Hat Tip: Great Fire of London, 1666

If you have ancestors who were in or near London in 1666, today the Museum of London's blog has a great post about the fire and its aftermath. It was an event that would never have been forgotten by those who witnessed it.

[Woodcut from ‘Shlohavot, or, The burning of London in the year 1666′

Museum of London Blog]

[Great Fire painting, 1670s, Showing the fire from either Newgate or Ludgate with St Paul’s Cathedral in the background.

© Museum of London]

Eastcheap, where my ancestor William Heath had lived and worked before he removed to Virginia at least 16 years earlier, was completely destroyed.

[A Plan of the City and Liberties of London,  Shewing the Extent of the Dreadful Conflagration in the Year 1666; Taken from "A New History of London, Including Westminster and Southwark, to which is added, A General Survey of the Whole; Describing The Public Buildings, Late Improvements, &c. Illustrated WIth Copper-Plates." by John Noorthouck. London, 1773. Source: Mapco]

My friend Bonnie's paternal seventh great grandfather Thomas Ambridge (1642-1679) and his bride-to-be Euphemia Tew* (1646-1719) were living in Hampstead which overlooks the City of London and a place where crowds gathered to watch the fire.

[View of the City of London from Hampstead Heath, 2013, my photo]

Note: As you would expect, the Museum of London has a lot more information about the Great Fire, both online and in their War, Plague & Fire (1550s-1660s) gallery.

*This surname was variously spelled as To, Too, Two, and Tow (and probably a few others that I've forgotten.)



© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Working on Wednesday, Genea-Envy Edition: Henry Ambridge (1694 - After 1764?), Member of the Worshipful Company of Butchers, City of London

We all have them: those fascinating, well-documented ancestors that aren't ours, but we wish they were.

My genea-envy is evoked by Henry Ambridge, the paternal fifth grandfather of my best friend. The son of Henry and Ann Ambridge, he was christened in St. John at Hampstead on September 16, 1694.

[Original Data: London Metropolitan Archives, St John at Hampstead, Camden, Composite register: baptisms, marriages & burials, 1560-1737, Images produced by permission of the City of London Corporation Libraries, Archives.

Ancestry.com. London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA]

On June 9, 1720, Henry, bachelor, and his bride-to-be Ann Briggs, spinster, were named in a marriage bond in the parish of St. Andrew Holborn.

[Original data: Marriage Bonds and Allegations. London, England: London Metropolitan Archives. Images produced by permission of the City of London Corporation Libraries, Archives.

Ancestry.com. London and Surrey, England, Marriage Bonds and Allegations, 1597-1921 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.]

Then there are their marriage lines, dated June 12, 1720, also from St. Andrew Holborn. Note that the couple were married by Lycence* which enabled them to marry without the banns being announced in church for three successive Sundays, a choice that cost more but was more private and had become fashionable.

[Original Data;London Metropolitan Archives, St Andrew Holborn,Register of marriages,1720-1735/6, Images produced by permission of the City of London Corporation Libraries, Archives.

Ancestry.com. London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA]

As a member of the Worshipful Company of Butchers, one of the Livery Companies of London, Henry was granted Freedom of the City** in 1723.

[Original data: Freedom admissions papers, 1681 – 1925. London, England: London Metropolitan Archives. COL/CHD/FR/02. London Metropolitan Archives

Ancestry.com. London, England, Freedom of the City Admission Papers, 1681-1925 database on-line. Provo, UT, USA]

On July 22, 1748, Henry signed an Indenture by which his son Harry*** apprenticed himself for the token sum of one penny to learn the butcher's trade. Four years later Henry did the same for his youngest son William (without the fee).

[ Original data: Freedom admissions papers, 1681 – 1925. London, England: London Metropolitan Archives. 

Ancestry.com. London, England, Freedom of the City Admission Papers, 1681-1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.]

We know that Henry's address was in Little Swan Alley in 1750 from a Poll Book**** of that date.

[Original data: London, England, UK and London Poll Books. London, England: London Metropolitan Archives and Guildhall Library.

Ancestry.com. UK, Poll Books and Electoral Registers, 1538-1893 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA]

[Plan de la Ville de Londres et aes Fauxbourgs,  Paris, 1764; Bellin, Jacques Nicolas Bellin, 1703-1772.

Source: Davis Rumsey Historical Map Collection.]

And from here on we have too many records for Henry. Or rather we have too many Henrys. Is he the Henry Ambridge who owed a land tax for two properties in Faringdon Without in 1764?

[Original data: London Land Tax Records. London, England: London Metropolitan Archives. Images produced by permission of the City of London Corporation Libraries, Archives.

Ancestry.com. London, England, Land Tax Records, 1692-1932  [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA]

If so, he can't be the Henry Ambridge (from London) who was buried at St. Mary at Finchley, Hendon on June 3, 1755.

[Original data: Church of England Parish Registers, 1538-1812. London, England: London Metropolitan Archives. Images produced by permission of the City of London Corporation Libraries, Archives.

Ancestry.com. London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA]

Then there's the Henry Ambredge who was buried at St. Martin's Church, Ruislip, in 1762. I wonder who he is?

[Original data: Church of England Parish Registers, 1538-1812. London, England: London Metropolitan Archives. Images produced by permission of the City of London Corporation Libraries, Archives. Ancestry.com. London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA]

I've managed to trace the Ambridge line in Hampstead two generations farther back, to the 1640s. The thing that impresses me the most about them is that, from the earliest time when signatures were required on documents, both male and female Ambridges were able to sign their names even when their spouses could only make their mark.

*License

**Here is a short video explaining about the Freedom of the City, "one of the oldest surviving traditional ceremonies still in existence today."
***My friend's fourth great grandfather.
****As a freeman Henry was eligible to vote for the Mayor and Sheriffs of the City of London.

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

What's in a Birthday? Could It Be a Valentine?

The August 6, 1837, baptismal record from Shoreditch St. Leonard in London allows us to work out the birth date for Charles Groves* because his age at the time of his baptism is written in the last column, 3 months and 2 days, which would make it June 4th of that year.

[Ancestry.com. London, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Board of Guardian Records, 1834-1906 and Church of England Parish Registers, 1754-1906. London Metropolitan Archives, London.Images produced by permission of the City of London Corporation Libraries, Archives and Guildhall Art Gallery Department.]

In the 1900 Federal Census, Charles said he first arrived in the U.S. in 1862, although we don't have any other record confirming that. He was described as a resident of Montreal, Canada, when he married Jessie (or Janet) MacGilvray on March 20, 1867.

[Ancestry.com. Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Original data: Gabriel Drouin, comp. Drouin Collection. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin.]

Sadly his wife died four days before the baptism of their son on February 28, 1868 where the baby's parents are listed as "Charles Groves and his late wife Janet McGilvery."**

[Ancestry.com. Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Original data: Gabriel Drouin, comp. Drouin Collection. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin.]

The next record*** we have for Charles is his marriage to Mary Murphy in Boston, Massachusetts, in May of 1871 where the 33-year old's age is given as 30. By the 1880 U.S. Census, Charles was using 1843 as his birth year but by 1900 he appears to have settled on 1840**** which he used for the rest of his life.

When I first looked at his death certificate from 1915, I was puzzled by the birthday listed there. I was prepared for the birth year of 1840 but March 20th? Looking back through his life I realized it was the day he married his long-dead first wife.

[Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Death Records, 1841-1915 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Original data: Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts.Massachusetts Vital Records, 1911–1915. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts.]

We know nothing personal about Charles L. Groves.***** He was able to sign his name on every record we have of him that required it. His mother Mary Ann Ambridge came from a long line of people who were literate, so that's not a surprise. I certainly don't know if he was a sentimental man but I like to think that, when he was re-inventing himself, the birthday he chose was a tribute to the woman he married in the Knox Presbyterian Church in Montreal on March 20, 1867.

*The great grandfather of a friend whose family tree I've worked on.
**MacGilvray is one of those names that no one seems to know how to spell, even in Scotland where it originated. McGilvray appears to be the version favored by Jessie/Janet's family in Canada.
***Since there is no record of him in either the 1870 U.S. Census or the 1871 Canadian Census, I suspect that he may have left Canada on a date between the two enumerations.
****The 1900 U.S. Census lists his birth month as March.
*****Not even his middle name.

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.