Answers: 01045: FLITTON, Flamstead, to USA in 1868 (Hertfordshire Genealogy)

FLITTON, Flamstead, To USA in 1868

(and earlier records)

June 2001

Ann Mead (gordonandanne @t virgin.net) wrote: Some time ago we read on a list, somewhere, that Joseph FLITTON, born 1825, in Flamstead and married to Hannah HANSTEAD was connected to the Church of Latter Day Saints. Unfortunately we cannot find where we saw the information (it will teach us to be more careful with events, etc.) and we have now found that he was the brother of my husband's 3xgreat grandfather. We know from Eric Edwards book on Flamstead that there was a Church of Latter Day Saints here in Markyate in the late 1800's.

I don't know where you saw it, but the following information from the Mormon Immigration Index CD would appear to be relevant.

". . . In 1868 a strong effort was made in Zion to gather means to assist the poor Saints who wished to emigrate, and large sums of money were sent to the British Islands to assist members of the Church to this end, especially faithful Saints of many years' standing. Besides this, the Church sent for the last time teams out to the terminus of the Union Pacific Railroad to bring them thence across the deserts and mountains . . ."

One of those who went was Joseph Flitton, a 43 year old manufacturer from Luton. He sailed to America on the James Bright, which left Liverpool on 4th June 1868 and arrived in New York on 14th July 1868. There were 722 LDS immigrants on board from all over Britain with 176 from Scandinavia, the church leader being James McGaw.

Also on board were Hannah Flitton (42), Susan (19), Albert (17), Elizabeth (11), Emily (10), Thomas (9), George (7) and Julia (6) from Luton.

It should be worth visiting familysearch to see if there is an ancestral file on the Flittons who went to Salt Lake City.

It is clear that the Flitton family included members of the Church of Latter Day Saints, and and a check on the records for Flamstead in the LDS Library (on familysearch) includes a record of the members of the Flamstead branch of the church between 1842 and 1853, with earlier Bedfordshire records from 1837. The 1851 census of Religion (see Religion in Hertfordshire 1847-1851) shows the priest in charge was Joseph Flitton and their chapel had been erected in 1850. As the Church was only founded in 1830, in America, the Flamstead branch of the church must have been a very early one, and prior to about 1837 the Flitton family were almost certainly associated with another non-conformist church (probably Baptist or perhaps Methodist). None of the pre-1837 registers of the local chapels appear to have survived.

A look at the IGI on familysearch shows a vast number of duplicate/guess entries submitted by members of the LDS (See The Limitations of Familysearch). There are few, if any, baptisms/births recorded in the earlier parish registers - which fits with a family with long-term non-conformist beliefs.

So where did the 18th century Flitton family data on the IGI come from. Members of the family joining the church in the 1830's would have recorded their known ancestors and a family tree going back just over 100 years is about what you would expect from living memory, perhaps augmented by entries in a family bible and dates on grave boards. William's son, Jonathan, would probably have known his grandparents (details of which you seek) but he had died in 1830, aged 96, so that information could have already been lost by the late 1830's. The many entries on the IGI suggest that a lot of people have looked for earlier records and none have been found - and it is quite possible that no relevant records exist.

My own feeling is that LDS records (in the USA?) are more likely to hold 18th century family information than the Church of England baptism registers - although members of the family may have been included in the marriage and burial records. There may be references to members of the family in other records (estate papers, manorial records, etc.) but one needs to do a proper survey of what survives in HALS and elsewhere to know whether a detailed search of manuscript documents is appropriate.

Clearly you have not yet established how your William Flitton is related to Joseph Flitton, who is mentioned at the start of the page, and there is more work to do. For instance the 1851 census shows four different William Flittons were born in Flamstead between 1830 and 1835 and it is not clear which is yours - although it is clear that your William Flitton was married to Mary and living in Redbourn by the time of the 1861 census, before moving into Bedfordshire in later censuses. When you probe further you may well find the warnings on the help page "Right Name, Wrong Body?" helpful - and I am forwarding a copy of your email to the others who have shown an interest in the Flitton family of Flamstead.