Joseph Birkin b 1828

[adono500]

Hi - I am trying to get information on my Gt Gt Grandfather Joseph Birkin, born 1828 in Newthorpe or Eastwood Notts and (adopted?) raised as Joseph Clarke by John Clark also born Newthorpe in 1804, and his wife Elizabeth born Heanor 1804. Any ideas on Joseph's siblings or parentage and reason for his adoption would be appreciated. Joseph married Mary Ann Wood in Heanor in 1855 using the name Birkin but all census records show his name as Clarke.  Thanks - Alan

[QueenoftheWest]

Looking at the birth registrations for 3 of his siblings:

CLARKE, PHOEBY       BIRKIN 
GRO Reference: 1841  M Quarter in BASFORD UNION COUNTIES OF NOTTINGHAM DERBY

CLARK, HENRY       BIRKIN 
GRO Reference: 1843  M Quarter in BASFORD  Volume 15  Page 452

CLARKE, JAMES       BIRKIN 
GRO Reference: 1846  M Quarter in BASFORD  Volume 15  Page 468

Elizabeth's (who married John Clark) maiden name was Birkin.

Queenie 

[QueenoftheWest]

The marriage of John Clark and Elizabeth Birkin took place in 1829 in Selston, Nottinghamshire:
https://www.freereg.org.uk/search_records/5825f3c7f493fd404c846d76/elizabeth-birkin-john-clarkes-marriage-nottinghamshire-selston-1829-01-27

Queenie 

[QueenoftheWest]

It seems as though a possible explanation could be that Joseph was Elizabeth's illegitimate son, born before her marriage to John, but John raised him so Joseph took his surname and saw him as his father. I had an ancestor who did the same thing; it was quite a challenge finding his actual baptism record! Of course, it is not outside the realms of possibility that even if Joseph was born outside of wedlock, John was his actual father, given that he was seemingly born very close to John and Elizabeth's marriage, but only a DNA test could tell you that.

I am still hunting for Joseph's baptism.

Queenie 

[adono500]

Many thanks Queenie - just the information I needed. I am just a beginner at genealogy and appreciate your guidance.  Cheers Alan

[QueenoftheWest]

Hi Alan,

Glad I could help. As you said you are a beginner at genealogy, I thought I would share some of the best (free) websites to help you research your family:

- FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/) is the biggest online family history website that does not require a paid subscription; you just have to create a free account and then you can view censuses, parish registers and more. 

- General Register Office (https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/login.asp): if you create a free account, you can search the GRO indexes for births and deaths which took place England and Wales after 1837 (when civil registration began). Not all births and deaths were registered in the early days of civil registration, but the majority were. The birth indexes provide the mother's maiden name, which is how I found out the Elizabeth's maiden name was Birkin.

- FreeREG (https://www.freereg.org.uk/) offers free transcriptions of parish registers in select counties and parishes. The database is growing all the time as volunteers transcribe new records. This is where I found the transcription of Elizabeth and John Clark's marriage.

Queenie 

[adono500]

Thanks again Queenie. I had been using FreeBMD, GenesReunited and Ancestry.com but the extra sites are very useful.
Cheers Alan

[fogster74]

Hi Alan,

This is a heck of a coincidence but I wonder if I can throw light on your question.

My great grandfather was Joseph Birkin Edwards.

He was the son of Ann Clarke and Richard Edwards

Ann's father was Joseph Birkin - hence the name of her eldest son - but here's where it gets really interesting. I do not know the name of Ann's mother BUT Ann's mother remarried a Joseph Clark so Ann's  'father' would have initially have been Joseph Birkin and then she would have had a stepfather called Joseph Clark (two separate people) - could it be that what you think are one and the same Joseph are these two separate Josephs?

What is incredibly interesting about this is that the Birkin name appears in the notes below on the Clark side of the family too - with apparently John Clarke (Joseph Clarke's father) having married an Elizabeth Birkin.

If this were correct and and Mary Ann is Ann, then both Ann's father (Joseph Birkin) and her step father's mother (Joseph Clark's mother Elizabeth) would have both been a Birkin.

I will do some more diggging but this is certainly intriguing!