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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Yorkshire (East Riding & York) => England => Yorkshire (East Riding & York) Lookup Requests => Topic started by: RoserAncestors on Sunday 02 December 12 22:12 GMT (UK)

Title: Thornton parish, Yorkshire East, parents of convict Jane James
Post by: RoserAncestors on Sunday 02 December 12 22:12 GMT (UK)

I have a lookup request for the parish of Thorton, containing the village of Melbourne, Yorkshire East Riding.

My five times great grandmother Jane James was a convict transported to Australia in 1829 for robbing her mistress, who I think was a Mrs H A Breary from Bootham, York City. Her convict records give her native place as “Milbourne, York”. I can’t find such a place and suspect it refers to Melbourne.

Her Australian death certificate gives her father’s name as William James. I have found an IGI baptism of a Jane James to William & Jane James in 1795 (about the right year) in Great Givendale, Yorkshire. If that is her then one of her brothers Charles James may have been living in Melbourne for the 1841, 1851 and 1861 censuses, although he gives his birthplace as Givendale rather than Great Givendale and there appears to be a plain Givendale in north Yorkshire.

I have found two deaths of a William James in 1840 (1st and 3rd quarters) in Pocklington in the civil registration records (Pocklington is where Melbourne deaths seem to have been registered), so one of those could be my Jane’s father (although he would have been quite old by then as his first child was born in 1782). I can’t find a civil registration for her potential mother Jane James, so I was wondering if someone who had access to the CD ROM for pre-1837 parish records for Thornton could see if there is a Melbourne burial record for her, and also whether there are earlier William James records. Birth years would presumably have been around 1760 if ages at death are given.

Many thanks in advance if someone is able to help. It will be much appreciated as there are quite a few Jane James researchers in Australia, a number of whom I am in touch with, and no-one seems to have successfully identified her parents.

Title: Re: Thornton parish, Yorkshire East, parents of convict Jane James
Post by: Victor Harvey on Monday 03 December 12 07:52 GMT (UK)

Hi,
A Jane JAMES was buried @ St Michael, Thornton with Allerthorpe, Yorkshire East Riding, March 3rd, 1835, aged 74.
Victor

Title: Re: Thornton parish, Yorkshire East, parents of convict Jane James
Post by: RoserAncestors on Monday 03 December 12 17:23 GMT (UK)

Thank you Victor. That record is the right place and age, so it's very helpful.

Title: Re: Thornton parish, Yorkshire East, parents of convict Jane James
Post by: kowhai43 on Wednesday 23 October 13 05:54 BST (UK)

Hi - I have also been researching Jane James - my husband's ancestor.  This information has been extremely helpful.  Information I have is that she was buried at Shoalhaven Cemetery on the NSW Coast but the graves were in sand and were washed away.  Shoalhaven Cemetery had no records of this.  I have quite a bit of information on this family but not sure how to make contact.  Would love to be able to share information.

Title: Re: Thornton parish, Yorkshire East, parents of convict Jane James
Post by: Treetotal on Friday 25 October 13 21:17 BST (UK)

Hi if you click on the scroll beneath the avatar of the above posters you can send a personal message to exchange personal details.
Carol

Title: Re: Thornton parish, Yorkshire East, parents of convict Jane James
Post by: RoserAncestors on Saturday 26 October 13 10:12 BST (UK)

Hi Carol

I actually already have and we have corresponded but I do admit I have been very slack in updating this thread with the results of my and others' research which I promise to do.

Cheers

Title: Re: Thornton parish, Yorkshire East, parents of convict Jane James
Post by: RoserAncestors on Thursday 14 November 13 23:03 GMT (UK)

Someone very kindly spent some time at the Borthwick for me and found some records that seem to be relevant. The parents of the Jane James born in 1795 in Great Givendale were William James and Jane Fuggill. They were married on 1 Apr 1782 in Great Givendale. The parish register reads (my own transcription):

“William James farmer eldest son of Matthew James of Melburn a tailor aged 29 years of this parish and Jane Fugill aged 21 of this parish eldest daughter of John Fugill farmer of this parish.”

This information seems to match a William James son of Matthew baptism in Thornton parish on 20 Jul 1752 and a Jane Fuggill daughter of John baptism in Great Givendale on 26 Oct 1760 (IGI). (Although the William seems to have had an older brother Robert – perhaps he died before 1782, I haven’t been able to work that out.)

These baptism records match burial records in the Thornton parish register – William James of Melbourne aged 87 on 20 Jan 1840, and Jane James of Melbourne aged 74 on 3 Mar 1835.

I also strongly suspect that the Charles James listed in the censuses in Melbourne in 1841, 1851 and 1861 was born in Great Givendale as a brother to Jane (baptism on IGI in 1797) and not Givendale in North Yorkshire, even though the censuses do not say “Great”. IGI has the baptisms for plain Givendale for the whole 1700s apparently and there is not a single James surname among them, or in the marriages.

As Google bait for Australian descendants of Jane James looking for info on her apparent parents, her 5 Australian children were:

Thomas Thompson born 1831 Sydney who married Sarah McCleod on 14 Sep 1858 in Tower Hill, VIC.
John Thompson born 1833 Sydney who married Emma Inskip on 24 Mar 1856 in Jamberoo, NSW.
James Thompson born abt 1835 Sydney who married Mary Ann Keft nee Markham on 11 Sep 1869 in Wollongong, NSW.
Elizabeth Jane Thompson born 1838 Kempsey who married William Markham on 9 Aug 1862 in Wollongong, NSW.
Margaret Thompson born abt 1842 Kempsey who married James Markham on 9 Aug 1862 in Wollongong, NSW.