William Lewis Long

[Dee]

Hope someone could point me in the right direction.

I am trying to research my Gt Granddad, William Lewis Long, who is stated to have been born in Woodstock, Oxford in approx 1863 (1901 Census).

A search of the 1837 Online records approx 10 years either side has proved fruitless and the only William Lewis Long I can find was born in Birmingham.

Can anyone suggest any further avenues I can try (unfortunately I am not local to the area as I live in Shropshire so travelling is not too easy)?

Many thanks in advance

Dee

[PaulineJ]

First point of call: try to locate him in 1891 & 1881 to see
if his birthdate/place varies.

Pauline

[Chris in 1066Land]

Dee

I am trying to research my Gt Granddad, William Lewis Long, who is stated to have been born in Woodstock, Oxford in approx 1863 (1901 Census).

Are you pinning all your research on this one date, or have you followed him back through the 1891, 81 and 71 Census to see if ages follow on in 10's

The 1837 online indexes are not yet complete, so, it dosent mean he is not there - he probably has not yet been transcribed.

Chris in 1066Land

[PaulineJ]

Other possibility is that Lewis is a baptismal name, not on his birth certificate. Oxfordshire family history Society do offer census searches (for a fee of 1.50 /name). See
http://www.ofhs.org.uk/

1881 does have an 1865 William Long born Oxford. Do you have a father's name & occupation for William (Marriage certificate?).

[Dee]

Thank you for all your replies.

I have just ordered William's two marriage certificates from the GRO. He married his first wife, Martha around 1880 and after Martha died, he married Caroline approx 1899.  Hopefully these should point some clues as to his birth and father.

I do have the 1881 census on CD rom which shows, if I have found the correct William, that his birthplace differed from that of the 1901 census (he was living in London at the time), but William was down as William Lewis for both certificates (including my gran's marriage certificate) and also his WW1 records (I have a copy of his attestation papers), the only problem there is that he lied about his age.

Unfortunately I haven't followed him through the 1891, 1871 or 1861 Censuses as I don't have access to them.  He is proving a bit of a tough cookie.

[Maggie jo]

I have 2 possible baptisms in a village called Wootton, abt 2/3 miles north of Woodstock.

1. 14.2.1862 Long Lewis William s William & Mary, blacksmith

2. 20.4.1862 Long Lewis William s William & Mary Ann, labourer

Also on 2.12.1861 Wootton marriage of Long William x, 22, bach, smith otp  to  Butler Mary Ann x, 18, sp otp d Matthias, labourer.  Wit. George x Butler  Ellen Brotherton.

They are not in my tree but I have a lot of info re Longs in the North Oxford Area. (only just found this site so now I'll read the instructions!)         Best wishes  Maggie

[Dee]

Hi Maggie

Many thanks for that information, by coincidence I have just checked 1837 Online again and found a William Long (no Lewis), born in Woodstock in 1860 (registered in 3rd quarter), which I believe could be my man.  I haven't been able to send off for it yet but hope to shortly.

The marriage certificates I ordered also showed that William's father's name appeared to be Mark William Long, that was on the 1st marriage but then it changed to William Long on the 2nd one, but his father was a blacksmith.

I understand from someone I contacted through Genes Connected that there are an awful lot of Longs in the Oxford area, I feel that I have my work cut out  

Dee

[Dee]

A further update on this - and I know that my Great Granddad did have a habit of lying.

His first marriage certificate detailed his father's name as Mark William Long - Blacksmith, however by the time of his second marriage William's father's name was William Long - Blacksmith, the Mark appears to have been dropped.

Unfortunately the birth certificate I ordered from the GRO was incorrect as the father was listed as George.

[Dee]

A further update on this - and I know that my Great Granddad did have a habit of lying.

His first marriage certificate detailed his father's name as Mark William Long - Blacksmith, however by the time of his second marriage William's father's name was William Long - Blacksmith, the Mark appears to have been dropped.

Unfortunately the birth certificate I ordered from the GRO was incorrect as the father was listed as George.

I have now had a bit of success...finally..

It appears that William Lewis was born Lewis William Long on 5 Feb 1862, which is why I couldn't find him.  I have now obtained his birth certificate and located a family tree dating back to 1620, with all relatives originating from the Hanborough/Wootton area of Oxford.

I have also discovered in-laws including the surnames Buckingham, Laitt & Scroggs amongst others, so if anyone has any relatives with these surnames (including Long) from Oxford, please get in touch I would love to hear from you.