Rev. Thomas Whateley's Notebook

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Cookham, Berkshire, England
Surnames/tags: Whateley, Whately, Cookham, Maidenhead Whateley, Whately

Note - all references to the Notebook are to the actual page of the original notebook, and not to the page in the transcription. This is because the transcription is as yet incomplete, and the page numbers will change.

If anyone has any further pages that they have transcribed, please let me know, and I will add them to the document.

22-07-16 - The Notebook has now been transcribed and uploaded as V2. A title page, table of contents and document history has been added. A further visit to the library is necessary, to check some illegible pages and words, and then update the document.

29-05-16 - the whole of J W Brook's transcription of the Notebook has now been photographed, and work in underway to transcribe it in MS Word.

Contents 1 Introduction 2 The Notebook 3 Cookham Parish 4 Notes on Mr Whately, Vicar of Cookham from 1797 to 1837 5 The Family Pages

Introduction

All the information below is sourced from the transcription of the notebook which is attached to this profile. This will be updated as and when more pages are transcribed.

The Reverend Whateley was appointed vicar of Cookham Parish, Berkshire, in about 1793, and resigned in 1837. He was succeeded in 1837 by the Rev. John Foster Grantham.

During his tenure, he maintained a Notebook of all the families in his parish The details included names of householder, wives, children, year of birth and death of each person, cross references between families etc. It is a fantastic resource for anyone whose ancestors / relatives lived in Cookham parish at the time.

The Notebook

Note: on some pages of the introduction, the pages have been bound in such a way thathe first word of each line is difficult to read.

The Notebook is "A stiff cardboard book 7” by 8 ¼”, and 1 ¾” thick. The pages are quite thick and are faintly lined. About ¾ of the book has been used. This book is in Mr Whately’s (sic) own hand, except a few later entries (after 1837) which were probably entered by Mr Grantham or his curate."

It was been transcribed by Mr J. W. Brooks in 1969, and the transcriber wrote an extensive and informative introduction to the handbook. Mr Brooks' transcription is available from the Maidenhead library, which has an extensive Local History section, and the County Records office in Reading. It is a typewritten book. The original notebook is held at the County Records office in Reading, and is available to view on microfilm.

Another transcriber of the original notebook (Mrs Beryl Padgham of Amersham) has noted that 4 pages are missing - pp 410 /411 and 424/425 - they have been removed from the original book at some point, and not replaced.

Cookham Parish

The Parish of Cookham at the time was larger than today. From Maidenhead Bridge (on the main A4 road across the Thames) it stretched West along the north side of the A4 to Henley Road, which is just to the east of the A404). The boundary then went NW along Henley Road to Pinkney's Green Road (can't find that but it may be partially lost under the A404). From Pinkney's Green Road, it went northwards along the present Winter Hill Road, then along Grubwood Lane, through Quarry Woods to the River. The Rover Thames provided the rest of the boundary back to Maidenhead Bridge. An old (1876) map of the area can be found at Old Maps. Zoom out to get rid of the subscription request. Zoom out further for a modern map of the exact same area. Click on the blue square towards the top on the right to get rid of the blue print area on the map.

So Cookham Parish at that time included Cookham, Cookham Dean, Cookham Rise, Pinkney's Green, Maidenhead north of the London Road (Maidenhead south of the London Road is in Bray Parish), North Town, and other hamlets.

Notes on Mr Whately, Vicar of Cookham from 1797 to 1837

Following on from the notes about the Parish, is a section on Mr Whately (sic) himself. He was a very interesting man and the section is worth reading. He seems to have been quite harsh - going as far as chasing men from the alehouses with a whip. Nevertheless, he was well loved by his parishioners, who presented him with a generous service of silver plate when he retired.

The Family Pages

Each family in the Parish has it's own page, and the pages are numbered sequentially. As noted above, pp 410 /411 and 424/425 are missing. Some pages are difficult to interpret.

The pages are laid out with the family members listed one under the other, starting with the husband, then the wife, followed by the children. Alongside each name is a B (for birth) and a year, if known. If the person had died, then there is a D followed by a date, and sometimes the place of death. Sometimes there is no birth year, and sometimes there is just a year which must be the death year, from it's position. If the person originated from outside the parish, this is noted.

Eg:

on P254 "Leaver James B 1745 came to Stubbings Farm 1766 from Moulsford Oxon"

on P246 "Holderness Thomas B 1769 D in the Union 1843"

The marriage year, or actual date, was noted. If there was more than 1 wife, then they were both noted, with marriage dates. Sometimes there is a snippet of information about the person.

Eg on P254 (The ancestor of this page's owner):

Leaver James B 1745 came to Stubbings Farm 1766 from Moulsford Oxon

1st Fry Elizabeth B1745 sister to W & R Fry’s grandfather

2nd Hedges Mary B 1761

marr at Cookham 1769 and 1786

and on P94, some scandal

Tuck James B 1790

Gibbons Ann B 1787 a bastard dau of Lydia Gibbons by Freeman L. Gibbons maiden name was Smith sister of Smith James late butcher of Cookham, and Gibbons Ann was widow of Griffin Wm whose father D in the Workhouse

The children are listed below the parents, and frequently there is not only the name and birth year of the child, but there may be some additional information, such as the surname of a spouse, occupation, "D" if dead, current place of residence, cross reference to that family's own page.

eg on P254

Thomas B 1782 marr Is a blockmaker at Rotherhythe 4 children

Robert B 1789 A Blacksmith at Maidenhead Marr Willis & had 6 ch (P289)

Sarah B 1790 Marr Green * and has 6 children, P 243

The * in the last entry notes that there is an error, as Sarah (Leaver) married John Gray, not Green In V2 of the document I have amended my notes to be numbered footnotes on the page. and removed the * notes.

Below the children there are other entries the were of interest to Rev Whateley, as the person in charge of poor relief. For instance, it may be noted if any application was made for relief, with the date and the amount granted. Also often noted is who the head of the household rents his land from, and the rent paid.

eg P242:

Application to the Select Vestry

1822 Aug 2 ill, ordered 20/- Aug 16 20/- Aug 30 12/-

Sep 13 12/- 27 Sept 10/- Oct 11 5/- Oct 25 5/-

1830 Jun 25 ill, ordered 10/- July 23 ill ordered 6/-

Beerhouse from Mr Langstons

Rents of Mr Fisher £15 Gone

On many of the pages, there is a line which looks like Ly P, followed by one, or two, years. I have no idea what this means.

Finally, on the page, sometimes at the top, sometimes at the foot, there is the word "Dissenter" or a D. It's thought that the D means Dissenter, in this case. There was a thriving non-conformist church (the Independent Church) in Back Lane (now West St) in Maidenhead. There are also several people or pages marked as Ranters, which was an obscure religious sect, and which may have been the Primitive Methodists.