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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Kent => Topic started by: garlands on Wednesday 03 March 21 15:02 GMT (UK)
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In the '51 Census, a birth place is transcribed as Bramford, Kent. I am unable to locate it, and, looking at the original, I can't make it out as anything else. Can anyone help, please?
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Are you able to give the census reference? What place of birth is given in other census?
The birthplace should be the parish however my grandfather gave the name the farm where he was born.
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Bridget GRIFFITH
HO107/1920/336/24
In '41, birthplace is listed as Somerset!!!
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Hmm ....
There aren't many parishes in Kent that end in ford - see Genuki's list of parishes
https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/KEN/parishes
I'm not convinced it begins with 'B'.
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If the transcriber hadn't read it as Bramford, I don't think I could have made anything of it.
I'm open to offers.
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The only '____ford' parishes I've been able to find in Kent are:-
Ashford
Aylesford
Crayford
Dartford
Deptford
Eynsford
Offord
Stanford
and I can't make any of these look like the Census entry
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Anc transcribe it as East Geminford, Somerset. Nothing about Kent at all.
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One transcriber reads 'Kent', another reads 'East'
Likewise, one reads 'Bramford' the other reads 'Geminford'
Certainly, the first letter of the second word is much more like a 'G' than a 'B', but I don't think it looks much like the 'G' in 'Griffith'
Also, my 'Parish Guide' does not contain Geminford or East Geminford. However, I'm sure you've brought us closer to what it really is. Thankyou.
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In case it helps at all, this thread relates ...
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=340064.0
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Thanks. It seems to confirm that the transcription 'East Geminford' is wrong, but what is the correct version? Is the first word 'Kent'? What is the first letter of the second word?
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That link is very helpful - it at least confirms a link with Kent if the daughter Jane was born there (I have been looking for her birth in Somerset)
Looking at the 1851, the enumerator has dittoed "Somerset" for various birthplaces above Bridget, then enters Bridgets as (possibly) Kent, then goes back to Somerset. That certainly indicates a birthplace other then Somerset for her.
My only idea might be Hunts Hemingford - but it doesnt really look as if second word starts with an H either!
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There is yet another thread here on this family
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=845372.0;topicseen
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Looking at other nearby pages to compare letter-forms, I don't think it's Hunts.
I do think it is written Kent, and after that Brumford. It would appear to be an error for some other place in Kent, perhaps unknown to the Somerset enumerator.
As William was in the Chatham Marines, maybe it should have been Brompton, which is where the barracks were located? Just a suggestion.
ADDED - it now seems from the post linked above (thanks lizdb) that Bridget's maiden name and the marriage have already been found. It might have been helpful to post that data here.
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To tackle Bridget's marriage.
Private William GRIFFITTHS of the 55th Regiment of Foot married Bridget BOULDGER on 21st March 1819 in St Helier, Jersey.
Bridget is 'of this Parish'
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So he wasn't in the Marines when he married but in the army (55th foot)? Again, it would have been helpful to have posted that info, or at least to have linked to your previous thread(s), to save us going round in circles.
It would seem that the 1851 birthplace is incorrect as written. Bridget may have been born in Kent, or perhaps born to a soldier or marine who was posted in Kent, or posted anywhere else for that matter, including Ireland. It doesn't help that offspring of soldiers were often unsure of their own place of birth.
Have you looked for her family surname Bouldger (with variant spellings) in any army records?
Sorry I can't spend any longer this thread.
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To my eye, the end of the second word looks more like '...ford' than '...pton', but the whole word does not look like any of the Kent parishes I listed earlier.
Either way, I've searched both Kent and Somerset for the baptism of Bridget GRIFFITH nee BOULDGER and been unable to find her or, indeed, anyone else with that surname. Her marriage is recorded in a beautiful hand, and I cannot read her surname in any other way but, perhaps, someone else might read it differently.
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Apologies to Bookbox, but I thought linking the two threads would have been confusing rather than helpful. Obviously, I was wrong. Sorry.
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This might throw an almighty spanner into the works.
I have just found the lady concerned - Bridget GRIFFITHS (nee BOULDGER) in the '61 which gives a third version of her details. She's now a widow, living in Somerset (as in '51) but her age has shot up (birth year now 1794) and birth place now 'Jersey, Channel Islands'.
My apologies to everyone for wasting your time looking in the wrong place and wrong time! We shall never know what the '51 birth place was meant to be; her husband probably told the enumerator and, between them, they completely messed it up.
Many thanks for all your interest and help.