| Notes |
- LDS 7604312/36 LDS film 1040653
George BURCHMORE of this Parish and Susannah REDDING of the Parish of Ridbourne married in this Church by Licence the 29th day of October in the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty four by me Thomas Scott (Curate). The marriage was solemnised by us George BURCHMORE and Susannah REDDING in the presence of Rebeka REDDING and Sarah BURCHMORE.
Gravestone inscriptions of St Leonard's Flamstead
George BURCHMORE of Row End died 1 August 1845 aged 80 years (born circa 1765)
Research by Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies (HALS) 13 October 1998 Burchmore Family in Flamstead, Hertfordshire
Records searched
.@Allen Index to Hertfordshire marriages before 1837 .@Index to catalogued collections under the index heading Birch/Burchmore .@Documents relating to Burchmores in Flamstead from this index - reference 65493 (dated 1803-1885), 73665-6 (1842), 72273 (1698), 80932 (1598), 29123 (1724), D/ELs, B978 (1843) .@Parish registers as follows: @Flamstead Baptisms (& transcripts) from 1580-1800 (D/P38/1/1 & 2) and burials 1580-1790 (D/p38/1/1 & 2) @Great Gaddesden, transcripts from 1558 @Redbourn, transcripts .@Maps of farms and lands round Flamstead, ref D/EMd 39/1 (1823), 17712 (late C17th) .@Tithe map (1840) and award for Flamstead, ref DSA4/38/2 & 38/1 .@1st edition Ordnance Survey maps 6" to 1 mile, showing Flamstead parish sheets XXVII & XXVI
Summary Results
No definite proof that Burchmore family can be traced back in Flamstead. There are two reasons for this. 1@The parish of Flamstead is situated in the north west of Hertfordshire, with four Bedfordshire parishes abutting (Luton, Caddington, Studham and Houghton Regis). Within Hertfordshire the surrounding parishes are Great Gaddesden, Hemel Hempstead, Redbourn and Harpenden.
The various branches of the Burchmore family can be pinpointed in most of these parishes, certainly back to the C16th, but documents providing a continuity of succession were not found in HALS archives. 2@Although the Burchmores seem to have had an interest in Flamstead through many generations there is no evidence that Thomas, father of long lived George, was born in the parish and it seems likely that his origins may lie in Bedfordshire county.
Working from Flamstead sources and documents only, it is clear that in the early C19th 2 men called George Burchmore were owners and occupiers of property in the parish of Flamstead. One was the son of Thomas and Sarah (probably Sarah Andrew; this marriage took place in Great Gaddesden in 1758) and the other, son of William (not necessarily William ref 757 in database, although at the time of William's death in 1841 the two daughters still living - Charlotte Ann and Mary Ann - bear the same names as Charlotte ref 760 and Mary Ann ref 763). He was not baptised in Flamstead although if he was William's ref 677 son it appears that all his brothers and sisters were. The explanation for this could be that he was baptised in his mothers home parish, apparently not in Hertford. . shire as no William-Hannah marriages were found before 1825. It was quite common for a woman to go "home to mother" for the birth of her first child, especially if she moved away from her home parish on marriage. Caddington, Kenswor
Whether the Burchmore family did indeed occupy the same farm in Flamstead for 300 years cannot be proved from the documents available to HALS. It is clear that the family name goes back at least to the late C16th in Flamstead, as parish and land records show. However, as methods of land tenure have changed significantly over the centuries it is probably fair to say that the Burchmores did not own Row/Roe End farm, even in 1838 when the tithe map was drawn. It is possible to infer from parish burial register that some Burchmores were in fact quite poor: in 1787 and 1788 two Burchmore burials (Thomas 10 January 1787 and Susannah 18 January 1788) are marked "p" for pauper burials. As such, no headstone would be erected.
Evidence from the Marriage Index
The Allen marriage index (which is taken from all surviving sources and is considered both comprehensive and reliable for marriages with Hertfordshire) showed that the earliest Burchmore marriages took place in Hemel Hempstead (8 marriages 1559/1597). Burchmore marriages in Flamstead were as follows (an asterisk denotes that baptisms of Burchmore children were found in Flamstead); 1591@Thomas to Frances Whitleye 1606@Joan to Richard Turner 1607@Elizabeth to Edmund Neel 1608@William to Katherine Neel* 1613@Frances (widow) to Alexander Goodall 1627@Richard to Joan Halsey 1634@Elizabeth to Nicholas Crumm 1736@William to Mary Cooper* 1734@Elizabeth to Edward Jason 1742@John to Elizabeth Peace* 1758@John to Elizabeth Jennings 1767@William to Elizabeth Cogdell 1771@William to Alice Dean 1777@Mary to Thomas Forknall 1779@Martha to Phillip Grimsell 1784@George to Susannah Reading of Redbourn* 1808@Sarah (20, daughter of George) to Michael Rowed of Mitcham 1815@George to Anne Norton 1820@Sarah (25) to Thomas H
Evidence from the Flamstead baptism registers
These show many baptisms of Burchmore children whose parents probably married outside Flamstead, or beyond Hertfordshire. It may be worth contacting Bedfordshire County Record Office (County Hall, Cauldwell Street, Bedford MK42 9AP) to see if these Burchmores can be traced. An asterisk denotes that the parents' marriages were not in the Allen index and it is presumed to have taken place outside Hertfordshire.
1579/80@2 March@Thomas, son of William and Rose 1581@28 May@Jone, daughter of William and Rose 1582@20 May@Jone (the above Jone presumably died soon after birth) 1582@20 April@William, son of William and Rose 1601@28 December@Richard, son of Thomas and Susan 1618@31 May@Grace, daughter of Thomas (no mothers name)* 1626@4 June@Sarah, daughter of Thomas (no mothers name) 1626/7@14 January@Elizabeth, daughter of William (no mothers name) 1630/31@1 January@William, son of William 1632/3@6 January@John, son of William 1635@10 July@Susannah, daughter of William and Katherine 1638@24 October@Walter, son of Richard and Susan 1639/40@10 January@Grace, daughter of Richard and Susan 1672/3@16 February@John, son of John and Hannah 1674/5@28 February@Mary, daughter of John and Hannah 1677@30 September@William, son of John 1730@6 December@Robert, son of Robert and Elizabeth 1737@(born) 21 May@Mary, daughter of William and Mary 1743@(born) 12 July@John, son of John and Elizabeth (living at Trowly Bottom) 1744/5@(bor
George Burchmore (who died aged 80 in 1843) was probably the son of Thomas and Sarah. The evidence points to this couple, Thomas Burchmore and Sarah Andrew, marrying in Great Gaddesden on 2 July 1758 after banns. The Great Gaddesden, Flamstead and Redbourn baptism registers and transcriptions did not show any likely entry for this Thomas Burchmore and it may be that he originated from Bedfordshire, although the IGI shows the baptism of a Thomas Burchmore to Timothy and Sarah in Hemel Hempstead on 23 April 1738. This would be possible, given that Hemel Hempstead does adjoin the parish of Flamstead, but there is no other supporting evidence, and no marriage index entry for Timothy and Sarah Burchmore.
Evidence of original documents
Flamstead tithe map and its award (or schedule) indicated lands owned or occupied in the parish of Flamstead in 1837/8.
At Trowly Bottom, George Burchmore was shown as the occupier of 3 cottages and a beer house, occupied by tenants. George Burchmore junior was the owner occupier of one plot in the same hamlet.
Elsewhere in the parish, land was owned by Thomas Burchmore [Thomas Burchmore 777] on the Houghton Regis boundary, (a meadow) in Row End, and (some cottages) in Markyate.
George Burchmore [George Burchmore 723] occupied some fields owned by the trustees of Dunstable Charity School and 95 acres in Feveralls (also seen as Cheverells) as well as land owned by Sir John Saunders Sebright. Testamentary documents show that George Burchmore died intestate in August 1843. The letter of administration for his estate (D/ELs B878 date 13 October 1843) describes him as a widower of Roe End and gives power of administration to Sarah Rowed (wife of Michael) ":the natural and lawful daughter and only child of George Burchmore".
A will of 1839, (ref 73665-6) proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury on 30 June 1841, is for William Burchmore who was buried in Flamstead 30 April 1841 "aged 76 years". He leaves land in Redbourn to daughters Charlotte Ann and Mary Ann, and most of his estate, including a blacksmiths shop, 4 freehold messuages, farmhouse. "all my freehold houses … situate in Redbourn" to his son George. Tenements at Trowly Bottom and a field in Flamstead called Dellmore "which was purchased by me from Michael Rowed" are also left to George.
A burial of George Burchmore aged 52 on 7 February 1838 is probably the elder George Burchmores son (baptised 24 January 1786), particularly as a document dated 1841 (ref 42363) refers to the admission of George Burchmore to a cottage at Trowlely Bottom "on the death of his father William Burchmore".
It appears that Burchmores from the surrounding parishes had interests, or held land, in Flamstead for many years. The following are documents for parish of Flamstead: Date@Ref@Summary 1846@42365@Admission of John Groome to cottage at Trowley Bottom on surrender of George Burchmore 1845@42364@Agreement between George Burchmore of Redbourn, yeoman, and John Groome of King's Langley, brewer, for the purchase by Groome of three cottages at Trowley Bottom 1841@42363@Admission of George Burchmore to a cottage at Trowley Bottom on the death of William Burchmore his father 1818@42359/60@Admission of John Parratt (heir to John Parrat late of Trowly Hill, farmer) to a cottage: surrender by John Parrat and admission of William Burchmore of Flamstead Bury 1805@42355@Memo of surrender by John Parrat of cottage at Trowly Bottom to the use of William Burchmore, yeoman 1803/1885@65493@Copies of court roll, surrenders and admissions, various names including Burchmore. Markyate 1750@14644@Agreement between Frederick
Further research
It may be possible to find Thomas Burchmores baptism in Bedfordshire parish, but the evidence of a baptism would not constitute proof of the line of descent. The documents show clearly that some Burchmores were in Bedfordshire, holding land and interests in Flamstead, while other Burchmores were from the west and south as Aldenham in the C16th and C17ths.
The frequent occurrence of the same Christian names is also an obstacle to the researcher as it can often serve to obscure the relationships. There is further Hertfordshire information: I have concentrated particularly on Flamstead and its immediate environs in this enquiry but there is a similar weight of Burchmore land documents in St Albans and Redbourn, and the index of wills from the archdeaconry of St Albans indicates more testamentary papers from the St Albans, Redbourn parishes.
The HALS members interests show a Mr F(rank) E Williams of 2 Meadow Close, St Albans, Hets AL4 9TG as having researched the Birchmore/Burchmore name.
Research undertaken for HALS by Bonnie West October 1998.
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1762 - 1843 (81 years)
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