HAMPSHIRE ANCESTORS
Jonathan Scott visits Jane Austen country to find out what’s available for researchers in Hampshire.
The fact that Jane Austen came from Hampshire is a truth universally acknowledged. She was born here on 16 December 1775 and lived at Steventon, where her father was rector, until 1801. On his retirement the family moved to Bath, but following his death they returned and moved into a cottage on her brother’s estate in Chawton.
During her life, Jane had many friends in the area and is known to have visited country residences including Hackwood Park, Hurstbourne Park, The Vyne and Manydown Park, for balls and dances. It was at Manydown Park (near Basingstoke) that Jane received a marriage proposal from Harris Bigg-Wither – she initially accepted, but the next day turned him down. And Hampshire was the setting for much of Jane’s writing – Mansfield Park, Emma and
Persuasion were written during her stay at Chawton.
Jane moved for the last time in May 1817, to College Street, Winchester. She died just under two months later on 18 July, aged 41, and was buried in Winchester Cathedral. Mary Austen, wife of Jane’s brother James, wrote in her diary: “Jane breathed her last ½ after four in the morn; only Cass[andra] and I were with her.”
This diary, along with the Winchester Cathedral register that records her burial, survives at Hampshire Archives and Local Studies. Indeed, archivist Matthew Goodwin says they hold a selection of documents relating to Jane, her family and the Regency period. “Highlights include Jane’s baptism entry in the Steventon parish register (1737-1812) which is available to view as part of this month's bonus content, alongside baptism entries for several of her brothers and her sister, Cassandra. A particularly interesting record can be found in the front of the Steventon marriage register (1755-1812) where Jane filled in a fictitious publication of banns and marriage entries. According to the entries Jane married Henry Frederic Howard Fitzwilliam of London, Edmund Arthur William Mortimer of Liverpool and Jack Smith. The entries are from c1790, when Jane was a teenager, and reveal her mischievous side.” Turn to page 48 to find out more.
The wider Hampshire collection has been designated by the former Museums, Libraries and Archives Council as being of outstanding national and international importance. The Winchester Pipe Rolls – manorial
MansfieldPark, Emma and Persuasion were all written during her stay at Chawton
account rolls of the bishops of Winchester, dating from 1208/9 – were awarded a coveted place on the UK Memory of the World Register in 2011. And these rub shoulders with a rare 10th century Anglo-Saxon charter, letters written by Florence Nightingale, and Western Front war diaries that record the Christmas Truce of 1914. There’s also the Winchester Bishopric collection, Winchester Cathedral archives, plus estate records and personal papers of various landed families, including the Jervoise family of Herriard and the Herbert family of Highclere, Earls of Carnarvon. Business records include those of the Automobile Association and Portals of Laverstoke and Overton, papermakers.
Matthew says: “There is a wide range of documents that are useful for family and local historians. Poor Law records, wages books, title
deeds, maps, photographs and other documents help to piece the past together and throw light on the lives of Hampshire ancestors. Collections from local organisations, such as the Hampshire and General Friendly Society and numerous football and cricket clubs, provide insights into the lives of ordinary people, while documents from individuals and families, ranging from scrapbooks to photo albums, add to the level of detail of Hampshire life in the past. Many hundreds of medieval charters contain thousands of names of people from all corners of Hampshire, beginning centuries before the parish registers.”
Archive gems
The archive looks after parish registers for most of Hampshire, plus wills and inventories dating back to the 15th century. “While quite formal in structure, wills are personal in nature and can help to clarify relationships and identify the names of married daughters,” says Matthew. “Inventories of household contents are often organised room by room, detailing personal items, foodstuffs, livestock, tools for specific trades and household goods. They provide a unique insight into the households of ordinary people.” Around 110,000 wills and 35,000 inventories can all be searched via the online catalogue at calm. hants.gov.uk.
One of the largest individual collections held here is the Royal Green Jackets (RGJ) regimental archive. The Royal Green Jackets regiment was formed on 1 January 1966, succeeding The Green Jacket Brigade, which comprised the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (43rd and 52nd), the King’s Royal Rifle Corps (KRRC) and the Rifle Brigade (RB). The archive comprises material from RGJ and predecessor regiments and some allied units, although the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry archive is held at the Soldiers of Oxfordshire regimental museum in Woodstock ( sofo.org.uk).
“The collection comprises about 300 boxes and outsize items dating from the 18th to the 21st centuries, covering most aspects of the regiment’s history.”
Items include photos, official accounts of active service, financial accounts, enlistment registers, orders, reports, correspondence, maps, music, official and personal war diaries, scrapbooks, sketches, memorial service details and personal items. “All reflect the regiment’s service across the world, including most of the well-known campaigns including, of course, the two world wars. All ranks are represented, too, although officers tend to feature more than ordinary riflemen,” says Matthew. And fortunately for researchers, the subjects of many of the photos in the collection are named in the catalogue.
Tithe maps
Hampshire’s tithe maps and awards are another heavily used source. These date from c1840, and a map and award exist for most Hampshire parishes.
“The maps can be very large, and have now all been digitised, largely as a result of external funding including donations from groups and individuals,” says Matthew. And the vision of the Digitithe Hampshire project is to make the maps available online alongside contemporary and historic maps, with information from the awards, to enable easy identification of landowners and occupiers. A team of volunteers is transcribing names and places, while others are working to overlay tithe maps on modern maps.
“The difference in scale and orientation between historic and modern mapping can make identification of sites and direct comparison more difficult, so this alignment is an important step towards online access.”
Although we have focused primarily on the holdings in Winchester, remember too that there are important collections housed in Portsmouth and Southampton. And don’t forget that, despite Portsmouth’s naval connections, the city’s archives do not hold any naval records – these are held by The National Archives at Kew.
There’s also the Isle of Wight Record Office in Newport, which has material dating back to the 12th century. It looks after parish registers for the island, census returns, local government archives, school material, prints and photos. The website also has several useful indexes and databases such as an index to Alehouse Licences and Cowes Registry of Shipping ( iwight.com/recordofficedatabases).
Wills are personal in nature and can help to clarify relationships