1841 Census - look up please

[Heather D]

What about this marriage?

Rebecca Newick and Robert Edbrook 20 Jun 1830 St Michaels Bristol

One possible baptism to this couple listed on the IGI
Robert Edbrooke bp 16 Dec 1838, Philip and Jacob Bristol, to Robert and Rebecca

HO107 374 4
Hill Street St Paul Bristol
Robert Cadbrook* 40 porter N
Rebecca 40 N
Mary Ann 10 Y
Robert 4 Y

a submitter has amended this to Edbrooke

1851 HO107 1949 335 16
10 Hill Street Bristol St Paul
Robert Edbrooke head 47 snuff packer Somerset Timberscombe?
Rebecca wife 46 shop keeper Lydeard St Lawrence Devon
Unfortunately if there are any other occupants of this address, the page seems to be missing

I note your man was in St Paul Bristol also and think this is one to bear in mind

Heather

[derekchesh]

Hi Simon

Think I have found your Henry William C Newick on the 1841 census.

Most "missing persons" are caused by bad hearing, spelling and writing by the original census enumerator which is then compounded by modern transcribers typing the info into databases which can be searched electronically. When you can't find the answer by electronic searching, you have to try to interpret the handwriting yourself and follow the other clues in the info available.

Main problem with your man is what the "C" stands for and how it gets mangled of the various databases.

On the 1851 census (ref HO107/1949/371/26) he is recorded as "Cludgey Newick" but the handwritten entry is most likely Henry William Chidgey Newick. He is employed as a "Shopman"

Working back in time, when he marries Mary Ann Roberts 3rd qr 1846 in Bristol (ref  11/189), the handwriting is quite clearly Henry William Chedgey Newick

The baptism record from Sue from St Johns Bedminster 19/3/1837 shows him as William Henry  Chidgey Newick born 14/1/1824 to Rebecca Newick of Wardrobe Place Bedminster.

On the 1841 Census (ref HO107/376/1/34/18) recorded as "Hy Chedger" is a 15 year old  living at No:1 Wardrobe Place Bedminster - employed as a "Shopboy". I leave it to you to examine the handwriting yourself but it looks like the family comprised William Chedgey age 50-55, wife Elizabeth age 40-45 and son Henry age 15.

Thus Henry was with his father William on the 1841 census recorded as a "Chedgey" but was baptised, married and raised a family under his proper name of Newick. Meanwhile, Heather has closed the loop finding Rebecca's marriage.


Derek

[Heather D]

That's a really promising find Derek - good spot!

Of course, it would help if the original poster had the marriage cert of Henry and Mary Ann ...if he indeed lived with his father for a time and gave all children the Chidgey middle name, then it's quite likely he would be named on the marriage cert. Although don't be surprised if it doesn't name him or adds Newick to his name - people went to all sort of lengths to conceal their illegitimacy. You may get lucky.

Heather

[sft456]

Hello Heather and Derek

Thanks for all your trawlings. So there are 3 versions of H W C Newick’s middle name. Firstly in the Baptism and subsequent naming of all his children, it is Chidgey. In the 1841 Census, the family are known as Chedger and In his marriage it is Chedgey

The  following scenario might therefore be considered:

Rebecca Newick works as a servant for William and  Elizabeth Chedger at Wardrobe Place, Bedminster (her age unknown, but possibly b @ 1801 - according to the 1841 Census). She bears an illegitimate child HWCN on 14/1/1824. She probably has to leave their service and doesn’t reappear until she is recorded as marrying Robert Edbrooke on 20 Jun 1830 at St Michaels Bristol. 3+? more children are born to them.

Meanwhile William keeps his son HWCN and names him just Henry Chedger which is how he appears in the 1841 Census with Father William and his wife Elizabeth Chedger. In 1846 HWCN  marries Mary Ann Roberts  and they start a family in 1848 as the Chidgey Newick’s

I have located various possible dates for Elizabeth (b @1801 d Chedger in Keynsham 1850?? or Elizabeth Chidgey b 1800 d Bristol 1868) and William Chedgey d Keynsham 1860??). Somewhere there must be an authoritative version of this surname

I can find no record of William and Elizabeth’s marriage or of further children. I wonder what Elizabeth’s attitude to all this was? Was she as confused as I am!

I will, at your suggestion, order the Marriage Cert of H WCN and Mary Ann to see what is recorded

Simon

[derekchesh]

Hi Simon

That's about the gist of it but let me have a think and a couple more trawls.

Firstly, in 1841 William was a labourer (unlikely to be the traditional Ag Lab in town)  so I doubt if Rebecca was in service to him. Don't know the date of his marriage to Elizabeth yet - SueTeakle may be able to find it  (please?). 

Second, re the definitive version of his name. I think "Chedger" is a complete red herring caused by transcribers misreading of indistinct handwriting - when you look at the last letter of the originals with 20/20 hindsight, the last letter is probably a "y".  Chidgey or Chedgey - there is not much to choose between but if Henry called all his childen "Chidgey" I would think that is more likely. The fact that he was a Shopboy/Shopman makes it probable that he could read and write ( do you have his marriage certificate?) but can't tell about William. I have an ancestor named Flux but his marriage certificate is in the name of Fluckes - mainly because his signature was an "X"

Whether "William kept his son" or Rebecca did until she married - I can't tell. It is probably significant that Henry was not baptised until 1837 and then in the name of Newick - which he kept for the rest of his life.  In those days, you could call yourself whatever name you wished.

If I come up with anything more - will get back to you.

Derek

[Heather D]

Interesting that in 1861, William Chidgey and wife Elizabeth also appear to be living in Bristol St Paul. Here his birth is given as c1789 Minehead. ref RG9 1719 78 9

Sadly for us when searching there is no standardised spelling ....150 years ago names were much more fluid than they are now and often written just as people heard them! I remember researching a Dowell family for someone else and finding no less than 15 variants, including Dowling and Dowler, all patently the same family. And you'd think that one would be easy

Heather

[sft456]

After further thought, several queries arise:

1   The only connection between Rebecca Newick, H W C N and William, Elizabeth and Henry Chedger is Wardrobe Place, Bedminster. Yet if she was not in his employ, were they both living there as lodgers before William was married. It’s true that Henry’s job as Shopboy, later Shopman, could have developed into Shopkeeper employing 5 men (as H W C N’s employment was so recorded in the 1881 Census) Was William annoyed at the name Rebecca had given to their Son? Clearly her naming and his were very different – H W C N and Henry Chidger (are they one and the same?) Trouble is there is an answer out there, but records are few

2   Surely by calling himself Newick, he was in fact drawing attention to his illegitimacy. If you wanted to hide it you would conceal your real Mother’s name and call yourself by the name you had been using for many years (I assume). Wouldn’t people ask about his name change? Is the name he was given at his birth the same as that by which he was baptised, bearing in mind the 13 year gap? At what point did William and Elizabeth take on his care and did they name him Henry Chedger regardless of Rebecca’s naming? – almost impossible to answer I suspect

I think the marriage details of William and Elizabeth are necessary, if only to confirm the surname and date, more so than H W C N and Mary Ann. There must be a record from one of the churches in the area.

Simon

[Heather D]

It's your research Simon ...all we are doing here is throwing out possibilities and offering suggestions. I think you're right to question and I'm never offended by that.

But surely before you go down the route of William and Elizabeth, it might be useful to establish his connection with your Mr Newick and the marriage of Henry and Mary A might just do that. It may answer part of your question - in ascertaining that HWCN and Henry Chidger are the same man.

As to the name, it doesn't surprise me he was plain Henry on the census ...they rarely gave full names and it may simply have been he was named William for his father but Henry was the name of choice to differentiate the two.

Perhaps he began using Newick on arriving in Bristol - a big place where people were less likely to know his history. It was after all his legal name. Or maybe he wasn't concerned about it at all and proudly names his father on the afore-mentioned marriage cert

Like you say, some questions may never be answered, it's not an exact science. But you can collect all the available evidence and come to a reasoned conclusion.

Heather

[SueTeakle]

This is the best I can come up with for the marriage 

William Chidgey (otp) & Elizabeth Hollister (otp)
31st August 1822 at Sts Philip & Jacob - Banns


Sue