TINGAY, Thomas Burgess in Wereham

With Thomas B. TINGEY found in Wereham on the Census of 1881, I now wanted to be sure that I really had the right one. Always work back in genealogy was the mantra that I had been given. Always check against whatever is available in document form that you have the right person.

My next step was locating Thomas B. TINGEY's birth certificate, with the hope that the Burgess name would appear on it. And it did. Everything matched up with the Thomas B. on the census - with the name of his father written here as TINGAY:

BIRTH CERTIFICATE:
FC 165956 CERTIFIED COPY OF AN ENTRY Pursuant to the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953
Registration District Downham1880
Birth in the Sub-district of Fincham in the County of Norfolk No. 363
When and where born: Twelfth November 1879 Wereham
Name, if any: Thomas Burgess
Sex: Boy
Name and surname of father: James TINGAY
Name, surname and maiden surname of mother: Mary Ann Tingay formerly Goddard
Occupation of father: Shoemaker
Signature, description, and residence of informant: Mary Ann Tingay, Mother Wereham
When registered: Tenth January 1880 Signature of Registrar: H F Steele Registrar

I felt that I had reached up and pulled down a branch of the tree and now I also had the names of his mother and father.

Into Norfolk, town of Wereham

So, in Norfolk, I now had some information taken from the 1881 British Census. And here (though the spelling was different than what I expected) was my father's father, along with his parents, his brothers and sister.

Dwelling: Back Street. Census Place: Wereham, Norfolk, England
Source: FHL Film 1341484 PRO Ref RG11 Piece 2006 Folio 53 Page 5

James TINGEY M 35 M Wereham, Norfolk, England
Rel: Head Occ: Shoemaker
Mary Ann TINGEY Marr 36 F Ely, Cambridge, England
Rel: Wife
William H. TINGEY Un 11 M Wereham, Norfolk, England
Rel: Son Occ: Scholar
James F. TINGEY Un 5 M Wereham, Norfolk, England
Rel: Son Occ: Scholar
Bessey M. TINGEY Un 3 F Wereham, Norfolk, England
Rel: Daur Occ: Scholar
Thomas B. TINGEY Un 1 M Wereham, Norfolk, England
Rel: Son

The next step was to get out my map and locate Wereham, Norfolk.

Searches in Witcham, Cambridgeshire

So, here I was looking at records for Witcham in Cambridgeshire, but could locate no TINGAYs there, or anyone named Burgess (thinking that this might be a family name) for that matter. Went through as many records that I could put my hands on, but nothing matched.

Still blundering about, genealogically speaking, I sent a note off to a website in England. I was lucky enough to receive an answer from a helpful member of the Norfolk Family History Society and it was he who told me that I was in the wrong county.

Thomas Burgess TINGAY had not been born in Cambridgeshire. He had been born in Norfolk.

First steps

My introduction to genealogy was an email, from a New Zealand first cousin twice removed. She 'introduced' me to my long forgotten grandfather Thomas Burgess TINGAY (born November 12, 1879 in Wereham, Norfolk, England), and her questions ignited my interest.

I really knew nothing about Thomas Burgess TINGAY, except that he was my grandfather who died in the Great War. Also - from a family tree copied from my father's always difficult to read writing - I thought that he had been born in Witcham, Cambridgeshire.

These were early days!

An old English oak tree

The idea of climbing a tree seems to be a fitting description of my genealogical search.

The tree that I see in my mind's eye is one of those old English oaks, gnarled and twisted, branches so dense you can't see the top of the tree. Occasionally a leaf falls, and you reach out in all directions to try and catch it, precious as you feel each one is. That is what I feel about my search for my family history: a lot of looking up in hope, not nearly enough reaching my fingers.