the mystery of William Hill

[robert g shaw]

hi

i have a problem, trying to locate the death of my great x3 grandfather william hill. he was born to a william and mary around 1785 somewhere near derby. his father william lived in muggington and later ockbrook. william (junior) married ann at ocbrook in 1806 (they were both 21) , then re married rachael hutchinson at ashbourne in 1816, he was a widower,  before moving and living at ockbrook.

william and second wife rachael had several children whilst living at ockbrook, he was a miller, . but by the 1841 census, rachael and family were living without william and rachael was a widow.

their last child was born in 1831 (but christened in 1835) - so somewhere in those ten years william died. (his father died in ockbrook in 1830) .

i can not find or match a death of a william hill in this timeframe. he is not recorded as being buried at ockbrook, ive been through the register.
so either theres an incorrectly recorded death
or he 'ran off' with someone and rachael recorded herself as widowed to save face
or he died in prison? (rumours have it that he was convicted for selling short measures of flour but ive yet to confirm this) .

has anyone any ideas or have access to further records?

thanks.

[avm228]

william and second wife rachael had several children whilst living at ockbrook, he was a miller, . but by the 1841 census, rachael and family were living without william and rachael was a widow.

Marital status isn't routinely recorded in the 1841 census. Is this the household in 1841?

Borrowash, Ockbrook

Rachel Hill 40 Charwoman
Mary do 20
Edward do 15 Cotton doubling
William do 13 do
William do 1
Eliza do 10

all born in county.

[robert g shaw]

yes thats them... edward (actually its edwin) is my great x2 grandfather.

youre right though, i assumed rachael was a widow, however i still cannot find 'my' william hill on that census and she was a widow on 1851 so was it a fair assumption she was by 41?

[lizdb]

Well, you mentioned he possibly had a criminal background, so he could have been in prison on 1841 census night?

Or just away from home that night. I see a 55 yr old William Hill in Norton, with an elderly Joanna Hill.

Have you checked deaths 1841-1851?

[robert g shaw]

Well, you mentioned he possibly had a criminal background, so he could have been in prison on 1841 census night?

Or just away from home that night. I see a 55 yr old William Hill in Norton, with an elderly Joanna Hill.

Have you checked deaths 1841-1851?

yep i guess its possible he was in prison for the 41 census, or hospital?

theres further intrigue.... williams eldest son, samuel and his wife ann also were not recorded on the 1841 census. heres what i wrote in this families branch

"On the 1841 census, I cannot find Samuel or Ann anywhere, but Jemima (their daughter) is living with the Millingtons which seems strange, until we see Jemimas marriage in 1864 and her father is William Millington.

It appears that Ann had an affair, or was seduced (or raped?) by William Millington. Samuel and Ann had left the area to get her away from William? Hence no mention in 1841"

now i wonder whether samuels dad, william, took the law into his own hands here and did something to william millington. OR he could be living, somewhere, with his son samuel and ann .

william could also be buried with his first wife, ann, and daughter eliza (born 1807) - but i can find no trace of anns death, nor elizas.

ive not done a broad search for his deather 1841-51, but he is not at ockbrook or borrowash or recorded in the shardlow district (where he would have been).

see... its a complicated and patchy scene, but he must have been somewhere, either alive or dead.

[lizdb]

JUst putting the 1851 up here so we can see all the family a bit clearer

1851
Gills Row Ockbrook
Rachel 56 widow laundress bn Derby
Samuel 34 son married bn Mugginton
Ann 32 dtr in law bn Ormeston
William 2 grandson bn Ormeston
Jemima 13 granddtr bn Ockbrook
Eliza dtr 19 bn Ockbrook
Emma Hutchinson 7 neice bn Mugginton

and 1861
Ockbrook
Rachel 67 widow charwoman
Jemima 22 granddtr
William 13 gson

There is a Millington family next door but one.

If Jemima is with the Millingtons in 1841, and with her grandmother in later censuses, and you have her father as William Willington from her marriage cert, - how do you know she is a child of Ann Hill, wife of Samuel?  Or are there other daughters of Rachel Hill who may be her mother?
Have you got her birth cert?

Assumnig she is Ann's, then when did Samuel and Ann marry? Were they married by 1841? Was Jemima a child of a previous marriage, or an illegitmate child of Ann's?

[robert g shaw]

yes the millingtons were neighbours it seems

"He (samuel) married Ann Warren in 1835 at Ockbrook, their first child, Jemima, was born in 1839." so yep jemima was legitimate, i havnt her birth cert nor marriage just going off online info. 

im satisfied that jemima was anns daughter , whether or not her father is samuels or millingtons we will never know without dna. but samuel and ann were married well before jemima was conceived , so to have her living with the millingtons and citing william millington as her father is imho rather compelling evidence of anns disloyalty .

william and rachael did have a daughter mary in 1820, and its the younger william on the 1841 census that i believe to be hers.

mary is another one who vanishes, with no record of a burial, nor marriage, along with son william. 

[lizdb]

i havnt her birth cert nor marriage just going off online info.   

What sort of "online info" - do you mean parish register of her baptism or marriage (ie an original document we are fortunate to be able to view online) ?

If you have seen the record of Jemima Hill marrying, but giving father as William Millington, then one does ask why if you have also have a birth cert when her father is Samuel Hill, and other evidence that they are the same Jemimas. One possible explanation would be that her dad died and her mum remarried and she gave her step dads name as he was the father she knew.

But without her birth and marriage certs, you cannot be sure of the facts to start with, before starting to look for explanations?

[lizdb]

Here is the 1841 - just to save everyone looking for it

1841
Ockbrook
Ann Millington 55
Ann Millington 20
John 25
William 20
Jemima Hall 4