Deciphering Handwriting from Parish Records

[di2315]

Thanks for your hints, Barry - that list of occupations is a fantastic resource to have!
I think too that your estimation of Bowshed makes a lot of sense, considering his occupation. Di

[di2315]

Arthur - I've taken another closer look at all the entries on that page - unfortunately the file is too large for me to successfully upload it here. There are a number of entries that have that same address (I now don't think my guess of occupation is correct) - all look to be Lowerstreet. I know we now don't write that as a single word, but many times I've seen old addresses written as Lower street, with no capitalisation of the word street. So perhaps this is a forerunner of that style of writing?

I think they would have been living in Deptford - Thomas snr was born there, then the family remained in Deptford for the next few generations, until the UK navy moved to Portsmouth, I think.

Many thanks for your helpful solution, Di

[Pam Downes]

I admit my analysis has the slight flaw that there doesn't appear to be a Lower Street in Deptford (now), though I haven't managed to find a definitive list of streets in the 1700s.

There is a Lower Road, and it appears that part of this was renamed Evelyn Street at some stage, so could that part have been known as Lower Street at some earlier date? Maybe looking through a few pages of the register either side of this one would shed some light on this.

There was a Lower Street in Islington, which was renamed to Essex Road, but that doesn't really explain why a baptism would have taken place in Deptford.

However, I am totally certain of my reading of the address as Lower Street. There's a 'B' in a surname in the line above, and an 'L' in a forename at the top of the extract.

I'm 100% with you on that last paragraph, Arthur.

Road names are continually changing. My granny lived in the same house from 1903-1981 but in 1936 not only did the number change from 14 to 28 but the name of the road changed. And the house my other granny lived in (where my dad was born) changed from 59 to 118 when houses were built on the other side of the road.

Pam