I have been beating my head against a brick wall, and I feel as if the brick wall is winning.
William Wade appears on the 1841 UK census at Church Street, Stoke Newington, Middlesex. His age is shown as 40 (so, if correct, having turned 40 but not yet turned 45), and he is a tailor. Also at the address are his wife Mary, also "40", and children Elizabeth, 15, Sarah, 13, Charlotte, 11, and William, 4. The census shows that all the children were born in Middlesex, but neither of the parents were.
The family migrated to South Australia, sailing from Southampton on 19 Sept 1848 aboard the
William Money and arriving in SA on 3 Jan 1849. Those who migrated were: William, 48; Mary 46; Elizabeth, 23; Charlotte, 17; William, 10; Mary E, 7; George, 4; and Constance, 1. The second daughter, Sarah, who would have been about 21, has disappeared – married, died, couldn't afford the passage – I have not been able to find out. Charlotte seems to have suddenly lost a couple of years, as well.
William (the elder) died on 26 August 1865 at Truro in South Australia. His death and burial records both show him with a middle name – William Plummer Wade. The younger William gave one of his sons the same name.
However, a John O'Brien Wade gave one of his sons the same name as well. John O'Brien Wade was born in about 1850 but there is no birth record for him in South Australia, NSW, Qld, WA or NZ (Vic is offline at the moment). According to a tree on Ancestry, he is the son of John Plummer Wade and Mary O'Brien who were married in SA in 1847. I have found a baptism on FamilySearch.org for "John Plummer Wade Or Weed", bapt 22 Sept 1822 at Shenley, Hertford, England, son of "Wm. Wade of Weed" and Mary. Could this be an eldest son of the couple who later lived in Stoke Newington and then later again in South Australia?
Another child of this couple, "Elizth Plummer Wead or Wade" was also baptised at Shenley on 23 April 1826 (about the right time to be the Elizabeth who appears above, although not, as per the 1841 census, born in Middlesex). FamilySearch also has a marriage of William Wade and Mary Peacock at Shenley on 18 December 1821.
So, could Plummer be William's mother's maiden name? I have been able to find only one marriage of a couple with the right surnames:
Groom: Robert WADE
Groom's marital status: soldier
Groom's parish -
Bride: Rachel PLUMMER
Bride's marital status: -
Bride's parish: -
Marriage place: Shepton Mallet, Somerset, England
Marriage date: 14 February 1780
source: find my past, Somerset Marriages (post-1754) Transcription —
http://search.findmypast.co.uk/record?id=gbprs%2fm%2f295168507%2f1 Neither bride not groom were OTP, and groom was a soldier, which suggests they moved around. Also, neither first name appears amongst William & Mary's children. But this is useless unless I can find William's birth or baptism.
I know this is ridiculously long, and I apologise for that, but I wanted to be clear, and to save people tracking over the same ground again.
Can anyone help with the elder William's birth or baptism, please?
Cheers,
Jestina