We are very excited to present the first ever study of Searcy families in early English records. This work will be presented in three part over the next several weeks.
Part One will be a survey of the time period and setting for why we have the records available that we do and the major events in the country where these Searcy's lived.
Part Two will be a survey of the records themselves.
Part Three will be an analysis of the information available and conclusions we may be able to draw.
As with all our work, please feel free to contact me at ts@searcyfea.com if you have any questions, additional information to offer, or just want to visit!
Research on the Searcy family in England has not been examined in full measure. In the late 1800’s William Everard Hamilton Searcy of Georgia discovered that Searcy’s lived in Widmerpool Parish, in the County of Nottinghamshire in the late 1600’s through the early 1700’s (and beyond) and his assumption was that the family there promulgated the Early Searcy Family in America.
The Australian branch of the Searcy family has connected themselves to the Widmerpool Parish family. While Widmerpool seems a likely candidate for the early Searcy’s in America, it is not the exclusive location of Searcy’s in early England as we will soon learn. Let’s do a little background.
We need to do a few abbreviations now; Nottinghamshire NSH; Henry VIII (H8).
Background on English Records and a Little English History
Parishes functioned as an ecclesiastical and taxable structure in England back before the time of William the Conqueror in 1066. There are not, however, any parish records from medieval or earlier times. Please bear with me on the history part – it lays the setting for Searcy’s and their records.
Under King Henry VIII (b.1491-d.1547) and his aftermath a massive change in religion, laws and English society took place. H8 separated England from Papal authority (Catholicism) in order to annul the marriage to his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Several years of arm twisting took place for the separation from Papal authority culminating with the Act of Supremacy in 1534 - where H8 became the Supreme Head of the new Church of England. H8’s chief minister Thomas Cromwell carried out the earliest steps of the English Reformation. The church structure slowly converted to a Church of England with Protestant leanings. Cromwell shut down and destroyed monasteries and nunneries in the 1530’s and beyond. He had statues and images destroyed. Parishes were required to keep records for weddings, christenings and burials beginning in 1538. Early christening records listed the father’s name only. A law was passed in 1558 requiring duplicates and more parishes began to conform. Parish records were to be recorded in books beginning in 1598, replacing separate parchment papers.
From 1642 to 1661 England suffered three civil wars. Charles I was tried and executed in 1649 and his son, Charles II was exiled in 1651. The English monarchy was replaced with the Commonwealth of England in 1649 and Oliver Cromwell (distant relative of Thomas) took control as Lord Protector in 1653 – acting as a king/dictator. The monopoly of the Church of England for Christian worship was ended; vestiges of the formal religion were destroyed, and Puritans took prominence. Parish records were collected by the government and marriages began to be recorded by justices. Cromwell and his son Richard’s governance ended in 1660.
The Monarchy was restored in 1661 with Charles II being coronated. He served until his death in 1685. Under his reign the Church of England was reestablished. Charles was one of the most popular and beloved kings of England, known for his liveliness and hedonism of his court and the general relief at the return to normality after over a decade of rule by Cromwell and the Puritans.
The Henry VIII era, the civil war era and the restoration of the Crown were in the very time frame we see our first records of Searcy’s in England!
Background on Nottinghamshire County
Nottinghamshire existed prior to 1016. The county contains over 250 parishes. NSH is one of the North Midland counties bordered on the north-west by Yorkshire, the west by Derbyshire, the south by Leicestershire, and on the east and north-east by Lincolnshire. NSH is mostly rural with small villages and hamlets with the exception of Nottingham and a few small towns.
The area of the ancient county is 843 square miles (about 3/4’s the size of Rhode Island). The general shape is that of an oval, with its long axis lying nearly north and south. The county extends 51 miles north to south and 27 miles east to west. One half of the perimeter is artificial lines; the other half is naturally defined by rivers and streams.
The county is largely lowland in character. A small portion is above the 600-foot contour or below 100 feet in altitude. Up to the close of the sixteenth century the Royal Forest of Sherwood was a favorite hunting-ground of early kings and had an area of about 100,000 acres.
NSH lies mostly within the basin of the river Trent. The river is clear water with a rapid current. Its general course runs through the county from northeast to southwest. Throughout the length of the county the Trent has always been an important highway and a dominant factor in its history and commercial development.
Background on Nottingham city
The city predates Anglo-Saxon times. Nottingham Castle was constructed in 1068 after the Norman Conquest on a sandstone outcrop by the River Leen. The Trent Bridge in Nottingham was one of the most important structures in the kingdom. In Anglo-Saxon times it was the only bridge linking north and south of Britain. Nottingham has three historic Anglican parish churches, all of which date back to the Middle Ages. St. Mary the Virgin, in the Lace Market, is the oldest and largest. The church dates from the eighth or ninth centuries, but the present building is at least the third on the site dating from 1377 to 1485. St. Mary's is considered the mother church of the city; it has records of Searcy activity at an early date.
Key Dates
1086 Domesday Survey (census of taxable persons) after the Norman Conquest
14th Century Nottingham became a center of export of religious sculpture from local alabaster
1534 Act of Supremacy creating the Church of England
1538 Law requiring that parishes record weddings, christenings and burials
1558 Law requiring duplicate records
1598 Law requiring parish records be recorded in book form
1607 Jamestown was founded as the first permanent English colony in the Americas
1621 First record of a Searcy in England in Lincolnshire County just east to NSH
1649 Charles I was executed; his son Charles II was exiled 2 years later
1661 The monarchy was restored with the coronation of Charles II
1665 Last major outbreak of bubonic plague in London; estimated 100,000 deaths
1666 The great fire of London swept through London’s medieval city
1685 Louis XVI issued the Edict of Fontainebleau declaring Protestantism illegal (Huguenots)
1695 Robert Sercey named as an indentured immigrant from England into Virginia
Searchable Records for Early Searcy’s
In beginning any genealogical project it’s useful to perform a general survey of a given geography and time period. Researching NSH and its surrounding counties from 1538 through the mid-1700’s would provide a very workable cross section of Searcy’s, their locations and possible relationships. Using a great search tool - freereg.org.uk this author has reviewed all parishes in Nottinghamshire and surrounding counties that have been transcribed to date. There are no less than 14 parishes scattered across Nottinghamshire containing Searcy records in the 1600’s and 1700’s and a few parishes in adjoining counties. Several other parishes that were small villages near Nottingham (and are now part of the greater Nottingham area) also contained Searcy records.
There are several spelling variations, but Searcy was the predominant spelling and is used in this study; also found were Scarce, Searcey, Searsee, Searsy, Siersy, Siersey, Sercy and Sorcey. A separate name group Surgey and Surgy were common names but not tracked as they are spelled consistently with the “g” consonant in multiple parishes. All parish records were written in Latin which was only discontinued in registers in 1733.
Part Two
First Record of Searcy’s in England
The earliest Searcy record located in England is that of a Mary Searcy’s marriage to John Sturdie on 10-15-1621 in Denton Parish; St. Andrews Church in Lincoln county. This parish's records began in 1558. Denton is in the south part of Lincolnshire county and east of NSH by only 6 miles; not far from the Searcy families of southern NSH. This is the only Searcy record located in Lincolnshire county - this single record over 30 years earlier than others suggests that this may have been an earlier home of the Searcy family,
Searcy Records from Northern Nottinghamshire Parishes
The next earliest records located for Searcy’s in England are a group of parishes in the north of NSH. Worksop Parish; Our Lady of St. Cuthbert Church. This parish’s records began in 1558. A Thomas Searcy was listed with christenings of five children from 1654 to 1670. The children’s mother’s name was not recorded. A Henry Searcy was buried there in 1654 as well – no age reported; same parish and church.
Clayworth Parish; St. Peter’s Church about 10 miles to the NE of Worksop. A James Searcy and wife Mary had seven children listed in a christening in parish Rector’s Book between 1677 and 1691. One child was reported as having drown in a nearby well. A John and Ann Searcy were listed in the 1730’s through 1740’s with four children’s christenings. The last recording in 1787 was the burial of a John Searcy.
South Leverton Parish; All Saints Church. This location is about 12.5 miles east of Worksop. In 1701 a christening of Elizabeth Searcy; parents John and Mary Searcy was recorded.
Ordsall Parish; All Hallows Church; about 7 miles east of Worksop. This parish's records began in 1651. The first record is of James Searcy’s marriage to on Elizabeth Peace in 1712. Christenings of 3 children followed by two burials and an additional christening with records ending in 1732.
Later parishes in the north of NHS include Sutton-cum Lound Parish; St. Bartholomew Church; about 7 miles NE of Worksop (1 record dated 1720), Gringley on the Hill; St. Peter and St. Paul’s Church; about 11.5 miles NE of Worksop (1 record in 1743) and East Retford Parish; St. Swithum Church; about 7.5 miles due east of Worksop (4 records dating from 1746-1761). East Retford is the first location with a George Searcy.
All totaled, there were 45 records from 1654 to 1802 in the northern parishes of Worksop, Clayworth, South Leverton, Ordsall, Sutton-cum Lound, Gringley on the Hill and East Retford. There were only a handful of records after 1761.
Searcy Records from Southern Nottinghamshire Parishes
Nottingham city had a few very early records at one church and then by 1795 through the 1800’s there were numerous records which will not be enumerated here.
Nottingham Parishes; St. Mary’s Church. Henry Searcy married Eliz Trimmingham on 08-25-1663. Burials for Henry were in 1699 and Eliz in 1704. There were no records of children christened for these parents. A William Searcy married Elizabeth Archer on 04-28-1737. Both were residences of Cotgrove Notts (5 miles southeast of Nottingham and less than 5 miles north of Widmerpool).
Widmerpool Parish; St. Peter's Church. Widmerpool is about 8.5 miles SE from Nottingham. A Thomas Searcy married Ellin Goode on 07-17-1679. James and Elizabeth Searcy had a child christened in 1714 and Mary Searcy married Richard Palmer in 1718. Isaac and Mary Searcy had three children christened in the mid 1740’s. A William Searcy was buried in 1762. Records skip a short period of time and run from 1771 to 1812. Isaac Searcy (possible son of the first Isaac Searcy who was christened in 1744) married Mary Cross in 1771. They had 8 children christened from 1771 to 1790.
Widmerpool Parish; St. Nicholas’s Church. A Sarah Searcy married Christopher Dexter in 1719.
Other parishes in the southern part of NSH are listed in order of the earliest records and have been given distances from Widmerpool as a reference.
Wysall Parish; Holy Trinity Church about 1.5 miles to the west of Widmerpool. There were two christenings for parents John and Elizabeth Searcy in 1722 and 1723.
Staunton Parish; St. Mary’s Church about 15 miles to the NE of Widmerpool. There were two christenings for parents John and Elizabeth Searcy in 1745 and 1749.
Colston Bassett Parish; St. John the Divine Church about 5.5 miles to the NE of Widmerpool. This parish’s records began in 1591. Three Searcy women were married in this parish; Mary (1763), Elizabeth (1763) and Sarah (1774).
Bingham Parish; St. Mary and All Saints Church about 8.5 miles to the NE of Widmerpool. This parish’s records began in 1593. John and Elizabeth Searcy had two children christened (1745 and 1749).
All totaled, there were 41 records from 1663 to 1797 in the southern parishes of Nottingham, Widmerpool, Wysall, Staunton, Colston Bassett and Bingham. Most records after that date were in Nottingham Parish.
Searcy Records from Mid-Western Nottinghamshire Parishes
One Searcy record appears in 1688 in Mansfield Parish; St Peter and St. Paul’s Church. This location is approximately midway between the northern and southern parishes and close to the western border of the county. A Thomas Searcy was christened in 1688 to a father named Thomas Searcy; no wife’s name recorded. It’s possible this could be a son of Thomas Searcy in Worksop Paris (north), as he had a son Thomas christened in 1657.
Searcy Records from Leicestershire County
Leicestershire County is adjacent to NSH, being situated on the far SE corner of NSH and a small section is sandwiched between NSH and Lincolnshire counties. All six parishes with records dot the border of NSH in this area with a spread of less than 13 miles north to south and are all between 1 to 5 miles from NSH’s common border. These 18 records date from 1749 to 1770 with a few scattered in to the 1810’s and 1820’s. It is obvious these are so close to the southern NHS parishes that they probably represent extended families from south NSH.
Part Three
Summary of Initial Research
The purpose of researching early English Searcy families for most of us is to find a link from the Early Searcy’s in America to their European ancestors. The focus should be on Robert Sercey’s family as he is the first Searcy documented to have immigrated into America. We know that WEH Searcy’s early assumption was that John Searcy of Granville, NC was the first immigrant and that his first sons may have also been born in England. This author holds a contrarian view that all three Searcy groups in Virginia/North Carolina were descendants of Robert Sercey. Let’s look at Robert.
Robert Sercey was included in a list of indentured immigrants in a land grant dated 1695 to Colonel Richard Johnson. There were a few probable members of Johnson’s family listed in the grant of 66 persons and a total of 3285 acres. Robert had no family in this grant record or they would have been listed to obtain additional land in Col. Johnson’s grant.
Virginia research over the years has determined a few basic assumptions regarding these early Crown grants. A sponsor who financed the voyage from England covered the expense of ship travel and crew’s payment, provisions and necessary tools/clothing for each new immigrant to begin working. Each named person was allotted 50 acres. Slavery was already practiced in America, but at this point the English preferred importing English citizens for self-management of their small plots. The primary goals were to increase the English population in America and expand exports of raw materials and goods to England.
An indentured person would have to work 5 to 7 years to pay off his expense and then be free to arrange to buy the land or move to free open lands to get his own colony grant. A typical immigrant’s average age under this system was from 14 to 25 years old. Also, the grants were mostly post immigration; that is the immigrants were already in Virginia by 1 or 2 years when the grant was issued.
Let’s look at Robert Sercey and assume the immigration took place in 1694. Let’s also look at Robert’s possible age. At 14 to 25 years old, Robert would have been born between 1669 and 1680. This gives us a target date range to compare to records in England.
Early Searcy Families in England - Conclusions
Cutting to the chase; there were no early records of a Robert Sercey being christened in NSH or surrounding counties. The records located so far have yielded 18 records in the 1600’s and 64 records in the 1700’s. By focusing on the records in the 1600’s prior to about 1680 we have a yield of six possible candidate families. These records include two families with christenings, three marriages and one burial. All six families should be left open as potential parents of Robert Sercey. They are:
Lincolnshire County Parish
This may be a stretch, but Mary Searcy married John Sturdie in 1621. If she were an unmarried person, she would have had a family that escapes our search for now. If she were a widow it would also suggest a Searcy family existed at a date prior to Robert’s birth. This person could very well be the remnant of an earlier Searcy family.
Northern NSH Parishes
Thomas and unnamed wife in Worksop Parish had five children being christened from 1654 to 1670.
Henry Searcy was buried in Worksop Parish in 1654 - possibly a father; but could have been any age.
James and Mary Searcy in Clayworth Parish had seven children christened between 1677 and 1691.
Thomas Searcy married Ellin Goode in Widmerpool Parish in 1679.
English studies indicate that christenings were performed in a large majority of instances when the child was less than one year old.
A curiosity can be found in the use of male first names in these early Searcy families. In the 1600’s there were between five to eight family units with six male births. Only four first names were used in these early records; Thomas, Henry, James and John. These families were at both extremes of the county, but this could suggest a common heritage at an earlier date.
It is absolutely amazing that three counties and dozens of parishes where Searcy’s lived for almost two hundred years are in such a small corridor; all parishes noted are within 45 miles north to south and 20 miles east to west of each other.
This research provides a platform for more detailed digging. There are many records surviving from this time period, but they are obscure, not necessarily in searchable format nor otherwise easily accessed other than on-site viewing in local and national archives. These records are also written in Latin. Perhaps an English researcher will come forward someday and further explore the Searcy Family in Early England.
As always, please contract me if you have any questions, suggested edits and additions.
William Terry Searcy Searcy Family in Early America Copyright 2019
