John George & Minnie Louisa Northfield née Uridge

This information relates to Chart 5: Descendancy Chart for John & Mary Uridge née Harcourt from Sydenham, Kent.

This week I received several e-mails from Peter John Griffiths, who is the grandson of Minnie Louisa Northfield née Uridge, who was the daughter of Walter & Louisa Jane Uridge née Woods.

Peter writes:

My mother Constance Emily Griffiths (née Northfield) was one of the children of Minnie Louise Uridge and John George Northfield.

Peter also provided the names, and details of Minnie's eight children, including photographs and the 1911 census information.

This will be included in the database, and in the next website update.

Many thanks to Peter for contacting me, and provided this information.

England & Wales Births 1911-2005

We are in for a very busy period!


Ancestry has just released their index of England & Wales births for the period 1911-2005. This database is a searchable, digitized version of the indices of civil registrations in England and Wales, reported quarterly to the General Register Office (GRO) in London.


This index spans the years between 1916 and 2005. You can search for a christian name, surname, year, or even mother's maiden name. This will revolutionize family history! When I think of the hours spent transcribing the births, marriages, and deaths. Now it is all done for you.

Descendants of Thomas & Ann Whiffen née Uridge

This information relates to Chart 1: Descendancy Chart for William & Marie Ewridge née Wickenden who lived in Cowden in Kent.

Calvin Uridge Whiffen, III from San Diego, California wrote today and provided me with a 5-generation tree of the descendants of Thomas & Ann Whiffen née Uridge. Each generation has included the name Uridge as the first, or second name. This has provided the link between a missing generation. In addition Calvin (Cal) has found that Ann was the daughter of John & Sarah Urige née Baul (my own ancestors).

Currently the only information I had was from the Biography from Our County and its People (Oneida, NY) by Daniel Wager 1896.

I will include this information in the Uridge database, and merge the two Anns. Also I will determine our exact relationship. This indeed is a very rare occasion to find a cousin, albeit very distant.

Uridge-Webb-Pye-Baxter Families

Earlier this week I wrote in the blog Philip Uridge, that I received an e-mail from Judith Batt of New Zealand, who helped me extensively research a New Zealand Uridge-related family in 2002. Surprisingly today, I received an e-mail relating to an Australian Uridge-related family I extensively researched in 2001.

This time the e-mail came from a new researcher, James Dalziel, who lives in Sydney Australia.

He wrote:

I am Myrtle Sarah Webb’s great-grandson, via her only daughter Rosa Jean Harper, and Rosa’s daughter Delphine Little, my mum. I’m happy to share any information I have with you that may be of use. In particular, I’ve just scanned all the old family photographs from Rosa (who died a few years back), and these include Myrtle, as well as David William Webb and Ada Pye, plus various other people who look like relatives, so you or some people you know may be interested in this, and able to decipher some of the unknown photos.

This family was extensively researched by Keri Webb, and more information is detailed on the webpage Uridge-Webb-Pye-Baxter Families.

I look forward to including more information and photographs, as offered by James. In the meantime I will put James in contact with Keri.

Uridge Misspellings in Censuses

Judith Batt noticed that there was a lot of misspellings both by the enumerators, and in the transcripts of the censuses. This is probably because Uridge is such a rare name, transcribers invariably have trouble working out what it says.

These include:

Elridge,Herrage,Hudge,Midge,Ubrich,Uredge,Uridze,
Usidge,Voidgo,Voridge,Vridge,Whitlge,Widge,Wrich,
Wridge,Wridye

So if you don't find your Uridge, Euridge ancestors in the censuses, do try these alternatives.

Many thanks to Judith for compiling these. A list will be compiled in the Variants section.

Philip Uridge

Judith Batt from New Zealand has been in contact with me again. In 2002 & 2003, Judith provided an extensive amount of information on the Uridge Families in New Zealand, including several photographs on the New Zealand Descendants of Pheoby Uridge and Richard Bathurst.

She has started looking at Uridge records again. I welcome this as researching such a unique name has it's downsides as new information does not come up often.

Judith has looked further afield from New Zealand, and is looking at USA census records, and tracing the families of Philip Uridge, also known as James Philip Uridge who went to Michigan.

She writes:

The most interesting family is William Uridge (1830-1898). I believe that he married twice. With his first wife (Marg or Mary born in Canada abt 1836) he had four children

William 1862-1880
Philip Alex 1866-aft 1880
George 1867-aft 1920
Daniel C 1869-aft 1930

His first wife died 1870-1876 and he then married Mary Lappard or
Sappard (on 21 September 1876 in Detroit) and had six children with her

Elizabeth (Schwergert) 1878-aft 1910
Sarah Ann 1879-bet 1880-1900
Willis William 1882-aft 1920
Ethel Barton (Schumacher) 1886-1946
Two other children were born and had died before 1900.

Judith's information will be included in the next website update.

Website Update

You may have noticed that there has not been any website updates for sometime. I have had a technically challenging couple of months! Not only has the website been plagued with a problem with malware, but I have had major problems with my hardware.

I use a desktop when working at home, and a laptop when travelling. Unfortunately in October my desktop went wrong, after several previous malfunctions I decided it was time to have a new desktop. I purchased a new latest technology high specification desktop. This meant I would be using Windows Vista with a 64-bit processor. I tried to install all the software I use for family history, however experienced several problems due to the 64-bit processor. This includes the software used to update the website. I perservered with this time-consuming task. When I was almost finished, the desktop developed a major fault and had to be returned to the manufacturer.

Whilst waiting for the repair to the desktop I used my laptop. Unfortunately one morning I switched on my laptop only to find the harddisk has gone wrong.

Fortunately most of the information is backed up and retrievable. However, it has been a slow process, I trust you understand. Normal service will now be resumed.

Samantha K. B. Euridge

I have just heard some excellent news.

My niece, Samantha (Sam) heard her results for her intensive year of studies. She has been awarded a MSc Oceanography with distinction. She is now studying for her doctorate at Edinburgh university.

Samantha graduated from Exeter University with a degree in Physics. She then started work as a Laboratory Manager at Cermato Ltd. She then became a Test Engineer at Omicron NanoTechnology Ltd. Then in September 2007 she decided to do a MSc Oceanography course at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton. She has worked so hard, and was so committed to the long hours of study.

Well done Sam. Needless to say we are so proud of her.

Website Moved to New Server

The Uridge, Euridge website has moved to a different hosting server. There should be no apparant differences, however some links may be missing.

The domain remains the same, so you should be able to access the website using the normal link www.uridge.org.

Do let me know if you are experiencing difficulties.

Website Updated 3 May 2008

The website was updated on Saturday 3 May. It includes recent information from:

• John Houghton
• Ellen Kennedy, as detailed in the previous blog Descendants of Philip & Sarah Uridge née Barton.
• Steve Ross, my neice's husband, who is extensively working on breaking down brickwalls on the Euridges / Uridges of Eynsford Kent.

A full list of the recent changes to the narratives is available in the New or Changed Narratives section. The narratives section now includes 2608 people.

Uridge DNA Project Update April 2008

During the past three months three DNA tests have been received. The results are now available for Robert Gordon Uridge (Chart 6), Owen Fawcett Uridge (Chart 4), and my brother Kelvin Euridge (Chart 1).

Robert is the son of Walter James & Irma Uridge née Bass. He is a descendant of the progenitor John & Rebecca Uridge née Jeff who lived in Buxted, Sussex in the mid 1700s (Chart 6).

Owen is the son of Owen Fawcett Uridge II, who is a descendant of George & Frances Uridge née Lane from Hoo Common, Kent (Chart 4).

Robert and Owen had 34 out 37 matches. This indicates that they have a common ancestor 20-24 generations ago. On the basis of 25 years per generation, this was around 1400 to 1600.

Unfortunately the Euridge DNA did not match, even though the families originated from Kent.

My most sincere thanks to all who participated, and assisted with these tests.

If you are interested in joining this project do contact me, and I will explain the technicalities, costs, and outcome.

Descendants of Philip & Sarah Uridge née Barton

Today I received an e-mail from Ellen Kennedy who lives in Michigan USA. Ellen is a descendant of Philip & Sarah Uridge née Barton, who lived in the Isle of Grain, Kent.

Ellen advised that Philip & Sarah emigrated to Michigan, and lived in Sanilac County, Michigan. Philip died on 30 March 1880 at Delaware Township of pneumonia. Their daughter Sarah (not previously listed in the database) was baptized 12 April 1835 in St. James, Isle of Grain and married James Taylor on 25 Dec 1852 in Wayne County MI. Ellen is a descendant of James & Sarah Taylor née Uridge.

Ellen provided valuable information on this family, in particular from the 1860 & 1870 US Censuses, including the families of William & Mary Uridge who also lived in Delaware Township, Sanilac County, and Philip & Ann Uridge, who lived in Detroit, Wayne County.

This information has been included in the database, and will subsequently updated in the next website update. Most sincere thanks to Ellen for this extensive information.

The Master Genealogist

Yesterday, at the Society of Genealogists I gave a half-day tutorial. See the previous blog Using Master Genealogist - Advanced Tutorial for the information and links.

Several participants requested information from my previous tutorial on The Master Genealogist. Information and links can be found in the previous blog Hampshire FH Presentation.

Using Master Genealogist - Advanced Tutorial

Tomorrow, at the Society of Genealogists I will give a half-day tutorial on "Using Master Genealogist - Advanced".

This is relating to the software The Master Genealogist (TMG) by Wholly Genes - the software I use to record all the information on the Pask One-Name Study, and the Uridge One-Name Study.

Surprisingly enough there is anticipated over 15 participants, an almost unheard of number for an advanced tutorial. The numbers were undoubtedly boosted by the recent announcement in the TMG monthly newsletter.

The PowerPoint presentation can be downloaded from the link on the website.

Descendants of Thomas & Barbara Haysman née Uridge

Nancy Harris wrote to me today from Ontario, Canada. She is the great-great-great granddaughter of Thomas & Barbara Haysman née Uridge. She writes:

This Thomas is my g.g.g.grandfather. His daughter Rebecca is my g.g.grandmother. I have the entire family history as this is my family, but only from this Thomas on. ... I believe the name is Haysman, as most of the later generations are using this name. Thomas is listed at age 79 living with my g.g.grandmother, Rebecca, and the name is a bit hard to make out, but when blown up you can see it. I have found all the members of the family using IGI but have found around 12 different spellings of the name.

Nancy shares a common ancestor with Chris Burns, and that coincidently Chris lives only about an hour away from her, on the same street that Nancy's cousin, also a Haysman decendent, lived on during his childhood up until he left home after finishing university. Just goes to show what a small world it is.

Website Update 2 February 2008

The website was updated on Saturday 2 February. This is long overdue, and delayed as there were major updates to the genealogical software packages I use (The Master Genealogist version 7 combined with Second Site Version 2.1.4). I am sure you will agree that it was worth waiting for. The narratives section is completely revamped and now includes:

• Photograph Album - gallery of pictures. You can select the photograph to display individual narrative for that person.
• Charts - I have included an introduction detailing each chart.
• My Family - Charts specifically relating to my own family, including my own pedigree.

The majority of the changes are in the look-and-feel and the background processing of the narratives section. If you see any errors, or any glitches, please do let me know, and I will gladly correct them.

This update also includes information as detailed in the previous blogs:

• Walter James & Caroline Sarah Dear née Uridge
• John & Sarah Uridge née Drover
• Descendants of Charles Reuben Euridge
• John Uridge of Eynsford
• John Uridge of Eynsford continued

A full list of the recent changes to the narratives is available in the New or Changed Narratives section. The narratives section now includes 2597 people.

John Uridge of Eynsford continued

This week Steve Ross has continued to break down brick walls!

He has now provided the connections between John Uridge who lived in Eynsford, back a further four generations to William & Marie Ewridge née Wickenden. They married on 10 January 1600 in Cowden, Kent.

Again, this information was previously detailed in the database, but the specific connections were not made, and verified. Thanks to Steve & Julie. They have now provided me with my 9 x great-grandfather (and Julie's 10th).

This information will be available in the next website update, which is imminent.

John Uridge of Eynsford

Yesterday evening I received a telephone call from Steve Ross, the husband of Julie Ross née Euridge, my niece. Steve has been researching his own family since 1994.

He had located the marriage of John Uridg and Catherine Murrey on 29 June 1744 in Westminster. This ties in that John & Catherine's youngest son born 1767, was called William Murray Euridge.

Furthermore, he had also determined that John was baptised on 23 November 1718 in Cudham, Kent. He was the son of John & Sarah Uridge née Baul, who married on 2 December 1717 in Cudham. Sarah was born in Eynsford.

This is significant news, and has broken down the brickwall that I have had for over 25 years. Although I had some of this information in the database, there had never been a connection. Cudham is 7 miles west by south west of Eynsford.

My sincerest thanks to Steve for providing this breakthorough. I will include this in the database and focus my searches in this area. In the meantime, I have challenged Steve with finding if there is connection between the Uridges of Sydenham, and the Uridges of Eynsford (or should it be Cudham).

Publishing Your Family History to the Web

Today, at the Society of Genealogists I gave a half-day tutorial on Publishing Your Family History to the Web.

This was different to the previous presentations on this subject, as it included an major update on the GEDCOM-based website. Gencircles has now been changed to MyHeritage. Additionally, a new section on Print On-Demand, the self-publishing options available on http://www.lulu.com/.

The presentation included information on:

• Easy Option - Blogs
• GEDCOM-based Publishing
• PHP-based Website
• Tailor made Website
• Print On-demand

The PowerPoint presentation can be downloaded from the link on the website.

Uridge DNA Project Update Jan 2008

I had exceptionally good news from Patricia Haun from California today. She confirmed that her uncle Robert Gorden Uridge has ordered a DNA test kit.

Robert is the son of Walter James & Irma Uridge née Bass. He is a descendant of the progenitor John & Rebecca Pask née Jeff who lived in Buxted, Sussex in the mid 1700s.

The DNA test will help us identify whether these whether the Uridge and Euridge families, and related lines are connected, even though we do not have the documental evidence to prove it.

Sincerest thanks to Patricia for arranging this.

If you are interested in joining this project do contact me, and I will explain the technicalities, costs, and outcome.