| Notes |
- ?b?WITNEY (OXFORDSHIRE) PARISH REGISTERS.
?/b?ST. MARY'S CHURCH.
INTRODUCTION.
Witney is a West Oxfordshire market town on the old road from London to Gloucester, and is
renowned for its blanket industry. It was a centre of Quaker Meetings, and a stronghold of
Nonconformity. During the period of certificates of Burial in Woollen, Quaker certificates
are included in the Parish Register while, after the 1783 stamp duty on Births etc., Namings
in the Meeting House are also recorded. Two Baptisms in 1787 and one in 1789 are recorded
by John Wes(t)ley.
St. Mary's, Witney, Baptismal Registers commence in 1581 ?i?[1551] ?/i?and are continuous from
1685; before that there are four gaps of some two to three years each, and a blank for the ten
years 1615-1625. Marriages do not start until 1605 and there are gaps 1615-1625 and 1652-
1676. Burial Registers begin in 1583, with gaps 1615-1625 and 1652-1676. The Registers
are generally in good condition owing to excellent repair and rebinding of the earlier volumes
in 1888, but very few entries throughout appear to be original except for a rough register of
Burials and certificates 1680-1708 (duplicated as a fair copy). Handwriting and ink suggest
that material was copied two or three years after the event, by which time original notes
could not always be deciphered - there are many obvious errors. Generally entries are
minimal and uninformative, occupations not being given until 1813. There are few Bishops
Transcripts before 1745, with large gaps, and there are numerous omissions compared with
the Registers, e.g. the base-born.
The Parish included the hamlets of Crawley, Curbridge (including Carswell) and Hailey
(including Whiteoak Green). At times, parts of the town are specified i.e. Middlefield, New
Yatt, West End, and Wood Green.
A Chapel was built at Hailey in 1760 with a Burial Ground, and a Perpetual Curate was
appointed in 1796. Until 1812, all Baptisms and Burials at this Chapel were entered once a
year in the Witney Register, but in this year all entries from 1796 were copied into a rough
book, in one handwriting which appears to be that of Revd. John Hyde, the Curate.
Thereafter this remains the sole record, and there are no formal registers on printed pages
until after 1843. Understandably, after 1760 numerous Hailey residents still came to Witney
for baptism or Burial, and in order to bring all information together, the 1812-1837 Hailey
entries have also been included in these typescripts ?i?[Omitted from this version of the
transcript].
?/i?The use of a surname as a second Christian name, and of two Christian names, seems to
occur earlier and more frequently than in other local Registers, and not to be confined to the
gentry. There is a `Walter George' in 1679 (George was a local surname) and in 1686 the
Rector named a son `George Rodolph'. From 1693 to 1696 there are `Francis-Henry',
`Elizabeth-Martha' and `Mary-Ann'. Later the combination with a surname becomes fairly
frequent, e.g. in Feb. 1708 the Baptism of `Richard-Simmons GROVE', a Grove-Simmons
marriage being recorded for 1702.
The Burial Registers from 1583 to 1652 have periods in which the initials `g' and `b', or a
combination, are entered in the margin - e.g. `gg bb'. The meaning is not clear - the Great
Bell is specifically recorded as first tolled in 1588. The abbreviation `P' seems first to have
been used for `Plague', but later for `Pauper'.
Fly-leaf information, and interpolations in the Registers, have been collated as a further
appendix, to the Baptisms.
I record my gratitude to the Librarian, Society of Friends (Mr. Edward H. Milligan), to the
Oxford Diocesan Archivist (Dr. M. Barrett), to the Vicar of Hailey (Revd. T.G.O. Jenkins),
and above all to Revd. John Cook, the Rector of Witney, who for nearly a year has always
made himself available to open his safe at short notice, for an exchange of volumes. I am
delighted that Mr. A. H. Noble has undertaken the mammoth task of indexing these
typescripts, amounting to perhaps 50,000 entries.
Standlake F.R.L.Goadby
May 1973
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As the present re-transcriber, I would like to record my gratitude to the present Rector of
Witney, Revd. Cameron Butland, who has generously permitted the almost-irreplaceable
transcripts to be removed from the church for extended periods.
Macclesfield D.B.Beames
2002
Note:
This transcript faithfully reproduces errors or possible errors made by Brig. Goadby, Bartlett
Taylor or the Minister or his Clerk.
The transcript was keyed into a spreadsheet and the present index was produced directly from
it.
Hugh Kearsey
Minchinhampton March 2002
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following is the original Introduction (by J Neville Wood) to his 1979 transcript of the
Hailey Registers.
HAILEY (WITNEY)
(OXFORDSHIRE)
PARISH REGISTERS
(INCLUDING CRAWLEY)
Judging from the high number of deaths in the Witney Workhouse (and later at
"Hensington House", Woodstock), the poverty of the hamlets must have been
abnormal.
CONTENTS
Introduction
Baptisms 1797 to 1900 (Crawley to 1954)
Burials 1797 to 1932
Index Locorum
Index Nominum
DISTRIBUTION
Copy no. 1 Diocesan Archives c/o Bodleian Library, Oxford
2 Society of Genealogists, 37 Harrington Gdns, London SW7 4JX
3 P.C.C. Hailey
4 County Archivist, County Hall, Oxford
5 Central Library, Westgate, Oxford
Transcribed and typed by J Neville Wood Esq for the Oxfordshire Family History
Society, who record their thanks to the Vicar, Rev. T.G.O. Jenkins, for making the
registers available. The originals are now deposited with the Diocesan Archives.
Abingdon 31 Dec 1979
===========================================================
These are the notes written by J Neville Wood for his 1979 transcription.
HAILEY (OXFORDSHIRE) NOTES
Hailey was part of the parish of Witney until its present church was
consecrated in 1861.
A chapel was built there in 1760 with a burial ground, the remains of which
lie between the present Vicarage and the road. The chapel was not licensed
for marriages.
From 1760 to 1812 all baptisms and burials were entered annually en bloc in
the Witney Parish Register, and when these registers were transcribed in
1973 the only Hailey record was a rough notebook kept by the Curate, the
Revd. John Hyde. Since then, the original Hailey registers have come to
light.
In 1847 a chapel was built at Crawley, with its own burial ground and
registers. Occasional entries relating to persons who lived in Hailey were
entered in the Crawley registers and vice versa, and from 1873 the Crawley
burial register was also used for Hailey. In this transcript the entire set have
been amalgamated into a single record, with the letter H or C indicating the
place of abode.
HAILEY PARISH REGISTERS
Vol 1 A plain book with baptisms and burials starting at opposite ends.
These are original
records from 1797 to 1812 inclusive; thereafter, the clerk's "rough
book".
Vol 2 Baptisms 1813-1843
Vol 3 Hailey Baptisms 1843-1900 } amalgamated
Vol 4 Crawley Baptisms 1847-1954 }
Vol 5 Hailey Burials 1813-1873 } amalgamated
Vol 6 Crawley Burials 1847-1873 }
-ditto- Hailey and Crawley Burials 1873-1932
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONCATENATION & RETRANSCRIPTION, 2002
When these registers were retranscribed in 2002 as part of the Oxfordshire
Baptisms project, the opportunity was taken to bring together the two sets of
entries which refer first to Hailey Chapel and later to its Church.
As was briefly stated by Mr Wood in the notes to his 1979 transcription, from 1761
until 1837 the Hailey registers were annually copied en bloc into the Witney
registers.
The Hailey records therefore fall into three sections:
1. 1761-1799: Witney version only is available, the Hailey register being lost.
2. 1797-1837: Both versions are available.
3. 1837-1954: Hailey version only, the Witney copy having been discontinued.
The Witney copy was transcribed by Brigadier Goadby in 1973 as part of his
Witney transcription, the Hailey registers by Mr Wood in 1979.
Section 2 requires some explanation.
It is probable that the Hailey clerk made his initial records in a rough book, which
was then copied separately into the main Hailey registers and the Witney registers.
There seems no other way to explain the fact that some scattered records appear
either in the Hailey version or in the Witney version, but not both. These records
are flagged as [H only] or [W only].
Apart from that, there are very many discrepancies between the two versions.
Most are simple spelling differences, but since it seems likely that Mr Wood
standardised many spellings in his 1979 transcription there is little point in noting
them individually.
Others are minor forename differences, eg Mary/Mary Ann, and differences in
occupation or place. The Hailey version is usually taken as standard, and these
differences are flagged as [W=] and occasionally [H=], thus:
Mary Ann [W=Mary] d John, farmer [W=lab]
Finally there are some serious differences in names, especially in surnames, and
here both records are included -- always in pairs as with aliases -- and are flagged
as [H] or [W].
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EYNSHAM, OXFORDSHIRE.
PARISH REGISTERS.
Eynsham Parish is some six miles west of Oxford and once had a Benedictine Abbey. It has been a dormitory and refuge from Oxford ever since; the spelling was 'Ensham' up to 1848.
Until recent years, the incumbancy seems to have been jointly held witht hat of the neighboring parish of Stanton Harcourt, with the Chapelry of Southleigh, in both of whose registers, Eynsham entries are found.
The parish included the Hamlets of Barnard Gate (spelt 'Barnet' until 1853), Freeland (now a separate parish), and Swinford, while some residences are entered as 'Ensham Heath' and 'Ensham Wharf'. Many Barnard Gate affairs are registered at Southleigh. The parish also included the mansion 'Ensham Hall' now in the modern Freeland parish, whose owner was Lord of the Manor and had his pew in the Church.
Contents.
Miscellaneous Entries and statistics 5 pp.
Baptisms 1653- 1900 111 pp.
Marriages 1653-1900 36 pp.
Banns 1754-1780 only 1 p.
Burials 1653-1900 88 pp.
Vicars and Church officers 1 p.
Distribution.
Copy No. 1 Diocesean Archivist, c/o/ Bodleian Library, Oxford
2 Society of Genealogists, 37 Harrington Gardens, London, S57 4JX
3,4 The Vicar of Eynsham
Transcribed and typed by Brigadier F. R. L. Goadby, thanks to the cooperation of the Vicar, Rev. J. W. G. Westwood, who is now depositing the copied volumes in the Diocesean Archives.
Standlake
Easter 1975
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EYNSHAM
ST. LEONARD
OXFORDSHIRE
PARISH REGISTERS
Eynsham (formerly usually spelt 'Ensham') is a town 6 miles NW of Oxford, 5 miles E of Witney, situated on the Oxford-Witney-Cheltenham road. The river Thames separated the parish from Berkshire until 1974 when there were county-boundary changes as a result of local Government Reorganisation. The parish is bounded by the River Evenlode on the east. Historically it lay on Wooton Hundred and in Witney Poor Law Union. The registers date from 1653. The ecclesiastical parish included the hamlets of Barnard Gate and Freeland, the latter becoming a separate ecclesiastical parish with its own registers in 1869. The following transcript is a continuation of the one by the late Brigadier F. R. L. Goadby, covering baptisms 1653-1858.
CONTENTS
Baptisms 1841-1900
Marriages 1837-1900
Burials?tab? 1858-1900
Distribution
1) Oxfordshire Archives, County Hall, Oxford.
2) Society of Genealogists, London.
3) Eynshamm P.C.C.
4) Bodleian Library, Oxford.
5) Oxford Central Library Local Studies Library.
6) Eynsham History Group.
Transcribed, indexed and typed by Mrs. Edna Manson.
Thanks are recorded to the Revd. R. F. Key Vicar of Eynsham and Cassington, for allowing the registers to be withdrawn temporarily for transcription and to Miss Shirley Barnes, formerly County Archivist, and Mr. Carl Boardman, Acting County Archivist, for making them readily available for this purpose.
Oxford, 1989.
----------------------
EYNSHAM (OXFORDSHIRE) PARISH REGISTERS. misc 1
1. The first volume covers Baptisms and BUrials from 1653 to 1756, and Marriages 1665 to 1755. It is prefaced by a long Latin introduction of which the following is a translation:
"The Day Book or Register to be kept in the archives of the parish church of Evansham alias Eynsham in the county and diocese of Oxford, made from parchment, in the year of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ 1664, and in the seventh year of the reign of our most serene Lord Charles II by the grace of God King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the faith, etc., Edmund Meyericke M.A. being perpetual Vicar there, and Thomas Wise and James --uatersan Guardians or Churchwardens of the aforessaid church; containing not only the names of those (transcribed from a certain paper book, and diligently and accurately collected from other lists, written in the handwriting of the last Vicar) who, from 27 August 1653 born washed with water of baptim, and who from 8 September 1653 were joined in matrimony and also were given the benefit of church burial at Eynsham aforesaid, from 19 June 1653 until the day of purchase of this book: but also the names of those baptised, joined in matrimony and buried at Eynsham aforesaid placed together in order after the making of this book."
The copy by Edmund Mayricke ceases after the year 1664/5, and despite the above, there are no mariages in his handwriting - the first entrty on 17 June 1665.
2. All entries up to 1747 are in Latin, and have been translated for this transcript. Up to 1776 the register appears to have been entered annually - the ink being well-mixed or poor in alternate years. Until 1668 the Regnal year is given as well as the Calendar year.
3. At some period the first volume has been carefully ruled to show the 'New Style' year thoughout.
4. During the period 1643 to 1776 there are some 2,500 Baptisms and 1950 Burials, but only 450 Marriages. It may be that many Marriages have been recorded in the Registers of Oxford Colleges and this register shows that between 1743 and 1754, eleven of 18 Marriages were celebrated in NEw College
Chapel (10) or Trinity College Chapel (1), banns having been read at Eynsham unless the Marriage was by License.
5. In addition to practice handwritings, the flyleaf includes: -
(a) "Christian ROGERS 1703, daughter of John ROGERS Vicker."
(this may refer to a burial, but it is not in the Register).
(b) 'Collection at Easter Day 1766 - 11a-4d'.
(c) 'In the year 1725 Ye Parish went ye Perambulation'
'In the year 1750 the Parish went the Perambulation.'
6. High mortality years were 1662-3, 1669-70, 1683-4, 1701-2, 1704-5, 1714 (pox), 1727-30, 1743, and 1763-4 (these recorded small pox.)
EYNSHAM (OXFORDSHIRE) PARISH REGISTERS. misc 2
6 cont. High mortality rates continued in 1789/90, 1800 (an epidemic fever, 1819/20 (smallpox), 1832 (cholera), 1833/34 (smallpox), 1839/40 and 1849/50.
7. Dissenters.
Baptisms took place in 1824 and again in 1840, of children of 'Disenting Ministers'.
8. Special Burial.
The burial entry in 1822 of Colonel Patrick Hay, described as 'of Ensham Hall', records that he was buried in a vault under the sept in the church belonging to the Lord of the Manor. The Lordship is still with the owner of this property.
[Misc. pages 3,4 and 5 not shown here. They contain statistics. -Paul Kelly]
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