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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Staffordshire => Topic started by: DelBoy on Wednesday 05 January 05 23:42 GMT (UK)
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I have been trying to locate info on a particular family in Wolverhampton- SMITHYMAN. The only info that I have to go on was a newspaper article from NZ, which stated that the Groom, John Bailey Smithyman, married ......and that he was from Shorebridge, Wolverhampton. I have not been able to locate a place called Shorebridge, can anyone assist with locating this area. I thought perhaps the name of the area may have changed over the years.
The newspaper article has been transcribed, I have had two different sources of this article both state "Shorebridge", so I doubt that it was a typo on behalf of the transcriber. Unfortunalty I have no DOB for John Bailey, only a DOB for his wife, and some other snippets of info. Could anyone assist in where would be a good place to start looking for info. I thought perhaps if I could sort out the Shorebridge problem I may have more luck locating possible records.
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Hiya Delboy
What timeframe are we looking at here? I live in Wolverhampton but no area called 'Shorebridge' springs to mind and I'm guessing Smithyman is his occupation not his surname. Wolverhampton district for BMD's cover quite a wide area so if you can let me know what sort of dates were looking at I have a dig about
Willow x
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Hi Delboy
Could it be the marriage in the Strand RD, London March quarter 1852 1b 439 - John Bailey SMITHYMAN? Or a relation perhaps?
Casalguidi
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Hi Delboy
Could it be Stourbridge and not Shorebridge?
Just a possibilty.
Best wishes
Dorothy
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Hi Everyone,
Thanks to all who have posted. I will add all the info I have incld the newspaper article, which also can be seen onlne, by typing Smithyman NZ into a search engine.
I have found a probable record of arrival for Smithyman to ENG- NZ.
PASSENGER LIST
William Watson
Barque: 430 tons
Captain: C Macfarlane
Sailed London October 21st 1858 - arrived Auckland February 6th 1859
Single men or Women-SMITHYMAN-JB
SOURCE: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~ourstuff/WilliamWatson.html
The New Zealander Saturday 16th July 1859
PUBLIC NOTIFICATION
BY JOHN WILLIAMSON ESQ
SUPERINTENDENT OF THE PROVINCE OF AUCLAND
PERSONS representing that they are willing to be specially rated on their properties having a frontage to the south side of Shortland-street, between Queen-street and Princes-street for the purpose of forming a footpath with a stone kerb along the south side of the said street ….the rate to be paid to Edmund Mahony on the 10th August next.
Name RITCHIE, Thomas & SMITHYMAN, John Bailey
Amount of frontage In feet :18 ½
Amount of Rate :£2.6.3
SOURCE: http://www.ozlists.com/genies/residents/resid001.htm
Mr John Bailey Smithyman, who had a wholesale ironmongers business where the New Zealand Insurance Company stands now in Queen Street, Auckland, NZ
MARRIAGE
SMITHYMAN - MERRILL
On 10th March 1860 at the residence of Mr Ohlson, Hobson-street,
by Rev George Brown, John Bailey Smithyman, Merchant, only
son of Mr Smithyman Esq, of Shorebridge, Wolverhampton, to
Frances Brown Merrill, second daughter of William Merrill Esq,
Farmer, Howick. [NZ'er 14 March 1860]
Frances Merrill was born 1841 Canturbury Kent, ENG. ( I have also posted in regard to this family)
But as stated above they were married in NZ. Perhaps her birthdate may give a rough ?? timeframe for his birth.
BACKGROUND
With a veiw to commencing plantation activities and trading, Mr Smithyman sailed from Auckland to Fiji by Schooner in 1860. Fiji was then under the rule of King Thakomba, or Gakoban, who ceded the islands to Britian. Mrs Smythman followed her husband to the Islands in the 16 ton cutter, Aquila, the voyage lasting 16 days, and she met her husband at Levuka. They then went to a coton plantationin the island of Nukulau, but after a year they moved to Duba Bay.
Mr and Mrs Smithyman later lived at Rewa, Viti Levu, but their longest stay in any particular part of fiji was a period of 10 years on Makogai Island, the present leper station. Their work was that of cotton planting, an activity that was often menaced by hurricanes.
Mr Smithyman next managed stores on Vanua Levu and at Levuka, where he died in 1880, but the name of the family is still well known in Fiji.
JB Smithyman is listed in the new publication Kaivalagi ni Viti, Census of Europeans Resident in Fiji 1874-75. He appears in the returns for Lomai-Viti [mainly Levuka residents] : JB SMITHYMAN Storeman
Here is some info on the birth of one of the children/isssue of John Bailey Smithyman.
NAME: SMITHYMAN, John Bailey
EVENT: Birth
LOCATION: Wolverhampton, Region not specified, England
DETAILS: Frederick Charles SMITHYMAN, first born white male in the Fijis, 19 Jan 1863. Son of the late John Bailey SMITHYMAN of Wolverhampton, England.
SOURCE: Cyclopaedia of Fiji, first published Sydney 1907, printed by McCarron, Stewart & Co., 44 Pitt St, Sydney. Reprinted by the Fiji Museum, Suva, 1984, 1988, page 287. Copy held in NZSG Library. Not specified, Region not specified, Fiji
As i said I dont have too much info to go on, perhaps his birth was around the time of his wifes, I dont know how much age difference there was if any, also Smithyman left ENG in 1858, so perhaps this will offer some type of time frame.
I have been lucky enough with my research so far that I havent had to purchase alot of certificates etc, as they are quite expensive here in NZ. I am unsure if that will even give Smithymans year of birth. I guess that will be my next step if I have no further luck.
Could any one tell me how Stourbridge is pronounced, perhaps this could be the correct area ?
Cheers
Del
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There are some 1861 census entries for the Stourbridge area here and the name SMITHYMAN and variants does appear:
http://www.griffs4bears.co.uk/census/coverage.html
Casalguidi
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Casalguidi
Perhaps this marriage is a relative, If the name is the same, Could you post me a link please, and I will addit to my research info.
Thanks
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Hi All,
Another thought Ive had, although a long shot .
Smithyman was a Iron Monger, or rather that is the business he was involved in first in NZ. Perhaps his family were involved in this type of work in ENG, so it may have been the line of work he knew already ?
Cheers
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The London marriage was just the result of a search on here:
http://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/rectype/vital/freebmd/main.htm
Casalguidi
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Hiya Delboy
Stourbridge is pronounced locally as Stow-our-bridge all run into one word or say it slowly and it comes out with a Dudley accent (Willow now going in search of her tin hat incase any rootschatters are from Dudley lol)
Willow x
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Hello all.
Thought I should chip in too for what it's worth: remember never to discount Smithyman as I surname, as I have a few in my tree too. My lot are from Kingswinford.
Good luck with your research DelBoy!!
Ryan.
:)
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There's a few Smitheman's in my family's history and I believe that that was the more common spelling for this family - at least on the Kingswinford's branch.
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Hi There,
This Smithyman has been a bit of a brickwall. There was a Kendrick Smithyman, who authored a book of poetry about his family, here in NZ, (quite well known in NZ) he was related - my Smithyman was mentioned in his book, but even he (author) didnt know how they were related to one another.
:'(
Del
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Delboy,
Correction to 1st post - my family tracks back as Smithyman too. .
As follows:
John Smithyman (b. 10 Sep 1773, d. ???)
John Smithyman (b. 28 May 1797, d. ????)
Edward Smithyman (b. 30 Mar 1806, d. ????)
Jane Smithyman (b. 1840, d. 1917)
Most records are for Kingswinford, Staffordshire, England, but some for Saint Thomas Church, Dudley, Worcester, England. Remember that Worcester seems to have regional pockets inside what should be Staffordshire in early records
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Hi there,
I have managed to find a little more about my JB Smithyman, only to find another JB Smithyman, being his father :-\. (Thanks to the efforts of lookups via rootschat)
JB Smithyman snr married Harriet Pout 04 Sep 1808, St Phillips Birmingham, the first 2 children, christened there also. ( her dob 1791 c, so I guess his dob be similar -give or take)
My JB Smithyman was named as the only son of his father, in the above marriage notice, yet it appears that 2 more children were born, (brussells, but BS) inclding a son. William.
The dob for this William and place of birth fits in perfectly with the grandfather of the author, who wrote the book Id mentioned. He had thought that maybe my JB and his grandfather were brothers. Apparently little was known about his grandfathers family and they were not spoken of alot through the generations, yet JB's line were referred to as cousins.
So I have to wonder now if JB Smithyman snr, died before 1851, as his wife is named as a widow in 1851 census, or did he run away from the family, as he is said to be from Wolverhampton in the marriage notice. So it could be taken as he was living or dead.
Now....was there a skeleton in the closet here, or just a simple chain of events, with nothing out of the ordinary.
Cheers
Del
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A bit late in the day, but perhaps of interest?
A very distant relative, Buxton Layton (1788-1866) RN commander, left a legacy of £150 "...to the widow of my friend the late Mr John Bailey Smithyman formerly of Brussels but now residing at 1 Victoria Place Compton Road Wolverhampton in the County of Safford..." The will was drawn up 28 Sept 1864 and proved 6 March 1867.
Cheers,
Ian Layton
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I have Smithyman in my family tree, again from Dudley and Kingswinford. It appears to be a very rare name with only 98 individuals recorded in the 1881 census, so anyone with the name in their tree is probably related. There are other variations in the West Midlands area such as Smitheman, Smythyman, but these are often down to the spelling of the recording clerk and you can find the same person with different spellings in a number of census returns and parish records.
Hope this helps, and hello to all my probable distant cousins.
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I have just come into this conversation. In our Woodnorth/Woodnoth family, (Whptn & Stourbridge) there was a Skidmore Woodnorth born, 1846 in Stourbridge. We were trying to work out which couple of the family he belonged to, and we have only just got his b/c - surprise, surprise - his father's name is given as Thomas Smithyman. Looks as if he was illegitimate - a Thomas Smithyman got married in Dudley shortly after - but not to our Mary Ann >:( Mary Ann was the official Informant of the birth & she must have been either very bold or VERY angry to register the father's name officially.
On the cert, she is listed as 'Mary Ann Woodnorth' not 'Mary Ann formerly Woodnorth' as they do for married women.
Interestingly, since we requested the cert, the GRO has altered Skidmore's surname in FreeBMD, and his birth is now indexed as Smithyman. However, his death the following year is still indexed as Woodnorth (so far).
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If you are still interest in this topic, below is an extract from my notes on the Smithyman limb of my family tree. I have more, including a lineage relevent to myself starting with with Stephen Smithyman (b. about 1610 in Penn, Staffordshire). Most lineages I have come across include a Stephen Smithiman (b. 1686 in Penn, m. Joan Stauford 1706 at Penn, d. 1723 in Wordsley near Stourbridge - he is probably the origin of the Stourbridge Smithyman line). If anyone is interested in the rest of my Smithyman notes please contact me directly.
EXTRACT:
Smitheman, Smitherman, Smithman:
Occupational: ‘The smith-man or smithyman – one who works at a smithy, the smith’s assistant.
The Dictionary cites a reference of a Robert Smythyman from the reign of Edward II (1284-1387).
The earliest parish records found for Smithymans are the baptism of a ‘Rafe ye Bastard of Ales Smithiman’ (Ralph the illegitimate of Alice Smithyman) recorded in Stratford-upon-Avon, parish records in 22 December 1576, and the burial of a Thomas Smithiman at Penkridge, Staffordshire on 1 April 1580. In the 17th Century scattered references of Smithimans from Huntingdonshire, Surrey and Sussex are found as well as Smithymans in Yorkshire and Leicestershire. However, the name and its variants appear increasingly in Staffordshire and Shropshire.
In the 1881 census, the surname occurs most frequently in Staffordshire with 35 individuals, followed by Worcestershire (13), and Warwickshire & Derbyshire with 11. Kingswinford was the town with the highest number of instances at 13, and there is a high probability of close relationship between individuals with the surname. However, there are a number of obvious variations including Smitheman, Smitherman, Smythyman, and Smitham but again these are rare.
Although the connections cannot be proved beyond doubt, most of the branches of the Smithyman family in the West Midlands seem to stem from several generations of Stephen and John Smithimans, their records being found in the parish register of the village of Penn, Staffordshire. From this has been constructed a probable lineage starting with a Stephen Smithiman born in Penn early in the 17th Century.
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Hi Ian
was wondering if you still have the document that relates to the Will that shows money going to Harriot Smithyman. JBS (snr) is my line and I'm chasing anything relating to him. Did the will say anything else or just what was posted - way back in 2010 :-\
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Sorry about that first thing,
I come from Samuel Smitherman. Do you happen to have any information regarding his family or a migration of some sort from another country?