St Marys Parish Portsea/Portsmouth Wedding 1815

[Stewart_Hill]

Hi,

I'm trying to track my great-great-grand parents.  The earliest I can find is their wedding at St Mary's in Portsea, June 14, 1815.  They were Thomas Hill, born 1793/1794, and Elizabeth Newton, born 1799 (also listed as born 1790 in another document).  They had 5 children when they emigrated to Canada in 1842:

Hill, Elizabeth, age 17 (c1824)
Hill, Thomas, age 15 (c1826)
Hill, George, age 13 (c1828)
Hill, Charles, age 12 (c1829)
Hill, William, age 10 (c1831)

I am hoping someone is able to find any ancestors, or descendants still living in Hampshire, or elsewhere in England.  I've tracked one of Thomas and Elizabeth's children's (Thomas, born c1826) descendants to Perth, Australia, but have so far been unable to locate any in England.

Thanks kindly,
Stewart Hill
Stratford, Ontario, Canada

[silaswall]

May I make a suggestion? Change your title to St Mary's, Portsea or St Mary's Portsmouth. Otherwise people glancing through might miss it. There are some very well informed Rootschaters who know about the city.

[Pennie]

On the 1841 census, Thomas is shown as aged 47 (born c1794), but Elizabeth is shown as aged 51 (born c1790).  (Unusually, this enumerator has recorded actual ages rather than rounding down to the nearest five years.)

Checking the FreeREG website, there's an Elizabeth NEWTON baptised at Tichbourne (St. Andrew's) on 24 OCT 1790, illegitimate daughter of Elizabeth NEWTON.  As Tichbourne is only about 20 miles from Portsea, it may be worth investigating this individual further.

Pennie

[Stewart_Hill]

Hi Pennie,

Thank you for that.  I do have two different dates for Elizabeth's birth, one shows her born in 1790, one shows her born in 1799.  I have absolutely nothing prior to their marriage except for birthdates, no parents, siblings, or any other next of kin.  Anything I can find will be of help.

Also, thank you to silaswall for the hint about changing the title to St Marys Portsea.  I should have caught that.  I'm counting on those well informed Rootschaters.

Thanks so much,
Stewart

[Little Nell]

Hi Stewart, welcome to RootsChat. 

There is a baptism record for a Thomas Hill, son of Thomas & Rebecca Hill at St. Mary's Portsea on 16 May 1794.

There are a couple of other possibilities elsewhere in Hampshire, but in 1792 and 1796.

I have also found a baptism for another Elizabeth Newton in 1791 in Petersfield, the daughter of Thomas & Elizabeth.

Their children's baptisms, including some other possibles, since I can't see that Elizabeth would be the first child born that many years after the marriage - even then there is still five years between Alfred and Elizabeth, which is unusual:

Amelia bp 6 Sep 1816 Gosport (buried 31 Aug 1819 Portsea, aged 3)
Alfred bp 17 Jul 1818  Gosport (possibly buried 1 Sep 1818 in Alverstoke, an infant)                           
Elizabeth  bap 26 Oct 1823 Portsea
Thomas  bp 29 Jul 1825 Portsea
George bp 8 Jul 1827 Portsea
Charles bp  17 Jul 1831  Portsea                                     
William bp 17 Jul 1831 Portsea

Nell

[Stewart_Hill]

Hi Nell, or Little Nell,

I can't tell you for certain if Thomas was baptized in Portsea or not.  I can only go by the marriage information I have.

You have a point, the birth of Elizabeth being 5 years after the second child does seem unusual, but the stress of having lost two children might be a factor.  Even my grandparents were married for thirteen years before my aunt was born.  But, back to topic, the children's names all match, although I hadn't known of the loss of the two infants  

This is the first knowledge I've encountered of Thomas' parents

A further question if I may, how to go about finding any current relatives that might still be in England?

Thank you so much for your information.  Every piece certainly helps. 

Stewart

[Little Nell]

how to go about finding any current relatives that might still be in England?

Well, they took all their surviving children with them, but did any of them return at all?

Next step is to look for Thomas's siblings, if he had any and if this is the right Thomas.  Or Elizabeth's siblings.  And then trace them forwards.  That could be a long task since Hill is an extremely common surname. 

Does the 1841 census entry offer any clues?

Nell

[Stewart_Hill]

None of the children returned to England.  One did go to Australia.  I have no knowledge of either Thomas or Elizabeth's families.  Having a clue now about Thomas' parents, there might be siblings listed.  I know that Hill is a very common surname there.  That's been my biggest trouble in trying to track any possible relatives.  Who knows, there might be wealthy ones, or perhaps fugitives!

Thanks again,
Stewart

[Stewart_Hill]

The 1841 census didn't even show any of the parents.