There was definitely one man called Hiram Greenwood born in the Ashton under Lyne area in 1846, who is definitely not my great grandfather. He was identified by a genealogist, and his marriage in Ashton under Lyne. This is a red herring.
I have Hiram fairly well documented, except for the absence of his marriage record and he is not on the 1861 census. He was born in Henry Street, Ancoats in September 1846 and is on the 1851 census in Hulme, Manchester
So you think that the Hiram Greenwood who married Elizabeth Blakeley was the Hiram who was born in Ashton under Lyne in 1846?
Birth registration of your ancestor Hiram has been transcribed as Aaron on GRO index and on Free BMD.
GREENWOOD, Aaron, mother's maiden name WARD
GRO Ref. 1846 D quarter Manchester vol. 20 p.592
and on Lancashire BMD www.lancashirebmd.org.uk
1846 GREENWOOD, Aaron, mmn WARD sub-district Ancoats
Have you searched for a marriage for him as Aaron?
What about foreign/overseas marriages in case he'd joined army or navy?
I have that birth certificate where he is mis-named Aaron. That was definitely the registrar not hearing his father Thomas Greenwood's probably heavy Yorkshire accent. On some censuses you can almost hear them saying "Ebding" Bridge for Hebden Bridge, as their birth place.
There is a Hiram Greenwood who was born in 1846 in Ashton under Lyne, and also a marriage of a Hiram Greenwood in Ashton under Lyne which I once thought could be him, but was assured by a genealogist that it was the wrong person, the genealogist said that my great grandfather Hiram Greenwood didn't have an English marriage record, and the man who married in Ashton under Lyne with the same name was a totally different person.
I don't think he ever used the name Aaron, that was just mis-hearing on his birth certificate. I also have his baptism record at Manchester Cathedral (which everyone used as it was cheaper), where his name is given as Hiram. I have so many records for him, and mostly he is Hiram, and on a few James Hiram....which is very odd.
