I am trying to find information upon a Susan, or Susannah, Beauchamp born about 1813, and married to Elijah Button in 1834 in Kilmersdon, Somerset. I have checked the parish records but can find no indication of a christening, although other Beauchamps are listed. I understand that there are other families with Huguenot connections in the area and was wondering about a possible connection here. There also seems to be a connection with the Forest of Dean. Any information gratefully received, as hit a brick wall. Please feel free to email.

References to the English aid lists for Huguenots post 1685 indicate two persons with the surname BEAUCHAMP, but there is little information on their descendants. It seems unlikely that this Louis or Pierre would be relevant to your research. Given the numerous examples of this surname, it is obvious that there must be other sources and from what I’ve seen, these may include Norman possibilities.

Breaking a brick wall requires a re-examination of the data at a greater level of detail. What documents and what sources have you used to substantiate the research you have done so far? Who are these other Beauchamps you refer to in the registers? Do you have other listings for 1800-1820? Do they fit into families and what is their history? Is there family history to be found in the documentation? Kilmersdon appears to have good documentary sources, if that is the correct location. And if it is not, then unfortunately one is often hard pressed to find indications of the actual place of residence.

The presence of the surname BEACHIM in the few extracted listings for Kilmersdon brings up the topic of spelling variations. What have you found in this area? Sound is often a more reliable indicator. Sometimes spelling is all over the place.

Regards,
KA

Hi KA

Thank you for the help. I have only been researching for about one year, off and on, and have had to start with no experience and very little information.

I have managed to trace my great grandfather William Pepworth who married Susan Annie Button on the 31 Aug 1901. I have a copy of the marriage certificate. Her father is recorded as Frederick Button. I have traced back via the census records of 1881, to a Frederick Button born in Kilmersdon around 1856. This would be the weak link and I need to get extra source information to confirm that this is the correct Frederick Button, although I can find no alternatives and census records are consistent. I have ordered the birth certificate in the hope this will help. His father and mother are recorded as Elijah and Susan, Kilmersdon Somerset. I then undertook a search of the Kilmersdon parish files available on the web and was able to find their marriage date (25.12.1834). Susan’s maiden name is recorded as Beauchamp. Again I searched the parish records for a baptism, and was able to find Elijah Button and trace his family further back, but found nothing on Susan (possibly Suzannah). Census records place her birth year as 1813 in Kilmersdon. The Kilmersdon records include:
1826 - John Beauchamp, son of Zebedee and Harriet (also LDS marriage record 1826)
1836 - Richard Beauchamp, son of Isaac and Ann
1837 - Alfred Beauchamp, son of Isaac and Ann
There are also Beacham records for this period, including a Zebedee but as I can trace separate birth and marriage entries I do not think this is the same person.

It is possible that Zebedee and Isaac are siblings of Susan, but I am unable to find details of their parentage, despite some info being available on the LDS. I have also searched the LDS for Susan (or Suzannah) beauchamp and variants of spelling and can only find a pedigree record completed by another ancestry member who also could not trace this particular lady back. I think you are right in that it is highly unlikely that they are huguenots, more is a pity.

Is there anything else I can try?

Thank you
JAP

What have you done in researching census information? Do you have a good source of census data? Ancestry has only partial listings, but approximately 60 listings for BEAUCHAMP in Somerset 1841 are enough to warrant further investigations.
http://www.ancestry.com/search

Additional census details will help establish family groups and familial locations, if not in Kilmersdon itself, then somewhere nearby. Such locations may be significant. The census lists an Isaac BEAUCHAMP <1786> but I found no corresponding person in the LDS listings. This is no surprise as it is known that only a small portion of the LDS films have been transcribed into internet listings. Much of the data for Kilmersdon itself is apparently not transcribed. Susan’s marriage and that of Isaac and Anne Miles also in 1834, although they are IGIs, are also contributed information. And while they are quite probably accurate, they do not provide the documentary source that one finds with the extracted listings. Because the IGIs were previously open to contributed data, it is important to check the source information. It has only been recently, though perhaps before the start of your investigations, that the IGIs were closed and contributed data now goes to the pedigree files.

Your data beginning with John in 1826 is still a bit outside the time frame for Susan <1813> or perhaps Zebedee BEACHAM <1810>. What is the reason that you have nothing in Kilmersdon before 1826? Ideally in this so-called information age, one would take the most likely prospects from the census listings and cross match them with information from the corresponding parish registers. In reality it is more of a matter of finding what steps are necessary to gain access to these data sources. Have you tried the Somerset Record Office in Taunton?

Regards,
KA

Hi KA

The main research has been on the Beauchamp name through the census records available through ancestry and the Kilmersdon parish records available on line. I had not realised the limitations of these sources and need to go back and examine the other Beauchamps in Somerset. I am sorry for my ignorance here but the earliest census which I seem to be able to access through ancestry is 1841. As Susan was married in 1837 I would not be able to locate her home in early life through this route. Did each parish undertake its own census before this date? I have checked the parish baptism and marriage records for her family, with no luck. The census records do not appear to be with these records. (URL http://kilmersdon-radstock.org.uk/kilsom/mar-c/id54.htm). However as you point out there may well be a different spelling, so I need to go back and exam the possible combinations, Beacham does seem highly probable

I think that I definitely need to visit the Taunton record office, is there any advice you can give to maximise the effectiveness of the time spent there? Thank you again for your advice.
JAP

To start where you left off – perhaps one of the things to do is to familiarize yourself with the available data and as you said: re-examine the Beauchamps of Somerset. The 1841 census listings are the earliest, so you won’t find Susan before he marriage. However there is a small group of BEAUCHAMP listings for those that were born before 1800. Unfortunately, my limited access to the database does not show all the necessary information on locations that would allow these listings to be sorted into family groups or indicate places of birth. If Susan is born in Kilmersdon and married there in 1834, it is still more likely that her family is there seven years later. However if she doesn’t connect to one of the local families, then finding her as an immigrant is generally a more difficult proposition. So the question is a matter of which family lines can be established from the 1841 and 1851 census listings and what are their locations and their origins. Then do what you can to either verify or eliminate the more interesting of these possibilities.

While some apparently are willing to equate genealogical investigation and surname research, it seems to me that when you have to do it yourself, good genealogy depends on the discovery of the correct ancestral location and the existence of relevant documentation. It is at this latter stage that you can best use your knowledge of spelling variations. Can’t go after every BEACHAM. BEACHEM, BEACHIM and BEACHUM in the county. BEACHAMP and BOECHAMP also exist there in the 1841 census. We really don’t need another way to spell it, BEAUCHAMP works fine. Although sometimes it helps to try various versions of a name, since each search engine has its peculiarities. But ultimately good genealogy comes down to the discovery of relevant documentation. Thus a look in the LDS library, a place search in the library catalog, can turn up potential references. Under church records, the documentation of Kilmersdon begins very early, but I did not see all of these documents used as references in the IGIs. I can not find IGI references for Francis, Isaac, John, Reuben or Richard BEAUCHAMP, who are listed in the 1841 census. On the other hand, depending on your ease of access to the records office, you might just go straight to the source and see how that works. I am not a Somerset researcher and can not advise you very well with any specifics, but perhaps some of these general comments are useful.

Regards,
KA

Many thanks indeed for taking the time, it is much appreciated. As a novice researcher it can all be a bit daunting, and I just had not realised some of the problems with the source information. The Somerset record office is a reasonable drive away and I will book some time off work and go in over the next 2 weeks. I have never utilised a records office before. I will concentrate on the specific names and see what I can find. If you are interested I will post any significant findings. If I can help with research in the Devon/Somerset/Wiltshire areas, including the scheduled Taunton visit, please let me know.

The strategy of fixing locations seems to make good sense, as I have noticed from my albeit limited research that there was not the significant mobility, both social and geographical, that we can find today (not to say this did not happen though). I also fully agree with the need to obtain documentary evidence.

I hope you don’t mind if I ask a question about research upon another lineage which is really proving very difficult and I just have no idea of how to take this forward. It is regarding my maternal grandmother. I have managed to find out her name, which was difficult enough as my grandfather and her were apparently never married. I just cannot trace her line back at all, drawing a consistent blank on all documentation. Her name was Albertha Victoria Stone, with her partner being Kenneth Llewellyn Clatworthy (born Pontypridd 13.06.1915, died Aug 1993). They had 2 children, my mother, Eleanor Llewellyn and Leonard Kenneth Clatworthy. I was told that she left them due to difficult circumstances when my mum was about 10 (around 1954). However I have now learnt to take most family information with a degree of skepticism. My mother passed away some years ago, and unfortunately my uncle is extremely unwell, so I have no family source of information to utilise. I have tried now for months to find out information so I would be grateful for any help.
Regards
JAP

As far as the records office, I suggest that the operative motivation is to see what they’ve got. Obviously the parish register is excellent for starters. However the imposition of limitations on the spelling of a surname could be problematic, as BOECHAMP and BACHEM in Somerset demonstrate in the 1841 census. Without having any specific locations within the Somerset data, I’m flying half blind here, so we’ll see what the registers have to say. Perhaps you’ll find a number of generations and a new brick wall – or a Norman castle wall.

In some ways all genealogy is similar. It relies on information that comes from memory or, when that fails, from documentation. And when that fails, the trail ends regardless of the date. So in each case one begins with copies or various other interpretations of available data in a particular case. It is also important to know the originating source of the data as far as that is possible. In many cases various genealogical databases do not extract or post data in recent parts of the post-1900 era because of privacy concerns. So in this case, re: A. V. STONE, direct documentation may be the only way. And yet you say that you have continually drawn a blank on all documentation for her. Your investigations may be recent, but it’s hard to see what they lack as to being thorough going. That makes it kind of tough. The standard list of documentary possibilities for most persons is rather short and for her, even shorter. Is there any information on her from the births of her children? Can she be found in a census transcription?

Regards,
KA

Records office is booked in for a visit next Friday, all day. I will let you know the outcome. Now wondering if I should go pre-armed with the odd trebuchet...apparently I am only allowed a pencil, but they say the pen (not allowed!) is mightier than the sword. Really looking forward to doing the research.

I can understand the problems associated with privacy when looking for relatives of the post-1900 era. To be honest I am not too sure how thorough my investigations have been. I have exhausted all the sources I can think of, but this may in no way be comprehensive. Can I ask what census records post 1911 are generally available?

The relationships are a little complicated and I also have to bear in mind the privacy of my 2 living uncles as this is an open forum. My mum had an elder half brother born in 1937 (same father (Kenneth Llewellyn Clatworthy) different mother (Amy Elizabeth, maiden name Rose) - they were married). Eleanor, my mum is actually listed 4 times in the registry of births, under Stone and Clatworthy on both occasions. As she was born in Paddington in 1940, I understand that the records were destroyed during the Blitz and presumably later reconstructed. I decided not to purchase this birth certificate as it became rather confusing as to which GRO reference to give. I have purchased the certificates for her full and half brothers, and it is from this source that I have obtained my maternal grandmothers name A V Stone. I do not know what happened to Amy Elizabeth Clatworthy. If the documentary records cannot be followed for Albertha Victoria then the only hope is to try and track down my other uncle. He was in the merchant navy for many years, did not really settle well into a sedentary life and last I was aware was roaming the countryside in a very nice caravan and 4by4. Great person but exceedingly difficult to find, but he may well be the key as being a little older he may remember what happened. Hope this make sense, if it does not please say.

regards
JAP

Well you’re certainly on your way with the BEAUCHAMP investigation and we’ll see if it can grow legs. Besides the pencil, do they let you have a scrap of paper? Or do you have to take notes on your shirt cuff? At least they let you in, so that’s something. And if they don’t charge an arm and a leg, then no harm, no foul. You may have to hide your notes in your shoe.

I have no personal connections with modern English research, so any suggestions are just an application of general principles. It doesn’t take into account, as your question suggests, that census data subsequent to 1911 has not been released. I don’t know if that means that 1921 is totally unavailable or not. As they say, the devil is in the details. Knowledge of an ancestral location will show you what documentation is or is not available at that location. The next part of the process involves jumping through the hoops in order to gain access to the documentation – when that is possible. While following the specifics of your investigations, you become your own expert.

Regards,
KA

Yes will be raiding across the county line! They do have very funny ways in Somerset (and thats coming from a non resident Bristolian!) Apparently I can take photos (daily licence £2), but a little uncertain as to how you do this with a microfiche, which will be the principle source of information storage examined. May yet go for the old notes in shoe option. Currently trying to pin down research areas with a little more precision. Please let me know if I can help with any research. I will send over the Beauchamp research findings via the ancestry email system if this is ok.

Don’t worry about the more modern research. I may just have to except that I cannot follow this line, although circumstances may prove more fortuitous. I cannot believe how difficult it can be to trace individuals even from the 1800s, and how little most of us actually leave behind in terms of evidence of our existence. May I ask what you are currently researching?
regards
JAP

Really hope that you don’t mind if I ask questions on another lineage which has come to a halt. I have posted elsewhere and had no response, so I am really pleased to have found an experienced researcher willing to help.

I have traced my parental grandfather’s line back to the early part of the 1800. This is backed up by documentary evidence in the shape of birth and marriage certificates. I am trying to find a birth date/christening records/parental information for Frederick Pepworth, who from census records was born about 1829 (Dunsborne, Gloucestershire). He married Elisabeth Taylor in 1852 (born around 1832 Almondsbury, Gloucester). Again I am after a birth date/christening records/parental information. I am awaiting the arrival of this marriage certificate to provide some confirmation of parents, although I have indications that Frederick's father was a Thomas Pepworth, born around 1796 (Dursely Glos), married to Edith. I have information obtained from the 1841/51/61 census records which seem to back this up, but it will not be the first time I have chased a red herring for months only to find it was the wrong person in the first place! I don’t understand the tradition of giving the same names to your children, particularly when one has died. I have nothing beyond the 1796 date or for Elisabeth Taylor’s parentage (well at least one famous name in the family!!) This could also be an interesting line to research, as Pepworth appears to be a relatively uncommon surname and clustered around the Bristol area.

The research is available on a public tree, so please examine this if it is of any help. I have been utilising other member trees, but there is not much research upon my lineages and I have noticed errors which has made me a little cautious. There is currently a problem with the Carpenter line in my tree as the recently received birth certificates were not quite what I was expecting in terms of parentage. I am currently awaiting a marriage certificate to confirm if my work so far is right with a minor error on birth date, or it is completely wrong!! This is a real problem because even when you do diligently trace the records, you still need the originals to make the confirmation.

Thanks again for your help.
Regards
JAP

You certainly are in the active phase of a number of genealogical investigations and you are no novice when you are researching with copies of source documents. The microfiche readers that I’ve worked with were able to make photocopies of the filmed pages.

Our dialogue reminds me that experience without specifics, my position, is generally inferior to specifics without experience, your ‘stated’ position. Already you realize some of the problematic occurrences that are found in genealogical research and you recognize the importance of making your own interpretation of documentary resources. You have seen and hopefully will see in Taunton, that where there are documents there may be progress, but where there are no documents there can be no progress. As you have discovered with AVS, we all reach a point in our ancestral investigations where we are blocked either by a lack of knowledge or by an absence of documentation. In other areas, however, you are still in a data collection phase. I have seen instances where inconsistent data rarely does resolve into two separate individuals. One needs to follow the documentation, learn as much as possible about the sources and see where it leads. One can not make a decision on specifics without being intimately familiar with the details. And that is you – not me. My interests are with the Huguenots and we’ve clearly gone well beyond that. You should repost your GLOS inquiry in the GLOS forum. I am willing to transfer, but I can tell you right now what I know about GLOS and that is nothing. I have nothing to research beyond the standard sources of internet information that you have probably seen already. To further your research you should post your inquiries where you are more likely to get a response by someone who is knowledgeable on the subject. For each of your problematic ancestors, you should create a separate family group sheet and work on filling in all the details that the literature provides as you are trying to go back through the generations. It may also be preferable to selectively limit what you post in the early phases of your investigations. Turns out as years go by, that what you find are too often your own contributions.

You have already exhibited a strong sense of inquiry and I’ll await your news on BEAUCHAMP. Meanwhile we’ll see what turns up on the move to GLOS – etc.

When is it that they will release the 1921 census??&?

Regards,
KA

My apologises if I had not followed protocol on postings, it was never my intention. I have only been researching 6 months, and am definitely a novice. Obtaining original documents seemed to be the only way forward in a couple of cases, then it became a modus operandi. I started with virtually no information and all predecessors deceased, and am used to handling original documents from other areas so it just seemed a natural progression. I think the best option is simply to concentrate on the Beauchamp line, as I need to reign back on the research anyway. I will update on any findings after the visit to the records office. This is my first visit so don’t really know what to expect. I have been doing some general research into the Beauchamp name, and yes it would be great to get to a Norman castle, but I never seem to be that lucky. Thank you for the advice on how to treat problematic ancestors, it may stop my Don Quixote antics. If you could help with the development of these generic skills away from specifics (as well as the Beauchamp line) it would be much appreciated.

I just looked on the web ref the 1921 census and found the following:

"The 1921 census and all later censuses remain in the custody of the Office for National Statistics and not The National Archives. No information will be available from these censuses for 100 years after the date they were conducted." 100 years does seem a long time, well outside of my time frame!

Regards
JAP

Can’t say that I have covered myself in research glory today at the records office! It was a bit of a struggle reading many of the old documents on the microfiche. I trawled diligently all the way through the Kilmersdon parish records on microfiche and found no mention of Susan Beauchamp’s baptism. I did find indications of Beachims, most pertinent listed below. Could these be siblings of Susan?

Isaac Beachim - baptised 07.07.1811 - Thomas and Susan Beachim
Zebedee Beachim - baptised 04.05.1819 - parents as above
James Beachim - baptised 03.05.1823 - parents as above

I have not given up on this line of research. I need to undertake further visits to this record office and will see if there are listings in adjacent parishes. I had planned to do this today, but there was not enough time, Will also try to pop into Kilmersdon church sometime to see if there is any real evidence left on the ground.

I did manage successfully to hopefully confirm the lineage for Elijah, Susan’s husband.

Elijah Button
Father: George Button
Mother: Ann Hambleton
Baptised: 18th Feb 1812 (parish record entry 1189)
Married: Susan Beauchamp 25.12.1834 (parish record entry 352 p118). Unfortunately there is no indication of father, only that Susan was of the Parish.

George Button
Father: Shadrach Button
Mother: Ruth Langly
Baptism: 23 Jan 1773
Married: Ann Hambleton 15.08.1811 (parish record entry 338 p85 ). Possible indication of Ann’s father as George Hambleton.

Shadrach Button
Father: James Button
Mother: Betty West
Baptism: 6 May 1744 (parish record p 62 column 1 - difficult to read)
Married: Ruth Langly of Holcombe Parish. Third banns of marriage 10.06.1764 (parish record entry 169 p34)

Ruth Langly
Father: Cona Brian Langly (name is very difficult to read - first names are a best guess)
Mother: Hestor
Baptised: 12 August 1737 (Holcombe parish entry for 1737 - no page numbers or individual entries - could have been written on a scrap of paper!!!!)

If you could run a check on any of these individuals for other information it would be appreciated. The Kilmersdon records appear to go back to about 1650, but I was unable to pursue further due to time limitations. Holcombe parish is pretty much exhausted


On another issue, I have definitely made a mistake on another line. This research was undertaken some time ago and I have only now started to really check the documentary evidence. I have created a second tree for this line, but at some stage I will need to merge this tree back into the main, replacing the errors in that tree. Can I do this? If not I should really work on amending the main tree. I find it hard to believe that my own research is coming up in the ancestry search engine. Is it possible to mark the information as incorrect on the main tree to prevent other researchers using this in error? (not that there are many looking at these trees).

This line may be of interest as I have traced back to South Hams parishes in Devon, although most of this earlier research has yet to be verified by actual documentation (information stems primarily from the census records). I understand, although this may be incorrect, that there are huguenot families in Charleton.

Abraham Quick
born first quarter 1855 Frogmore Devon
Father: William Quick
Mother: Mary
Married: Annie Bray
Occupation: Stoker at brewery

Annie Bray:
born around 1855, Cumpton, Devon (not too sure if this exists)
Very little information bar census - which indicates a Bristol residency

William Quick
Born: 09.11.1810 - Charleton, Devon (parish record)
Married: Mary (unknown surname)
occupation: maltster
residence: Charleton (census information)

Could explain the love of real ales!!! Thank you for taking the time to consider the information.

Regards
JAP

Off on a fresh start. But first, I did reply to your last message, and I see you've also posted the same information here.

Had an unusual errand this morning that took me by the library, so popped in for a few minutes to check on the residence locations for Beauchamp in the Somerset census listings. Several possibilities, but 1841's bigest target is Frome Selwood, which in 1851 is just Frome. Lots of BEACHAMP listings there.

LDS library lists the source for the Frome parish registers as a book by Edward Dwelly rather than citing the registers themselves. So what's with the registers themselves? Where are they?

I am curious about Isaac <1786 Rodden> and Sarah <1789 Yeovil> Beauchamp of Frome. They are old enough to be parents of Susan <1815>. Susan has a son named Isaac - oldest in 1851 census. But there is also a small number of other [Beauchamp] persons at Frome Selwood born before 1795. Looks to potentially tie in with Beauchamp from Rodden as in Ancestry family trees, but still rather sketchy as I am finding very little on these persons beyond the census.

Regards,
KA

I am a Beachamp relitive my Great Grand Mother was Minnie Beauchamp Veleibl and I was looking threw the information that I have on this family and I came across this information may be it will help you and my self

Beauchamp family as told by Henry Smith Beauchamp" descendents
They wre of French decent and had immigrated to England. They were on the losing side of a rebellion in France and had to leave their conunty. Possibly they were Huguenots. They had blue or hazel eyes, dark or flaxen hair, and were fiar skinned. The name is pronounced "Beechum" and in French means beautiful feild. Most information on this family came from Henry Smith Adams writings and from research in Quaker records. William was born in the suburbs of London, England in 1745. He ran away from home at the age of 12 leaving behind his parens and one sister. He stowed away on a sailing vessel and arrived on the Easter shore of Maryland in 1764. Here he married probably around 1775, Sarah Elizabeth Smith, a tall red haired woman. Possibly she is the daughter of Henry Smith of Worcester Co., Maryland (since their oldest child was named Henry Smith Beauchamp). I do have more information if any one is related to this family I need help filling in the holes.
I know that William Beauchamp b 1745 England m Sarah Elizabeth Smith d. 1830 Dublin Wayne Co., IN william died 1830 Dublin Wayne IN they are both buried at Quaker Cem. Wayn Co., IN I know that williams father is Nehemiah Beauchamp and his mother was Sarah Moor/Moore I need more information on Nehemiah I am not sure if he is French or English I would have to say from the story that he would be french but I may be wrong. Any help would be great

At this point I believe your BEAUCHAMP is another example of families with the same surname, but without any close genetic relationships. Unless you have specific ties to the area around Frome and Kilmersdon in Somerset, England, then you should probably not consider this to be a related family line. The BEAUCHAMP surname is widely dispersed in England and in English history with both Huguenot and Norman French families. In addition the Somerset investigation is producing an array of spelling variations from BUCHAMP to BECHEM / BEACHIM etc. Both phonetic variation and surname confusion are at work here and it’s not always clear which one is in charge.

If the family you are researching is Quaker in Indiana from 1830 and earlier, that should help to identify them. They will undoubtedly be part of a Quaker community. Unfortunately US Census listings before 1850 are head of household only with varying versions of family demographics, starting in 1790. Have you had any luck there? You might also find Quaker immigrants in the ship lists I looked for listings under Nehemiah BEAUCHAMP, but didn’t find anything. Also there is apparently no reasonable variation of this surname yet to be found in the American list of Huguenot ancestors.
http://www.huguenot.netnation.com/general

But if they were Quakers, they wouldn’t have been Huguenots, would they?

Look for the origins of William, his wife and family, and his father; try to follow the Quaker trail.

Regards,
KA

I have this information but I am not sure.
On March 1778 William Beauchamp and Elizabeth Moor Beauchamp sold land to Lemuel Davis of Caroline Co., MD. This land left to him by his father, which had been obtained from Risdom Mor. William and Elizabeth were members of the Nicholit Church in Dorchester Co., M. The family moved to South Carolina C1787 and settled near Gum Swamp on the Great Pee Dee River. William bought 591 acres of land there from Thomas Wetherly 27 Feb 1790. This land joined the North Carolina line on the North Side. It was divided and sold at different times from 11 Jan 1794 to 1810. The Nicholite Church was very much like the Quaker Church and most of the members joined the Quaker Church in North and South Carolina.

William Beauchamp b. 1745 Somerset England

That is all the information that I do have. I am new to doing research my great grand mother and I started and she passed away 2 months ago and so I am going into this kind of blind. I am doing every thing that I can but any help would be great. My g-grandmother was 108 and she had memories of the family but she is a Goodrich and her Family was from England and we have a ton of missing parts in this history as well. So I started with the Beauchamp and working my way to the next family

Thank you,
Jessica
coorslightangle@aol.com

Hi Jessica

It can be very difficult indeed to locate a single individual, as I am finding. I have joined a number of local research groups and they have many of the earlier parish files available to search. They are also an invaluable source of research material. KA's advice has helped tremendously. I would suggest that you join the Somersetfamilyhistory group on yahoo available on this link:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/somersetfamilyhistory/

Once accepted, post a notice to detail your research interests and help request. From this central group you may wish to join other groups (procedurally the same) to access directly their records. So far I have searched 4 of the 40 Somerset hundreds, so I will recheck my records. Please bear in mind KA's comments on surname spelling variants. If you can pinpoint a parish entry I am happy to check this for you at the Somerset records office at Taunton (I presume you are US based?) and send over a photocopy of the fiche copy (if I can work out how to do this!)

Regards
JAP

JAP
Thank you so much for your help. I am in the states I live in Texas. It is really hard to find information. I have looked and looked but Amarillo does not have a group of individuals that join together any more to do research so it has left me high and dry. I do thank you for the help

Jessica

The 1830 and 1820 Census listings for Wayne Co., IN, have listings for William (Wm.) Beauchamp and several of his sons, Levi, Mathew, and Ross/Russ; also Charles in 1820 only.
http://www.ancestry.com/search

Check out access to Ancestry and HeritageQuest databases at you local library

There are a variety of listings to be found in the LDS IGIs. William’s wife is apparently listed as both Sarah and as Elizabeth. However as you can see from the various contributions, there is a certain lack of unanimity as to where specific events took place, plus a general absence of documentary source references. I finally did find Nehemiah, but only as a father of William, not listed on his own.
http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp

There definitely was a large Quaker community in early Maryland.
http://www.bym-rsf.org/quakers/history.shtml
And there are some early mentions of the Beauchamp surname. I recommend that you continue your research in the various forums that are dedicated to Quakers and to the relevant counties in Indiana and Maryland and look for other researchers with the same areas of interest. We here at the Huguenot forum only know about Huguenots (Walloons, Waldensians, that sort of thing).

Regards,
KA

Hi Jessica

I will definitely be researching the Beauchamps in the Somerset area for a while, and will keep my eyes open. Can I ask what was your source of information for William's parentage, birth year and place? You have both Somerset and London. Definitely join the Somerset groups, there are members from all around the world. I would also follow KA's advice. I have worked with some of the early parish records and it was a little of a shock, there was clearly not the concern regarding identity as there is today (well least for us common folks anyway!).

Still very much on L plates regarding this research, but very happy to assist.

Julie

I have the following information which may not be usefull in my search.
William's Father has 160 acres of land on the edge of London that fell to a cousin because of his absence. It was said to have been worth millions.

and thank you for the Quaker research link. The computer said that we have an LDS center he is Amarillo Texas on coulter street but it is not there the only thing there is a Heart Hospital. The public Libary only has listings of things that went on in Texas. I am not sure where to go now.
The reason that I posted on this chat board is because it said that there was a Huguenot link to William and his parents. I am sorry if I have made any one mad I just thought that there would be a connection here

Thank you,
Jessica

No one is upset about anything, but it is unfortunate that your library doesn’t subscribe to either of the internet data services - Ancestry or HQ. You might be able to access them elsewhere at some later time. But there is no question of the BEAUCHAMP presence in Indiana. Wayne Co. marriages show four listings in the early 1800s. [Do you have them already?]

There’s surely no need to go visit the LDS, unless you had something specific in mind. With contributed listings there is basically no depth. Pretty much everything relevant they have to say is right there on the net. You would mainly go there if you wanted to view their microfilms of various documentary sources. They do have an extensive library and some information has been scanned.
http://www.lib.byu.edu
The problem here with LDS online is what the search interface will and WON’T do. That’s just how it works. You can use parents’ names to search for children [Mother needs at least a first name.] and find some data from other researchers that is apparently relevant to this family, but I didn’t see any documentary references to follow up on.

The same general rule applies, specifically in regards to the ONLINE transcriptions in the LDS database and to the availability of Huguenot and other genealogical data online. That is that information is still quite spotty with many sources not currently available. LDS has closed its IGI contributions and does not add to its extracted listings. The flowering of internet genealogy that occurred a few years ago has generally dried up a bit since then as far as the introduction of new data sources and service providers. While general researchers, such as Google Books, occasionally do bring good things to light, much archival information (parish registers etc.) that was difficult to access previously remains just as difficult to access now. Specifically in the case of English Huguenot research there is much information that is not available online and no changes are expected. So while the surname BEAUCHAMP does exist in the London aid lists,
http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~frpayments/I...
it is simply not possible that a few Huguenot immigrants were the surname source for all the Beauchamps in England. Just look at the number of extracted listings (LDS) for William BEAUCHAMP in England 1740 ± 20. Beyond that, all I can say is that there is no mention of the persons you are researching in the limited references for English Huguenots that I have been able to find.

http://www.huguenotsociety.org.uk/history.html

Alternatively, the book by Hepen on patriots of the American revolution from Maryland has a good number of BEAUCHAMP references. It's available to read through Google Books.

Sometimes one needs to check on the validity of current information by locating its sources and references. Genealogy is a compilation of other people's lives, it has no guarantees. - - That sounds so good, I hate to spoil it, but documentary evidence can be really close.

Regards,
KA