Last week I managed to get to the Centre for Kentish Studies archive at Maidstone. I located a couple of (very old) wills, which I duplicated and brought away for deciphering (anyone up for transcribing them for me?). I also continued with some Pluckley, Charing and Lenham Parish Record research.

The CKS has books and resources which are not available at Canterbury Cathedral Archives, namely previously undertaken and bound books of parish record transcriptions. This was invaluable to me, having found an early book of transcriptions of records dating back to the 1500s which may not otherwise have been determinable. Well worth the visit!  Whether I can now better determine relationships of these early ancestors, only time will tell!

In addition I ordered (and very quickly received; just before the postal strike here in the UK!) some certificates, including a marriage certificate for one of my mother’s aunts (to a BALDOCK, no less!) and her birth certificate, which should allow more progress in other areas.

Information Overload !!

I’m on vacation next week for two weeks – and looking forward to it!

I plan to visit the Centre for Kentish Studies archive centre at Maidstone during this period, hoping to view/copy some Wills and probate records of BALDOCK ancestors from the late 1500s / early 1600s. In particular, those living in the Charing and Lenham areas. This may help me determine some currently unknown relationships between namesakes, and possibly join up a couple of research lines.

I will also hope to view relevant parish records, too.

Due to confusion resulting from some newly found BALDOCKs on IGI, I am unlinking Robert BALDOCKE (b. 1612) from the previously assigned parents – there may be more than one Nicholas BALDOCK(E) around this period !

I need to verify Charing parish records ….

Following the discovery of a BALDOCK pedigree back to c1600 on the International Genealogical Index (IGI), I believe I have now confirmed the authenticity of the data. This was achieved on my visit to Canterbury Cathedral Archives last Thursday to inspect copies of parish records and bishop transcripts. It has also filled in the names of some spouses.

This now takes the tree back eleven generations!!

In researching the data, it also brought to light a few surname variations – BOLDOCK, BOLDUCKE, BALDOCKE, BALDUCKE … Entering some of these in ancestry.co.uk has already raised some new avenues for investigation.

The next step will probably be to focus on these parishes to determine children & siblings.

A tree update with data additions determined from this visit will be announced soon …

I received a couple of marriage certificates yesterday – George CASTLE m. Sarah Elizabeth GOLDSACK, and Richard HATTON m. Margaret GARLINGE. The latter couple appear at the edge of online records, in the early 1800s. Despite me having supposedly found Margaret’s family in early censuses, the marriage certificate suggested I was wrong! Her father is not named as a William GARLINGE, as I had thought, but James GARLINGE!

I have retained the other family records, but now have to prove which is correct via another means, and that will probably be Parish Records. After all, it is not unknown for names to be incorrectly listed on certificates!

The other certificate at least verified my maternal gt-gt-grandfather was Stephen CASTLE, and after a couple of hours I traced back to my gt-gt-gt-grandfather, Daniel CASTLE (b. ~1814 in Stelling, Kent) and a gt-gt-gt-gt-grandfather of James PAY (b. ~1796-1801), his father-in-law.
The GOLDSACKs are just too numerous for me to assume anything at the moment, but I at least found Sarah’s immediate family.

I really must get some trees online!

I was fortunate enough a little while ago to trace my BALDOCK family tree back to a pivotal marriage of John BALDOCK & Susannah NEWING. This couple appear on the webpages at http://www.fadedgenes.co.uk/JosephBaldockDescendants.html and http://www.fadedgenes.co.uk/JohnBALDOCK.html, alongside many other relatives. I have seen John’s parents confirmed as Thomas BALDOCK and Ann DAWKINS from other sources, but have yet to physically confirm myself through parish records.

I have taken a chance for now and assumed this is correct, now working forward from Thomas’ other children. In this regard, through census records, I have already found some additional descendants not listed.

Providing my proving proceeds on track, it also means I have another two relatives who died in WWI, namely John Edward BALDOCK and Walter William FAGG, the latter not, as far as I am yet aware, related to the FAGGs on my grandmother’s side (future research may prove otherwise!).

After processing the family trees on the above webpages, my little acorn may well have grown into a large oak tree!