Good morning
I wanted to let you know that I have finally cracked the mystery of Samuel Benn's parentage and given the work that so many put into this research I thought you would want to know.
To recap, we began with Samuel Benn on my Great Grandfather's birth certificate in February 1881 at 26 Bank, Eccleshill, Bradford, and a month or so later on the 1881 census with mother and child (and two other children, neither his) at the same address. He is aged 41 and born in Shelf.
We couldn't find a marriage to Eliza (there was none actually), and we couldn't find anyone else who looked right for Samuel of that age. So we drew up a list, together, of every possible Samuel Benn on any census in Bradford and Halifax and ruled them out, laboriously, until we were left with only one candidate; husband to and father of 9 children with Elizabeth Jowett.
This Samuel, our Samuel, was born in Shelf circa 1836/7 on a few censuses.
(The research until this point had taken me 24 years)
I found his marriage at Bradford Parish Church (now the cathedral) to Elizabeth Jowett in 1853 where his father was given as William Benn, weaver.
And there the research ended, totally stuck.
Yesterday, like many times before, and 9 years since the last breakthrough I decided to have another go at it; I decided to search on Findmypast for anyone called Benn with a father called William living in Yorkshire with a 30 year window either side of Samuel's approximate age. This brought up a small group of people getting married in Bradford Cathedral, all laboriously recording that their father was William Benn, weaver.
John Benn born 1826 marrying Ann Birch in 1856
Margaret Benn born 1832 marrying Isaac Kellett in 1849
Mary Benn born 1825 marrying John Hartley in 1846
This gave me a small family group to search for on the 1841 census.
What I found was
HO107/1295/1/10 p 14
Clayton Heights, Thornton, Bradford
Martha Benn 36
Margaret Benn 9
Samuel Benn 7
James Benn 5
Betty Benn 2
All born Yorkshire with no sign of William
This gave me a couple more names to add to the small family group I was developing and the first sign of their mother's name.
I searched for the children with father William / mother Martha but only could find John. He was baptised in 1837, 11 years after his birth (which was given in 1826 born Clayton Heights) in Queenshead General Baptist Chapel, Clayton.
After some more thought and quiet frustration, I searched for the children using only their mother's name; I came up with a series of three, on the same page - of the Queenshead General Baptist Chapel - on the same day as John in 1837.
However, their father was given as Isaac Sharp (and mother Martha Benn, daughter of John Firth) born in Hunger Hill, Northowram, Halifax.
I should point out that this is a very different register to a Church of England Parish Register, there were only three entries to the page but they were long and included an affidavit from Martha as to their date and place of birth.
I should also point out that the village of Clayton Heights and the hamlet of Hunger Hill are both part of modern day Queensbury ward, Bradford, but back in the mid 1800s these were divided between Halifax and Bradford.
Margaret Benn born 1832
Samuel Benn born 1834
James Benn born 1835
Obviously their parents were not married so they took their mother's surname.
At last I had found him. Samuel. Not the son of William Benn at all, but the son of Isaac Sharp.
The 1851 census showed the family living together in Clayton (Holmes Hill) with Isaac Sharp as the Head and Martha Firth as a servant; their children shown with the Sharp surname and a few new children added to the group - Anthony and Fanny.
The 1861 census and subsequent ones show the Sharp family with Martha now a Sharp herself.
I found a marriage between Matty Firth and William Benn on 30 Jul 1826 at St John the Baptist, Halifax
And another between Matty Benn and Isaac Sharp on 8th May 1859 in Bradford parish church.
So, after about 20 years together they were finally able to marry - I suspect William Benn must have died around this point....
I found Isaac Sharp on the 1841 census eventually, he was living a few doors away from Martha and the children, the indexers have put him in a household with James and Fanny Sharp but I am not absolutely certain, there are three lines /// drawn between each of the three of them, they may have been neighbours rather than cohabiting. But I don't mind if it is hard, if it is going to take a while to unravel; after all it has taken 33 years to find out the names of my great great great grandparents. Good things come to those who wait.
I thought about Matty and Isaac last thing before I went to sleep and first thing when I awoke, it is the most joyous feeling in the world.
Nothing beats genealogy
Thanks for letting me share!
