George Stephenson born c1833,

[Annette7]

Oh dear!   If you are 100% sure your man is named John Henry Stephenson then this thread is to no avail!

John Henry was not the son of George and Margaret - you've got John Henry - now married - in Chatham in 1911 which clearly shows he was born Drypool, Hull (Sculcoates regn. district) whereas G & M's son John was born in Fulford, York (York regn. district). 

Will do some delving and see if I can find out who John Henry Stephenson's parents were.

Annette

[honeybun]

Hi Annette7

Thanks for the reply.  Sorry about the confusion.  The clincher for "my" John Stephenson is that his son, George E D Stephenson born 1913 was the father of the person for whom I am doing the research, and George was definitely the son of John and Alice Stephenson (nee Dean).  So I think this 1911 one is correct for my tree, but the others relating to Scotland are not.  It was a great deal of detective work on your part and I'm sorry it seems to be wrong because I confused the previous census returns with the wrong family.

Honeybun

[Annette7]

Right - have viewed the marriage certificate of John Henry Stephenson and Alice Florence Dean on Medway Cityark site - they married 21/6/1903 St. Johns Church, Chatham.   He is shown as aged 36 - Royal Marine - son of John Stephenson, labourer (deceased).   His address then was 51 Johns Street, Chatham.   Alice was aged 27 of 30 John's Street, dau. of Samuel Dean, Provision Dealer.   Both were single and witnesses were Samuel Dean and Esther Lily Dean.

He would appear to be the John H. Stephenson birth reg'd Dec.1866 Sculcoates - GRO birth index on their own site shows mothers maiden name as Cotter.  Although birth registered as if parents were married father John Stephenson didn't marry Ann Cotter until Dec.1868 Hull.

1881 Census - Drypool, Yorkshire

John Stephenson  35      born Hull
Ann Stephenson 34          ditto
John H. Stephenson 14     ditto
Collings Stephenson 11     ditto
James William Stephenson 9  ditto

By 1891 John Henry has left home.

By 1901 - with all children left home - John and Ann are living in Salford, Lancashire where he is a general labourer.   I think the move was a short-lived one and that John died back in Sculcoates in Mar.qtr.1902.   Haven't looked any further for wife Ann.

John Henry's brother Collings was reg'd as such and appears as this on 1871 and 1881 census.   However, he married as Collins Stephenson in 1899 Salford and was known as Collins in the future.   Perhaps this is why JH's son was named Albert Collins Stephenson.

So, the couple to investigate further are John Stephenson bc.1846 Hull who married Ann Cotter bc.1847 Hull in 1868. Marriage certificate on Find My Past and shows John was 21, Labourer, son of James Stephenson, Labourer and Ann was 22, dau. of James Cotter, Soldier - they married 25/12/1868 St. Stephens, Hull.

Another trail for you to follow now.

Annette

[honeybun]

Hi Annette7

Thanks for your long reply and all the information.  I can only apologise for sending you off on a wild goose chase originally, but now I can get on with the rest of the research.

Regards

Honeybun 

[honeybun]

Hi Annette7

Just an update on this one.  I have found a few more bits.  John Stephenson born 1844 had a brother called Collings born 1847.  John named one of his children the same and so did his son John Henry (the subject of my research).  I am wondering if his mother's surname was Collings/Collins but have drawn a blank as this goes back too far.  I have found three census entries for Collins as an adult, and one has his sister Mary - married name Omer (so another sibling for John) and her daughter Sarah living with him.  I am trying to find out when he was married and if there were children as he is given as a widower on the 1901 and 1911 census returns, but have drawn a blank so far. 

I have also found an 1861 census for the mother of Ann Cotter - she was Margaret (maiden name possibly Adam) born in London 1801.  I did find a possible marriage on 22/8/1821 of a James Cotter and Margaret Adam in Canongate, Edinburgh although this is pure speculation.  The 1861 gives her as living as a widow with her daughter Ann 16, a cotton spinner.  I'd like to find the marriage, but as he was a soldier he possibly moved around a lot and they could have been married anywhere in the U.K. - and this is going back much further so is more difficult.  It would be great if I could find out which regiment he was in but that would be too much to hope for! 

Re: your e mail, you say that you have looked at the GRO birth index on their own site which gives the mother's maiden name.  Is this a different site from the GRO we access through the family history websites?

Thought you would like an update as you have been so helpful.

Regards
Honeybun     

[Annette7]

Re: your e mail, you say that you have looked at the GRO birth index on their own site which gives the mother's maiden name.  Is this a different site from the GRO we access through the family history websites?

Yes, it's the same site.  After you've logged in you get a screen showing your various options including ordering a certificate.   The first option is 'Search the GRO Indexes' and if you click on that you get a screen asking whether you wish to search the birth or death index.   In the case of a birth it will now show you the maiden name of the mother - if it is 'blank' this means it was an illegitimate birth.   As to the deaths - prior to late 1860's (can't remember precise date) ages weren't shown in the death index.   Now they are from when civil registration began in 1837.   The latter is also a great help in that you could have found a possible death entry for an ancestor in say 1850 (say in his 50's) but when you check against this index you see the individual who'd died was actually only 4 years old so was not the one you thought.   This has only been running a few weeks now and at the same time you had the opportunity to order certificates online that would be emailed to you (usually the next day) - this last option was just a pilot scheme which is no longer available but hopefully will be again in the future.

Colling married as Colin Stephenson, son of James, to a Mary Ann Lidster aged 19, dau. of John Order (?) on 21/5/1871 St. Pauls, Sculcoates.   Unable to view original certificate online so don't know if Mary Ann was born illegitimate but knew the name of her father or whether she was a very young widow.   However, I have checked GRO births with mmn of Lidster  and also Order but no joy so doesn't look like they had any children.   I noted that in 1881 he was a prisoner in H.M. Prison in Hull, shown as married, but can't see any obvious Mary Stephenson around the area who'd be likely to be his wife.

Keep up with the good work.

Annette

[honeybun]

The info on the GRO indexes is good, it will be very useful.  I don't know which sites you use, but I don't always get anything (see below).

Have tried to access the 1881 census for Colin but the site (findmypast) is not coming up with ANYTHING so without your help I wouldn't have known.  Makes me wonder how much other stuff I don't find.  However I looked on the prison and trials section, and there are several incidences of sheep stealing with accomplices, and it looks like him.  In one instance sentenced to 10 months hard labour in Hull jail - this was in 1869 so he was doing this for some time.

Thanks again.



 

[Annette7]

I found him on Ancestry but checked on Find My Past (subscribe to both) - clicked on 1881 Census, just entered Colin Stephenson and he's at the top of the list that comes up.

Annette