ARMSTRONGS of Ravensden

[johnP-bedford]

David,  Yes I'll be looking at looking at the 2 marriages of William Armstrong (1) to Elizabeth Franklin at Wilden 1816 & (2) to Ann Rench (ne Gammons) at Thurleigh 1827.  I also ask them to get me out the Ravensden - 'Overseers Account Book' (1801 - 1831) to see if any Armstrongs are included.

Plus baptisms of any Armstrongs in Ravensden. Thurleigh, Wilden
+ marriage of John Armstrong to Jane ? at Ravensden.

[johnP-bedford]

Just searched Beds Archives online for 'Armstrong' AND 'Gravenhurst' & there's an entry dated 1726 about a 21 year lease of property at Gravenhust (& Clophill) to a Thomas Armstrong of Houghton Conquest & John Armstrong  e.s. of Thomas ? 

[wdurham]

John -

The overseers account book has a population listing for 1831 here:

http://domino.bedfordshire.gov.uk/bedscc/sdcountyrec.nsf/web/thepage/Ravensden+Population+Listing+-+May+1831

This includes just one Armstrong, John Jnr with a household of 3 - 1 adult male and two females. Which fits with wife Jane and first child Sally/Sarah.

I also found the reference to Thomas and John of HC - Thomas is included in the 1722 Beds Pollbook as voting in HC. There are many references to a Thomas Armstrong of this period as being a JP.  I discarded him, simply because you had to be pretty important to vote in those days, if I remember rightly, and our lot were all labourers....

However, I have been working this morning with the Beds section of the NBI (as per the Family History Online website) and it seems the Armstrongs were pretty mobile within a confined area. In most places they just arrive, and are almost always the only family in the village. Which makes tracking their movements a bit easier.

Based on where they were buried and where the IGI says they married and begat their children, I have put together a long chain of Armstrongs going back to another John and Sarah who were living in Riseley in the early 1700s. It is TOTALLY circumstantial - not a shred of real proof and based only on commonsense and IGI/NBI matching - but it gives a number of other places to search for Armstrongs.

These places include: Riseley - Wilstead - Cople. There is also one marriage in Haynes in 1799 and a marriage in Puddington in 1729.

I hope you can find a clue as to our mystery William in his marriage records - whilst I am pretty sure he belongs to John and Sarah (if only because there's nobody else he CAN belong to!) it would be nice to have something tangible.

[bedfordshire boy]

The Haynes marriage is of William Armstrong of Wilshamstead and Mary Warren otp. Per transcript

David

[wdurham]

Cheers, David - that confirms one of my links.

The Haynes marriage was indeed of William of Wilshamstead, younger son of Thomas Armstrong and Christian Fiddes.

[bedfordshire boy]

And the Cople family started with the marriage on 11 Oct 1779 between William Eamstrong
and Mary Robins. No further detail in the transcript unfortunately

Mary Armstrong wife of William was buried on 13 Apr 1801

There's also an entry on A2A
Maulden parish register
OVERSEERS of the Poor, Apprenticeship

   FILE - Bond (£20) Wm Batterson of Cople - Cordwainer, to Maulden Church Wardens re apprenticeship of Wm Armstrong. - ref.  P31/14/53  - date: 12 Mar 1766

It's possible that the William who married in Cople was from Maulden

David

[johnP-bedford]

A William Armstrong of Manor Farm, is credited for introducing Weslyan Methodism into Wilshamstead. He died 23 July 1845 age 76, his wife Mary died on 17 dec 1844 age 69.  A commemorative tablet to them is affixed to entrance hallway of the modern chapel built in 1967.

More details are in the book Wilshamstead Homestead of Friends.

 

[wdurham]

Thanks, David - it's starting to come together.

And thanks, John -  the Wesleyan William must be the son of Thomas and Christian bap 1769, who married Mary Warren of Haynes and raised his family in Wilstead.

So at least some of the Armstrong family WERE Methodists, then.  Now, if there were no Methodist chapel in a village or town, would a travelling Methodist minister be allowed to use the parish church to do baptisms?

Some results of my labours:

The NBI has 13 John Armstrong burials in Bedfordshire - assuming that all parishes have been included by Bedfordshire FHS on the database they have provided to Family History Online. The list looks pretty complete to me, but I am not a Beds expert!

I have identified all of them - or dismissed them because they were buried before 1760.

There is only one burial that could be the John baptised 1762 in Wilstead, and that is:

John ARMSTRONG Date 14 Nov 1826 Aged 66 Place Ravensden Description All Saints Denomination Anglican County code BDF.

It is, of course, possible that John bap 1762 in Wilstead could have moved out of county. But if he did not, then the Wilstead-Ravensden link is looking possible.

[bedfordshire boy]

Even if a methodist wanted to, and was permitted to, use the Church of England for
baptisms (unlikely) they still wouldn't be entered in the parish register

I've just edited my previous post re Cople

If you check A2A there are plenty of hits against Armstrong searching against Beds
& Luton etc - interesting one is Thurleigh where it's clear that the Armstrongs were
baptists, who don't do infant baptisms

David