Posts Tagged ‘1911 census’
Maureen Selley, chairman of Devon Family History Society, got in touch with us about this intriguing discovery in a 1911 census return. Is there a simple explanation, or does the record tell a more scandalous tale? Read on for Maureen’s story…
News of the release of the infirmity column of the 1911 census came at just the right time, while I was preparing for a family history slot on BBC Radio Devon. A quick trawl through my own family’s 1911 images revealed no infirmities, so I was pleased to see items in the press and in Nick Barratt’s blog mentioning a ‘stinking proud’ daughter - ideal!
Looking at the image for Richard Woodward in Avon Road, Highbury, Islington, however, I noticed that both descriptions, ‘Feeble Minded & Stinking Proud’, probably referred to Richard’s wife, who was called ‘Wife abducted’. His daughter had no name on the census return, but was also described as ‘abducted’. The enumerator put a line through ‘& Stinking Proud’ but accepted Richard’s description of his unnamed wife as feeble minded:
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A quick search of the 1891 and 1901 censuses revealed Mrs Woodward as Blanche and their daughter as Maud. Richard Woodward married Blanche Emily Creasy in the June quarter of 1890. Maud, their only child, was born a respectable 9-12 months after the marriage (June quarter 1891), so not in the same year, as it might appear from Richard’s 1911 census entry.
What was going on? Was Richard a deserted husband? Had his wife and daughter really been abducted? Was he feeling hard done by or simply completing the 1911 form with his tongue very firmly in his cheek? Richard was in his mid-30s when he married Blanche, who was 13/14 years his junior. Perhaps Blanche had found herself a toy boy?
Searching findmypast.co.uk for the ‘abducted’ wife and daughter revealed that they stayed with their Creasy relatives on 1911 census night at High St, Hadlow, Tonbridge:
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Ellen Creasy (nee Pine) was Arthur Creasy’s second wife. His first wife Susannah (mother of Harold) was alone in 1901 and died later that year. Husband Arthur was not positively identified in 1901.
I then noticed the faint pencilled note below the family listing on the Creasy 1911 census image. It appears to have been written by the enumerator and says ‘No. 3 Harold Creasy apart from wife’.
Harold’s wife, Mary Eldridge Creasy, (nee Simpson) and her son, nine month old Arthur Harold John, were staying at 29 Duckett Road, Hornsey, with Mary’s parents.
So, abducted Blanche and Maud were just visiting…weren’t they?
We’ve just published the ‘infirmity’ column of the 1911 census on findmypast.co.uk. If your ancestors completed this part of their census return, you’ll be able to see fresh information about your family’s illnesses and conditions in 1911.
Under data protection regulations, this potentially sensitive information had to remain hidden until now – we’ve just made it available for the first time.
It’s possible to discover really detailed information about your family’s health. The census image below shows Elizabeth Eleanor Thorp from Yorkshire who is recorded as having ‘one eye removed in 1907 for disease (gout)‘ – click the image to enlarge it.
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Other examples we’ve found in the infirmity column show that our ancestors weren’t afraid to reveal their quirks and eccentricities: ‘A taste for drink combined with gout’, ’stron and hearty would like to be married’ and ’sound as a bell thank god’.
We have also just revealed any recorded details of children born to women in prison who were aged three or under at the time of the census.
Until 31 January 2012, we’re offering you the chance to view the 1911 census at hugely reduced prices. View a 1911 census original image for 10 credits (previously 30) and a transcript for 5 credits (previously 10).
Any 1911 census images and transcriptions you viewed on findmypast.co.uk from 1 December 2010 will be free to view again. This is because, following feedback from many of you, we made it possible to save the records that you’d already viewed from 1 December 2010. You’ll need to re-view any 1911 census records you looked at before this date. Make sure you take advantage of our reduced prices until 31 January 2012 – why wait?
To celebrate yesterday’s release of Guy Ritchie’s ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows’, we’ve put on our deerstalker hat to uncover the mystery of Britain’s real Sherlock Holmes.
Our detective work has revealed that since the publication of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s first Holmes novel ‘A Study in Scarlet’ in 1887, nine people have been named Sherlock Holmes across England and Wales.
We also discovered that the Holmes brothers actually did exist. The 1911 census on findmypast.co.uk shows a Sherlock Holmes and his brother Mycroft Holmes - played by Stephen Fry in the film - living in Yorkshire aged 14 and 10 years old:
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The most popular name from the world’s most famous detective series, however, is not Sherlock or Mycroft, but Watson, the detective’s loveable partner played by Jude Law. Watson appears 14,405 times as a first name in the England and Wales 1837-2006 birth records on findmypast.co.uk. It even appears eight times as a first name and last name: Watson Watson. 319 people had Sherlock as a first name.
Have you found any Sherlocks, Mycrofts or Watsons in your family tree?
As findmypast.co.uk is the only place you can search the official, complete 1911 census, you’ll be thrilled to learn about the latest development which keeps us streets ahead of the competition.
It’s almost time to find out how your ancestors filled in the ‘infirmity‘ column in the 1911 census. On 4 January 2012, the Information Commissioner’s 100 year restriction on publishing this potentially sensitive information is lifted and you can search the 1911 census on findmypast.co.uk for fresh information to add to your family tree.
For the first time, the original census images will show you if your ancestors recorded the details of your family’s illnesses and conditions and the age at which these began. This can provide a revealing insight into the previously censored health of your family in 1911, as well as your ancestors’ views of their relations’ wellbeing.
On the census transcriptions, you’ll also be able to see any recorded details of children born to women in prison who were aged three or under at the time of the census.
4 January 2012 will be the first time that this information is published online and findmypast.co.uk is the only place to view it.
One of our customers was inspired to write a book after researching his family tree on findmypast.co.uk
Kenny O’Connell took inspiration from his own ancestry to write The Hoodie & the High Rip Gang. Kenny told us, ‘I just started typing away using real life characters that I had researched when tracing my family history.’
The book shows how much tougher life was in census years gone by, and tells the story of the Hoodie, who journeys back to 1911 to meet his great-great-grandmother and her children.
Times are hard in 1911, but the Hoodie gets the love and affection from his great-great-grandmother that he doesn’t get in 2011. He fights to protect her against the gangs that terrorised England at that time and he now has to fight against himself in the form of the High Rip Gang. Members of this gang can be found on the census forms. The Hoodie learns a lot of hard lessons in 1911 and comes back a changed person.
Kenny told us, ‘Story writing and script writing has now taken over my life and this wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for my passion for family history and using findmypast.co.uk’
This is an entertaining and exciting read, and would make a great present for anyone who is interested in bringing their family tree to life in this unique way.
You can buy The Hoodie & the High Rip Gang from the following places – buy your copy soon to beat the Christmas rush!
If you’ve read ‘The Hoodie & the High Rip Gang’ please let us know what you thought by commenting on this blog post.
Today is Winnie the Pooh’s 85th birthday and to commemorate his author AA Milne, we’ve been investigating Milne’s family history.
Educational ancestors
We discovered that Milne came from a family of school teachers. Our first stop was the census records on findmypast.co.uk where we found Milne in the 1891 census. He is recorded at Henley House School, Mortimer Road, Hampstead, aged nine. He is listed as a scholar with his father, John Milne, the schoolmaster. John was born in Jamaica and was married to Sarah Heginbotham. See the record here:
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Ten years later, the 1901 census tells us that Milne’s father had moved on from Henley House School and was the schoolmaster at Streete Court School, Westgate-on-Sea, Kent. Milne was living with his aunt and uncle as a Cambridge undergraduate at this time.
Milne’s uncle, Alexander Milne, was the principal of the Boys’ Private School, University School, Holmesdale Gardens, Hastings. Alexander is listed in the Teachers’ Registration Council Registers 1914-1948 on findmypast.co.uk. He registered on 1 July 1919 and his career in education spanned 1871 to 1932. View Alexander’s record here:
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Our research revealed further evidence of teaching in Milne’s family. Milne’s mother and maternal grandmother, both named Sarah Heginbotham, were school mistresses at Brooklyn House, Wellington, Shropshire at the time of the 1871 census.
Milne’s paternal grandfather, William Milne, was recorded as being an inspector of schools in the 1861 census, which made us wonder whether he was the catalyst for the family’s teaching tradition.
At the time of the 1911 census, Milne was living at Broadgates, Steeple Bumpstead in Essex with his parents. Milne was recorded as being a journalist, working on his ‘own account and Punch‘. By this time, his father was a retired schoolmaster.
Milne on the move
We were intrigued to find Milne 20 years later in the passenger lists on findmypast.co.uk travelling as a first class passenger to the USA with his wife, Dorothy.
The couple were aboard the Aquitania, which departed Southampton for New York on 21 October 1931. In the detailed log, Milne is described as an author and his address is recorded as being 13 Mallord Street SW3. View the record here:
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As Milne’s ancestry demonstrates, you can glean huge amounts of detail when you find your ancestors in the Teachers’ Registration Council Registers 1914-1948 on findmypast.co.uk. We are working in partnership with the Society of Genealogists to bring you these rich records.
Our resident expert Stephen Rigden, pictured below, answers your queries.
From Ray Norval in Brisbane, Queensland:
‘Can you help me? I am searching for any information as to the ancestry of my maternal grandmother Nellie Buckley Formiston. We think she was born in 1880, birthplace unknown, but lived in West Hartlepool. Family legend has it that she came from a seafaring family and that her father was a ship’s master and died at sea. She spoke of a brother Geordie. In the census we found a George Formiston who was born about 1875, was a seaman and died in the Throston Road Workhouse in 1902.
We can find no record of Nellie leaving England but we know she married John Frederick Towers in St Mary’s Church Woodstock Capetown in March 1905. The record of marriage does not contain any reference to parents of either party. Her husband emigrated to Queensland in 1889 with his parents and enlisted with the Queensland Imperial Bushmen to fight in the Boer War.
He returned to Australia with his contingent in 1902, presumably going back to South Africa in 1905 to marry Nellie. They returned to Australia where the first of their four daughters was born near Ipswich in 1906. Nellie died in Brisbane in 1956, her early life a mystery to her family. Her husband died in a gold mining accident in 1937 - Nellie never remarried. Any tips or clues would be gratefully received.’
Stephen says:
‘Thanks for your intriguing question.
The first thought that struck me was that I had never heard of the last name Formiston before and that it might be a variant of another name. After a little research, it is clear that it certainly exists in its own right (very locally, in Cheshire, for example) but I believe that the original version of the name for this particular family was Formstone. On the 1881 census there is a family named Formstone including children David (aged 7, born Fleetwood, Lancashire), George (aged 5, born Rock Ferry, Cheshire), Ellen (aged 4, born Birkenhead, Cheshire) and Rosette (aged 1, also born Birkenhead). If I am right, Ellen will be your Nellie.
They are residing at Back Cottage in Church Street, Thornton, in the Fylde, Lancashire. The census reference is RG11 piece 4255 folio 128 page 8 (use this reference to go straight to the right page on findmypast.co.uk’s census reference search. I also noticed that there was a Rose Formiston on the 1901 and 1911 censuses in Hartlepool who was born circa 1879/80 and who, therefore, matches the 1881 Rosette (even though she claims later to have been born in Kilburn or Paddington, London – this may suggest that the family moved to London when Rose was a child).
One tip for searching the censuses is to progressively subtract letters from the end of the last name and use an asterisk (*) for a trailing wildcard search. In other words, if you get no relevant results with an expected spelling, such as Formiston in this instance, start by removing one or more letters from the end of the name, using your judgement as to what might have been either different in the original spelling or, for that matter, misspelt by the census enumerator or mis-transcribed during the process of digitisation. Each time you remove one or more letters, you will multiply the search results returned to you. Searching under Form* will, therefore, bring back all results for last names beginning with these letters, including those relevant to this case (you might also wish to consider replacing the first vowel, i.e., names beginning Farm- rather than the expected Form-).
In any event, the mother of this family is Margaret Formstone, a 25-year old widow and charwoman, a British subject born in “Hindustan” (i.e., British India). If she was the mother of David, then the 1881 census suggests that she had her eldest child when she was little more than 18 years of age. I searched on the Lancashire Online Parish Clerk website and found two references to the family: 21-year old mariner Henry Formstone (son of Richard) married 19-year old Margaret Craig (daughter of John) on 11 February 1873 in Fleetwood and their son David was born and baptised there three months later, on 9 May 1873.
Hopefully, with this information, you can resume the search for your ancestors.
Incidentally, I can let you in to a secret. Our plans for imminent new record set releases include two different types of records of merchant marines, plus a significant collection of records for the county of Cheshire. Both of these may well contain records of value to your Formiston/Formstone family history research. They should all be online within the next three months. Good luck with your research!’
If you’d like to send your question to our experts, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account. Unfortunately our experts only have time to answer a few queries each month. If yours wasn’t answered this time, you could be lucky next month!
Yorkshire Day is held on 1 August every year and is a celebration of the culture and history of the county. We’re getting in the spirit here at findmypast.co.uk and have found some lovely Yorkshire examples in our records.
First up is the family history of the newest member of the royal family, Mike Tindall. Tindall married Zara Phillips, the Queen’s granddaughter, on Saturday at Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh.
As with the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton earlier this year, this weekend’s royal wedding was an example of a royal marrying out of the upper classes. We can see Mike Tindall’s working class Yorkshire roots by taking a look at his ancestors in the 1911 census.
Mike Tindall's maternal family - please click to enlarge
Tindall’s maternal great-great-grandparents Charles and Fanny Machell were living in Yeadon in the West Riding of Yorkshire at the time of the 1911 census. Their census form reveals that Fanny had given birth to a staggering 13 children, three of whom had sadly died by 1911.
Charles and Fanny were living with nine of their surviving offspring in 1911. Charles was employed as a stone mason at a stone quarry, while the eldest of the Machell brood were employed as nippers, woolliers and twisters at a cloth mill. The census form also reveals that their property only had five rooms – rather small for such a large family!
Mike Tindall's paternal family - please click to enlarge
Tindall’s paternal great-great-grandmother Sarah Ann Tindall can also be spotted in the 1911 census. She was a widow at this point in her life and was living in Skipton in the West Riding of Yorkshire with two daughters, three grandsons and a boarder.
Sarah’s daughters, Mike Tindall’s great-great-aunts, appear to have been rather entrepreneurial. Each was recorded as being a ‘joint restaurant proprietress’ in the 1911 census.
Check back later today for another Yorkshire example from our records and enjoy Yorkshire day!
The newest addition to the Beckham clan, Harper Seven Beckham, was born yesterday to much speculation about the inspiration behind the little girl’s name. Findmypast.co.uk has searched through the 1911 census and can reveal that baby Beckham is not the first to have been given the name Harper, though most people with this name 100 years ago were male.
We’ve found four female Harpers in the 1911 census, including fourteen-year-old Harper Lane. Harper was working as a Nurse and Housemaid at The Bank House in Royston, Hertfordshire – just 45 minutes away from where Victoria Beckham was born herself.
Harper Lane's 1911 census return - please click to enlarge
By comparison, there were 128 male Harpers in the 1911 census. It seems odd that after reportedly wanting a girl for so long, the Beckhams appear to have given their baby a traditionally male name.
What do you think of the Beckhams’ choice of name and have you found any ancestors named Harper?
Today sees the world premiere of the final Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part two). It’s therefore very apt that this should also be the day that findmypast.co.uk discovers a wizard in the 1911 census!
John Watkins Holden had been born in Worcester but was lodging at a house in Bournemouth at the time of the 1911 census. Holden, aged 68, recorded his occupation as ‘Wizard of Ye Wicked World’, stating that he was working in the magic industry and that at this point in 1911, he was ‘on tour’. Amusingly, he also reveals that he was ‘very much married’ when asked about his marital status.
A wizard in the 1911 census - please click to enlarge
Our wizard can be found in a number of the earlier censuses too. He was working as a Conjuror when the 1891 census was taken and was listed as ‘The Queen’s Magician & Wizard of the Wicked World’ in the 1881 census.
Have you made any interesting discoveries while searching the 1911 census? Give it a go now and see which ancestors you can conjure up!
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