Washburn researchers, This is the second installment of transcriptions from the Parish Register of St. Peter's, Bengeworth, Worcestershire, England, ancestral home of the Washburns of Plymouth Colony and Hempstead. Anyone who missed the first installment, in which I posted the Washburn entries I had found from 1538-1570, can e-mail me directly at [email protected], and I'll forward a copy of it to you. Reading the 16th century parish registers is like reading a foreign language. The formation of the letters is so different from our cursive script today, and even that of the late 18th C. founders of our government. In addition a lot of Latin words are sprinkled in. I'm finding, however, that the longer I spend with it, by small degrees, the easier it gets. Each year generally begins with Anno Domini (In the year of our Lord), usually abbreviated, and with the reign of Queen Elizabeth, also generally has the year of her reign. The dates are usually expressed in small roman numerals, in a cursive style. The x's are generally easy to pick out, the i's are also easy by just counting the dots, but the v's are difficult sometimes. Very often in the entries there is no month written, and it is therefore assumed to have occured in the same month as the preceeding entry, i.e. Item the xith of January Thomas Smith ... Item the xiiith John James ... Item the xixth Jone Wilson ... Many words are abbreviated, often simply because the writer reached the end of the page, so the last word was sacrificed rather than dropping to the next line. Sometimes words are hyphenated, but I never saw the use of a dash. The writer simply finished the word on the next line, causing additional confusion, especially when it was a surname. What we know today as an ampersand (&) was written generally as "e," short, I assume, for the Latin et, meaning "and." I found no Washburn entries in the years 1571, 1572, or 1573. The next Washburn entry I found was in 1574: Ao DM 1574 et 16 Regni Elizabeth Christenings Item the xxiiiith was borne Edmond Haynes e Miralos Darle godfather e Agnes Wasborne godmother In this entry the month was not specified, but was presumed to be March, since the preceeding entry was March. From here on, since this practice was so common, I will put the month in parentheses, (March). There were no Washburn entries in 1575. The next Washburn entries were in 1576: Ao Dm 1576 of Rg. Elizabeth Christenings Item the xiiith Daie (of January) Margaret Gattesley, Margarett Borland? e Margarett Wasborne godmothers and Robart -orbank?/- orbens godfather The godfather's surname could have been Gorbens, Yorbens, Gorblens, etc... This name is common in the records, but I'm not sure what it is supposed to be. The next entry, also in 1576, was extremely difficult to decipher: Item the xith Daie (of February) Jone Phelps, Wm? Gorbins? god. Ellnor Wasborne and Katherine? Henlo? godmothers The next year after 1576 in the register was very clearly written 1579. There was no 1577 or 1578, nor were there even pages allotted to those years, however, as noted below, it was almost certainly 1578. Ano Dm 1579 et Regni Elizabeth 20 Christenings Item the xxith Daie (of February) Radegonno? Wasborne, the Daughter of John Wasborne The next year, however, also says "Ano Dm 1579 et Regni Elizabeth 21." Undoubtedly the previous year should have been 1578, especially since 1574 was the 14th year of the reign of Elizabeth, then 1578 would have been her 20th year, and 1579 her 21st year. I found no Washburn entries in 1579. In the year 1580 I found: Buryings eodem ano The same Daie (xxith of August) Wm? Wasborne I am not at all sure about the name Wm. This same name is written in several different records, and it is very short and difficult to figure out. The m is raised, and has a long tail running off the end of it. The first letter could be a W or an M, but evidently is a male, not female name, as evidenced by the use of it in connection with a godfather in several instances. The year 1581 was only partly legible, and very dark and moldy, but I found no Washburns. The next Washburn entry was in 1582: Ano Dm 1582 et Regn mo Elizabeth xo? xxiiiith Chrystenings Item the xxiith Daie of June Daniell Wasborne the Sone of John Wasborne The next Washburn entry I found was in 1584: Ano Dm 1584 et R.R. ma Elizabeth xxvih Chrystenings Item the xiith Daie of December Mary Wasborne the Daughter of John Wasborne I need to expand the scope of this bulletin here briefly, because of the important marriage which occured in 1585 in Bengeworth of the parents of Margery Moore, wife of John Washburn, the immigrants to Plymouth Colony. My apologies to those of you descended from William Washburn, of Hempstead. Bear with me for the sake of your Massachusetts cousins. Knowing beforehand that Margery Moore's parents were supposedly married in Bengeworth, I had been keeping an eye out for Moores and Taylors, in addition to Washburns. According to the I.G.I., the marriage occured on the 19th of November, 1585, but it looks to me more like the 9th. Previous to this marriage, I had found no records of Moores or Mores in Bengeworth, but quite a few Taylors, including a seemingly endless stream of Thomas Taylors. The marriage of Margery Moore's parents did, indeed, occur in Bengeworth in 1585. I read it as: Ano Dm 1585 ao R.E.R. xxvii Weddings eodem ano Robert More and Elen Taylor the ixth of November The "i" in the date is back slanted, and the dot is actually above the x, rather than the i, but I see only one x. If they were married on the 19th, it would have been written "xixth." I did not find the 1567 christening of Ellen Taylor in Bengeworth, as expected; according to other sources she was supposedly baptised in Alvechurch, Worcestershire, rather than Bengeworth. Her parents were supposedly George Taylor and Elizabeth Pepill. I have not proven this, nor have I found the birth of a George Taylor early in Bengeworth. I also looked, but cound not find the birth of a Robert More from about 1558 through 1566. I found no Washburn entries for 1585, 1586, or 1587, but predictably I found a Moore baptism in 1587: Ano Dm 1587 et R.E.R. xxix Chrystenings Item the iiith Daie of August Anne More the Daughter of Robert. Thomas? Taylor godfather, Anne? James? and Mary Byshop? godmothers In 1588, the word Christenings was discontinued in the heading, and they were referred to as either baptisms or christenings in the entries. In 1588 was the baptism of Margery Moore, who would later become the wife of John Washburn, the immigrant to Plymouth Colony: Ano Dm 1588 et R.E.R. xxx Item Margery the daughter of Robart More baptised the third of November. An unexpected entry in 1589 caught me by surprise: Ano Dm 1589 et R.E.R. xxxi Burials eod. ano The xiiith of Maye Robart More, InnKeeper I studied the word InnKeeper for about 20 minutes before deciding on it. Capital I's and J's look almost identical, and capital K's are very difficult to decipher. This was apparently, however, not the same Robert Moore whose wife was Ellen Taylor, because another daughter of Robert Moore was baptised in 1592. No Washburn entries were found from 1585 through 1591. The next Washburn entry was found in 1592: Anno Dm 1592 et Regm Regina ina? 34 The xxxth of September was Baptised Elizabeth More the Daughter of Robert More glon? I can't figure out the word after Robert More. It certainly isn't "dec'd." I assume it must be an occupation. Buryals eod. ano The iiith of June Margarett Wasborne Part of 1593 was moldy and very hard to read, but luckily John Washburn's burial was readable: Anno Dm 1593 et R.E.R. 35 Buryalls eod ano John Wasborne was buryed the xiiith Daie (of October) I found a Washburn and a Moore entry in 1594: Ano Dm 1594 e R.E.R. 36 The xiiiith of February (was baptised) Thomas Oborthasall?, Thomas? Ridge, John Wasborne godfathers, Ann Shorthasell? godmothers The translation of the surname Oborthasall or Shortasell is very uncertain. It is very difficult to decipher. The initial letter may have been a capital O or S, in a German style. After Thomas it definately looks like an "O", but the way the letter was written in the godmother's name could have been anything. In later writing of this surname, the letter looks more like an S. Weddings eodem ano John More e Dhrisian? Vohen? were married vth of February The bride's name is very uncertain, especially the first two letters of the given name, and the first letter of the last name. 1595, for some reason, was very sparse. There were only 3 baptisms and 1 burial. I found several entries in 1596 of interest: Anno Dm 1596 et R.E.R. 38 Item the xxvith of June (was baptised) Jone Home, Gyles Wasborne godfath, Jone Shorthasall? e Elnor Darlo godmother The xxvth of January (was baptised) Margarett More, Agnes Taylor e Agnes More godmoth. and George Bennett god. Weddings eodem ano Impris John Wasborne e Martha Stevens were married the vth of July Other sources have the date as the 6th of July, possibly taken from the Bishop's Transcripts, but the parish register definately has no i after the v in the date. This is the marriage of the parents of the Washburn immigrant ancestors, John Washburn of Plymouth, and William Washburn of Hempstead. Ano DM 1597 et R.E.R. 39 The Second of July was baptised John Wasborn the sonne of John Wasborne This is the birth of John Washburn, who married Margery Moore, and immigrated to Plymouth Colony. Burials eodo ano Item the xvith Daie (of May) the Daughter of John More Anno DM 1598 et R.E.R. 40 Chrystenings Item George Tanto? was bap. the viith Daie of feb. Thomas Ridge and John Wasborne godfathers and Margarett Godson godmother. Item Martha Price? was bap. the xxviith of February. Martha Wasborne e Elizabeth Gorkins? god. Thomas Gottesley? godfather The next year, 1599, christenings ran on very long, probably through 1600, part of which became very hard to read. Also, there were no marriages or burials recorded during this period, 1599- 1600. Anno DM 1599 et R.E.R. 41 Chrystenings Martha Griffine the Daughter of Edward Griffin bap. the vth Daie of Maye, John Hall Martha Wasborn e Ales Ridge gods. Jane Wasborne the Daughter of John Wasborne was baptised the Second Day of Decemb. Msis Jone Watson Agnes Shortasall e Hacko? Diston gods. This is as far as I've been able to get thusfar. The reading is very slow, and the number of records per year are growing. In addition to Washburns, beginning with 1597 I'm beginning to see a few Nicols in the records, which I'm also writing down, but I haven't seen a Francis or Isaac Nicols/Nichols yet. Since I'm also seeing Whiteheads occasionally, I'm keeping an eye out for a Daniel Whitehead. My next posting will begin with 1601. One more thing, however, in looking back over some of the previous entries, I found one I had missed in 1564 christenings: Item the Same Daie (xxiith of February), Jone ___, Jone Wasborne e Jone Moring? godmothers and Thomas Barns godfather. The surname of the christened child is very short, 3 letters, which look like "vxn," but are probably not. I welcome comments on what I've found or not found. John A. Maltby Redwood City, CA [email protected]