Blog: Beating about the Bush in Messing

Ahead of Messing about with Maps on Saturday 19 March 2016, archivist Lawrence Barker takes a look at one of the most famous stories connected with Messing’s past.

On Saturday 19 March 2016 we are taking a selection of historic maps and documents relating to Messing for display for one day only in the village hall. Messing is a pretty village in the east of Essex, near to Tiptree and Kelvedon. The aim of the event (and others like it that we run around the county) is to enable members of the local community, and anyone else with an interest in Essex history, to come and see these pop-up displays without having to travel to our base in Chelmsford.

Messing was chosen as a location for an outreach event when the church’s copy of the parish tithe map of 1839 was deposited with us for conservation and safe-keeping. The local residents who found it in their church were particularly keen to have it shown to others who live in Messing so they could discover part of their history.

As part of that history, inevitably, the connection with former US Presidents Bush, whose ancestors are thought to have come from Messing, came to mind. The connection is provided by one Reynold Bush ‘of Messing’ who is recorded as an emigrant to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1631.  So, we are also taking along some parish registers which feature Bush ancestors and the surviving will of a Reynold Bush of Feering dated 1602 (Feering is about 2.5 miles west of Messing).  But, as with most family history research for ancestors before the arrival of civil registration and censuses in the 19th century, the connection can only be regarded as conjectural and not factual.D-ABW -120 Regnold Bush name

The will of ‘Regnolde’ Bush possibly relates to a ‘Renould’ Bush whose burial is recorded in the Feering parish register (D/P 231/1/1) dated 16 March 1601/2, although the will is dated at the top 17 March 1601/2, the day after the burial.  Wills are key records in family history research because they are one of the few documents which show family relationships before the arrival of censuses in the 19th century.  So, the will shows that Reynold Bush senior was married to Judith and he states that they had five children.  Four of them are mentioned by name and a family tree can be constructed (below) by matching them with their baptisms in the parish registers:

Bush family tree

John Bush is possibly the eldest, as he is mentioned first as the beneficiary of the two main properties belonging to his father, and he is possibly the John Bush baptised at Messing in 1594. Both his daughter Anna and his youngest son Reynold appear in the Feering register, so his father possibly moved to Feering from Messing.  William doesn’t appear in either register but perhaps comes between John and Anna.

Baptism entry for Reynold Bush, 17 August 1600, in the Feering parish register. Could this be the Reynold Bush who emigrated to America in 1631?

Baptism entry for Reynold Bush, 17 August 1600, in the Feering parish register. Could this be the Reynold Bush who emigrated to America in 1631?

Several times in his will Reynold Bush senior refers to property or money which his children were to inherit when they had reached full age and that in the meantime, his wife Judith was to receive the rents from letting some of his various properties to pay for their upbringing. Thus he must have died relatively young and showed an obvious concern that he was going to die leaving his wife to bring up his five children by herself.  Eventually, his youngest son Reynold stood to inherit about £80, a tidy sum in Elizabethan times and enough to pay for passage and settlement in the New World if, indeed, Reynold Bush junior was that emigrant ‘from Messing’ in 1631.

See the original will for yourself at Messing about with Maps:

Messing about with Maps

A fascinating glimpse into the past of the historic village of Messing through maps kept at the Essex Record Office, the oldest of which dates back to 1650. Join us for this one-off opportunity to see these beautiful and unique historic documents. You can find out more about one of the maps which will be on display on the day here.

Saturday 19 March 2016 10.30pm-3.00pm

Messing Village Hall, The Street, Messing, Essex CO5 9TN

No need to book. Tickets are free (suggested donation £2.00)

2 thoughts on “Blog: Beating about the Bush in Messing

  1. Very interested in the connection with the Bush family as I have a Philip Bush marrying Susan Sach in Messing in 1670 and subsequently having children baptised there. Unfortunately cannot find any sign of a baptism for Philip in Messing or surrounding parishes.

    • Best of luck with your ongoing researches! Publishing this here in case anyone comes across it and can help

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