pre 1500 certificate

+7 votes
191 views
Not sure if this is in the correct category but I am really struggling in trying to gain the pre 1500 certificate as I am not finding the information I need and it is now getting a bit frustrating for me

I know I need to fill in what I can find and there are no family members that are interesting in doing a family tree and I have found that the information I have seen you have to pay for which unfortunately is subscription which I am unble to do at present

I have added up to William Chapman 1502 and his parents were Sir Thomas Chapman and Lady Edith Chapman(nee Kipping)
in WikiTree Help by Steph Meredith G2G6 Mach 8 (87.4k points)

Stephanie, the registers of the Abbey at Bath were transcribed in the 19th Century.

A quick look at them shows there were an awful lot of Chapmans  so it could take a long while to sort them out; and some may defy attempts at separating them. They don't go back as far as your earliest Chapman (parish registers don't usually go back that far) but might help with some of the slightly later ones .

https://archive.org/details/registersofabbey27abbe

https://archive.org/stream/registersabbeyc00jewegoog#page/n13/mode/2up/search/Chapman

 

Do check the  Chapman burial on 29 April 1584,  which is the date you have for

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Chapman-11504 it was a Julyan, who I found  was probably the wife of a Richard Chapman https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Chapman-11961  

Who in turn appears to be the brother of Peter and son of Thomas

http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/chapman-richard-1504-80

For this period a subscription may not in fact help much, unless the person left a will.  Some of these may be on Ancestry; they have all the wills proven at Canterbury. (and a few proved elsewhere).However there are  printed transcriptions of Medieval Somerset Wills available. I found them linked from this page https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Somerset_Probate_Records

Searching these should help you a great deal in your search for sources 

Try  also looking at The visitations of the County searching for histories of the towns, municipal records. Journals issued by local history and antiquarian societies.(these secondary sources may lead you to primary ones like church memorial brasses or wills or records of land transactions.They may include some more detail about the people you are researching; . Check the National Archives Catalogue, the local archives catalogues. If people died holding land then there an inquisition post mortem may have been held. There are abstracts of some of these online http://www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/sources/ipm.shtml

(basically search anywhere and everywhere but try to verify secondary sources with primary ones or at least transcriptions of primary records)

Thank you Helen and yes I was wondering about chapman-11504 I shall certainly check him again
The index for the registers of the Abbey of Bath are in Vol. 2.  The Chapmans are here https://archive.org/stream/registersofabbey28abbe#page/500/mode/2up

As Helen indicated there are many of them, and it will take awhile to try to sort them out.  Vol. 2 starts with p. 327 so anything before that must be in Vol. 1.

2 Answers

+10 votes
 
Best answer

Hi Stephanie, 

It's great that you are working on obtaining that certification. I can understand your frustration with records. A paid subscription, however, isn't necessary for that certification. You can pick any pre-1700 profile to work on, that will showcase your skill in research and WikiTree styles. Many records are available for free via FamilySearch, town sites, and books online. 

Robin has a post here about the requirements. She is an excellent mentor for pre-1500 research. 

by Mindy Silva G2G Astronaut (1.1m points)
selected by Steph Meredith
Thank you Stephanie for Best Answer. Best of luck to you on your research and certification!

Thank you Mindy I am currently working through my Chapmans one by one 

This is what they say I have already

I have posted loads on g2g and I have added to wikitree projects 

and I have been trying for ages to get this one :)

I see that you are involved in several projects - that will help. It looks like you have most of the requirements met. Now, I would pick a profile or two for your virtual portfolio, so to speak. Source them well, write a bio, use inline citations.
+5 votes
If you are struggling with subscriptions then maybe you can find some of the information you need by using subscription sites at your local library or family history society.
by Lynda Crackett G2G6 Pilot (671k points)
Sorry for possibly acting a bit daft but do they cost as I am not a member of any library which I might have to join local library.
I have no idea where you are, but it does not cost anything to join a library in England. Some of them have library licenses for subscription sites which can then be used for free. County archives is another alternative.
Thank you Lynda and Mindy for your help

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