Library and resources
The list of discrepancies still to resolve, then the archives, indexes and websites used to build the tree and the scrapbook.
Discrepancies needing attention
17Places where the records disagree about a name, date, place or identity, or where something is still unproven. When one has been dealt with, mark it Resolved and say how — it is kept below as a record. Sign in to add or resolve items.
The de Clifford family of Bobbing Court, Kent
| Person or item | What disagrees, and the latest lead | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Henrie de Clifford Pattenden (1542–1593) | The tree gives him two sets of parents: Richard Clifford and Anne Stafford, or George Clifford and Ursula Finch. Latest lead: George and Ursula can almost certainly be ruled out: their sons were born about 1561–1566, too late for a son born in 1542. Richard and Anne remain possible. See it in the Scrapbook | Ancestry tree; History of Parliament; Bobbing Court pedigrees; Hasted’s History of Kent (1798) |
| The Pattenden–Clifford link | Nothing yet proves that the Pattendens of East Peckham descend from the Cliffords of Bobbing Court. The “de Clifford Pattenden” double surname appears only in online trees. Latest lead: Hasted’s history of Bobbing never mentions a Pattenden. East Peckham parish registers and wills are the next place to look. See it in the Scrapbook | Online family trees only |
Chapter 1 — John Cliff and Margaret Elles (married 1792)
| Person or item | What disagrees, and the latest lead | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| John Cliff (married 1792) | No baptism has been found for him, and the tree gives him no dates. Latest lead: A John Cliff was baptised at High Roding on 8 September 1771, son of William Cliff and Elizabeth Campion, which would make him 21 at the wedding. A possible match, not yet proof. See it in the Scrapbook | 1792 Great Dunmow marriage register (“of High Easter, bachelor”); tree |
| William Cliff (b. 1796 or 1798) | The tree has two records for him (born 1796 and 1798), and gives his father both as John Cliff and as a William Cliff born 1770. Latest lead: A William Cliff baptised in 1766 (son of William Cliff and Elizabeth Campion) may be where the stray “William Cliff (1770)” came from. See it in the Scrapbook | Ancestry tree vs the 1792 marriage register |
The Wright family of Felsted, Essex
| Person or item | What disagrees, and the latest lead | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| John Wright (1729–1801) of Felsted | The tree gives his place of death as Long Island City, Queens, New York, which is almost certainly copied from another family. Latest lead: Check the Felsted burial register on Essex Archives Online. See it in the Scrapbook | Ancestry tree vs the Felsted family |
| Ann and Anthony Bentall Wright | Their grave is with the Wrights at Felsted, but neither is in the tree, and the dates on the stone can’t be read with certainty. Latest lead: Possibly descended from one of Jemima Mary Wright’s brothers. Census and Felsted registers should place them. See it in the Scrapbook | Grave photographs |
Chapter 2 — Edward Okill (town carter, Maidstone, 1850)
| Person or item | What disagrees, and the latest lead | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Edward Okill, town carter (Maidstone, 1850) | Not in the tree. Where does he fit? Latest lead: He lived on Union Street, which meets Wyatt Street, where Thomas Joseph Okill was born in 1848, so he was probably a close relative. The 1851 census should show both households. See it in the Scrapbook | Phippen’s 1850 directory of Maidstone |
Chapter 3 — John Perkins (1840–1910)
| Person or item | What disagrees, and the latest lead | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| John Perkins (1840–1910) | His recorded death (June 1910, Williton, Somerset) probably belongs to a different John Perkins, of Withycombe and Carhampton. Latest lead: Look for the Bristol John Perkins’s death after 1901 in the Bristol, Bedminster or Barton Regis districts. See it in the Scrapbook | Ancestry tree vs another researcher’s profile of the Withycombe man |
Chapter 4 — George Henry Okill (bap. 1842)
| Person or item | What disagrees, and the latest lead | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| George Henry Okill, police pensioner | Which George Okill was paid a Kent police pension in 1908: the one baptised in 1842 (son of Samuel) or the one born in 1856 (son of Thomas Joseph)? The tree also has two separate Samuel Okill records. Latest lead: The “Henry” and his age make the 1842 George the better fit. See it in the Scrapbook | Kent County Council minutes, 1908, vs the tree |
Chapter 5 — Thomas Joseph Okill (1848–1933)
| Person or item | What disagrees, and the latest lead | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Thomas Joseph Okill (b. 1823) and Mary Pounall | Were they born in 1823 and 1821, or 1827 and 1824? Latest lead: Their baptisms or the 1851 census should settle it. See it in the Scrapbook | Your tree vs Pauline_Thorne’s Ancestry tree |
| Edward John Okill | Born in March 1883 or in 1884?See it in the Scrapbook | Your tree vs Pauline_Thorne’s Ancestry tree |
Chapter 6 — Charles "Uncle Charlie" Simpson (1881–1935)
| Person or item | What disagrees, and the latest lead | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Solomon Simpson (1853–1923) | The tree calls him a Metropolitan Police constable at Romford, but Romford was policed by the Essex Constabulary until 1965. Latest lead: He may have served in a London division while living in Romford. His census entries and Met pension records (National Archives MEPO 21) would settle it. See it in the Scrapbook | Ancestry tree vs police boundaries |
| Charles “Uncle Charlie” Simpson — death | The tree has him dying in October 1935 at Romford, but Clifford’s memoir remembers seeing him in 1939. Latest lead: The 1939 Register would show whether he was alive near Brentwood in 1939. See it in the Scrapbook | Ancestry tree vs Clifford Simpson’s memoir |
| Charles “Uncle Charlie” Simpson — family | The memoir calls him the “fourth son” of Solomon Simpson, but he is the third son in the tree. Latest lead: Either a son is missing from the tree or the memory is slightly out. See it in the Scrapbook | Clifford Simpson’s memoir vs the tree |
| Charles “Uncle Charlie” Simpson — the trial | The date of his Old Bailey manslaughter trial, the victim’s name and the verdict are all unknown. Latest lead: It must have been before 1936, when his barrister Sir Henry Curtis-Bennett died. Local newspapers and the National Archives CRIM series should have it. See it in the Scrapbook | Clifford Simpson’s memoir only |
Chapter 7 — Clifford Simpson (1915–2011) and Irene Okill (1914–2009)
| Person or item | What disagrees, and the latest lead | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Clifford Simpson’s medal (Athens, 1945) | The scrapbook calls his award the Bronze Cross; the photo album calls it the American Bronze Star. Which was it, and what was it for? Latest lead: The London Gazette and his army service record may give the citation. See it in the Scrapbook | Family identification; scrapbook Chapter 7 vs the photo album |
Gallery
| Person or item | What disagrees, and the latest lead | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Unidentified photographs | Three photographs have no names: a bearded young man (c. 1870–1890), a young man with a watch chain (c. 1905–1915) and a young woman beside a car (1960s). Latest lead: Ask older family members, and examine the originals for studio stamps or writing on the back. See it in the Gallery | No captions |
Resolved (1)
- Boreham house and Wright grave photos — In the original scrapbook the photo of John Cliff’s house at Boreham and a photo of a Wright grave were attached to each other’s captions.
Resolved 2026-10-03: Each photo matched to its own caption when this site was built.
Family-history websites
The big searchable collections. Most of the family’s census, birth, marriage and death records come from these.
Ancestry www.ancestry.co.uk · SubscriptionThe largest family-history site: census returns 1841–1921, birth, marriage and death indexes, the 1939 Register, many parish registers, and other members’ family trees.For this family: Home of the Simpson Ancestry tree that the charts are drawn from. Treat other people’s trees as clues only: two of the scrapbook’s problems came from them.Findmypast www.findmypast.co.uk · SubscriptionA UK-focused rival to Ancestry with strong English parish records, the 1921 census, the 1939 Register and the British Newspaper Archive.For this family: Search the 1939 Register for Charles Simpson near Brentwood, to settle whether he was alive after his recorded 1935 death.FamilySearch www.familysearch.org · FreeThe free site run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with indexes and images of millions of parish registers worldwide.For this family: Check baptisms for John Cliff at High Easter and High Roding, and Margaret Elles at Great Dunmow.FreeBMD www.freebmd.org.uk · FreeA volunteer index of births, marriages and deaths registered in England and Wales from 1837, giving the quarter, district and reference needed to order certificates.For this family: Find John Perkins’s real death (Bristol area, after 1901) and Charles Simpson’s death.General Register Office (GRO) www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates · Free index; certificates paidThe official register for England and Wales. Its online index shows mothers’ maiden names on births, and you can order certificates or PDFs.For this family: Order death certificates where the tree is unsure, such as Charles Simpson and John Perkins.FreeCEN www.freecen.org.uk · FreeFree volunteer transcriptions of the 1841–1891 censuses. Coverage is patchy but growing.For this family: Try Union Street and Wyatt Street, Maidstone, in 1851 for Edward Okill and the Okill household.Geni www.geni.com · Free / paidA collaborative ‘world tree’ where profiles are shared and edited by many users. Useful for leads on gentry families; unsourced profiles need checking.For this family: Source of the Lady Anne Clifford (Stafford) profile in the de Clifford section.Find a Grave www.findagrave.com · FreeVolunteer photographs and transcriptions of gravestones and memorials.For this family: Look for the Felsted Wright graves and Anthony Bentall Wright, whose stone is hard to read in the scan.
Archives and record offices
Where the original documents are kept. Their online catalogues tell you what exists, even when the documents themselves are only on paper.
The National Archives — Discovery discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk · Free catalogueThe catalogue of the UK’s national archive at Kew, also listing records held in local archives. Includes court, police and military records.For this family: Central Criminal Court records (CRIM series) for Charlie’s manslaughter trial; Metropolitan Police pension records (MEPO 21) for Solomon Simpson; army records for Cliff’s Athens medal.Essex Archives Online www.essexarchivesonline.co.uk · Free catalogue; images by subscriptionThe Essex Record Office catalogue, with digitised images of Essex parish registers.For this family: Source of the 1792 Great Dunmow marriage register. Also has the Felsted, High Easter, High Roding and Boreham registers.Kent Archives www.kentarchives.org.uk · Free catalogueThe catalogue of the Kent History and Library Centre in Maidstone: parish registers, county council records and police records for Kent.For this family: Source of the Kent County Council minutes (CC/M/1/7) that name George Henry Okill as a police pensioner.Kent Police Museum en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_Police_MuseumThe museum of Kent’s police history at Faversham, which holds material on former officers of the Kent County Constabulary.For this family: Ask about George Henry Okill’s service: joining date, rank and stations.BP Archive (University of Warwick) warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc · Free catalogueBP’s company archive is held at the University of Warwick, alongside its Modern Records Centre.For this family: Records of Clifford Simpson’s appointment as Managing Director of BP for West Africa in the 1950s.
Newspapers, courts and gazettes
For events the family remembered but that left no certificate: trials, awards and local news.
British Newspaper Archive www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk · SubscriptionSearchable scans of hundreds of British local and national newspapers, from the 1700s to the late 1900s.For this family: Local papers such as the Essex Times should report Charlie’s accident and trial, with the date and the victim’s name.Old Bailey Online www.oldbaileyonline.org · FreeThe full printed proceedings of London’s central criminal court, 1674–1913.For this family: Stops in 1913, so it is too early for Charlie’s trial, but useful for any earlier London cases in the family.The London Gazette www.thegazette.co.uk · FreeThe UK’s official public record, published since 1665. It announces military honours and awards, bankruptcies and probate notices.For this family: Look for Clifford Simpson’s award in the 1945–46 supplements; foreign awards to British servicemen were often gazetted.
Local history and sources quoted in the scrapbook
The specific pages used for the October 2026 research notes.
Hasted’s History of Kent — Bobbing www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol6/pp192-203 · FreeEdward Hasted’s 1798 history of the parish of Bobbing, on British History Online, tracing the Savage and Clifford owners of Bobbing Court.For this family: Names George Clifford’s eldest son Henry as heir, and never mentions a Pattenden.History of Parliament www.historyofparliamentonline.org · FreeBiographies of every MP, from the medieval period onwards, written by professional historians.For this family: The biography of Sir Conyers Clifford, MP for Pembroke Boroughs in 1593.Bobbing Court pedigree (Twentytrees) twentytrees.co.uk/Guest/England/Place/Bobbing_Court__Kent.html · FreeA compiled list of births and marriages of the Clifford family at Bobbing Court.For this family: Dates George Clifford and Ursula Finch’s children to c. 1561–1566, ruling them out as Henrie Pattenden’s parents.Cliff–Campion family (Fay Sampson) faysampson.co.uk/family-history/alan-marchs-family-history/8-cliff-campion · FreeAnother family historian’s transcriptions of the Cliff family of High Roding and High Easter, Essex.For this family: Gives a John Cliff baptised at High Roding on 8 September 1771, a possible match for the John Cliff who married in 1792.Union Street, Maidstone (British Listed Buildings) britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101225503-100-and-100a-union-street-maidstone-high-street-ward · FreeThe Historic England listing for houses on Union Street, Maidstone.For this family: Shows Union Street (Edward Okill, 1850) meets Wyatt Street (Thomas Joseph Okill’s birthplace).Romford joins the Metropolitan Police (National Archives) beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C556000 · FreeA catalogue entry recording that Romford moved from the Essex Constabulary to the Metropolitan Police District in 1965.For this family: Raises the question of whether Solomon Simpson was really a Met constable at Romford.Felsted history (Recording Uttlesford History) recordinguttlesfordhistory.org.uk/felsted/Felsted%20History.html · FreeA local history society’s pages on Felsted, its church, school and families.For this family: Background for the Wright family of Felsted.