can you decipher ????

[jmp]

Rabbit very kindly sent me this thread to look at, so for my half penn'th, Upper Assenden was certainly being used for the "main road" which runs north through Stonor now and past the Stonor estate in the 1841 Census. The next division as it were was just past Stonor Park where the road rises towards Christmas Common and was /is called Pishill.

I dont know if this helps, but I was confused when I couldn't find Stonor listed on the ( from memory ) 41 Census when I was looking up the house where my sister now lives. Turns out it was listed under Upper Assenden, a name which now is not locally used, and comprised a community with 2/3 farms, post office, forge and school.  The parish for the area was/is  Pishill with Stonor. The local C of E church being at Pishill, but the majority of the locals would have been "tied" to the Stonor estate with its own Catholic chapel which meant that many of them were christened there instead of the local C of E church.

Jackie

[Rabbit B]

Well in the meantime,  I have sent it all to the local Vicar friend of mine, he is sure that the parish begins with O as well.  I have been through all the maps and cannot find anything to match it!

I am well and truly stumped on this one so sorry not to have been more help!

If Jackie cannot read it no one can!  She is the expert in this area!

Rabbit B   

[JAP]

I agree with PrueM's original suggestion of Lower Assendon.

To me the writing says:
Assen Low^r

It's surely probable that the testator, James BAGG, had heard Joseph's residence as Assen Lower, and/or that he pronounced/slurred it thus when making his will; and/or that neither he nor the scribe knew that it was really Assendon nor had any idea that it was formally in the parish of Bix.

Rabbit B's early link to the Bix & Assendon page has a good history which indicates that the parish of Bix included the hamlets of Bix, Lower Assendon and Middle Assendon.

Prue linked to a modern map which shows the villages.

Lower Assendon can also be found on the oldmaps site - probably easiest to find Bix and then scroll to the SE.

I don't know much about Oxfordshire (well, virtually nothing!) but I do remember reading on RC that IGI records for Oxfordshire are poor.

Perhaps the Oxfordshire Records Office and/or the Oxfordshire Family History Society might have resources which might include the name of Joseph BAGG?

JAP

[243rose]

Thanks everyone who contributed to this.
I am happy that it is probably, maybe, could be Assendon/ Assen Lower.

Cheers
Iain

[Gadget]

Thank you JAP  - I'm glad that Prue and my interpretation of a while back has been thirded.



Gadget

[JAP]

I usually shy away from making "me too" posts - seconding, thirding or whatever 

I came across this thread yesterday when I was checking out 'deciphering' threads.  Such queries are always an interesting challenge - and (hoping to 'keep my hand in') I always make a decision/guess on the initial post before reading further i.e. before seeing what others think the writing says (and usually others have arrived at the correct answer long before I've looked at the thread).

This time it immediately seemed to me on initial reading to be " Assen Low^r ".

Then, having read through the thread, it seemed to me that it might perhaps be helpful to endorse the initial interpretation(s) and to add some thoughts.  Which I've done.

We none of us can guarantee what it says but I have to admit that I'd be very surprised if it isn't Assen Lower - Assen easily acceptable as a slurred rendering of Assendon.  Admittedly Assendon Lower is not the name of an Oxfordshire parish but the testator and the scribe of a Surrey Will would far from necessarily be familiar with the formal details of Oxfordshire parishes.

Let's hope there are some relevant Oxfordshire records re Joseph BAGG - which might serve to place him in Lower Assendon.

JAP

[rreadings]

The Parish Records for Aston Rowant show a burial for a Joseph Baggs on September 27th, 1809. I can find no relevant entries for villages near Assendon i.e. Bix, Pishill, Swyncombe, Nettlebed.

Perhaps the place name is a poor and abbreviated attempt at Aston Rowant?

[243rose]

thnks for that.
i had wondered about Aston Rowant. i reckon you may have cracked this.
do you have transcriptions for the parishes you mention ?


iain

[rreadings]

Yes!