I was still on the hunt for Henry Richard Florey’s dad. My next step was to check the Yalding parish records to see if the priest/curate had made any additional notes on the register that didn’t make it into FamilySearch. (Else Churchill, Genealogist at the Society of Genealogists, gave a great talk about this at Who Do You Think You Are? Live last year.) Even a note of “illegitimate” would be useful!
One of my problems, as a decided beginner at this family history lark, is that
- I don’t know what records are available; and
- I don’t know where to find them.
So it’s a slow (but very interesting) process of discovery. I had looked at Phillimore’s Atlas and Index of Parish Registers in a local library and checked where copies of the Yalding parish registers were held for the years I needed – Centre for Kentish Studies in Maidstone [now the Kent History and Library Centre].
Using the search facility on Access to Archives on the National Archives website, [now included in their Disovery catalogue] I could also check exactly what I needed to ask for at the Centre.
- INCUMBENT; Service of the Church – Registers – Baptisms p408/1/6 1833 – 1843
Looking back over the catalogue now, I wish I’d spent more time preparing beforehand, before I rushed in. However, the staff at the Centre were great, showed me where things were and set me up with a microfilm reader, and away I went. Located Henry’s baptism record very quickly – no new information (I thought), but I made a note of the details and took a print of it.
Next I went on to Wateringbury records – I was trying to find any mention of the Elizabeth Florey household from the 1841 census. I checked the settlement orders (removal into and out of Wateringbury) and the overseers rates from 1838 to 1843 (I realise now it would be unlikely for my household to be mentioned in here, but you live and learn). No joy, but there are plenty more records to check – I just need to pick the right ones! And now I’ve been into the Centre, it will much easier to go again. I also now have a Reader’s Card.
When I came to scan the printout of Henry’s baptism record, I looked quite closely at the handwriting, thinking it was pretty messy with the “scribble” and cross out. Then I looked a bit more closely… could that “scribble” just before “Son of” be “Ill.”, abbreviation for “Illegitimate”? If only I had discovered this at the Centre, so I could check other records. But wait! Further down the page, just three records below Henry’s, there was the same “scribble”, and it was another record where no father was listed!
Henry Richard Florey – extract of baptism record – Yalding, 1840
William Gorham – extract of baptism record – Yalding, 1840
From that, it looks pretty likely to me that Henry was illegitimate.
Disclaimer: Phillimore’s Atlas and Index of Parish Registers is authored/edited by Cecil R. Humphery-Smith, who is the founder and former Principal of the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies, through which I am currently studying. Or should be studying, if I wasn’t spending so much time working on this blog.
Susan Young
Hi, just came across your blog whilst searching for recently available used copies of Phillimore’s Atlas and Index of Parish Registers. I was particularly taken as your reference includes references to Yalding – one of my own ancestral parishes, as well. Yes, it would appear that the scribble in the extract of the two baptismal entries is “Ill:”. Note the use of the colon punctuation mark. That mark was used by the clergy as a means of indicating an abbreviation was being used in composing that particular part of the entry. Normally, one would see the word “the” as in Henry Richard ‘the son of’. Certainly, the lack of inclusion of a father’s name in the remainder of the baptismal entry, which is not evident by your blog post, would also, in and of itself confirm the illegitimacy of a child.
Maggie
Hi Susan, thanks for your comment – yes, the colon appears so obvious now, but I couldn’t see for looking at the time! 😀