Harry Smith's Father ???

[murphy60]

Looking for help or inspiration on this one tho' pretty sure I know how hopeless this is ....

Harry Smith Age 2 on 1861 in Aston Clinton  with unmarried mother Rhoda Smith.

I have received his BC w/ bd of March 26th, 1859.   Rhoda did not name the father.

Rhoda marries a widower in 1868 (have their  MC)  and by 1870 they have emigrated and are in the U.S.  Harry Smith takes on his stepfather's surname from that point forward.

Short of a DNA study,  any other way to look for who the birth father might be???

Many thanks for any guidance or ideas   

lissa

[lizdb]

No - if Rhoda never declared in any official document that has survived who the father was, then we have no way of finding out.

[jillruss]

It might be worth contacting Bucks Archives to see if they have any record - possibly a Bastardy Order.

As she didn't marry for nearly 10 years, it's possible she may have had to ask for poor relief. However, I wouldn't hold out too much hope, as I think such surviving records are few and far between. It's also likely that her family would have supported her.

Worth a try though - you might get lucky! 

Jill

[murphy60]

Hi lizdb and Jill,   thanks for responding. 

You have confirmed the grim reality of probably never knowing 

Jill,   thanks for the suggestion to contact Bucks Arcchives.   I will try that.   

I did try try looking on the NA site for Bastardy cases but I'm not very versatile on that site  and what I did find wasn't them.  But will try with that again "just in case"...

Rhoda seemed to make her own way as a plaiter until the time she remarried.... family (also poor people) lived close by..so somehow she managed until she married.  In Harry's memoirs later in life he recalls being in some sort of "private school" before they went to the U.S.   So maybe there was an "arrangement" w/ the father's family.

I also have my suspicions about the wealthy older unmarried farmer next door  with a young housekeeper  and the other 2 young unmarried women close by also with small children.....       just making up stories......

Many thanks!!

lissa

[lizdb]

The only other straw you could clutch at is to see if he was chrisitened and if there is anything in the Parish record. More that likely it will just say 'son of Rhoda'.

[murphy60]

Thanks lizbd,  I have thought of the parish record ---   need to pull out my files on the Smiths to see there are baptismal locations in Aston Clinton for others of the Smith family as a starting place.

I have Smith "cousins" descending from Rhoda's brother --   they know little except that Rhoda's life was hard setting out and got much better after marriage and emigration.

The only other straw to grasp is that no one in Rhoda's family is named Harry.  So either she just liked the name or it's a clue to the father's name    And,  Harry also named a son Harry........maybe as a way of subtly carrying on a blood line association.

Thanks for the further suggestion!

lissa

[Stefan Woolf]

The only other straw you could clutch at is to see if he was christened and if there is anything in the Parish record. More that likely it will just say 'son of Rhoda'.

Unfortunately the transcript of the baptism at St Michael & All Angels Church, Aston Clinton, simply reads.....

16 Oct 1859, Harry, Child of Rhoda Smith of Aston Clinton

In my experience it would be highly unusual for the church registers to name a father, if the civil registration of the birth did not.

Your only hope, as others have suggested, might be any surviving bastardry papers, but I don't think your chances are great.

BTW I am related to many of the Smiths from Aston Clinton, but as no Rhodas feature in my tree, I'm assuming her origins are different.

Stef.

[murphy60]

Hi Stef!   Like your RC nickname by the way!

Very sorry for the delayed response to your very kind effort in looking up the PR for Harry's birth --   I was out of town.

The baptismal record at least reconfirms all that is known and that Harry's bloodline will probably never be know.

Rhoda's Father was Thomas Smith  b. 1811  d. 1851-1853  Mother Sarah (nee unknown)  b. 1811
In 1851 Thomas, Sarah and family are on Green End Street in Aston Clinton
Sarah remarries to Elijah Thorne in 1853.   In 1881 Sarah and Elijah are on Weston Road in Aston Clinton.
Rhoda's siblings:  George, John, James, Peter, Job, William.   

Again many thanks for your help and if we have any Smith connection from the above, let me know.

lissa

[Stefan Woolf]

Rhoda's Father was Thomas Smith  b. 1811  d. 1851-1853  Mother Sarah (nee unknown)  b. 1811
In 1851 Thomas, Sarah and family are on Green End Street in Aston Clinton
Sarah remarries to Elijah Thorne in 1853.   In 1881 Sarah and Elijah are on Weston Road in Aston Clinton.
Rhoda's siblings:  George, John, James, Peter, Job, William.   

Hi Lissa,

This is quite intriguing, because in 1841, "your lot", including, Thomas, Sarah, Rhoda, (listed as "Rodia"), are at Dancer's End, which is but a few hundred yards from Ebbs Pit, which is where my 2 * great grandfather Charles SMITH and his wife Ann COX are living. Next door to Charles is also Charles brother, another Thomas SMITH, and his wife Mary MEAD & family. This Thomas is given as aged 31, so, by coincidence, exactly the same age as yours.

My Charles and Thomas are both sons of Henry SMITH and Frances (or Fanny) HUMPHREY who married in Buckland on 12 Oct 1802. I don't know where Henry originated from, though.

Do you know where your Thomas SMITH was born, please, or who his parents were. The 1841 shows quite clearly that he and his wife were born outside of Buckinghamshire.

So it looks likely that although your SMITH family are living in close proximity to many "local" SMITHs who are inter-related, that your family were migrants from another area, and probably not long term residents of the Aston Clinton area.

One thing you have confused me with though, is that you say Thomas is with his family in Green End Street in 1851.  The family I found shows Sarah as the widowed head of household, so I think Thomas had died before the 1851 census. (This is why I don't know his birthplace more accurately than "outside Buckinghamshire")

If I have the right Sarah, then she is born in Fencott, Oxfordshire. I guess it is kind of likely that your Thomas also hails from Oxon, although perhaps not, as all children seem to be born in the Aston Clinton area.

Sorry, more questions than answers, there I think.

But to recap

What do you know of Thomas' birthplace or parents ?
&
Do you agree he is not in the 1851 census ?

Finally I have transcriots of Aston Clinton, St Leonards, and Buckland parish registers, if you need any SMITH lookups (pre 1901) done.  Sadly Drayton Beauchamp, which might answer some of my mysteries, is not available. Apparently some of the 1813 onwards registers are those still in use at the church!

Best wishes,

Stef.