India: Help please with Baker 1880's West Bengal

[chris2705]

Hi,

I am appealing to the more knowledgeable and experienced of you to help if possible, in trying to find some more information about my G,G, Grandfather William Henry Baker.

So far I have found the following:-


-He was living in Chinsurah, West Bengal (also known as Hooghly-Chinsurah with several spelling variations)

-He was married to Helena (I can't find any UK record of a maiden name, marriage or census entry)

-Their son, Philip Harold William (my G, Grandfather) was born on 25/12/1883 and christened in St. Bartholomew's Church, Barrackpore, Bengal on 15/01/1884

-William's profession on the baptism certificate of Philip, is shown as "Foreman, Hughli (Hooghly) Bridge Works" which would tie-in with the construction of the Hooghly Bridge (also known as the Jubilee Bridge) which was constructed between 1882 and 1887

-I can't find any passenger records in or out from the UK or Indian sides so I am keen to find out when they might have arrived or departed. Philip certainly left India, as he was married in Stoke on Trent in 1907

I have looked through the recomended online sites with little success and guess that the next stop will be a trip to the British Library.

Any help is greatly appreciated

Chris

[hepburn]

Philip is living in Brooke st, Hanley in 1901 as a boarder age 17,apprentice engineer.....
I can't see anything else on him....

[chris2705]

Thank you very much for taking the time to look at this. I had not found Philip in England before his wedding so this is another piece to add to the jigsaw

[hepburn]

I took a look for a P Baker in the passenger lists, none of them fit..

[chris2705]

I looked through the passenger lists as well, and even those listed as "child" or "infant" don't tally so I guess that the records must be incomplete as there is no other way Philip could have returned. I am surprised though that there is no record of William and Helena returning so maybe they remained and sent him back to England on his own?

[hepburn]

Why did he land in Stoke on trent...

[chris2705]

Hi

I have wondered "why Stoke on Trent" too. I have a hunch that William and Helena originate from the Stoke on Trent area. There are earlier census and marriage records for a William and Ellen Baker (maybe she was a bit of a snob and changed her name slightly when in India?) These would place W & H in Fenton. By co-incidence, Philip's wife (an Ethel May Sheppard) was also from Fenton and their first son, Reginald (my grandfather) was born there too.

If William and Helena were in India for a relatively short period then I would have thought it natural for them to return to their home area, or if Philip returned as a boy by himself then it could be to the care or local family or friends.

The mystery for me is whether W & H ever returned from India and what became of them as well as finding some conclusive evidence of their existence before India. There is a William Baker aged 16 on the 1861 census in Liverpool described as an apprentice engineer which might fit as well as the marriage of a William Baker and Ellen Newell in Fenton in 1868 but neither are stong enough to be conclusive.

Maybe passport applications might throw something up, otherwise I guess it is the British Library that is most likely to hold some information....

[hepburn]

http://web.archive.org/web/20070806122018/http://users.rootsweb.com/%7Eindwgw/Bengal/Bengal_Marriage.htm

I was hoping they were on here!!!.....Nearest match for a Wiliam H Baker is to a Mary C Wilson 1882....

[chris2705]

They seem very elusive William and Helena! I can't find them on either 1891, 1901 nor 1911 census where I imagined they would have appeared if they returned. With the lack of any passenger arrivals in England for them, maybe they stayed in India and sent Philip back by himself? We think he was an only child. Although given there is no actual record of Philip's known return to England either, this is not very strong evidence.....

I have looked at the comapny that built the Hooghly Bridge which was Gateshead based, called Hawks Crawshay & Sons but they stopped trading in 1889, just two years after the bridge was opened. I wonder if William was still there and if so, what happened with the company closure?