Handcross records

[mandyj51]

Could anyone please advise me where births c.1800 - 1814, Handcross would be registered, if at all. The father of the children was non conformist and I can find all the registered births from his 2nd marriage but not these earlier ones.

Have spent years trying to find these registered births with no luck. Have subscribed to ancestry sites, bought CDs of births, marriages, deaths, purchased certificates, am a member of Sussex history group, have posted requests on here, have been to The National Archives ....     I have looked at all the births for Slaugham covering all the immediate areas that have transcribed records.

I know the 4 people exist, and they give their place of birth as Handcross, (and sometimes Slaugham)  in census records but I just cannot find any birth records for them anywhere. Their mother died c.1814 and there is no death registered for her either.

One of the c.1800 births registered his children's births at Staplefield Provident Chapel c.1833 but the chapel didn't exist c.1800.

If births for c.1800 Handcross have not yet been transcribed is there anywhere I can physically go to view the actual parish records? There must at least be a burial site somewhere for the mother c.1814? Is there a church in the area whose records haven't been transcribed?

Thank you for any help.


 

[hugatree]

IGI batch C071071 seems to have some baptisms 1800-1814, what surname were you looking for?

[lizdb]

Civil Registration began in 1837, so these births will not be registered anywhere.

So you will be hoping for a christennig record.
But the children in question may not have been christened. If they weren't, then there will be no record.

As the family were non- conformist, then a christening in teh C of E (parish) church is unlikely.

The Sussex Record Office may hold records of christenings in local Non conformist churches, but these may not have survived. You would need to contact the Sussex Record Office.
You do not say what non conformist church the family attended. Bear in mind that whilst some non conformist churches do practice infant baptism, many do not. In thoses, peopel choose themselves to be baptised, or not, once they are old enough to make there own decision.  

So it is highly likely that the children you are seeking were not christened/baptised as babies at all, and therefore there will be no record.  But well worth seeking out any non conformist records first (I have recently found some of my ancestors chr in a non conformist church!)

[mandyj51]

Thank you for your reply and advice.

Yes, I too have found non-conformist births (1819-28) from the 2nd marriage not registered until 1837 (Dr. Williams library.) I'm not sure what religion they practised as this isn't recorded anywhere on the documents. The chapel at Staplefield used to record the later births (1833+) is just described as a 'Congregational Providence Chapel'. (Is there a hint there I'm missing?)

It could be that as the mother of the c.1800 births died c.1814 then she wasn't alive to record them in 1837, as the wife from the 2nd marriage did with her children.

I still feel there should be a grave for the mother somewhere. I have checked transcribed burial records for Handcross and surrounding areas but nothing is coming up. Does anybody know of a church in the Handcross area which is right for the burial time c. 1814 - 1818?

[mandyj51]

Hi Hugatree 

The surname is Whiting. I've probably looked at the IGI batch a few times myself but I may have missed something so would appreciate a fresh pair of eyes. Thankyou!

[mandyj51]

I have had a look at the IGI Batch. There are quite a few early and later Whiten's/Whitings but none for the early 1800's. Have they been transcribed for that period?

[Roy G]

Hi Mandy J.  
I have looked up your past correspondence on the family and wondered whether you had actually considered they may have originally been travellers or gipsys with no permanent place of residence?  Handcoss and Slaugham at harvest time and plantings did seem to be a seasonal gathering place for many from that type of background, and I believe your ancestry shows your line also had ties with London areas where there were commons, and the descendents eventually found their way into horticulture of some sort.
Just a thought   Roy G

[hugatree]

Hi Mandy

I've looked at the batch and it does cover a lot of names for that period, just not yours I'm afraid.  If non-conformist then there are a few records available for Rye and Cuckfield, and the family may be have been done in one batch as it were, when they could get to the Chapel. It sounds like they were Congregationalists. Could you share your list of missing names with us please? Oh and the parents/grandparents too please.

[mandyj51]

Hi Roy,

thankyou for your help yet again. That's an interesting thought. I did consider it once briefly but didn't look into it too much so I'll certainly have another look. The family moved from Slaugham to Horley in c.1819 when the mother died and the husband remarried, and the husband's listed in Reigate in the Land Tax records there so not sure if that fits in with the gypsy/traveller theory? The husband died between 1828 - 1937 and the 2nd wife and all the children (1st and 2nd marriage) are then located in London in dwellings from then on. I will have a look on the traveller genealogy website.

Hi hugatree,

the family are