George Needham

[grundy51]

I have a family with a father George Needham and mother Catherine . They  had a number of children born in Bradford and Sheffield but one child puzzles me. In the  41,51,61 & 71 census there is a George Needham son of George and Catherine  but his birth place is given variously as Wisbey, Wisbech, Wishbridge. I can find a reference to a George Needham baptised 13 Aug 1828 in Wisbech Cambridgeshire f George m Catherine (the England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975) but am wondering if this is correct.
The father George was an Iron Moulder who was born and lived most of his life in Sheffield. I believe he went to Low Moor Bradford when the iron works opened and here had at least 1 children baptised is Wisbey ( a district of Bradford).
To try and resolve the query and establish whether I have the correect George or I have a different George with parents George & Catherine or for some reason the family moved to Wisbech for a period (note in '41 they were in Sheffield) or there is an error in the England Select Births and Christenings record, would it be possible for someone to check the baptism record of Wisbech to see if they can find a baptism for George in Aug 1828? 

If the record is confirmed is there any history of iron works in or around Wisbech?

Thanks for any help

Nigel

[bedfordshire boy]

The Wisbech baptism isn't a BVRI error - see Cambs FHS Baptism Index at http://www.cfhs.org.uk/searchsd.cfm where you'll also find it. There doesn't appear to be any other detail eg George's occupation or abode.  I can't see any other baptisms of children of George and Catherine, which might be an indication that they weren't local, or had moved away after George's baptism. Equally I'm not aware of any iron and steel industry in Cambs, which is flat, agricultural and has no coal or iron ore activity.

David

[NettieS]

On another site Family Search it shows that a George Needham was christened 22nd April 1828 at St Peters, Wisbeach, Cambridge, England father George Needham, mother Catharine.

There are some tree's on the Ancestry site that have a George Needham born 1828 Cambridgeshire and married in Yorkshire.

[grundy51]

Nettie

Thanks for your help. I think it is clear George was born in Wisbech. It's strange that his father who was an ironmoulder came to Wisbech. Do you know if there are any iron works in the area.

Nigel

[lizdb]

As has been said, it is mainly an agricultural area, with no known iron works.
Maybe they were there for some reason (or Mrs Needham was) and baby arrived, and they had him christened with no delay because he was sickly. Or maybe Mr Needham wanted a change from the iron industry, and on a whim took the family off to rural Fenland, perhaps trying his hand at blacksmithing or some other sort of iron-working jobs linked to the agricultural scene, but it never worked out so they returned to Sheffield very promptly, but just happened to have had George during the time they lived there.
All just guesswork. So often we can find out what happened to our ancestors, but so rarely can we find out why.

[grundy51]

Thanks for everyone who has helped

Nigel

[NettieS]

Hi Nigel,
No as others have said there are no known Iron works in the area. But Liz may have partially hit the nail on the head so to speak when she said ( perhaps trying his hand at blacksmithing or some other sort of iron-working jobs linked to the agricultural scene). I think there was a Blacksmiths in Guyhirn and one in Leverington which are both near to Wisbech and George Needham Senior could have possibly worked in one.

Or maybe they were visiting relatives of George's as there is a Needham Family living in Wisbech about the same time.

[BumbleB]

I think we've already established, via your posting in Yorkshire West Riding, that it is not an error in the Select England Baptisms 1538-1975 (which is derived from Family Search) by pointing you in the direction of Cambridge FHS transcriptions, which confirm the details and also gives George's occupation as Ironfounder and his residence as Horse Fair.