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The idea behind this series is to show how I word through complex challenges on the FamilySearch.org Family Tree. You can jump in anytime, but you might want to go back and review the previous posts to see where I am with this post. I will try not to repeat too much but some repetition is part of the process of trying to solve the situations that are recorded in the Family Tree and how things change as I analyze the situations and make additions, changes and do additional research. I am writing this series as I actually do the evaluation and research. I do not know how this research will turn out.
Presently, I am looking at the following supposedly related individuals:
Richard Boorman (C. 1747, d. 1748) LC9Z-SZR Christened in Headcorn, Kent, England 17 January 1747-48
Richard Boorman (C. 1749 no death date) LH1K-8CN Christened in Headcorn, Kent, England10 September 1749
Richard Boorman (C. 1707, d. 1771) LH1G-W2D Christened in Kent, England 7 September 1707
Richard Boorman (C. 1668, d. 1743) L7GK-6QM Christened 22 November 1668 in Goudhurst, Kent, England
Richard Boorman (C. 1641, d. none) KGCN-SGN Christened 26 April 1635 in Goudhurst, Kent, England
Richard Boorman (C. 1599, d. 1653) LH1G-4HC Christened 13 January 1599 in Cranbrook, Kent, England.
Richard Boorman (b. Estimated 1569, d. Deceased) L65S-RHK No christening date, supposedly born in Cranbrook, Kent, England.
Richard Boorman (b. 1609, d. Deceased) 9XBQ-B53 Christened 7 May 1609 in Cranbrook, Kent, England.
All of these individuals appear either as fathers or sons on the line beginning with Richard Boorman LC9Z-SZR who dies as an infant. However, Richard Boorman LH1K-8CN has the same name in the same family. This is not unusual. Often, when a child died in infancy, the name was recycled for a subsequently born child of the same sex. This could happen several times if the children all died. Practices such as this make for interesting research opportunities.
Here is my direct line starting with Richard Boorman LH1K-8CN:
As I am doing research, from time to time, I check on my relationship to make sure I haven't jumped off into an unrelated line. By the way, all of the Richard Boormans listed above are children of these men.
Question: Am I related to all 8 of these men named Richard Boorman? Right now, my opinion is that it highly unlikely that I am related to all of them. The line also goes back two more generations to John Boorman (b. 1515, d. 1571) L6PX-146 Will dated 26 March 1569 in Hawkhurst, Kent, England. It looks like to me, as I write this, that the line supported by actual records showing father/child relationships ends quite a bit earlier.
Now that I have an idea about the line as it exists in the Family Tree, I can now make some observations.
Going back in time, the only way to properly do the research in this case, I see four different locations:
- Headcorn, Kent, England
- Kent, England
- Goudhurst, Kent, England
- Cranbrook, Kent, England
Remember, we are talking about individuals all of whom were born before 1750. The beginning of the Industrial Revolution in England is considered to occur in about 1830 with the first railroads. Before that time, travel was confined to the speed of walking, riding a horse, or traveling in a wagon. People were usually married and died within six miles of where they were born. For a discussion about early travel times, see "HISTORY OF TRANSPORT AND TRAVEL" for an example.
So I need to know where these towns are located in relation to each other? Here is a screenshot of a Google Map of the three towns. The reference to being born in County Kent, I will discuss shortly. The tree towns are each more than six miles from each other.
Just from the standpoint of the recorded locations of the events, it is unlikely that these people are correctly related. So where does the ancestral line break down?
Richard Boorman LH1K-8CN is shown as the son of Richard Boorman LH1G-W2D. Here is that family.
You can see the two children named Richard. The father, Richard Boorman LH1G-W2D, is my direct line ancestor. Now, the question is whether or not there is some record source showing a father/child relationship? This is the question that is asked for each child in each family as you work back through the generations. The fact that they both lived in the same place does not in and of itself create that relationship. Time for more research. This time adding in record hints from Ancestry.com.
Here is a key record from
Frank Watt Tyler. The Tyler Collection. Canterbury, Kent, England: The Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies. The Tyler Collection,The Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies, Canterbury, Kent, England.
Here is the entire Boorman family in Headcorn with the dates of the key events and even giving the wife's maiden name. Now the task is to see what information is contained in this record and how it applies to the information that is already in the Family Tree. I guess I need to remind you that this series is being written as the research is being done. Anything I find is new to me.
Stay tuned for the next installment.
Here are the previous posts in this series:
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