RootsChat.Com
England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Oxfordshire => Topic started by: lodger-nz on Tuesday 05 June 07 03:49 BST (UK)
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My great-grandfather, Samuel Jones, was born in the Henley Union workhouse on 24 Jun 1858, to Mary Jones. I've never been able to find the name of the father. Samuel was still in the workhouse for the 1871 census, but Mary had disappeared. It also appears pretty certain that the same Mary Jones was delivered of a daughter Caroline 9 years earlier in the same workhouse, on 6 Oct 1849. Again, no father identified.
I can find no evidence of a filming of the records of the workhouse in FamilySearch. Can anyone tell me where the records, if they survive, might be found, and how I might access them?
Cheers, Roger
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Hi Roger
Ive found this info on 1861 census. Looks like right family
but S Jones is female ?
RG9/881
Henley union Workhouse, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire.
M Jones (f) unm 29 almswomen serv b. Henley
S Jones (f) 3 scholar b. Henley
Also
M Jones (f) wid 87 almswoman b. Ipsden
Alison ???
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Yes, I have that census page. I believe and hope that the sex is just a mistake.
The birth cert I have is definitely for my Sam, and place of birth is the Henley Union Workhouse in 1858, so he would be 3 in 1861, as shown in that census.
In the 1871 census he is shown with all the same info except age, now 13, and sex is male, so the case is strong.
Thanks for your help.
Cheers, Roger
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the sex is not given in 1861 census.
for S Jones
Mary is listed as unmarried
have you found her in 1851 census
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Hi Roger,
The records can be found at Oxfordshire Record Office, St Luke's Church, Temple Road, Cowley, Oxford OX4 2EX.
I don't think that they have been filmed, but you could contact the record office to ask about searches.
Nell
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Have you checked to see if there is a baptism registered in any of the churches which may give a clue to the father?
If not let me know and I can go and have a look at the St Marys transcripts for you
Jackie ;)
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Clem, Little Nell and JMP: Thank you for your replies, and apologies for my lack of response. I had a HDD crash that took a while to recover.
Clem: I haven't looked at the 1851 census yet. Need to try and find Mary Jones aged about 19 and maybe her daughter Caroline (also born in the Henley Union workhouse) aged about 2. Saving up to get a sub to ancestry.com as the nearest FHC is a long way away.
Little Nell: Thanks for the info, I'll contact the ORO. I've seen an LDS film of the workhouse minutes, but it contained no inmate info at all.
jmp: Thanks so much for your offer. I have LDS fiche 6203918 on my todo list to order and search, but haven't got to it yet. If it's easy for you to search the transcripts for Samuel (born 24 Jun 1848) and Caroline (born 6 Oct 1849) I'd really appreciate it.
Cheers, Roger
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Dear Roger
The 1851 lists a Caroline Jones, born Henley, aged 1 living in Tilehurst (a village just outside Reading) with her grandparents Thomas Walker, aged 48 and Caroline Walker aged 38. Thomas is a railway labourer born in Marlow, grandma Caroline born in Henley.
Also in the 1851 census is a Mary Jones, aged 20 living in the parish of St Giles, Reading, working as a servant in the household of a Mr & Mrs Haslam.
These may, or of course may not, be yours!
KN
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Hi Roger,
No joy Im afraid. I have checked St Marys up to 1864 just in case they were baptised late but no Samuel or Caroline.
There is a Samuel baptised at St Marys, 27 Apr 1842 born 27 Nov 1841 to a William and Mary occupation carpenter living in Henley and a Caroline bap 27 Sep 1840 born Aug 21 1840, father Joseph and mother Rebecca, occupation labourer living in Henley, but these are the only ones.
I also checked the nearbyHenley Holy Trinity with no result but was unable to check Rotherfield Greys Independent as that only goes up to 1837
Sorry they dont seem to be there :(
If you do find a link to Henley though and want anything checking please feel free to come back to me
Jackie :D
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Wow! Thanks for your fast responses KN and Jackie.
Jackie: It seems that the full parish records are not available for any of the Henley churches, or at least they haven't been filmed by GSU. The transcriptions appear to be the only resource, and I wonder how complete they are. Anyway, I now need to look elsewhere.
KN: Your data is interesting, as it looks as if my Caroline Jones might have married a man from Tilehurst. The marriage was in Devon, but they obviously could have known each other in Tilehurst if she stayed there after 1851. The possible connection with Reading is also interesting as her brother Samuel later settled there and thereafter always claimed his father was a Reading man.
Thank you both again for the new leads and clues I now have to work with.
What a great hobby this is!
Cheers, Roger
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From having done searches for other people Roger I would say they are probably more complete than most. The St Marys transcriptions run for 7 books for baptisms alone
How accurate they are obviously depends upon how good the transcriber was and that obviously I cant comment upon.
A lot of transcriptions for the area seem to stop at 1837 when Civil Registration comes in, I suppose transcribers feel that you can then get the information elsewhere.
There are an awful lot of little parish churches around here where they could have been baptised and I assume they probably were baptised somewhere if they were "claiming" poor relief at some stage.
It might be worth seeing if you can get both Caroline and Samuels marriage certificates to see if the same father is named ( assuming both married)
As I live in Henley and our local library has a good selection of the local transcriptions please feel free to get in touch again if you need any help in this area
Jackie :D
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Sorry Jackie, I didn't mean to impugn the quality of the Henley transcriptions.
Caroline and Samuel both married. Samuel gave his father's name as George Jones, and Caroline gave John Jones. Both seem dodgy given their birth registrations with no father named and a mother named Jones.
Having said that, I know I have the right marriage for Sam, but I may not have for Caroline.
Thanks very much for your offer of further research, it's much appreciated.
Cheers, Roger
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No Roger, I didnt think you did mean that, but sometimes as you say transcripts are not complete and I just wanted to reassure you that the St Marys ones do seem to be fairly conclusive so that you know they were probably baptised somewhere else ;D
Please as I say feel free to contact me again by pm if you need any more help ;)
Good luck in your researches
Jackie