Lancashire Archives Research 11/2018
I was never a history buff in grade school. It was a subject that I found to be very dry and boring. Unless there was a story involved it never held my attention. If I had a choice of writing a report or making a diorama, I always chose diorama.
I became more interested when I started taking Art History classes and wanted to learn more about the people and civilizations who made the artwork and the time period in which they were created.
I need something visual to retain the information, and to put it in context.
Since working on my family tree and expanding to research the entire Croston surname, I have been more interested in learning about the places where my ancestors lived, and what their lives were like. I know it is not the most factual source for information, but watching movies or a relevant TV series have helped peak my interest in some of these time periods. Because so much of the Croston family story centers around the events of the Reformation, I watched the series "the Tudors" and several series and movies about Henry the VII and Queen Elizabeth I. After watching I wanted to learn the facts- I was already interested, so I read everything a could about the subject matter.
Again and again you will see me write about context. Context is key for me to fully understand how the pieces of this family tree may fit together. Not only historical context, but also geographical- how far was one place from another etc.. Why would someone move from one town to another?
Now that I am interested in history, a fascinating part of the research for me is going to the archives and seeing the documents first hand. I first experienced this in Ireland- looking through the dusty parish registers that made my nose run- probably because they we covered in mold (it was well worth the suffering). It feels a bit like the thrill of the hunt in a great detective story.
So many records are now available digitally online. But so many others are not. I have reached the limit of where my research can go with the current online resources. To continue I must find what else is out there.
Since that first record search in Ireland, I have been to many other archives- mostly in the US. With my focus now turned to unwinding the Croston family tree in England; the best place to research the family is the Lancashire Archives in Preston.
The Lancashire Archives has a great website for researchers. On the site you can search fields for what records they hold. With the record number you can either order a copy of the document online for a fee or take that number to the archive to view the original yourself.
Before the trip I searched the website for anything relating to the Croston family.
I found record numbers for wills, leases, land and cemetery records, guild rolls, letters and more.
To research in the archive you need to get a readers card- which is easy to do. You just need an ID with a picture and proof of address. For an extra fee you can take pictures of most of the documents with your phone. This was very important or me- as I had so little time to spend there, and no time to read and take notes on everything I found.
I share this information with you because I know I'm not the only one researching the family tree and I hope others will find it useful.
Below is a list of the Wills that I found in the archive. After my return (and to my frustration) I learned that there were 5 additional Wills that I missed. Not all documents in the archives have been cataloged yet, so what you find searching the website is only the beginning.
Some of the Wills are very brittle and damaged. We are very lucky that all of the "WCW" Wills that I asked to see still survive. They were moved from the Chester Archive some time during the last 100 years. I was told by the archivist that you are lucky if you find one or two in a list of ten that survived.
The more recent wills are easier to read. As you go back in time some of the handwriting is terrible and when you go even further back they are written in what seems to be a mix of Latin and old English.
To help me transcribe the earlier Wills I purchased the book:
"Wills & Probate Records: A Guide for Family Historians" by Karen Gannum
Another great website I want to share with you is the Lancashire Online Parish Clerks. Outside of the standard family history websites this site is the most useful source for research.
I became more interested when I started taking Art History classes and wanted to learn more about the people and civilizations who made the artwork and the time period in which they were created.
I need something visual to retain the information, and to put it in context.
Since working on my family tree and expanding to research the entire Croston surname, I have been more interested in learning about the places where my ancestors lived, and what their lives were like. I know it is not the most factual source for information, but watching movies or a relevant TV series have helped peak my interest in some of these time periods. Because so much of the Croston family story centers around the events of the Reformation, I watched the series "the Tudors" and several series and movies about Henry the VII and Queen Elizabeth I. After watching I wanted to learn the facts- I was already interested, so I read everything a could about the subject matter.
Again and again you will see me write about context. Context is key for me to fully understand how the pieces of this family tree may fit together. Not only historical context, but also geographical- how far was one place from another etc.. Why would someone move from one town to another?
Now that I am interested in history, a fascinating part of the research for me is going to the archives and seeing the documents first hand. I first experienced this in Ireland- looking through the dusty parish registers that made my nose run- probably because they we covered in mold (it was well worth the suffering). It feels a bit like the thrill of the hunt in a great detective story.
So many records are now available digitally online. But so many others are not. I have reached the limit of where my research can go with the current online resources. To continue I must find what else is out there.
Since that first record search in Ireland, I have been to many other archives- mostly in the US. With my focus now turned to unwinding the Croston family tree in England; the best place to research the family is the Lancashire Archives in Preston.
The Lancashire Archives has a great website for researchers. On the site you can search fields for what records they hold. With the record number you can either order a copy of the document online for a fee or take that number to the archive to view the original yourself.
Before the trip I searched the website for anything relating to the Croston family.
I found record numbers for wills, leases, land and cemetery records, guild rolls, letters and more.
To research in the archive you need to get a readers card- which is easy to do. You just need an ID with a picture and proof of address. For an extra fee you can take pictures of most of the documents with your phone. This was very important or me- as I had so little time to spend there, and no time to read and take notes on everything I found.
I share this information with you because I know I'm not the only one researching the family tree and I hope others will find it useful.
Below is a list of the Wills that I found in the archive. After my return (and to my frustration) I learned that there were 5 additional Wills that I missed. Not all documents in the archives have been cataloged yet, so what you find searching the website is only the beginning.
Some of the Wills are very brittle and damaged. We are very lucky that all of the "WCW" Wills that I asked to see still survive. They were moved from the Chester Archive some time during the last 100 years. I was told by the archivist that you are lucky if you find one or two in a list of ten that survived.
The more recent wills are easier to read. As you go back in time some of the handwriting is terrible and when you go even further back they are written in what seems to be a mix of Latin and old English.
To help me transcribe the earlier Wills I purchased the book:
"Wills & Probate Records: A Guide for Family Historians" by Karen Gannum
Another great website I want to share with you is the Lancashire Online Parish Clerks. Outside of the standard family history websites this site is the most useful source for research.
Fascinating information. My maiden name is Croston, we came from Swinton, prior to that Tyldesley and prior to that Aspull, so I think we were probably creeping back towards Croston. Your research is amazing. Please can I ask, the photo's of the 5 men at the top of the main page, who are they?
ReplyDeleteThank you,
Valerie Hogan
Hi Valerie, The men the photo are descendants of the family that left Lancashire to settle in County Cork, Ireland. They my cousins within a few generations. I would love to be in touch so I can see how your family fits into the tree(s). you can contact me at crostongenealogy@gmail.com if you are interested as well. Thank you for reading!
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