FreckNeale's Scavenger Hunt...Everyone Welcome To Join In

[Tephra]

Welcome to this weeks Scavenger Hunt.  I must say, you'll have your work cut out on this one, but I know you're up to it.

Good Luck and Good Hunting

Barbara

                                        *************************** 


I’m hoping to work out what happened to my ancestor Frances Frecknall. She was born in about 1803 in Newark, Nottinghamshire, and baptised there at St. Mary’s on 10 Jan 1803. The only other place she has been found in the parish registers is for the birth of her illegitimate son, Henry Frecknall, in 1824 in Upton by Southwell, Nottinghamshire. She is recorded as a “Single Woman of Upton”. Henry became a tailor and his descendants have been traced well through the census and BMD records. I have also not had any trouble tracing Frances’s ancestors. The problem is Frances herself.

Frances appears on the 1841 census, living with her father, David Frecknall, a tailor of King Street, Southwell. Her surname is recorded as Frecknall.

The really tricky part is her father, David’s will, dated 13 May 1841 (about three weeks before the census was taken). All of David’s children are mentioned, Frances being recorded as “the Widow of the late Charles Johnson alias Charles Steward.” I have been unsuccessful in determining who Charles might have been, can find no birth, marriage or death for Charles (presumably before 1841). I doubt they actually married, but Charles may have been father to Frances’s son Henry.

Keeping in mind that Frances may have been using the surnames Frecknall or Johnson or Steward, the only potential census entry found is in 1861 at the Snenton asylum (Ref: RG9/2459, Folio 77, Page 17):
Frances Johnson, Pauper Lunatic, W, 58, Servant, Notts Newark

I don’t know whether this is Frances or not, but it’s hard to know as she cannot be found in 1851 or any future census.

The final possible snippet of information about Frances is in the baptism of her great granddaughter. Emily Frecknall, daughter of Henry Frecknall (son of Henry Frecknall, son of Frances) was baptized on 25 Mar 1888 at Caunton, Nottinghamshire, and one of her godparents was listed as Frances Frecknall. I have done extensive research into the surname and the only Frances Frecknall that could possibly be alive at that time was Emily’s great grandmother. By this time she would be 85 years old though, and again using the surname Frecknall which she hasn’t used for most of her life? I don’t know whether this is a red herring (Frances might have been a nickname for someone else).

It would be great to be able to find out more about where Frances disappeared to after 1841 – and about her elusive ‘husband’ Charles Johnson alias Steward.

For reference, I have posted here on RootsChat once before about Frances: http://www.rootschat.com/links/089q/   

[jaywit]

Looking at your previous thread did you get the death certificate that was found as a possible?




~~~~~~~~
Hi Alexander, this is a possible death for Frances.

Name: Frances Johnson
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1803
Year of Registration: 1883
Quarter of Registration: Apr-May-Jun
Age at Death: 80
District: Nottingham
County: Nottinghamshire
Volume: 7b

[jaywit]

Looking at the asylum in 1851 ( only a quick look) most patients have a christian name plus just an initial for surname.
The pages are difficult to read and I will look at it in more detail later.

I suppose you realise Johnson is a surname that crops up in the villages between Southwell and Newark, pity we don't know any more about Charles.

[Alexander.]

Hi Jaywit...no I haven't got that death certificate. It just seems as though there are several possibilities after 1861. And I've no idea where Frances would be between 1861-1881. And her great granddaughter's baptism record (with a Frances as godparent) made me think that she was still alive in 1888.

I have lots of Johnsons on my tree already, mostly in villages like Laxton, Notts. That has been a completely different brick wall.

I was wondering if anyone knows what the most likely reason for Charles Johnson/Steward's alias would be?

[alpinecottage]

Here's a suggestion for the alias;  Charles was born out of wedlock to Miss Steward or Johnson, but everyone knew he was the son of Mr Johnson or Steward, so he used both names.

By the way, I looked in the Notts newspapers from 1820-1841 on Gale Newspaper Archive for references to Charles Steward or Charles Johnson and also Frecknall generally - nothing there that I could spot.

In those days, if a woman was widowed early in her marriage, she sometimes reverted to her maiden name.  Also as she is living with her parents on the 1841 census, the enumerator may just have assumed her surname was the same as theirs.  I think the fact that her father's will refers to her as the widow of Charles suggests she had been married to Charles, otherwise why include that phrase?

[jaywit]

Aliases were much more common than you might think, in fact the further you go back the more you find them.
If Frances was alive in 1888 then you should be able to find her death after that. ( Checking under all 3 of the possible surnames)

[jaywit]

Right you know Frances was in Upton in 1824, a single woman, by 1841 her father says she was widowed ( I agree you can't take the 1841 census entry as being 100% accurate).
So assuming she did marry and at either Upton or Southwell have you checked the PRs at both churches to see if there was a marriage for her?

[jaywit]

Looking at the 1841 census for Southwell there are 34 people named Johnson living there, so the Minster looks the obvious choice to look for a marriage.

[toni*]

ok my initial feelings
Henry was bp. 1824 in Upton at which time Frances was given as 'of Upton' yet she was born Newark (probably December 1802, Bp. was 3 sundays after the birth in usual cases, although nothing is unusual in family history but we work around that pro rata)
Frances was obviously able to provide for Henry because if she applied for Poor Relief she would have been subject to a removal order to Newark, unless there was a settlement order in place.
Thus any marriage betwixt Frances and Charles would have took place after 1824.
incidentally have you seen the actual PR for Henry bp. sometimes the vicar / curate etc. wrote in the margin the reputed father, especially if the town was small and the father well known.
 you the have Frances in father, because she is indexed as Frecknall does not necessarily mean she was not Johnson or Steward the enumerator may have asked who is in the household and David may have said Frances my daughter. Where is Henry in 1841?
are there children born after Henry to a Charles Johnson or Steward and Frances ?
We all know that sometimes fathers are invented to avoid the stigma of being illegitimate, David may have carried that pretence on through his will although i have never seen that practice before it undoubtedly happened especially if that is how Frances was known by the executors.
If Frances and Charles were not married AND if Charles was the father who was supporting the child financially? was it David Frances father? or was it Charles ? in which case i suspect some sort of bastardy bond to be in place. I doubt in the early days it was Frances because with a new born baby she would have found it difficult to work unless she worked from home or found someone to care for the babe while she was at work.
up until mid 18thc. a woman was known to consent to sex with a suitor on the promise of a marrige, as common law ruled that a verbal promise should be binding hence the term common law wife. however an engagement that took place in private i.e. no witnesses could be easily denied and the woman deemed of having loose morals. if the woman fell pregnant before she had the chance to drag her lover to the alter the man could escape his obligations by fleeing the parish and if this left the woman reliant on the parish she would be required under oath to identify the father (from 1732) Hardwickes marriage act of 1753 put an end to the confusion between common law and marriage requiring all legally upheld marriages to take place in the presence of a priest, however the practice of sex before marriage was still widespread.
up until 1875 the woman could name anyone as being the reputed father (even the king) and the registrar chose whether or not to put this on the birth certificate after 1875 a written declaration or the man had to be present when registering the birth of a child with the mother who he was not married to. so in all reality there could somewhere be note of the fathers name.

have you checked poor relief records form 1824 to 1841?
the parish authorities feared the old poor law system encouraged bastardy by allowing the unmarried mother to take maintenance money from the father of the child , the poor law amendment act of 1834 put a stop to this and transferred all financial responsibility onto the mother.

have yo checked tithe maps from 1836 - 1850  although the tithes were drawn up in 1836 they still show the other families in the vicinity and who owned the land so maybe there was a Johnson or Steward family nearby to Frances home
. From 1836 Tithe Commissioners were sent forth across the length and breadth of the Country consult with locals and come to an agreement on how much Tithe would be paid. This created a substantial amount of paperwork (TNA IR29) you can search online for the correct ref using IR 29 and the parish name. under Department Series Code the records themselves are generally available in microfilm. These records feature tables including the names of owners/ occupiers the amount of land involved how the land was being cultivated and how much  rent charge was payable. maps were made to go along with these documents (IR30) using the same ref as the papers but replacing 29 with 30 so you can view the land your ancestor owned by looking at the map and reading the description at the same time.
if you have Henry through the census is there at any time any member of Johnson or Steward family living with him on census night?

do you know where Frances was working when she fell pregnant? was she a domestic in which case could another member of the staff or the household she was working for have taken advantage of her? it did happen

i think it is worth purchasing the death cert. mentioned earlier to see who the informant was, the age ties in nicely with your Frances.