Family History Trip: Day 2 Matlock

The second day of my trip I took the train a couple miles north to Matlock. I think Heavenly Father knew I would spend the ENTIRE day in the records office, so He didn't really bother about the weather. It was cold and rainy and incredibly windy... so business as usual really.

From about 9:30-16:00 I squinted over microfiches going through the original records of the area from the 17th and 18th centuries. I really loved it, but it was definitely painstaking at times. One of the employees printed out lists of Waltons during the time period, and between that and the information I found in the records I've almost completely pieced together another 5 generations back in the family line! There is still some confusion on which woman was the step-mother and which woman was the wife, since this man and his father both had the same name and both couples married within 3 years of each other. Helpful. You'd think they could specify in the records, but no. I have a gut feeling I know which woman married which man, but I need records to verify. So next time I go up I'll look through land records, wills, copyholds, etc. and hopefully be able to find SOMETHING more specific. These are the mysteries and puzzles that make family history so exciting, and also make it a lot of work. So worth it, though!

The funniest part of the day was when an older couple sat down next to me and asked if I was Mormon... I think what they really meant was "You are the youngest one in here by several decades, and there is only one explanation for why someone your age would be working on Family History... must be Mormon." haha We had a nice little chat though, and they told me where to stop for dinner before heading back to Cromford.

Because it was getting dark by the time I left, I wasn't able to see St. Giles parish church or the cemetery there, so I don't really have any pictures from Matlock this time around. Though I did take a couple pictures of the train stations... so that'll have to suffice for now.

Cromford Train station... so charming.