Our Earliest Sherwood Ancestors
9 November 2023
The children & grandsons of Stephen & Sarah Sherwood & their relationship to the author
THE SETTING
The village of Weston is in the north of the English county of Hertfordshire, close to the border with Cambridgeshire. When our ancestors lived there, Weston was a settlement of houses and three smaller, outlying hamlets. Its ancient parish church the Holy Trinity, is located south-east of the village. In 1822, Weston’s population was 708.
Map showing the location of Weston & Clothall, Hertfordshire & Fowlmere, CAMBRIDGESHIRE
Introduction
Our story begins with our two most distant ancestors Stephen and Sarah Sherwood Both were born about 1720 and lived in Weston, Hertfordshire for most of their lives.
The earliest reference to them is found in the baptism registers of the Holy Trinity Church in Weston, Hertfordshire. Stephen and Sarah Sherrug’s first child Sarah was baptised there in 1744. Even though the family name is spelt Sherrug in the church baptism registers, I am convinced they are our earliest Sherwood ancestors.
No mention can be found of Stephen and Sarah’s marriage in the parish church records. It is also unlikely that Stephen was born in Weston as no record of his birth or baptism can be found there either. Stephen and Sarah most likely settled in Weston not long before Sarah was baptised. Sarah Senior’s maiden name is not known.
Stephen appears in militia lists for Weston for the years 1758 through to 1762. His occupation on these lists was labourer.
The couple had six children, four sons and two daughters. Their youngest child James died as an infant in 1760. Stephen and Sarah lived in Weston for over 30 years. Both died in 1774 and were buried eight days apart by the vicar Jos. Reed.
The couple had six children, four sons and two daughters. Their youngest child James died as an infant in 1760. Stephen and Sarah lived in Weston for over 30 years. Both died in 1774 and were buried eight days apart by the vicar Jos. Reed.
They were first mentioned in 1744 when their daughter Sarah was baptised.
Baptism entry. nov. 4 (1744) Sarah the daughter of Stephen Sherrug and Sarah his wife
ESTABLISHING A FAMILY RELATIONSHIP
Their daughter Sarah's baptism entry has Stephen and Sarah’s surname spelt as Sherrug, not Sherwood. So how can we be sure that Stephen and Sarah Sherrug are related? The answer lies with my 3rd great-grandfather William Sherwood. Prior to the discovery of Stephen and Sarah, William was our most distant relative. He lived in Fowlmere, Cambridgeshire 30 kilometres to the north of Weston, 40 years after Stephen and Sarah died.
William was born in Clothall, Hertfordshire c.1782. His parents were Stephen and Elizabeth Sherwood. William's father Stephen was born in the adjoining parish of Weston. His parents were Stephen and Sarah Sherwood. Even though the couple’s surname is spelt Sherrug, there is little doubt that they are Stephen’s parents and William’s grandparents. How Stephen was traced from Clothall to Weston is explained in Chapter 4. How William was tracked from Fowlmere to Clothall is explained in Chapter 5.
ARE WE SHERWOOD OR SHERRUG?
As to the question of our name. Was it originally Sherwood or Sherrug? In genealogy, few things are as important as your surname. It connects family members to each other and is the link that enables you to travel further back in time to previous generations. A problem arises when your surname appears as another name when Sherrug appears in place of Sherwood. Was our name originally Sherrug or Sherwood, and how can we be sure which name is correct?
SORTING OUT THE CONFUSION
There are two records in which our name appears in Weston. The first is parish registers and the other militia ballot lists. Parish registers first appeared in England in 1538. Each parish church was required to record the names of those who were baptised, buried, and married in register books. Weston’s registers date back to the mid-16th century. All six of Stephen and Sarah’s children were baptised in Weston over a period of 16 years, from 1744 up until 1760. In each instance, the couple’s surname was written as Sherrug in the baptism register. When Stephen and Sarah were buried in 1774, their name was again spelt as Sherrug. In 1769, when their eldest daughter Sarah’s son John was baptised, her name was also spelt as Sherrug.
The baptisms, burials and marriage were performed by the vicar Joseph Read. Read was consistent when spelling the surname as Sherrug with the baptisms and burials. For reasons unknown, he spelt Stephen and Sarah’s second daughter Elizabeth’s surname as Sherook when she married George Saby in 1777.
MILITIA BALLOT LISTS
The second record in which the family name appears is the militia lists for Weston. They cover the years 1758 to 1775. The militia or local defence force was established in the event of a threat to the country. Lists of all able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 50 years were drawn up each year. It was the job of the village constable to enter the names of eligible men on the annual ballot. For the years 1758 to 1761 this was done by W’m Munt. From 1762 to 1775, William Hide compiled the lists for Weston.
Interestingly, the Sherrug name does not appear on any of these ballots. Stephen Sherrug Sr. should appear as he was eligible to serve in the militia. What we find instead is a Stev’n Sherrood on the ballot lists in 1758, Stev’n Shorwood in 1759, Stephen Shurwood in 1760 and 1761 and Stephen Shearwood in 1762. (See Fig. 7)
Variations in the spelling of Sherwood in the Weston parish church registers & militia lists
So where was Stephen Sherrug? He was certainly still alive at this time and living in Weston. He died in 1774 and was buried by the vicar Joseph Read, who recorded his name as Stephen Sherrug.
I am convinced that the Stephen Sherrug whose name appears in the church registers when his six children were baptised and the Stephen who died in 1774, is the same Stephen who appears in the militia lists from 1758 until 1762, as Stephen Sherrood, Shorwood, Shurwood and Shearwood.
Stephen and Sarah had two sons John and Stephen who were baptised Sherrug. By 1769 John Sherrug was old enough to appear on the ballot lists and yet he doesn't. Instead, a John Shearwood appears. In 1775, John’s younger brother Stephen Sherrug was eligible to serve in the militia, and yet his name does not appear on any ballot lists. Instead, Stephen Shearwood’s name appears. John and Stephen who were baptised Sherrug were now being referred to as John and Stephen Shearwood by the village constable William Hide.
We now have two different spellings of our surname in Weston over roughly the same time. Sherrug in the church registers from 1744 through to 1774 and similar spellings of Sherwood in the militia lists from 1758 through to 1775.
So who got it right with the spelling of our name? Was it the vicar Joseph Reed who spelt it as Sherrug or the two village constables who filled out the militia lists? More than likely neither got it exactly right. I suspect that the constables did a slightly better job at spelling our name. Shorwood, Shurwood and Shearwood are very similar to Sherwood in the way they sound and in the way they are spelt.
Quite often there were variations in the way in which surnames were spelt. This is to be expected, particularly in the past when a large proportion of the population was unable to read or write. When a name was recorded by the minister of a church quite often there was no one to check the accuracy of his spelling. Quite often names were spelt phonetically, that is the way they sounded. The spelling variations mentioned above are quite minor and cause few if any problems. In our case the similarity to Sherwood is obvious. It becomes more difficult when we are confronted with a change in name. One where the spelling is so different from what we have come to expect that it results in another name, the name Sherrug.
So what might explain the spelling of our name as Sherrug instead of Sherwood? As there is no record of Stephen Sherwood (c.1720-1774) being born or married in Weston, I suspect that he and Sarah moved there sometime prior to their daughter Sarah’s baptism in 1744. Because they were not well known to the vicar Read, he incorrectly spelt their name as Sherrug. With subsequent baptisms, and when Stephen and Sarah were buried, Read continued to spell our name as Sherrug. Quite obviously the vicar Read was an educated and literate man. He most likely spelt our name the way it sounded when it was said to him. The constables when filling out the militia lists made a slightly better fist of things when attempting to spell our name. Spelling it as Sherrood Shorwood, Shurwood and Shearwood. The similarities to Sherwood are obvious.
The best conclusion I can draw from the above is that our name was most likely always Sherwood and was misspelt as Sherrug in the church registers by the vicar.
References to Sherwood and similar spellings of Sherwood in the Weston parish church registers
One final comment. The earliest recorded spelling of the ‘Sherwood’ surname in Weston is in 1599, when Alce Sherwood the daughter of Henry was baptised. The ‘Sherwood’ name appears again in 1638 on an administration bond for Eden Sherwood. There is a break of 178 years up until 1816 when the name appears again spelt as ‘Sherwood.’ Mary Ann Sherwood the daughter of William and Ann was baptised on 20 October 1816.
There are six further references to people bearing similar spellings of Sherwood in the church records. Sheerwood, Sheerhogge, Sheawerd, Shearwood and Sheerwood. (See Fig. 8.)
I am unable to say if these Sherwoods are related to Stephen Sherwood Sr. as I am unable to establish a direct family link to them. Interestingly, the Sherrug name does not appear in the church records apart from those references to our family.
STEPHEN & SARAH’S BRIEF STORY
Very little is known about our most distant ancestors Stephen and Sarah. Prior to 1744, there was no mention of the couple in Weston. It is unlikely that they were married there as there is no record of their marriage in the church registers. The marriage may have taken place in another Hertfordshire parish or perhaps in a nearby county. Knowing Sarah’s maiden name would be helpful in finding her date and place of birth. Hopefully, this will come from her and Stephen’s marriage certificate when found. There is no record of Stephen's birth in Weston around 1720. His birth or baptism may still be found in a neighbouring parish or county. There is mention of Stephen Sherwood who was buried in Ditto Priors, Shropshire in 1796, age 46. The search continues.
Stephen appears in militia lists for Weston for the years 1758 through to 1762. His occupation on these lists was labourer. The couple raised six children, four sons and two daughters. Their youngest child James died as an infant in 1760.
Life events Stephen & Sarah Sherwood
STEPHEN & SARAH’S CHILDREN
Apart from Stephen Junior (c.1756-1796) very little is known of Stephen and Sarah's other children, Sarah, William, Elizabeth and John. Their youngest child James, an infant, died in 1760. There are no references to their marriage or death in Weston, suggesting that they had left the village.
In 1774, Sarah the eldest child was barely thirty and the single mother of John, age about 5. Times would not have been easy for them. If she was unable to find work, she may have been dependent on parish relief, which would only provide the barest of necessities.
As to Stephen and Sarah’s oldest son William, there are no other references to him in Weston apart from his baptism. There is no record of his marriage or death and no mention of him in militia lists. William was baptised in 1746 and would have reached the age of enlistment (18) by at least 1764. His name does not appear on any of the Weston ballot lists. He may have left the village sometime prior to the age of 18 to find work in another nearby parish. It is interesting to see that
a William Sherwood appears in militia lists for Bygrave in 1775. His occupation was a servant. I suspect that this is William. He would have been about 30 years old at this date.
Stephen and Sarah’s second child Elizabeth may have married George Saby. An entry in the church register has an Elizabeth Sherook, spinster of Weston marrying George Saby, bachelor of Hitchin by Banns, 17 March 1777. They were married by the vicar Joseph Reed. Witnesses to the marriage were Rob Hide and William Fray. Elizabeth would have been about 28 when she married.
John was Stephen and Sarah’s fourth child and was baptised in 1752. He appears in Weston militia list for the year 1769 as 'John Shearwood, servant.' Nothing more is heard of John in Weston after 1769. Like his older brother William, John appears to have left Weston, this would have been sometime after 1769.
To date, the only other family member apart from Stephen and Sarah and their six children who lived in Weston was their grandson John Sherrug/Sherwood. He was their daughter Sarah’s son and was baptised on 18 February 1769.
Family tree with baptism dates of Stephen & Sarah’s children
A puzzling entry appears in the Fowlmere Independent Chapel's records. Fowlmere is 20 kilometres north-east of Weston. A John Sherwood is mentioned in the church minutes for the years 1815 and 1816. He was last mentioned in 1823, after which there are no further references to him. (See chapter 5) Living in Fowlmere at this time was William Sherwood, Stephen and Sarah’s grandson.
It is quite possible that John and William are related. Both men share the same Sherwood name, and both attended the same church. Both would have been known to each other as they crossed paths in the small village and attended services in the Independent Chapel.
So, who was John Sherwood? There are two possible contenders. I suspect that he was either Stephen and Sarah’s son John, or their daughter Sarah’s son John. If it was Sarah’s son who first appeared in Fowlmere in 1815, then he would have been about 46 years old and William’s older cousin. If it was Stephen and Sarah’s son John, then he would have been about 61. He was William’s uncle. More about this in Chapter 5.
Stephen, named after his father, was the youngest of Stephen and Sarah’s surviving children. He was not quite 20 when his parents died. He left Weston soon after his parents’ death and had settled in neighbouring Clothall by 1776. He married Elizabeth Ward in 1780 and had five children. William their only son was born in 1782 and later lived in Fowlmere.
THE HOLY TRINITY CHURCH
Weston is a small rural community in the north of Hertfordshire not far from the border with Cambridgeshire. One important link with Weston’s past is the parish church, The Holy Trinity.
Holy Trinity Church, Weston, Hertfordshire
Stone Head. Weston Parish Church
Following William the Conqueror's invasion of England in 1066 the Normans set about building churches and monasteries throughout Britain. The Holy Trinity dates from the Norman period 1066-1200. Inside the church, there are thirty ancient stone heads. These 500-year-old carvings show medieval people with distorted faces and arms. They can be seen through the windows from outside as you approach the church. (See fig.11)
Joseph Read was appointed vicar on 28 January 1733. Prior to his appointment, he obtained a Bachelor of Arts from Oxford University’s Brasenose College. He held the position of vicar from 1733 until his death at Weston, on 6 June 1788.
In the baptism registers, we find the earliest recorded information on our family. Stephen and Sarah had six children, four sons and two daughters. Sarah their oldest child was baptised in 1744, followed by William in 1746, Elizabeth in 1749, John in 1752, and Stephen in 1756. Their youngest child James was baptised on 25 February 1760 and was buried four days later.
Baptism font, Holy Trinity Church Weston, Herts.
Photographer R J Sherwood
The baptisms span a period of 16 years from 1744 to 1760 and were carried out by the vicar Joseph Reed. In these records, the family name is spelt Sherrug.
THE PEOPLE OF WESTON
From the militia ballot lists, we can get some idea of the occupations of many of the men in Weston. Most males in the parish worked as either labourers or servants. For the years 1758 through to 1762 Stephen appears as a labourer in these lists. His two sons John and Stephen Junior appear in subsequent years as servants. The term servant referred to young men who did labouring work on farms. Farmers were well represented in Weston. They provided work for many of the labourers, including no doubt members of our own family. Farmers were quite often required to serve as parish officers. Some were required to act as surveyors of the highway, overseers of the poor and churchwardens.
The office of churchwarden dates to the 12th century. Churchwardens acted as the principal lay officers of the parish. They together with the surveyors of the highways and overseers of the poor were appointed by the vestry, the governing body of the parish. Normally two churchwardens were appointed. Their chief responsibility was levying church and other rates and maintaining accounts books.
Farmers living in the parish at this time were Thomas Fanson (he was appointed a churchwarden in 1759 and 1760) John and William Aburn, John Brown, Robert Bonfield and Nicholas Honour. The parish supported a wide range of occupations. Joseph Adams was a cabinetmaker, and William and Parish Austin, and James Everard were carpenters. So too were three members of the Turner family. They were John Turner Senior and his son John and William Turner. William was in later years described as a poor man with three children. This would have excluded him from service in the militia. John Benn, John and James Cawdell, and John Waldock were cordwainers or shoemakers. Two other shoemakers in the parish were George Peck and John Smith.
William Cannon and Robert and William Hide were tailors. Joseph Cawdell, Underwood Dearman, John Honour and Samuel and William Swaine were blacksmiths. John Fray was a brickmaker and so too were members of the Munt family. They were John and William Munt junior and Samuel Munt and his son Samuel. Samuel Munt had 'But one eye.' The village butchers were William Fray and John Hall. John Hall was nominated as one of the overseers of the poor in 1765. Thomas Grant, William Lagdon, and John Wille were millers. The watchmaker for that period was Joseph Green. In 1775 he was recorded as a 'broken man.' He also appears as a storekeeper. The parish wheelwrights were Thomas Green, Thomas Kiddall and Richard Richardson.
The role of parish constable was an honorary position and as such the incumbent received no financial reward for his considerable efforts. He was not only responsible for law and order in the parish but many other things as well. His responsibilities included compiling militia lists and jurors' lists, dealing with intruders, drunks, and vagabonds, and those who failed to attend church.
The bricklayer William Munt held the position of parish constable from at least 1758 until 1761. He was followed in 1762 by the tailor William Hide. Thomas Green was the parish constable in 1763. He is also recorded in other years as a farmer and wheelwright. The following year 1764, George Munt took over. Prior to his appointment as constable Munt worked as a wool comber. In 1765 William Hide was once again appointed as parish constable. The previous year he worked as the parish clerk.
The bricklayer William Munt held the position of parish constable from at least 1758 until 1761. He was followed in 1762 by the tailor William Hide. Thomas Green was the parish constable in 1763. He is also recorded in other years as a farmer and wheelwright. The following year 1764, George Munt took over. Prior to his appointment as constable Munt worked as a wool comber. In 1765 William Hide was once again appointed as parish constable. The previous year he worked as the parish clerk.
Nicholas Honour who appears as a farmer is also listed as a grocer and storekeeper. The parish tile maker was Israel Robinson. James Izard worked as a thatcher and in later years was described as a 'poor man with three children.' Most males who appear as 'poor men' in the militia lists came from either the labouring or servant classes. Several men in the parish were listed as lame or infirm.
THE HERTFORDSHIRE MILITIA
Stephen (Sherwood) Sherwood Sr. Name appearing on the 1758 Weston Militia List
The militia or local defence force has a long history in England. It was established in the event of internal unrest or attack by invading forces. With the outbreak of the Seven Years War in 1756 (a war fought between France and England) the militia was re-established. For recruitment purposes, lists were drawn up of all men in each parish between the ages of 18 and 50. These lists were known as militia ballot lists. The earliest ballot list to survive for Weston is for the year 1758. Stephen appears as number 50 on the list. He was one of 96 men in Weston who were liable for service that year. On the list his name is spelt 'Stev'n Sherrood.' It was the job of William Munt the parish constable to draw up the list of names for that year. Once the list was completed it was displayed in the parish. Any man who wished to appeal against the inclusion of his name on the list could do so. Appeals were heard at the White Hart Inn, Welwyn, 15 kilometres to the south of Weston.
Because a man's name appeared on one of these lists it didn't mean he went on to serve. A ballot was held to choose those to be conscripted. The names of men who were drawn from the ballot were entered onto lists known as principals or drawn men. The Muster Rolls or Enrolment Books show the names of men who were chosen on the ballot. Muster rolls for Weston do not appear to have survived, so it is uncertain if Stephen served.
Stephen's name appears in the Weston militia lists from 1758 through to 1762. From 1762 the upper age limit of men who were liable to serve was lowered to 45. This may explain why there are no further references to Stephen in militia lists after 1762. He may have passed the age of 45 by this date. Poor men with three legitimate children were exempted from serving.
STEPHEN & SARAH’S DEATH
When Stephen and Sarah died in Weston in 1774, they were most likely in their mid-fifties. No cause of death was entered in the burial register for either of them. The only additional information provided was that Stephen was a labourer and Sarah a widow. Stephen predeceased Sarah with the couple being buried 10 days apart by Vicar Jos. Read. Stephen was buried on 8 February and Sarah on 18 February 1774. The couple lived in Weston for at least thirty years. Further details about their lives remain a well-guarded secret for now.