A walk back in time……….

Patcham Windmill at sunset

From finding the articles on Charlotte Scrase, known by her friends and family as Lottie, I became intrigued and wanted to find out more about her and her family.

I started by looking at more old newspapers and found quite a lot of information about Lottie’s family. One such article I found I have transcribed part of it here:

Funeral of Miss C. Scrase.
The funeral took place on Thursday, at Buckland Churchyard, of Miss Charlotte Eleanor Scrase, of 80, Heathfield Avenue, the tram conductress who met her death in the tram disaster on Sunday last, at the age of 27 years. The first portion of the burial service was conducted in St. Barnabus’ Church, the Rev E J Hampspn officiating both there and at the graveside. The mourners present were Mr A Scrace (brother), Mrs E Kenning and Mrs G Paddock (sisters), Mr T Sayer, RN (fiance), Mr and Mrs D Hocking (Uncle and Aunt), Mr Paddock (brother-in-law), Mrs D Hocking (Aunt), Mr A Singleton (uncle), Corporal W Hocking, Mr Ward, Mrs Hopley, and Mrs Vaughan (Cousins), and Mrs Dawson. Amoungst the large number pre-at the church and the graveside were the Mayor of Dover (Councillor E Farley), Alderman W G Lweis, Mr Boices, Mr Worsfold and Tram Inspector Elgar. The coffin was bourne into the church by tram Drivers Blackman, H Brett, Pay and Miller; and the tramway employees were also represented by Checkers Mrs Cahall and Mrs Kilbey, Conductresses Regan, Brewster, Smith, Richardson, Perring and Ewer……………………….”

- Dover Express and East Kent News, Friday 24 August 1917

This article continued to list all the individuals that left floral tributes and monetary ones too, it was a very long list!

I wanted to reconstruct a family tree for Charlotte, using the vast amount of personal details I had taken from all the articles written about her. I first of all located the registration of Charlotte’s death on the BMD Indexes (Sept 1917 SCRASE Charlotte E Aged 27 Dover 2a 1150), this is highly likely to be her as the dates, age and place all correspond to what we know about her already and this is the only reference to a Charlotte Scrase in the time period (also as it is not a common name it is easier too!).

From these articles I then continued and tried to find Lottie on the 1911 UK Census, as this was only six years before her untimely death in Dover. I searched using the parameters I knew such as her full name, a rough date of birth of 1890 and her mothers name also being that of Charlotte and those of her brothers and sisters. I found her without much problem, living at 80 Heathfield Avenue, Dover, Kent, the same address she was living at the time she died!
“Charlotte Scrase, aged 20 . She was born in Fulham London, is Single and living with her mother and siblings. Other members of the household on this date are:

Charlotte Scrase, Aged 49 (she is the head of the household, married for 27 years, now a widow, she had 9 children six of whom are still alive, she was born in Dover, Kent) ;

Arthur Scrace, aged 24 (Charlotte’s son, he was born in Warley, Essex is Single and works as a Railway engine cleaner for the South Eastern and Chatham Railway Company);

Maud Scrase, aged 16 (Charlotte’s daughter who is single and was born in Aldershot, Hampshire);

Edith Scrase, aged 12 (She is Charlotte’s daughter is single and born in Jamestown, St Helena, South Africa) and finally

Beatrice Eaton, aged 8 (who is described as a nurse child born in Tottenham, London).”

[Reg District: Dover; Reg Number 65; Sub-registration District: Dover; ED, institution or vessel: 19; Household schedule number: 385; Piece: 4609]

I then went back in time again and located Lottie and her family in the 1901 England Census still living in Dover at 3 Edith Cottages,Clements Road with her Mother and siblings (the family have been mis-transcribed as Sorace on Ancestry!).

“Charlotte E Scrase, head, widow, aged 39 born in Dover, Kent
Arthur Scrase, son, 14, a telegraph messenger for the GPO, born in Warley, Essex
Mabel Scrase, daughter, 13 born in Warley, Essex
William Scrase, son, 12 born in Warley, Essex
Charlotte Scrase. daughter, 10, born in Feltham, London
Maude Scrase, daughter, 6, born in Aldershot, Hampshire
Edith Scrase, daughter, 2, born in St Helena”

[Class: RG13; Piece: 844; Folio: 38; Page: 21.]

The 1891 England Census was just as easy to locate and this time I found them living in the Horsed Foot Barracks in Kensington, London,  with her father. George William Scrase, a Sergeant in the Army, this explained the birth places of Charlotte and her Siblings as I knew from local knowledge that they had Army connections.
“George William Scrase, head of family, aged 31, Sergeant in the Army Service Corps, born in Portsmouth, Hants
Charlotte Helenor Scrase, wife, 29, born in Dover, Kent
Arthur Lawrence Scrace, son, 4, born in Worley, Essex
Isobel Mary Scrase, daughter, aged 3, born in Worley, Essex
Charlotte Helenor Scrase, daughter, aged 7 mths, born in London, Middlesex
William James Scrase, son, aged 2 born in Worley, Essex”

[Class:  RG12; Piece:  29; Folio:  146; Page:  8; GSU roll:  6095139.]

As this would have been the first census that Charlotte would have been on I first of all located Charlotte’s Birth registration (SCRASE Charlotte Eleanor Fulham 1a 309, Fulham) and then started searching for details I could locate on George William, her father, who from the Censuses died at some point between 1891 and 1901 (He in fact died on 6th January 1900 whilst in Service in St Helena’s, with his wife at his side, he died due to an inflammation of the liver.)  I soon located his Army records which gave me Charlotte’s birth date of 12 Aug 1890, along with that of her siblings and the date and place of marriage for her parents (George William Scrase and Charlotte Eleanor Hocking). The marriage was then easily located on the BMD Index- Dec qtr 1883 Dover district 2a 1835.

Next step was to see if I could locate George in the 1881 England Census, which I failed to do. I believe though, from his Army records that he may have been abroad at the time, having signed up on 8th March 1880. Back 10 years though to 1871 and George can be found living with his parents in Portsmouth at No 2 Quay Gate, Portsea Island.
“James Scrase, aged 44, head, pensioner military staff clerk, from Patcham, Sussex
Isabella Scrase, aged 33, wife, pensioners wife, from Ireland
George W Scrase, aged 12, son, Scholar, from Portsmouth, Hampshire
Elizabeth A Scrase, aged 7, daughter, scholar, from Portsmouth, Hampshire
William Henry Scrase, aged 5, son, scholar, from Portsmouth, Hampshire
Arthur E Scrase, aged 2, son, from Portsmouth, Hampshire
Matthew Gatherer, aged 57,  a widower, father in law, General Porter, from Ireland”

[Class:  RG10; Piece:  1136; Folio:  22; Page:  1; GSU roll:  827782.]

From this census, I found that George’s parents were James Scrase, from Patcham in Sussex and Isabella (whose maiden name was most likely that of Gatherer!). James is descibed in his Army pension records as 5ft 7 inches tall with a fair complextion, light blonde hair and hazel eyes.

A further step back in time to 1861 and George can once again be found with James and Isabella in Portsmouth, this time in Colewort Barracks.

“James Scrase, aged 34, Head, garrison staff sergeant from Patcham, Sussex
Isabella Scrase, aged 23, wife, from Scotland
George William Scrase, aged 2, son, from Portsmouth, Hampshire
Matthew Gatherer, aged 49, father-in-law, a chelsea pensioner, from Scotland”

[Class:  RG 9; Piece:  639; Folio:  63; Page:  ; GSU roll:  542675]

I then started to look for James further back, but failed to find him in the 1851 Census when he would have been 24. I then started to search for a marriage between James Scrase and Isabella Gatherer and found one in the transcript of Madras Marriages 1851-1870 – 31/275. On 7th Dec 1852, James Scrase married Isabella Gatherer in Bangalore, Madras, India. James father is named as Thomas Scrase and Isabella’s as Matthew Gatherer! So perhaps James was in India for a while before marrying Isabella, I will continue to research this one though.

Up until this point in time I am fairly certain that I have located the correct information, as I have several sources of for each piece of information to tie the links together.

I then tried to locate James aged 14, in the 1841 England Census, seeing if I could find  a James from Patcham with a father called Thomas. The only one I was able to locate that seemed to correspond was living in Portslade Village in Sussex.

“Thomas Scrase, aged 54, from Sussex an agricultural labourer and other members of the same household are:
Jane Scrase, aged 53, from Sussex
James, aged 17, a labourer, from Sussex
Kezia, aged 19, from Sussex (married James Denyer White, as with father in 1851 Census, her husband and daughter Maria, then also in 1861)
Henry, aged 14, an agricultural labourer, from Sussex
Maria, aged 14, from Sussex
Fanny, aged 8, from Sussex”

[Source Citation: Class: HO107; Piece: 1112; Book: 4; Civil Parish: Portslade; County: Sussex; Enumeration District: 7; Folio: 7; Page: 8; Line: 22; GSU roll: 464160.]

IF this is in fact the correct family then a  possible marriage of Thomas Scrase and Jane Walter took place on 17 Mar 1815 in Warbleton, East Sussex

“Extract from the Sussex Marriage Index:
Place: Archdeaconry of Lewes Marriage Licence,  Date: 17 Mar 1815:
Subject: Thomas SCRACE, bach 28+ labr West Hoathly
Spouse: Jane WALTER, sp 30+ Warbleton
Extra Information: Sponsors ss: T.S. John WALTERS yeo Warbleton SRS 26

Extract from the Sussex Marriage Index:
Place: Warbleton, East Sussex,  Date: 17 Mar 1815:
Subject: Thomas SCRACE, bach West Hoathly
Spouse: Jane WALTER, sp otp (lic)
Extra Information: w: Theophilus GOBLE Sarah HARMER”

Once again, if this is the correct Thomas Scrase it means he was about 28 in 1815, that would mean he was born in about 1786/87, using this as a starting point I searched parish records around this date and found the following in Patcham:

“Thomas Scrase baptised in Patcham, Sussex 15 Oct 1786 Parents William Scrase and Rachel.”

I then continued searching and found possible parents for William:

“William Scrase baptised in Patcham, Sussex 13 Jul 1763 parents Richard Scrase and Susannah” and then in the Sussex Marriage Index the following entry:
“Place: Patcham, East Sussex,  Date: 20 Jul 1758:
Subject: Richard SCRASE, otp [SCRASE in pr]
Spouse: Susanna WEBB, St.Michael Lewes (lic)”

I intend to continue researching Charlotte’s line, to prove or disprove any connection between the individuals I have located on the early records and Charlotte! If anyone reading this is in fact related to Charlotte, George, James or Thomas I would just LOVE to hear from you with any  findings you have made, as I do have more information on this line to share also.

RESEARCH UPDATE: I am slowing making my way through the Census records of England and Wales, so far I have the 1911, 1901 and 1891 Census transcribed for the surname Scrace. I have decided to use Legacy Deluxe for all family reconstructions that I produce (which I have used before and found easy to use).

I am also currently trying to set up a website for more detailed information on families and my research which I will make public one I have finished transcribing the census records and worked out how best to share the data. I have also entered a few details on families from 100+ years ago on both Ancestry and Wikitree. As you can see I have been busy! .

Until next time (I will try not to leave it so long between posts this time though, where did that month just go!!!)………………………………..

A life cut short by tragedy

On 19 August 1917, at about 3.30 in the afternoon, tram car 20 ran away down the hill leading to Crabble from the London Road in Dover. The tram jumped off the rails at the second bend at the foot of the 1 in 10½ gradient, struck the paper-mill wall, ran over the debris, struck the wall for a second time, and toppled over. Eleven people died as a result of the accident, and nearly 60 were said to be injured. Many critically injured were taken to hospital. Six people though died at the scene, including Miss Charlotte (Lottie) Eleanor Scrase, aged 27, the conductress of the tram. She had been on the upper deck, according to a witness. She lived at 80 Heathfield Avenue and was the daughter of the late Staff Sergeant Major Scrase, of the Army Service Corps, who had died in 1900 at St Helena, and Mrs Lottie Scrase, formerly Hocking. Her brother, Arthur, was a locomotive fireman; she left also two other brothers, William and Eugene, both on military service abroad, and two sisters, Ivy and Edie.

Miss Scrase was said to be very popular on the tram service, and was said to have kindly taken another woman’s shift that day.  She had been engaged to be married to Mr Tom Sayers. The wedding ring she would have worn was buried with her at Buckland.

The driver of the tram, Albert James Bissenden, aged 28, stated that he had done all the could to stop the tram as it gathered speed on the incline, and when he had realised he could do no more, had jumped off to save his own life.  He immediately came down the hill to help the casualties. A soldier since 1907, he had been discharged on 1 June 1917 as a private from the Army Ordnance Corps after a nervous breakdown owing to the heat in Egypt and his work of dealing with explosives.  He had joined the trams on 21 July 1917 as a learner driver, qualifying to drive in 9 days and being passed as competent on 1 August.

The coroner, in summing up, stated that the case was on the borderline between accidental and criminal negligence; the driver could be liable for a charge of manslaughter. The verdict at the inquest was of death by misadventure, and that inexperience and lack of judgment on the part of Albert Bissenden were the causes. The coroner commented that misjudgment “could happen in a moment of forgetfulness, without knowing or wishing to wrong.  Something forgotten or something to attract the attention in moment and then something happened.”

However, it is probable that there were other causes and contributory factors. One passenger claimed that the car had not stopped as quickly as usual at the Buckland stop prior to Crabble Hill (although this may have been normal practice for Sundays and the driver may have been beckoned on). Several witnesses stated that the car had not stopped at the brow of the hill, as demanded by the regulations. This stop enabled the controller to be turned off and the slipper brakes applied; once the handbrake was released the car would proceed down the hill under its own weight, checked by the slipper brakes. Driver Bissenden stated that he was most aware of the regulations and the procedure at the top of the hill and had tried to stop the car with the handbrake but in vain. He maintained that the handle of the handbrake turned easily and met with no resistance”, so he concluded the brake would not stop the car. Indeed, the chain was unconnected when the tram car was examined after the accident. However, this was dismissed as there were no scrape marks on the chain, as there would have been had it been loose and dragged, and the chain was likely to have dislodged during, rather than before, the accident.

There were three braking systems; the slipper brakes were also examined, being the drag mechanism on going down Crabble Hill. Blocks were replaced about once a month; the blocks on car 20 were worn, but evidence given suggested that worn blocks were better at gripping than new, and that the extent of wear would not have contributed to the accident. The driver had been seen attempting to use the slipper brakes, but they were unable to stop the car. The third braking system, the emergency brake, failed to operate; this, it was stated, was owing to the driving current not having been turned off. The driver stated that the brake was “jammed”. The Depot Mechanic, Mr Nye, stated that he had examined the car before use that morning, and passed it and the brakes as fit, although he had not examined the emergency braking system, stating that this was done once a week, and that drivers rarely had occasion to use it. He added that the handbrake had been reported slack on 30 July and taken up. The controllers were tested once a week, sometimes twice. No driver had registered concern about the performance of the car since. When questioned by Mr de Wet, who was representing the friends of casualties Mr and Mrs Joseph and Mr Barnstein, Mr Carden, the General Manager of the tramway, was reproved for uncertainty in his responses regarding maintenance schedules and reporting of the cars.

On examination of the wrecked car, the controller was turned to full speed, and the direction lever was placed at “ahead”. Driver Bissenden stated that he had turned the controller off before descending the hill, exactly as regulations required. This was dismissed, the coroner stating that he believed the current had been on. However, passengers on the car, notably Dragoon Gunner, had attempted to stop the car, and children subsequently had played with the levers, which were then removed by Mechanic Knott and handed to Inspector Elgar. This was over 90 minutes after the accident, whereas Mr Fred Cook, former driver and then clerk to the tramways, stated that upon his examination twenty minutes after the accident, the levers were in the “drive” position. Whether attempts to stop the car had moved the levers is uncertain; it was however stated that the accident would not have moved them.

War-time conditions may have contributed to the accident. On considering the driver and the conductress, the Coroner in his summing up said, “I do not think these are times for anyone in a case of this description to be too critical. We are in troublesome times and we have to do the best we can with very little material. … our expert men are gone, and what is left are boys and girls and invalided men.” It was a general view, nevertheless, that business at home should carry on as best possible. Driver Bissenden’s discharge from military service was not considered significant. He had qualified as a driver after the minimum period of instruction, and was said to be quick at picking up his duties, exceedingly alert and intelligent, and one of the best men Mr Edward Carden, the tramways General Manager, had “had to deal with”. He had shown no signs of nervousness during instruction, and stated that he was most interested in his work, keen to demonstrate his suitability to his employers, and that furthermore he had suffered no nervousness during his work; indeed it was doing him “the power of good”.

It was the responsibility of Lottie Scrase, the conductress, to ensure the behaviour of the passengers, and that the car was not overcrowded. She had instructed Driver Bissenden to proceed without stopping at St Bartholomew’s church, well before Buckland, as they were carrying so many there was no more room. The tram was overcrowded when it crashed. The capacity was 22 people downstairs and 26 upstairs, yet some 70 people were casualties. The exact number on the tram was not ascertained.

However, it was common for the cars to be overloaded, and the Corporation Tramway permitted extra people to be carried provided it was safe and on the level portion of the track. Mr Carden stated that “since the war the population had increased” and their “service had been reduced, and it is very difficult to prevent people overcrowding”. Only on the River route were the regulations strictly enforced; an inspector at Buckland was responsible for ensuring the cars were not over capacity before descending Crabble Hill. Inspector Elgar stated at the inquest that he did not see car 20 go past, and that he had other duties to attend to in addition. The former tram shed is right.

It may have been that passengers also paid little regard to the tramway staff. Conductress Scrase was said to have been on the upper deck, she may have been asking passengers to sit down as standing was not permitted or trying to persuade some to alight. Driver Bissenden noted that a gentleman had been standing on his platform, having got on at Buckland, and the gentleman’s wife was standing on the steps. The driver had told the man he could not stand there, but did not make him move as “one got sick of asking people to move as they often said they had a right to be there” and he also had been told to speak to no one. It is possible that the gentleman distracted the driver, and thereby contributed to the accident.

Certainly overcrowding exacerbated the situation. Although a section of the mill wall was demolished by the impact of the car, Miss Laura Bomford, in charge of National Registration and a passenger at the accident, stated that she was surprised “there was not a violent crash”,. The tram appeared to have fallen over on to its side slowly and smoothly, before sliding a couple of yards along the ground.  Too many passengers in the top deck would have raised the centre of gravity of the car, and rendered it unstable and therefore contributed to or even caused the fall. Furthermore, many of those hurt were thrown from the open-top car. The extra weight would also have influenced the speed of acceleration down the hill, and rendered the brakes less effective. Mr Carden noted in mitigation that there were fourteen children on board, who would not weigh as much as adults.

The trackway down Crabble Hill followed a steep gradient in which there were two sharp bends, the first having a radius of 90 feet and being the most acute on the entire system, and the second near the bottom of the hill. The rails on the outside of the bends had been elevated in order to help prevent the car leaving the rails, and the braking power had been increased, with the addition of the slipper brakes. The combination of curves and gradient meant that the place, nevertheless, was regarded generally as dangerous, though Mr Cardin said that he “did not look upon that as the most dangerous part of the tramways for a tram driver”. In addition, owing to the war, it was difficult to maintain the system and to obtain spares for the rails and trams.

In summary of the accident, although the verdict was that the driver had been at fault, it would appear that war-time conditions had their impact but that there was a slackness in the running and the upholding of the tram network beyond that.  Fortunately the prevailing conditions also led to the Corporation being able a little to ameliorate the effects of the accident. Owing to the air raids they had set up an organisation to manage emergencies and ensure prompt medical care. They had also bought and hired extra hospital beds. Casualties were being treated at the Royal Victoria Hospital until 10pm, with the help of two naval surgeons, and the soldiers had been removed to the Western Heights Hospital. Nevertheless, it was estimated that there was spare capacity for medical care for another thirty cases, should it have been required. The same was not true of the mortuary, which had room for only three bodies! The Market Hall was used instead.

[Information gathered from various Newspaper articles  in The Dover Express and East Kent News, The Cornishman and Cornish Telegraph]

Next week in part two of this of this blog article, I will share some more information on Lottie Scrase.

RESEARCH UPDATE: I am slowing making my way through the Census records of England and Wales, such a time consuming job. At the moment I am still using Microsoft’s Excel to record the information (I am using separate worksheets for each area searched). I am currently looking at which program to use for recording the family reconstructions I am starting to produce, but as yet I am not sure which one to use .

Until next time………………………………..

Looking for Information

One hectic week at work and after school activities with my kids has meant that time researching has taken a hit this week. My daughter has dance exams coming up which means LOTS of extra lessons, I sure feel like a taxi service at the moment!

RESEARCH UPDATE: Although time has been limited, I have at last completed extracting all the correctly transcribed Scrace’s from the 1911 UK Census. I have now started the same process for the surname of Scrase, although I have only just started on this. I currently have my data on various Excel spreadsheets, but after reading a few reviews I am considering trying out Custodian 3, but think I will see if I can find out some more information first. If anyone has any experience of it, please get in touch?

CAN YOU HELP?  Do you have any information about a gentleman called Richard SCRACE (the spelling has also been as SCRASE on some documents I have). He was known as Dick and he was born in Brighton in October 1837 and died in Bexhill in October 1906. He was the Town Crier here. I would love to hear from you if any of this sounds familiar, as I am currently trying to build up a profile of him, I have been provided with some information on him, but want to know a little more before I share it on here.

Until next time………………………..

Another Brick in the wall!

In 2003 whilst on maternity leave I commenced researching my own family tree and right from the start I was hooked. I loved not only the challenge of finding and confirming links between individuals, but also the social history element of it and adding the “flesh to the bones” so to speak! My grandmother, Florrie who I loved dearly, was born a SCRACE in 1914, which is my association with the surname. The main brickwall in my personal family history though lies in East Barming , Kent, UK. This is where my GGGGG Grandfather James SCRACE’s marriage took place.

James SCRACE married Mary COUNTS on 21st May 1766 at St Margaret’s Church. After his marriage he settled with his family and subsequently leased the farm that was owned by the Hubles, that had previously been hired by his father in law Thomas Counts. He was in his early life a constant attendant at Public worship, but through drinking spirits to extreme he stopped entirely! James and Mary had three children that I have located so far, all from the parish records at St Margaret’s Church: Elizabeth SCRACE who was baptised on 12th April 1767; John SCRACE who was baptised on 20 February 1768 and finally James SCRACE who was baptised on 29 March 1772.

The farm was at some point named “Scrace’s Farm” and can be seen clearly on old maps of the area as such. James was also a farrier by trade, from which he obtained some property, sadly though in 1791, only a few weeks prior to his death, after having a  new house built and moving in he died and subsequently his burial took place on 8th April.

From this generation forwards I know about most (not all though!) of the family descendants. I have though been unable to find out where James was born or to whom. In the hope that I would eventually find him and his parents I commenced gathering information on all Scrace’s that I found within a 10 mile radius of East Barming, using Parloc to identify parishes. Several descendants with whom I have made contact believe that he may have come from Sedlescombe, but I to date personally cannot find any evidence to corroborate this. My search has now expanded and so the SCRACE One Name Study was born!

East Barming itself is one of Kent’s mystery names. It is recorded in the Domesday Book as Bermelinge, but where this name came from, and what it means, are uncertain. The parish church of East Barming is dedicated to St Margaret, and is of Norman origin, although it is a small building, consisting of one isle and a chancel, with an elegant spire steeple.

A farrier is a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of hooves and the placing of shoes on their hooves, if necessary. A farrier combines some blacksmith’s skills (fabricating, adapting, and adjusting metal shoes) with some veterinarian’s skills (knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the lower limb) to care for horses’ feet. Historically, the jobs of farrier and blacksmith were practically synonymous, shown by the etymology of the word: farrier comes from Middle French: ferrier (blacksmith), from the Latin word ferrum (iron). A farrier’s work would have included horseshoeing, as well as the fabrication and repair of tools, the forging of architectural pieces, etc. The Blacksmith trade then continued several generations within this line. [Wikipedia]

The pictures below are of St Margaret’s Church, where these ancestors life events were recorded, thank you Paul for allowing me to use the following two images (http://www.flickr.com/photos/pauls_fotos/).

I would also like to thank Adrian of Adrians Art for allowing me to use the following two images of St Margaret’s in East Barming, I just LOVE poppy fields, what a fantastic foreground to the church.

RESEARCH UPDATE: I had hoped to finish extracting all the details from the UK 1911 Census for all the correctly transcribed SCRACE entries from Ancestry this week, but alas I managed only about 90%! I have though received some fantastic information from a fellow Guild member on a Scrace from Brighton who lived in Bexhill, which I am sure I will post about soon once I do a little more digging that is and find out some more about him!

Until next time…………………………………………………

© Karen Anderson 2012

This week in history………………….

William SCRACE, son of John SCRACE and Sophia TINGLEY was born at Maskells Farm, Brenchley and then baptised in All Saints church on 03 October 1830. He was the 7th child of John and Sophia’s 12! (Brenchley is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England.)

William married Ruth WOODHAMS and together they had eight children (5 boys and 3 girls). During their marriage they lived in Chatham, Kent and then finally in Gillingham also in the county of Kent.

William worked as a Blacksmith which is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut. Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, grilles, railings, light fixtures, furniture, sculpture, tools, agricultural implements, decorative and religious items, cooking utensils, and weapons. He would have been very busy! Blacksmiths had a place among the working classes, these men worked with their hands and arms in a hot and grimy environment. Blacksmiths, who have a history that goes back thousands of years, however, had a far higher economic and social position than farm or factory workers. As highly skilled artisans, they also managed to remain independent and in demand until well into the twentieth century when the automobile destroyed many of their opportunities for work. Even then, these skilled iron workers often morphed into auto mechanics just as a century earlier some had become pioneeering engineers.

RESEARCH UPDATE: This week I am moving forward nicely with my extraction of the 1911 census, I now have about 70% of the “correctly transcribed” entries included in my spreadsheet for the Scrace surname. I have also started recording notices I have found in newspapers regarding any reference to the surnames of Scrace or Scrase.

In other news I have registered my Blog at GeneaBloggers and I am now listed, if  you have not checked this resourse out it is well worth it, there is a wealth of fantastic sites to browse from here :-)

I am also trying to work out which provider to subscribe to Ancestry, Find My Past or The Genealogist. If anyone has any experience of the Genealogist please let me know how you find it. At the moment I think I will subscribe to Ancestry as I have a voucher to get 30% off, I also have a discount code for the Genealogist, so wanted to know whether it is worth trying though!

Until next time…….

© Karen Anderson 2012

It’s OFFICIAL!

Well I have taken the plunge and registered the Scrace surname and also Scrase with the GUILD, I was impressed with how efficient the process all was, after all it is a charity and all the staff are volunteers (I believe). I am now member number 6151! I registered on Tuesday mid afternoon and just before 5pm I had a welcome email and that was quickly followed by further emails inviting me to forums and another regarding the guild emails. The following morning I had confirmation that my names had been registered

Other news, the progress on the extraction of data is slow, but that is to be expected. So far I have:

1. Extracted and sorted all the BIRTHS for Scrace’s and Scrases’s transcribed on FreeBMD.

2. Extracted and sorted all the MARRIAGES for Scrace’s and Scrase’s transcribed on FreeBMD.

3. Extracted and sorted all the DEATHS for Scrace’s and Scrase’s transcribed on FreeBMD.

4.Extracted and sorted all the Scrace’s and Scrases’s listed on the 1881 Census on the   FamilySearch Website.

5. Extracted 30% of all Scrace’s (transcribed correctly that is) on the 1911 UK Census from Ancestry, I have been looking at all the images to ensure the data transcribed is correct – I have found quite a few errors and omissions already!

I plan to continue working on the extraction of Scrace’s from the 1911 Census over the next week. I will then re-subscribe to one of the main sites to continue extracting the census details onto my data sheets.

As well as extracting the above data, I have over the last week transferred my personal line onto WikiTree and called it Scrace line 001, although I do still have to add all the sources I have, but I will do this once I have extracted ALL the correctly transcribed UK census data. I have made sure that living individuals and those born after 1900 are all private, with just very basic information for confidentiality reasons. I have also created a front page for the Scrace One Name Study, which can be found HERE.

Another thing I have done is set up a Facebook page, which is private, but if  you have a Scrace/Scrase connection, I will of course add you. I have also set up a Twitter account, boy have I been busy.

Please get in touch, if you are a Scrace or a Scrase via the Scrace.ONS email address provided on the about page or by leaving a comment below, I would LOVE to hear from you.

Until next time………….

© Karen Anderson 2012

Scrace One Name Study on WikiTree

I recently read a ONS blog that mentioned the merits of WikiTree for a One Name Study, so with that in mind I have just set up a Scrace One Name Study page on there.

With the help of other researchers my longer term intention is to create lots of family trees for all Scrace’s that I find throughout the World. With other researchers able to join in and then ultimately have responsibility for their own tree of interest. this I hope will enable this to be more than just a list of names. To that end, I have already started inputting some of the information I have at the moment.

Scrace profiles currently on Wikitree can be found at: http://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/scrace/, as you can see I have only just started as I decided against uploading my GEDCOM, so it will take me a while! I plan to keep living relatives on my offline database only as well as additional information I have located. I will of course share anything that I do have with researchers who contact me have a link to any individual I have on WikiTree.

Wikitree has been selected because:
1.  It is 100% free with all functionality available to all users
2.  It has very good security capabilities. It has the facility to keep modern family history private and only share it with trusted family members. Inviting them to enjoy what you’ve put together on simple, attractive profile pages. As they browse they can add more names, facts, memories, and photos if they have information that is not on there already.
3.  It is relatively new and at the present there is a very small but growing number of Scrace and Scrase profiles which provides a very clean ‘sheet’ on which to build and progress the Scrace One Name Study.

Until next time…………..

© Karen Anderson 2012

Whats in a name?

Well I went onto the Guild of One Name Studies and have looked at some of the links they suggest looking at after doing a search to see if anyone else is undertaking your name.

The first one I tried was British Surnames and to my surprise it found nothing and came up with the following:

“Sorry, we don’t currently have any data for SCRACE. If this is your name Congratulations, you are a genuine rarity, at least in the UK. Maybe you should try to breed, to avoid the SCRACE family becoming extinct!”I then continued by looking for SCRASE, once again nothing. It did though this time suggest looking at the American site which I hastily did. Once again though no luck and this time it stated:”Sorry, we don’t have any information about the SCRACE surname. If this really is your surname, then congratulations – you are a genuine rarity, at least in the USA.”The next stop was another suggested site, Public Profiler – British Names, this time the name was found, phew at last! I will post more on this in a later post, but from looking at the data it produced, as I suspected the surname (Scrace or Scrase)  is predominantly in the South of England and is prevalent in Sussex, Kent and Surrey.I then finally did a Google search on the name and found the Surname Database, which said about the surname:”This interesting and uncommon surname is English. Although rare in most parts of the country it is found in several spellings including Scras, Scrace, Scrasse, Scrase, and Skrase in the church registers of the county of Sussex from the mid 16th Century; however its exact origins remain undetermined.

The most likely source of the name is topographical, and describes a person who lived in, or more likely by, a hollow or cave. This is from the Old English pre 7th century word “scraef”, meaning a cave or recess, and the high concentration of the surname in Sussex registers suggests that there may have been a place so called in this region. These early recordings taken from surviving church registers of the county include examples such as Thomas Scrace who married Jone Gillan at Ardingley, on July 10th 1558. This was in the first year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1st of England, (1558 – 1603), whilst others include Edmunde Skrace and Johanna Gat, who were married at the hamlet of Cowfold on January 15th 1565, and on January 6th 1592, Elizabeth, the daughter of John Scrase, was christened the village of Street. A coat of arms granted to the Scrace family of Sussex, has the blazon of a blue shield charged with a silver dolphin between three gold escallops, the sign of a pilgrim to the Holy Land. The crest is a falcon, standing on the stock of a tree. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to “develop” often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.”

Not sure how much of this is true, but hopefully I may find out further along in my study of the name. One interesting comment after this description was made by someone called Z Barraclough which I think is worth looking into at some point:

“There is a location between Lindfield and Haywards Heath called Scrase Bridge, where the Scrace brook is crossed by the main road between these settlements. The road to Ardingly branches off from this point. Lindfield was a main watering hole for livestock being driven between the Ashdown Forest and the markets to the south. There is also a Scrase valley nature reserve which preserves the rural gap in between. Seems like a good candidate for the origin of this surname, given that your earliest record is at Ardingly.”

I then went on to see what it said for Scrase and found the following:

“This is a most interesting surname of Olde English pre 7th century origins. It is residential and describes either a cave dweller, or perhaps more probably in most parts of England, somebody who lived in a hollow or narrow valley. Unfortunately we have not been able to determine whether an actual village as ‘Scrase’ or similar ever existed, but the surname is relatively popular in Sussex, and the Brighton area seems to be the epi-centre of recordings. The hamlet of ‘Scrafton’ in Yorkshire has a similar origin, in that it is derived from the elements ‘scraef’ and ‘tun’, a farmstead or house, and is recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book. However whilst the surname of Scrafton is recorded in York at least as early as 1591, when Urseley Skraffton was christened there on January 18th, the surname as ‘Scrase’ is not recorded at all. Locational surnames were usually given to people after they moved from their original homes, as an easy method of identification. In the case of ‘Scrase’ they do not seem to have moved far, suggesting that the original village was simply abandoned for natural causes. Early examples of the surname recordings include Thomasine Scrase, who married William Holbeach at Wilmington, Sussex, on September 22nd 1561, and Wyllem Scrace who married Ann Payn at Hurstpierpoint on February 8th 1576. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Thomas Scrase, which was dated July 10th 1558, married Jane Gill at Ardingley, Sussex, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1st, known as ‘Good Queen Bess’, 1558 – 1603. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to “develop” often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.”

Boy do I have my work cut out here.

Until Next time………

© Karen Anderson 2012

Starting out!

Well I thought an update was needed. I am currently transferring my long SCRACE line onto a database solely for this project ( I think it may take a while!!) and have decided to reference each individual using a reference to show the country, county/state and place they were born, as well as an individual reference. One such reference is for a direct ancestor of mine John SCRACE who was born in East Barming, Kent in 1794 (his is GBR-KEN00021-21A).  GBR is Great Britain, KEN is Kent, 00021 is East Barming, 21 is for John himself and the A is a reference for me, as this is a direct Ancestor (my great great grandfather, non ancestors will just have a number).

I have also identifying how many SCRACES  births, marriages and deaths were registered. I did this in the first instance by using FreeBMD’s “download” function. Once I downloaded the data I moved it into Excel and tidied it up by separating the data into the following headings so that I can utilise the data sort function to locate the individuals with ease for researching.

• Year
• Quarter
• Surname
• Forename
• Mother’s Maiden Name (births after 1911), Spouses Surname (Marriage), Age at Death / Date of Birth
• Registration District
• Volume
• Number

The thing I have to do next (well after transferring my family file that is) is double check each entry against the images of the GRO register to ensure the transcriptions are correct. I will be using Ancestry to do this, but you are able to view images from FreeBMD, I will also check that it includes them all (not a quick task!).

I am going to use the Births extraction to create a “Master Spreadsheet”. Each person will be given an ID number (as mentioned above) and  transferred to my database. I realise that I will have the data duplicated, but there is a method in my madness…..more to be revealed soon. This will be used to track the individual through the different records in the future.

For SCRACE births there are 729 individuals. 

For SCRACE marriages there are 370 individuals. 

For SCRACE deaths there are 390 individuals. 

I’ve decided against extracting the SCRASE entries for the moment as the numbers are larger and I don’t want to spend all my time double-checking GRO details at the moment.

The plan is that after I’ve identified all the individuals from the GRO index I will then look for them in the census after they were born. This will enable me to build up some trees.

Until next time…..

 

© Karen Anderson 2012

Discovering the size of my Scrace ONS!

The Guild of One Name Studies WiKi defines the size of a study by the number of entries in the 1881 England and Wales Census. The size is defined as

1 – 30	Tiny
30 – 300	Small
300 – 3,000	Medium
3,000 – 30,000	Large
30,000 – 300,000	Extra Large
More than 300,000	Extra-Extra Large

In order to capture the size of my ONS I have taken the average number of “hits” from the main genealogy sites (Ancestry, FMP  and Family Search ). I have not yet checked all the “hits” for accuracy as this study is in its just starting; however I believe that by doing it this way I will have a fair overview of the task  in hand.

Surname	Average occurrence in 1881 England & Wales Census	Size of Study
SCRACE	182	Small
SCRASE	358	Medium
All Variants per sites	595	Medium
SCRACE & SCRASE	540	Medium

As previously stated, I am going to concentrate my efforts on the SCRACE’s and SCRASE’s entries for the time being or I am likely to become overwhelmed by the data and this will inhibit the moving forward of the study in a meaningful way. I am starting with the variant that my family use, which is that of SCRACE.

With this in mind I am classing the SCRACE-ONS as “Medium” sized study.

For reference other variants that come up when searching are all under Tiny except one (Scarce) which is classified as small with an average of 43 occurances!

(Scrayce, Scrayse, Screes, Screeze, Scraet, Scrafe, Scrasce, Sraice, Scraise, Scracie, Scrate, Screash, Scasee, Scrass, Squas, Scross, Skruse, Screase, Scarce, Scarace, Scarse, Scras)

If anyone has any other names that they think should be included  as a variant then please let me know, by contacting me on the email address given on the about page.

Until next time……..

© Karen Anderson 2012