William Atkinson (?? 1784-1849) of Winchester

[maddys52]

I can only see transcripts - do you have images of the children's baptisms at St Lawrence, Winchester? What occupation does it say for William?

28 Jan 1822 (born 19 Jan 1820)  William
28 Jan 1822 (born 31 Jan 1821)  Catherine
4 July 1825  Moorsom

[middlesbrough]

Don't know if it helps at all Moorsom is very much a North Yorkshire surname around the Whitby area.

[ajm314159]

I also have only the transcripts of the Winchester baptisms. It seems that I would have to go in person to Winchester to see the originals, although I'd be happy to be proved wrong. 

Moorsom is a Whitby name, to be sure: the Admiral was born there.  Of course there are William Atkinsons born there, like everywhere else... in this case in 1786 and 1788.

[maddys52]

Not on my computer now, just wondering if the children, Catherine or William married, what occupation did they say their father had?

[ajm314159]

Catherine Ann Atkinson married William Breer Johnson in Thomastown, Kilkenny, in 1852: they are my ggg parents.

Her elder brother William Atkinson married first Penelope (Price) Ronayne, widow, in Youghal in 1855 ; and second Elizabeth Clifford, in Waterford in 1887.

I do not find, nor expect to find, these Irish images online.

Her younger brother Moorsom Atkinson married Elizabeth Garrow in 1854 in Dodbrooke (Devon) -- as mentioned above he recorded his father as “Capt William Atkinson RN” : at least that's what the newspapers said at his bigamy trial.

[Neale1961]

Catherine Ann Atkinson married William Breer Johnson in Thomastown, Kilkenny, in 1852: they are my ggg parents.

Her elder brother William Atkinson married first Penelope (Price) Ronayne, widow, in Youghal in 1855 ; and second Elizabeth Clifford, in Waterford in 1887.

I do not find, nor expect to find, these Irish images online.

Yes, images are free to access online. Just prove you are not a robot and sign in.

 Marriage of Catherine Atkinson is online here. Father is recorded as "Gent"
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1852/09431/5416724.pdf

1855 marriage for William online here. Father is a gentleman.
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1855/09495/5441269.pdf

William's second marriage 1887 online here.
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1888/10778/5931054.pdf

[maddys52]

Thanks Neale, so it looks like the only reference to William ATKINSON snr being in the Royal Navy comes from Moorsom - his marriage and presumably he was the one who put the death notice for his mother in the paper. 

Modified to add:
Or maybe Moorsom didn't place the death notice, I didn't realise daughter Catherine was also in Glastonbury, though she died in 1860.

[ajm314159]

Catherine's death on Feb 6 1864 was announced in four (that I have found) Somerset newspapers the following weekend Feb 12-13. Significantly the same announcement appeared in Waterford on Feb 19: this is inexplicable except for the fact that William (jun.) and Penelope lived in Tramore. 

William jun., and his brother-in-law my ggg father William Breer Johnson, were old friends; also the latter was known in Somerset, from his work as a land agent.  Catherine Ann died (alas!) in Glastonbury in 1860, shortly after the birth of Florence (my great grandmother). Moorsom has proved untraceable after his release from prison in 1862. Perhaps he changed his name (and ceased to use his improbable alias): or perhaps it's he who sailed steerage from Liverpool to Portland ME on the Hibernian in Dec 1863.

I suspect therefore that it was William Johnson (although he remarried in 1862 and moved down to Cannington) who placed the announcements.  It does seem as though “Captain William Atkinson RN” might be a fiction, but how can we learn the truth of the matter?

Neale: many thanks; that's a resource I ought to learn to use.

[ajm314159]

Neale, you are right that marriage allegations generally contain the exact age. But not always! Unless marrying at exactly 21 is much more common than not.  Printed forms often seem to say “of the age of ______ and upwards” so writing in 21 isn't false. 

At any rate Catherine Mans was certainly 23 at her marriage in 1819, not 21.