Genealogy Chat

I have found an ancestor Philip Ilott on the 1851 census in Perthy, Shropshire but I can't read his place of birth. It is Oxfordshire and ancestry have it down as Mere. Could some kind soul please take a look for me. HO107/1994 Thanks Helen

Hi Helen I'm afraid it looks to me as though it's just Oxford shire! Have you found them on other census years? Heather

Husband and I have squinted at this and think it's Oxford shire with an inexplicable gap between. But the only way really is to see if you can find Philip on another census. nell

He is on 1841 but the enumerator has put a yes in the born in county box and unfortunately he was dead by 1861. The name isn't a shropshire one so I am sure that he did come from Oxfordshire but without a place name I'm not sure where to look next. Any suggestions? Thanks. Helen.

I reckon there's more name under that enumerator's stroke (big splodge all across where you want to read!) - I just haven't managed to fathom what it might be. Christine

I think it is more than Oxford__shire. I've had a look at some of the neighbouring pages and out of county people generally have the county and then the town.

I reckon that ''shire'' finishes before that curlicue which looks like a lower-case E. ''Epwell'' (Banbury District) might fit that space? Christine (working my way throught the Oxfordshire Districts for '' e'' - i.e. for a place which starts with E and has a second letter with a downstroke)

''Eydon'' (Brackley - but Northants, really) could fit my criteria, but that downstroke seems to lead to a looped letter - i.e. P. Similar problem with ''Eye'' (Henley) and Eynsham (Witney) Christine

Hi Helen Been looking but no luck! You know that some of the childrens christenings are on the IGI? You could try Shropshire record office site or the local family history societies for Philip and Mary's marriage. Heather

I did try Philip Ilott in A2A, but got no hits at all. Ilott and Oxfordshire got a number, but none seemed relevant. Epwell is right near the border of Warwickshire on the bit where it's almost Gloucestershire (with a bit of Worcestershire v close as well). Christine

Heather - Yes I have the christenings from the IGI, Thomas is my direct ancestor but was born too early for civil registration so I have sent for a birth cert for one of the other children so I can find Mary's maiden name etc. Then I shall start hunting for a marriage, just hope it took place in Shropshire Christine - thanks for the suggestions re Epwell, at least I have something further to investigate now. I thought that researching unusual surnames was supposed to be easier - don't believe any of it! Thanks all. Helen.

Hello again For Christmas, my son gave me the Oxon FHS CD of parish register transcriptions with the bit of the Banbury area which includes Epwell. My brother has it at the moment, but I just rang him up. He had a look on the Epwell Baptism lists from ca 1796-1805 and couldn't find any ILOTTs at all - there weren't any in the index, but he looked on the main bit too and couldn't see any there either. Either Philip Ilott wasn't from Epwell, or he wasn't baptised in the parish church. Sorry - run out of ideas at the moment. You could see what you can find by googling. I've found all sorts of unexpected things that way! Christine

Just another thought Oxfordshire Family History society will do a search for a list of baptisms for a surname: http://searches.oxfordshirefhs.org.uk/#oxonbapts 'OXFORDSHIRE BAPTISMS 1538 - 1851 This index will eventually cover all the parishes of present-day Oxfordshire. It is presently incomplete and is still being extended. See the Parish Coverage Map for details of the parishes so far included. The index contains name, year, parents and parish for each baptism. A search for an individual baptism costs £1.50. If found, the full details from the parish register transcript will be provided. Alternatively a list of index entries for a given surname can be supplied at £1.50 per 70 names. Please ask for a quote for popular names.' I know what you mean about unusual names; anyone got any Mautterers out there! Good luck with your search Heather

Thanks for that Christine Phoning your brother is over and above anything I could have expected, thank-you both for searching for me. I haven't tried googling Ilott so I'm going to have a look now. Thanks again. Helen

Heather - Thanks for the link, I've visited the OFHS site and emailed to get a quote for a search of the baptism index, hopefully that may find Philip or some of his family. Thanks again. Helen

Just to throw a spanner in the works!!!! I thought the first letter looked like a G. These are the parishes beginning with G that were in Oxfordshire at the time Grimsbury Godington Goring Great Rollright Great Tew Grafton Garsington Greys Great Haseley Great Milton Glympton Gosford Jeanette x