Saturday 16 February 2008

Visit to TNA

My aim for this visit was to see if I could track down anything about my 4x great-grandfather, William Childs Forster, who had been an Excise Officer living in Bermondsey, Surrey in the 1820s. He married Eliza Taylor in 1820 and had at least three children, but beyond that I knew nothing of him.

Below is a transcription of what I found. At least he wasn't being actively fraudulent like some of the officers minuted in the Customs Records at The National Archives.

Promoted: (CUST 47/503, 1816 p54)
Weds 25 SEP 1816:
“John Augustus JONES, Principal Officer in the 8th Division Brewery, being through Infirmities rendered incapable of performing the Duty of an Officer, Ordered that he relinquish: that Robert Wilkie SEWELL, Officer in the 17th Division, succeed him: that William Childs FORSTER, Assistant in the 19th Division, succeed SEWELL: and that Samuel Trelove SAGARY be Assistant in the Room of FORSTER on Wm MANLEY’s motion.”

(Ditto, p61):
Tues 1 OCT 1816:
Thomas LYNN, Officer in the 25th Division, Brewery, having suffered the Hide Stamp No. 3806, which was delivered from this Office into his Possession on the 13th of August, to be fraudulently used, as appears by 36 Hides having been found and seized in the Possession of a Tanner on the 21st which had been marked therewith, although no such Hides were charged with Duty, as appeared on Examination before the Board. Ordered that he be discharged, that William Childs FORSTER, Assistant in the 19th Division, succeed him: and that Thomas YATES be Assistant in the Room of FORSTER on Wm MANLEY’s motion.”

(Ditto, pp66-67)
Sat 5 OCT 1816:
William Childs FORSTER, Assistant the 19th Division Brewery, who by Minute of the 1st instant was appointed Officer in the 25th Division, having been previously appointed Officer in the 17th Division, Ordered that John GREENLY, Assistant in the 7th Division, be Officer in the 25th Division in his Stead, and that Thomas YATES, who by the same Minute was appointed to succeed FORSTER be Assistant in the 7th Division in the Room of GREENLY.”

Surveying Officer, 17th Division (OCT 1816-?); 113th Division (JUN 1819-1828) (Salary £25 per Quarter, JAN 1817-1828 (T44))

(CUST 47/516 pp58-59)
Weds 24 JUN 1819:
William Brook LAURIE, Officer in the 13th Division Brewery, having shewn Surveys at a Common Brewer’s for Jun 11th at ep8 (?) and at another for such Trader’s for the 11th at ep9, which were evidently feigned, as appeared on Examination before the Board. Ordered that he be discharged and that William Childs FORSTER, late Officer in the 17th Division, who was discharged and is restored, succeed.”

(From Oct 1828 receiving 10 years bonus £1 1s 1d)
From 3 NOV 1828 – reduced to Assistant Officer, due to drunkeness.

(CUST 47/570 PP58-59)
Monday 13 NOV 1828:
William Childs FORSTER, Officer of the 113th Division, Town Establishment, not having between mp 8 on October the 3rd and the following morning, entered any Survey in the Book at two Chandlers’, nor the Weight of two Makings of Candles which had been in operations and weighed by him during that Interval; having left the Keys of the Locks, by which the Utensils were secured, on the Chandlers’ Preimses, and removed the Specimen, from the Place where it ought to have been kept, at one of the Traders, and being on October 4th in a State of Intoxication and incapable of performing his Duty, as appears by the Report of Golding BOID, General Surveyor, and the said FORSTER having been once reprimanded within three years last past, Ordered that he be reduced to be Assistant in the 47th District; that William JAQUES, Officer of the 223rd Division, succeed him, at his own Request; and that Thomas BURDELL, Assistant in the 47th District, succeed JACQUES.”

(Duties had to be exacted on: “Auctions, Beer, Bricks, Candles, Coffee, Cyder, Glafs, Hides, Hops, Licenses, Malt, Paper, Pepper, Printed Goods, Salt, Sopa, British Spirits, Foreign Spirits, Starch, Sweets, Tea, Tobacco, Vinegar, Wine.” T44/53 1826)


It looks as though he may have drunk his bonus... Life in the Excise service seems to have been full of temptations.

But I'm hooked now - why was be 'discharged and restored'? Trouble is, I won't be back at TNA for a while!

Friday 15 February 2008

Somerset Investigations

I had a chance to go to the Somerset Record Office while I was home for Christmas. Intending to chase my YOUNG and WASHER lines, I ended up making a breakthrough on my PADDON line.

Maria Paddon (b.c. 1814 in Bridgwater) was straightforward enough, but her father George had already tried complicating things even on a first, brief acquaintance. (Two George Paddon marriages in one year, both of them to a Sarah, when one of them should have been a Mary? But this is family history, so far, so much as usual.)

However, playing around with the settlement / bastardy indexes at the SRO led me to some old poor law documents that helped establish that my Paddon line were from Cannington, rather than Bridgwater and had been there since before the 17th C. New sources for me and a great lead for what had looked like being a difficult branch of the tree.

(More of this when I transcribe it... )

First Post

I've been exploring Web 2 for work (that's the library rambling side) and thought it might be useful to have a blog to use to keep people up to date on family history discoveries. If I occasionally get carried away about children's books or Doctor Who, that may happen...