baptism Archives - Geneageek

Mary Wilcox – A Minor Mystery Solved

(continued from previous post: Who was Mary Wilcox?)

The first step was to do a ‘blanket search’ for Mary born c1828. There was another Mary Wilcox of a similar age recorded in the 1841 census, however this one was recorded with her parents, so I was able to rule out any record for this daughter of William and Jane Wilcox.

I found a baptism record for Mary of the correct age – born 22 October 1828 (baptised 1832), daughter of snaffle maker John Wilcox and his wife, Mary. This means she was 12 at the time of the 1841 census which matched up neatly with the Mary Wilcox recorded with the Thomasons. But another clue lay in where she was baptised – the ‘Independent’ Bridge Street Chapel, Walsall. This was the same place Hannah Craddock and her brother Samuel had been baptised about two decades before. Samuel Craddock was also a snaffle maker, indicating a possible family trade.

Baptism entry — 1832 Baptism of Mary Wilcox – Bridge Street Chapel, Walsall

But where was the Craddock link?

I searched for the marriage of John and Mary and… BINGO! There was a marriage on 1 November 1824 at West Bromwich of John Wilcox and Mary Craddock. (Unfortunately there was no image.)

I was unable to find a baptism record for Harriet Wilcox, but did find her with parents John and Mary in the 1841 census. This supports my theory that the Harriet Wilcox, also with the Wheeley family on the 1851 census, was the sister of Mary Wilcox.

family entry from 1841 census — Wilcox family on 1841 census – Blue Lane, Walsall

So, there we are – minor mystery solved:

Mary Wilcox was the niece of Hannah Wheeley (nee Craddock); daughter of Hannah’s sister Mary Wilcox (nee Craddock).

We will probably never know if Lydia Thomason (nee Walton) was introduced to Samuel Craddock by Mary or vice versa – but we at least know that connection was there.

However, another minor mystery has emerged…

Mary’s sister, Harriet Wilcox, went on to marry miner James Pearson in 1855 – was he related to Mary’s fellow servant, Sarah Pearson, in the 1841 census? I think I’ll leave that one for ‘another day’.

For Eva

Poor little Eva Rogers.

Not only did she die at just 3 years of age, but she was buried under the wrong name!

To be fair, this error is likely confined to the burial register – a slip up by the rector confusing the names of two sisters – but I can’t help but feel a little indignation for the wee lass.

Eva’s older sister, Ada Rogers was born in 1859 and was only 18 years old when she died in 1877.

Eva Rogers was born two years after her sister in 1861 and baptised in November at Newport, Shropshire, England.

As she was born and died between censuses, I only know of Eva’s existence due to trawling the Newport, Shropshire parish records on FindMyPast. But still, her burial did not appear in the burial records. However, there was a burial of ‘another’ Ada Rogers in 1865. I already knew Eva’s sister, Ada (who did appear on censuses) died in 1877 so who was this other Ada? At first I thought there was a transcription error but the record clearly showed ‘Ada Rogers’.

Burial of Eva Rogers (mistranscribed as Ada) 1865

Fortunately, Eva was registered under the correct name as can be seen in the GRO index.

The surname, death place and age at death match so I can surmise the rector simply had ‘a bit of a slip-up’ at the time of recording in the burial register. I feel glad that I was able to uncover the mistake and reestablish her place in the family tree.

ALLEN a day’s work

In a previous post (from 2010!), my next steps were to:

Find ALLEN birth entries in Harborne parish registers
Locate family members on 1841 census (and beyond)
Find marriage record in Halesowen parish registers
Determine Isaac and Ann’s birthplaces/dates

1) These are all the baptisms I could find in the Harborne parish register:

Note that despite living in Birmingham at the time, the family still returned to Harborne to baptise Isaac and Mary Ann in 1826 and 1829.

2) The ALLENs were eventually located on the 1841 census in Churchill, Worcestershire near Kidderminster (there are quite a few Churchills I found out!). The family lived ‘next door’ to the Rectory but I am still unable to determine the exact whereabouts so far. Isaac and daughter, Mary were still there in 1851 – his wife Ann had since died.

3) The original Halesowen (Worcestershire) registers have not yet been seen by me but I was able to find a transcription here which gives the marriage date of Isaac ALLEN (bachelor) and Ann Phillis GEALEY (spinster) – both of the parish – as 26 August 1821.

St John’s Church, Halesowen c.1910 via Footsteps

4.a) The 1851 census gave Isaac’s birthplace as Moseley, Warwickshire, and sure enough an Isaac was born to Jeremiah & [Phebe] Allen in 1792 and baptised at the Moseley parish church – St Mary.

Moseley Parish Church – originally Worcestershire, later Warwickshire

4.b) I have not been able to view Halesowen baptisms c.1790 so have not yet located Ann Phillis Gealey’s baptism but believe that is where she may be found.

NEXT STEPS:

Find Ann Phillis Gealey’s baptism
Locate siblings on 1851 census & beyond

Yeomans of Brum

stphilips1829 — St Philips Church, Birmingham c.1829 (where William & Catherine Yeomans were wed)

While tracing back through the life of James YEOMANS recently, I came to a standstill at his birth. There were two likely baptismal records of Josephs whose fathers were both called William but which one was the correct one? One had a mother called Mary, the other, Elizabeth. Never mind, I thought, I’ll just use the censuses.

1822josephside — Possible baptismal records of Joseph Yeomans side by side

The problem was however, that I couldn’t find Joseph YEOMANS in the 1841 census – the one that could give me his parents names and take me another step back in the line. I had Joseph’s marriage record so knew he was married in St. Philip’s Church, Birmingham in 1845 (now Birmingham Cathedral) and the ’51 and ’61 censuses located him there. A general name search (variants on and off) and an area limiting search came up with nothing. It’s possible he was living/staying elsewhere that night but also possible the transcription was askew.

yeomanssandford1845 — Marriage certificate of Joseph YEOMANS & Catherine SANDFORD

The marriage certificate gives his father’s name as William YEOMANS – a tin plate worker. Joseph’s precise age is not given, only ‘of Full age’ to indicate he was at least 21. The 1851 census gives 27 which means he would only be 17 in 1841 and likely (although not guaranteed) still living at home. Locating it would hopefully solve the issue of which mother was his.

William and Mary YEOMANS were found quite easily, yet I could not find William and Elizabeth.

wrongwilliam — 1841 census entry of a William and Mary Yeomans

Presuming it was likely a different spelling of the name, Yeomans, I searched using a variety of name combinations. Finally, I searched for Jos* Yeomans and huzzah! There he was WITH his father William and mother, Elizabeth, who had been recorded as Wm & Elizth. For further proof this was the right family, both Joseph and his father were recorded as Tin Plate workers AND they were living on Summer Lane (the address given on Joseph’s marriage certificate).

1841josh — 1841 census entry of Joseph Yeomans, with his parents William and Elizabeth

His age was a couple years out from the birth years given on subsequent censuses but it fit very well with the 1822 baptismal record.

Interesting to note that he gives his age as 1 year younger than his wife, Catherine on the 1851 census and 1 year older than her on the 1861 census which are both 2/3 years younger than his actual age.

Saint vs Saints

I have done a LOAD more research on the Lamb/Rollett family and found what I believe are answers to some of the questions I posed in my previous post (which I will write about later, I promise) but I’ve just come back from a quick trip to Derby and inputting the information into my online tree has thrown up ANOTHER question.

While at the Derby Local Histories & Family History Library, I found the baptism entries for William Henry LAMB & Rebecca TAYLOR’s children on a parish register microfilm. Their 5 oldest children were baptised at All Saints, Derby (which is now known as Derby Cathedral) all on the same day – 11th March 1849. Beside the first column, the children’s actual birth dates were also recorded – the eldest, John, being born nearly 10 years previous.

This is not that unusual and I have come across this before in my research over the years. However, these children had already been baptised as infants in St Alkmund’s Church!

StAlkmunds_Church_in_1906 — St Alkmund’s Church, Derby c.1906

Now, I have heard of some children being re-baptised after changing religions or denominations; I’ve even heard of some being re-baptised after moving to a new area. But St Alkmund’s & All Saints are both Church of England AND within a stone’s throw of each other so those explanations don’t fit.

antique-maps-Town-Plans-80-1 — Plan of the Town of Derby c.1817 – arrows indicate the locations of All Saints & St Alkmund’s churches

Researching the church of St Alkmund’s shows that it was rebuilt 1844-46 (during the time some of the children were originally baptised); perhaps there was some issue surrounding this? The only other thought that has come to mind is some kind of scandal where there were concerns the children were not legitimately baptised.

If anyone can shed some light on this, or pose an alternative explanation, please contact me.