Agnes Gardner-Dedham Essex

[CelticAncestry]

Is there anyone who can tell me if there are any membership rolls to be viewed of parishoners of St. Mary's Church in Dedham circa 1770's-1780's.  I am trying to find any information out that I can about Agnes Gardner--a spinster who lived in the area during that time period.  She came from a well-to-do family and she was somewhat of a governess for her nephew Robert Barrie who attended school in Dedham.  I have been unable to ascertain a date of death for Agnes in the IGI and I am wondering if there might be something in Colchester at the PRO there.  I live in the USA and coming there to do research is not a possibility for me.  Is there anyone who is familiar with what I am trying to achieve and can give me a little guidance? 

[Clincher]

As far as I know it would be very unusual for any parish to keep 'membership rolls' of its parishioners - at that period especially. You could log on to the website of Essex Record Office at http://www.seax.essexcc.gov.uk where you could log on as a guest and search their on-line catalogue. Searching for 'Dedham' yields a daunting list of hundreds of pages of hits - the first page refers to a school in Dedham. You could surf for that perhaps.
On the second page you can see that records of baptisms, marriage and burials are available (in microfiche form) at Essex Record Office (but not online!) for the period you mention.
To ascertain whether a will exists in Essex would be easy and I am happy to look that up for you. However I think you need to be more precise with your info to increase the time feasibility of someone making other searches for you.
Incidentally the Essex Record office (HQ at Chelmsford) does have a branch at Colchester but the Public Record Office (now called the National Archive) is located at Kew on the western fringe of Greater London. I think that has an online facility for searching for wills (for a small fee).
I hope this helps

[Clincher]

No trace of Agnes GARDNER (or any spelling variant) in "Wills at Chelmsford Volume 3 1721-1858"  -an index to wills now preserved in Essex Record Office, Chelmsford.
The National Archive online search facility may be of help however

[CelticAncestry]

Thank you for the reminder to check in the National Archives... I was able to find Agnes Gardner of Dedham Essex... the Last Will and Testament was Proven on 15th Nov. 1813.  When she first made out her Will, it states the following "John Spurling and John Strult, Clerks to Mr. Firmin Atty at Law, Dedham Essex.

Now on to the next quest--to find out where in Dedham Essex that she lived (name of the house)... and to find out if she was buried at St. Mary's Church.... I know that the Bishops Transcripts would give that information, I would guess with regard to burial. 

Do you have any ideas on how I might be able to find out the name of her "abode"?  Would the Bishops Transcripts also give that info?


Thank you for your help

[Clincher]

Agnes Gardner was buried in the Parish Churchyard of Dedham. I saw the microfiche image of the burial register at Essex Record Office (ref: D/P 26/1/8 fiche 1 of 3) and the entry in respect of her reads:
Agnes Gardner abode Dedham buried Nov 9 1813 age 78.

I have a photocopy of the image but it is poor quality to scan.

That's about as far as I can go. There is a good website at http://www.dedham-parishchurch.org.uk
It would be rash to assume that the grave is still there in 2005

[CelticAncestry]

Thank you so much... a little over a year ago, I had saved my extra cash and made the flight from America, went to little Dedham, and searched the cemetary at St. Mary's looking for Agnes, but was unable to read any headstones prior to the 1860's...and what were there to read were almost unreadable due to the lichens and being worn down from rain, and other various reasons.  Thank you for retrieving that information for me to confirm what I had believed to be true... that is now two down and one to go---the name of her home that she resided in.  Perhaps that will be in the Bishops Transcripts!!.. .. Thank you again for your kindness, your expertise, and your help!!

[Clincher]

I'm glad you went to Dedham.  What did you think of it? Did you expect that Agnes's home still existed?
Back in 1735 (when Agnes was born) most parishes (and I suspect Dedham was no exception) probably saw no need to record anything like an exact address which we would expect today. This was simply because Dedham was even smaller then than it is today.
And I doubt whether any BTs would provide anything extra because they were intended to be a kind of duplicate of the original registers and often they were an inaccurate duplicate.
Have you looked for Agnes's birth in IGI- in all England?
Having sounded a note of pessimism, there may be some kind of property records. Have you heard of Land tax assessments?

[CelticAncestry]

Hello Again:

Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed the 2-3 hours I spent in Dedham looking around the town, in the churchyard, and checking out the school to the rear of the church and the school across the street from the church's main walkway....which I think is presently a family home.  I noted that there is "grafitti" on the soft brick of what once was the school, with names and dates which go back to earlier than 1750....

I have high hopes that the house that Agnes lived in might exist today as there are many homes in close proximity of St. Mary's that did indeed exist even in the 1600's---to think it would have the same "post code" would be humerous; however, the house typically carries on it's name if it does exist unless changed into some type of multi-function place/terraced house, etc.

Yes, I have found Agnes in the IGI, having been born in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire--one of approx 11 children of Elizabeth Farington Gardner and Col. William Gardner...and their home in Uttoxeter is still in existance today, but it has now become offices for a legal firm.

I have heard of Tithe Maps, and somewhere in the back of my memory banks I have heard of Land Tax assessment records, but here again I am at a loss to know where they would be located and how best to try to access them. 

In regards to pessimism--I look at this situation with Agnes and her home as a 50/50 chance --  "Cautiously Optimistic" might best describe my feelings at this point...

[Clincher]

Hallo again, I looked at Land Tax Assessments for Lexden Hundred, Parish of Dedham for years 1810-1815 on microfiche refs: Q/RPI 609-613 (five fiche in all) searching for the name Gardner. For each of those 5 years I found this entry:
Rental: 11* (the archivist confirmed that this figure is the acreage)
Owner's name: Gardner & Co
Occupier: Gardner & Co
Tax: 2 pounds 4 shillings

The entry was consistent except that only in the 3rd and 4th years was the name spelt as above - in the other years it was spelt Gardiner.
I have been told that there is no known way of identifying the land to which the acreage refers.

* The acreage may be made up of a number of plots.

As I understand it Tithe Awards were a 'one-off' in 1841 and Tithe AwardTranscripts are available (27 typed pages for Dedham) (Essex RO ref: D/CT 113A) and can be linked to the Tithe Map for Dedham (D/CT 113) -magnifying glass required!

The 1,168 plots listed in the transcripts are variously named (e.g. house and garden, Pightle field, Potato field, Sebbons farm). The name of the land owner is given (usually an individual - sometimes it is Duchy of Lancaster# as in the case of the Grammar School: or 'Independent' as in the case of the Church which was occupied by Rev. John True). The name of the occupier is given.

#In 2005 the Duchy of Lancaster is the name given to part of the machinery of government i.e the Crown and that may have been true (at least in part) even in 1810.

I saw 3 plots where a GARDINER was involved:

Plot 517: Cottage and Garden 1 rod 36 poles owned by John Gardiner and occupied by William Leach
Plot 664 Cottage and Garden 3 rods 23 poles owned by William Gardiner and occupied by William Moore
Plot 1069 Cottage and garden 12 poles only owned by John Mixer and occupied by Robert Gardiner

I also looked out for Robert Barrie in all of the above but did not see him.

Out of 1,168 plots only 24 were 11 acres or greater.

I only had time to see that plot 664 was just south of the plot named Birch Wood which was by far the largest plot and which was owned, almost inevitably, by a clergyman.

If you know that any of those Gardiners are yours a request for an 1841 census Dedham look-up may reveal the 'address(ses)'.

Finally it is an offchance but it may be worth searching the National Archive website for 'Duchy of Lancaster' and seeing whether it leads to Dedham School pupils and tenants etc

Still 50/50?

Best wishes