FAMILY NAMES

January 27, 2022

Our Bookstall Manager, Elaine Boyes, has indexed some of the Hampshire Quarter Sessions records and they are now available in the Members’ Area of the website as well as writing an article about the records As many of you know my area of research is the Swing Riots. Since the archives opened again, and HGS […] – read more…

October 23, 2021

The records are not always correct! Whilst doing a bit of checking on entries in the Hampshire Allegations for Marriage Licenses 1689-1837 I decided to do some checks with the HGS Marriage Index and found a few interesting variances.  Very rarely is the marriage date the same as the license date but in most cases […] – read more…

February 10, 2020

Burghclere, (VB106) is a long, narrow parish just south of the Berkshire border and east of the A34 road between Newbury and Winchester with Newbury 5 miles to the north. Rather unique are the two churches in the parish, the old 12th Century church was dedicated to All Saints whilst the new replacement built in […] – read more…

October 23, 2019

    Hound, (VB105) was a large parish including two detached parts that was later reduced in size by the creation of Sholing and the enlargement of Bursledon parishes.  Located 4 miles from Southampton on the east side of Southampton Water the parish contains Netley Abbey, Netley Castle and was home to the Royal Victoria […] – read more…

September 14, 2019

Headley, (VB104) is a large parish reduced in size by the creation of Grayshott in 1901, the creation of Whitehill civil parish in 1929 and the creation of Bordon ecclesiastical parish in 2002.  Headley is 4 miles north of Liphook and 8 miles south of Farnham – read more…

May 16, 2019

As with all data that gets indexed or transcribed there is always the possibility that information can be misread due to bad handwriting or general aging. Whilst preparing information for the forthcoming village booklet on Wield I have found a prime example of this. – read more…

April 4, 2019

A brief paragraph in the 15th of February 1873 issue of the Hampshire Telegraph announced the death of Ellen FOWLER in Alton, the wife of George who was a millwright’s apprentice.  On the face of it this was nothing unusual except that the report gave the ages of the couple; Ellen was only 15 – read more…

February 10, 2019

Interesting little snippets from some of the old newspapers include brief advertisements where husbands have declared that they will not be responsible for their wife’s debts. One item from James LINDSAY appeared in the Hampshire Chronicle printed on 4th September 1820. He said that he would not be answerable for any debts incurred by his […] – read more…

December 14, 2018

Herbert Frank FRENCH was born on 21st April 1884 at 11 Hyde Close in Winchester, the illegitimate son of Emily. On 18th January 1908 he married Sarah Ann (Annie) BIGNELL in Meonstoke and then settled in the village to raise their daughters Emily and Ivy. Herbert was initially in the Territorial Army then when WWI […] – read more…

November 19, 2018

The Hampshire Chronicle printed on 5th June 1820 carried a brief article on page 4 referring to three prisoners who had been committed to the County Gaol.  One of the prisoners had been accused of bigamy but whereas most bigamists were men this was a woman. – read more…

August 18, 2018

Identical reports in the Hampshire Chronicle and Hampshire Telegraph, both published on 14th February 1820, describe a tragedy that happened off Hurst Castle on Friday 5th February.  – read more…

July 14, 2018

Another interesting entry appeared in the Poor Law Union Gazette on 25 April 1857 naming Lewis POSNER, formerly of Southampton, who the Southampton Union would like to get their hands on. – read more…

June 11, 2018

The registers for the Independent Chapel start in 1716 and many entries contain useful details. The spelling of the names written here are exactly as they were written into the register.  Different ministers conducting the baptisms decided to record different items of information in addition to the dates and names.  – read more…

March 29, 2018

Newspapers are a very good source of information on some of our ancestors but they rarely give such detailed information on individuals as that found in the Poor Law Union Gazette. – read more…

January 2, 2018

Mixed Independent details in Portsmouth v.2   Orange Street Independent register Many interesting entries appear in the 1785 to 1837 Independent register for the Orange Street chapel. Some entries include the address where baptisms took place while others have additional details.  An example was Octavius Henry JACKSON who was born on 6 February 1829 and […] – read more…

February 26, 2017

Teacher at a private school in Odiham around 1900 Ellen Valentine James HGS member Peter GODWIN’s Great Aunt was Ellen Valentine JAMES. She was the youngest of three sisters and was born on St. Valentine’s Day 14 February 1869 in Notting Hill.  Her parents were Henry George JAMES who had married Ellen MOREY in the […] – read more…

January 27, 2017

Term used in a coroner’s verdict to explain an unexplained death Hampshire inquests The Hampshire coroner’s records were all destroyed which means that no official records exist. The best remaining source is from local newspaper reports though not every inquest and verdict was reported.  When reported the content varied from very brief to quite detailed.  Examples of […] – read more…

October 23, 2016

Two unique educational establishments in East Tytherley Harmony Hall In 1839 Sir Francis GOLDSMID leased land at East Tytherley to socialist reformer Robert OWEN.  His aim was to create a pioneering project in community living.  The house he built could accommodate 700 but never reached this number. Harmony Hall was one of several similar places […] – read more…

September 30, 2016

Fordingbridge boy dies from rabies The Hampshire Telegraph published on 17 July 1826 reported the death of James HASKEL.  On 18 June he was attacked by a rabid dog.  The bites around the face were so severe that treatment was difficult.  At that time treatment for rabies was very limited. The surgeon Mr. BUDD from Fordingbridge […] – read more…

August 30, 2016

Have you an ancestor you cannot find before 1837? Have you thought that they may be non-conformists? Ancestry have scanned the non-conformist registers handed to the authorities in 1837. – read more…

June 15, 2015

Francis FREEMAN and Sarah Ann ROGERS from Odiham, Hampshire had legally married in 1854. The Hampshire Advertiser reports how they were then induced by their local curate in Greywell to a re-marriage in 1855. – read more…

March 1, 2015

The 1899 Hampshire murder of young Dorcas HOUGHTON resulted in nationwide publicity.
Eighteen year old Dorcas was killed in Swanwick by her jilted boyfriend Charles MAIDMENT aged 22. Despite a plea of insanity Charles was found guilty and hanged 3 months later. – read more…

February 28, 2015

What are Monumental Inscriptions and why do they help your research? HGS researcher Roy Montgomery explains all using examples illustrating just how useful the HGS Hampshire Monumental Inscriptions index is. – read more…

February 22, 2015

An 1855 Portsea Hospital bed shortage raised concerns when a man who was turned away later died. – read more…

December 13, 2014

This account of an explosion in a Portsmouth dockyard police station in 1855 should serve as a cautionary tale of the dangers of mixing gas with a naked flame. – read more…

February 17, 2014

In 1900 the body of a Portsmouth man was taken to Woking by train to be cremated in the first crematorium in the country. – read more…

January 13, 2014

This destitute Portsmouth woman stole and sold a coat and was punished with seven years transportation. – read more…

October 22, 2013

Bigamy cases can be very interesting but are more intriguing when the accused is a woman. On this occasion the offending marriage took place nearly thirty years before coming to court. – read more…

September 22, 2013

A family bible that records an interesting sequence of events illustrating how useful these volumes are in tracing family movements. – read more…

August 26, 2013

The death was reported in 1850 in Portsmouth local newspaper of George Burton, an English immigrant living in New York. So, who was George Frederick Burton? – read more…