Table Of ContentEARLY BERMU1
BOSTON
PUBLIC
LIBRARY
EARLY BERMUDA RECORDS
1619-1826
A Guide to the Parish and Clergy Registers
with some Assessment Lists and Petitions
Compiled by A.C. Hollis Hallett
Juniperhill Press, Bermuda
© Juniperhill Press 1991
4, Juniper Hill Drive, Pembroke HM13, Bermuda
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form
or by any means, without permission.
CS2U
Printed in Canada by
University of Toronto Press
ISBN 0-921992-04-1
Contents
Preface vii
Introduction - Scope of this Compilation - Transcription of Names - No name -
Ambiguities of Surname - Baptism of Illegimate Children - Calendar Change - References -
Acknowledgments.
Abbreviations xi
Southampton Register 1619 - c 1700, with some additions to 1761 1
Introduction.. 1, Baptisms..2, Groom Marriages.. 16, Bride Marriages.. 19, Burials..21.
Pembroke Register 1645 - 1720 25
Introduction..25, Baptisms..27, Groom Marriages..34, Bride Marriages..35, Burials..37.
Petition 1645 39
Introduction..39, List of Names..39.
Devonshire Register 1668 - 1706, with a few additions to 1737 41
Introduction..41, Baptisms..42, Groom Marriages..46, Bride Marriages..46, Burials..47, List
of those taking oaths 1676 Mar 12..48.
Petition 1708 49
Introduction.^, List of Names..50.
Assessment 1727 55
Introduction..55, List of Names..56.
Moore Register 1743 - 1776 67
Introduction..67, Baptisms..71, Groom Marriages.. 103, Bride Marriages.. 113, Burials..123.
Holiday & Feveryear Registers 1745- 1761 139
Introduction.. 139, Baptisms..140, Groom Marriages.. 142, Bride Marriages.. 143, Burials..l44.
Richardson Register 1755 - 1802 (Bermuda) 147
Introduction..147, Baptisms.. 150, Groom Marriages.. 161, Bride Marriages.. 170, Burials..179.
Richardson Register 1772 - 1778 (St. Eustatius) 194
Baptisms..194, Groom Marriages.. 196, Bride Marriages.. 197, Burials..198.
continued .
Christ Church, Warwick 1771 - 1830 201
Introduction..201, Baptisms..203, Groom Marriages..215, Bride Marriages..219, Burials..222.
Assessment 1789 231
Introduction.^ 1, List of Names.,233.
Ewing Register 1791 - 1820 247
Introduction..247, Baptisms..251, Groom Marriages..292, Bride Marriages..302, Burials..313.
Keith Register 1793 - 1796 335
Introduction..335, Baptisms..336.
Methodist Petition 30 June 1800 341
Introduction.,341, List of Names..342.
Hoare Registers 1808 - 1852 (Southampton & Sandys), with additions 1802 - 1804 347
Introduction..347, Baptisms..348, Groom Marriages..361, Bride Marriages..365, Burials..370.
St. George’s Registers 1812- 1826 383
Introduction..383, Baptisms..384, Groom Marriages..396, Bride Marriages..400, Burials..403.
Devonshire & Pembroke Registers 1820 - c 1840 419
Introduction..419, Baptisms..421, Groom Marriages..429, Bride Marriages..432, Burials..435.
PREFACE
PREFACE
Introduction
This compilation has been prepared as a Guide to aid location of the genealogical information in
the earliest Parish and Clergy records in Bermuda. Many of the early books present serious difficulties to
the user, because of the different ways they are set up, because of the deterioration of the clarity of the
entries, and because of varied styles of handwriting. Some are but fragments, and difficult to find; parts of
some have been transcribed into other books, and sometimes inaccurately. This Guide will, hopefully, help
the searcher locate the entries of interest in the originals, so that the searcher’s time can be more
productively spent in interpreting those entries.
To this end, every record of Baptism, Marriage, and Burial, in each of the register books, has been
transcribed, and entered into a computer. The resulting collection of records from each register book was
then separated into the categories of Baptism, Marriage, and Burial, and each category was sorted to produce
a list of the records in the category, in alphabetical order by Surname, with entries of the same Surname
ordered chronologically. In the case of Marriages, two lists are given; in one, the alphabetical order is by
the Surname of the Groom (called Groom Marriages), and the other is alphabetised by the Surname of the
Bride (called Bride Marriages), using the same marriage records as under the Groom’s name. In a similar
fashion, the Burials are separated by Male and Female Burials, but in the same list.
The lists are kept within the confines of the register book (or books, where two small, related
ones, have been combined) from which the records were drawn. Each forms its own section, and has been
given an Introduction which attempts to give a biographical sketch of the book’s writer (where appropriate),
and a bibliographical analysis of the book itself. In the case of the Moore and Ewing Registers, the
Introduction deals with the different versions of the record, to identify the primary version, and the relation
of the other versions to it. The Introduction deals also with the particular problems of transcription,
indexing, or other peculiarities, which that book presents. For some books, special abbreviations have had
to be used, and they are explained in the Introduction to that book’s section.
Scope of this Compilation
The number of Parish Registers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, which have survived
to the present day, is woefully small. Yet, from 1622, each Parish had its own identity, and, in 1623, was
authorised to build its own church. The Bermuda Company demanded annual returns of the number of
Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials from each Parish, but the frequency with which the Company sent
instructions to the Governor to admonish the Clergy to keep Registers, suggests that the Company did not
receive the annual returns. Only three Parish Registers survive from the seventeenth century;
Southampton, from 1619 (a copy made in 1723), Pembroke, from 1645, and Devonshire from 1668. For
the other six Parishes, no Parish Registers have survived. St. George’s certainly had one, because the Rev.
Andrew Auchinlech, the Rector of St. George’s, introduced it as evidence in a case before the Assizes in
1720; it has since vanished.
vn
PREFACE
References
The information given in the Introductions to the different sections has not been given a specific
reference to the source of that information. To do so, was felt to encumber the text too much. The
information is condensed from a History of the Church in Bermuda from 1612 to 1826, which the present
compiler hopes to publish later in 1991; for further details, the interested reader can consult that work.
Acknowledgments
The compiler wishes to record his grateful thanks for the support, encouragement, and help given
him in preparing this compilation, by his wife, Mrs. C. F. E. Hollis Hallett, and by Mr. John T. Adams,
the Bermuda Government Archivist, and his staff.
Permission to include information from original documents has been given as follows:
By the Bermuda Archives: For: Moore Register, 1743-1776; Richardson Register, 1755-1802;
Assessment 1789.
By the Public Record Office, London: For: Petition 1708; Assessment 1727; Methodist Petition 1800.
It is a particular pleasure to acknowledge the permission granted to use original Registers of ten
churches which, today, with their Rectors or Minister, continue the legacy left by the early Registers
compiled here.
St. Peter’s, St. George’s, Rev. Ronald F. Seal, Rector: For: St. George’s Registers 1812-
1826.
Holy Trinity, Hamilton Parish, Rev. Alan E. Tilson, Rector: For: Holiday Register 1745-1749.
St. Mark’s, Smith’s, Rev. Robert Thacker, Rector: For: Feveryear Register 1758-1761.
Christ Church, Devonshire, Rev. Canon Thomas N. Nisbett, Rector: For: Devonshire Registers 1668-
1706,1820-cl840.
St. John’s, Pembroke, Rev. A. Ewen Ratteray, Rector: For: Pembroke Registers 1645-
1720, 1820-cl840, Ewing Register.
St. Paul’s, Paget, Rev. John H. Diehl III, Rector: Regretfully, no Register in this
period has survived.
Christ (Presbyterian), Warwick, The Kirk Session: For: Christ Church Warwick
Register 1771-1830, Minutes of
Kirk Session.
St. Mary’s, Warwick, Ven. Archdeacon Thomas Dyson, Rector: For: Keith Register 1793-1796.
St. Anne’s, Southampton, Rev. Stuart Lambert, Rector: For: Southampton Register 1619-
cl700, Hoare Register (Sn) 1802-
1852.
|
St. James, Sandys, Rev. Canon Arnold T. Hollis, Rector: For: Hoare Register (Sy) 1808-
1852.
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