Carters in Ludlow - advice wanted!

[jbarrett]

Hi

I have traced my family back to Ludlow in the early 1800's. A John Carter married to a Catharine (Kitty). They had 6 children - John (1812), William (1814), Mary (1820), Thomas (1823), Eliza (1825) and Harriet (1829).

At some point at least three of the offspring, possibly the whole family relocated to Birmingham. How would I go about finding out where they may have lived in Ludlow and how do I trace John and Catharine back further? On ancestory.com there is a record of a John  Carter being born to an Edward and Ann Carter in Ludlow on 10 Dec 1787. Complete supposition at this point but Edward is a name that crops up a lot amongst the grandchildren, so I wondered how I could investigate this possible link?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions that you may have.

Jenny

[JClarke]

Hi Jenny

I regret I can’t offer much advice, but I’ve some information that may just help a bit and I thought I’d pass it on.

The local library carries transcriptions of the Ludlow Parish Records and some surrounding areas. They tend to be of the period 1600-1812 and with John being born 1812, I thought it was worth looking for a marriage between John and Catharine. No luck with the marriage I’m afraid, but I did find the following:

Baptism – June 4 1812 – John, s of John Carter and Catherine

You mention a record on Ancestry of a John Carter being baptised to Edward & Ann on Dec 10 1787. Checking back through the records there is also a John Carter being baptised on May 7 1789 to Benjamin Carter and Martha.

As with most things, I also found a burial record for a John Carter on July 6 1795, and this is one of the few burial records that doesn’t record any other information. The majority tend to name the father – isn’t it always the way!

Information found on the two Carter marriages in Ludlow:

Marriage – Feb 5 1787 – Edward Carter and Ann Jacks
Wit., Hester Jones, Ephraim Grobe

Marriage – Feb 16 1784 – Benjamin Carter and Martha Knight
Wit., John Steed, Edwd. Powys

You don’t happen to know the surname for Catharine, or even where she may have originated from? What profession did John Carter (Catharine’s husband) follow? If it runs in the family it may help.

Hope some of this makes sense.
John 

[jbarrett]

Hi John

Thanks for this - and for taking the time to look things up for me (I'm in New Zealand so MUCH appreciated!)

John Carter's profession I know - glove cutter. This was on his daughter's marriage certificate (Mary bn 1819 is the one whose footsteps I'm following).

The details on Catharine I got from the IGI where there is a record of Mary's christening. Unfortunately it only gave Catharine's first name on the IGI and nothing else.

So two possibilities for John's parentage - I suppose it could be worse!! It is a pity we can't work out which John it was that died in 1795.

Thanks again for all your help and I'll keep my thinking cap on,

Jenny

[JClarke]

Hi Jenny

Thanks for the information about John’s occupation – it may prove useful. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Ludlow was renowned for glove making. I’ll have a look at information on the subject, it may throw something up.

Do you happen to know when John and Catherine (Kitty) died? I was just wondering if John and Catherine may have still been in Ludlow at the time of the 1841 and 1851 census. I can see that Thomas was living in Birmingham in 1861 and I can’t seem to find any obvious matches for his parents in the 1861 census, which is the earliest one that I can search the whole of England and Wales.

If there is a good chance they were living in Ludlow, then I can try having a search of the Ludlow census for 1841 and 1851, or perhaps you’ve already explored these possibilities?

Just a thought!

Regards
John

[jbarrett]

Hi again

Oooh - it would be great if you could look for them in the 1851 / 41 census - if it isn't too much of a mission. I too drew a blank on the 1861 census. I don't know when they died but it may be worth a shot.

I have the Warwickshire 1851 census and three of the children come up in that in Birmingham - Thomas, Edward and Mary. More difficult to trace the other girls as they may have married (there are two Eliza's from Ludlow of the right age but no Harriets)and there is no trace of the son John Carter or either John or Catharine. It would seem Mary Carter moved to Birmingham pre-1841 - her first child born 1839 was born in Birmingham (interestingly they weren't married until 1843 though...).

Many thanks again -  I didn't realise that Ludlow was famous for glove making - I'll have to read up on it.

Cheers

Jenny