Only a few poor law records, QSPs etc have been transcribed and posted online yet. Most are still in county record offices, and need to be searched in person. I have discovered a lot of relevant local background and connections from such records. But you never know what kinds of useful information may be hidden in the records (if they still exist) until you read them. You may be the first person to have looked at them for a century or two! Ian C > -----Original Message----- > From: Cordelia Hull [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2012 10:37 PM > To: Ian Clark > Cc: SFHG SxFamHXGrp > Subject: Re: [SFHG] an eternal brick wall? > > The kids of 'our' James were called Mary, James and Sarah - > family names for BOTH guys because they were cousins. > > I'm not sure that the other records (poor law records etc) would help > - they would probably just tell us that a James s/o William > and/or a James s/o James existed, which we already know. But > are such records searchable on line somewhere, just in case? > > Cordelia > > On 19 September 2012 07:22, Ian Clark <[email protected]> wrote: > > Have you checked wills and Quarter Sessions papers? Are there > > Overseers Accounts or other Poor Law records for the > relevant parishes > > at the time around the births? > > > > Can you tell anything from the naming patterns of the > children, which > > sometimes follow grandparents and their uncles and aunts names? > > > > Ian C > > > > > > > >> -----Original Message----- > >> From: [email protected] > >> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Cordelia Hull > >> Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2012 9:11 PM > >> To: SFHG SxFamHXGrp > >> Subject: [SFHG] an eternal brick wall? > >> > >> Can anyone suggest a way around this problem that has bedevilled a > >> cousin-researcher and myself for years. > >> > >> We have a great-grandfather, James Stenning, who had a > father called > >> James Stenning and a grandfather, also called James Stenning - we > >> call them James the First, Second and Third. > >> > >> The oldest James Stenning was baptised in Shermanbury c. 1778/9. > >> > >> The problem is, there were two James Stennings baptised in > >> Shermanbury within 8 months of each other, around that time. > >> One was baptised on > >> 5 July 1778 (parents = William Stenning and Jane Stedman). > >> The other was baptised on 5 March 1779 (parents = James > Stenning and > >> Mary Glazebrook). And there is no way of determining (from later > >> life > >> events) which 'Sweet Baby James' was actually our ancestor. > >> > >> 'Our' James became an Ag Lab and went on to marry Sarah Bacon in > >> Ashurst on 27 Oct 1801, but there is no clue to his > parentage there. > >> He had three children and was widowed early. In 1851 and > >> 1861 he was living in Bolney, Sussex (as 'widowed father') > with his > >> son James and family. He died of influenza on 2 May > >> 1864 and was buried at Twineham on 7 May 1864. > >> > >> But who were his Mum and Dad? > >> > >> One stroke of luck - the two James Stennings born in Shermanbury in > >> 1778/9 shared one set of grandparents at least, because > their fathers > >> (William and James) were brothers - both were sons of William > >> Stenning who died in Cowfold in 1788. So we have some hope of > >> tracing that line further back. But I am also interested > in maternal > >> lines so I would like to know EXACTLY which James is our ancestor. > >> > >> Does anyone have any ideas on how to ascertain which James > is ours, > >> or will we just have to accept this as an eternal brick wall? > >> > >> Cordelia Hull > >> 14526 > >> > >> ------------------------------- > >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > >> [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > >> quotes in the subject and the body of the message > >> > > >