Nov 2009
Our expert Stephen Rigden answers your questions:
‘I have a brickwall that I would love an expert to look into to see if I can break it down. I have a baptism that I cannot find.
My 4 x great grandmother was a Leah (or Learth) Knights who, according to the 1851 census, was born in Billingford, Norfolk in around 1767. Of course I have searched all the surrounding parishes, both in Norfolk and Suffolk, along with the other Billingford in Norfolk, but have not found any entries that could be hers.
Leah married Michael Pake in Rushall in 1799 and they had several children. Leah would appear to have been quite old when she married - for those days - and she died in 1853, so I do not have any further census entries to check her place of birth. She does not appear in any settlement or other Poor Law documents, and I do not have any information about her parents. She was a spinster when she married Michael, so Knights is her maiden name and not a previous married name.
Can you please offer me any advice on how I might be able to track down her baptism?’ Jenny Manning
Steve says: “It is not possible for me to solve this without undertaking research, of course, but a few ideas occur to me.
Firstly, I assume that the parish registers you have been searching through are those of the Church of England. It is possible that the family was not part of the Established Church and the child was baptised in the nearest local Catholic church (or privately) or Non-Conformist chapel. Also, of course, it is possible that the family was not religious and simply did not bother with baptism: even though there were advantages to baptism, it is a mistake to assume that all children were baptised, or that parents baptised all of their children. It is also possible that the child was baptised not at the customary time (at about four weeks after birth) but at some later date: it is not uncommon to see parents baptising two, three or four of their children at the same time (for reasons of convenience or economy). You could therefore consider extending your search throughout Leah’s childhood years.
Census information is, by its very nature, very vulnerable to inaccuracy, as no evidence of identity was required by the authorities: they accepted in good faith whatever details the householders entered into their census forms. It is quite possible that Leah believed she was born in Billingford but was actually born elsewhere, for instance if her family moved there in her childhood. In other words, all Leah’s memories may have been of Billingford but she could have been born somewhere else entirely.
Another possibility is that she was indeed born in Billingford but not as Knights. Parental deprivation figures were high in the C18th and it is possible that her father died, her mother re-married and Leah took the name of her step-father (a Mr Knights, in this scenario). A variation on this scenario is an illegitimate birth, with the single mother then going on to marry Mr Knights. Or that Leah was born under a different surname but effectively fostered by a local family named Knights.
As you can see, there are various alternatives to consider, and you may have to consider all of them if you are to overcome this brickwall. I have answered your question in some detail as many researchers will face these kinds of problem and will need to systematically consider the manifold possibilities if they are to achieve a breakthrough.”
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I encountered such a situation with my gt. gt. grandmother Harriet. I am still uncertain whether she was born illegitimately, but her ‘mother’ Elizabeth married after she was born and the census enumerator assumed the husbands surname for the children. I’m not even sure whether Elizabeth was her mother because it is possible that Harriet and her two sisters were born to a sibling of Elizabeth who may have died. Harriet’s marriage record gives the same name for her father as her mother’s father. The middle sister needed looking after all her life and I could almost believe there was some incest. I am yet to discover the truth.
My similar situation is that my grandmother was born eight years after her ‘father deceased’ on her birth certificate died.
I have no way of finding who her real father was, so that branch of my family tree will forever remain a mystery.
I had a similiar situation in Buckinghamshire. I found marriages for my Plater family but no baptisms for any of the children. Then I found out that couples were supposed to marry in the Church Of England but children did not need to be baptised in the COE. It turned out my family was Baptist - therefore they were most likely Baptised as adults. Keep looking and don’t forget to check local newspapers. It is amazing what “goodies” you can find.
Have you checked FERSFIELD parish? - there seem to be a number of baptisms of the Knights family (though I can’t find Leah yet) around 1767.
Hi
Learth is a short version of Elizabeth. Elizabeth Knights was baptised at Billingford, Norfolk on 7th Jan 1781. her parents were Richard Knights and Ann.
Hi Denise,
what a very clever person you are answering that ladies question.
Ann Hall
In all my genealogical research over past 25 yrs I have NEVER come across that version of Elizabeth, so would regard this as a bit dubious. You may yet prove me wrong, in which case I’ll be more than willing to eat humble pie !
Hello Jenny,
I live in Walsall near Rushall and have recently discovered a very helpful history society in Pelsall-if you live in this area you will find it on Pelsall Common. They may be able to help you with this one. if the reply above is not applicable. Leah may have been baptised when she had her children baptised. I have just found a man of 31 years being baptised on some Birmingham records.
I struggled with finding the baptisms of an entire family at the turn of the 19th Century - looking for the surname Cave. Eventually I found them in the village where I expected, but the wife of Robert (their father) died and he then formed a liaison with Charlotte Beck, never actually marrying her. All their children were baptised with the surname Beck and the name Cave as a second forename. At the time of baptism the youngest child was about 11 and the eldest 18.
I have the same problem with my husband’s greatx4 grandfather. Born around 1806 in Ramsbury, Wiltshire, (what i think are) his brothers were baptised in 1803 and 1809, and the sister was witness at all 3 marriages, so i assume he belongs to them! But, odd that the parents baptised all their children (6 others) except him!! Many others have assumed that he is of the same family on their family trees, but i want proof before drawing him in (his grandchild will have married his brother’s grandchild if right!!!)
I was researching a similar brick wall of 30 years standing this afternoon at a Record Office. Though I did not solve the conundrum I came across a spate of adult baptisms in the parish church during 1761. Either something put the fear of God into the local townsfolk or the vicar had been on a marketing course!
Many, many thanks to all of you who replied to my baptism brickwall. I will take on board all of the valuable advice. I have looked for adult baptisms up until Leah’s marriage, but have not thought of her mother marrying around the time of her birth - something to look into.
I am very interested in the reply from Denise - I hadn’t heard of Leah being a shortened version of Elizabeth before, that’s very interesting. The only drawback with this is that her age would have been 14 years out from all the sources I have come across, but on the other hand, it would have made her age at marriage a more usual 18, rather than 31!
I will also contact the Pelsall history society - I don’t live in Norfolk, but in Essex, so cannot travel up there very often.
Many thanks once again for all the kind replies, I am very grateful
Jenny
Jenny,
Rushall is a district of Walsall in the West Midlands. I assume your ancestor moved to the village in Norfolk of the same name, so the Pelsall History Society in Walsall is unlikely to be able to help!
Tim
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