William Flack

[gumboots]

I have just about given up in my search for the ancestors of my great great grandfather William Flack.  My William Flack married Ann Dye at Impington in Cambridgeshire in 1829.  William was 21.  The marriage record and census records state that William Flack was born at Walston in Suffolk.  I think this is probably Walston Ley, but I can't find any record of his birth in 1808.  William and Ann Flack and their family emigrated to Australia in 1854.  A John Flack was sent out to Australia in 1820 as a convict and one of his descendants believes my William is John's brother, and although it is a good fit, we can't prove it.
The parents of John Flack the convict were William Flack and Elizabeth Reeve.  John Flack was born at Newmarket Suffolk in 1802 and appears in the Hundon Church baptisms.  There is also a sister, Elizabeth Flack born 1805.  John's father William Flack was a soldier and he died in October of 1808.  John had said that he had a younger brother who was born in 1808 not long before his father died, and was living at home with his mother at the time of his transportation.  I have not found another Flack baby who fits the bill except for my William Flack, but as I said before, I can't prove it.
I have posted my Flack research on the Flack Genealogy website.
Any ideas about where I can go from here?

[Suffolk Mawther]

Hello Gumboots, welcome to Rootschat 

There isn't a village called Walston in Suffolk.

I wonder if this is Walsham (Walsham le Willows) or there was a Walsham Hall in the parish of Mendham, possibly his parents worked on that estate when he was born?

If you can let me know which census you have found with this village name, I will check the original and see if I can help further 

Incidentally, there is a house called 'Walston Ley' for sale in the village of Chevington near Bury St Edmunds.

Pat ...

[Dave Francis]

The 1851 Census definitely says 'Walston' or something very like it.
HO 107/1759/93/13

Perhaps it should have said Walton ? (near Felixstowe).

Also worth pointing out that English marriage records do not say where the parties were born, only where they are living at the time.

Of course if William was married in Cambridgeshire but was from a parish somewhere in Suffolk, you would expect the banns to be called in that parish as well.

[gumboots]

I did purchase original copies of the census and they do say Walston - one a bit clearer than the other - and that is why I have assumed Walston Ley.  Options for a Walston in Suffolk seem to be pretty much zilch.  Walston Ley Chevington is in the same vicinity as Newmarket and a few other places with which John Flack the convict had associations.  I applied to the Archives at Shire Hall in Cambridge for whatever information was on the marriage entry at Impington in Cambridgeshire and I was given the birth places, so I thought they were part of the entry.  Perhaps the researcher used the information on the census returns to ascertain place of birth.  The birth place for Ann Dye is given as Mellis in Suffolk.  William and Ann Flack are in the 1831 census for Impington and the 1841 and 1851 census records for nearby Oakington.  It was from Oakington Cambridgeshire that the family set off for Australia - two daughters in 1852 and the rest of the family in 1854.
If it was usual for bans to be read in a home parish as well, I wonder where to start with that one - was it always the birth parish?
John Flack's mother re-married a William Surridge in 1810, also registered at Hundon, but I don't know exactly where they were living or where they went.  I have not found deaths for the mother or step father in the Hundon registers on-line.
With regard to a baptism for William Flack - if he was indeed the little brother of John the convict, and was born in 1808 just prior to the death of the father William, then maybe a baptism for the new baby just fell by the wayside.  If so, I suspect I am brick-walled!
My William Flack died soon after arriving in South Australia, in 1855, and no help with parents there!
Thanks for your interest and I do hope you can come up with a new angle for me to find who my William Flack belonged to.

[Suffolk Mawther]

There is no parish of Walston Ley in Suffolk.

Along the main street in the village of Chevington is a chalet house for sale, it is called 'Walston Ley', just as others are named Willow Cottage, Forge House etc.

I thought of Walton near Felixstowe too Dave, just trying to think of how Walston would have sounded with ode Suffolk accent 

Pat ...

[Dave Francis]

Hi gumboots

Here's a thought. The census records we see are only clerical copies of information extracted from the original schedules (which no longer exist) so mistakes can creep in. What if William actually wrote down "Halston" but the clerk, being unfamilar with Suffolk placenames, thought he read "Walston"?

Halston (also called Harleston or Harlestone) is definitely in Suffolk - just a few miles from Stowmarket.

Modern census transcriptions show how easy a mistake this is to make. e.g. try searching the 1861 Census for birthplaces indexed as "Walston, Suffolk". There are three, and in all three cases the entry actually reads "Halston".

Dave

[Suffolk Mawther]

I have just looked at the 1851 (thanks Dave) and Ann's birthplace is Melles not Mellis.

Soooooo, could Walston be a corruption of Wenhaston?

Pat ...

[gumboots]

I live in Australia, so many of the names mean nothing to me.  Pat, can I ask what makes you believe Ann Dye was born in Melles and not Mellis?  The Shire Hall Archivist at Cambridge gave me Mellis.  I thought I had found her in the Mellis records, but maybe I am wrong.  William Flack's birth place is recorded as Walston in more than one census.  Does that mean anything?

[Dave Francis]

I live in Australia, so many of the names mean nothing to me.  Pat, can I ask what makes you believe Ann Dye was born in Melles and not Mellis?  The Shire Hall Archivist at Cambridge gave me Mellis.  I thought I had found her in the Mellis records, but maybe I am wrong.  William Flack's birth place is recorded as Walston in more than one census.  Does that mean anything?

Hi again

Bit confused by this. William's birthplace was shown in the 1851 Census and he died in 1855. It won't have been recorded in earlier Censuses.