Parish Register Curiosities

[Bob Spiers]

I came across these 'Parish Register Curiosities' in a Genealogical magazine. I thought some worthy of airing in the Forum.

In a West Ham Register: April 16 1690 Peter Paine and his wife, and son Peter, and the parson and his maid, was blown up all in one day'.
Refers to an accident at the Templar Mills a major supplier of Gunpowder. Peter Paine (a Huguenot refugee from Dieppe) and the proprietor at the time, was blow up by the explosion of a substantial quantity of gunpowder which resulted in the deaths of the people recorded in the register.The explosion destroyed two of the gunpowder mills and three stone houses.

Alrewas, 1793; Mr James Gildart, Butcher, Aged 52 years. He weighted 26 stone and 5lb when living. I like the 'when living' bit and I thought obesity was a modern day problem! Perhaps his occupation had something to do with it?

Skipton; 6 June 1795, Died 4th, Chapman Freeman Comedian...Convulsions! If Comedian was not his surname, then clearly an occupational disease.

Atcham, Shropshire, 18th June; James Renish, accidentally and unfortunately killed by wadding discharged from a swivel from a barge. What on earth does that mean?

and how about...
Staplehurst, Kent, 17 June 1769. There was buried Wyllyum Willes, a housholder(sic), who was by misfortune kylled with the Whyle of his own Weyne. Spelling not their strongpoint - but what's it all about Alfie?..well ok Whyllum.

finally, clear and concise:

Skipton 17th February 1653; Roger Wardham who was found dead in the Horsecoppic having received a wound in his bodie by falling upon his own pikestaffe. Difficult to visualise considering the length of a pikestaff varied between 3 and 7 metres in length, but obviously he fell on the sharp end!

That's all folks, but if anyone can explain the 'Whyle of his own Weyne' and 'wadding discharged from a swivel from a barge' then please do tell.

 

[Alexander Bisset]

unfortunately killed by wadding discharged from a swivel from a barge. What on earth does that mean?

To fire a gun you would put in gunpowder, then wadding then shot and then sometimes more wadding (wadding is like cotton wool used to keep the powder and/or shot in place). The mix was packed down after each insertion of wadding an accidental discharge could have shot out the wadding and killed the man. Not sure what a swivel or a barge is but it is probably linked to the things used to pack down the wadding.

Actually these are good examples of why we should completely and utterly ignore spelling in old records. Everything was written phonetically and it wasn't until the later 1800s that spelling started to be standardised. At Who Do You Think You Are Live at one of the talks the guy indicated his ancestor John Hemming from London was difficult to find in Essex. The point was that his east London ancestor had never known an H in his life and when he said to the enumerator in his cockney east London accent that his name was 'Emming that's how the enumerator recorded it.

By this means we can easily work out that Whyle of his own Weyne probably means Wheel of his own Wagon.

 

[SuzanneD]

By this means we can easily work out that Whyle of his own Weyne probably means Wheel of his own Wagon.

Or possibly Wheel of his own Wain, a wain being a particular type of farm cart/wagon (as in Constable's painting of the Hay Wain).

 

[Alexander Bisset]

Yes exactly what I had in mind.

 

[Bob Spiers]

To fire a gun you would put in gunpowder, then wadding then shot and then sometimes more wadding (wadding is like cotton wool used to keep the powder and/or shot in place). The mix was packed down after each insertion of wadding an accidental discharge could have shot out the wadding and killed the man. Not sure what a swivel or a barge is but it is probably linked to the things used to pack down the wadding.

By this means we can easily work out that Whyle of his own Weyne probably means Wheel of his own Wagon.

Or possibly Wheel of his own Wain, a wain being a particular type of farm cart/wagon (as in Constable's painting of the Hay Wain).

I think you have explained the 'wadding' Alexander, and with Suzanne's final polish have wrapped up the Wheel of his own Wain. I think we can forgo on the Swivel and barge, unless anyone else wants to venture an explanation.

 

[peter]

I think we can forgo on the Swivel and barge

The River Severn runs around the village of Atcham, so it's possible that the barge referred to was some sort of boat (even if not the same as the barges we would recognise today).

I found this definition of a swivel on a nautical site: "A swivel is a connection that allows the connected object to rotate horizontally and/or vertically. A common design for a swivel is a cylindrical rod that can turn freely within a support structure. The rod is usually prevented from slipping out by a nut, washer or thickening of the rod. The device can be attached to the ends of the rod or the center."

 

[Bob Spiers]

The River Severn runs around the village of Atcham, so it's possible that the barge referred to was some sort of boat (even if not the same as the barges we would recognise today).

I found this definition of a swivel on a nautical site: "A swivel is a connection that allows the connected object to rotate horizontally and/or vertically. A common design for a swivel is a cylindrical rod that can turn freely within a support structure. The rod is usually prevented from slipping out by a nut, washer or thickening of the rod. The device can be attached to the ends of the rod or the center."

I tend to lean towards the barge reference relating to a river craft and noticed another 'swivel item' which I did not originally list: 29 Jan 1801 Rowley Regis, Staffs: 'A youth, apparantly (sic) about 12 years of age, who was killed by the swivel bridge over the canal at the Brades'. I think we can relate to a swivel bridge, so it is just a matter of trying to fathom (good word that for a nautical reference) how 'wadding can be discharged from a swivel from a barge'.

I wonder if this (truncated) reference from the story of the Privateer of Baltimore throws any light on the matter ".....Dismount the swivel guns and bring them over here...I grabbed the bag which we kept filled with rags for wadding...the canons (fired) as both swivel discharged their deadly spray (nails & shot) from either side. Mind you it is hard to see how a war situation relates to a barge on the river Severn.