1803 Birmingham Birth

[jdbarron]

One of my ancestors, Thomas Player, stated on all census enumerations that he was born in Birmingham in 1803. However, I can't find any birth record in Birmingham parish registers. Does anybody have suggestions? I believe his parents were John & Patience Player from London. Thomas later settled in Coventry.

[DaveDave]

Hi

Have you managed to find any more info on your relative?

I'm a Player and have traced my family tree back to the late 1700's to a Samuel Player, but can't find where he was born.  He was the first Player in Scotland and enlisted in the Army in 1795, but his records are missing, so we still don't know where he was from.

Around the same time, William Player enlisted in the 14th Regt of Foot in Dundee - he died a few years later in Flanders.  William and Samuel may've been brothers, but we don't know for sure.

The name John is a popular one in our tree, so I wonder if there's a connection.

Hoping to hear from you.

[pamjd]

Hi

Do you have any evidence of where his parents were living when he was born?Perhaps his parents were only visiting Birmingham when he was born. If they were travelling a lot he could have been christened anywhere, or maybe in London when they returned after the birth.

Pam

[DaveDave]

We don't have any info re where he was born - that's what we're searching for.  I was hoping that someone else may have researched other Player roots and come across a Samuel (and maybe a William also) in the late 1700's, without any further details after 1795.

Samuel enlisted in 1795 in Cupar, Fife.  We can only presume he was between the ages of 16 or 17 to 30-ish.  That would mean he was born (theoretically, of course) between 1765-1779-ish.  Any Samuel Player born within that period could be ruled out it records point to them having lived, married, died, etc in other areas other than Cupar in Fife, as our Samuel lived there after leaving the Army in 1803, married a local girl and died there in 1848.

He was a Mason so we've contacted his local Lodge, who have been very helpful.  Unfortunately, the Lodge was used during the war to billet Polish soldiers and they burnt many of their records to keep warm, so the info on that period has be lost.

So, it's a very long shot, I know.  I'm looking for info on any Samuel Player born in England around 1765-79-ish, who may have had a brother called William, who both up and left to enlist in the Army in Scotland in 1795, never to return.  William died in Flanders shortly after enlisting and Samuel remained in Cupar.

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please fire away.  All very welcome.

We've tried his Army records, Kew, etc, etc - no place of birth.

[jdbarron]

Hi Dave... not sure I can help with MY Players. They seem to have been in London, and while there's a John Player born around 1770, I have nothing on his parents or siblings. As far as I know, there's no Scottish connection.

I'm pretty sure that my Thomas Player (b. 1803) was the son of this John Player, but Thomas is the only one we know of with any Birmingham connection. I suspect that his parents were in Birmingham, temporarily from London, but haven't found any evidence for that, or any birth records for him. Mind you, they were all involved in various aspects of watchmaking, and London, Birmingham and Coventry all had substantial watch making industries at the time, so there may have been family or business reasons for travelling there.

In any case, I can't find any Scottish connections before or since, other than that my Thomas married a woman whose parents were Scots... Magregor.

[DaveDave]

If my Samuel Player enlisted in 1795, that would make your John Player around 25 at that time.  So, in the very slim chance that they were brothers, how can I find details of your John's parents?

I can then look in to whether your John's parents had other children that Thomas and see if a Samuel and/or a William were any of them.  I know...  seems a very long winded way to go about it but can't think of anything else to try at the moment.

I doubt if any records in England on our Samuel and/or William will have an obvious Scottish connection as if they up and left around 1795 and went to Scotland, why would that be recorded?  It wouldn't.  I imagine there'd be some records on them pre-dating 1795 and then nothing after that date, as they'd no longer be in the area.  That's the clue I'm looking for - info prior to 1795 and nothing after that date.

For example, if we find 6 x Samuel Players that were born in the right time frame, and 4 were married and died in England, then the remaining 2 could be the one we're looking for.  Then we'd have an avenue to explore further.

Thanks for your help so far.  If you find anything on your John Player, where he was born, parents, etc, I'd be very grateful if you could share it with us.