Struggling

[hf789]

Hi,

I am new here. Recently I've taken it upon myself to begin a family tree, starting with the male line on my Father's side - all with the surname "Foreman". It has been far more enjoyable than I originally anticipated and so far I've reached my Great Grandfather (x4), born in 1811.
Up until now, I've really tried to make sure my sources are 99% correct, otherwise they won't be added to the tree. Well... Now I've reached the late 18th century and realised that is no longer possible!

My difficulty which I'm hoping to get some help with:

Gt GGF x4 = Thomas Foreman, born 1811 Waltham Abbey, Essex, England. He was a tailor with connections to Waltham Abbey, Cheshunt (due to a poor law removal/settlement record), Clapham and Hackney.
My goal is to find his Father & Father's birthdate.
His marriage banns do not list a "Foreman" as a witness. However, his Baptism record provides his parents' names:

Thomas Foreman bapt 31 Mar 1811 Waltham-Abbey, Essex
Parents John & Elizabeth Foreman

There are nine pages of 1800-1811 marriages between a "John Foreman" and "Elizabeth". The closest by distance was:

John Foreman m Elizabeth Burr (transcribed as Bar) 5 Sep 1803 St Andrew, Enfield

Register Type   Parish Register

Since this is the closest John and Elizabeth, (married only 5 miles from Waltham Abbey) am I to just assume this is my John and Elizabeth?

Any tips/opinions would be much appreciated!

[Comberton]

Additional information on the 1811 from FindMyPast (transcriptions only)
Thomas was born 1st January 1811 and his father was a Calico printer

Possible siblings all baptised Waltham Abbey to John and Elizabeth
1805 Elizabeth Sarah
1807 John
1809 Fanny   Occ printer
1813 Sarah   Occ calico printer  Res High Bridge Street
1815 William  Occ calico printer  Res Romeland
1818 Elizabeth  Occ calico printer  Res Romeland
1820 Ann  Occ calico printer  Res Romeland
1824 Charles

ADDED
Charles buried 1825, infant of Romeland

[arthurk]

Hi, hf789, and welcome.

Comberton has kindly done for you what I was about to suggest looking for. Often looking for siblings can provide more information on the parents, and I'd also take this one stage further. Try and find out what happened to the siblings, and in particular, did any of them have an aged parent living with them in any of the censuses?

John Foreman's occupation is useful (a bit unusual too? - I'm not familiar with that area), and it might help with another line of enquiry - did he leave a will? That could lead you to his burial and hopefully an age at death.

Lastly, don't forget to check variant spellings. Forman is an obvious one that comes to mind, but if you're working with transcriptions you also need to consider that they may have misread the name, so check Farman, Ferman etc as well. And upper case F and T are sometimes confused, etc etc.

[Comberton]

www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NK6X-Y2K
www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS65-Q9YY-C?i=58&cc=3734475

The second link is to the image of the 1803 marriage. If it doesn't work, click "check image availability" on the first link and browse film. It is image 59 of 512. You need to be registered with FamilySearch but it is free.

[LizzieL]

FindMyPast has a John Forman (no "e") bapt 26 Dec 1782 at Waltham Holy Cross s/o Thomas and Sarah.

Right sort of age for a 1803 marriage.

[LizzieL]

Rebecca Forman (possible witness on 1803 marriage) bapt 20 Nov 1779 at waltham Holy Cross d/o Thomas and Sarah

[ciderdrinker]

Hello
Let's see if we van help.
Taking the earliest sibling as 1805 I looked for marriages 10 years before in a 20 mile radius for a John Foreman and Elizabeth.
There is only one ,at Enfield st Andrew 5 September 1803
John Foreman and Elizabeth Burr bach and spinster of this parish by banns.
Both signed,
Witnesses Thomas Burr and Rebecca Foreman who again both signed.

Their first child being baptised 11 Jan 1805 at Waltham Abbey that would allow a year and 5 mths from their marriage which is reasonable.

Looking for a baptism b c1783 give of take twenty years and 10 miles radius from Waltham  gives us only one that could fit
John Forman at Waltham Holy Cross 26 Dec 1782 son of Thomas and Sarah.

As you can see I've thrown the net quite wide but only one answer is coming up on each occasion.
There is again one entry I can see for his wife Elizabeth Burr at Hornchurch 13 Feb 1785 d of James and Sarah Burr .

Back to the Foremans
Children of Thomas and Sarah 
Rebecca 28.11.1779
Charles 22..1.1781
Thomas 24 Jan 1787 buried 27 Aug 1790

Thomas age 77 born 1736 buried 16 May 1813 of Highbridge St.Sarah died 7.3.1788 which is explains why they had no more children.
Again I can only see one marriage at Aldenham Hertfordshire
Thomas Foreman bach of this parish married Sarah Lowfield (or Lawsall in banns) of Watford spinster 22.8.1769 .He signed but she made her mark.Witnesses Isaac Nichols the clerk and Robert Streton made x.
But I am a bit dubious of the marriage as there is another Thomas Foreman in the parish 1747-1816.

Looking at Thomas Forman's born 1811 brothers and sisters.
William born 1815 is on the 1851 census at Hope Terrace Bromley
William Foreman 35 Yiome keeper Waltham
wife Esther 32 Poplar
Mary 11 Bexley Kent
George 8 Bexley Kent
Louisa 6 Bexley Kent
Sophia 4 Bexley Kent and visitor Eliza Stephenson 22 Nottingham

Their marriage was at Bow 29 Feb 1839 -William printer ,father John printer ,spouse Esther Kelson d of Richard shipwright. Wit Richard ,Esther and Louisa Kelson.All signed.

So the family must have moved to London but I am struggling to find John and Elizabeth after 1825 at Waltham Abbey.

That's all I have I'm afraid.
I'm not familiar with Essex but I do know less tends to be online for the county.For instance the parish records we have found do not include an image and we might have missed vital data.
I've seen the marriage but not the baptisms or burials.There mat be lots of local info at Essex archives we are failing to pick up because we don't know the area.
I'm confident I have John and Elizabeth's marriage 1803 .His baptism 1782 and his parents Thomas and Sarah and their burials though.

(Beast me too it Lizzie)
Ciderdrinker

[LizzieL]

Ancestry and FindMyPast have transcripts of Essex records. Images are on line from Essex record office / SEAX, but a subscription site and quite expensive.

[LizzieL]

Elizabeth Foresman (sic) age 5  buried 19 Nov 1809 at Waltham Abbey d/o John and Elizabeth