Boots and Hills

[bajwins]

Can any one help demolish a brick wall I have run into.

I have a Gt Grndfthr Alfred BOOT, {son of John (Land Surveyor) and Ann BOOT} born in Skegby in 1840.  He appears on the 1841 Nottinghamshire census and the family apparently moved to Hucknall under Huthwaite in the mid 1840s but Alfred has disappeared in both the 1851 and 1861 censuses.  Yet he must have been back in the area by 1870 because his son, Albert Eleazar BOOT is listed on the 1871 Derbyshire census as being born there. He married Martha Hill (1871 census lists her birthplace as Cheddington, Bucks)

Could Alfred have been away at school in 1851 (when he would be aged about 11) and if so has anyone any suggestions as to how I can find a list of possible schools.

However, to complicate matters there appear to be several Alfred BOOT's around at the time and I have a marriage of an Alfred Boot to a Martha Hill in Pinxton in 1866 (So far I have not managed to trace either Alfred or Martha on the 1851 census in any of the villages about Pinxton.  Alfred's occupation is given as a draper in the Parish Register of the marriage so I am unsure whether this is a coincidental marriage by two people of the same names because a directory of Huthwaite, for a year when I am pretty sure our Alfred was already 50 miles away in Derbyshire as a colliery clerk, lists an Alfred Boot - Draper.

The marriage record gives Martha's father as Jesse HILL and is witnessed by John James Hill and Clementine Hill.  John James and Clementine appear in Derby in the 1881 census, with family, and John James' birthplace is given as Cheddington, Bucks, which suggests perhaps that he is Martha's brother. He married Clementine Brentnall in 1865 (2nd quarter) in the registration district of Belper - but I can't trace that marriage in Belper itself.

I can't trace Martha, John James or Jesse in Buckinghamshire in 1851 (when Martha would be about 5 / 6) nor can I trace any sign of them in East Derbyshire villages.  Jesse was listed as a 'clerk to the railway' on the Alfred / Martha marriage that I think is the right one but am not 100% sure about.

I hope there is something in that little lot which links in to other people's research which might knock a few holes in that brickwall I face.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

[Roy Whittaker]

Boots and Hills,

The John and Ann Boot you refer to are my great great grandparents (via Rose Ann Boot). I haven’t researched this family exhaustively, but the only reference I have seen to Rose Ann’s brother Alfred is in the 1841 census, so I have assumed that he died young. If so, he can’t be your Alfred. On the other hand, his christening his son Eleazar may be significant – John Boot’s father was Eleazar.

One avenue of attack would be to search for Alfred’s death between 1841 and 1851 – parish records of Skegby and Huthwaite, or 1837online.com.

Have you looked at huthwaite-online.net? This has an article on this Boot family and remarks on the disappearance of Alfred. It mentions the unreadable A….. D… in the 1851 census and wonders whether this was Alfred. In fact this was Andrew David who appears, for example, in the 1881 census.

None of the other names you mention register with me.

There are, as you say, other Alfred Boots about. There are also plenty of Hills – Rose Ann married William Hill. Sorry to be so negative! Good hunting!

[bajwins]

Dear Roy,

This might be a second message from me as one I had composed has just disappeared off the screen and I am not sure whether it was sent or not  - apologies if it is.

Thanks for your message about Alfred Boot.  I am pretty sure (99.99%) that my Alfred Boot is your Gt Gt Uncle as we have a newspaper article about him (published it appears from internal evidence of the article about 1924) in which he talks about being born in Skegby and the date of 1840 would fit the Alfred listed in the 1841 census. Additional pointers are, as you say the christening of his son Albert Eleazar but also on of his daughters was Paulina (NB not Pauline) and one of John and Ann's daughters was also Paulina. Also he refers in the article to his father being a Mining engineer.  Incidentally he specifically refers to his father being the mining engineer who discovered the coal seam of the Clifton Colliery - has any reference to that come up in your researches?

However, internal evidence of the newspaper article suggests that he moved to South Derbyshire in 1864 (which is why he does not appear in later Nottinghamshire censuses) but this is at odds with a 1866 marriage in Pinxton - though Parish Register give that Alfred Boot's father as John Boot and the bride is a Martha Hill which is the right name from Paulina's birth certificate (Paulina is my link back to your John and Ann)  Nor does it fit with the fact that Albert Eleazar is listed in the 1871 census as having been born in Huthwaite in 1870 - I suppose theree just the possibility that he was born during a visit to Alfred's parents!

I note that you haven't researched this branch of your family extensively so if you think my notes might help don't hesitate to get in touch - I have trawled "1837online" for quite a few decades - not only births but also deaths and marriages - so there might be something there to help you.   I would be most interested in any further details you have of Rose Anne and William Hill to see if it ties in with Martha, John James and Jesse - especially if William also turns out to have been born in Buckinghamshire.

Tony Winslade

[louise]

Hi,

I am also interested in the Boots of Nottingham. Mine go back to Quorndon, Leics. I am trying to find  out there connection with John Boot of Radcliffe father of Jesse. I am supposed to be a distant relative of him.

Thanks

Louise

[Roy Whittaker]

Dear Tony,

It seems pretty certain from what you say that your great grandfather is the elusive Alfred, he of the 1841 census. According to my calculations, that makes us 3rd cousins. Not bad considering this is the first time either of us has used this website, I think!

Rose Ann had a daughter called Paulina (my grandmother) – a cousin to Alfred’s daughter Paulina (your grandmother?). How many Paulina cousins have there ever been, I wonder? I also had an uncle called Paulinus, so this is clearly a name to conjure with in this family. I do have evidence of John Boot being the surveyor for the Clifton colliery – and for many others in the Notts & Derby coalfield.  My Paulina’s husband William Hill was born in Alfreton and the little I know of his antecedents indicates his was a Notts/Derby family.

I have a good deal of information I can send you, best done directly I think. Can you email me at Moderator comment - email address removed to avoid spamming - please contact using a personal message

Cousinly greetings!

Roy

[Roy Whittaker]

Hi Louise,

I don’t know of any Boots from Quorndon Leics, but I do know of Boots from Quarndon, Derby. Any chance that the names are mixed up?

Roy

[bajwins]

Roy,

Thanks for the info - will e-mail you directly later this evening - when I have ironed out some problems with my e-mail - at present it is refusing me entry but I think I have sussed out the problem - all to do with 'cookies'

Roy and Louise,

I once thought that there might be confusion between Quarndon (Derbys) and Quorndon (Leics) - especially as the Parish Register for Quarndon (Derbys) often refers to its own village as Quorn - the present day name of the Leicestershire village.  But I have seen entries for Quorndon (Leics) on '1837 online'.  If you let me have an e-mail address, Louise, I'll look up all the entries I trawled from '1837 online' which refer to Leics.

[louise]

Thanks very much. my email is Moderator comment - email address removed to avoid spamming - please contact using a personal message
Louise

[Alibob]

Hi, cant help with main query but on my mining data base deaths, is John Boot 24 of Kirkby in Ashfield
Killed at Portland Colliery 25-11-1848 Hit by the cage, inquest Duke of Wellington K I A 27-11-1848.
Maybe a family connection.
Cheers Alibob