William Lawson Hardcastle 1891 lookup please

[BassinghamTerrier]

Hi

Just a quick request - I hope!
I use £Ancestry but cannot find this chap anywhere in the 1891 census.
William Lawson Hardcastle - born Huddersfield, 1867/8

I think that he is married by now to Margaret (nee Smith) as I have found a marriage 20th Feb 1889 in Marton, Lancs.
Further, there is a son  - Francis William Lawson Hardcastle - born c1890 in Blackpool, Lancashire (he's listed with the parents on the 1901 census)
This suggests that he should be over that way in 1891 but I just can't find him/them.

He's possibly an innkeeper by then - he certainly is from 1901 in the Huddersfield area.
His father - also William (born 1844) - is at the Belle Vue Hotel in Blackpool in 1891, although he does not have his wife, Martha, with him, just a son.

I have found William L. Hardcastle in 1881, 1901, 1911 and also placed at various pubs in the Huddersfield area 1897-1908, but 1891 eludes me.

Any suggestions would be most welcome.
Thanks.

MT

[arthurk]

I think you have some surname questions to sort out!

Francis's birth appears to be registered as Francis William Lawson, mmn Smith - Mar qtr 1890 Fylde 8e 710

Francis, being young, was the easiest one to look for in 1891. The family are in London (RG12/114 fo103 p10) with the surname as Lawson, with Margaret's mother. She is shown as married, but there is no husband in the household, and her surname is Housman.

There's no sign of the surname Hardcastle in either the birth index or the 1891 census.

[chempat]

Probate for William Lawson Hardcastle in 1936, dies in 1935, death in paper says he was chairman of Huddersfield Town, 1912 to 1920.

[BassinghamTerrier]

There certainly do seem to be some issues regarding surnames...

I've come across one or two documents/events where the last two names are reversed, so William becomes William Hardcastle Lawson, not the least of which is the marriage! 

But quite clearly the 1901 census shows them together - with young Francis - using the surname Hardcastle correctly.

Bizarre!

MT

[BassinghamTerrier]

Probate for William Lawson Hardcastle in 1936, dies in 1935, death in paper says he was chairman of Huddersfield Town, 1912 to 1920.

Correct, and that's why I'm chasing up these details.
Here he is...


I'm aware that he ran various pubs in Huddersfield - he was in charge of The Albert when HTAFC started in 1908.
In 1907 at the Thornhill Arms
In 1897-1901 at The Vulcan

His father was a licensee too at places such as The Weaver's Arms, the Commercial Inn and the Belle Vue Hotel in Blackpool.

But I'm keen to know where he was in 1891 and whether he was running a pub...

MT

[arthurk]

But I'm keen to know where he was in 1891 and whether he was running a pub...

Are you saying this isn't him:

The family are in London (RG12/114 fo103 p10) with the surname as Lawson, with Margaret's mother. She is shown as married, but there is no husband in the household, and her surname is Housman.

So much here seems to fit - William (age 23) born in Huddersfield, Francis in Blackpool; Margaret, incidentally, was born in Hunton, Kent. But William is a warehouseman rather than an innkeeper etc.

Presumably William's birth is the one listed in Mar qtr 1868 in Huddersfield (9a 322), as William Hardcastle Lawson? If so, then the GRO has no mother's maiden name. This might suggest that his mother was a Lawson (unmarried), and Hardcastle was added as a middle name as a nod to his father. He might have used either surname interchangeably, or else deliberately switched to Hardcastle at some stage.

The 1871 census might help to clarify his family background, but I haven't found him in a quick search.

[BassinghamTerrier]

His father's name was William Hardcastle and his mother Martha Lawson, hence the name William Lawson Hardcastle although I do agree that he seemed to interchange them.

The 1891 London connection may well be correct but the surname "Houseman" seems odd.

MT

Edit
I have no access to detailed documents just now, but you are quite correct that Margaret was born in Hunton and also in your assumption that WLH was born illegitimately.
My records show that William Hardcastle and Martha Lawson were married on 13th November 1871 - too late for the 1871 census - but the child William Lawson Hardcastle (aka William Hardcastle Lawson) was born in December 1867.

My guess is that in 1871 the infant would be with his as yet unmarried mother, although I have no idea where that might be.
His father, William Hardcastle Snr. is, I think, a servant/boot boy in service, aged 26; he was born in Highburton/Kirkburton in 1844, the illegitimate son of David Fitton, a draper.

[arthurk]

His father's name was William Hardcastle and his mother Martha Lawson, hence the name William Lawson Hardcastle although I do agree that he seemed to interchange them.

I see that William Hardcastle and Martha Lawson apparently didn't marry until Dec qtr 1871 (from FreeBMD), so it would have been normal for the birth of William junior to be indexed with the surname Lawson, and no mother's maiden name.

The 1891 London connection may well be correct but the surname "Houseman" seems odd.

Might she have remarried?

I haven't seen a register image for the 1889 marriage of William Hardcastle Lawson and Margaret Smith, but there's a full transcript at Lancashire OPC (https://www.lan-opc.org.uk/). This shows one of the witnesses as Howard Hensman. Allowing for poor handwriting and/or transcription, this might be the 13 year old Howard Housman who is in the household I found in 1891. Looking at it again, it might possibly be Hausman - mother's and son's entries look different.

[Kay99]

In the 1911 census the surname is Hensman and son Howard married in 1904 in Teddington and lists his father as Howard Hensman a jounalist  - Marriage on Anc

Added - Possible father Howard Hensman b 1854 Staffordshire who was a Reporter in 1871 but I can see him in later census years