Newton Family History on CD!

[Elizabeth Herts]

In August my daughter was contacted by someone who saw her tree on Ancestry.

It was an Australian couple - the wife is has the same great-great-grandfather as OH. My Newton family from Bankside Southwark and previously Stalybridge.

We have been exchanging information fast and furious - they filled us in with all the family in Australia - a whole branch we couldn't trace before, and I was able to give them lots of details from census returns and original certificates.

I had the best Christmas present today - in the post 2 CDs (one for me, one for daughter) of the Newton Family History - all 169 pages. It includes maps, photos, etc and lots of details.

This is the 1st Edition - I'm hoping after Christmas to discover more so that a 2nd Edition is required.

It has spurred me on to think I should do something similar for each line in my tree. It would be great for other family members.

Just wanted to shared this, cos' I know you will all understand how excited I am!

[Yvonne the Sandgrounder]

What a nice surprise for you.:D

[Christine in Herts]

What a lovely gift!

Christine

[vikki brace]

Thats really lovely, what a great Xmas present

[Elizabeth Herts]

Vikki - he did maps of Southwark, Penge etc. and marked on them where the various branches of the family lived. He also included some old photos.

I need a lot of time to study the CD - it's very long and rather slow to navigate from page to page. I'm hoping once the Christmas preparations are over I'll have long enough to do it justice!

[Merry Monty Montgomery]

What a lovely gift! Maybe you will have to cancel Christmas now in order to give it enough time?? lol :)

[Elizabeth Herts]

Lol, Merry - I don't think the family would be too happy!

[Bee]

Wow, Elizabeth! That sounds like finding the proverbial 'crock of gold'!

I'll bet I'm not the only one who's green with envy! You're going to be too busy next year to do much posting on here, aren't you?!

Bee.

[Elizabeth Herts]

Bee - The majority of information for this country was provided by my daughter and myself (I had ordered and paid for all the certificates) - we gave BMDs, wills, census information etc. I also provided entries from the London Gazette and The Times On Line with information on the family and their businesses.

However, he supplemented it by the Australian branch, and compiled it all using maps, pictures of churches, etc. It was amazing how he put it together so well.

But the very best book of all I have is by a man who is now in his 80s. The "book" I received today is family charts/trees, notes on each family etc.

The book to which I refer which is such a masterpiece is "A Sense of Belonging" by Ronald A Purser - The History of a North Cotswolds Purser Family. It's 200 pages long and my mother made contact with the author many years ago. It was written in 1977, and the author is still alive - he sent me a Christmas card giving me advice on how to research my Daniel Jeffcoat.

The Jeffcoats and the Pursers intermarried. Some of you may remember that my Jeffcoats were Quakers - originally from Hempton in the parish of Deddington Oxfordshire. A Sarah Jeffcoat marreid Samuel Purser - Ron Purser's ancestors.

The resulting book is apparently lodged in some record offices. It has 9 chapters, supplements by family tree charts etc and a bibliography and index.

It is not just a family history, but a social history too. Ron very skilfully incorporates the social history of the time into the story of our two families. It is written as a book - not in note form - and reads as a story.

Every time I look at it I am amazed. Ron is now in his 80s, but when he died he will have left a wonderful legacy. There is a list of surnames at the back, so if anyone would like me to check to see if their family could be mentioned, let me know.

And to think all the information was gleaned long before the use of computers and the Internet for genealogical research! I'm in awe!

[Bee]

Elizabeth, I wasn't intending to imply that you'd done nothing towards the family info on the CD. :o From what you've said, you've been researching it for quite a while, and gathered a lot already. But isn't it lovely to get something offered from another branch of the family - it sounds thrilling.

You said you're in awe of this author, who reseached before internet availability - well, I'm in awe of people like you who obviously know a great deal. I'm just starting, really, but I find the sheer amount of search options rather overwhelming. I'm learning such a lot, but there's a long way to go, yet!

But isn't it an engrossing pastime!

Bee.

[Elizabeth Herts]

Oh Bee, I didn't think you were saying that! :o

What I was saying was that I'm good at collecting information but that I admire people who can put it together in a meaningful way. I have quite a good filing system, but it's not particularly "user friendly" for other family members.

I admire someone who perserveres to make the family history available to other members of the family. It's something I ought to attempt!

I'm sure you will find you make progress quite quickly. Two or three years ago I was only really looking at certs and censuses. Now I'm aware of so much more, and sites like this are a big boon. In a couple of years I expect you will be surprised at how far you have come.:)

[Kit]

Elizabeth what a wonderful present. You should ask your family for the gift of time. Time to look at the CD.

[Joy Dean]

Elizabeth, would that be from a Paul Newton? He and I had contact a few years ago when I gave him information about my Newton ancestry.

[Elizabeth Herts]

Joy - Sorry, it wasn't Paul Newton. It is a family called Hunter. The wife was a Newton before her marriage, and is related to my husband.

There must be thousands of Newtons out there!

[Joy Dean]

I'll have a search to see if I can find his email address - he was doing a one name study. If I find it, I'll PM it to you.

[Elizabeth Herts]

He must be very busy if he is doing a One Name Study of the Newtons! It's such a common name.

I'd be grateful if you do find the e-mail address. I could at least give him my research.

[Christine in Herts]

Elizabeth

I'd be grateful if you can have a look on your book to see if there are any refs to: WARR (or variants), STRATFORD, or GARDNER (or variants). I had picked up that the WARR family were non-conformist - e.g. Congregational - but I'm told that some were Quakers.

I am assuming that you won't have time to do so just at the moment, but I'd welcome any new snippets when it fits in with you plans.

thanks
Christine

[Elizabeth Herts]

Christine, I have just checked the index of Ron Purser's book and there are unfortunately no references to anyone with those surnames.

In his family history Samuel Purser married Sarah Jeffcoat in 1762 in Deddington. Sarah relinquished her Quaker faith upon marriage. My Jeffcoat line were Quakers for longer - my great-great-great-grandfather Daniel Jeffcoat married Ann Parrott in 1815 in St Mary's Church in Aylesbury, and to marry her he had to be christened. After that, his children were brought up C of E.

So most of the mention of Quakers (i.e. Jeffcoats) in his book is prior to 1762, and his detailed history basically starts in 1762 upon the married of Samuel and Sarah Purser.

I believe he went to the Society of Friends direct for his information - they have a headquarters in London.

Sorry I'm not able to help more.

[Christine in Herts]

Thanks for looking, Elizabeth.

best wishes
Christine