Help with William Hammond Marsh 1816

[Kaybron]

I am trying to find further details relating to William Hammond Marsh born about 1816.  These are the details that I have so far:

William Marsh married Frances Higginbottom on Oct 28 1838.  They were married by banns in the Parish of Sheffield, Yorkshire.  William is aged 22, a Farmer and his father is listed as Solomon Marsh, a Farmer.  Frances is aged 22 years and her place of residence was Wicken.  Father is Jos^h, a Farmer.

William and Frances Marsh in 1841 are living in Yorkshire Handsworth (HO 107/1331/5) William is aged 25 years and a coal miner, Fanny is aged 25 years and they are living with her mother Hannah and brothers John and Thomas.

Frances died and William married a second time.   To find out his second wife's details I ordered a birth record for one of the children who came out on the Marion.  Charlotte Ann Marsh,  born 11 May 1849 Ashover in the County of Derby, Father William Marsh and mother Sarah Marsh, formerly Cutler. 

1851 Census William is in Ashover, Chesterfield, Derbyshire with wife Sarah and children Mary (9),  Elizabeth (3) Charlotte (1) and William 9 months.

William states he was born Huntingdon Marsh in the 1851 Census.  His occupation is given as a Coal Miner.

The family migrate to Australia in 1854, arriving in South Australia on 10 December 1854 on the ship Marion.

There is a marriage for Sarah Cutler and William Marsh in 1849 in Chesterfield, Derbyshire.  I did send away for this certificate but cannot find it.  I do remember that father's name for William was Solomon.

I also have a birth entry for Hannah Marsh, a daughter of William and Frances, to confirm the surname of William's first wife.  Hannah was born 24 November 1844 in Gleadless.  In 1851 Hannah is not with her father William and stepmother Sarah, but is living with her grandmother Hannah Higginbottom, a widow aged 75 years. Thomas Taylor, a grandson aged 19 years is also with them. They are all living in Gleadless.  Hannah was on the Marion bound for Sth Aust. in 1854.

If possible, I would like to find out details about when and where William Marsh was born and details relating to his parents.   When in South Australia, William used the name William Hammond Marsh.

Regards Kaybron

[warncoort]

Unpublished IGI batches here.
http://www.archersoftware.co.uk/igi/fs-hun.htm#H

[bedfordshire boy]

I think you're in the wrong county. The 1851 gives a birthplace of what I read to be Huntington Marsh, not Huntingdon Marsh. Huntington, as opposed to Huntingdon, is in Yorkshire.

Of course nothing is ever straightforward as in 1841 William says he wasn't born in Yorkshire, but Fanny says she was. There's a baptism on the IGI of Frances Higginbottom on 12 May 1816 at Handsworth Yorks, dau of Joseph and Hannah, which ties in with the 1841 census.

Just in case 1851 is an enumeration error, I've checked Huntingdonshire Marriage Index and there are no marriages of a Solomon Marsh

[Kaybron]

Thank you bedfordshire boy.  I will request a moderator put this on the Yorkshire board and hopefully will receive some assistance.

[venelow]

Hi Kaybron

I looked at William's entry in the 1851 census and note that in the Where Born column the enumerator has listed every place with the county name first. So it appears to me that the name of the place is Marsh and the County where Marsh is situated is Huntington(shire).  There is no county called Huntington so the County is Huntingdon. People often used t instead of d, or may he have been hard of hearing.

However, there does not appear to be a place called Marsh in Huntingdonshire. There is the town of March in Cambridgeshire that is quite close to what was formerly Huntingdonshire which I believe is now mostly in Cambridgeshire.

It is quite possible that the enumerator in Derbyshire was not aware of the place called March and thought William said Marsh, that already being in his mind because it was William's surname. Or if William was very young when he left his birth place he could also be confused between Marsh and March.

That's my theory about where William's POB could be.

Have you tried looking for siblings of William to see where they were born? Did any of his sibs witness the marriage?  I don't don't have any ideas as to why he used the name Hammond except the usual one that illegitimacy could be involved. Therefore his birth name could be Hammond.

Good Luck with your search
Venelow

[Kaybron]

Thank you Warncoort, Bedfordshire boy and Venelow for your replies. 

I have not been able to establish where William Hammond Marsh was born and therefore have not been able to find out any details relating to his parents and siblings, if any. 

The 1838 marriage record of William and Frances Higginbottom has 2 witnesses, Samuel Higginbottom and J Hudson.   I will try and find the second marriage certificate and look at the witnesses, but I don't think this will give me much more to work on.

I have also checked Trove records in Australia hoping that there was a detailed obituary for William Hammond Marsh in one of the papers.  William Hammond Marsh was one of the early settlers in Grace Plains, South Australia.  There is only a death notice in the paper.

Regards Kaybron

[venelow]

Hi Again Kaybron

With regards finding siblings for William you do have a parent with a fairly unusual name so a couple of records on Family Search may be worth exploring.

On 27 September 1853 a Joseph Marsh aged 41 years (b. about 1812) married Elizabeth Handford in Manchester. His father is stated to be Solomon.

On 3rd October 1838 a William Marsh was baptized at St Mary's, Sheffield. The parents were Solomon Marsh and Charlotte.

The original records should be looked at in case there is additional information that could be helpful.

Venelow

[Kaybron]

Thank you venelow.  I will follow both of these up.  The 1853 marriage of a Joseph Marsh sounds promising as the birth date ties in with William who was born around 1816.  Joseph could possibly be a brother.

Regards Kaybron