Genealogy Chat

There is, on Ancestral Files, a massive tree which encompasses my main family. I got very excited when I found it (I was new to the Internet). It has my 4 x GGM marrying her own son five years before he was born - which no doubt helps to explain why she had 45 children, some of them only two months apart, and about 18 after she died. On one particularly arduous day, she gave birth in the morning, walked eight miles to a neighbouring parish to have the new-born baptised, went home and gave birth again, walking five miles the other way to have the newest baptised with the same first name as its twin! (And neither of these baptism actually appear in either Parish Register - I know, cos I have looked). Sadly, it is all tripe - someone has collected every event in the same area and decided they must all be the same family without giving the slightest consideration to what the facts actually say. Olde Crone

I don't think so as Joseph born in Colebourne also appears on 1851 census. I think the ancestral filer just got a birth and baptism for someone with the same name and bunged them together, although anyone with a brain could see that you can't be baptised before you are born! nell

Is it possible that the first died when young and the name was used again for a second child? Kat

Aileen I am fairly certain this chap is mine, though I wouldn't go as far as 100%! I have a Joseph Williams on the 1851 census born Rendcombe in 1803, but when I looked at the actual image, his age has been crossed over so it is impossible to tell what is is. However, this Joseph is with his wife Elizabeth who was born in Syde, which is a small Gloucestershire village. Elizabeth born in Syde appears in later censuses with Joseph, whose age give a various birth year of around 1807/8. In 1851 Joseph and Elizabeth are with their son William, who is definitely (again info drawn from what is on later censuses) my great-great-grandfather. There are other clues which help confirm my suspicions, such as - in 1851 Joseph & Eliz have a daughter Louisa. I've found a marriage for a Louisa Williams to a George Blackwell. On 1861 census there is a male Blackwell child staying with Jos & Eliz. It says he is a 'lodger' but I think he is probably their grandchild, Louisa's son. Also lodging with them is William Mealing, whose sister Ann married my gt gt grandfather William Williams. This seems to confirm the family connection. I hope this makes sense! But I was disappointed yesterday to get a death cert for a chap I thought was my William Williams. He was the right age for my man, and died just after the last census in which I have William. His death was also registered in the rihgt reg district. But sadly the cert is for a chap who was a butcher, whereas my Wm was just another ag lab!! nell

Helen, tis is a bit off track but how do you really know for certain that that particular person is 'yours'? The reason I ask is that I have been quite lucky so far with relatively unusual names but have now come across Wrights, Williams and Wilsons. Last night I was looking at some entries that seemed to tie up, and thinking 'I bet there are a million Mary Anns married to Alfred Williams in East London in the same area of my rellies- are these mine?' I think I'm starting to get paranoid so if you can give me any advice, please it would be great! Aileenx

And only today, surfing for a marriage, I found six entries for the same name - five submitted entries gave the marriage as the year 1720, the sixth, a Parish Register Extraction, gave the correct year of 1722. Something to do with the first child being baptised in 1721, no doubt - but honestly, as Gary says, why bother? And I wonder about the wild mis-spellings of personal names and place names - I saw LANDCASHIRE today. Ok, I'm not familiar with American geography, so don't expect any Americans to be familiar with English geography, but wouldn't you have thought, if you had researched your family back that far, that you might have been interested enough to look it up on a map? Olde Crone

i have also found somebody who as took everybody married in Melbourne, Derbyshire around 1820, a good few years ether side, and submited there birth as being 21 years earlier, even though, one of mine was in his 50s on a second marriage, why would you do this, beyond me.

In fact, this is my chap: JOSEPH WILLIAMS Christening: 22 FEB 1807 Rendcomb, Gloucester, England Parents: Father: JOSEPH WILLIAMS Mother: MARY from the IGI. nell

Looking for my gt gt gt grandfather's baptism, I found this chap who cleverly got baptised 7 years before being born in a different village: Joseph WILLIAMS (AFN: BB09-C5) Pedigree Sex: M Family Event(s): Birth: Abt 1814 <Colesborne, Gloucester, England> Christening: 22 Feb 1807 Rendcomb, Gloucestershire, England Death: 1888 nell

from www.familysearch.org