Hi all, I need help. It's my first time using RootsChat but I've hit a brick wall and figured this is the place to come for experts.
My paternal great grandfather was Joseph Hinton. I have historic records from marriage date onwards, but I can't find or identify anything on him before that with any certainty (incl. 1881/1891 census or birth/bap records)
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Key lifestory facts
According to the 1939 Register he was born on 04/07/1872 and the 1901/1911 census records have him born in Sunderland, Durham.
He married Elizabeth (aka Betsy) Gallagher on 26/04/1897 (I have the marriage cert), aged 24 and they were both living in Sunderland. He was a Theatre Property Master.
Within 2 years, they'd moved to Huddersfield, from the birth record of his first son John Joseph Cyril Hinton (my grandfather), on 05/11/1898. On the 1901 census they had moved to Almondbury, Yorkshire and he was a stage carpenter.
On the 1911 census they're now in Halifax, Yorkshire, with new daughter Isabel, two nieces (who I know to be on the Gallagher side - not his). And a boarder Gertrude Hoare (who I can't find any obvious family connection with).
I understand from family he lived in Halifax until he died on 05/06/1946. At some stage he was a Manager at the Grand Theatre. I have found a couple of newspaper clippings with reference to him there.
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Additional facts / clues:
1. His wife was born in Sunderland on 29/04/1866. Parents Peter Gallagher and Catherine Dooly who emigrated from Ireland.
2. He didn't list fathers' name or profession on the birth cert. Did he not know? Was he adopted? Did he choose the new name Hinton at this point? Had he been with travelling theatre?
3. Hinton might be a misspelling or deliberate contortion. There is a Hanlon family living in Sunderland on the 1891 and 1881 census with a potential Joseph (Ancestry transcription lists it as Hanton for 1891 but is clearly Hanlon other census years). However: (a) I can trace Joseph Hanlon in later years so I think different and (b) why would he not use Hinton and name his father?
5. I've started to suspect - without strong evidence - he was Irish like his wife, or at least part-Irish. My DNA results say I'm 22% Irish/Scottish, but Elizabeth Gallagher (my great grandmother) should provide me with 1/8 = 12.5% Irish. My sister has even higher Irish/Scottish %. I have traced no other Irish or Scottish relatives in the last 200 years and have quite a complete tree elsewhere. So perhaps he immigrated from Ireland hence no English records (despite listing birth city as Sunderland)? I haven't much experience yet of searching Irish records.
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Apols for the very long first post, but I wanted to provide as much useful info as possible for assistance. Hope I've got the etiquette right. Either direct help or tips/pointers/ideas where to look next would all be useful.
Thank you for any help!