The following letter concerns research being conducted in 1997 by Mrs. Lorna Yarnall York of Kislingbury, Northamptonshire, England. The letter was written to Linford H. Yarnall, and contains quite a few hints for researching the Yarnall - Yarnell - Yarnold in England.
Dear Lin:
I made a quick dash to Worcester records office on Friday and managed to get the item's you wanted, I've written in pencil on the back to identify what they are, there are also a couple of other marriage bonds and I think two other wills. There is quite a list of wills and marriage bonds at the record office dating from the mid 1400's through to the mid 1600's, plus all the parish registers of Worcestershire dating mainly from about 1538 through to the present time, but as you know it takes time to sift through all of it.
All the copies of the documents I've sent are written in what we call "Secretary Hand" if you have somebody that can decipher this for you, go ahead, if not I will endeavor to get help to transcribe my copies and let you know what they say - and if there are any other documents you require, please let me know.
Right, that's that bit of the letter, now a bit about what I've been up to! I only started researching the family last April and what an eye opener it has been. I had never met anybody with the name Yarnall, only my immediate family. I was born and brought up in West Drayton, Middlesex which is approximately fifteen miles from the center of London and within it's parish boundaries it has Heathrow Airport. When I married 31 years ago I moved north to the village of Kislingbury in the county of Northamptonshire. The village lies four miles west of Northampton. Though my husband Joe has lived in the village all his life, I actually have more relatives in the village than he has, as my uncle Albert Yarnall and all his family live here.
As our branch of the family lived and worked on the canal system, everybody I met that was also researching family history said that I would have a hard job tracing them because they were continually on the move. Also , there was the fact that they were illiterate - no time for schooling - well, they were wrong! I found my fathers birth certificate and on it, it said, "born on the boat Mary Ann at Bulbourne dock, Tring in Hertfordshire." His full name was George Yarnall, and his father's name was William Yarnall born in Tipton, Staffordshire, and his father was another George Yarnall, also born in Tipton Staffs, and his father William Yarnall was born in Kidderminster, Worcestershire and the year is 1823 - and this was my first contact with Worcestershire.
I got hold of the Worcester I G I. I was amazed all those Yarnall's, Yarnell's, Yarnold's, and Yearnall's. Why hadn't I known about them and I knew nothing about the history of Worcestershire. It is a beautiful county with undulating countryside and with many old buildings; but quite secretive in its nature. You know when you get a feeling about some places? You feel that there is a lot going on, but it is kept well hidden. I've so far managed to get back to the early 1700's, and the children of William and Ann Yarnall of Shelsley Beauchamp Worcs. I've only traced just two of the brothers in this family. As yet, William which is my direct line, and Edward. As I said earlier on, my line were on the canals and Edward's line seemed to have gone into coal mining. The first move they made was to the Pensax area, and as the industrial revolution took off they went into the Staffordshire coal mines. Mind you, some of them also went into the iron and steel industries that were the big industries in what is called the "Black Country", which covers parts of Worcestershire, Staffordshire, and Warwickshire - the midlands.
Joe and I went to find Shelsley Beauchamp and it is in this tiny valley. The river Teme runs through it and it is near the Herefordshire border. The steep sides of the valley are covered in apple orchards as this is Cider country. The church has been modernized in the Victorian era, and there are very few grave stones standing - and most of those were modern. By looking at the local telephone directory, there are still Yarnold's in the area. It was quite funny, looking through the parish register the name starts off as Yarnall - that was with Francis Yarnall 1674, but by the time you get to 1700, it has changed to Yarnold, but it is still the same family. It just depends on whose writing the register at the time.
There is a pocket of Yarnall's, Yarnell's in the county of Lincolnshire and they seem to arrive there around 1648 - and so far I've not made a connection there yet. There are also pockets in Nottinghamshire, and Derbyshire, but again I think they originate from Worcestershire.
Well, I've rambled on a bit, and there are many stories of the cousins I have found - like the ten brothers and sisters that my grandfather had that nobody knew about. Also, Edward Yarnell of London who is 78 and helped to develop radar in the last war, is my 2nd cousin, or the time I walked the canal side at Braunston with an old photo I found from another cousin, who knew he was a boatman, but didn't know who he was. I had asked many people on the boats if they knew who it was, but nobody could identify him. I had passed an elderly gentleman sitting and having a cup of tea outside a cafe. On the way back I decided to stop for a drink. He asked me what I was up to and he asked to see the photo. It turns out to be his wife's father - my grand-uncle on my grandmother's side. Life has so many strange tales to tell.
Well it's 10pm and I've just been out in the back garden to check the pond to see how many frogs have come back so far this year. There are about forty out there tonight. Give it another fortnight and they will be spawning.
Regards, Lorna
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