POSSE COMITATUS

1798

Buckinghamshire to wit The Borough of Chepping Wycombe, A Register of the Name and Occupations of all persons residing within the said Borough not engaging in any military capacity between the ages of 5 and 60 years returned by Petty Constables within the said Borough in Pursuance of a precept from John Pett Esquire High Sheriff of the said County being thedate 16th day of February 1798. For the better power of ascertaining theCivil Power of the said County.

Great Marlow Borough (Around the Town)

George Oxlade Shoemaker Robert Oxlade Grocer 1 horse, 0 wagons, 1 cart

Great Marlow Parish George Oxlade Labourer George Oxlade Labourer Thomas Oxlade Labourer ........ Oxlade Labourer ........ Oxlade Labourer Thomas Oxlade Farmer 24 horses, 3 wagons, 3 carts (Probably Widmer Farm)

West Wycombe John Oxlade Labourer

Fingest Richard Oxlade Labourer Thomas Oxlade Labourer

Chepping Wycombe (High Wycombe)

Richard Oxlade Cordwainer (Originally Worker in fine white Cordova Leather) Richard Oxlade jnr (means younger not necessarily son)

Farnham Royal William Oxley Servant

Kindly extracted by: Astrid Hargreaves Wales 1997

Confirmed with addition by: David Pells 2006

Stripped to its essentials, its a list of all men aged 16-60 in thecounty in 1798 who could be called up for militia service. It gives their forename, surname, occupation, town/village of residence, and any distinguishing characteristic that could affect their military service (blind, subject to fits, one leg, etc.). If further local militia units were to be formed it was also important that the authorities knew where to call on for supplies and transport. Therefore it also includes the owners and their numbers of horses, waggons, carts, and mills.

n total there are over 26,000 names in this list. It excludes women,children and old men, but sometimes they get in by virtue of theirownership of horses, wagons, carts and mills. For example, my 4 * gtgrandfather, Philip SKENE, then aged 73 and living in Stoke Goldington,gets a mention for this reason.

Also excluded are men who have already been called up into the militia or who were already serving in the armed forces. Since this was taken atthe height of the Napoleonic wars, that will be quite a few people. So,if you expect to find a male ancestor in the Posse Comitatus and hedoesn't show up, then the militia lists and the army service records inthe PRO (Public Record Office) are one of the likely places to searchnext. Look at the PRO web site at http://www.pro.gov.uk/ for freeleaflets on how to research army, navy and militia ancestors. If you areinterested in the database version of the Posse Comitatus, there aredetails on my web site at the URL in the signature below.

-- Barney Tyrwhitt-Drake 1997 http://www.drake-software.co.uk/html/oldindex.htm

CENSUS

TREE

Last changed: 12/11/2006, 23:26:20