Wednesday, May 29, 2013

The FamilySearch Wiki Is Now Easier To Locate

My, it can be difficult keeping up with all the site changes to FamilySearch.org. The FamilySearc Wiki is one of your most important research tools. It won't find your ancestor, it will help you find the place to locate the ancestor.

Thankfully the Wiki is now easier to find. Just go to http://familysearch.org and click search. The wiki option will be at the top of the search page. See photos below.



I find it very helpful to research the area my ancestors lived. 
It not only leads you to sources, but it helps get to know what they went through. 

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

How Famous Are Your Ancestors?

LDS Church Employees and some missionaries are working on famous historical people. These include Royal Families. They are using the best sources available to do their research. They are cleaning up the mess that has been in New Family Search, and that was forwarded to Family Tree. There will be only one file on these people and it will be published as a read only file. There are some of those in Family Tree now, and you might just run into one of them.

Monday, May 27, 2013

If You Are A Cragun You Might Be A Whitaker

             OK OK, not all Craguns are Whitakers. Only 1 of Patrick Cragun's 11 chidlren married into the Whitaker line. Elisha Cragun 1784-1847 married Mary Osborne, whose mother was a Whitaker. The Whitakers have an interesting history.

             FamilySearch Family Tree is one pedigree for all mankind. A collaborative effort is needed to bring together the correct and documented facts about our ancestors. We build it together. Family Tree currently shows we descendants of Mary Osborne Cragun are also descendants of Alice Beconsawe Lisle. Alice was beheaded at the will of King James the 2nd.
              The documentation of our relationship to Lady Alice is not established in Family Tree. The lineage shows there, and some of the pedigree is verified. If you are a Cragun and want to collaborate on an interesting heritage, join in on the research. In the discussion section and in the sources section of our ancestors I am posting research information. My email is also public there. Anyone can be invited to join FamilySearch Family Tree, and it is free to all.

Lady Lisle

Lady Lisle Headstone
                                         (From The Trial of Alice Lisle by Virginia Salima Moorhead.)
            Few acts did more to turn the public against King James II than the Bloody Assizes of 1685, and no trial in the Bloody Assizes outraged the public as much as the trial of Alice Lisle. Bloody Assizes began with the trial of Alice Lisle for treason.  According to C. G. L. Du Cann, Lisle’s trial created “more opprobrium for the Stuart rule” than any other treason trial.  Jeffreys cruelty toward the respected elderly Mrs. Lisle for what many conceived as an act of kindness on her part in taking in fugitives shocked and outraged those who witnessed the proceedings and those who heard about them afterward.  During the trial, Jeffreys stepped into the place of the prosecution, bullied the only witness who had positive testimony for Mrs. Lisle, and failed to repeat Mrs. Lisle’s defense to the jury in his closing remarks.  Mrs. Lisle, denied the assistance of counsel in the courtroom, had to make her own defense before the terrifying judge.  The resulting deaths of this and the trials that followed during the Bloody Assizes horrified the West Country, and they turned upon the king who would send such a bloodthirsty man to judge them so cruelly.
Alice Lisle’s background made her a suspicious figure for those loyal to the monarchy.  Although from a respectable family, her father Sir White Beckenshaw had connections with noble families, she married John Lisle, a supporter of Cromwell.  He sat as one of the judges in the trial that resulted in the execution of Charles I, making him one of the regicides.  For his services, Cromwell made Lisle a member of his House of Lords, which is why Alice Lisle is often referred to as Lady Alice Lisle, a title not recognized by royalists.  When Cromwell’s government fell, Lisle fled to Switzerland, where he was killed by a couple of Irish Catholics in revenge for the death of Charles I. After the death of her husband, Alice Lisle and her daughters moved into her family’s home, Moyles Court.  At home, she established a sound reputation through her charitable acts.
Her desire to help others led her to provide shelter to two rebel soldiers who had fought for Monmouth at the Battle of Sedgemoor.  Hicks, one of those two rebels, sent Dunne with a message to Mrs. Lisle, requesting shelter for himself and Nelthorpe, the other rebel.  With Mrs. Lisle’s consent, Dunne led Hicks and Nelthorpe to Mrs. Lisle’s house after dark, where all three stayed for the night.  A man named Barter heard about Mrs. Lisle harboring the men and informed Colonel Penruddock of the fact.  In the morning, Colonel Penruddock surrounded Mrs. Lisle’s home.  After Mrs. Lisle’s many denials of the presence of these men, the soldiers searched her home and found Hicks, Nelthorpe and Dunne hiding and arrested them.

The Grandfather of Mary Osborne, William Whitaker Jr.was a highly respected Baptist Minister. He had possession of a now over 400 year old Bible. The Bible was the only possession that was saved when his home burned. I have been given some copies of  photos of that Bible. I invite you all to enjoy the spirit of Family Tree. Two hundred people a day are being added login capacity. The limit is to watch the bandwidth being used, making an effort to not overload the system.
If you are a Cragun you might be a Whtiaker, and if you are a Whitaker you might have an interesting heritage.


William's obituary shows how respected he was.

Sunday, May 26, 2013

A New Collaborative Feature: FamilySearch Wins Ancestry.Com Wins

Check out the photograph below.

What is in the top square is the results for a search on http://familysearch.org/. The search result is a record found on Ancestry.com. The second block down shows how to see the actual document: either by logging into Ancestry.com or by being at a Family History Center.

The more these two sites collaborate the better.

Friday, May 3, 2013

How About a Fun Slideshow About Feathers And Fur. Friday Should Always Be For Fun


Some Good Tips On Organizing Photos in Family Tree

Kathy Anderegg is what I would call a Super User of Family Tree. Recently she posted these tips on organizing photos in Family Tree.

Managing photos can be tricky. Here are some tips.

1. After you have tagged the photo to someone in the tree, then go back and re-label the photo starting with the last name first for easier searching.

2. Also add a birth year, if you have more than one ancestor with the same or similar names.

3. Then in your people section, (be sure to scroll down to see all the individual folders) you can see all the photos for one person in one place, especially if you haven't put a person in more than once!!!

4. The albums can be organized very differently and any way you want. You can have all photos for one family name in one folder, like the Smith Folder. Or you could label one Prominent Pioneers. Or one Men with Beards, (just kidding).

Thursday, May 2, 2013

The Fallout From Being Executed

William And Mary Repealed The Attainder Posted by MaryCriswell The Repeal of Alice Lisle's Attainder.

The problem with attainders was that they legally caused the person concerned to be a non-person, ripe for execution and, effectively, any children to be illegitimate and inherit nothing of their parent's possessions or honours.

So it was always in the descendants interests to have any attainder repealed. In the case of Alice Lisle, this was achieved by her daughters and the principal documents are transcribed below. But in the case of the even greater injustice done on Margaret Poole, Countess of Salisbury, no-one dared make any appeal and the attainder (probably) still stands.

There are two documents, the prayer to Parliament and the resulting Act: The Prayer Veneris, 24 die Maii 1 Williemi et MariaePrayers Lisle Cliam on Lord JeffreyesA petition of Anne Harfeild, Mary Browne amd Mabella Lisle, Daughters of the Lady Lisle, beheaded at Winchester was read;
setting forth. That their mother, 1 Jac. upon the Duke of Monmouth’s Defeat, was seized on by a troop of horse; her House plundered, and Goods and Chattels taken from her, to some Thousands of
Pounds Value; and afterwards she was imprisoned indicted at Winchester, for harbouring one John Hicks, Clerk, as knowing him a Traitor, though at that time not indicted or convicted of any such
Crime; and by Verdict injuriously extorted by the late Lord Jeffryes she was attainted, convicted and executed for High Treason; whereby the Petitioners were left destitute of their Fortune, and
forced to subsist on the Charity of ther relations; all the Real estate being entailed on the son, being Five Hundred Pounds per Annum: And praying the Consideration of the House; and to order
the petitioners what they should think suitable to their Necessities, out of the Lord Jeffreyes’ Estate.

Order 1. That the said Petition do lie on the Table.The ActMarginal Note: Bill of Attainder in House of Lords William R I doe allowe of the bringing in this bill  Primo Gulielmo & Mariae, A.D. 1689
An Act for annulling and making void the attaidner of Alicia Lisle Widdowe Whereas Alicia Lisle widdowe in the month of August in the žrst year of the Reigne of the late king James the Second att a session of Oyer and Terminer and Gaol delivery holden for the county of Southampton at the City of Winchester in the said county By an irregular and undue prosecution was indicted for entertaining
concealing and comforting John Hicks Clerk a false traitor knowing him to be such though the said John Hicks was not att the trial of the said Alicia Lisle attained or convicted of any such crime And
by a verdict injuriously extorted and procured by the menaces and violence, and other illegal practices of George Lord Jeffreyes baron of Wem then Lord Chief Justice of the King’s-bench and
chief commissioner of Oyer and Terminer and gaol delivery within the said within the said county was convicted attainted and executed for High Treason May it therefore please your most
excellent Majestyes at the humble Petition of Triphena Lloyd and Bridget Usher Daughters of the said Alicia Lisle That it be declared and enacted by the Authority of this present Parliament
And be it enacted by the King and Queens most excellent Majestys by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spirituall and Temporall and Comons in this present Parliament
assembled and by the authoirty of the same that the said Conviction Judgement and Attainder of the said Alicia Lisle bee and are hereby repealed reversed made and declared null and void to all intents constructions and purposes whatsoever As if no such conviction Judgement or Attainder had ever been had or made And that no corruption of blood or other penalty or forfeiture of Honours Dignityes lands goods or chattels bee by the said conviction or attainder incurred Any laws usage of custome to the contrary notwithstanding.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

This Interesting Story Is Possible Of A Cragun Grandmother - Way Back.



LADY ALICE BECOMSAWE LISLE



Lady Alice Becomsawe Lisle is one of our most interesting ancestors. Her husband, John Lisle, was assassinated for his role in the execution of England's King Charles l.  Lady Alice herself was beheaded for harboring fugitives.  She was 71 years old.  Moyles Court, the ancestral home of Lady Alice, today  houses a school. Her trial and it's subsequent reversal have been a well documented part of English history.

There has also been some interest in the "haunting" by Lady Alice of Moyles Court. "The sound of her silken dress, and the tapping of her feet, were heard long afterwards in the corridors of Moyles Court, and she was also seen on several occasions riding down Ellingham Lane in a driverless coach. Although Lady Lisle has not been observed in recent years at Moyles Court, the sound of the coach and horses has been heard in recent times, riding up the drive to the house. Lady Lisle also haunts the Eclipse Inn, at Winchester, where she spent the last few days of her life whilst awaiting execution.
"
-Linda-

Moyles Court was the home of Lady Alice Lisle before she married Lord Lisle, and the home to which she returned after the assassination of her husband in Switzerland in 1664. She lived there until her arrest, on a charge of harbouring fugitives from the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685. Formerly much larger than the present building, probably surrounded by a moat, traces of which still exist on two sides, whilst a brook ran near to the house and gave an ample supply of water in case of siege.
 At St. Mary's Church, Ellingham, Lady Alice Lisle buried in the yard.


A brief history of Moyles Court
by Paul Hughes
Alice of Moyles Court fame was born about 1614. Since records of births at Ellingham Parish are only extant from the end of the 17th century, it is difficult to be exact. 
Her marriage to John Lisle in 1630 brought two eminent families of the gentry together. John Lisle (1610-1664) was the son of William Lisle of Wooton.  John was a Colonel in the Army, a prominent parliamentarian, Judiciary and an Assessor to Bradshaw at the trial of Charles I  He was MP for Winchester in 1640 and a member of the bar - the middle temple. He was a rigid puritan and a fervent politician. He was an active supporter of Parliament during the English Civil War (1642-1646) and was later made a Viscount by Oliver Cromwell. He appears to have been a prominent member of the Commonwealth serving on Cromwell's Privy Council. He was a member of the Long Parliament and had some responsibility for the execution of Charles I  although his name does not appear on the list of signatures on Charles' death warrant.

The English Civil War was devastating for the people of England. There was a division of support throughout the country. Those who supported the King, Charles Stuart, were known as Royalists or Cavaliers and those who opposed the King were known as Parliamentarians or Roundheads. This conflict between Crown and Parliament permeated throughout the land, divided regions, North from South, West from East, father from son, mother from daughter, sister from brother. A whole host of communities, relatives, neighbours and friends on good terms before the war were now enemies. The argument usually revolved around loyalty to one's King or to one's God. Politics and Religion became entwined and were for many historians the real cause of the outbreak of the war. I do not wish to discuss this theme any further since there is a wealth of information from this period of history. My intention for mentioning the conflict is simply this; the Lisle household also became a divided one. The father was for Parliament whilst the son was for the King. This put Alicia in the middle of a very awkward situation. She was not interested in or involved in politics. She was a religious woman but not a fanatical Puritan, disliking many rituals at her own church in Ellingham. As for Alicia, her sentiments about the execution of Charles I are made clear by her comment that she 'shed more tears for Charles I than any woman then living did'. Lady Lisle did not share the extreme views of her husband, and was much grieved at the King's death. 
It would appear that Lady Lisle did not grieve too deeply over her husband's death. According to Burnett, quoted in the Salisbury Journal, 'She was not easily reconciled to her husband on account of his association with the regicides.' After her husband's death she lived quietly as a widow at Moyles Court and showed some sympathy with the dissenting ministers in their trials and ordeals during Charles II's reign.
The Presbyterians were disappointed with the Restoration. The Cavalier Parliament preserved the Church of England for which Charles I had died. Moreover, the Clarendon Code persecuted nonconformist ministers, forbidding them from all public office. The Act of Uniformity 1662 authorized a new edition of the prayer book and many Puritan teachers were dismissed from office for refusing to use it. The Conventicle Act was introduced making it a crime to worship anywhere but in a Church of England church. Furthermore, the Five Mile Act stopped nonconformist clergy living within a five mile radius of a town or old parish. The reign of Charles II, far from being merry, was an unhappy time for many sincere Christians like Alicia Lisle.
Charles II was married to Catherine Braganza of Portugal. She did not bear him any children and as a result James, Charles' Catholic brother, was due to succeed him. There was support for Charles' illegitimate son, James, Duke of Monmouth, to become King instead of James. The Duke's mother, Lucy Walter, had been one of Charles' mistresses. After the death of Charles in 1685 and the succession of James to the throne, the Duke of Monmouth, who was in Holland, plotted to overthrow James II.
Alicia Lisle spent the first week of July in London during the Monmouth rebellion, but some days later returned to Moyles Court. 'On 20th July 1685 she received a letter from John Hickes, the dissenting minister, asking her to shelter him.' Hickes had fled the battle of Sedgemoor seeking refuge from the King's Army. Unbeknown to Alicia, he was a Monmouth man!
The two fugitives were found after a search of Moyles Court by Penruddock's soldiers. Hickes was found in the malthouse and Nelthorp in a hole by the chimney in one of the rooms which presumably is the cupboard hole situated in the present staff room at Moyles Court School. Lady Alicia was arrested and conveyed to Winchester for trial before Judge Jeffreys. Hickes and Nelthorp were taken to Glastonbury and after trial were hung, drawn and quartered.
On 27 August 1685, she was tried by special commission before Judge Jeffreys at Winchester, on the capital charge of harbouring Hickes, a traitor. No evidence respecting Hickes' offences was admitted, and in spite of the brutal browbeating by the judge of chief witness, Dunne, no proof was adduced wither that Mrs. Lisle had any ground to suspect Hickes of disloyalty or that she had displayed any sympathy with Monmouth's insurrection. She made a moderate speech in her own defense. The jury declared themselves reluctant to convict her, but Jeffreys overruled their scruples, and she was ultimately found guilty, and on the morning of the next day (28 Aug) was sentenced to be burnt alive the same afternoon. Pressure was, however, applied to the judge, and a respite till 2 Sept. was ordered. Lady Lisle petitioned James II (31 Aug) to grant her a further reprieve of four days, and to order the substitution of beheading for burning. The first request was refused; the latter was granted. Mrs. Lisle was accordingly beheaded in the market-place of Winchester on 2 Sept. and her body was given up to her friends for burial at Ellingham. On the scaffold she gave a paper to the sheriffs denying her guilt and it was printed 1685 with the "Last Words of Colonel Rumbold" and in "The Dying Speeches . . . of Several Persons".

The Last speech of Madam LISLE, beheaded at Winchester, September 1685
Gentlemen, Friends and Neighbours,
It may be expected that I should say something at my Death, my Birth and Education being near this Place ; my Parents instructed me in the Fear of God ; and I now die of the reformed Religion ; always being instructed in that Belief that if Popery should return into this Nation, it would be a great Judgement. I die in Expectation of Pardon of my Sins, and Acceptation with the Father, by the imputed Righteousness of Jesus Christ : He being the End of the Law for Righteousness to every one that believeth. I thank God, thro' Christ Jesus, I depart under the Blood of Sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel ; God having made this Chastisement an Ordinance to my Soul. I did as little expect to come to this Place on this occasion, as any person in this Nation ; therefore let all learn not to be high-minded, but fear. The Lord is a Sovereign, and will take what Way he seeth best to glorify himself by his poor Creatures ; I there for humbly desire to submit to his Will, praying of him, that in Patience I may possess my Soul.
The crime was, my entertaining a Non-conformist Minister, who is since sworn to have been in the Duke of Monmouth's army. I am told, if I had not denied them, it would not have affected me : I have no Excuse but Surprise and Fear ; which I believe my Jury must make use of to excuse their Verdict to the World. I have been told, That the Court ought to be Council for the Prisoner : Instead of Advice, there was Evidence given from thence, which (tho' it was but Hearsay) might possibly affect my Jury. My Defence was such as might be expected from a weak Woman ; but such as it was, I never heard it repeated again to the Jury.
But I forgive all persons that have wrong'd me ; and I desire that God will do so likewise. I forgive Colonel Penruddock, altho' he told me, He could have taken those Men, before they came to my House.
As to what I expected for my Conviction, that I gave it under my Hand that I discours'd with Nelthrop ; that could be no Evidence to the Court or Jury, it being after my Conviction and Sentence.
I acknowledge his Majesty's Favour in revoking my Sentence ; and I pray God he may long reign in Peace, and that the true Religion may flourish under him.
Two things I have omitted to say, which is, That I forgive him that desir'd to be taken from the Grand Jury, and put upon the Petty Jury, that he might be the more nearly concern'd in my Death ; and return humble Thanks to God, and the reverend Clergy, that assisted me in my Imprisonment.
  Sept 85.
ALICIA LISLE

To see a very interesting timetable of the events of the trial of our ancestor, Lady Alice/Alicia Lisle, see this website:

http://www.southfrm.demon.co.uk/Murder/Events.html
Comment