Furslands.......

Oh this family just gets more and more interesting......now I have 1st cousins marrying each other!  Thomas Furzland, b 1778, a Mariner marries his 1st cousin Agness Fursland b 1784.  Thier parents were siblings Philip and William, sons of Philip Fursland and Agnes Toms.

And as I further research this family, the story takes a sad turn.  Thomas and Agnes had six children between 1815 and 1825 in Ugborough and Modbury, Devon.   Times must have been hard, as all the children are apprenticed out when they reach the age of 9 or 10.  They are apprenticed out by the Parish, since they are "poor children", and the terms of their indenture are to the age of 21 or until married.  I found some of them in 1841 and 1851 living with their Masters.  For those I haven't found, at least I have a Masters name that I can search under.

And even though the siblings are all working throughout their teenage years, they seem to stay close, as 4 of them end up in St Helier, in Jersey by 1851.

The oldest daughter Elizabeth "Betty" marries in Jersey in 1842. She and her husband have 8 children in Jersey, Hampshire, and Cornwall. 

Daughters, Sarah and Maria also marry and settle n Jersey.  Brothers Thomas and William are both in Jersey in 1851, with William marrying and living back in England by 1861. Thomas seems to disappear.  The other daughter Prudence marries in London to an Army soldier, and disappears.

It seems to show the strength of a family, that despite their poor circumstances and being apprenticed out at young ages, they kept in touch and ended up living close to each other - despite it being so far away from their home village.

The family also goes on to use lots of the same family names used over and over (Philip, Agnes, Prudence, etc). What a tangled web, no wonder I've always had difficulty sorting them out! 

Concubine????

Ah, my new favorite family has now upped their game -- with an ancestor listed as a Concubine!!!

This is in St Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands - 1871 Census. 

Prudence Brint is a daughter of Elizabeth "Betty" Fursland and Stephen Brint.  If you're following my blog, then you'll know that the Fursland family is from Devon, and three Sisters and a brother ended up in Jersey.  Betty married Stephen in 1842, and their daughter Prudence ends up living with a man 14 years her senior in 1871.  He is listed as unmarried, and she is listed as Concubine. They have 2 children already, and go on to marry in 1872, and have 6 more children.

I wonder whether the Census Enumerator knew that they weren't married, and listed her this way?  They must have been openly living together with their children.  And when they marry, he is not listed as a widower -- so that doesn't account for it.

A mystery I will probably never solve.....

When your family moves to Jersey (Channel Islands)!!!

What?

My Fursland family suddenly ups and moves from South Devon to Jersey in the Channel Islands? Imagine my surprise when 2 sisters move to Jersey and marry, and a brother follows.  Why?  They were servants, but maybe there was a military connection?

And, this all happens in the mid 1800's......clearly I need to brush up on my history and figure out why they would leave Devon and go to Jersey!

The Fursland/Furzland family of Ugborough, Devon has always been a bit of a conundrum. I knew they must connect somehow to my Mary Fursland who married in Harford, Devon -- turns out they were cousins (her Father's siblings were from Ugborough area). 

At first I assumed Channel Islands information could be found with all the other English records -- Civil Registration, Parish Records, etc.  Hmmmmm.....turns out the Channel Islands are independent, but a Crown Protectorate.  So they keep their own records. Some folks were Church of England, but of course my family had to be difficult non-conformists and were Wesleyan Methodists! 

So a quick crash course in researching in the Channel Islands ensued.  Firstly I found an excellent website "Jersey Heritage", which you can search/browse, but need to be a member to see the actual documents/photos.  I have subscribed, but am awaiting my user info to access anything.  There are amazing records from the WW2 Occupation, with identity cards full of genealogical information and a identity photo. 

The birth, marriage, and death records are excellent, if you're a Church of England member - and available on Ancestry.  If you're Wesleyan Methodist, nothing has been digitized! And there is NO CIVIL REGISTRATION!  Ugh!  And the census is available on Ancestry, but hard to find as it doesn't seem to come up under England/UK and you have to manually search for Channel Islands Census.

Here's a marriage record for one of my ancestors:

Some obscure records have been helpful, including a listing of burial records from Funeral Homes was found on https://www.theislandwiki.org/index.php/Burial_records  This is also available on the Jersey Heritage site.  But the index alone on the island wiki site gave me names and dates of burials that I could match up with my ancestors (even maiden names!).

Still a work in progress, but it's fascinating to research in a whole new place, with different records!

More to follow on my Furslands!