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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Suffolk => Topic started by: maggie smith on Monday 27 April 09 16:43 BST (UK)
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I am stuck on the Bloomfields line and wonder if anyone can help me solve the problem.
of James Bloomfield who was Williams father, my queries are
Where was he born?
in 1851. 1861 Census Halesworth
in 1871, 1881 Census Benhall
Probably the latter is correct?
Who were his parents?
It seems to be John Bloomfield and Esther (Batho)
if this is so Ester was about 45 when James was born in abt 1821. Also on his marriage cert 7/4/1844 his father is shown as James Bloomfield.
John was dead by then and the James may have been proxy. or have I missed something.
On the same marriage cert his wife Louisa Watts has parents shown as James Trumpeter I can assume that is a proxy for her parents who were not about or that Louisa's birth mother was unmarried.
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Looking at a transcription of the Halesworth PRs I found this...
James Leder BLOMFIELD [sic]
Illegitimate son of Rachel Blomfield, singlewoman
Baptised 14 November 1821
There are no Bloomfields in Halesworth in the relevant period.
James Bloomfield senr (marriage cert) could have been a work of fiction
What do you think?
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Hi Maggie,
If James is illegitimate, I'm wondering if his middle name Leder is a clue, it has the look of a surname, could it be the surname of his father, was his father perhaps a James Leder! It's not unknown for the mothers of illegitimate children to include a clue to the child's father in the baptismal names, might be worth looking for Leder as a surname in the 1841 & 1851 census for Benhall and Halesworth, perhaps even some nearby places.
Regards
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Hi Maggie, Not sure if your query is still current, but I am researching my Bloomfield line back to John & Esther (Batho) 1795 in Benhall: I have John b. 1796 & a James b. 1813 to John & Esther. John b. 1796 married Elizabeth Markham 1819 and have a James b. circa 1823 & Charles b. circa 1826. This James may have married a Louisa? circa 1845.
Let me know what you think?
Yvonne
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Hi Kriywan,
I an sorry it has taken me so long to eply but I ave just returned from holiday. Yes it is the same Bloomfield family that I am rsearching. I have much information for you if you wish to email me on (*)
kind regars
magge
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Hi Maggie, Look forward to sharing info... the email address has been removed from your note .... when back on line, send me a message & we can pick up
Yvonne
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Hi Maggie & Kriywan,
If you ever trace where your John B who married to Esther Batho came from then let me know there's a few of us on here who have huge branches of the Blomfield tree that they may be able to link into with your John.
Yi
Kriywan - did you ever get to look at the parish records to see if it gave a birth location on his marriage info?
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I have him down as Benhall, Suffolk. He married Esther on 10 Dec 1795 at St Marys Church Benhall Suffolk, and have 11 siblings.
Maggie
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Hi,
What it needs is maybe for you and Kriywan to get together and look up the record via the Suffolk Records Office - there will be a fee to get hold of the copies for this date but as you have a rough date you do not need to purchase the whole filche - just the period covering his marriage date - it would possibly lead you to his birth location.
IF we can get the birth location of your John then there's a possibility that one of the members on here with Blomfield branches can link into it for you and you can then extend your tree.
if they married in 1795 Benhall it may give thier birth location on the records -once you get stuck there is really no choice but to pay a little out togain a lot more back.
Good luck
Yi
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This is a copy of the post I put on the Blomfield's Stonham thread for Kriywan. It may help you......
Hi Kriywan,
IGI have her as Esther Bathe.
It is quite possible that neither were born in Benhall - you would probably need to try and get in touch with the Suffolk Records Office for a look at the parish records or see if anyone on the Suffolk Lookups here has the Benhall records - thier marriage record may have the birth location of each of them listed so that you can continue.
Unfortunately for you I do not have any Blomfield families listed in Benhall on my tree either as a birth or marriage location.
You could try and contact St Mary's church direct?
Thier children are also recorded on IGI as (not in DOB order)
William, Esther, Esther, John, Charles, Sarah, Mary, Hannah
all with surname varients of Bloomfield, Blumfield and mainly Blomfield.
I have however found this for you on another site....
link:-
http://www.family-forest.co.uk/familytree/groups/grpf00502.shtml
info...
John Bloomfield & Esther Batho
John Bloomfield
Born: 1768 in Benhall, Suffolk
Died: 1828 in Benhall, Suffolk
Wife: Esther Batho
Born: 12 AUG 1776 in Benhall, Suffolk
Died: 1857 in Benhall, Suffolk
Father: John Batho
Mother: Rachel Broom
Children
(M): John Bloomfield
Born: about 1796 in Benhall, Suffolk Spouses: Elizabeth Markham
(M): William Bloomfield
Born: about 1799 in Benhall, Suffolk Spouses: Susannah Wade
(F): Ester Bloomfield
(F): Hannah Bloomfield
(F): Sarah Bloomfield
(M): James Bloomfield Born: about 1822 in Halesworth, Suffolk, England
Spouses: Lousia ?
(F): Maria Bloomfield Born: 1815 in Benhall, Suffolk Died: 1839
(M): Charles Bloomfield
(M): William Bloomfield
If this is NOT your personal site then the Batho family is listed quite a way back.
There is a Stephen Blomfield in the area in 1668 mentioned in The National Archives...
Stephen Blomfield, Esq. of Gray's Inn 16 Oct 1668
If John indeed was born in Benhall then the Parish records should have his parents listed!
Clear as mud and probably doesnt really help you but may give you some ideas as to where to look and at this stage, sadly, you may have to part with a few quid to get yoru answers!
Suffolk Records Office does allow you to purchase sections in years so you dont have to buy the whole thing!
have fun
Yi
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Hi again Maggie
Pleased to see you have made contact with fellow researchers into the Bloomfield family.
Your original query was about James Bloomfield who was born about 1821 and who was born, according to two census records, in Halesworth.
His marriage certificate states that his father was called James. I also found a baptism record which strongly suggests that your James was the illegitimate son of Rachel Bloomfield. Findem has correctly pointed out that his father may actually have been called James Leder.
In the circumstances, I don't understand why you are linking him to John Bloomfield and Esther (Batho). What evidence is there to show that this couple were even related to him?
Dave
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Hi Dave,
maybe Maggie saw the same link I did above
(M): James Bloomfield Born: about 1822 in Halesworth, Suffolk, England Spouses: Lousia ?
although the records I found on IGI (family search) did NOT indicate a son James.
This can be misleading as others often 'guess' or just 'add' thinking other peoples stuff is correct - not that I am saying this link isnt of course.
Maggie,
as for birth locations on census records - take them with a pinch of salt - they vary from census to census to the place the individual was born, to the place they grew up or the place they have lived in the longest - you have to remember people didnt think like we do now with proper locations and proper names - often a census would record a nickname of common use abreviation for the person and again names varied from census to census too.
It probably all sound very confusing at hte moment but you will ge there in the end and it will all have been worth it.
Yi
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Hi,
having looked into Bloomfield records I would agree with Dave here and say that James Leder is the son of Rachel Bloomfield rather than John and Esther.
It is possible they lived in Benhall at some point hence the varients on the census records.
It is a known fact that when couples of illigitamte births got married a 'fake' fathers name was inserted along with deceased to brush over awkwardness - even my grandfather did this he used his first name and his mothers maiden name (his surname) and put father deceased on his marriage and this was in 1914!! I expect it's been going on a lot longer than last centurary!
Maybe she had the birth registered in Halesworth for ease, was sent there to have the child 'away' from home etc etc.
Maybe Rachel did hale from Benhall ormaybe she moved there after the birth.
Possibly the original parish records may say where the mother was from?
Hope that helps
Yi
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only me again,
just another hint.
If you look up the mother Rachel she is listed as
'of' Halesworth - this usually denotes that she wasnt born there!
her birth is given as c1799
Hope that helps - again the original parish records may state a location for her under notes.
Yi
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ah ha,
here we go looks like possibly the Esther link comes from the 1851 census which reads.....
James Bloomfield Aged 29 born abt 1822 is the head of the household with wife Louisa he was born in Halesworth and lived in 1851 in Benhall (hence later census stating Benhall perhaps as birth location)
His wife is Louisa Bloomfield aged 26 and the children are
Emma Bloomfield aged 4 and John Bloomfield aged 2
Esther Bloomfield here aged 75 is James' grandmother!!!
Robert Bloomfield aged 15 is also down as a grandson of Esther
Apart from James they were all born in Benhall and his wife in Knoddishall - he was a garden labourer.
HOWEVER
there's no daughter listed as Rachel for Esther and John! (so far!)
so we still have a bit of a mystery on our hands here!
Just for info Esther Batho's mother was called Rachel!
maybe the mothers name was a lie to cover up the illigitimate birth? used a middle name to register it? who knows!
Dont you just love a good mystery?
Yi
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here are Esther & John's listed children:-
JOHN BLOMFIELD 8 SEP 1796 Benhall
ESTER BLOMFIELD 27 MAY 1798 Benhall (died)
WILLIAM BLOMFIELD 31 DEC 1799 Benhall
MARY BLUMFIELD 09 MAY 1802 Benhall
ESTHER BLOOMFIELD 06 NOV 1805 Benhall
HANNAH BLOOMFIELD 08 DEC 1807 Benhall
SARAH BLOMFIELD 21 JUL 1811 Benhall
CHARLES BLOMFIELD 10 MAY 1818 Benhall
maybe the actual parish records will hold a few extras that got missed from IGI (family serach)
like this one
MARIA BLOMFIELD born Benhall 13 AUG 1815 Suffolk, England
she just comes up under world misc Benhall
for info there was a James Leader recorded as living in Benhall in 1824 of marriageable age because he married a Charlotte Wyard on 13 JUL 1824
This could be the father of Rachel's child James Leder Bloomfield - it was common for the illigitamate child to take the fathers surname as middle name.
They had a child (Sarah) born in October 1824 - do the maths - he was a little naughty!!! Perhaps not for the 1st time?
Still a mystery who Rachel was though - sorry!
Yi
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Hi,
Yes you can see I am not at work today!
1861 census states birth location as "Hale Boorth" with the family still living in Benhall - a few more kids have arrived and if you read the hand written doc it's Halesworth.
Emma's middle name was Maria she and her parents were all labourers
in addition to son John you have sarah, william, charles and frederick
I have found the existance of a Rachel in Benhall for you - it doesnt state who's child she is but she seems to have had two illigitimate child both baptised in Benhall in 1822
The record reads
Mary Ann: Baptism: 31 Mar 1822 - Benhall
James: Baptism: 31 Mar 1822 - Benhall
Mother: Rachel Blomfield
sort of ties it all up really to Benhall but - still leaves us with the mystery of James later being down as Esthers grandson!
So Rachel goes to Halesworth to have her child (or twins?) birth registered or to have the children born there - NOT uncommon for her to have gone to a relatives to have this happen in a different location
AND ......
looking into the records of Halesworth one Mary Blomfield married a Samuel Chilver in Halesworth in 1821!
could this Mary have been a sister to Rachel and be Esthers daughter Mary born Benhall 1802 or if not then a relation of Rachel's?
Logic says Rachel could have gone to her to have the kid(s) and then come back and had them baptised locally a little later on.
the records say Mary was not born in Halesworth - could the child Mary of Rachel's been called after this Mary?
There is also a Rachel in Benhall who got married in 1825 to a Joseph Godfrey on 18th March.
They had William 1825, Louisa 1828 and Charles 1839
The 1851 census has Rachel as born Benhall 1798 and living in Benhall with Joseph Godfrey 48 Louisa Godfrey 23 Charles Godfrey 13
Son James at this point is living with Grandma esther = perhaps she is a relative but not an actual 'grandma' but is called such.
It has been known in cenus's for and elderly relation living with them to be known as such purely because the family 'call' her grandma so it is put as such but the actual relationship is more distant.
Some cenus's do not distinguish between children and step children naming them all as the head of household's kids with his name and others call 'aunts' mum in cenus's -
I know this from my Blomfield family in the 1841/51/61 cenus's - it took 3 months of getting birth certificates to sort out which member was related to who by birth as the cenus records were all mixed up - grandsons were down as sons because they lived with the grandfather, aunts as mothers because the kids lived with the aunt and the 3 illigitimate kids were fostered around between them all and down in every census with different parents.
It can get very confusing.
So it is most likely Esther is a relation of grandparents age but possibly not a direct grandparent or it is possible that Rachel is a 'missed' daughter.
However it is NOT uncommon when a lady marries that her previous kids are not wanted by the new husband and live elsewhere with other relatives.
PLEASE - remember these are my thoughts only!!!!! NOT FACT!
currently I cant trace any of them in the 1841 census!
Oh for info Joseph was born in Fornham, Devon(!!!) but I think it's picked up the previous 'ditto' on the handwritten doc and it's actually meant to be Fornham possibly near Bury St Edmunds - I think this because it also has Peasenhall as Devonshire and thats definitely near Benhall!!!
ok FINALLY - here they are - atrocious spelling but hey the scribes werent very literate at the time....
1841...
Joseph Gadfell 38, Rachel Gadfell 44, William Gadfell 15, Luezar Gadfell 13
Charles Gadfell 2
all snuggled up in Benhall!
bad transcribing the actually written word is GODFREE which is mis-typed to GADFELL
Also in 1841 there is a James down as son of Esther he is 15 and also there is a Robert aged 6 - this would tie in with the later census having both Robert and James as grandsons - as this is an early census I'd take the ages with a pinch of salt here!
On the typed census they are classed as sons but the handwritten one hasnt got them as a listed relation to Esther, who is a widow at this time.
James was already working as an ag lab which ties in with the later census's.
I would presume even if James may have originally stayed with his mum and her new husband that maybe it was preferable to live with a widowed elderly relative than his mum and her new family at his age.
Anyway I think that 'sabout as much as I can come up with.
Rachel still bugs me ! Who is her mum and dad???
ah well cant win them all - PLEASE post if you find out who this lady is?
have fun - Yi
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Just joined the roots chat site and amazed to find research of Benhall Bloomfields. My Grandmother's birth was registered Plomesgate in 1883 and born in Benhall. Ethel Maud, daughter of James and Harriet Bloomfield of Benhall.
Any help in finding the right parents for James or Harriet would be very helpful.
Pindy
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Hi Pindy,
I will have a look through some info for you - I take it you dont have easy access to the census records?
Will let you know if I find anything.
Yi
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Hi,
this is her birth record..
Births December quarter 1883
Ethel Maud Bloomfield Plomesgate 4a 825
You can apply for certificate using the page and volume number - this should provide Harriets maiden name which would enable you to search her side (and confirm that the Harriet Sampson below is indeed the mum!
This is likely to be the marriage but I cant guarantee this for sure as it is only going by location of Ethel's birth..
Marriages March quarter 1883
BLOOMFIELD James Plomesgate 4a 957
Sampson Harriett Plomesgate 4a 957
If you looked up this record you would get the fathers names of both paretns IF these are the parents of Ethel that it.
You can do this by going into the general records office site on line and ordering a copy of the cert - I think they are about £9 each now.
this would give you a lead to follow on the fathers.
Unfortunately i cant find any trace of the family in the 1891 census -this could be for a varying selection of reasons such as - mis spelling of surnames, re-marrying and having a different surname, not living with parents or all or some going by nicknames and not putting birth names on census's.
If you can shed any more light I can try and look further for you.
Yi
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hi,
Here's an interesting thought but only a thought mind you.
There is a Harriet Sampson in the 1881 census in Benhall - just one!
She is married to a george Sampson and has a family with him.
George died in 1881 aged 48 - which would tie in with his age in the census of being 47 and dying in registered district plomesgate at aged 48...
Deaths Dec 1881 Sampson George 48 Plomesgate 4a 435
the 1881 family are
George Sampson 47, Harriet Sampson 37
Charles Sampson 14, Georgianna Sampson 12
Alfred Sampson 10, George Sampson 8
Harry Sampson 6, Rachel Sampson 4
Fred Sampson 2, Robert Sampson
so Harriet Sampson could have been widowed and remarried James Bloomfield.
You would now need to look up her marriage to George to get her maiden name to follow this line. Her cert to James would say widowed if it was indeed the same lady.
The address was 22 Mill Lane and she was originally born in Kelsale,
the older children and George were born in saxmundham and the last child Benhall - George was a bricklayer, so was his eldest son.
Anyway based on this I looked up where the Sampson family were in 1891
I can say that 2 of the Sampson kids were NOT with their parents in 1891 - both Harry and Robert were living with a possible older married sister called Eliza and at age 10 and 16 this may indicate a re-marriage or death of parents.
Harry is a stone mason - the address is Mill Lane. Harry b saxmundham and robert Benhall so this ties in with the kids from Harriet and George on the previous census.
there is a family of bloomfields in the same street but no james is mentioned.
Charles Sampson is a lodger in another household so it appears the Sampson family is split up at this point
A thought!
Yi
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Hi,
There is a marriage in Blything (district covering Kelsale where harriet was born) as follows...
Marriages Dec 1859
Harriet Ife Blything 4a 1493
George Sampson Blything 4a 1493
this may or may not be your Harriet.
Yi
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hi,
Here are the Sampsons in 1871
note the elder sister called eliza which ties in with Harry and Robert living with her in the later census.
George Sampson 37, Harriett Sampson 28
Eliza Sampson 10, Ann Sampson 9
Mary Sampson 7, Charles Sampson 5
Georgeanna Sampson 3, Alfred Sampson 5 Months
they are living in Saxmundham at this time.
NOTE all births are on the free birth marrige and death index under plomegate district and the birth is registered as spelling Georgiana.
As i cant find James Bloomfield under either Blomfield or Bloomfield i would asume maybe he moved in from elsewhere and married the widowed harriet - I have no actual proof of this though - you would need to get the certificates mentioned above to prove this is indeed your Harriet.
If it is then you can go back and trce the 'Ife' family as one lead.
Yi
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an example of how family names change from registered and census given...
in the marriage register of Dec 1884 she is as follows
CADY James Plomesgate 4a 1579
SAMPSON Hannah Eliza Plomesgate 4a 1579
she is obviously known as Eliza in the census records
her birth for info is recorded as Anna Eliza and in Kelsale (Blything District) and not Saxmundham.
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is this your grandmother....
Marriages Sep 1903
Bloomfield Ethel Maude Islington
who married either Bert Henry Priest or Joseph Schindler ?
There is definately a Harriet Ife born 1843/4 Blything.
This may be Ethel in the 1901 census
it says servant living Islington and birth as Fanningham - which on the hand written doc could be Framlingham - near Benhall/Saxmundham - the birth district plomesgate includes Framlingham but only you would know where your grandmother was actually born and if this is her.
If it is her we know that the family moved to Islington and therefore it can be hard to find families in London on the earlier census's.
She was working for the Collins family.
Just another thought only
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Hi Yi,
a great big thank you for all your help on my behalf. I think you must have the right leads as it all falls into place. Ethel Maud(e) was my brickwall. I received her birth certificate this week after years of wondering if she was the correct Ethel. The 1911 census said she was born in Benhall so I was then able to order her birth certificate. She was born in Benhall and her mother was Harriet previously Sampson formerly Ife!
Ethel was married to Bertie Priest in Islington in 1903. Then moved to Southend.
From the Familysearch.org I found a death of Harriet in 1889 aged 40 in Benhall.
A marriage of James Bloomfield (born 1853)in Benhall in1883?!! Remarried?!! Is this my Great grandfather? So lots of leads to follow.
Thanks again
Pindy
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hi,
Yippee we've got a lead for you!
Not sure about the Bloomfield side but you've a positive lead to follow through on the Ife side.
the best bet is to get James's marriage cert to find out who his father is - that should give you a lead on which Bloomfield family he is connected with but he may have moved in to benhall as he doesnt appear to be on the census's for benhall prior to his marriage but then again that could just be due to spellings etc.
Keep posting up dates on here - someone maybe able to link you in on the Bloomfield side.
Yi
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Digging this topic up from the grave because I stumbled upon this exchange today - to my delight!!! I am researching my family tree (well, mine and my husband's, combined) and my husband's family hails from Suffolk. I'm from Liverpool. We're now resident in the USA. This particular forum exchange filled in some gaps in my information relating to Benhall residents James Bloomfield (b 1768) m Esther Batho Bloomfield (b 1776) and their children, John, Mary, William, Esther, Hannah, Sara et al.
I'm new to this geneaology game but find it absolutely fascinating.
I have a full subscription to BMD and Census data on Genes Reunited so if I can help with straightforward lookups for anyone, let me know. I don't think I'm skilled enough yet to interpret stuff! We're five hours behind GMT here. I've also found the LDS IGI data and FreeBMD to be helpful.
Hey y'all! as they say around here.
Talk soon,
Cathie Black
Raleigh, NC
USA
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Welcome Cathie,
There are some other threads on Bloomfield in this section that may also be of help to you.
Yi
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Hello Cathie,
You should also be aware that Bloomfield and the different spelling of it is a very common name in Suffolk.