Witney Local Studies Library

[Geoffers]

Witney library has a small local studies section. This contains transcripts of parish registers, original census on fiches, local interest books for Witney and surrounding area.

I go to Witney most weeks and if anyone needs any information checked against these sources, please feel free to ask.

Note though that requests need to be for specific people - a name, a rough year of birth/marriage/death, a parish is enough.

I'm not going to look up all entries for a common surname (Someone once asked me for everything I had on the surname Wright in Norfolk - others may be willing to respond to fishing trips, but not me).

Geoffers
Charlbury, Oxfordshire

[sally]

Well hello again Geoffers, long time no contact, well about 5 minutes :D.

Seeing your kind offer, any chance of a baptism at Eynsham? Hugh Kearsey told me some years ago that there was a baptism for Lewis' brother in 1852 but only gave me the place & year.

Henry Horatio NELSON, born Mar qtr 1852. I know his parents were William & Eliza nee BUSHNELL but I don't know the date or whether William was still a gamekeeper at Eynsham Hall & still living at South Lodge.

Sally

[Geoffers]

Seeing your kind offer, any chance of a baptism at Eynsham? Hugh Kearsey told me some years ago that there was a baptism for Lewis' brother in 1852 but only gave me the place & year.

Henry Horatio NELSON, born Mar qtr 1852. I know his parents were William & Eliza nee BUSHNELL but I don't know the date or whether William was still a gamekeeper at Eynsham Hall & still living at South LodgeOkedoke, your request is in my notebook, itwill probably be Tuesday when I go in next. I'll let you know what I find and where I've looked.

Geoffers
(I'll also bear your Bushnell family in mind)

[Wendy Archer]

Sally -

I'm sure Hugh would have told you the details if you'd asked him !

Eynsham is on OXF-WIT01, and to save Geoff the lookup, courtesy of OFHS:

3 May 1852 Henry Horatius NELSON, s. William & Eliza, gamekeeper, born Mar 10, ptely admitted Jul 14

Wendy

[susan-w]

Wendy
I’ve looked at the OFHS CDs before, and have been surprised at how expensive the parish register transcriptions are - £17.50. As a result, I haven’t bought any, and turned to another branch of the family to research, until I can one day visit the area.

Has the society ever looked at lowering the price of the CDs? (Maybe the increased sales would offset the lower cost.) Or selling individual parishes at a cheaper price?

Cheers
Sue

[Geoffers]

Eynsham is on OXF-WIT01, and to save Geoff the lookup, courtesy of OFHS:
3 May 1852 Henry Horatius NELSON, s. William & Eliza, gamekeeper, born Mar 10, ptely admitted Jul 14
Thanks Wendy, I was just about to stroll down to the bus, you saved me a journey :)

Geoffers

[Wendy Archer]

Wendy
I’ve looked at the OFHS CDs before, and have been surprised at how expensive the parish register transcriptions are - £17.50. As a result, I haven’t bought any, and turned to another branch of the family to research, until I can one day visit the area.

Has the society ever looked at lowering the price of the CDs? (Maybe the increased sales would offset the lower cost.) Or selling individual parishes at a cheaper price?



Sue -

"Expensive" comes down to how much they're worth to you, I guess.

OXF-WIT01 has:

COGGES Baptisms 1653 to 1973, Marriages 1655 to 1973, Burials 1654 to 1973
CURBRIDGE Baptisms 1847 to 1991, Burials 1847 to 1992
EYNSHAM Baptisms 1653 to 1900, Marriages 1653 to 1900, Burials 1653 to 1900
HAILEY Baptisms 1761 to 1954, Burials 1797 to 1932
WITNEY Holy Trinity Baptisms 1849 to 1971, Burials 1849 to 1973
WITNEY St. Mary Baptisms 1551 to 1940, Marriages 1583 to 1931, Burials 1583 to 1872
WITNEY Cemetery Burials 1857 to 1907
WITNEY Congregational Baptisms 1806 to 1921, Burials 1810 to 1907
WITNEY Ind. & Baptist Births 1799 to 1835, Baptisms 1804 to 1836, Burials 1828 & 1831
WITNEY Prim. Methodist Baptisms 1843 to 1873
WITNEY Quaker Births 1667 to 1836, Marriages 1681 to 1832, Burials 1659 to 1837
WITNEY Wesleyan Baptisms 1803 to 1951

and, very importantly to you, indexes of all those events. I think you're getting transcriber-time at pence, or fractions thereof, per hour, unlike what I'm paying the builder outside my window at the moment. ;-)

Less flippantly, we've priced the CDs at much less per parish than we sell them on fiche - and those prices haven't changed in over ten years!

You could buy Eynsham alone on fiche, and use your local studies library to read it if you haven't a fiche reader.

Conscious though that researchers want to buy a *relevant* CD, we also have Search Services whereby baptisms, marriages, burials, etc. can be searched on a one-off basis.

Wendy

[sally]

Sally I'm sure Hugh would have told you the details if you'd asked him !
Eynsham is on OXF-WIT01, and to save Geoff the lookup, courtesy of OFHS:
3 May 1852 Henry Horatius NELSON, s. William & Eliza, gamekeeper, born Mar 10, ptely admitted Jul 14
Wendy
Hi Wendy

Thank you very much for Henry's details & for saving Geoffers a trip.
I would have asked Hugh but at the time I was new to research & he was kindly helping me with sorting out if this was my family, (dad came from Norfolk so I wasn't sure) so didn't have the cheek to ask him for further details.
I did at a later date pay for a baptism search for NELSON from OFHS but it was early days of the transcribing & Eynsham & other places I was looking for had not been done at that time.
Thanks to members on the forum I now have details of all 3 children baptised in Oxfordshire, unless there were any that came into this world & left shortly afterwards that I know nothing about.

Regards
Sally

[susan-w]

Hi Wendy
Yes, it’s true that genealogists come a lot cheaper than builders :)

If your ancestors stay put, then it could be considered a bargain. Sadly, mine weren’t that considerate, so I’d need a few CDs to have them covered!

I hadn’t seen that fiche option – thank you for pointing it out. That might be what I need, as I could easily pop along to a library to get a reader. Also, the search option. Maybe I’ll start on that side of the family again...

Thanks
Sue

[Aislin]

Geoffers, do you still go to Witney on occasion? I realize this thread is older, but it never hurts to ask.

I was told by the Oxfordshire Record Office that they have a copy of the apprentice indenture for William Early b. 1816 to John Snell, Caprenter for the year 1831. Due the fact that he would have been 15 years old at the time of this apprenticeship, I'm hoping that the document provides the signature or has a record of one or both of his parents, as well as any specifics regarding the apprenticeship itself. I have the reference number Reference B1/1/PL/6. I remember you saying you don't email, but I would give my left pinkie for a copy of it.

[Geoffers]

I'll have a look, but I don't offhand remember seeing any indentures last time I was there. An idea where your ol'bor lived?

He wasn't one of the Witney, blanket-making Early family was he?

[Aislin]

Why yes, he was of the blanket-making Early clan (and I'm most excited to have learned that). Son of Thomas and Ann (Ostler) Early of Whitney, Oxfordshire and later of Halstead, Essex, apprenticed to John Snell, carpenter in 1831 in Lambeth, Surrey. But according to the Oxfordshire Record Office, the document was sent to them and they have it on file.

I'm so excited by all this new information, I may do a little happy dance (just a small one so as not to embarrass anyone).

[Chrissie Baker]

Hi there are you still willing to do searches at Witney Local Studies?

If you are could you try to find for:-

The christening of Amelia Pickett born in Cogges or Southleigh about 1828. Her parents were James and Jane.

I think her parents were married in 1825 in Leafield, could you confirm this and her mother's maiden name.

Many thanks in advance
Chrissie

[Geoffers]

South Leigh
1 Jun 1828 PRICKET - Amelia dau of James + Hannah, of Cogges, labourer (bn 28 Apr)

The mother's name appears to be an error.

You'll find James marriage recorded at Shipton (no church at Leafield).