Week 5 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

In the Census

Why was Ann Elizabeth Grant not with her husband and children in the 1871 Census? ¹ 

The headstone clearly shows that she did not die until 1896.

She is with her family in the 1861 census. ² 

By the time we get to the 1881 census, ³  she is listed as a widow and head of the household. 

Her husband Edward had died in 1879, 4 and her occupation was now listed as a nurse.

So where was she in 1871 if not at the family home.

A search of the census records revealed that there was an Ann Eliz. Grant born in Lyndhurst, Hants. whose occupation is listed as Carrier. She is enumerated at Hants County Prison in St Faith, Winchester, Hampshire and listed as an inmate. 5  

Why was she there what was her crime and sentence?

I found this before any criminal records had been made available online and I do not live near the Hampshire Archives. However, I managed to elicit some help from another descendant of Ann who has also been researching this family.

This is what has been posted on her tree at Ancestry.

I have subsequently been able to find digital images of criminal records and newspaper reports.

This is a transcript of a report from The Hampshire Advertiser, March 1, 1871, p. 3, col. 3, entitled "Larceny by a Bailee."

Ann Elizabeth Grant, carrier, aged53, was indicted for stealing a watch, at Lyndhurst, on November 15th.

Mr. Beetham prosecuted, and called prosecutrix, Ann Hedgerton, a single woman, who intrusted her with a silver watch to take to Mr. Pegler's, at Southampton, to be cleaned. She was to bring it back in a week, but failing this, prosecutrix went, after another week's delay, to prisoner to get it. She made a variety of excuses, and eventually went with prosecutrix to Mr. Pegler's shop, where she said she had left it there, but they denied it entirely. It was found at Mr. Cotten's shop, a pawnbroker in St. Michael's square, where, on December 19th, prisoner, he believed, pledged it, and came on February 6th to take it out again. It was pawned in the name of Ann Green, of French street.

Mr. Russell, for the defence, urged that Mr. Pegler and his shopman should have been called, and also that Mr. Cotten was not sure prisoner pledged it, but only went so far as to say she took it out of pawn. He suggested to the jury that it was pledged by some other woman, and traced out by prisoner.

The Judge, in summing up, put the ingenious defence on one side, and the jury found her guilty, recommending her to mercy on account of her age and former good conduct as a carrier. She was told her character was lost by this affair, which was most clear. The sentence on her would be six weeks imprisonment with hard labour.

It is interesting what a single census record can lead one to discover. 

I will share more about this in another post.

1. "1871 England Census," database with images, Ancestry.co.uk (https://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 11 January 2005), digital image, enumerators schedule, household of Edward Grant, Lyndhurst, Hampshire, England; citing The National Archives (TNA), RG10, Piece 1184, Folio 17, p. 2, New Forest Registration district, Lyndhurst subdistrict, ED 1d, household 10
2. "1861 England Census" database with images, Ancestry.co.uk (https://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 5 February 2007), digital image, enumerators schedule, household of Edward Grant, Lyndhurst, Hampshire, England; ; citing The National Archives (TNA), RG9, Piece 670, Folio 20, p. 33, New Forest Registration district, Lyndhurst subdistrict, ED 1d, household 169.
3. "1881 England Census" database with images, Ancestry.co.uk (https://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 13 ‎April ‎2005), digital image, enumerators schedule, household of Ann E. Grant, Lyndhurst, Hampshire, England; citing The National Archives (TNA), RG11, Piece 1202, Folio 42, p. 41, New Forest registration district, sub district Lyndhurst, ED 2, household 235.
4. General Register Office, England, certified copy of an entry in the certified copy of a Register of Deaths, New Forest Registration District, 18 January 1879, entry for Edward Grant, died 14 January 1879, Pike Hill, Lyndhurst, Hampshire, England; photocopy certificate, issued 14 April 2010, New Forest Registration district, Vol. 2b, P. 447, General Register Office, Southport, England.
5. "1871 England Census" database with images, Ancestry.co.uk (https://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 13 ‎April ‎2005), digital image, enumerators schedule, entry for Ann Eliz. Grant, Winchester, Hampshire, England; citing The National Archives (TNA), RG10, Piece 1212, Folio 99, p. 6, Winchester registration district, sub district Winchester, ED County Prison, Line 6.

Piecing it all Together - A Family Story Part 1

Original post published 13th February 2014 on my blog http://genemeet.blogspot.co.uk/

Much of the pleasure many family historians get when researching their family is from using detective skills to discover the truth.
We gather the information and piece it together so that using the genealogical proof standards we can say that given all this evidence this is what I believe to be the conclusion.

I have one part of my husband's tree which has and still is proving difficult to  establish.
My husband's paternal gt grandmother died in Lincolnshire in the late 1960's at the age of 90.
On her death certificate the place of birth had been changed, from Gunby, Lincolnshire where she died, to Aldershot and her maiden name was recorded as Clark. This information came from her unmarried son who lived with her.

Her marriage certificate recorded her name as Elizabeth Agnes Clarke and her father as George Augustus Clarke whose occupation was Army Pensioner. The witnesses were Frederick Agustus Clarke, Samuel Gadsby, Jane Emma Gadsby and Ruth Avendar. Three of these were obviously relatives but what about the fourth one with a somewhat unusual surname.

I thought nothing more about a possible connection to the family maybe she was a friend or cousin.
Next to find Elizabeth on the 1901 census, she had married in 1900 and was found with her husband and eldest son and her birthplace recorded as Hants Farnboro. 

Farnborough is on the Hampshire/Surrey border near Aldershot which is known for its connection to the British Army and fits with information found on the death and marriage certificate. Both places are in the Hartley Wintney registration district and I found a birth registration for her and the copy birth certificate was obtained.

The date of birth matched that given on the death certificate and the parents were George and Elizabeth Clarke late Perry formerly Flowers.
The index to the 1881 census was available on the Family search website and I found the family living in Grantham, Lincolnshire. Elizabeth had 2 older siblings Frederick and Rebecca the eldest age 5. 

This indicated a marriage 6 years earlier or possibly longer all the children were born in Farnboro so this was the first place to search for the parents marriage. George was recorded as being born in Ireland and his wife Elizabeth in Marston, Lincs.

Their marriage had taken place in Farnborough and the church record is now available on the Ancestry website. 

The copy marriage certificate which tallies with the church record indicates that both George and Elizabeth were widowed her surname at marriage was Perrey and their fathers were William Clarke Pensioner and William Flowers Labourer respectively. Ages were not recorded but both stated they were of full age.

So far things are straightforward. It was relatively easy to pick up Elizabeth on the earlier census with her parents. She is recorded in the 1851 census as Eliza Flowers living in Marston, Lincolnshire.

The marriage to George took place in 1874 so I needed to find her in the 1861 and 1871 census.
I also needed to find her marriage to the first husband a Mr Perry/Perrey.
Who was George Clarke's deceased wife?
Were there any children from the previous marriages?
There were no older children on the 1881 census what had happened to any children from previous marriages?
It may have been at this point that I made contact with a fellow researcher. She is a distant cousin, a descendant of William Flowers by a brother of Eliza/ Elizabeth. She sent me a skeleton tree that she had built of the family and I set out to confirm what she had sent was correct.
At the time I was doing this research there were much less digital records available online and I had limited time to make research trips.
I shall continue this in my next blog post.