William Nicholson. Heaton Norris. 1841

[Curly]

        Good Morning to England,
   As a first time user, may i say how impressed i am with all the information 
   that comes out of this site.  Congratulations to everyone involved.
   My request is for help in finding the Parents, and possible siblings, of
   William Nicholson. The following information is all i have to work on for this.
   1881 Census.
   81 Gt Egerton St. Heaton Norris.
        William.    Nicholson.    46.  Carder? in Cotton Mill.  born  Stockport.
        Sarah. A   Nicholson. W.45                                 born  Heaton Norris.
        William.H. Nicholson. son 18   Railway Clerk.           born Heaton Norris.
           John. T. Nicholson. son 16   Errand Boy              born Heaton Norris
            Emma. Nicholson.  dau13   Sewing Machinist.      born Heaton Norris
    My thoughts were the 1841 Census would be the best choice for this
    even though it may miss some siblings. This is not a major drama as i can
    fill in a few gaps when i come over sometime.  However i understand from
    reading the texts that this source is not the easiest to work with.
    My apologies therefore to start with, but i would be grateful for any advice
            Regards,
               Curly. --  Sydney.
   

[peterbennett]

Hi Curly
            Welcome to rootschat.

     Can I say that the 1841 for Stockport may contain many William Nicholsons,which is the right one ? I would advise finding his fathers name,maybe from his wedding certificate,and then taking things back through the various census years.
     There are many people on rootschat that can help with this, but jumping straight back to 1841 is not the way to go.

peterbennett
               

[Curly]

     Hi  Peter,
   Many thanks for the quick response, and your comment was partly
   anticipated in the latter part of my original text. Unfortunately my
   connection goes via the Indian Civil Service, and i have no marriage
   records at all.  I suppose i am best going on line to the Cheshire B M & D
   and trying to find a marriage date, then sending for the certificate.
   You certainly are correct re other William's, [ i have some], i just thought
   the age reduced the odds quite a bit. I do realise however the variation in
   census ages.   Anyway many thanks again for your advice.
        Regards,
             Curly.
   

[Curly]

        Hello again Peter,
    Sorry to be a pain with this one, but in trying to follow your suggestion, i
    tried the Cheshire B M D for a Marriage and drew a blank. Obviously to try
    and get a copy of a certificate at the Registry Office i would have to be, i
    assume, quite specific, with date periods. I always intended chasing this
    up when i come over in August.  In relation,  to just finding his Parents, is
    the 1851 Census any better for achieving this, than the 1841.
    At approximately 16 years of age, there should be a good chance he was
    still with his Parents. 
    If you think it is still a problem, i will forget about it till i come over,because
    there is no response to the original posting.
    With thanks again for your assessment.
           Regards,
             Curly.

[peterbennett]

Hi Curly
            I will check the the 1841/51 for you sometime today, I did try to find them in the 1871 census but they do not seem to be registered,and like yourself cannot as yet find a marriage.

bye for now

peterbennett

[peterbennett]

Hi Curly
             Sorry did not find a definate possibility,the nearest was an 18 year old in 1851 living as a lodger in Stockport.
             I did manage to find them in the 1871 census still at Great Egerton Street

RG10-3657-F9  Heaton Norris

William Nicholson  head  37 cotton carder        Stockport
Sarah Ann    ~      wife    36                                 ~
William Henry ~    son      8                                  ~
John Thomas  ~     ~        6                                  ~
Emma             ~    daug   3                                  ~
Jane Edwards    lodgers  9  scholar                  Manchester

I still think the answer lies in a marriage certificate, is it possible that you could get the birth certificate for William Henry b 1862 from the Cheshire BMD you would then have a mothers maiden name as well,it might make the marriage easier to find if it was outside Cheshire.

peterbennett

[Curly]

     Hello Peter,
    Many thanks for trying to find him in 1851, and i will follow your advice  and try  and get the marriage certificate via the birth cert'.
  I would appreciate  your advice on a couple of additional points on this
  family.   
      1. By the 1891 census this William had remarried, [ in fact to his first
   wife's sister-in-law], and among children by this marriage, he named one
   William H., which was the the same as recorded for one from his first.
   The census recording implies William was the chosen" given" name, and
   the difference between the two is in the second name H----.
   Without the birth certificate, is this a correct assumption. You cannot have
   the same names, same Father, can you?
       2. The first of these, William Henry Nicholson b 2-8- 1862, is supposed
    to have married Oscar Wilde's 2nd cousin. Harriett Wilde. Whilst i have
    found quite a number of Wilde's in Heaton Norris, there were no Harriett's
    I don't think Oscar Wilde would have connections to Heaton Norris, which
    one really shouldn't say.  However Peter, my question is, with nothing
    other than this, where is the best place to start looking?
    Kind regards,
        Curley.

[peterbennett]

Hi Curley
              Firstly I can not find any referances in law that would proclude William from naming more than one child by the same name. It is quite common to see this done when the first born child had died.
             In answer to your second question, if William Henry born 1862 married in Stockport then the only one I can find is in 1886 to a widow named Mary A Gledhill or Wilkinson,there seems to be some uncertainty as to which is her maiden name and which was her previous husbands name. As to whether or not she was a relation of Oscar Wilde, I suppose its always possible !! 

http://www.cheshirebmd.org.uk/

regards

peterbennett

[Curly]

     Hi Peter,
    Many thanks for your very quick response, together with the information and advice you have given on this subject. I have to say the sheer volume
and breadth of subject matter you cover, amazes me,and it means two
 things.    1.  You obviously have access to a large variety of records.
  2. You obviously also have a passion for the work you do, and enjoy it.
  As one recipient of this, we should all be very grateful for your dedication.
      With kind regards from Aus',
         Curly