Parish Registers

[janwhin]

At the minute I am ploughing through bishops transcripts for Morpeth, oh I wish I was at Woodhorn

One thing has struck me, highlighted by the period from 1798 to 1812 when the registers were recording detailed info on each event at the behest of the Bishop of Durham, Shute Barrington. In towns like Morpeth, and to a lesser extent Alnwick, people came from far and wide to set up in their trade. And I'm talking about places like Devon, not just counties nearby. It gives the lie to the belief that our ancestors were sedentary.

In addition there are lots of births associated with a militia, like that of Lincoln, being stationed in Morpeth. (Some even legitimate!). Looking at the dates, this must have had something to do with fears of a French invasion? Alnwick has quite a lot of these too. This must mean that Northumbrian militia units were stationed elsewhere in the country. So, if you're missing any ancestors you might need to look a bit more to foreign parts