who was the > father would be gratefully accepted. > > Other possibly relevant information is as follows: - > > There is a birth of an Edward BESST (sic) recorded to mother Jane in Oxford > St. Thomas in 1788. It seems likely that Edward is James’s brother or half > brother. > > James was apprenticed to Richard ROUSE, Cabinet Maker. His sponsor was an > uncle, Thomas LINDSAY / LINDSEY, a sergeant in the Oxfordshire militia. A > Thomas LINZEY married Elizabeth BEST in 1793 in Oxford St. Thomas. > > I searched for births of siblings named Jane and Elizabeth BEST of the right > age and found Jane, born in Oxford Holywell in 1765 to Matthew and Jane, and > sister Elizabeth born in 1768. There is also a brother William born in 1766. > There is a good probability that this is our Jane. > > James married Maria HAYES at Abingdon St. Helens in 1815. I have details of > the subsequent census records and BMD information for the family and > descendants. > > James died in 1841. > > Other records in the OFHS index which may or may not have connections are: - > • Matthias Best married Jane Mason in Oxford St. Aldates 30/09/1765 > • Jane Best died aged 39 in Oxford St. Mary Magdalen in 1804 > • Matthias and William Best, sons of Matthias died in Oxford St. Aldates > in 1767 > • Elizabeth Best died aged 74 in Oxford St. Giles in 1845 > > Thank you. > > Frank CARTER > Devon > > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Oxfordshire FHS "wills library" is at http://wills.oxfordshirefhs.org.uk/ , > with references to 47,347 people and 3,980 testators. Can you offer a will? > ------------------------------- > 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

Frank, You have actually done some very thorough research. As far as the name of the father, you may be right in assuming that Finmore was his surname but, of course, that is only a supposition at this point. I am assuming that you have James' original christening record and not just a transcription, in case the vicar added anything to the record. The best place to go for records of this sort is the Parish Chest records in the parish where James was born or in the parish where his mother resided, if that is different. The Parish Chest Records contain the business dealings of the parish such as paying the bell ringer, maintaining the roads and taking care of the poor. If the officers of the parish thought that they would have to financially help with James' upbringing, they could force Jane to tell them the name of the father so that they could assess him for the cost of James' care. These records are called "bastardy bonds". Another record source may be the apprenticeship records. But it seems you have already located and read these records. And make sure that you don't just obtain the transcription but, in fact, you get a copy of the originals so that you can make sure nothing was missed in the transcription. In my case my Martha Dilks had two children out of wedlock. I found the name of the father for her son William Gresley Dilks through bastardy bonds. It was William Gresley. Three years later, my ancestor Mary Ann was born but there is no such bastardy bond for her. Perhaps it is because her father was also William Gresley, but that is pure speculation on my part. I hope you have success with your research. Margo British Research Consultant FamilySearch -----Original Message----- From: oxfordshire-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:oxfordshire-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Frank Carter Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2012 6:56 AM To: OXFORDSHIRE@rootsweb.com Subject: [OXF] FINMORE, BEST, HAYES, CARTER, ROUSE and LINDSEY/LINZEY I seem to have hit a brick wall researching my ancestor James Best FINMORE and any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. His birth details were difficult to find as he was known as James Best FINMORE throughout his life (and death) but I eventually found his baptism recorded under the name James Finmore BEST. The baptism took place in 1790 at Oxford St. Thomas. The mother was Jane BEST and the birth was recorded as 'base born' i.e. illegitimate, and no father is recorded. As James used the surname FINMORE throughout his life, and for christening his children, does this perhaps suggest that the father's surname was FINMORE? Any thoughts on how it might be possible to ascertain who was the father would be gratefully accepted. Other possibly relevant information is as follows: - There is a birth of an Edward BESST (sic) recorded to mother Jane in Oxford St. Thomas in 1788. It seems likely that Edward is James’s brother or half brother. James was apprenticed to Richard ROUSE, Cabinet Maker. His sponsor was an uncle, Thomas LINDSAY / LINDSEY, a sergeant in the Oxfordshire militia. A Thomas LINZEY married Elizabeth BEST in 1793 in Oxford St. Thomas. I searched for births of siblings named Jane and Elizabeth BEST of the right age and found Jane, born in Oxford Holywell in 1765 to Matthew and Jane, and sister Elizabeth born in 1768. There is also a brother William born in 1766. There is a good probability that this is our Jane. James married Maria HAYES at Abingdon St. Helens in 1815. I have details of the subsequent census records and BMD information for the family and descendants. James died in 1841. Other records in the OFHS index which may or may not have connections are: - • Matthias Best married Jane Mason in Oxford St. Aldates 30/09/1765 • Jane Best died aged 39 in Oxford St. Mary Magdalen in 1804 • Matthias and William Best, sons of Matthias died in Oxford St. Aldates in 1767 • Elizabeth Best died aged 74 in Oxford St. Giles in 1845 Thank you. Frank CARTER Devon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oxfordshire FHS "wills library" is at http://wills.oxfordshirefhs.org.uk/ , with references to 47,347 people and 3,980 testators. Can you offer a will? ------------------------------- 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

> I seem to have hit a brick wall researching my ancestor James Best FINMORE > and any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. > > His birth details were difficult to find as he was known as James Best > FINMORE throughout his life (and death) but I eventually found his baptism > recorded under the name James Finmore BEST. The baptism took place in 1790 > at Oxford St. Thomas. The mother was Jane BEST and the birth was recorded as > 'base born' i.e. illegitimate, and no father is recorded. > > As James used the surname FINMORE throughout his life, and for christening > his children, does this perhaps suggest that the father's surname was > FINMORE? There is a 'vehement suspicion' that this is the case. Probably, because he was a boy, the father did more or less achnowledge him. With luck, you should find a bastardy bond in the parish Overseers' papers, or the entry in Quarter sessions impsoing this on James. Only if he paid up-front and substantially should this be missing. If Jane was in the habit of producing offspring, then maybe either there will be other bastardy bonds, or, if the father was the same, nothing may happen till she is dumped when she reached 35 or 40. The name could be Fenemore, Finnamore etc and is found locally to Oxford and Bucks. EVE Author of The McLaughlin Guides for Family Historians Secretary, Bucks Genealogical Society