brand new at genealogy

[Green Gables]

Hi, I am very new to genealogy, and have been looking for information on William Taylor, which seems to be the most common name in the world. The furtherest I have gone back is to a William Taylor born in 1786, but he had a son William (born 1826), a grandson William (born 1855), and a great grandson William (born 1884) all with the surname Taylor.
I naively assumed that having their years of birth would make my research easy, but I am finding so many more William Taylors and starting to wonder how to know who is who. Hoping I get the hang of this before too many more generations of William Taylor are born!

[groom]

Welcome to RootsChat. Not an easy name, but slightly better than Mary Smith.    I'm sure there are people here who will be able to help if you get stuck. Just give as many details as you can, but remember not to mention living people.

Good luck with a very addictive hobby.

[josey]

Another welcome from me 

It's very tempting [irresistable in fact  ] when you start researching family history to try to go back as far as you can as quickly as you can. Experience teaches you that accuracy is more important than distance back in time; this is harder with a more common name. Nearly all families in centuries past used the same forenames over the generations; there is a naming pattern which was summarised by JM Strachan here
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=682310.msg5267687#msg5267687
The Scottish naming pattern is the tradition of naming children in a set order after ancestors: eldest son named for paternal grandfather, eldest daughter for maternal grandmother, second son for maternal grandfather, second daughter for paternal grandmother.. After these names 'ran out' parents often used their siblings names, which of course were other family names!

As groom says, post what you know & can confirm [places & dates of births & marriages, wives names etc.] & I am sure you will get lots of help.

Josey

[Green Gables]

Thank you Groom and Josey for the welcome. The Scottish naming pattern clarifies a lot! There seem to be Taylor families  in 1700s and 1800s with a limited number of Christian names such as William, Arthur, Charles and Henry....so the fathers, sons, grandfathers and cousins all share the same names. Thanks for the tips, and I am looking forward to this (already addictive) journey

[josey]

It can be very confusing. I once came across a Scottish family when researching for a Canadian friend; an Alexander & Margaret had 3 sons about 1 - 2 yrs apart all named Alexander [1st son for paternal grandfather, 2nd for maternal grandfather, 3rd for father] so there were 4 Alexanders in the  house. No doubt they all had nick names but I wouldn't have liked to have to try to follow the sons through the censuses  . 

[Green Gables]

I have some more dates here and wondering if anyone has any information on these Taylors?

William Taylor b. 1786 married to Sarah Taylor b.1789
their sons - William Taylor b. 1826
               - Charles Henry Taylor b. 1831, married to Adelaide (Hughes) Taylor b.1831

Charles & Adelaide had a son - William Henry Taylor b. 1853, married to Mary 'Louisa' Tuite b.1854

Apologies if I've set this out incorrectly.

[Erin2012]

Hi!

Welcome to a great site and the most addicting hobby ever.

Do you happen to know place of birth to help with the search?n

[Green Gables]

Hi Erin2012,

To be honest, I'm somewhat confused, but,  I think William Taylor b.1786, was born in Wrexham, Denbighshire. He was an Iron Founder, and his wife Sarah was born in Ecceshall, Staffordshire.
It appears they moved to Toxteth Park, Lancashire before having their own children.

I seem to be going around in circles, and everytime I think I have found something, the dates or names of siblings etc don't match up. I started gathering these names and families of all every William Taylor I found (assuming they were probably cousins)....but now I seem to only be moving sideways in my search.

[maddys52]

Hi Green Gables,

I think you should start at the beginning with what you know for sure. Having a quick look at all your William Taylors got me going round in circles too. I can see baptism for William Robert Taylor in Liverpool 10 Sept 1884, but the parents are William and Mary Ann? (on familysearch) Whereas there are two William Taylors b 1884 in Liverpool, 6 in West Derby (and about 80 born in Lancashire!) There is a marriage for William Henry and Mary Louisa in West Derby in Jun qtr 1877 (Mary Louisa b Sep qtr 1854) - all on Free BDM.

You should try to check the census info to make sure you have the right family. Maybe post a lookup on the Lancashire board if you don't have access yourself.

Good luck!