Travel from Parish to Parish
I am analyzing a pedigree from Nottinghamshire, England. Many of the parishes of the couples are 18 to 25 miles apart. Is it likely that they would have traveled that far? Bullwell to Newark on Trent, or Halam to Hucknall Torkard for instance?
Answers
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Nothing can be ruled out. Even going back many centuries, some of my ancestors travelled hundreds of miles across England (let alone across one county) for no discernable reason.
It is true that the general pattern (especially the further back you research) is for families to spend their lives within, say, 5-10 miles of where they were born. However, miners often moved from (say) Cornwall to the north east of England, if work opportunities dictated it. In one example, I was convinced the "Isabella Lauder", born about ten miles from where she married, and later died, was my ancestor, but the person (of this name) to whom I am related turned out to be from Scotland, not the one of a few parishes away!
You could check to see if these Nottinghamshire locations were associated with the same industry - say mining or weaving - which could possibly explain the move. However, I have incorrectly connected individuals using this reasoning, later finding there was someone "to match" who had always lived in the other town (say Newark), so was not my relative (say from Bullwell), after all.
You have not stated the time period in question, but for events from the mid-19th century, details found in the census (age and birthplace) can be particularly helpful in differentiating individuals / families of similar identity. You can even discover if a number of families appear to have moved from one town to the other around the same time.
In summary, it is highly likely they could have travelled these distances (for work reasons, particularly), so never rule out any possibility!
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You don't say what time period. However people did travel surprisingly far though it must have taken them some time to get there.
I have a relative who had a large number of children, each child born in a different parish as can be seen from the census.
William the Conqueror was able to invade England because King Harold and the army were fighting off invaders in the north of England and Harold had to get the army down to the south coast to fight the Norman invasion. Don't know how long it took them to get from one end of the country to the other, but it shows that people did travel long distances even in the 11th century.
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I'm sorry I forgot to put a date. It is late 1700's to early 1800's. Thank you for your feedback. I will use your suggestions and see what I can verify. Thanks again!
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