T H E J 0 U a N a L O F T H E
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T H E J 0 U A N A L O F T H E N O R T H U M B E R L A N D A N D D U R H A M F A M I L Y H I S T O R Y S O C I E T Y Vol 4 No 4 July 1979 CONTENTS EDITORIAL 92 THE 'PERMISSIVE SOCIETY'? 92 SECRETARY'S JOTTINGS 93 OFFER OF HELP 93 EIGHT GREAT-GRANDPARENTS - AN EXAMPLE OF SIMPLE RESEARCH INTO THE HISTORY OF AN ORDINARY FAMILY Ruth Dodds 94 JOSEPH WILSON SWAN 101 ENGLISH HERALDIC CONGRESS AND STUDY DAY 101 SOME BLACK SHEEP WERE BLACKER THAN OTHERS Patricia J . Storey 102 MEMBERS AND THEIR INTERESTS 110 CHANGES OF ADDRESS 114 SECOND TIME AROUND 114 PARSONICAL COMPLAINTS FROM LANCHESTER, 1812 and 1813 115 KNOW YOUR PARISH G . Nicholson 116 STRAYS FROM TOMBSTONES AT ST . PETER'S, MONKWEARMOUTH, DURHAM 117 DIED ABROAD 117 THE MAY MEETING - THE FOURTH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 118 FUTURE PROGRAMME 120 All items in this Journal are the copyright of the Northumberland and Durham Family History Society or its contributors . Correspondence connected with the Journal should be addressed to the Editor, Mr G . Nicholson, 57 Manor Park, Concord, Washington, Tyne & Wear, NE37 2BU . All other correspondence should be addressed to the Secretary, Mr J .A . Readdie, 38 Archery Rise, Neville's Cross, Durham, DH1 4LA . PLEASE always include stamps for return postage when writing (two International Reply Coupons from overseas members) and quote your membership number . Books from the Society's Library may be borrowed from, and should be returned to, the Librarian, Dr M .E . Wilson, 33 Archery Rise, Neville's Cross, Durham, DH1 4LA . EDITORIAL - ADVERTISEMENTS From time to time, and more frequently of late, the Editor has been asked to accept advertisements for insertion in the Journal . Most of these have referred in one way or another to professional record searching services . These advertisements have always been refused as it is not the Society's policy to allow the Journal to be used for this purpose . This policy, which your Editor fully endorses, was confirmed at a recent meeting of the Committee . We are aware that some other Family History Societies do allow advertising in their publications, but we do not feel obliged to follow suit for a variety of reasons, some of which are as follows . Advertising is not what members should expect from a Journal such as ours . We are essentially an amateur society, based on a spirit of mutual self-help, and we see the function of the Journal as being to foster that spirit . We do not need the money . Even at the highest rates we could reasonably charge, advertising income could never be more than a tiny fraction of our total . As a glance at our latest accounts (p . 119) will show, we have a more than sufficient income to finance our present, and likely future, activities . Advertising would increase our postage costs . At present many overseas members receive their Journals stamped "printed paper - reduced rate" . If advertising material were included it would no longer be legal to send them this way . The extra pages of advertisements could well increase the weight of the total package and so incur a higher postage rate in any case . The alternative - to use the present number of pages and reduce the amount of other material carried - would be interpreted by your Editor as reducing the quality of the Journal, and is therefore not acceptable . Advertising inevitably implies endorsement . Even though a statement would certainly be printed in each Journal stating that the Society disclaimed responsi- bility for the quality of its advertisers' services, members would still tend to look to the Journal for guidance and to regard our acceptance of an advertisement as a form of recommendation . Once advertising was allowed it would be difficult to refuse an advertisement, especially if it came from a member, and although your Editor knows personally most of the local "professionals" - of which he himself is one - he does not feel that he will always be able to endorse every advertise- ment he may be sent in the future . We are not depriving members by not accepting advertisements . Any member seeking the services of a professional genealogist has three main sources easily available to him . First, the Association of Genealogists and Record Agents (AGRA), whose secretary is Mrs M .J . Gandy, 80 Pollard Road, London N20, will supply enquirers with a free list of its members (SAE or two IRCs, please) and the areas they cover . All of these have considerable experience and have under- taken to abide by a strict code of professional conduct . Second, many pro- fessionals, including many AGRA members, advertise regularly in the Genealogists' Magazine, the quarterly publication of the Society of Genealogists, which is available in most reference libraries . Third, our local County Record Offices and major local reference libraries maintain lists of searchers whom they are willing to recommend for work on their own premises . G . N . THE 'PERMISSIVE SOCIETY'? Witton-le-Wear in 1821 : "N .B . the number of illegitimate children is 22 - . this lamentable increase of vice must in part be attributed to lax discipline ; and to the manner in which relief is granted to paupers of this description ." (Note following summary of 1821 Census Return entered in parish register after baptisms, 1825 .) SECRETARY'S JOTTINGS The cost of birth, marriage and death certificates from the Registrar General (St . Catherine's House, 10 Kingsway, London WC2B 6JP) has increased again . A certificate applied for by post now costs £6 .50 . If you do the necessary search in the indexes yourself (or get a friend to do it), the cost is now £2 .75 . A certificate from the registrar of the district in which the event occurred is also £2 .75 . Partial access to information from the 1881, 1891 and 1901 census returns for England and Wales which was withdrawn last year has now been reintroduced . Application should be made to the General Register Office (address as above) on form PAS I/C . The search fee has been increased to £9 .72 . As before, only the places of birth and ages of specified persons at a given address will be supplied, provided the written consent of the person or persons concerned (or their direct descendant) is submitted . Another useful source of information is the will of a deceased person . For a will proved in England and Wales since 1858, write to the Record Keeper, Correspondence Department, Principal Registry, Family Division of the High Court, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LP . The search fee is £1 which includes a search either side of the given date . A copy of the will, probate or Adminis- tration costs 25p . per sheet - I hope these prices haven't also gone up since my last information! A useful 36 page booklet recently published is "Census Returns 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871 on Microfilm - a Directory to Local Holdings" compiled by J .S .W . Gibson . This lists all known holdings of census microfilms by libraries, record offices, etc ., arranged by county . Cost is 75p . (postage 92p .) in the U .K ., £1 .10p . (or $2) surface mail overseas, £1 .35 ($3) air mail overseas . Cash with order to Mrs A . Chiswell, 96 Beaumont Street, Milehouse, Plymouth, Devon PL2 3AQ (who can also supply the latest (Spring 1979) edition of "Family History News and Digest" for 75p . U .K ., £1 ($2) surface overseas, £1 .50 ($3) airmail overseas . Elsewhere in this Journal is a report of the Society's AGM . Subscriptions are due for renewal shortly - on or before 1st September . There is an unchanged sub . : £2 for U .K . members, £2 .50 surface overseas, £5 air overseas ($5 and $10 for USA and Canada) . A renewal form is enclosed . Some of you have already paid your sub . for 1979/80 . If so, please ignore the renewal form, but if you have not paid, please send to Mr D . Mason, 8 West Hextol Close, Hexham, Northumberland, making cheques payable to "Northumberland and Durham Family History Society" . The October Journal will not be sent to members who have not paid, and reminders cost postage, so please remit as soon as possible . We underestimated the rate of growth of membership, and had to reprint the January and April Journals, with some delay in sending them to newer members . This should by now have been sorted out, but if anyone has not received these Journals, would they write to Mrs Anne Spendiff, 17 Augustus Drive, Bedlington, Northumberland . Anne has now taken over the membership part of my duties and deals with enrolments of new members and issue of Journals to them, as well as requests for back Journals . My note in the last issue about past numbers brought a big demand, and many issues are now totally sold out, as is the 1977 edition of the Directory of Members' Interests . We hope to update and reprint the Directory in the not too distant future (and also to print some parish registers - but more of that when details are finalised) . OFFER OF HELP Mr E .S . Milligan (member 614) will search in the U .S . archives for military records and census records . He would appreciate assistance with his Scotts and Wards in the North-East in return (see Second Time Around, p . 114) . EIGHT GREAT-GRANDPARENTS AN EXAMPLE OF SIMPLE RESEARCH INTO THE HISTORY OF AN ORDINARY FAMILY Ruth Dodds (This article is reproduced by kind permission of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne from its "Proceedings", 4th Ser ., XI, 1947 .) The writer's Eight Great-Grandparents : John Dodds William Turner Joseph Mawson John Swan = Christian = Alice Smoult = Lydia Bryham = Isabella Stevenson m .