Askew, Ascough or Ayscough

Here we go again. I had found the family of James Ascough on the 1851 and 1861 census, so I was searching for his birth on familysearch.org. There the IGI is now available online instead of having to trawl through CD's at the library as I have done in the past. I found James' christening on 27th March 1808 in Toynton All Saints, the adjacent village to Toynton St Peter where he was on the later census. But his surname was recorded as Ayscough, with his parents named as John and Elizabeth Ayscough. I also found the christening records of James' siblings Mary (25th January 1807 in Toynton St Peter) and William, christened on the same day as James. So they could be twins, or they were just christened together.

I then found the christening of their father John Ayscough on 4th November 1781 in Toynton St Peter with his parents recorded as John and Mary Ayscough. John was christened with the surname Ascough on 20th October 1758 in Toynton St Peter. His parents were Thomas and Susanah Ascough. They had five children: Mary, Thomas, John, Elizabeth and Edward. All were christened Ascough except for Elizabeth whose surname was Askew. And they were all christened in Toynton St Peter from 1754 to 1760 except for Edward in Toynton All Saints in 1764. And it is in the churchyard of Toynton All Saints that John, christened in 1758, is buried in 1844 having gained the grand old age of 85, and his son John, christened in 1781, is also buried this time in 1846. All courtesy of the National Burial Index. The photo below is of  the church of Toynton All Saints..

That is it as far as my searches go on the IGI. What is interesting is how the surname has changed over the years. From Ascough or Askew to Ayscough in the eighteenth century, to Ascough again when those recording the census in the mid nineteenth century wrote down the name, and finally to Askew when George's birth was registered in 1852. And that generations of the same family worked in agriculture, the only employment available in the wilds of Lincolnshire.

The five generations from Toynton are Thomas Ascough born around 1735, his son John christened 20th October 1758, his son John christened 4th November 1781, his son James christened 27th March 1808 and his son George born 27th December 1852.

Above is the church of Toynton St Peter.