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Old Photographs, Recognition, Handwriting Deciphering => Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition => Topic started by: c-side on Monday 15 June 09 00:26 BST (UK)
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Father ????? written under occupation in 1841 and crossed out.
Any ideas please?
It looks like Malder and if this is what it says - any thoughts on what it might mean
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Feather is first word, not father :) Can't quite read 2nd word, could be Moulder? It's not exactly crossed out, that will be the mark made by the clerk checking the page.
Usual occupations are feather-beater, dresser or driver, which meant cleaning feathers for sale
Barbara :)
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Could it not be 'Father malster'? (malster meaning brewer)
On some of the next pages, there are similar crossings out, over things like 'husband fishing' and 'husband sailor'.
Elizabeth is only 17 years old, and is in charge of many siblings. Could their father not have been at work when the census was taken?
It seems that the census-taker, instead of adding the person onto the census as though they were there - gave the excuse for why they were missing.
I wonder who crossed them out though? Whether he had realised his own mistake, or the person above him did it.
Rosemary
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Hi Rosemary, I hadn't looked at the actual census page before replying, but having looked now, that does make sense and there aren't any other feather workers round about.
As I said though, the crossing out was usually done by the clerk checking the form. They sometimes made additions to make occupations clearer
c-side, do you know who Elizabeth's parents were, do they appear in a later census - perhaps the father's occupation might be there? In 1851 I can't see the whole family, they may have left home, but there is a William the right age with parents Samuel and Sarah, and Samuel is an Innkeeper at the Ship Inn in Carlton Colville, which could be a connection
Barbara :)
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That would fit in with him being a malster in the 1841 census.
He probably progressed and got his own place :)
Rosemary
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I was just wondering if this was not an occupation, but a statement of relationship, i.e. giving the name of the daughter's real father ?
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It looks like they all have the same surname, and her being the oldest (and probably most responsible) got to be the one with the father's occupation beside her.
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Could they be staying with the family above on the census page, maybe?
c-side may have the answers :)
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Look what happens when my back is turned!
Firstly, this is my friends family, not mine, and she's been dong family history for precisely one week since she found a bunch of certificates and other papers and realised how much information she already had.
I've left her to look at freebmd and family search but I've been having a go at the census records.
The person we are interested in is Elizabeth's younger brother, James. He becomes a mariner and ends up in Northumberland. We have him on every census but 1851 (probably at sea then)
According to IGI extracted record the parents were James and Elizabeth Durrant but they do not appear on any census that I can find. There are a lot of Durrants in this area and another couple called James and Elizabeth living not too far away but with other children - so not them.
It appears that Elizabeth, age 17, is in charge of all her siblings with no sign of either parent which is why I thought the reference to father in the occupation column could be important.
All suggestions gratefully recieved.
Christine
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Hi Christine,
If you didn't want us to answer, you shouldn't have asked :D :D
Does your friend have any birth certificates to be sure that the parents are James and Elizabeth, or young James' marriage cert showing father's name and occupation?
Barbara :)
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If you didn't want us to answer, you shouldn't have asked :D :D
No! please keep on answering ;D
As far as I can remember the earliest cert. she has for this family is the marriage cert. for Eliza, young James' daughter. That's where we got the occupation of mariner from. Then we found the family in various census returns until we got back to Suffolk and his childhood.
She hasn't really had time to order new certs and all the events in Northumberland we will try to obtain from parish records to save some cash. It really is early days on this project but I reckoned that if I didn't ask about this 'father' thing now it might get overlooked later.
Christine
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Only joking Christine :)
So you have James' daughter's marriage cert, but no real proof that the family you posted below is his? There is another James in 1841 in Suffolk with father James and mother Sarah, have you considered that, or do you know that he had the siblings listed below? You say there's another James and Elizabeth but I can't see them, just James and Sarah
Would you like to post the census ref?
Barbara
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Hi Barbara,
First the census ref for the other James and Elizabeth - HO 107/1029/7. They have children ranging from 11 to 3 which is why I decided that they were not compatible with the children with the missing parents.
As for how certain I am that this is 'our' young James - I'm not - yet. I am as sure as it is possible to be that we have the right man in later census records when he is in Northumberland as there is continuity from one to another in ages, children etc. Also there is no competition for this surname in the area we are looking at. James gives his place of birth in all of them as Carlton.
IGI (extracted) shows two James Durrants in Carlton Colville born about three years apart - one has parents George and Sarah and they can be found on '41. The one we are looking at has been earmarked as a possible simply because of the recurrance of family names and it is intended that this should be 'filed' for now until we gather more of the Northumberland information.
Before we do that though I was curious as to the reference to the father because it could indicate that he was still alive and somewhere else, so far undiscovered.
Christine
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The other couple I found were at Kessingland, not far from Carlton
James and Sarah Durrant with children including a James born c.1828
HO107 Piece 1030 Book3 Folio 4 page 3
Barbara :)
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Thanks for that :) - I'll have a look
Christine
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Just a final note to say thanks to all who contributed ideas and suggestions.
A number of James Durrants have now been collected and will be filed pending more info.
If this one does turn out to be the right one I suspect Malster might be a good start.
Christine
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A final, final comment ;D to say that we've been to Northumberland archives today, found young James' marriage - father James, occupation MALSTER.
C
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My eyesight must be better than I thought :)
I don't need glasses just yet then
Rosemary