Retreats

[Tim]

You're right Peter, when I went from this screen to the one I copied, I didn't realise the changes it had made.

 

[CarolB08]

Goodness me you have all been busy on my behalf so thank you all very much. I have been to the Essex Record office today and asked them about The Retreat, they said they had had previous enquiries but had drawn a blank but suggested contacting the Cator Museum in Billericay as they may know something about it.
Rather frustratingly they do not hold any Roman Catholic parish registers but I did look through T/Z 405/2 Notices and pastoral letters of Roman Catholic diocese of Brentwood and whilst most of it was letters relating to the priests and Nuns of the Catholic Church it did explain why my Grandparents married in The Register Office. What the Catholic Church terms "Mixed marriages" are highly frowned on and special dispensation must be obtained from the Vatican for them to go ahead. So I can not blame them for that. I also looked through the Rickling baptisms, Quendon baptisms and Newport Congregational baptisms just in case they used them at some point with absolutely no success. But at least I know where they are not.

 

[CarolB08]

Looking at the smudges on the 1911 schedule I wonder whether the person who filled it in was left-handed?

Interesting thought Peter I shall have to ask my Brother he is the one with the photographic memory he will know.

 

[CarolB08]

Could it be Laindon?

Its a possibility but I am leaning towards Quendon.

 

[CarolB08]

You're right Peter, when I went from this screen to the one I copied, I didn't realise the changes it had made.
View attachment 1306

This is most useful Tim, I can email them and ask about the chance of a search being made in their baptism registers

 

[peter]

they do not hold any Roman Catholic parish registers

Catholic registers are normally held by the diocese, in this case the Brentwood Diocese.

I can email them and ask about the chance of a search being made in their baptism registers

I assume you mean the diocese - it's unlikely that historic registers will still be held at the church, although the Archives page on the diocese doesn't specifically mention registers.

Finally a reminder to others that the registers and wills held by Essex Record Office are all online, and whilst you need to pay to access them it's almost certainly cheaper than visiting in person given the cost of parking in Chelmsford.

 

[CarolB08]

I assume you mean the diocese

I did Peter, and as I do not drive, it just means a day out in Chelmsford for me and not all registers are on line, the Non Conformist ones are not and certain years of the Church of England ones are still only in the original books.

 

[peter]

the Non Conformist ones are not

All the ones that I've needed to look at are online, but I was looking at an earlier period than you.

 

[CarolB08]

Hi Carol, there is a detached house on Oak Road, Billericay, Essex named The Retreat, could she have been living there when she died?

I recently emailed the Technical Officer - Cemeteries and Open Spaces | Brentwood Borough Council as she was buried in Brentwood and she kindly did a search of the burial registers for me and came up with the date of her burial and her address at the time which was 47 The Retreat, Brentwood, so I am thinking it might possibly be the house you mentioned Heather. Its the best I have so far any way.

 

[peter]

The Retreat is a road in Hutton, on the outskirts of Brentwood:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/CM13/The-Retreat.html

It seems to be quite a desirable place to live (judging from the prices of the houses!).

 

[CarolB08]

The Retreat is a road in Hutton, on the outskirts of Brentwood:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/CM13/The-Retreat.html

It seems to be quite a desirable place to live (judging from the prices of the houses!).

That is interesting Peter, my Grandmother died in 1931 I wonder if these houses are the originals or if the area has been redeveloped after the war. My Grandparents certainly could not have afforded to have lived there. I think Google will be getting a visit later.

 

[Pauline]

I have just googled on "The Retreat" Billericay 1931, and several interesting items came up linking this address to the Workhouse Infirmary / St Andrews Hospital. In particular I found the following at archive.org - "Administrative County of Essex Report of the Medical Officer of Health for the year 1931", with this:

 

[CarolB08]

Thank you for this Pauline, that is really interesting indeed. I think I need to update my search techniques as I could not find that.
So now I am wondering why her burial entry stated Brentwood but her death certificate said Billericay. Never rains but it pours

 

[Pauline]

So now I am wondering why her burial entry stated Brentwood but her death certificate said Billericay. Never rains but it pours

It may be that there is no discrepancy as such, but without looking at the burial register it’s hard to be sure. My guess would be that she is noted, in brief, in the register both as having died at The Retreat, and also that she was of Brentwood, and this has now been mistakenly interpreted as The Retreat, Brentwood.

And would the 47 be her age rather than part of the address?

 

[CarolB08]

Actually I think you may well be right Pauline, I have just taken another look at the email and then checked her age at death and she was indeed 47 years old so it all fits in to place when you look at it that way. I think the technical officer was in need of a coffee when she emailed me as she mixed up the two women's addresses I was enquiring about and had originally said there was a headstone on one grave but it turns out it was misentered in the book and there was not.
If I had not known where both women had died I would not have queried it.
Thank you for the second opinion.

 

[peter]

This all goes to demonstrate how sceptical we need to be when researching. Death and burial records (not forgetting memorial inscriptions and obituaries) are particularly suspect - and it's not all down to transcription errors, original records are just as likely to be wrong, even when (literally) carved in stone.

See my next newsletter for an article about the children who, according to FamilySearch, were baptised in Mexico and christened in County Durham.