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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Topic started by: Jang on Saturday 26 May 18 06:27 BST (UK)
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George Mitchell, boilermaker, and Janet Kirkwood married in Glasgow on 4 June 1850.
Their son, James Mitchell, was baptised on 3 April 1851 in Glasgow.
So far, so good. But the 1851 census has the family living at 75 Clyde St, Barony:
George Mitchell 28 head married Foundry Labourer Alloa
Janet Mitchell wife married 26 Foundry Labourer's wife Alloa
Maria Mitchell daughter 2 weeks Glasgow
The 1851 census was taken on 30 March 1851, so the facts fit for both James and Maria.
Is it simple a case of the enumerator making a mistake? Or is there another explanation?
Jan
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Did they have twins, and one died?
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Thanks, johnf04, I wondered the same thing but I'm having trouble finding evidence to back it up.
I know James lived - he married in 1869 and had at least 7 children. In 1861 he was living with his grandparents in Alloa. His mother Janet had remarried in 1862. I did find a James Mitchell, nursing child, living with the Beveridge family in Gorbals in 1851. It's difficult to read his age on the census image - it's been transcribed as 4 months but it could be weeks.
But I can't find a birth or death for a Maria Mitchell on SP that fits with an 1851 birthdate.
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Have you looked at the original census? It may be that the writing is so appalling that Maria is a mistranscription.
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Yes, it definitely says Maria !
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How certain are you that you have the right parents for your James Mitchell?
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I'm certain. His marriage certificate has the correct parents, ie George Mitchell and Janet Kirkwood, both living. Also he was living with his grandparents, William and Janet Kirkwood, in 1851.
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Do you have the date of birth for the child James?
He may have been born ex-nuptial and could be any age at baptism.
Maria may be a newborn infant to the couple within the marriage and young James somewhere else on census night.
Sue
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Sue, I'm not sure if the entry I have is for a birth or baptism - I suspect the latter
Glasgow
George Mitchell, boilermaker and Janet Kirkwood, a law. son James b 4 April 1851
witnesses Robert Mitchell, Robert Kirkwood. (His parents married on 4 June 1850 in Glasgow.)
He could be the James Mitchell, living with the Beveridge family in 1851:
William Beveridge 24 St Nunans Parish, Stirlingshire shoemaker
Margaret Beveridge 28 Paisley, Renfrewshire nurse
Isabella Beveridge 4 Glasgow
William Som 18 lodger mason Edinburgh, Midlothian
James Mitchell 4 Mo Glasgow, Lanarkshire Nursing Child (Child)
Parish Number: 644/2
Civil Parish: Gorbals
County: Lanarkshire
Address: 87 Centre St
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My best guess is that Maria was never baptised as she was sickly and James was fostered out as his parents couldn't care for both of them. Maria probably died in infancy or early childhood but I can't find a burial for her.
George and Janet parted company sometime before 1856 when Janet had a son, Robert Kirkwood, born 1856 in Alloa Clackmannanshire. The fact that he was baptised a Kirkwood suggests that George Mitchell died but I can't find a burial for him either.
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I suspect Maria -?- was either a visitor or a lodger and perhaps there's another am. researcher who is looking but can't find her.
The probability is that the enumerator was distracted and his/her finger, or ruler, slipped when (s)he was transcribing the information from the individual household schedule to the official enumeration book.
"From 1841 to 1901 a census schedule was completed for each household, and was then collected by the enumerator who copied the information into an enumeration book. It is these enumeration books that we consult today online and on microfilm."
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My best guess is that Maria was never baptised as she was sickly and James was fostered out as his parents couldn't care for both of them. Maria probably died in infancy or early childhood but I can't find a burial for her.
Baptisms often took place at home & more so if a child was ill.
Edit...Just noticed census was 31 March ::) ;D
I checked SP for anyone named Maria (surname blank) for Lanark/Glasgow area.
Closest I could find with an age of 2 wks was;
MCKENNA MARIA
ED MCKENNA/MARGARET GALLAGHER (Parents)
1/4/1851 (Born)
20/4/1851 (Baptised)
Glasgow, St John's Lanark
Strangely, she's not on the 1851 under the surname McKenna/MacKenna
A long shot but do you have any connection with her parents surnames, could she be a relative as Rena says :-\
Add...Deaths pre 1855 were seldom recorded sadly
Annie
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Rena and Annie, thanks for the feedback.
I didn't know about the scarcity of pre 1855 burials. I also ran into the same problem with the date of the census really narrowing down the possible birth date.
I'm beginning to think it was enumerator error after all. Maria is definitely not a family name - she must belong to someone else. James was the name of George Mitchell's father (mother Elizabeth) while Janet's parents were William and Janet.
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Just found a Maria Lochart, aged 2 months, living with her family at 20 Union Barony - a likely contender for the mistranscribed Maria Mitchell. :-)
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George Mitchell, boilermaker, and Janet Kirkwood married in Glasgow on 4 June 1850.
Their son, James Mitchell, was baptised on 3 April 1851 in Glasgow.
So far, so good. But the 1851 census has the family living at 75 Clyde St, Barony:
George Mitchell 28 head married Foundry Labourer Alloa
Janet Mitchell wife married 26 Foundry Labourer's wife Alloa
Maria Mitchell daughter 2 weeks Glasgow
Jan
A possible
I found a George Mitchell's death in the Index to Burials (Glasgow High Church)
His age is out slightly and also his occupation.......... which raises the question, could he have gone from boilermaker to Foundry Labourer to Mason
This George formerly residing in Anderson (same district as 1851 census)
Buried 12th April 1853.....a Mason aged 32
Cause of death....Phthisis
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Thanks Capricorn. I did check this one - I thought at the time it seemed unlikely he'd go from foundry labourer to mason but I guess stranger things have happened. I noticed he was buried the Common Ground - does that mean he was a pauper? That would fit with what I know of the family circumstances.
The timing fits, so does the location ...
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The probability is that the enumerator was distracted and his/her finger, or ruler, slipped when (s)he was transcribing the information from the individual household schedule to the official enumeration book.
It does happen. I have one showing the husband's names, marital status, age and occupation followed on the same line by the birthplace of the wife, who cannot be found anywhere else.
My best guess is that Maria was never baptised
The more usual thing with a sickly child was to get it baptised in a hurry, because many people believed that an unbaptised child would not be able to enter heaven after death, even if they didn't actually adhere to the Roman Catholic idea of Limbo.
Has anyone found a possible Maria in any later census?
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I'm not sure if the entry I have is for a birth or baptism - I suspect the latter
Glasgow
George Mitchell, boilermaker and Janet Kirkwood, a law. son James b 4 April 1851
witnesses Robert Mitchell, Robert Kirkwood. (His parents married on 4 June 1850 in Glasgow.)
Usually the Glasgow register lists the date (sometimes only the year) of baptism first, and the date of birth later, if at all, prefixed by bo: which makes it clear which date is which. Have you got an image of the original document?
He could be the James Mitchell, living with the Beveridge family in 1851:
William Beveridge 24 St Nunans Parish, Stirlingshire shoemaker
Margaret Beveridge 28 Paisley, Renfrewshire nurse
Isabella Beveridge 4 Glasgow
William Som 18 lodger mason Edinburgh, Midlothian
James Mitchell 4 Mo Glasgow, Lanarkshire Nursing Child (Child)
Parish Number: 644/2
Civil Parish: Gorbals
County: Lanarkshire
Address: 87 Centre St
Not if he was born on 4 April, as the census was taken on 31 March 1851.
(BTW it's St Ninian's, not St Nunans - is this a transcriber's error? I assume it's from Ancestry.)
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I haven't been able to find a Maria Mitchell in later censuses.
I've attached James' birth or baptism entry - only one date given. Seems to say bo ie born? The only entry on the whole page that has both birth and baptism dates is for twins. If it was his birth date, then he wouldn't appear in the 1851 census …
Yes, St Nunans was a transcription error. Beveridge was transcribed as "Berendge"!
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Oops, my mistake. The entry that has two dates is for siblings, one bo 5 April 1848 and the other bo 30 April 1851. So James Mitchell must have been born on 3 April 1851, ie after the census.
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Yes, that is quite clearly bo: so he cannot have been in the 1851 census at all.
Could Maria's age in 1851 have been mistranscribed? SP indexes her as aged 0, but could the enumerator have written weeks instead of years by mistake?
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Oops, my mistake. The entry that has two dates is for siblings, one bo 5 April 1848 and the other bo 30 April 1851. So James Mitchell must have been born on 3 April 1851, ie after the census.
Yes.
So if Maria ever existed, she was born before her parents' marriage.
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The 1851 image (attached) says weeks but I guess the enumerator could have the age wrong.
No Maria Mitchell or Kirkwood between 1849 and 1851 born anywhere in Scotland on SP.
So the most likely conclusion is that Maria is an error in transcription and belongs to someone else.
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The most likely conclusion is that Maria is an error in transcription and belongs to someone else.
Indeed. She certainly can't be James' elder sister if he was born 3 days after the census.
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And that's the conclusion I'll run with. Many thanks for all the feedback :-)