46 Literary and Philosophical Society. 



occurrences are not recent, and there are no collateral 

 circumstances to assist us in identifying the parties, we 

 must naturally be left in the dark. A gentleman in the 

 West Riding of Yorkshire, some years ago, felt the full 

 weight of this defect. Being desirous of forming a genea- 

 logical account of his family, he applied to the register of 

 the parish ; and though he collected nearly 100 baptisms 

 and as many burials in the last century, there was not one 

 circumstance that would enable him to digest them into any 

 form, and to ascertain the respective branch to which each 

 party belonged. Where families of the same name reside 

 within the same parish, there will arise difficulties in pro- 

 portion ; and after the expiration of half a century, it will 

 be impossible to distinguish the descendants of one house 

 from those of another. There lived some years ago, in the 

 neighbourhood of Thirsk, three respectable families, nearly 

 allied, of the name of Kitchingman ; and on examining 

 the parish register, I find it verifies my assertion. 



' Mr. Bigland had his eye upon these defects, when he 

 observes, " It is of importance to every family, not excepting 

 the least considerable, to pay some regard to their pedigrees, 

 and consequently that every circumstance, whether of a 

 public or private nature, that tends to illustrate genealogical 

 intelligence, should be attended to with the most religious 

 exactness." 



' Let us then view the last mentioned names, registered 

 according to the form, at the end of these remarks. With 

 the addition of collateral circumstances, we shall easily 

 distinguish the object of pursuit, whether it may regard the 

 title of our property, or only the gratification of an inquiry 

 natural to those who are desirous of knowing whence they 

 are descended. We have therefore allotted the third 



