SHEPHERDSON, assistance with searching please

[heywood]

And this one

SHEPPARDSON, MARY       60 
GRO Reference: 1859  J Quarter in CHORLTON  Volume 08C  Page 297

Christopher’s death was registered in Ardwick district.

Mary (above) death registered  in Didsbury where there is also a  William Shepardson, 29 yrs also in Didsbury 

Perhaps it would be worth getting the death certificate for Christopher to check details.

[guest259648]

LOST:
Christopher Shepherdson, age '35' on 1841 census, born Sheffield, stone mason;
Mary Shepherdson (nee Sedgwick, 1st marriage was to Spurr), age '40' on 1841 census, born Sheffield;

How do you know they were born Sheffield?  The 1841 only confirms they were born in Yorkshire

Is William the only child you have traced forward?
You don’t mention Henry also age 15 in the 1841

In your previous thread you mention the marriage of Robert Spurr to Mary Sedgwick. Are there two Mary Sedgwicks?
You also are looking for Henry Spurr born 1825/6. Is he Henry Shepherdson in 1841?
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=813117.msg6736956#msg6736956

The Shepherdson/Spurr marriage was in Barnsley 1823.

heywood, thank you...

No, there's only one Mary Sedgwick, she married Robert Spurr carpenter who was baptised Sheffield 1797 (son of Thomas Spurr file cutter.)

My theory is that Mary Sedgwick/Spurr quickly remarried after her husband was transported, and her son Henry Spurr (for whom I've been searching, yes) became a Shepherdson...

On Henry Spurr's death certificate Feb 1861 Manchester, the informant is William Shepherdson stone mason, living close by in Manchester, who corresponds with the William in the Shepherdson family in Wath in 1841.

Also, Henry Spurr (stonemason) used 'Shepherd' as his surname while in Manchester (see census 1851, also given by his widow 1861), but he baptised his children as Spurr - I'm thinking the name should have been the full Shepherdson and his wife/widow (illiterate) supplied an incomplete name to the census...

D

[guest259648]

There is this death

SHEPHERDSON, CHRISTOPHER       56 
GRO Reference: 1859  S Quarter in CHORLTON  Volume 08C  Page 290

That looks promising.

It certainly does! Thank you.

[heywood]

I can see that falling into place now.
Mary Spurr was described as a Spinster on marriage.
If her husband was convicted in 1821 and she married December (I think) 1823, perhaps Henry was born just prior to her marriage  and Christopher or someone else was the father.
His death shows him as 36 yrs in 1861.

It would have helped if this information was provided initially - it would have saved time re extra searching.

[guest259648]

Another good find 

Just an addition, a witness to theShepherdson/Spurr marriage was Thomas Sedgwick.

Splendid, this reinforces my theory that this is the same Mary Sedgwick who married Robert Spurr and went on to marry Christopher Shepherdson. x

[guest259648]

I can see that falling into place now.
Mary Spurr was described as a Spinster on marriage.
If her husband was convicted in 1821 and she married December (I think) 1823, perhaps Henry was born just prior to her marriage  and Christopher or someone else was the father.
His death shows him as 36 yrs in 1861.

It would have helped if this information was provided initially - it would have saved time re extra searching.

Apologies if I provided too little information initially. I'm still learning xx

If, as you suggest, 'someone else' was Henry Spurr's father, then why would Henry have provided 'Robert Spur[r] carpenter' at his marriage in 1846? Henry must have been told by his mother that Robert was his father.

Once Robert had been shamefully transported (and presumably was never coming back), how would it have served Mary to conceal an 'affair' between 1821 - 23 with 'someone else', and provide Robert Spurr's name to Henry instead? As you helpfully show, Mary represents herself as 'spinster' at marriage in 1823, which suggests she's distancing herself from Mr Spurr (as anyone might). So if she supplied Robert Spurr's name at all as a father of a child, it's likely to be correct, I feel?

The age is the problem - Henry is '25' on the 1851 and '36' in Feb 1861, suggesting a birth date of 1825/6, which would make him Christopher Shepherdson's son, given the marriage in 1823. But he knew he wasn't a Shepherdson. Could it be more likely that Henry wasn't accurately given his age, and he was older than he believed?

D

[heywood]

Unless you find a baptism for Henry, I suppose we will never know.
On his marriage in 1846, he is ‘full age’ so no help there.

If he was born prior to his mother’s marriage in December 1823, his name would be Spurr regardless of his father's name, I think.

On his marriage, he gives his Mother’s husband’s name as you say. Perhaps he was older than recorded or just chose the vary his surname. 

[heywood]

According to FindMyPast index, Christopher Shepherdson is buried in Ardwick cemetery.

[guest259648]

Unless you find a baptism for Henry, I suppose we will never know.
On his marriage in 1846, he is ‘full age’ so no help there.

If he was born prior to his mother’s marriage in December 1823, his name would be Spurr regardless of his father's name, I think.

On his marriage, he gives his Mother’s husband’s name as you say. Perhaps he was older than recorded or just chose the vary his surname. 

Thank you for your thoughts.

If Henry was Christopher Shepherdson's eldest son (even if born before the marriage), then Henry would have recorded Shepherdson at marriage in 1846, not Spurr.

Henry hung onto the Spurr for all his children, even though he was using Shepherd[-son?] in a business sense. So Spurr was his genetic line, or so he believed.

Therefore I'm placing Henry Spurr's birth between August 1821 (when Robert Spurr is convicted) and December 1823, when his mother remarries and legally changes her surname. So at death in 1861 Henry's aged between 37 - 39 (not 36, as either his wife or half-brother thought).

It must have been a traumatic time in 1821 for Mary Sedgwick/Spurr. Not easy to baptise a child with your husband suddenly gone and the future very uncertain. Maybe Henry wasn't baptised. Maybe Henry wasn't Robert Spurr's son at all...

I still don't know, though, what happened to the other Shepherdsons from the 1841 census, and particularly Henry's mother + stepfather. I'll check out the suggested records for those deaths in Chorlton 1859, and report back.

I'm very grateful for your time and your help :-)