Genealogy Chat

My Uncle has managed to trace the family line back to 1535 to John Maynard in Menheniot in Cornwall. This is where the parish records appear to have started. Is there any way of going back further (yes i know 1535 is very good!) at all or is that it?

I would suggest contacting Cornwall Records Office to see what they hold for that parish around the date you've gone back to. More chance of finding them if they were wealthy, but not impossible if they weren't. Bear in mind that records might be in Latin! You could also search a2a for the parish and the date..

Thanks very much - i will do that. Out of interest what sort of records would i be seeking? Land ownership records? Tax? I have no idea what would have existed during this period?

Depending on what your ancestors' occupations were it is often worth googling. Not just a name but the parish they lived/born in. Sometimes you find info about where or who they worked for.

They may have been tenants or in the militia. All kinds of things.

Ozi.

From what i can see later on they were farmers and owned quite a bit of land (from census details) Prior to this i am not sure. I have discovered a lot of wills in the cornwall record office so i think i will send off for them.

Just looking at the wills - In the 1600's a lot of them were described as yeoman so i can only assume the farming tradition was a long one in my family,

You must get the wills - they will hopefully give you lots of info to work on! Lucky you that they were wealthy enough to leave wills. That will certainly help!

The wills will provide interesting reading - however they do not start until several years into my tree so will not give me any further historical information. Just worked out it will cost me about £25 to get 12 wills - the earliest being 1622 (of a direct descendant (i think) - no idea how many 'greats' but a lot lol - just worked it out 10xGreat Grandfather lol)

£25 for 12 wills is good value, I'd say! If you got 12 from 1858 to today, it would cost you £60. They may refer to land that had been in the family for generations, so still might be useful.

Wow! That's a bargain.

They may not go back as far as you want but I bet they'll give you some leads.

Not only that they're fascinating.

I wish you luck with deciphering them.

Ozi.

Yeah i had fun deciphering one from the 1800's so i have no doubts it will be fun doing earlier ones!!

Neil

You asked about what records could be available for the 16th Century...So from my crib sheet :)

From the start of the century unless otherwise stated...

Parish Records from about mid 16th
Marriage Licences from 16c
School and University Registers from 16c
Apprentices and Freemen from 16c
Visitations from 16c
Chancery Proceedings from end of 14c
Probates from late 14c
Quarter Sessions from mid to late 14c
Lay Subsidies from early 13c
Inquisition Post Mortem from early 13c
Manor Court Rolls from 13c
Feet of Fines from late 12c
Deeds from 11c

Chris

As "Yeoman" they could be called upon to be in the militia so you may find some records there.

Thanks very much for the info. I'll do another search on the Cornwall Record Office site and see if there are any documents which might be of interest before i purchase the wills (up to 13 now due to a mis-spelling of a name)