John Aston - Birmingham 1830-1850

[ericthepenguin1]

Hi Guys

I am pretty sure no one can help, but i do not know what else i can do to find my Great (4) Grandfather, John Aston. Anyway here goes

I am pretty sure he was born 1770-1780, (his wife Ann Penryn was born in Whitchurch, Shropshire 1778, and they married in Westminster 1798)

Facts

I know they moved up to Birmingham around 1815
I know John had 13 children, (5 Baptisms were carried out at the same time at St Phillips in 1820, per the Baptism record he was a Merchants Clerk)
He was alive in 1829 as he signed his daughter,  Elizabeth Aston, marriage certificate, (up in London, married name Watmough)
There is no entry on any census for him
On the 1851 Census his wife Ann is living with 4 of their children and states she is a widow, (I cannot find a 1841 Census entry for her)

So we know he died between 1829 and 1850. As regards any possible suspects in the Birmingham area all I can find is a burial record at St Peter and St Paul dated 14/3/1837 for a John Aston, Born around 1774, (I cannot find any details of an inscription on a gravestone that has been recorded). I did find a small obituary but this gave me nothing more than i already knew. The John Aston buried lived at Park Place. If you look at the 1841 census the Park Place area seems to be resided in by a similar class of people, (I guess you could say middle class).

I can find no other John Astons that may fit the bill. Of course he may never have died or buried in Birmingham. I know per the census one of his children was Born in Handsworth, (Staffordshire), in 1825

Thanks for reading this post and I hope that someone may be able to help me.

Cheers

Eric

[jim1]

Very good of him to put down where all the children were born under "abode" which only means where they are living at the time of the Baptisms.
I can't see another John Aston death in or around B'ham that fits with his DOB.
You can download the St. Peter & St. Paul M.I's from here:
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01cb6/ 
However according to this his isn't amongst them:
http://www.hunimex.com/warwick/mi/mi_aston_pp_long.html
Handsworth although in Staffs. at the time was/is on the outskirts of B'ham & is now part of the city.
Their last known address according to the Baptisms was Hampstead Row.
Here it is in 1841 in the top RH corner.
You can see it's at Soho Hill where Matthew Boulton had his mansion so a very nice place to live.
The rest of the map is B'ham.

[ericthepenguin1]

Thanks Jim1 for your reply.

As my name is Eric Aston I think, like most people, to go down your surname's family history is maybe the most important part of the tree.

This is so frustrating as if Ann Aston had been shown on the 1841 Census it would cut down the period of death for John her husband. I know on the 1841 Census her daughters, (the same ones that are living with her on the 1851 Census), Sussana (25), Priscilla (20) and Rebecca (15) are living together at New Church Street, Parish of St George. Where is their mum? All I can guess is that she was away the night of the census.

Sometimes the Geneology Gods are agains you, no 1841 Census for the wife, maybe husband dies 4 months before the GRO began to register B M and D's, no gravestone or inscription etc etc.

Still one day something may turn up.

Cheers

Eric

[jim1]

Your rellies are not playing the game are they.
Even if Ann was on the 1841 census it wouldn't say if she was a widow.
This is New Church St. As you can see it's unnamed & a new development in 1841.
The enumerators route was 1-48 New Church St. & then crossing over to New Summer St. As they are at the beginning of the book they must be in the clutch of houses where it bisects Little Hampton St.

[ericthepenguin1]

Cheers jim1.

I worked as an enumerator on the 2011 Census, a somewhat larger document than the 1841 one was!!

There is talk that the 2011 census may be the last, as information can be gleaned from other sources. The real reason i reckon is it costs the government  about 1/2 billion pounds to run it. As trillions of pounds of public spending is based on Census results, (over a 10 year period that is), i think it well worth the money for accurate details of the resident population.....and, as far a genealogy goes,  what about our poor descendants in the years 2121 onwards !!!! 

Regards

Eric