Henderson family - Rotherham/Aberdeen

[shenendor]

My great great grandfather John Henderson married Martha Jessop in Rotherham in 1838 but we believe he might have come from Aberdeen. He was born in 1806 and his father George was a farmer. If anyone could shed some light on his family history in Scotland I'd be really grateful.

[DonM]

There were two Georges in Aberdeen who had a son John 1800-1810. 

John who was baptised in 1809 was the son of a Baker. 

John was baptised in 1805 was the son of a farmer at Stoneyhill in Cruden parish.  However, this chap didn't survive this family had another John in 1823. (Scot's recycle names).

There is a chance the one you seek was in fact born in Aberdeen but his family may not have been members of the established church and those records are not online.

Do you have any idea who his mother was?

Don





Don

[CaroleW]

He was born in 1806

1851 gives his birthyear as 1811 but the 1871 shows 1806.  Can't find an 1861 entry at the moment but as son Charles was b Spain 1856 - that may be why

[CaroleW]

Son Thomas b 1839 had the middle name Bayliffe?  Have you come across that surname in your research?

[Forfarian]

1851 gives his birthyear as 1811 but the 1871 shows 1806.  Can't find an 1861 entry at the moment but as son Charles was b Spain 1856 - that may be why

Sorry, Carole, but you have woken up one of the bees in my bonnet!

Some transcription or other may say that he was born in 1811. The original census never states a year of birth. It states the age the person said they were on the day of the census.

Many transcriptions do not stick to what is actually on the original census document. They attempt to calculate the year of birth by subtracting the age from the census year. This gives the wrong year three times out of four.

Why? Because from 1851 onwards the census was taken around the end of March or beginning of April. This is one quarter of the way through the year. By this time only about a quarter of people have had their birthdays since the beginning of the year. The other three-quarters will have a birthday before the end of the year, so they will be another year older by the end of the year.

The 1871 census was taken on 2 April. Assuming that John said he was 65, and that he was correct, he would therefore have been born between 3 April 1805 and 2 April 1806. If he said he was 40 in 1851, he would have been born between 31 March 1810 and 30 March 1811.

Clearly, these dates do not overlap so he must have got his own age wrong in at least one census!

[shenendor]

Thanks for your replies. I think the 1841 census frequently indicates incorrect birth years as they seemed to round up (or down) the ages. We're fairly confident John was born in 1806 (+ or - 1 at worst) and we know his father was George and a farmer as its on the copy of John and Martha's marriage certificate which I have. I've no info on John's mother.
Bayliffe was Martha's family name - her grandfather Thomas was the vicar of Rotherham 1794 to 1826 and his father George, born Kirkby Lonsdale in Westmorland 1721, was the vicar of Ecclesall, Sheffield and died 1804. The name crops up frequently during the 19th century as the middle christian name as does Jessop.
John was a stonemason and was almost certainly employed on railway construction, building bridges, embankment walls etc and he would have been working in West Yorkshire in the late 1830s and early 40s which is why his eldest children were born in Sowerby Bridge. The whole family went to Spain in the 1850s when railway construction was taking place there but they apparently had to flee because of the revolutions there which the Spanish were quite good at. They therefore were absent for the 1861 census and its why Charles was born in Spain in 1856.
Several people in our family have mentioned the Aberdeen connection for John Henderson so if anyone has any other ideas as to where he may have been born in that general area I'd be very glad to know them.
Thanks to all
IanH

[Forfarian]

Thanks for your replies. I think the 1841 census frequently indicates incorrect birth years as they seemed to round up (or down) the ages.

The instructions to the enumerator were that adults' ages were to be rounded down to the nearest multiple of 5 years.

We're fairly confident John was born in 1806 (+ or - 1 at worst)

What is that based on?

[shenendor]

John's 1806  birth year is based on:
1871 census - his age shown as 65 = 1806 birth; his wife Martha shown as 56 = 1815 birth which we know to be correct
1871 death entry in quarter 3 where his age is shown as 65
I did put + or - 1 year because we don't know which month he was born.
To me this evidence is pretty compelling to be able to quote 1806 + or - 1

IanH

[DonM]

These at the "fuzzy searched" records of a John to George in all of Scotland 1803-1808 which you can download at Scotlands People.

But keep in mind not all knew when they were born, birthdays were not celebrated.  And, if you do find one you think is him be sure to search by parents no given name to be sure the one you find doesn't have a namesake born a few years later.

As a Mason if he apprenticed in Scotland you might be lucky enough to find a record.  If his father paid for this then it would show his name and where he was from.  And, if happen to find a George listed below who was a Mason I spend some time researching that one first.

HENDERSON   JOHN   GEORGE HENDERSON/MARG. RAMSEY         25/11/1804   BOHARM
HENDERSON   JOHN   GEORGE HENDERSON/JANET TOD         02/12/1804   Pittenweem
HENDERSON   JOHN   GEORGE HENDERSON/JANET KEY FR846 (FR846)   24/02/1805   Lasswade
HENDERSON   JOHN   GEORGE HENDERSON/ISABEL CARRE FR285 (FR285)   13/01/1806   Edrom
HENDERSON   JOHN   GEORGE HENDERSON/JANET KEY FR851 (FR851)   24/01/1806   Lasswade
HENDERSON   JOHNAS   GEORGE HENDERSON/MARRY BAIRD FR962 (FR962)   25/05/1806   Peebles
HENDERSON   JOHN   GEORGE HENDERSON/ANN MITCHELL FR789 (FR789)   12/09/1808   Melrose

Also check the British Newspaper Archives you would be surprised what you find in there.

Don