reynolds

[mike reynolds]

Hi
Can anyone help with tracing Reynolds in Kent early 1800's. I have Henry Reynolds born 1829/30 in Canterbury but don't have his parents names.
The 1841 Census has a Henry with John Reynolds as the head who was a Victualler in Houghton near Dover.
I havn't tried to get his Birth Certificate yet, but any info would be a great help.
thanks
Mike

[casalguidi]

Hi Mike

Welcome to Rootschat

The 1841 Census has a Henry with John Reynolds as the head who was a Victualler in Houghton near Dover

Do you mean "Hougham" near Dover?

Have you found your Henry in the 1851 census?  When/where/whom did he marry - hopefully, his father's details should be on the marriage certificate?

Casalguidi

[mike reynolds]

Hi Casalguidi
Yes, Hougham near Dover.
My Henry in the 1851 census was born in Canterbury 1829/30 his first wife
appears to have been Amy Eleanor (Brown) (married 1848 Maidstone) and he
married to Lucy (Culliford) 1868 in Richmond.
My tree fits correctly with Lucy and Henry.

My uncertainty is going back from there.
The only Henry Reynolds I have found in Kent in the 1841 census shows John
Reynolds as the head and wife Hannah (from Susannah?). John was born in 1806
in Kent and was a victualer at Hougham. In 1851 census he is at the Half
Moon P/H as a victualer but married to Jane.
By 1861 John has either died or given up the pub.

A complication is that it appears four John Reynolds's were born in Kent in
1806. A John and Jane keep on cropping up in Hougham but he is now a Cordwainer.

I have not got his marriage certificate yet but as you say its probably
going to be the way to go.

Best regards

Mike

[mike reynolds]

Hi Casalguidi

I have now obtained Henry and Lucy's marriage certificate, which shows him as a painter and her as a servant and both living in Richmond Surrey.
He is shown as a widower, and my investigations suggested he had been married previously

All well and good, but the certificate has shown up that I have been trying to link him with the wrong father (John). I had done that because in the 1841 census the only family I could find with a Henry (as a son) in Kent had John as the head. This assumption seemed sensible to me at the time.

His father's real name in Richard Reynolds and he was a Coachman.

Lucy's father was Samuel Culliford who was a Labourer.

Back to the drawing board....

Any good folk out there who can put any meat on this??

Best regards

Mike

[casalguidi]

There is this one

1841 3 Week Street, Maidstone

Richard REYNOLDS 50 lab b.Kent
Hannah 48 b.Kent
Henry 12 b.Kent
Mary 9 b.Kent

HO107/490 folio 45 page 11
......................

1851 4 Temple Street, Maidstone

Richard REYNOLDS head mar 66 post boy b.Goudhurst
Hannah wife 63 b.Maidstone
Richard son unm 38 post boy b.Maidstone
Mary dau unm 18 b.Canterbury

and at 3 Temple Street is Elizabeth REYNOLDS head wid 64 pauper b.Maidstone (just in case she is related)

HO107/1617 folio 52 page 13

Casalguidi

[mike reynolds]

Hi Casalguidi
Many thanks for the info.
It could be the right Richard.
I have Henry married off to Amy Eleanor Brown by 1851 and living at 114 Martlett St Maidstone. So Richard in Maidstone would sound right.
If it is the same family they seem to have a bit of confusion about their ages. They age rather rapidly between 1841 and 1851. But Mary, born in Canterbury suggests they must have travelled there periodically but perhaps didn't live there.

On second thoughts, I don't think they can be the same family. The appearance of son Richard age 38 in the 1851 census looks a bit odd. I will buy some more time on Ancestry.com and try to find if this second Richard has a family of his own and was just visiting home for the day...

The cert I have is for Henrys' second marriage in 1868.
Richard is shown as a Coachman, which I would have thought was a job you trained for.
Could be that being a Coachman wasn't a top job and didn't need much training and Richard, Labourer in 1841 and Post Boy in 1861 was able to handle it.

Certainly food for thought.

Sorry, on re reading this, I seem to ramble a bit.
Thanks again
Best regards
Mike

[casalguidi]

Hi Mike

I think that the families listed in 1841 and 1851 above are definitely the same - they were living in the same area - perhaps even the same property with a change of address.  The Elizabeth REYNOLDS listed as next door in 1851 was also living next door or next door but one in 1841.  Whether they are your family is, of course, debatable but it was the nearest match I could see

Ages can be a problem, particulary with 1841 when they were often rounded down to the nearest 5 years.  Saying that, however, it is questionable whether Richard senior's age in 1841 is listed as 50 or 56.  I opted for 50 but I could be wrong.  I expect Richard junior was working away from home as there is no indication that he is married in 1851

Best wishes

Casalguidi

[mike reynolds]

Hi Casalguidi

I'm not sure how to pin the family down, to accept or reject them.

My Richard was of course born before the 1837 start of registration, so before that how were births recorded?

Would I be able to trace him on Parish records? With some effort, I would think yes for Baptisms, Marriages and Deaths...but Births?

I must somehow identify his wifes' name, to tie him down.

Richards' son Henry was born in Canturbury 1829/30. Do you know how I would trace his birth? What requirement was there to report Births? Would the Father and Mother be recorded? The birth perhaps could have been in a Hospital, but I think it's unlikely in those days.

I wonder if they were visiting other family when the birth occurred.

Perhaps another way to look at it is from Richards occupation as Coachman. Your findings show him as Post Boy. Today, we would think he worked in the Post Room in an office, but in 1841/51, Post Boy, may have been our Post Man. Could this have involved actually delivering mail, or perhaps ferrying it from town to town by Coach? Hence he becomes a Coachman.

Hmmm.

An afterthought. Travelling around would not be easy for the ordinary folk in those days. Even going from Maidstone to Canturbury would have been a trek. If he was a coachman, was he able to ferry his family around? During hours or out of hours?

More to think about.

Do you know if there are any records showing the types of jobs people did in those days, or who they worked for?  Terminology changes over time and the original meanings can become lost.

Best regards

Mike

[casalguidi]

Hi Mike

Have a look at this for "post boy" - you could well be right

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/hitch/gendocs/trades.html

Births and deaths weren't recorded prior to 1837 so we have to rely on the baptisms, marriages and burials in parish records.  The links in the following post will give you some idea how they are laid out in the registers http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,145404.msg660184.html#msg660184

Unfortunately, there were many parishes in Canterbury - take a look at the following map to give you some idea http://www.kfhs.org.uk/kfhs-area1.htm

The original registers will be at Canterbury Cathedral Archives with some copies in the local studies room at Canterbury library.  There was also, at one time, an index of Canterbury baptisms, marriages and burials covering this period available, I believe, from the Kent Family History Society http://www.kfhs.org.uk/index.htm though it might seem a bit extravagant if you may have only one or two events in Canterbury to look up.