I’ve hit a brick wall in my 18th-century research. Can you help me to break it?
QI have traced my ‘Mead’ family back to Elias Mead born in 1713 in Shackerstone, Leicestershire. I think his parents are William Mead(es) born on 23 July 1668 in Narborough, Leicestershire, and Susanna Floyer born in 1676 in Hints, Staffordshire. It is easy to trace the family back from William with the help of an inscription in the Parish Church of All Saints’ Narborough, Leicestershire, and they are a welldocumented family both before and after Elias. The problem is I cannot find any online documents to join Elias, William and Susanna.
Where do I go from here?
Joy Davies, by email
AFamilySearch includes the marriage of William Mead and Susanna Floyer on 30 April 1699 at Hints, Staffordshire. Transcripts of the registers of Narborough, Leicestershire, are available online. These include the baptism of several children of William and Susanna: Ann (16 Dec 1702), William (1703), Charnell (1704), Susanna (1706) and Christopher (1708/09). These transcripts also include the burials of William, in 1714; but no burial of a Susanna. The transcriber has noted that ‘The Register was difficult to transcribe, parts of which were illegible.’ It may therefore be worth rechecking the original registers for a baptism entry for Elias. Nichol’s The History and Antiquities of the County of Leicester: Vol. 4, Part 2, includes a pedigree of Mead of Narborough, but only shows one child of William and Susannah, also William.
William apparently did not leave a will but there is a grant of administration in 1736 in the Archdeaconry Court of Leicester.
But what about his parents, Charnell and Elizabeth, did either leave a will possibly mentioning grandchildren? The same goes for Susanna’s parents, Matthew and Anne Floyer.
The parish registers of Shackerstone are not available online. I note from another unsourced reference on Ancestry, that Elias Mead was said to have been born in Packington, Leicestershire, in 1710. You can buy CDs of the registers of both parishes from the Parish Chest ( parishchest.
com). FamilySearch has microfilms of the Bishop’s Transcripts of Narborough, Shackerstone and Packington, that you can order and view at your Local LDS FamilySearch Centre. Alternatively, registers of 287 Leicester parishes are transcribed at www.leicester shire.webs.com which will make a search for a fee.
Paul Blake