John Cooke ( Cook), Thomas Alfred b1889 (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Friday, November 03, 2023, 02:41 (378 days ago) @ billcs777

Haha - I was just about to ask about Cheltenham - I see from Slowhands' post early in the thread, and the census etc results I've found tonight, your Thomas was def a Whitecroft lad.

Ah well, I've learnt a little more about Cheltenham tonite, which is fine.

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By the way, something I found very confusing when I started researching the local history, was how many of the local BMD events were said to have occurred in Monmouth / Monmouthshire, rather than the Gloucestershire which I expected. The reason being that long before the Forest became industrialised and so filled with immigrant workers, bar a few folk maintaining the woods or working a few small mines etc, the western half of the Forest was governed by the ancient town of Monmouth which is just on the western edge of the Forest district. And Monmouth is in Wales, not England (altho the county of Monmouthshire seems to have been adopted as part of England by some Victorian mapmakers etc, perhaps as it was so wealthy in minerals which the English were keen to take away....).
Hence looking at some records we might think our ancestors were born in Wales, or Monmouth, when in truth this is just a nod toward the District that the event was registered, and not necessarily the place they were lived. Thats why the Parish Records are so very useful when accuratley placing our ancestors, especially if researching the wetsern side of the Dean around modern-day Coleford etc.

Similarly, the eastern side of the Forest was governed by the town of Westbury on Severn aka WoS, which was a busy port on the mighty Severn for centuries before the Forest was developed, in times when most transport followed the rivers such as the Wye and Severn. Hence you'll see FreeBMD records suggesting folk were born "in" WoS, when in fact it may have been any village or town inside the Forest area. And sadly some websites including Ancestry still make the mistake of confusing WoS with another Westbury many miles away in Wiltshire !!

Furthermore and as you've found, it's also a stone's thro from the bordering counties of Herefordshire, and even small remote separated parts of Worcestershire until they were sensibly adopted by Glos etc.

Regarding the FreeBMD site, if the event was in Gloucestershire, and we don't have a Parish Record, then a little more info can be found from the GLosBMD website, which is also free to use. In your Thos' case, the birth record is

Birth Details

Child Surname Child Forename Mother's Former Name Year District Office Register Entry
COOK Thomas Alfred HAMPTON 1889 Forest of Dean Monmouth, Coleford 46 234

So as well as also finding the maiden name, which FreeBMD cannot do before 1911, we now know the actual place where the Birth was registered, so a clue to where it actually took place, is the Coleford office in the Monmouth District.
This site also gives Registry Office marriages - unlike the church PRs sites.

From this site, which I hope is available abroad ?.
http://ww3.gloucestershire.gov.uk/bmd/MainMenu.aspx

Hoping this helps

All good fun !