RootsChat.Com
England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Cornwall => England => Cornwall Lookup Requests => Topic started by: geoffreyhyoung on Saturday 24 March 12 18:28 GMT (UK)
-
I have been researching my Mitchell family line which in the 1871 census at Skelton in Cleveland stated that James and Grace Mitchell came from Ludgvan and their ages indicated thet they were born c 1844. After 2 years with a brickwall I finally found a J ames born in Marazion and ordered marriage cert which stated he married a Grace Johns in 1864 (the only Grace and James Mitchell marriage I could find). The thing is he is recorded as Michell living in Ludgvan and his father James Michell Wheelwright B 1813 was from Marazion is his father. When trying to trace this family back I had St Hilary, Marazion and Perranuthnoe as places they lived and especially in the 1700s Michell and Mitchell seemed to appear in the line? My questions are are name spellings like this interchangable and are these places feasible for the same family? I am not from Cornwall so this does confuse me a bit.
-
Hi Geoffrey
If you want to know where a place is and others around it, I find the best
thing to do is put the name in your search engine and put Genuki at the
end of the name and County and it brings you the details of the place.
At the top it says nearby places and if you click on that it brings up
surrounding places up to and just beyond 5 miles.
I put Marizion and both Perranuthnoe and Ludgvan are 2 miles away.
People used to move to villages looking for work and walked it so it wasnt
too far in those days.
Dont know if you have ever looked on FamilySearch.org which is a free site that
the Latter Day Saints do. Your family is on there too.
Looks like James was born in 1846. The surname looks the same but spelt differently
someone has missed the T out of it and it looks like two surnames which if probably
later became but it is more than likely the same family name.
regards Sandymc
-
the 1841 census has Marazion enumerated as part of St Hilary and some of the parish records for Marazion are in with the St Hilary ones around this time.
This map may help
http://www.cornwall-opc.org/MAPS/parish_map.pdf
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks have a database that you can search - tick for 'include nearby parishes' & 'include similar sounding names'
Possible marriage for the parents of James
http://www.cornwall-opc-database.org/search-database/more-info/?t=marriages&id=553650
If you want to check the original parish records, theimages are on the new FamilySearch site
https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/index#uri=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.familysearch.org%2Frecords%2Fwaypoint%2F13750775
;)
-
thanks for those replies guys.Much appreciated. Am now trying to establish which John Michell/Mitchell from Marazion/St Hilary is James Michells(b1813) father. It appears his wife was Anne the marriage above is a good candidate. However there are a few Johns that could qualify so any ideas on sorting them out? I do appreciate all help and suggestions.
-
have you tried building up a picture of the family by noting all the baptisms to the same parents? Have you checked the census to see if he is still alive in 1841?
-
I have looked at Michell children born to John and Anne(apparently the marriage that you found) and there are 5/6 born between 1799 and 1814 including James which leaves a bit of a gap from the marriage in 1793.However there are 2 Mitchell children born 1794 and 1802 to John and Anne. I have looked extensively on the family search and CPC sites and this is the only John Michell/Anne marriage in the area at the time. So maybe these are all from the same parents.
Also assuming the John who was married in 1793 was 20+ years old I have found a John Michell born to Henry and Elizabeth in 1771 which would fit. Did all marriages and births get recorded?
-
the records that you are looking at for this time are parish records, so there's the possibility of mistranscription or no transcription at all if you're relying on the opc. Which records are you using on Familysearch? IGI or the original images? It's possible that there were babies before the one in 1799 who didn't survive to be baptised or were baptised in a different parish or didn't have a parish baptism - plenty of non-conformity in Cornwall.
:-\
-
I had originally used the IGI but tried theoriginal records through the link which you left me. I had thought that John and Anne may be from a different parish altogether. But the difficulty there is I dont know Cornish social history well enough to predict where would be feasible. They seemed to have interchanged their employment names from farmer to labourer and back again. My guess is that they wernt big scale farmers but maybe worked a small plot. Would being landworkers make them more likely to stay in one parish and did people move about Cornwallin the 18th cent?
Are there non conformist records for Cornwall you can access online?
-
Hi again,
Can I ask how far you looked on the IGI? There are hundreds of Michell and Mitchells
and they go way back to the early 1700's in St Hilary and surrounding areas. As I mentioned
earlier you have to piece it all together and keep on searching. It can take a long time to
get the right family but its like putting a jigsaw together and also being a detective.
I looked at the Christening of James baptised 25th July 1813 with parents John and Ann
If you then look further down that page there is also a Ann Michell baptised that day
with same parents both at St Hilary. If you use your search engine you can search lots
of information on Cornwall and all the villages of Cornwall. You can also look at Ludgvan
Cornwall Genuki and as mentioned it tells you all the surrounding areas etc.
Doing family ancestry is a great hobby and you have to delve into the different sites
use the geography and history of the area with searches.
Try looking at IGI Batch numbers Cornwall, England and that will bring you the information
I have found but also if you cannot find a certain first name just put the surname in and
it brings up pages of all the Michells you are looking for.
Hope you find what you are looking for
regards Sandymc
-
i know Iv'e looked! That is what makes it so difficult but interesting at the same time. My favoured line is the one that leadsback to Perranuthnoe but I just have a nagging doubt I'm missing something. Am now starting with James1845 and working back as thoroughly as I can but the jump from James 1813 to John 1771 but still unsure. The other strangething is that a Mitchell family legend had an Irish connection but I just think this is fantasy.
-
Hi again,
The gap between John and James is not that large. Its only 40 years. John could have
been married before and as soon as the wife died they were generally married within
a year as they had children to look after. Maybe its because he was a widower you
are finding it hard to fill that gap? It doesnt help when they dont put the wifes name
on these records it makes me laugh as its as if the woman wasnt that important. Poor
wife. I wouldnt give up hope of finding your way through it can take years sometimes.
At least the information on line is so much better now than when I started about 6
years ago.
After writing that I looked at the census as you hadnt mentioned going forward to
then go backwards. In the 1841 census James born 1813 is with Eliza in Market Place
parish of St Hilary, with Henry 3 and a James aged 1 born 1840. In 1851 census James is a widower
living with a housekeeper called Mary Ford, Henry 14, James 7 William John aged 6 weeks.
All down as being born in Marazion. A few gaps there so probably the children had died.
I think the mix up you are having is the Parish and the District. They are all within a
few miles of each other and I would presume it just depended when or where the scribe
was sent from. As mentioned before it didnt take time to get someone in to look after
the kids otherwise they couldnt go to work.
I noticed that James 1844 married Grace at Penzance which is 3 miles away. Miles were
nothing in those days, it was a brisk walk down the road.
Try and keep an open mind You can make mistakes then something later on it works
out again. Hope it goes well going backwards.
regards Sandymc
-
thanks. Yes I am beginning to realise that distances on the map of Cornwall arn't that great. At first look I was relating it to here in Yorkshire but when you look they are all within a few miles of each other. I take what you mean about walking. In the 19th Cent James Mitchell who lived in Cleveland at that time would have walked 3 miles to work and then another 2 miles underground in the mine to the face. Puts us into perspective really. Thinking about john, I suppose born in 1771 married 1793 is pretty much ok. It is just the seemingly long gap to a first child in 1799 which is odd. Maybe John was called up into the army. Again thanks for your encouragement.
On James and Grace's marriage in 1864 I have obtained a copy cetificate and they were marriedin the register office at Penzance as you said. Would that mean they were living in sin as it were or maybe they were non conformists.
-
Good evening,
Try this site, Ian has thousands of mitchells and it's variant spellings. www.devon-mitchells.co.uk
John915
-
Thanks.Have just had a quick look and theres lots of info. Will start searching for my lot!
-
Geoffrey H Young, There is a site that might be of interest to you, Google "Devon Mitchells" and you will find lots of information, including John & Anne. It has been put together by numerous people, through the guy that runs the site. Give it a try.
-
Hi Geoffrey, I've just come across your query on RootsChat, ref. James Michell and Grace Johns. They had 9 children, all born in Yorkshire, except the last one, Mabel who was born in Nottinghamshire. James parents were James Michell and Eliza Bawden, he had a second wife Mary Ford. The reason you have the Mitchell connection is mainly due to how the name is heard by whoever registers the family. They were definitely Michell's when they left Cornwall, but all the kids are listed as Mitchell when born 'Up North'. Hope that helps a bit. Google a site called Mitchells of Devon, you'll find some more info on there.