Odd census record

[PrawnCocktail]

George 1 is married in 1855, West Dean, to Harriet Silvester, father's name William
George 2 is married somewhere near Brighton in 1867, not on FreeReg
George 3 is married in 1870, father's name William (from hmclem)

Going back to the 1851 Census for George's 1 and 3,
George 1, aged 22, son of William, is at entry no 31 in West Dean, son of WIlliam aged 58, a widower, with brothers William (aged 25) and Benjamin (aged 19)
George 3, aged 16, son of William, is at entry no 37 in West Dean, son of William aged 66 and Hannah aged 44, and loads of siblings including Ambrose.

[hmclem]

Perhaps I have my Georges mixed up? Will have to try and confirm which one is mine.
Thought a surname like Treagus would be easy!!!!

[PrawnCocktail]

George 3, aged 16, son of William, is at entry no 37 in West Dean, son of William aged 66 and Hannah aged 44, and loads of siblings including Ambrose.

William's age is certainly out of kilter with every other census - did the enumerator misread the age on the actual returns, or was William feeling particularly aged that day, and put down what he felt like rather than his real age?

Perhaps I have my Georges mixed up?

I don't think you have - I think you've actually done very well!

[Mike Morrell (NL)]

Good tips and alternatives from other people here.
One point I'd like to add is not on the details but on the research method. It struck me that there were gaps in the census years provided. The link between William's family and George's family may be a bit 'tenuous' too. This is always how things start but I've learned the hard way to get as much evidence as possible. And also to try to find evidence to disprove my initial assumptions. It's painstaking but well worth it in the long run. As people have already noted, it's worth looking for supporting (and conflicting) evidence on multiple sites. My first 'go to' is usually Ancestry but I've found https://familysearch.org/ and (in this case) http://forebears.io/england/gloucestershire/west-dean often delivers other and clearer results.

For census data, it helps me to make a table for each family showing the data across as many census years as possible.  I usually just make handwritten notes but I've copied and pasted text in the attached example. For some reason, seeing all the data laid out in one table makes it easier for me to see the data that checks out and the anomalies or question marks. I've also found it much better to work directly from the census 'images' rather than from the transcripts. The image data is more detailed (with addresses, occupations, etc.). Comparing these details across census years can add to (or detract from) the evidence you already have.

Connecting ('Georges') across generations is the most tricky part for me. Marriage certificates (with the name of the father/mother/witnesses) are a great help. But you need to check how many 'Georges Treagus' were born (and married Harriets) in the time-frame and in which parish. This helps in choosing the right George and Harriet to trace back. I'm no expert on this but I try to cast a wide net by searching for marriages between 'George Tea' and 'Harriet' in the West Dean area around 1870 +/- x years. You may get more than one couple that could be of interest. When in doubt, get certificates. The same applies to the birth of 'George Teagus'.

I'm still learning about this stuff but I hope this helps!

Mike

[hmclem]

Thanks Mike. That's really good advice

I am also hoping one day to be able to go and look at parish records but not sure when that day will be!

[Mike Morrell (NL)]

Thanks Mike. That's really good advice

I am also hoping one day to be able to go and look at parish records but not sure when that day will be!

Hi, I'm glad my suggestions helped! Thanks to forums like these I'm on a steep learning curve with regard to 'good practice'. I'm hesitant to offer suggestions to people like you while I still need to make so many improvements to my own 'workflow'. I looked at your records primarily as an 'exercise' for myself.

I do all my 'research' through the internet. It still amazes me how many parish records are now available online, thanks to the tireless work of many volunteers.  Forebears.io is the best resource I've found for this. If you're able to narrow down your search to a county or town, you'll often find image data (Baptisms records, Marriage Banns, Christenings, etc.) on forebears.io for the years you're interested in.  One thing I like about forbears.io i that you can subscribe for a month when you're looking into something. Finding the digital images of the records you need often requires reading through 2-5 years of (digitised)records but it's worth the effort when you discover valuable clues. There's only been one case in the past few years where I needed to order a marriage certificate by post.

Over the past 5 years (on and off), I've gone through different phases of research:
- reviewing  Ancestry 'hints' and accepting the ones that seemed plausible
- realising that a lot of Ancestry 'hints' weren't as accurate as I'd thought
- going back and systematically checking all the supporting and contradictory 'evidence' (at Ancestry and other sites too) for the key people and links
- finally realising that I had to take personal 'ownership' of my data (reliability, quality), independently of whatever 'hints' and suggestions I got from various websites

That's where I'm at now: critically questioning any new data I find or am 'offered', even if it seems to fit. I want to find all the evidence available from different sources that support the 'offer' or 'find'. I also want to check that there is no evidence that may contradict - or offer alternative evidence for -  the 'offer or 'find'.

I've had to remove some (older) sub-trees which - at the time -I was delighted to find. It was heart-breaking! So now I try to distinguish between 'certain', 'probable' and 'possible' links. This sounds fine in theory but I've not yet found a website/program that allows me to do this. A couple of people here have thought up 'work-arounds' to flag and filter people in this way. I'm still trying to figure out a way to do this that works for me. It boils down to the 'confidence level' you have in people and relationships. Ideally, websites and programs would allow for this distinction and allow you to copy people and relationships for which you have a low confidence level to a 'To Do' list.

I'm now trying out a couple of programs on a trial basis to see how they could help me make this distinction off-line. As far as I know, none of the major websites (Ancestry, etc.) allow this. Tumara Jones (http://www.tamurajones.net/) made a good case in 2012 for not propagating 'dubious' data.

Hope you solve the mystery and find what you're look for!
Mike

[jeanette62]

Hi
Re your Gt Grandmother, Hannah H. Treagus.
As my paternal Grandmother was a Treagus, I've done quite a bit of work on the Treagus families.
Your Gt. Grandmother is on my tree and I have her as being born 31 October 1881 North Marden
and christened in St. Mary's, North Marden on 17 December 1883 (just wondering whether I've got
right year here!) and marrying in 1909. I believe that she died in Chichester in 1945.
On the 1939 National Register I found Hannah as a widow and living in Chichester with two of her
sons, William Fletcher 1913 & Albert Fletcher1918.
In a book entitled "All Change At Singleton" I came across a photograph of your Gt.Grandmother's
younger sister Lillie Rose Treagus.  If you don't have it, I could mail it to you.
I have the other two George Treaguses on my tree but don't really think that these families of interest to you.
I have the disks of North Marden and West Dean b.m.d's which I've used for reference in my research. Regards
Jeanette

[jeanette62]

Hi again
Forgot to say I have George Treagus christened 21 September 1835 St. Andrew's, West Dean who married Harriette Warrington 2 January 1870 Cocking, Sussex.  George died Chilgrove & was buried 21 January 1893 St Andrew's, West Dean - age abt.58.
I have 7 children born to George & Harriette, the last two being your Gt.Grandmother and her younger sister, Lillie Rose.
Regards : Jeanette

[hmclem]

Hi Jeanette
Thanks for your reply. It's lovely to hear from someone researching the Treagus name.
I have Hannah's baptism as 1882. Her middle name was Helen.
You are right she married in 1909. I have a copy of the marriage certificate which shows  Lily Rose Treagus and Arthur Frank Treagus as witnesses. And she did die in 1945. Her husband Walter Enos Fletcher died in 1930.
My investigations have come up with 8 children for George and Harriet. I think the one I have extra to you is Arthur Frank born in 1891.

I have been using the Sussex Family History baptism and death records they have online as much as I can but finding lots of people with the same first name!

It would be lovely to have a picture of Lily Rose. Do I put my email address on here it private message you it?

If you are ok with it I would love to know more details that you have on the other George's etc. I have been extending the family tree sideways as well as up so that I can make sure I have the right person in my upwards line (if that makes sense!).
If you would like to have any of my research etc that I have I am more than willing to share.
Thanks
Helen