Hello Rootschatters, I hope you can help me. I can’t trace my 3xgreat grandfather back beyond 1851.
His name was Thomas Partridge and he was born around 1824/1825 in “Middlesex London”, the son of Thomas Partridge, a labourer.
My problem is that there are lots of Partridges and “Middlesex London” and “Labourer” are both rather vague/common. I haven’t been able to find a likely-looking birth/baptism, or a Thomas Partridge of the right age (~16) with a father called Thomas on the 1841 census, which might otherwise have been a clue. There are a number of possible candidates on the 1841 census not living with families, but then there isn’t always enough information to rule them in/out.
Can you think of any lines of attack I haven’t tried, or should I give up hope of taking this line back further?
Here is the information I have on Thomas Partridge *after* 1851, and I think it's pretty comprehensive:
Thomas Partridge appears on the 1851 census in Cuckfield, Sussex, age 26, occupation “Ag Lab”, born “Middlesex London”. He was a lodger in the household of Henry Godsmark.
On 12 October 1851 in Cuckfield he married Ann Tullett. He was a bachelor, a labourer, and his father is listed as Thomas Partridge, a labourer. Witnesses were Henry Godsmark and Harriet Burtenshaw, a relative of Ann’s.
They moved to Brighton, Sussex, where three children were born (Sarah Ann, 1852-1853; Thomas James, 1854-1949; and Phoebe Elizabeth, 1856-1934). Thomas was a “labourer” according to the birth certificates.
Thomas Partridge died in Brighton on 30 January 1856 “by misadventure by a locomotive engine and tender”, aged 31.