George William Harding, Liverpool

[avm228]

The nephew with them on census - James McCloud bc.1883 - would appear to be:

James George Thompson McCloud bp.25/4/1883 Toxteth, son of James Thompson McCloud and wife Elizabeth.   James senior, a baker, son of Isaac McCloud, baker, married Elizabeth White 12/9/1880 Toxteth - he appears to have died Dec.qtr.1886 Toxteth Park as McLeod.

So, since this was Ellens maiden name one would assume she was the sister of James Thompson McCloud/McLeod  bc.1850 with father named Isaac, a baker.

1881 census then for James & Elizabeth:

36 Sussex St, Toxteth Park

James T. McCloud Head Mar 21 Bread baker Ireland
Elizabeth do Wife Mar 18 Lancashire Liverpool

RG11/3639/44/21

[amondg]

George W Harding and Mary nee Wells
Children
Mary Elizabeth born 12 March 1867
Martha  born 27 May 1868
Anna Boyd  baptized 16 March 1870 no birth date listed. (Hannah on later census)
Harriet born 1 November 1871
Jesse born 3 July 1874
Margaret Minnie born 17 November 1876
George W  not yet found.

[higgypee]

This is all amazing. So much more to go on. Thank you all so much. I am intrigued by this as my GG grandfather seems to have abandoned his children. I know they were different times, but what reason could he have had?

[higgypee]

I thought that George and Ellen got married in 1878, but I am new to this and didn't save the record. I wrote the reference down as 8b 789, not sure what that means. I am interested to know what Mary died of. My husband says I have too much imagination, but I wonder if he had something to do with her death.

[avm228]

The 1878 West Derby marriage is a red herring.  It is of a George Harding (bachelor) to Fanny Clapp.  Not your people.

At the relevant time your George William Harding was still with his first wife Mary, and you can see them together with their children in the 1881 census.

Mary's death certificate (1886) would tell you her cause of death - you'd need to order it from the GRO Online using the reference details available from FreeBMD.

[higgypee]

Thank you avm28, I have been barking up the wrong tree and would have ordered the wrong marriage certificate.

[avm228]

You're welcome.

Bear in mind that if you find a marriage reference on FreeBMD you can click on the page number to find the other people on the same page (one of whom will be the spouse). 

So if you'd found George Harding, West Derby Sep qtr 1878 8b 789 - click on the 789 and you get the list of all four people with that exact reference (note no Ellen!):

Clapp Fanny
Harding George
Steel Margaret
Walsh Bartholomew

They are in alphabetical order, so the list doesn't tell you who married whom. But the parish register reveals that Bartholomew Walsh married Margaret Steel on 16 September 1878, and George Harding married Fanny Clapp on 22 September 1878, both at St Bridget, Wavertree.

Anyway - not your people, as we've established.  But knowing about the list of names may help you avoid ordering an irrelevant certificate in the future.