William Hutchison (1791-186?)

[SamuelF992]

Hi all

I'm trying to trace my 4th Great Grandfather, William Hutchison, who was born in Montrose around 1791. He married a woman called Alice from Tiverton, Devon at some point before 1816, and had moved down to Tiverton by the 1841 census. By her he had five children, the first, Elizabeth, being born in Scotland in 1816. I can't find a Baptism record for either him or Elizabeth or a marriage record for William. Do you have any pointers for where I should be looking or something I may be missing out on?

Best Wishes
Samuel

[MonicaL]

Hi Samuel

There are two entries so happens in Tiverton with parents William and Alice:

Eliza baptism 1813 https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2M3-CCPD

Elizabeth baptism 1821 https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2M3-CCPD

1841 census entry for the family here for background, in case the names of the other children can help with searches https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQYM-97T

Monica

[SamuelF992]

Hi Monica

Interesting on the Eliza baptism! Hadn't seen that before. I did have the 1841 census; what's really annoying is that I can't find anything on those children either. Do you think there's possibly another spelling of Hutchison which is frustrating my search?

[MonicaL]

Depends where you are searching really. Family Search automatically gives you variants. Other sites such as An/try, FreeCen & BMD, you have to use wildcard symbols to help with variations. Hutchison has many spellings. I would normally search with wildcards as H*ch*s*n (even then, there can be mis transcriptions and surprises!).

Monica

[trish1120]

This may be a long shot but looking on Familysearch for any Alices born c 1791-1796, Tiverton, Devon, we only have 3;

Alice PINGSTONE, 6 May 1792 to JOHN/ANN
Alice REDWOOD, 25 Dec 1793 to THOMAS/JANE
Alice GOVIER, 17 Jan 1796 to JOHN/ALICE

Now Alice REDWOOD Married Thos WHITFIELD, 4 April 1819, Tiverton, Devon
(she appears on Census 1851/1861 as born c 1793 Tiverton)
Alice GOVIER Married William CARPENTER, 16 June 1817, Tiverton, Devon

That only leaves Alice Pingstone who I cant find a Burial or  Marriage for.

So she is worth keeping in mind as possible Spouse of William Hutchinson.

[Forfarian]

From the original of the 1841 census. William Hutchison, 50, tailor, born Scotland; Alice, 45; Elizabeth, 25; Mary, 15; William, 15; Ann, 13; Henry, 7.

Ages in 1841 were supposed to be rounded down to the nearest 5 years, so if the ages are accurate, Elizabeth could have been born between 1811 and 1816. Also, she is listed as N, meaning 'not born in this county', while her father is listed as S, meaning 'born in Scotland'. So it looks as if Elizabeth was not born in Scotland, but somewhere in England other than Devon.

1851 census. William Hutchison, 60, tailor, born Scotland, Montrose; wife Alice, 58; son Henry, 17, baker's apprentice. So if his age is accurate he was born in 1790 or 1791.

Noting that the eldest son listed in the census was named William and the second daughter was Ann, there is a slightly increased probability that William's parents were William and Ann. On the other hand there could be other children who died or left home before 1841.

Alice Pingstone is exactly the right age to be the 58-year-old wife in 1851.

[SamuelF992]

Thank you all very much for your research! I had tried a similar approach with the Alices and had Alice Pingstone down provisionally, so it's nice that you came to the same conclusion! Gives me more hope too as Alice Pingstone's mother is Ann, which is also the name of Alice's youngest daughter.