please help find my Batten family roots in England

[margaretA]

Could anyone help me find my BATTEN family ancestors from "Somerset England. I believe William BATTEN was born approx 1847 I am led to believe he left England as a mariner sometime before 1877 as he married his first wife in Dunedin New Zealand  21st Nov 1877 I  have no record of his family in England . I do have a record of a 1851 census from England where there is a BATTEN family the mother being ANN & the father William living in Somerset children being Eliza, James , Mary Ann Ellen .
If anyone has these members in their tree and could help me out I would be very grateful
regards
Margaret R

[Ruskie]

Welcome to rootschat Margaret.

Do you have William's NZ marriage certificate and does it name his parents? Or his death certificate?

Where did you get the information that he was from Somerset? (I am thinking you might have some more knowledge of the family than you have revealed so far) 

There are several births registered by that name so we probably need further information in order to determine which might be your William. There is an 1847 Alderbury Wiltshire birth which looks the closest match : http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl

It is possible he may appear on the 1851, 61 and 71 censuses, which is why it would help to know at least his father's name.

[margaretA]

Hi Ruskie,
Thank you for your prompt reply . I don't have anything from his  marriage certificate other than where he came from , his parents name were not recorded (sadly) as far as his death certificate well there isn't one as apparently he was drowned at sea, don't know if that was in NZ waters or where it was. The age I got from how old he was on the birth certificate of his son in Dunedin NZ

[Ruskie]

Oh dear. That's a shame. Not much to go on is there?

Even if you purchased birth certificates you won't know which is the correct one without a hint of a father's name. 

[Ruskie]

Just had a thought. Even though you are searching for his English origins, I wonder if some of the excellent NZ researchers might be able to help you?

Why not start a similar thread on the NZ board, but remember to provide a link to this thread (copy and paste the url) to prevent duplication of effort. It is usually not advisable to post the same question on more than one board, but I think this request may benefit from this question being asked on both.

Good luck.

[garstonite]

Hi Ruskie,
Thank you for your prompt reply . I don't have anything from his  marriage certificate other than where he came from , his parents name were not recorded (sadly) as far as his death certificate well there isn't one as apparently he was drowned at sea, don't know if that was in NZ waters or where it was. The age I got from how old he was on the birth certificate of his son in Dunedin NZ

www.freebmd.org.uk doesn't have any William Batten born Somerset 1845 - 1849 ....so as Ruskie has stated , was he born in Somerset - BUT ...
Does it state on the marriage cert that William Batten was a Bachelor ??
William would not be the first Mariner / Sailor to leave England and fall in love abroad and not come back - married or not ...
I find this record a little intriuging - maybe Ruskie can advise ??
William Batten born 1847 in Dowlish ,Somerset - but - he has a wife ??
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VFJK-K9Z

the obvious thing now is to see if he is in 1881 census with Elizabeth

[garstonite]

I have had a quick look on Familysearch.org and I can't see William Batten b 1847 Dowlish Wake on 1881 census.....maybe Ruskie can find him .. (he was actually born 1846 - christened 1st November )
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NT7Z-QHD

did William Batten in New Zealand name any of his children
William or Anne ??
I presume this is the same William and Ann(e) you have in 1851 ??
added
a question for Ruskie - what year did it become compulsary to register children ?....is it possible William Batten baptised 1st Nov 1846 in Dowlish Wake was not registered ?

[Ruskie]

Interesting finds there Garstonite. Well worth considering. It does seem odd that he did not name any parents on his marriage certificate - it does make you wonder why. Unless he was orphaned?

I'll have a forage for William in 1881 later. Am a bit distracted at present.

[Dundee]

It does seem odd that he did not name any parents on his marriage certificate - it does make you wonder why. Unless he was orphaned?

Parents' names were not included on an 1877 registration. 

https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/datacollected/marriage.aspx

Debra