Hello folks
The sun is shining in Cornwall! I should be gardening, but when I get up there I just sit and look at it all growing - weeds and plants!
While I have been away you have all been busy - three 1871 pieces and one 1861 have come in. They should all be online in a week or so.
Once a month, Rick produces stats for the COCP search engine. For May it never took less than 200 searches per day, and most well above that, several times hitting 400. This is a good indication of how much your work is being used - which of course, is the whole point.
The sister project of the COCP is C-PROP, the Online Parish Register Project. The database is now up and running and we have started to upload transcripts. At the moment we are trying to restrict use to the OPC scheme members, but I will keep you posted.
A subject that comes up quite often is the UK 2011 census returns. The National Archives have just said:
"The 1911 census is a huge document – more than 12 times the size of the 1901 census, with 35,000 volumes containing the details of our 35 million ancestors and occupying some 2 kilometres of shelving. They are in good condition and suitable for scanning, with less than 5 per cent requiring more extensive conservation work to be scanned safely.
By far the best option for providing access to the census is online delivery, making the returns available to the widest possible audience and preserving the integrity of the original records. Proposals are well underway to find the very best company to work with us in order to provide a good reliable service for millions of potential users. We have published our requirements in the Official Journal of the European Union and over the next couple of months will seek to create a shortlist of potential suppliers.
Learning from previous experience and building on our current plans, The National Archives is eagerly looking forward to launching the 1911 census online in January 2012."
These returns are the actual householder schedules; not enumerators' books. This is good news, because up to now rumour control has had it that this was mission impossible.
As this is so long, I will cut out the usual whinging! And just take the opportunity to thank you all again for all your support.
Onward and Upward!!!!!
Monday, June 05, 2006
Friday, May 26, 2006
Are your ancestors missing?
Regrettably the surviving census returns are not a full record of the population of nineteenth century England and Wales, and it may not always be possible to track down individuals, addresses and householdld These omissions reflect both under-enumeration at the time of the census, and subsequent loss or damage to the returns.
In the early censuses under the GRO, certain groups, usually those not living in conventional households, were simply not enumerated by name. These included the members of the Royal Navy on board ship in 1841, and possibly in 1851; all members of the merchant marine in 1841, and various sections of it thereafter, all fishermen afloat in 1841, and sections of this group thereafter; the crews of vessels engaged in inland navigation in 1841 and 1851; and all itinerants, travellers and night workers in 1841, and probably a considerable number of the same in later years. The soldiers serving abroad were never enumerated by name.
Undoubtedly, some individuals and households that should have been enumerated will have completely slipped through the census net. Some of these omissions might reflect clerical error as enumerators and households made inevitable slips in the recording or copying. A house might have been omitted, perhaps because it was unoccupied on census night, and the enumerator forgot to note it down as empty; a wife might have been absent because of an enumerator’s copying blunder; an elderly visitor might have been temporarily lost sight of; and so on. But in some districts, or among some social groups, it might have been difficult for hard-pressed enumerators to ensure that they had handed a household schedule to every family.
In the absence of any detailed research on the subject it is difficult to put a figure to such levels of under-enumeration. It should be noted, however, that post-enumeration surveys for the 1981 census indicated that 0.5% of households were missed in that census in the whole of England and Wales.
Some of the original returns, which were not always kept in optimum archival conditions in the nineteenth century, have been lost or damaged. Often such damage was confined to the backs and fronts of enumerators’ books, but more extensive gaps exist. Special returns, such as those for shipping, were often appended to the back of enumerators’ books, were especially liable to damage. In the 1851, all the ship returns seem to have been destroyed.
Making Sense of the Census Revisited by Edward Higgs. Copyright TNA
As far as the COCP knows, no large sections of the Cornish returns are missing, just odd pages here and there. Also, Cornwall was free of large urban districts, which are particularly hard to enumerate. However, the Cornish would have been heavily represented in the maritime returns that were not taken or which were lost in the earlier years.
In the early censuses under the GRO, certain groups, usually those not living in conventional households, were simply not enumerated by name. These included the members of the Royal Navy on board ship in 1841, and possibly in 1851; all members of the merchant marine in 1841, and various sections of it thereafter, all fishermen afloat in 1841, and sections of this group thereafter; the crews of vessels engaged in inland navigation in 1841 and 1851; and all itinerants, travellers and night workers in 1841, and probably a considerable number of the same in later years. The soldiers serving abroad were never enumerated by name.
Undoubtedly, some individuals and households that should have been enumerated will have completely slipped through the census net. Some of these omissions might reflect clerical error as enumerators and households made inevitable slips in the recording or copying. A house might have been omitted, perhaps because it was unoccupied on census night, and the enumerator forgot to note it down as empty; a wife might have been absent because of an enumerator’s copying blunder; an elderly visitor might have been temporarily lost sight of; and so on. But in some districts, or among some social groups, it might have been difficult for hard-pressed enumerators to ensure that they had handed a household schedule to every family.
In the absence of any detailed research on the subject it is difficult to put a figure to such levels of under-enumeration. It should be noted, however, that post-enumeration surveys for the 1981 census indicated that 0.5% of households were missed in that census in the whole of England and Wales.
Some of the original returns, which were not always kept in optimum archival conditions in the nineteenth century, have been lost or damaged. Often such damage was confined to the backs and fronts of enumerators’ books, but more extensive gaps exist. Special returns, such as those for shipping, were often appended to the back of enumerators’ books, were especially liable to damage. In the 1851, all the ship returns seem to have been destroyed.
Making Sense of the Census Revisited by Edward Higgs. Copyright TNA
As far as the COCP knows, no large sections of the Cornish returns are missing, just odd pages here and there. Also, Cornwall was free of large urban districts, which are particularly hard to enumerate. However, the Cornish would have been heavily represented in the maritime returns that were not taken or which were lost in the earlier years.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
COCP Newsletter No 7
Hello folks
There are only 8 out of 89 pieces left of the 1861 and about two dozen parishes out of the over 200 parishes that make up the 1851. Should finish both before the end of the year.
We have just completed another 4 pieces of the 1871, which means we have done over 30% of that one. And the 1871 is my main topic today.
When we started the 1871 we were in the habit of sending multi-piece discs to transcribers. Obviously, we hoped you would do more than one, but it also saved on our considerable postal costs. It costs me about £2 for an overseas disc and £1 for a UK one. (these figures include the disc, packaging etc). I am not whinging about this - after all I am a volunteer!
We turn no one away, so we have a steadily increasing number of volunteers. So we are re-allocating pieces from multiple-piece discs. We try and keep everyone posted, but rely on you reading the emails!
We are also trying to persuade some people to try their hand at checking. This will continue to be a feature of grovelling emails from me! The next big task for us is the 1881. We are fortunate in having a complete transcription of the 1881 (don't ask). But it has to be reformatted for Free Census purposes and then checked. So we will end up needing to persuade you all to switch to checking for the final push.
I would like all 1871 TRANSCRIBERS to check in with myself or Kay; please give the piece number you are working on and a rough estimate of your progress.
There are only 8 out of 89 pieces left of the 1861 and about two dozen parishes out of the over 200 parishes that make up the 1851. Should finish both before the end of the year.
We have just completed another 4 pieces of the 1871, which means we have done over 30% of that one. And the 1871 is my main topic today.
When we started the 1871 we were in the habit of sending multi-piece discs to transcribers. Obviously, we hoped you would do more than one, but it also saved on our considerable postal costs. It costs me about £2 for an overseas disc and £1 for a UK one. (these figures include the disc, packaging etc). I am not whinging about this - after all I am a volunteer!
We turn no one away, so we have a steadily increasing number of volunteers. So we are re-allocating pieces from multiple-piece discs. We try and keep everyone posted, but rely on you reading the emails!
We are also trying to persuade some people to try their hand at checking. This will continue to be a feature of grovelling emails from me! The next big task for us is the 1881. We are fortunate in having a complete transcription of the 1881 (don't ask). But it has to be reformatted for Free Census purposes and then checked. So we will end up needing to persuade you all to switch to checking for the final push.
I would like all 1871 TRANSCRIBERS to check in with myself or Kay; please give the piece number you are working on and a rough estimate of your progress.
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Cornish Online Research
If you are a newcomer to online family history research in Cornwall, then your first port of call should be to the Cornish pages of GENUKI (xhttp://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/Cornwall/). Not only is there a lot of information about the county in general terms, but each parish has its own pages. These pages also contain useful information, but perhaps more importantly, they all contain many links to other Cornish web sites. In particular to the Census Project and the OPC scheme.
The OPC (Online Parish Clerk) scheme was started in Cornwall about 5 years ago and has since spread to 8 or 9 other English counties. It could be called the “adopt-a-parish” scheme, but OPC sounded more interesting. Public spirited people step forward and adopt a parish or parishes. Their aim is to provide information and advice to anyone who contacts them. Some of them have their own web sites and some of them contain transcribed data, things such as parish registers. Others have their data hosted on other web sites and the scheme has its own web site (http://www.cornwall-opc.org/) which contains details of Cornish parishes and of the OPC themselves.
The OPC scheme is about to launch itself into a new project – C-PROP. This is the Cornish Parish Register Online Project and aims to get all 5 million Cornish parish register entries online free-to-view in a searchable database.
The Cornwall Online Census Project (COCP) is a sort of semi-detached part of the Free Census project. The COCP is busy transcribing ALL the Cornish 19th century census returns and placing them online. They are available on the Free Census OLDB (http://www.freecen.org.uk/) and on the COCP web site (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~kayhin/ukocp.html). The whole of the 1841 & 1891 are online plus most of the 51 & 61. The 1871 & 81 are also appearing.
There are of course, lots of Cornish web sites you might find helpful. West Penwith is perhaps the best (http://west-penwith.org.uk/), but there are lots of others, including St Keverne (http://www.st-keverne.com/).
Finally, there are the commercial sites, the national projects (FreeBMD for instance) and the Cornish Family History web site. I cannot speak for them, but you can easily find them via Google.
The OPC (Online Parish Clerk) scheme was started in Cornwall about 5 years ago and has since spread to 8 or 9 other English counties. It could be called the “adopt-a-parish” scheme, but OPC sounded more interesting. Public spirited people step forward and adopt a parish or parishes. Their aim is to provide information and advice to anyone who contacts them. Some of them have their own web sites and some of them contain transcribed data, things such as parish registers. Others have their data hosted on other web sites and the scheme has its own web site (http://www.cornwall-opc.org/) which contains details of Cornish parishes and of the OPC themselves.
The OPC scheme is about to launch itself into a new project – C-PROP. This is the Cornish Parish Register Online Project and aims to get all 5 million Cornish parish register entries online free-to-view in a searchable database.
The Cornwall Online Census Project (COCP) is a sort of semi-detached part of the Free Census project. The COCP is busy transcribing ALL the Cornish 19th century census returns and placing them online. They are available on the Free Census OLDB (http://www.freecen.org.uk/) and on the COCP web site (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~kayhin/ukocp.html). The whole of the 1841 & 1891 are online plus most of the 51 & 61. The 1871 & 81 are also appearing.
There are of course, lots of Cornish web sites you might find helpful. West Penwith is perhaps the best (http://west-penwith.org.uk/), but there are lots of others, including St Keverne (http://www.st-keverne.com/).
Finally, there are the commercial sites, the national projects (FreeBMD for instance) and the Cornish Family History web site. I cannot speak for them, but you can easily find them via Google.
Friday, May 05, 2006
The governance of Cornwall
Two hundred years ago Cornwall was largely governed by Cornishmen living in Cornwall. There was, of course, a national government in London that made the rules, but the implementation and enforcement of these laws was mainly in the hands of Cornishmen. They were, of course, largely drawn from the upper and middle classes.
There were no district or county councils. The representatives of The Crown were here; they lived here amongst the Cornish. Lord Leuitenants, High Sherrifs and Judges enforced the laws laid down in London. At the lowest level was the Ecclesiastical parish, ruled by the local vicar. The parish had acquired various civil functions over the centuries, and the Vicar was constrained by law and by the elected Vestry. The Vestry was more or less self-selected from amongst the more prosperous inhabitants of the parish, but in the last resort they depended on the support of the parishioners.
From the time of the Tudors, the civil parishes (which usually covered the same ground as the ecclesiastical parishes) were given powers & duties governing the poor, the highways and petty crime. The system was supervised by the judiciary through the Quarter Sessions. At the same time, the manorial system was still around in many areas, with its own courts. The Court Leets & Baron were still meeting late in the 19th century and these appointed officials for such things as Ale tasting and Bread weighing. One of the chief officers was the Constable; he was responsible not only for local law and order, but for collecting local taxes such as the poor rate. Elected Parish Councils arrived in 1894, after the formation of County Councils.
Throughout the 19th century, the government in London refined the laws relating to social order and public good. New obligations and new rights were set out. But it is a mistake to see this entirely as a top-down process. There was pressure from the bottom to change things. A good example is the Poor Law Unions and the associated workhouses. The groans of those paying the poor rates forced the government in London to do something. The workhouses were sited, built, manned and maintained by local boards. There was a local board of governors and the jobs and the contracts to supply and maintain the workhouses were advertised in local papers.
By the end of the 19th century, elected County and parish councils had arrived. In the towns there were borough councils and in between the county & parish councils were Rural & Urban district councils. In 1830 Cornwall had more Members of Parliament than any other English county except for Wiltshire. These two counties had more MPs than Scotland! But in 1832, the reform act swept all that away and Cornwall was reduced to six. My own village had returned two MPs for 200 years. In the election of 1830 there were only 7 electors and they managed to elect three MPs instead of two!
In spite of constant change, much of the basic structure of Cornwall remains the same as it has been for a thousand years. Although I live in the modern district council area of Carrick; it covers almost the same ground as the ancient Hundred of Pydar. The parish of Newlyn East has been where it is for over a thousand years. The village of Mitchell is first recorded on paper in a court case of 1234 AD. The four local Domesday Manors of 1086 are still the sites of farms today.
Since the 1980s there has been increasing centralisation with more control going to outposts of the central government in regional authorities. The South West one lives a long way from Cornwall. The police force merged with that of Devon and the fire service is to be controlled from Taunton in Somerset. Even higher up, more and more power is shifting from London to Brussels and the County Council now has an office in that city.
Whether the shift from Cornwall to Swindon, London & Brussels is a good thing is an argument for another day!
There were no district or county councils. The representatives of The Crown were here; they lived here amongst the Cornish. Lord Leuitenants, High Sherrifs and Judges enforced the laws laid down in London. At the lowest level was the Ecclesiastical parish, ruled by the local vicar. The parish had acquired various civil functions over the centuries, and the Vicar was constrained by law and by the elected Vestry. The Vestry was more or less self-selected from amongst the more prosperous inhabitants of the parish, but in the last resort they depended on the support of the parishioners.
From the time of the Tudors, the civil parishes (which usually covered the same ground as the ecclesiastical parishes) were given powers & duties governing the poor, the highways and petty crime. The system was supervised by the judiciary through the Quarter Sessions. At the same time, the manorial system was still around in many areas, with its own courts. The Court Leets & Baron were still meeting late in the 19th century and these appointed officials for such things as Ale tasting and Bread weighing. One of the chief officers was the Constable; he was responsible not only for local law and order, but for collecting local taxes such as the poor rate. Elected Parish Councils arrived in 1894, after the formation of County Councils.
Throughout the 19th century, the government in London refined the laws relating to social order and public good. New obligations and new rights were set out. But it is a mistake to see this entirely as a top-down process. There was pressure from the bottom to change things. A good example is the Poor Law Unions and the associated workhouses. The groans of those paying the poor rates forced the government in London to do something. The workhouses were sited, built, manned and maintained by local boards. There was a local board of governors and the jobs and the contracts to supply and maintain the workhouses were advertised in local papers.
By the end of the 19th century, elected County and parish councils had arrived. In the towns there were borough councils and in between the county & parish councils were Rural & Urban district councils. In 1830 Cornwall had more Members of Parliament than any other English county except for Wiltshire. These two counties had more MPs than Scotland! But in 1832, the reform act swept all that away and Cornwall was reduced to six. My own village had returned two MPs for 200 years. In the election of 1830 there were only 7 electors and they managed to elect three MPs instead of two!
In spite of constant change, much of the basic structure of Cornwall remains the same as it has been for a thousand years. Although I live in the modern district council area of Carrick; it covers almost the same ground as the ancient Hundred of Pydar. The parish of Newlyn East has been where it is for over a thousand years. The village of Mitchell is first recorded on paper in a court case of 1234 AD. The four local Domesday Manors of 1086 are still the sites of farms today.
Since the 1980s there has been increasing centralisation with more control going to outposts of the central government in regional authorities. The South West one lives a long way from Cornwall. The police force merged with that of Devon and the fire service is to be controlled from Taunton in Somerset. Even higher up, more and more power is shifting from London to Brussels and the County Council now has an office in that city.
Whether the shift from Cornwall to Swindon, London & Brussels is a good thing is an argument for another day!
COCP Newsletter No 6b
Second newsletter covers the "end game' situation for the 1851. This looks worse than the 1861, but these are parishes, not pieces and many of them are quite small. Same request as before - if anything looks wrong, drop me a line.
Otterham HO5a1898 being transcribed by Lauren Patey
Tintagel HO5g1898 Transcribed, allocated to David Trounce for checking
Lanteglos by Camelford HO5h1898 transcribed
Davidstow HO5j1898 Transcribed, allocated to David Trounce for checking
St Clether HO5k1898 Transcribed, allocated to David Trounce for checking
Maker HO5a1900 ED1 online; rest being done by Gillian Johnson
Rame HO5b1900 being transcribed by Mike Beck
St Germans HO5f1900 being checked by Arthur Hodge
Menheniot Ho5a1902 being transcribed by Hazel Labka
St Cleer Ho5b1902 being transcribed by Nick Russell
St Neot Ho5d1902 being transcribed by Ainslie Jones
St Pinnock Ho5e1902 being transcribed by Lauren Patey
St Keyne Ho5f1902 being transcribed by Lauren Patey
Duloe Ho5b1903 Being transcribed by Brian Hulme
Morval Ho5c1903 being transcribed by Nick Russell
Lanteglos-by-Fowey Ho5h1903 Transcribed, waiting for checker
Boconnoc Ho5k1903 Transcribed, waiting for checker
Broadoak Ho5l1903 Transcribed, waiting for checker
Bodmin Ho5l1904 Transcribed, waiting for checker
St Kew Ho5p1904 Being checked by Di Thompson, more or less ready
Endellion Ho5q1904 Being checked by Di Thompson
Egloshayle Ho5s1904 Being checked by Di Thompson
Fowey Ho5a1906 being transcribed by Lauren Patey
St Sampson or Golant Ho5b1906 Transcribed, waiting for checker
Tywardreath Ho5c1906 being transcribed by Lauren Patey
St Blazey Ho5d1906 Not allocated
St Stephen in Brannel Ho5e1908 being transcribed by Sharon Strange
St Mewan Ho5f1908 Transcribed, waiting for checker
Kenwyn Ho5e1910 being checked by Mark Hattam
Tregavethan Ho5f1910 being checked by Mark Hattam
St Stithians Ho5a1914 Being transcribed by Vivienne McRitche
Gwennap Ho5b1914 being transcribed by Fiona Russell
Redruth 221069 1915 Ho5a1915 Being transcribed by Vivienne McRitche
Gwinear Ho5b1916 Transcribed, waiting for checker
Gwithian Ho5c1916 Transcribed, waiting for checker
Phillack Ho5d1916 Transcribed, waiting for checker
Towednack Ho5d1917 Transcribed, waiting for checker
St Ives Ho5e1917 being checked by John Nance
Otterham HO5a1898 being transcribed by Lauren Patey
Tintagel HO5g1898 Transcribed, allocated to David Trounce for checking
Lanteglos by Camelford HO5h1898 transcribed
Davidstow HO5j1898 Transcribed, allocated to David Trounce for checking
St Clether HO5k1898 Transcribed, allocated to David Trounce for checking
Maker HO5a1900 ED1 online; rest being done by Gillian Johnson
Rame HO5b1900 being transcribed by Mike Beck
St Germans HO5f1900 being checked by Arthur Hodge
Menheniot Ho5a1902 being transcribed by Hazel Labka
St Cleer Ho5b1902 being transcribed by Nick Russell
St Neot Ho5d1902 being transcribed by Ainslie Jones
St Pinnock Ho5e1902 being transcribed by Lauren Patey
St Keyne Ho5f1902 being transcribed by Lauren Patey
Duloe Ho5b1903 Being transcribed by Brian Hulme
Morval Ho5c1903 being transcribed by Nick Russell
Lanteglos-by-Fowey Ho5h1903 Transcribed, waiting for checker
Boconnoc Ho5k1903 Transcribed, waiting for checker
Broadoak Ho5l1903 Transcribed, waiting for checker
Bodmin Ho5l1904 Transcribed, waiting for checker
St Kew Ho5p1904 Being checked by Di Thompson, more or less ready
Endellion Ho5q1904 Being checked by Di Thompson
Egloshayle Ho5s1904 Being checked by Di Thompson
Fowey Ho5a1906 being transcribed by Lauren Patey
St Sampson or Golant Ho5b1906 Transcribed, waiting for checker
Tywardreath Ho5c1906 being transcribed by Lauren Patey
St Blazey Ho5d1906 Not allocated
St Stephen in Brannel Ho5e1908 being transcribed by Sharon Strange
St Mewan Ho5f1908 Transcribed, waiting for checker
Kenwyn Ho5e1910 being checked by Mark Hattam
Tregavethan Ho5f1910 being checked by Mark Hattam
St Stithians Ho5a1914 Being transcribed by Vivienne McRitche
Gwennap Ho5b1914 being transcribed by Fiona Russell
Redruth 221069 1915 Ho5a1915 Being transcribed by Vivienne McRitche
Gwinear Ho5b1916 Transcribed, waiting for checker
Gwithian Ho5c1916 Transcribed, waiting for checker
Phillack Ho5d1916 Transcribed, waiting for checker
Towednack Ho5d1917 Transcribed, waiting for checker
St Ives Ho5e1917 being checked by John Nance
COCP Newsletter No 6a
Hello folks
We are now in the "end game" period for the 1861. Here is my list of what remains to be done, given that 1527 & 1557 have now gone online:
1522 Anthony, being validated now
1525 Saltash, being transcribed by Joy Hungerford
1528 Liskeard being checked by Denise Ravenhill (ex-WAR, not yet started)
1540 Padstow, transcribed, waiting for checker - Chris Uphill?
1542 St Columb, transcribed, waiting for checker
1544 Newlyn, online except for ED2, which is going to be transcribed by Celia Wikert, I hope
1578 Gwennap, being checked by Marion Paul
1579 Redruth, being transcribed by Shirley Franklin, about halfway
1580 Redruth, transcription just started by Tina Russell, already one third done by Barbara Schenck.
1583 Camborne. ED1 transcribed by Sue James; she is now finishing it off.
1584 Phillack, being transcribed by Carrol Parfitt
1590 Marazion, being transcribed by Jim Rusk
1591 Penzance, being checked by Kathy Keyes.
If anybody disagrees with this, please drop me a line.
This past week we have uploaded RG112315 Falmouth plus 2246 & 2248 from the 1871 and the two 1861 pieces I have mentioned. I should get 1522 finished this weekend, especially if it rains!
Free Census has finally managed a rebuild and their stats show us with 1,119,221 returns online out of a global total of 7,395,113.
We are now in the "end game" period for the 1861. Here is my list of what remains to be done, given that 1527 & 1557 have now gone online:
1522 Anthony, being validated now
1525 Saltash, being transcribed by Joy Hungerford
1528 Liskeard being checked by Denise Ravenhill (ex-WAR, not yet started)
1540 Padstow, transcribed, waiting for checker - Chris Uphill?
1542 St Columb, transcribed, waiting for checker
1544 Newlyn, online except for ED2, which is going to be transcribed by Celia Wikert, I hope
1578 Gwennap, being checked by Marion Paul
1579 Redruth, being transcribed by Shirley Franklin, about halfway
1580 Redruth, transcription just started by Tina Russell, already one third done by Barbara Schenck.
1583 Camborne. ED1 transcribed by Sue James; she is now finishing it off.
1584 Phillack, being transcribed by Carrol Parfitt
1590 Marazion, being transcribed by Jim Rusk
1591 Penzance, being checked by Kathy Keyes.
If anybody disagrees with this, please drop me a line.
This past week we have uploaded RG112315 Falmouth plus 2246 & 2248 from the 1871 and the two 1861 pieces I have mentioned. I should get 1522 finished this weekend, especially if it rains!
Free Census has finally managed a rebuild and their stats show us with 1,119,221 returns online out of a global total of 7,395,113.
Monday, May 01, 2006
NWOCP Newsletter No 1
The North Wiltshire Online Census Project (NWOCP) started about three months ago and now has about 40 volunteers. It is a subordinate project of the main Wiltshire project, which is run by Terry Waters-Marsh, who is also the England co-ordinator for Free Census.
I decided to do it because the Warwicks 1891 project is nearly finished and I have personal ties to North Wilts. I also wanted to demonstrate how a project could be run - there are a lot of whingers around, continually moaning that there are no transcribers or checkers to be found. So I chose a small compact area; to make it a worthwhile size, we are doing ALL the 19th century census returns at once. Or nearly at once.
Currently the project is working on the 1841, 61, 71 and 91 census returns using discs and fiche sets supplied by the LDS. Recently we have produced our first piece and this is now online with Free Census. Once the 61 & 71 are done, I intend to start up the 1851, then the 1881.
Part of my plan is to have a project web site. One of your number is busy constructing web pages that will host the project. There are a number of advantages in this, not least that completed returns would get online in a couple of days instead of a couple of months. But its main purpose is to foster a sense of identity amongst our volunteers and researchers. The returns will be displayed as texts and the transcriber/checker teams will have their names in lights.
Each of our census years has about 30 pieces. Some 17 have now been transcribed with most of the others being worked on. One piece has been completed and half a dozen are in the checking stage. Mainly, these are 1861 & 71 pieces, but the first 1841 parishes are now rolling in.
We have got off to a good start; all that is needed now is for you to keep plugging away, nibbling at the task we have volunteered to do!
I decided to do it because the Warwicks 1891 project is nearly finished and I have personal ties to North Wilts. I also wanted to demonstrate how a project could be run - there are a lot of whingers around, continually moaning that there are no transcribers or checkers to be found. So I chose a small compact area; to make it a worthwhile size, we are doing ALL the 19th century census returns at once. Or nearly at once.
Currently the project is working on the 1841, 61, 71 and 91 census returns using discs and fiche sets supplied by the LDS. Recently we have produced our first piece and this is now online with Free Census. Once the 61 & 71 are done, I intend to start up the 1851, then the 1881.
Part of my plan is to have a project web site. One of your number is busy constructing web pages that will host the project. There are a number of advantages in this, not least that completed returns would get online in a couple of days instead of a couple of months. But its main purpose is to foster a sense of identity amongst our volunteers and researchers. The returns will be displayed as texts and the transcriber/checker teams will have their names in lights.
Each of our census years has about 30 pieces. Some 17 have now been transcribed with most of the others being worked on. One piece has been completed and half a dozen are in the checking stage. Mainly, these are 1861 & 71 pieces, but the first 1841 parishes are now rolling in.
We have got off to a good start; all that is needed now is for you to keep plugging away, nibbling at the task we have volunteered to do!
Warwickshire online census returns
The Warwickshire Ancestors' Project (WAP) started just over five years ago. Initially, the project just covered the urban areas in the parishes of Aston and Birmingham. The rest of Warwickshire was covered by a joint Free Census/BMSGH project known as Rural Warwickshire. However, the organiser of Rural Warwicks got disinterested, and his project was absorbed into the WAP, making a total of 122 pieces.
The 1891 project is now nearly complete, with only two pieces to go. When it is finished it will have about 800,000 records online. These can be searched on the Free Census OLDB and on the web site belonging to Pickard Trepress. (http://www.hunimex.com/warwick/w-a-p.html).
About 4 years ago, a commercial company produced the images of the Warwickshire 1841 census returns on disc. One of the 1891 volunteers, Wendy Boland, recruited volunteers who had purchased the discs for their own purposes. In the face of indifference and hostility from Free Census, she achieved the amazing result of completing and placing online the whole of the 1841 online in two years. Over 400,000 records! The final stages of this project were greatly accelerated by the arrival of the ACDB discs of the 1841. These records are also available on Pickard's web site.
Wendy has now got cracking on the WAR61 returns, using discs supplied by the LDS.
The 1891 project is now nearly complete, with only two pieces to go. When it is finished it will have about 800,000 records online. These can be searched on the Free Census OLDB and on the web site belonging to Pickard Trepress. (http://www.hunimex.com/warwick/w-a-p.html).
About 4 years ago, a commercial company produced the images of the Warwickshire 1841 census returns on disc. One of the 1891 volunteers, Wendy Boland, recruited volunteers who had purchased the discs for their own purposes. In the face of indifference and hostility from Free Census, she achieved the amazing result of completing and placing online the whole of the 1841 online in two years. Over 400,000 records! The final stages of this project were greatly accelerated by the arrival of the ACDB discs of the 1841. These records are also available on Pickard's web site.
Wendy has now got cracking on the WAR61 returns, using discs supplied by the LDS.
COCP Newsletter No 5
The 1861 could be finished before the end of the year! With a bit of luck and some more hard work by the far-flung volunteers of the COCP.
At the moment, there are three 1861 pieces going through validation etc and these should be online within a week or so. The rest are as follows:
Being Transcribed:
1525 Saltash Joy Hungerford
1540 Padstow Jean Cochrane
1579 Redruth Shirley Franklin
1584 Phillack Carrol Parfitt
1590 Marazion Jim Rusk.
Transcribed, waiting for a checker:
1542 St Columb (just done by Celia Wikert)
Being checked:
1528 Liskeard Denise Ravenhill
1578 Gwennap Marion Paul
1583 Camborne Chris Uphill
1591 Kathy Keyes
1580 Redruth is partially transcribed. Needs another transcriber.
There are 89 pieces and so, when the 3 in progress go online, there will be 11 left.
If any of the people named don't agree they are doing what I think they are - please drop me a line.
The 1851 is also in sight of the end and might also be finished before the end of 2006. Over 30% of the 1871 is online and the rest is underway. Another piece of the 1881 is here being finished and will be online soon.
On the wider front, pieces sent to Free Census have not been uploaded since 23rd February. If anyone asks you - tell them that the COCP coverage is both more extensive and more up-to-date. Our approach to this whole business is much more professional than theirs.
At the moment, there are three 1861 pieces going through validation etc and these should be online within a week or so. The rest are as follows:
Being Transcribed:
1525 Saltash Joy Hungerford
1540 Padstow Jean Cochrane
1579 Redruth Shirley Franklin
1584 Phillack Carrol Parfitt
1590 Marazion Jim Rusk.
Transcribed, waiting for a checker:
1542 St Columb (just done by Celia Wikert)
Being checked:
1528 Liskeard Denise Ravenhill
1578 Gwennap Marion Paul
1583 Camborne Chris Uphill
1591 Kathy Keyes
1580 Redruth is partially transcribed. Needs another transcriber.
There are 89 pieces and so, when the 3 in progress go online, there will be 11 left.
If any of the people named don't agree they are doing what I think they are - please drop me a line.
The 1851 is also in sight of the end and might also be finished before the end of 2006. Over 30% of the 1871 is online and the rest is underway. Another piece of the 1881 is here being finished and will be online soon.
On the wider front, pieces sent to Free Census have not been uploaded since 23rd February. If anyone asks you - tell them that the COCP coverage is both more extensive and more up-to-date. Our approach to this whole business is much more professional than theirs.
Friday, April 28, 2006
Transcribing Cornish Parish Registers
The three basic tools of Cornish family history research are the registers of Births, Marriages & Deaths; the census returns; and the parish registers. The first two are coming on nicely, so we would like to turn our attention to the parish registers.
Recently a well-known Australian traveller has discovered what many of us have known for a long time. The records bequeathed us by our ancestors are often faded, damaged, badly written and poorly reproduced. They also, in the main, have to be viewed on antiquated equipment.
We would like to get the Cornish parish registers transcribed and placed online free-to-view. It has been estimated that there are 5 million records in the Cornish parish registers. In spite of hard labour by quite a few people, the surface has hardly been scratched.
I don't know how you are dealing with parish registers, but many of you may do what I do. I usually transcribe any that look as though they might be useful. So, looking for ROBERTS in Coverack in the late 18th century, I find there are 5 families, but only one is mine. So I transcribe the lot including any in surrounding parishes. Just in case. These transcripts can be used by us.
If you have got the film at your local FHC, it's worth the time to transcribe anything that might be yours - however remote. If you have bought parish registers on fiche and have extracted your ancestors, why not get some added value and help other Cornish researchers to find their ancestors?
It doesn't matter how many you have done, 10 or 10,000, just send them in. Nor do they have to be sequential or provide complete coverage, just send them in.
Those transcripts, however incomplete, can be added to the pile. 1 or 10,000 - they can be used. Ideally, we would like you to transcribe to our prescribed layout - this can be seen on http://www.cornwall-opc.org/Resc/sample_database.htm But we don't insist on this.
How will they be used? There will be a new OPC online database - searchable & free-to-view. We have several hundred thousand records already - so five million shouldn't take long. Our policy on distribution and ownership is that of the COCP. The information belongs to no one and everyone. Bit like the Cornish motto really.
Obviously we need another confusing set of initials - so we have decided on the Cornish Parish Registers Online Project - C-PROP. It even has a motto - Send us your dead!
Recently a well-known Australian traveller has discovered what many of us have known for a long time. The records bequeathed us by our ancestors are often faded, damaged, badly written and poorly reproduced. They also, in the main, have to be viewed on antiquated equipment.
We would like to get the Cornish parish registers transcribed and placed online free-to-view. It has been estimated that there are 5 million records in the Cornish parish registers. In spite of hard labour by quite a few people, the surface has hardly been scratched.
I don't know how you are dealing with parish registers, but many of you may do what I do. I usually transcribe any that look as though they might be useful. So, looking for ROBERTS in Coverack in the late 18th century, I find there are 5 families, but only one is mine. So I transcribe the lot including any in surrounding parishes. Just in case. These transcripts can be used by us.
If you have got the film at your local FHC, it's worth the time to transcribe anything that might be yours - however remote. If you have bought parish registers on fiche and have extracted your ancestors, why not get some added value and help other Cornish researchers to find their ancestors?
It doesn't matter how many you have done, 10 or 10,000, just send them in. Nor do they have to be sequential or provide complete coverage, just send them in.
Those transcripts, however incomplete, can be added to the pile. 1 or 10,000 - they can be used. Ideally, we would like you to transcribe to our prescribed layout - this can be seen on http://www.cornwall-opc.org/Resc/sample_database.htm But we don't insist on this.
How will they be used? There will be a new OPC online database - searchable & free-to-view. We have several hundred thousand records already - so five million shouldn't take long. Our policy on distribution and ownership is that of the COCP. The information belongs to no one and everyone. Bit like the Cornish motto really.
Obviously we need another confusing set of initials - so we have decided on the Cornish Parish Registers Online Project - C-PROP. It even has a motto - Send us your dead!
Friday, April 14, 2006
Things that are crossed out or added
The census pages are littered with words crossed out; words added, and various markings that often obscure the enumerator's valuable words. We have to make sense of them.
The alterations fall into two groups. Those that seem to have been made at an early stage, perhaps by the enumerator or the registrar. Typical of these are where the enumerator has described someone as a pauper. This was not required to be entered, but it often is. It is then crossed out; either by the enumerator or the registrar, who was supposed to check the returns before they were attested to and sent off to London. With these alterations, the data should be entered with a note stating that it was crossed out. If you can get this into the occupation field, well and good, if not, enter it as a note. Where records (including whole households) are crossed out, enter them with a note. Even if they should appear elsewhere; they may not - and what is lost?
The second group of alterations appear to have been made much later; probably by the clerks in London. Typical of these are those found in the place of birth field. They have inserted a county where only a place name is given. Sometimes it is obvious they are right, other times you wonder how they could possibly have known. We stretch the "as is" concept here, and you can enter the county they suggest if it looks right to you. When they don't know the answer, they often write ALS; I have no idea what this means. Sometimes, when the age is given as N K, someone has entered an age in round numbers next to the age column. This is best entered as a note as we have no idea who entered it and why. One of the reasons for the census was to work out the size of the agricultural and other industrial sectors. By 1891 there was quite a complex system of classification; they can often be seen in the occupation field; we ignore them.
Transcribers & checkers have to make a judgement on what is to be included. If information looks good but is crossed out, enter it with a note. If it looks like a later addition, ignore it except where it is covered above.
Finally, there are the markings that add nothing to the data. Typical of these are the annoyingly thick strokes through ages; presumably made as the clerks grouped the population by age. We just have to work through these.
The alterations fall into two groups. Those that seem to have been made at an early stage, perhaps by the enumerator or the registrar. Typical of these are where the enumerator has described someone as a pauper. This was not required to be entered, but it often is. It is then crossed out; either by the enumerator or the registrar, who was supposed to check the returns before they were attested to and sent off to London. With these alterations, the data should be entered with a note stating that it was crossed out. If you can get this into the occupation field, well and good, if not, enter it as a note. Where records (including whole households) are crossed out, enter them with a note. Even if they should appear elsewhere; they may not - and what is lost?
The second group of alterations appear to have been made much later; probably by the clerks in London. Typical of these are those found in the place of birth field. They have inserted a county where only a place name is given. Sometimes it is obvious they are right, other times you wonder how they could possibly have known. We stretch the "as is" concept here, and you can enter the county they suggest if it looks right to you. When they don't know the answer, they often write ALS; I have no idea what this means. Sometimes, when the age is given as N K, someone has entered an age in round numbers next to the age column. This is best entered as a note as we have no idea who entered it and why. One of the reasons for the census was to work out the size of the agricultural and other industrial sectors. By 1891 there was quite a complex system of classification; they can often be seen in the occupation field; we ignore them.
Transcribers & checkers have to make a judgement on what is to be included. If information looks good but is crossed out, enter it with a note. If it looks like a later addition, ignore it except where it is covered above.
Finally, there are the markings that add nothing to the data. Typical of these are the annoyingly thick strokes through ages; presumably made as the clerks grouped the population by age. We just have to work through these.
Census Taking in Cornwall - No 1
Each Registration District was divided into sub-districts and each sub-district had a number of Enumerators. The Enumerators were recruited for a particular census and were generally of the opinion they were underpaid for what they were asked to do. In 1871 the pay scales were as follows:
A fixed fee of one guinea.
2s6d for each 100 persons in their area above 400.
6d for every mile above the first five miles covered in delivering schedules.
6d for every mile above the first five miles covered in collecting the schedules.
The local registrars were responsible for keeping track of changes in their district and for dividing it into roughly 200 household pieces. Each of these would have an enumerator and the authorities hoped to recruit men of local standing who would undertake the job as a social duty.
“He must be a person of intelligence and activity; he must read and write well and have some knowledge of arithmetic; he must not be infirm or of such weak health as may render him unable to undergo the requisite exertion; he should not be younger than 18 years of age or older than 65; he must be temperate, orderly and respectable, and be such a person as is likely to conduct himself with strict propriety, and to deserve the goodwill of the inhabitants of his district.”
Each enumerator was supplied with a set of household schedules, an enumerator’s book, and an instruction and memorandum book. This latter was used to order the houses, mark down where houses were being built or were uninhabited, and to keep a check on whether or not they had collected all the schedules distributed. These books do not appear to have survived.
When collecting the schedules the enumerators were to assist in completing the forms. They then copied them into the enumerator’s book. These books were supposed to be checked by the local registrars. Finally, the books arrived in Whitehall, where clerks extracted the data for statistical purposes.
Making Sense of the Census Revisited by Edward Higgs. Published by University of London in conjunction with TNA.
A fixed fee of one guinea.
2s6d for each 100 persons in their area above 400.
6d for every mile above the first five miles covered in delivering schedules.
6d for every mile above the first five miles covered in collecting the schedules.
The local registrars were responsible for keeping track of changes in their district and for dividing it into roughly 200 household pieces. Each of these would have an enumerator and the authorities hoped to recruit men of local standing who would undertake the job as a social duty.
“He must be a person of intelligence and activity; he must read and write well and have some knowledge of arithmetic; he must not be infirm or of such weak health as may render him unable to undergo the requisite exertion; he should not be younger than 18 years of age or older than 65; he must be temperate, orderly and respectable, and be such a person as is likely to conduct himself with strict propriety, and to deserve the goodwill of the inhabitants of his district.”
Each enumerator was supplied with a set of household schedules, an enumerator’s book, and an instruction and memorandum book. This latter was used to order the houses, mark down where houses were being built or were uninhabited, and to keep a check on whether or not they had collected all the schedules distributed. These books do not appear to have survived.
When collecting the schedules the enumerators were to assist in completing the forms. They then copied them into the enumerator’s book. These books were supposed to be checked by the local registrars. Finally, the books arrived in Whitehall, where clerks extracted the data for statistical purposes.
Making Sense of the Census Revisited by Edward Higgs. Published by University of London in conjunction with TNA.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
COCP Newsletter No 4
Hello folks
Since the last newsletter, we have uploaded:
1851
St Minver Lauren Patey (Aus) & Di Thompson (UK)
St Veep Jane McDonnell (US) & Di Thompson (UK)
Trevalga Lauren Patey & David Trounce (Can)
St Teath Lauren Patey & David Trounce
St Erme Sue James & John Nance (both Aus)
1861
1541 Padstow Tina Russell (UK) & Maxine Cadzow (Aus)
1558 Truro St Clement Louise Haywood (Estonia) & Marion Paul (Aus)
1594 Penzance Ceilia Wikert (USA) & Chris Uphill (Aus)
There are five pieces in the queue here; at the moment I am up to my armpits in Warwicks stuff - only two more pieces to go out of 122!
For those of you who have signed up to jabber; the chat room server is now conference.jabber.org rather than private.jabber.org. The name is the same. To those of you who haven't tried it - it will give you one-to-one with me or entry to the chat room. There is nearly always someone there who will look up a difficult entry for you. Please give it a whirl - if you don't like it don't use it. But try it. Details of how to get signed up are on an earlier post in this blog.
Found a new "old" occupation today - Hokey Pokey maker. If this sounds familiar - try looking at http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/hokey.htm
In fact, it was a type of ice cream sold by street vendors.
Here in Cornwall it is a cool dry morning; rather overcast. The forecast is good and I am expecting to get some gardening done. I hope that you all have a happy Easter.
Rgds
Michael
Since the last newsletter, we have uploaded:
1851
St Minver Lauren Patey (Aus) & Di Thompson (UK)
St Veep Jane McDonnell (US) & Di Thompson (UK)
Trevalga Lauren Patey & David Trounce (Can)
St Teath Lauren Patey & David Trounce
St Erme Sue James & John Nance (both Aus)
1861
1541 Padstow Tina Russell (UK) & Maxine Cadzow (Aus)
1558 Truro St Clement Louise Haywood (Estonia) & Marion Paul (Aus)
1594 Penzance Ceilia Wikert (USA) & Chris Uphill (Aus)
There are five pieces in the queue here; at the moment I am up to my armpits in Warwicks stuff - only two more pieces to go out of 122!
For those of you who have signed up to jabber; the chat room server is now conference.jabber.org rather than private.jabber.org. The name is the same. To those of you who haven't tried it - it will give you one-to-one with me or entry to the chat room. There is nearly always someone there who will look up a difficult entry for you. Please give it a whirl - if you don't like it don't use it. But try it. Details of how to get signed up are on an earlier post in this blog.
Found a new "old" occupation today - Hokey Pokey maker. If this sounds familiar - try looking at http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/hokey.htm
In fact, it was a type of ice cream sold by street vendors.
Here in Cornwall it is a cool dry morning; rather overcast. The forecast is good and I am expecting to get some gardening done. I hope that you all have a happy Easter.
Rgds
Michael
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
COCP Newsletter No 3
Since the last newsletter we have completed (but possibly not yet uploaded):
1851.
St Austell*
St Minver
St Veep
St Columb Minor*
1861
1559 Kenwyn
1585 Phillack
1855 St Agnes
1871
2321 Illogan
The 1851 pieces with asterisks mark completed pieces that have also gone to Free Census. Here is a notice of interest to 1851 volunteers:
Missing Images from the 1851 CD set from MyCensuses.com (Gordon Beavington): There have been at least two separate releases of this CD set and we have discovered that there are images missing from both these sets. If you are transcribing or checking an 1851 piece and find that you are missing a page then don't worry as all may not be lost!
The first place to check is Bill O'Reilly's 'Online Briefcase' at
http://uk.briefcase.yahoo.com/bill.oreilly@btinternet.com
There you will find a directory called 'CON1851 Census' and Bill has (as of 26th March 2006) 35 files of 'missing images' (and even whole enumeration districts) that he has obtained from Gordon Beavington. Note that one of those files is called 'Instructions-please read' - please do read these instructions before downloading any of the files!
If the page you need is not to be found in the briefcase then please contact Michael, Kay or Bill who will look on their own sets of CD's to see if they have the image.
The last sentence really applies to all years: We have all the discs, both commercial & LDS; plus we have access to Ancestry.com, so if you are stuck, drop us a line. You will get an image or an answer within hours. Especially if you use jabber - our instant messaging system. Why not try it out?
The COCP web site has been revamped using a design by Myra Cordrey (OPC co-ordinator) implemented by Rick & Kay. Please check it out - comments (& pictures) are more than welcome.
Free Census has just restated the position on entering overseas birthplaces. We shall stick to what it says in the COCP General Instructions & this blog.
1851.
St Austell*
St Minver
St Veep
St Columb Minor*
1861
1559 Kenwyn
1585 Phillack
1855 St Agnes
1871
2321 Illogan
The 1851 pieces with asterisks mark completed pieces that have also gone to Free Census. Here is a notice of interest to 1851 volunteers:
Missing Images from the 1851 CD set from MyCensuses.com (Gordon Beavington): There have been at least two separate releases of this CD set and we have discovered that there are images missing from both these sets. If you are transcribing or checking an 1851 piece and find that you are missing a page then don't worry as all may not be lost!
The first place to check is Bill O'Reilly's 'Online Briefcase' at
http://uk.briefcase.yahoo.com/bill.oreilly@btinternet.com
There you will find a directory called 'CON1851 Census' and Bill has (as of 26th March 2006) 35 files of 'missing images' (and even whole enumeration districts) that he has obtained from Gordon Beavington. Note that one of those files is called 'Instructions-please read' - please do read these instructions before downloading any of the files!
If the page you need is not to be found in the briefcase then please contact Michael, Kay or Bill who will look on their own sets of CD's to see if they have the image.
The last sentence really applies to all years: We have all the discs, both commercial & LDS; plus we have access to Ancestry.com, so if you are stuck, drop us a line. You will get an image or an answer within hours. Especially if you use jabber - our instant messaging system. Why not try it out?
The COCP web site has been revamped using a design by Myra Cordrey (OPC co-ordinator) implemented by Rick & Kay. Please check it out - comments (& pictures) are more than welcome.
Free Census has just restated the position on entering overseas birthplaces. We shall stick to what it says in the COCP General Instructions & this blog.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
What is a parish?
Originally the parish was more a collection of rights than a specific area. Before the seventeenth century the parish existed for ecclesiastical purposes as the area under the jurisdiction of a clergyman with the cure of souls. With the establishment of the Elizabeth Poor Law in 1597, the parish began to acquire secular functions, in this case the relief of the poor. Parishes which existed before 1597, and which thereafter had secular as well as ecclesiastical functions, were called ‘ancient parishes’.
‘Civil Parishes” were administrative units which only had secular functions, and were commonly defined as areas for which a separate poor rate could be assessed. The existence, alteration or abolition of these units had no effect on the ecclesiastical arrangements of the locality. Many civil parishes were areas at first subordinate to a mother church which had come in time to enjoy independence, such as hamlets, tithings, townships, chapelries and liberties. If a separate Poor Law rate was levied in the subordinate unit, it could be called a ‘hamlet’, ‘township’, and so on, and/or a ‘parish’. In order to avoid confusion the 1866 Poor Law Amendment Act required that these areas should be called ‘parishes’. Many extra-parochial places had already become civil parishes in 1857.
From 1597 onwards ‘ecclesiastical parishes’ were established for purely ecclesiastical purposes. They were more numerous than civil parishes, especially when efforts were made to build new churches in urban areas where the population was increasing. Many ecclesiastically subordinate areas within parishes, such as chapelries, were raised to parochial rank, and many formed which had no previous status. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries a number of statutory provisions allowed the creation of many different types of ecclesiastical or ‘new’ parishes. It was not unusual for a parish to be refounded to gain privileges and rights conferred by newer statutes.
Making Sense of the Census Revisited by Edward Higgs. Published by University of London in conjunction with TNA.
‘Civil Parishes” were administrative units which only had secular functions, and were commonly defined as areas for which a separate poor rate could be assessed. The existence, alteration or abolition of these units had no effect on the ecclesiastical arrangements of the locality. Many civil parishes were areas at first subordinate to a mother church which had come in time to enjoy independence, such as hamlets, tithings, townships, chapelries and liberties. If a separate Poor Law rate was levied in the subordinate unit, it could be called a ‘hamlet’, ‘township’, and so on, and/or a ‘parish’. In order to avoid confusion the 1866 Poor Law Amendment Act required that these areas should be called ‘parishes’. Many extra-parochial places had already become civil parishes in 1857.
From 1597 onwards ‘ecclesiastical parishes’ were established for purely ecclesiastical purposes. They were more numerous than civil parishes, especially when efforts were made to build new churches in urban areas where the population was increasing. Many ecclesiastically subordinate areas within parishes, such as chapelries, were raised to parochial rank, and many formed which had no previous status. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries a number of statutory provisions allowed the creation of many different types of ecclesiastical or ‘new’ parishes. It was not unusual for a parish to be refounded to gain privileges and rights conferred by newer statutes.
Making Sense of the Census Revisited by Edward Higgs. Published by University of London in conjunction with TNA.
News from the Homeland 15th March 2006
Thursday is the day the main weekly local papers arrive. In our household we take the Truro edition of The West Briton AND the Newquay edition of the Cornish Guardian.
Last week, the main item of news was about the only general hospital in Cornwall - Treliske in Truro. In spite of their no-doubt excellent financial controls, they have ended up 8.1 million pounds overspent. The Chief Executive and half a dozen other top managers have been taken out into the car park and shot! No they haven't. Instead they are closing wards and operating theatres and sacking 300 people. We are at the end of a nine year experiment in hosing the NHS down with money and it doesn't seem to be working.
The row over the waste incinerator rumbles on. This week the papers named the four potential sites for this thing. They are all, as forecast, in and around St Dennis. I am taking a closer interest as one of the sites is only 3 miles from this computer. Luckily, it is to the east of us and the wind is usually from the south west!
The lead story this week is the arrests in Truro of a couple of East Europeans engaged in running a brothel or pimping. Not what one expects in a respectable Cornish town like Truro - but only to be expected with all these virile daffodil pickers in the county.
The Eden Project is hoping to start a third biome soon - a desert one I think. To celebrate their fifth anniversary, they are offering a year long passport ticket to residents of Cornwall for only five pounds. Shame I bought mine in January! The Eden Project is a good place to take your visitors if you have any. We take the grandchildren ice skating in the winter and to the "jungle nights" in the summer.
Finally, in the autumn, Duchy Opera is staging a mega production of "The Wreckers". Set in Cornwall, this opera hasn't been performed for about a hundred years. I have a vested interest because my wife is the minutes secretary to the ruling council of Duchy Opera. So I get to hear all the news. There is to be a large scale effort involving the Cornish schools as well as the actual production.
Last week, the main item of news was about the only general hospital in Cornwall - Treliske in Truro. In spite of their no-doubt excellent financial controls, they have ended up 8.1 million pounds overspent. The Chief Executive and half a dozen other top managers have been taken out into the car park and shot! No they haven't. Instead they are closing wards and operating theatres and sacking 300 people. We are at the end of a nine year experiment in hosing the NHS down with money and it doesn't seem to be working.
The row over the waste incinerator rumbles on. This week the papers named the four potential sites for this thing. They are all, as forecast, in and around St Dennis. I am taking a closer interest as one of the sites is only 3 miles from this computer. Luckily, it is to the east of us and the wind is usually from the south west!
The lead story this week is the arrests in Truro of a couple of East Europeans engaged in running a brothel or pimping. Not what one expects in a respectable Cornish town like Truro - but only to be expected with all these virile daffodil pickers in the county.
The Eden Project is hoping to start a third biome soon - a desert one I think. To celebrate their fifth anniversary, they are offering a year long passport ticket to residents of Cornwall for only five pounds. Shame I bought mine in January! The Eden Project is a good place to take your visitors if you have any. We take the grandchildren ice skating in the winter and to the "jungle nights" in the summer.
Finally, in the autumn, Duchy Opera is staging a mega production of "The Wreckers". Set in Cornwall, this opera hasn't been performed for about a hundred years. I have a vested interest because my wife is the minutes secretary to the ruling council of Duchy Opera. So I get to hear all the news. There is to be a large scale effort involving the Cornish schools as well as the actual production.
Friday, March 10, 2006
COCP Newsletter No 2
This week we have completed 2321 from 1871(Karen Duvall & Sue McNelly); 1559 from 1861(Tina Russell & John Ford) and St Austell from the 1851( Julia Mosman, Myra Davey, David Trounce & John Nance). The latter means that another complete 1851 piece is done and can therefore be uploaded to Free Census as well as our own web pages. These should all be online in the next week or so.
Here I go again - place of birth. Aids to working out what the enumerator wrote. More of us have broadband and are thus able to run various useful web sites as we work. These can be used to help in deciphering personal and place names.
The first and most obvious is Google. Just type in "St Tiller" and see what happens. Nothing! But you might be luckier than that. Even if the place name is still wrong, you can leave me a useful little note. Recently I had a record that gave some saint's name I had never heard of. But Google threw up a farm in the parish I was looking at that had the right name. Google is also good for personal names & occupations.
Second most obvious site is OURS! The COCP web pages contain over 1.2 million records. There is a search engine and who knows - we might already have encountered your difficult-to-read name.
A site for out-of-county names is Free Census. With nearly 7 million records online the name you are seeking might be there.
A site with zillions of names on is the LDS familysearch.org site. Only one of our checkers uses this to confirm tricky personal names (that I know of) and it is free & fast.
You can always check with me. I have the OS Gazetteer in paper form; every name that is on the OS Explorer maps is in it. I also have a file containing large numbers of Cornish place names - you can have a copy.
Finally, a suggestion from a new transcriber. Insert an extra column in your spreadsheet and enter the jpg ident as you start each page. You can delete the whole column when you have finished.
Of course, with all these aids, you must keep in mind that you are trying to combine speed with accuracy.
Here I go again - place of birth. Aids to working out what the enumerator wrote. More of us have broadband and are thus able to run various useful web sites as we work. These can be used to help in deciphering personal and place names.
The first and most obvious is Google. Just type in "St Tiller" and see what happens. Nothing! But you might be luckier than that. Even if the place name is still wrong, you can leave me a useful little note. Recently I had a record that gave some saint's name I had never heard of. But Google threw up a farm in the parish I was looking at that had the right name. Google is also good for personal names & occupations.
Second most obvious site is OURS! The COCP web pages contain over 1.2 million records. There is a search engine and who knows - we might already have encountered your difficult-to-read name.
A site for out-of-county names is Free Census. With nearly 7 million records online the name you are seeking might be there.
A site with zillions of names on is the LDS familysearch.org site. Only one of our checkers uses this to confirm tricky personal names (that I know of) and it is free & fast.
You can always check with me. I have the OS Gazetteer in paper form; every name that is on the OS Explorer maps is in it. I also have a file containing large numbers of Cornish place names - you can have a copy.
Finally, a suggestion from a new transcriber. Insert an extra column in your spreadsheet and enter the jpg ident as you start each page. You can delete the whole column when you have finished.
Of course, with all these aids, you must keep in mind that you are trying to combine speed with accuracy.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
COCP Newsletter No 1
Good morning from Cornwall
We continue to make good progress; about a dozen pieces were uploaded in February. Roughly speaking, we have completed about 70% of the 1851 & 1861 and 25% of the 1871. Although little effort is being put into the 1881 project so far, we have uploaded about 6%.
On the wider front, Free Census now has nearly 7 million records online; we have contributed over 1.1 million of these. Of course, we have done more than this as we have a lot of records on the COCP site that have not been uploaded to Free Census as yet. On my other projects; Warwicks 91 & Nth Wilts, the Warwicks project is nearly finished, with only six pieces out of 122 remaining to be done. Nth Wilts has barely started, but has 40 volunteers beavering away.
It seems the LDS are planning to digitise and place online many of the records they have filmed over the years, including the parish registers. These will be indexed and this will take a long time. In Cornwall of course, the OPC scheme is already busy doing a full transcript of the Cornish parish registers.
Now-a-days, we don't seem to have many major problems on the COCP; do I sound sad? Well, I am not. However, one of the areas that slows down validation in particular is the place of birth field. I am not sure that everyone understands what is required of them.
We aim to reproduce what the enumerator wrote. Nothing more, nothing less. So, while it is nice that someone works out where St Tiller is (I wish I knew); the result of their detective work isn't going to appear online. It will have to be St Tiller. It does help me if it is difficult to read but you have left a note suggesting what it might be.
There seems to be an enduring tendency not to use the Chapman codes for Irish & Scots counties. This is not just a Cornish thing; the WAR91 volunteers are just the same. They are there and should be used. Please.
The Free Census instructions are quite clear - above all - write down what is in the field! So if the enumerator writes N K or Unknown, please put it in. Only if the field is empty do we break the "as is" rule and we put a hyphen to show that we have looked and the field is empty.
The overseas birth question is a Free Census mess. The COCP has tried to get it made more sensible but have failed. Please read the paragraph in the general instructions about how you determine if a person is OVB or OVF.
Amongst the posts on this thing, there is one on communications. This project is built round email; I am always pleased to hear from you with a small update on your progress; or just to say hello. You can also use instant messaging. You don't have to use the chatroom, but the system will give you instant one-to-one with me if I am online, as I usually am during UK daylight hours. You can pop up and ask me to look at an image; I am quite good at deciphering these things, as you would expect after six years! Give it a try, if you don't like, you can just ditch it.
Thank you all for your continuing support.
Rgds
Michael
We continue to make good progress; about a dozen pieces were uploaded in February. Roughly speaking, we have completed about 70% of the 1851 & 1861 and 25% of the 1871. Although little effort is being put into the 1881 project so far, we have uploaded about 6%.
On the wider front, Free Census now has nearly 7 million records online; we have contributed over 1.1 million of these. Of course, we have done more than this as we have a lot of records on the COCP site that have not been uploaded to Free Census as yet. On my other projects; Warwicks 91 & Nth Wilts, the Warwicks project is nearly finished, with only six pieces out of 122 remaining to be done. Nth Wilts has barely started, but has 40 volunteers beavering away.
It seems the LDS are planning to digitise and place online many of the records they have filmed over the years, including the parish registers. These will be indexed and this will take a long time. In Cornwall of course, the OPC scheme is already busy doing a full transcript of the Cornish parish registers.
Now-a-days, we don't seem to have many major problems on the COCP; do I sound sad? Well, I am not. However, one of the areas that slows down validation in particular is the place of birth field. I am not sure that everyone understands what is required of them.
We aim to reproduce what the enumerator wrote. Nothing more, nothing less. So, while it is nice that someone works out where St Tiller is (I wish I knew); the result of their detective work isn't going to appear online. It will have to be St Tiller. It does help me if it is difficult to read but you have left a note suggesting what it might be.
There seems to be an enduring tendency not to use the Chapman codes for Irish & Scots counties. This is not just a Cornish thing; the WAR91 volunteers are just the same. They are there and should be used. Please.
The Free Census instructions are quite clear - above all - write down what is in the field! So if the enumerator writes N K or Unknown, please put it in. Only if the field is empty do we break the "as is" rule and we put a hyphen to show that we have looked and the field is empty.
The overseas birth question is a Free Census mess. The COCP has tried to get it made more sensible but have failed. Please read the paragraph in the general instructions about how you determine if a person is OVB or OVF.
Amongst the posts on this thing, there is one on communications. This project is built round email; I am always pleased to hear from you with a small update on your progress; or just to say hello. You can also use instant messaging. You don't have to use the chatroom, but the system will give you instant one-to-one with me if I am online, as I usually am during UK daylight hours. You can pop up and ask me to look at an image; I am quite good at deciphering these things, as you would expect after six years! Give it a try, if you don't like, you can just ditch it.
Thank you all for your continuing support.
Rgds
Michael
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Starting up with the COCP
Your disc has arrived plus far too many instructions and a pre-formatted spreadsheet. What next?
First, the disc. The LDS-supplied discs contain lots and lots of jpg files. Each one is a page and each one has to be opened individually. Acrobat Reader does not work with them. Probably the best thing to do is download the free software IrfanView. This is a Paintshop-like piece of software that enables you to manipulate the images.
How you transcribe is largely up to you. Some people transcribe to paper first, but most probably transcribe straight into the spreadsheet. A number of you are printing the images and transcribing from them straight into a spreadsheet. You can transcribe horizontally or vertically. Personally, I always do it vertically, a page at a time. I do the forenames first, then the surnames and then work to the right. Finally I fill in the details to the left of the surnames. You may find it easier to transcribe at least your first six pages onto paper and then input them into the spreadsheet.
The spreadsheet comes to you formatted as.csv (comma separated variables). We use this because it reduces the size of the files and this matters because all files are sent by email on our project. It should open in the most common WP spreadsheet programmes, MSWord and MSWorks. It you can’t get it to open, launch your spreadsheet programme and try to open the file from within the programme. If all else fails, let me know and I’ll resend the file formatted so that you can open it.
Once you have it open, resave it as a normal spreadsheet. Forget about .csv till you have completed the task.
A major problem is squeezing everything into a 15” screen. Irfanview will allow you to reduce the size of the image area being displayed. The spreadsheet can be seized by the bottom right hand corner and made smaller. The luxourious solution is the one adopted by me – I have two flat screens hooked up to my computer. However, I was lucky in that a computer I was discarding had a 15 inch flat screen and all I had to do was buy a second video card.
Other people are running a laptop alongside their desktop. And at least one volunteer is using a TV as a second screen.
Your first target is to produce six pages for a "health" check. Do read the Field Descriptions and the General Instructions. The answers to most questions are in them.
Good luck!
First, the disc. The LDS-supplied discs contain lots and lots of jpg files. Each one is a page and each one has to be opened individually. Acrobat Reader does not work with them. Probably the best thing to do is download the free software IrfanView. This is a Paintshop-like piece of software that enables you to manipulate the images.
How you transcribe is largely up to you. Some people transcribe to paper first, but most probably transcribe straight into the spreadsheet. A number of you are printing the images and transcribing from them straight into a spreadsheet. You can transcribe horizontally or vertically. Personally, I always do it vertically, a page at a time. I do the forenames first, then the surnames and then work to the right. Finally I fill in the details to the left of the surnames. You may find it easier to transcribe at least your first six pages onto paper and then input them into the spreadsheet.
The spreadsheet comes to you formatted as.csv (comma separated variables). We use this because it reduces the size of the files and this matters because all files are sent by email on our project. It should open in the most common WP spreadsheet programmes, MSWord and MSWorks. It you can’t get it to open, launch your spreadsheet programme and try to open the file from within the programme. If all else fails, let me know and I’ll resend the file formatted so that you can open it.
Once you have it open, resave it as a normal spreadsheet. Forget about .csv till you have completed the task.
A major problem is squeezing everything into a 15” screen. Irfanview will allow you to reduce the size of the image area being displayed. The spreadsheet can be seized by the bottom right hand corner and made smaller. The luxourious solution is the one adopted by me – I have two flat screens hooked up to my computer. However, I was lucky in that a computer I was discarding had a 15 inch flat screen and all I had to do was buy a second video card.
Other people are running a laptop alongside their desktop. And at least one volunteer is using a TV as a second screen.
Your first target is to produce six pages for a "health" check. Do read the Field Descriptions and the General Instructions. The answers to most questions are in them.
Good luck!
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