Iles family, Bristol

[Walnut]

I've hit a bit of a brick wall with my research and wondered if anyone might be able to help...

My 3 x great grandfather was Samuel Iles, married 12th February 1843 to Charlotte Leonard.  The 1841 census shows Samuel living with his parents, Samuel (age 35) and Elizabeth (age 40).  I'm confident that this is the right record as it shows Samuel living next door to Charlotte Leonard and her parents...!

Samuel's age varies in different census records but I think he was born c. 1825-1829.  I'm now trying to trace his birth and his parents' marriage.  The trouble is that there were quite a number of Iles families living in the same area in the nineteenth century and they only seem to use about half a dozen different forenames.  Consequently it's very, very easy to mix up the different families.  I've found a baptism index for 24 July 1825 which *might* relate to "my" Samuel, and a wedding index entry for 10 Feb 1822 which *might* relate to Samuel's parents (Samuel Snr and Elizabeth).  However, I don't know how to cross-check whether these entries are definitely relevant, and I don't know how to get hold of a copy of the original baptism and marriage entries (which might contain further useful clues, especially about Samuel Snr and his father).  Any suggestions on what I should look at next would be much appreciated as I'm completely flummoxed.

[Capetown]

Ancestry has a copy of the Marriage Certificate

Bitton St Mary : 12 February 1843

Samuel ILES aged 18 (=c1825) occupation: Candle Maker, residence: Longs Green
father: Samuel ILES, occupation: Brickmaker

Charlotte LEONARD aged 18, occupation: Shoe Binder, residence: Longs Green
father: George LEONARD, Hay Dealer

both sign with an X

witnesses: Abraham FRY + Charles SHIP

Charles SHIP signed the marriage above their and he was the Parish Clerk.

---

This confirms the 1841 census

ILES

Samuel 35 - Brick M (all born in County)
Elizabeth 40
Samuel 15
Eliza 15
Mary Ann 12
Hannah 11
Charlotte 4


LEONARD

George 50 Hay Dealer
Sarah 50 Shoe M
Susannah 20
Caroline 15
Charlotte 14
Hester 9
Amelia 2

[Walnut]

Thanks so much for looking that up - much appreciated.

I should have explained, it's Samuel's birth certificate (c. 1825) and his parents' wedding certificate (c. 1824???) that I'm trying to track down.  I've got the 1843 wedding certificate already: that was where I got Samuel's father's name from.  I then found Samuel and his father, Samuel Snr, in the 1841 census, which showed that Samuel's mother was called Elizabeth.  I just can't seem to get back any earlier than 1841 without a lot of guesswork.

[Old Bristolian]

There was no certification before 1837 when civil registration of births marriages and deaths began. What you should be able to discover is a baptism for Samuel in a parish register and a marriage record also in a parish register. The former should give you the parents names but little else, possibly an address and the father's occupation. The marriage record should give the status of the parties (bachelor/widow etc.) and possible an occupation for the father though this is uncommon. It will not give the names of the parties' parents alhtough there will be two witnesses who may or may not be relatives,

Steve

[Capetown]

If this is the family on the 1851 census in Glos Bristol St George - the younger children's mother's maiden name may be on the new GRO database

(very faint writing and ages crossed through)

Saml ILES - 48 - Bricklayer
Elizabeth - 41
Mary Ann - 21
George - 4
Charlote - 14
Ellen - 2
Mary Ann ILES (transcribed as Morgan) 6 Niece
George ILES 1 - Nephew

[KGarrad]

Also, please remember that, on the 1841 census only, adult ages (i.e. over 15) were rounded down to a multiple of 5 years

Samuel is shown as age 35 - so he may have been any age between 35 and 39.
Likewise, Elizabeth is shown aged 40 - so she was somewhere between 40 and 44 years old.

[Capetown]

There is a tree on Ancestry which says

Samuel ILES - 1802-1882 married Elizabeth WILLIAMSON : 10 February 1822 Bristol


Including: Ellen ILES - 1841 born St George, Bristol


? GRO Index has an Ellen ILES 1841 Clifton Union - mother's maiden name PHILPS

[Ladyhawk]

If this is the family on the 1851 census in Glos Bristol St George - the younger children's mother's maiden name may be on the new GRO database

(very faint writing and ages crossed through)

Saml ILES - 48 - Bricklayer
Elizabeth - 41
Mary Ann - 21
George - 4
Charlote - 14
Ellen - 2
Mary Ann ILES (transcribed as Morgan) 6 Niece
George ILES 1 - Nephew

1851 census age for Ellen ILES looks to read age 9 rather than 2

I wonder if this is Ellen’s birth entry on GRO and whether there is a spelling error mmn

Ellen ILES mmn   PHILPS     
GRO Reference: 1841  S Quarter in THE CLIFTON UNION  Volume 11  Page 266   

And from FreeREG there’s this marriage

Elizabeth PHELPS Samuel ILES  22 Sep 1823 Gloucestershire Stapleton : Holy Trinity

ADDED - snap Capetown only just saw your post re: mmn - apologies for duplicating

[Walnut]

This is all really helpful - thank you! 

I didn't know about rounding ages to the nearest 5 years on the 1841 census, and the Elizabeth Williamson link sounds promising.  I'll have to see if I can find out how to track down the relevant parish register - for some reason the one I want (St Philip & St Jacob) doesn't seem to have been scanned and uploaded anywhere, unlike other registers.

The 1851 census is intriguing: I'd previously had the youngest girl down as Morgan (as per the transcript).  Given that she shares her name with one of her cousins, I wonder if it's a family name...?

Apologies for asking what's probably an obvious question, but what is the new GRO database...?

ADDED: just seen Ladyhawk's reply.  The Philps lead looks promising, too.  But you can see why I'm struggling, when there are two Samuel Iles marrying two different Elizabeths within a 10 mile radius and a couple of years of each other!