Genealogy Chat

I have been searching for my GGGgrandfather Isaac Ager b.1781 for 4 years now without any success.I have his marriage to Charlotte Free b 1803 in Castle camps, Cambridgeshire 1823. I have him in all census records[ he states born in Steeple bumpstead, essex] and have all the family to date[ most anyway] but I can not seem to find ANY information on him before 1823. As ayone got any idea where to look please. Have checked and double checked parish registers for Steeple bumpstead and ajoining counties. Going round in circles. June

June Perhaps Steeple Bumpstead is where he lived when he was little, not realising he had been born elsewhere? I would see if there is a baptism index for the county in the records office, or see if there's one done by the local family history society? nell

No doubt you will have seen this entry on www.familysearch.org: Isaac Ager Male Family Event(s): Birth: About 1799 Of, Birdbrook, Essex, England Marriages: Spouse: Mary Plum Family Marriage: 1824 Birdbrook, Essex, England Messages: Record submitted by a member of the LDS Church. The record often shows the name of the individual and his or her relationship to a descendant, shown as the heir, family representative, or relative. The original records are not indexed, and you may have to look at the film frame-by-frame to find the information you want. A family group record for this couple may be in the Family Group Record Collection; Archive Section. (See the Family History Library Catalog for the film number.) These records are alphabetical by name of the father or husband. Source Information: Film Number: 455323 Whilst I appreciate that the date and spouse is wrong, Steeple Bumpstead is not that far from Birdbrook and I think this must be a family connection somehow. Another possibility is that your Isaac was perhaps not baptised in a C of E church. Maybe he was a non-conformist in early years. He would have had to be baptised before he married in a C of E church, so perhaps he was baptised as an adult, and maybe not in Steeple Bumpstead? nell

HI Nell, Would the index give his christian name? There are quite a few Isaac Ager's born in Essex but just can not seem to find mine. I have asked on these boards for a BVRI Look up but always the same answer--He isn't there. June

I guess you looked on IGI Isaac has been submitted three times by members as born 1771 or 1777. Of course, these cant be taken as gospel. However, if you enter the surname in the IGI search you will find an Isaac Agar born about 30 odd years earlier who could well be dad? This is in another Essex village and is a genuine taken from parish records job. Check it out if you havent already!

June I assume you have done the folowing: 1. Checked the relevant County Record Office in Essex 2. Checked the Phillimores Atlas of Indexes to Parishes at your Local Library If you have done this and found the marriage in the CRO then this will have said whether or not both parties or one or other are OTP (Of this parish)If OTP then check the christenings fiche for possible births. Sadly if OTP it only means that they were OTP on marriage but if can't find them in that parish then use Phillimores to start a trawl of parishes initially within 5 miles and increase to a 10 and then 15 mile radius of area of interest. This may mean going over the border of one or more counties which will mean visits to the relevant counties to repeat same procedure. I have used this method in looking for ancestors and have found many a marriage and maybe one child bap about 5 miles away and a return to original village to have other children. If just using the IGI remember that many many records are not on the IGI and will often give very little help as to where many individuals are coming from and can even mislead. I had one married on the IGI in Peterborough but they did not come from Peterborogh but from a hamlet 10 miles away so I could have easily been mislead into thinking that they were all in Peterborough, especially as many of the same name could have fitted he bill from the Peterborough area!! Avoid like the plague those that suggest that the ancestor was christened about whatever date. That actually means that they haven't a clue and just guessing!! As TC above has said the ones taken from the Parish Registers are more likeky to be correct. The CRO(County Record Office) is the place to obtain correct info but LDS may be able to help by pulling in Parish Records for you at a small cost but you will have to pay per parish fiche so you do need to know which parishes you are interested in. Janet

Thanks all for your ideas. June

Cambridge FHS have produced a cd for Castle Camps, Shudy Camps and one other parish. That area (to a non-local) seems like a little black hole as Cambridge, Essex and Suffolk are all spitting distance from each other. Isaac is not a common Christian name. If there are lots in the area, it suggests that they may be related. It's a long winded and painful business, but it may be worth looking at each family where the name occurs, plus wills, poor law material etc to try to put the families together. Also, Old Testament names are sometimes evidence of Nonconformity. This may mean that the baptism is recorded somewhere unexpected (a friend's ancestor was prepared to walk twenty miles on a Sunday to hear a good sermon!) or that the records have not survived.