One man, two wives, lots of kids.

[dtcoulson]

Hello people,

Going through the GRO's new birth index I came up with something quite unexpected.

The middle three of James Collinson's eleven kids are attributed to a woman named Atkinson whereas the rest are from the woman he married, Mary Harkinson. These do not appear to be adopted kids as there is no overlap in the birth years.

Can anyone shed some light on this?

Details as follows:
James Collinson (1817-1883)  born Wolsingham, lived in Chester Le Street & Weardale.
Mary Harkinson (1825-1899) born Scotland. Married James Collinson 1851.

children:
William (1847)
Ann (1849)
James (1851)
John (1854)
Henry (1857)
Mary (1859)   -   mother Atkinson
James (1860)  -  Atkinson
Ellen/Helen (1862)   -  Atkinson
Robert (1866)
Jane (1868)
George (1870)

I've just noticed that that is a 23 year span.

The family is well-represented in the censuses.

All help appreciated.

Thanks
David C

[Richard Knott]

Atkinson/Harkinson are pretty similar; it could just be a transcription/hearing issue.

Richard

[groom]

Are Mary (1859), and James (1860)  with the rest of the family in 1861? If so, I would say that it is just a mistake, as I would hardly think he would bring two children he had with another woman into the family home and then go  on to have another with her.

[*Sandra*]

You would think the similarity in surname would be an error.

Sandra

[dtcoulson]

I agree that a transcription error is good explanation. The mother of the other children are variously Harkinson, Harkeson and Harkerson, so there is obviously some unreliable spelling in the system.

The problem I have with the Atkinson name is that it is consistent across three births.
Could it really happen that the name be misspelled the same way three times in a row?

-DC

[groom]

One possible explanation could be that James registered those three births and thought that was her name.

If they are all together in the censuses I'd be fairly confident they were the same parents. 

[dtcoulson]

That's the way I'm leaning, Groom. Alternative scenarios don't make a lot of sense. Furthermore I have searched a fair bit for evidence of a Ms Atkinson of the right age in the region and at the time, and have not found anyone.

Do you have any opinions about the birth of the first two children (William in 1847 and Ann in 1849) up to four years before James and Mary Atkinson tied the knot legally? This could simply be what it appears to be, but I wonder if instead there might be an earlier marriage cert for this couple that somehow was not considered good enough, or of the right denomination, for life in Cty Durham in the 1850s. In other words, recertifying an existing marriage.

-DC

[candleflame]

Hi
Can you clarify when they were married? What does the marriage certificate say on it! I'm having difficulty locating a marriage for these two? You said it was in 1851 - where? Thanks .

[dtcoulson]

Married first quarter of 1851, Chester Le Street.

We did some research on this once before, a long time back.
James Collinson and Mary Harkinson are listed on separate marriage records.
However, although I haven't seen this myself, a fellow researcher claimed that this is a transcription error. (S)He put it like this  "....The names are on different records, implying marriages to other people. But the error can be seen by examining the handwriting on the original records. .... "
This was a conversation in Rootschat a long time back.

-DC