The National Archives ... what's not to like?

1. It's free!
Could you ever imagine a private enterprise that would give you all these fabulous resources absolutely free? For the minor hassle of getting a reader's card the whole of the nation's history is there before you...

2. A fab building
For a modern building, TNA is just the biz. Climate controlled, Nuclear Bomb proof (so the guide said) great surrounding gardens (including a pond with a heron) and free wi-fi so you can look things up as you go along.

3. The collection.
From the Domesday book to the medal records of soldiers in WW1, there's millions of documents that you can look at. Sometimes with a sodding great seal attached.

4. The search engine.
The TNA website has a great website - go to the site (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk), put in your search topic (it could be a name or a place) and then see how many matches you get. Without this I would have never found the litigious Fitzhenry family of Rock...

5. The staff
Normal people. They're great. Especially the bloke who helped me roll up one of those bloody great rolls of Chancery parchments who confessed to me that he'd like to see the whole lot go up in smoke.

6. The off-site storage
The stuff that isn't looked at very often is kept in an old salt mine in Cheshire. This is naturally a good place to keep paper and parchment in. My chancery rolls are kept there. I can image that they had been down there for a long long time. To see what a fab place this is, look at www.deepstore.co.uk

7. Parking and transport links
Remarkably easy to park right next to TNA. A 5 minute walk from Kew Gardens tube station.

8. Kew itself
TNA is in the wonderful West London Suburb of Kew. Home to the botanical gardens, near Chiswick , the home of the wonderful Fuller's Brewery (brewers of my favourite pint London Pride) and close to all points in the West of London.

9. Kew Landladies
If you're doing the archives, you need a place to stay. There's all sorts of accommodation for all types. Take your pick off this list www.kewaccommodation.com
My favourites are Mrs Cellan-Jones and Mrs Hearn. The places are diverse (Mrs C-J's is fantastically anarchic - my room had a stuffed fox in it - and Mrs. H is clean modern lines with power shower in an Edwardian villa).

10. Local pubs
The Greyhound for choice of beer and the Botanist for guest beer and food.

The Fitz-Henrys of Rock, Worcestershire

I've been back at the National Archives in Kew revisiting some documents that I started on a few weeks ago. The Court of Chancery was where (amongst other things) Wills were disputed. Richard Watkins was the Rector of Rock in the late 1700s and died a very wealthy man in 1805. He had 3 children. Charles his son was his legal heir but he also made provision in his Will for his two daughters Ann and Elizabeth. Ann married Andrew Fitz-Henry in 1799 and inherited her marriage settlement of three thousand pounds. Elizabeth married Thomas Bradley Paget after her father had died on 7 September 1809, 2 days after her 21st birthday when she would have expected to inherit. She didn't get her money or any part of her father's estate.
This Case went on from 1810 when it was first presented to 1835. I've got as far as the early 1820's now. It's all getting pretty fraught.
The great thing for my research is the minute detail in which the family members and their relationship to each other is described, and as the case goes on births and deaths of the interested parties are recorded. This is before the 1837 watershed for the registration of birth marriages and deaths so these documents are a godsend. The downside is the huge often filthy rolls of parchment you have to go through to get the prize - never wear light coloured clothes at the Archives!
The following is a combination of the information from the Chancery Papers and from other sources
Andrew Fitz-Henry married Elizabeth Watkins 22 July 1799
Children: Ann Elizabeth 1800, Catherine 1801, Honoria (also known as Mary)1802, Matilda 1805, Andrew Richard 1807 (died in London 1844), Maria Rosetta 1808, Charles 1810, Thomas 1811, Sarah 1812 and John 1814.
Recognise any of these? Leave me a comment!