Researching William Closs and Sarah Printer Closs, Kirkoswald

[jdrintnt]

I have traced my family back to Kirkoswald.  William Closs (b: 1792) and Wife Sarah Printer (b:1801) according to the 1841 census lived in Cozie Glen, Kirkoswald.  They had many children: John, Rebecca, David, James, etc... but I have not been able to locate any information about William or Sarah's marriage, or birth.  Its like they just appeared out of the ground.

BTW, there is a lot of conflicting information about William.. Several people think he was born in 1801, but his gravestone says he died 1872 at 80 years of age.  I believe it was Sarah born 1801.. I suspect in Ireland but that's unconfirmed.

Any information about either of them would be greatly appreciated... I have been banging my head on a wall for years on this.

Thanks.

David R.

[MonicaL]

Hi David

Welcome to RootsChat 

You mention the 1841 census. What did the other censuses say about William and Sarah's places of birth? William you also mentioned having died in 1872. Was this in Scotland? If so, did his death cert give any details on his parents' names etc.?

Again if in Scotland, did Sarah die before or after 1855?

Pre the start of official registration in Scotland from 1855, only about a third of events are to be found in the Old Parish Registers for all sorts of reasons. There may not be banns or a marriage entry to be found from the registers unfortunately.

The Old Parish Registers (OPRs) are for the established Church of Scotland, ie Presbyterian.

Monica

[MonicaL]

See the family is in the US by the time of the 1850 census there...

The 1841 census in Scotland gives both William and Sarah's birth place in Ireland. Will be hard to work back to their births there as you have found 

Monica

[jdrintnt]

Yes,

The entire family migrated to the United States in 1849.  So there weren't any earlier census before 1841 and they left before the next census.  FamilySearch.org has in their index records of the births of several of their children, but I get no real information from that.

One report says William was born in Scotland, one in Ireland, and another in England.  Unfortunately I live in Trinidad & Tobago, so my resources are more limited than most.  I think the only way I'm going to find out anything will be from Parish records, because I don't believe they did anything notable.  In the U.S. they were William and his sons were coal miners. 

I did a search in the FindAGrave.com website for CLOSS in the Kirkoswald Parish Cemetery, but nothing turned up, so I don't think William's family was from there.

[MonicaL]

David, from the 1841 census, the mayority of people showing with the surname Closs/Close seem to be of Irish origin.

Freecen is a good source for the 1841 census. See www.freecen.org.uk/cgi/search.pl  Make sure the tab at the top is showing 1841 and you can use wildcard of '*' for spelling variations.

Monica

[jdrintnt]

Thank you.  I just tried the FreeCen website.  It says that William and Sarah were both born in Ireland, and that William is 40 years old.

However William's Gravestone says he was 80 years old at the time of his death in 1872.  That would make his year of birth 1792.  FamilySearch.org does put Sarah's birth at 1801 in Ireland, and her grave information seems to agree with that.

I have to be suspicious of Ireland as his place of birth when the census records a 9 year discrepancy in  his age.

[MonicaL]

Census ages are always so unreliable aren't they. Just some notes on the 1841 census. Everyone's age over 15 is supposed to be recorded down to the nearest 5 years. So, on this basis, William showing as 40 there could be aged anywhere between 40-44. What was his age on the 1850/60/70 censuses? Do they help you further?

On the 1841 census, children up to 15 are supposed to show at their actual age.

Overall, you don't look to censuses for accurate ages, just approximate ages really.

Monica

[MonicaL]

As more background to the surname of Closs/Close, you might find this of interest http://one-name.org/name_profile/close/

Monica

[MonicaL]

David, does William's stone actually say 'native of Ayrshire' as mentioned here www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=94858879 Stone not legible, at least from the photo.

Monica