User:RosieKnees-1130

THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE

Sometimes we look at information, on the censuses for instance, and believe it to be true. In my quest for the whole truth the following are an example of <not the truth?> and the second is the person I was hoping but had no evidence (this needs major re-writing!)

Was Minnie From Littleport?

Edward Norman was born on <11/11/11> in Balderton and his brother Tobias on <22/22/22> also in Baldertong. Their mother was called Minnie and both the boys were illegitimate. I found a Minnie Norman on the 1901 census working as a domestic servant in Newark, the town three miles away from where the boys were to be born. Minnie was listed as being aged 20, unmarried and born in Littleport Cambridgeshire. I always had a feeling that she was the person I was looking for but couldn't be sure she was the mother of Edward and Tobias unless I could find them on a document with 'Minnie Norman of Littleport' as their mother. My only hope looked like waiting for the 1911 census to be released.

Nevertheless, I followed my instincts and decided to search earlier censuses. I found <ENTER DETAILS ETC..> At this stage I put all the information safely in the file; it could turn out to be completely the wrong family after all and I didn't want to waste too much time and effort searching a line that wasn't mine.

The Normans sat quietly on the shelf, occasionally being taken down and thumbed through, for over three years. At a loose end one day I decided to send a short letter to my local paper (still in the Newark area) asking if anyone had any information about Edward, Tobias and Minnie. ...so my instincts turned out to be correct, but I am so happy I wrote that letter.

The Hunt For The Death Of George Thatcher

In my search for juicy tit-bits about my ancestors, to put meat on the bones as we say, I have been working my way through 'killing them off' in the hope of finding something of interest. George Thatcher was a Tallow Chandler from Marlborough, Wiltshire. Tallow is rendered down animal fat which was then fashioned into candles. Could George have met a gruesom end in a vat of hot fat? (Patron saint of Tallow Chandlers is John the Baptist). I needed to assess the information I had to try to find a possible date range for George's death. George married Esther Gale on 15 November 1840 and at the time of the 1841 census they were living in Kingsbury Square Marlborough, next door to George's mum with her other children Francis 13, James 10, Lydia 8, Charlotte 6 and Edward 4. At the time of the 1851 census Esther was an inmate of Preshute Workhouse with her children Sarah 10, Eliza 7, George 4, William 4 and James 5 months. Given these facts I went in search of possible deaths between Jan/Feb 1850 when James would have been concieved and 31/03/1851 when Esther was a widow. This seemed a logical timeframe.

I set about searching the Ancestry deaths and came up with five possibles:

Q4 1848 Reading/p Q1 1849 Kidderminster Q3 1849 Eaton Q4 1850 Clifton Q1 1851 Thornbury

Frustratingly, none of these really seemed to 'fit', as is so often the case. Thornbury and Cilifton were good dates but why on earth would he have been in those pllaces? Reading seemed to me the closest to home but the date was way out. Kidderminster and Eaton were also too early, bearing in mind the assumed conception of George's last child, James. Added to this quandary there was, of course, always going to be the chance that George's death had not been registered and it was none of these! An FTF friend had a look on the NBI for me and the Thornbury death was a child aged 4 so I was able to eliminate him immediately. That left the most likely candidtate as the Clifton one so I sent off for the certificate and waited impatiently for it to arrive.

Don't take the 'facts' for granted!