Successful find of the needle

[Nelde]

Thought I would post this. Maybe it will help someone else. OH and I are putting together a family tree book for a present for his niece. I've been pulling awkward reports off FTM and revising them to make for better reading. Meanwhile OH is editing, checking facts etc etc. We got to his Heaphy line. There is much confusion with the beginning of the line. John Gerrard Heaphy from the 1700s. He is mentioned in the Directory of National Biography and other sources. Also OH comes from a line of oral story tellers with long memories. Could we verify the information from sources now on line?? Stories handed down say that JG had six children. I could find four of the them in the parish records now posted on Ancestry. But the two oldest were not there. JG married Rachel in 1777 and we had the first son born in 1775. Something was not right. Then I noticed that number 3 child's record was on page 200 or so of a very large book. So I decided to just wander around in the book to see what I could find. A big thank you to the clerk of St. GIles, Cripplegate. Very easy handwriting. Anyway. I found the second son listed as John Heathy in 1781. Went a bit further back and YES there was Thomas Heapage born in Dec 1777 not 1775 to Gerrard John. Correct mother and same occupation as on the other children. Great cheers here.;D So if looking for someone back in the 1700s when spelling was variable try just paging through the records.

[Jill on the A272]

A good find - if only all clerks had been appointed after a handwriting legibility test life would be so much easier (even if their spelling was variable)

[Olde Crone Holden]

I remember being baffled because I could not find the baptism of a Daniel Green in the early 1700s, even though all his many siblings were baptised in the one and only church. I knew roughly when he should have been baptised from a monumental Inscription.

I went through the register page by page and on a couple of pages the handwriting had changed to a very florid almost unreadable script - temporary clerk I think - and there was my man who I had dismissed several times as DAVID GUBBIN, lol.

OC

[kylejustin]

haha my 3rd great grandmother's marriage on the igi is 'turyphon' the register is faded, but her name was 'twyford' haha

[mandypea]

My 4th gt grandfather Christopher Garbutt - could not find him on 1841 census for over 2 years - someone helped me by finding him......as a lodger - Chle*** Carbut!!! I would NEVER have have found him!!!