The Shemilt Family History - The Researched Story So Far.

My research into the Shemilt name started in 1991 when, knowing my immediate family, this took my roots back to Mayfield Staffordshire. I went to Mayfield parish church to see what I could find. My great grandfather's grave is there in the churchyard, he James Godfrey Shemilt died as a result of being hit by a car in Mayfield in 1928. I enquired with the vicar where I might find any more church records and he said that all Mayfield's full parish registers were now kept at the Staffordshire County Record Office in Stafford. As I subsequently found out, most parish records are now kept in the county archives because they have proper storage facilities etc. to prevent any further deterioration of the documents.

I spent many hours at Stafford collecting baptism, marriage and burial records of my family ancestors from the many documents there plus a number of wills for my ancestors kept at Lichfield Joint Record Office.

My great grandfather, James Godfrey Shemilt's parents were John Redfern Shemilt and his wife Eliza (nee Hulland (first marriage-widowed) nee Godfrey (maiden name)) and he was baptised in 1867 at Mayfield. For James's father John Redfern there is a bit of a mystery. It appears that John Redfern was born the illegitimate child of Elizabeth Redfern and baptised at Mayfield church on June 20th 1831. Subsequently, Elizabeth married a William Shemilt, from Ellastone a few miles from Mayfield at about the same time. John then takes the Shemilt surname, becoming John Redfern Shemilt. Subsequent census returns for Mayfield confirm this with recorded ages etc. John Redfern's father William originates from Ellastone, three miles from Mayfield, but moves to Mayfield after his marriage to Elizabeth Redfern at Mayfield on April 30th 1832 (William's surname is recorded in the marriage record as Shimwell). William has a baptism record of 1808 in Ellastone. This was at first difficult to link to the "Mayfield" William but at this time, ages at death, were being more commonly recorded in parish registers and tombstones, so verification of a birth/baptism date was made using this information.

The ancestry continues its backward steps in history. More to be added here.