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Old Photographs, Recognition, Handwriting Deciphering => Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition => Topic started by: Purdie1972 on Tuesday 23 May 17 13:29 BST (UK)
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Dear All,
I attach a screenshot of a section of the 1851 Census. The image shows the birthplace of my nth great-grandfather James William (Oddington, Gloucestershire) and his wife Mary Williams, nee Keen. I just cannot decipher the name of the village/town where she was born. Censuses from other years are no help either - 1841: just Oxfordshire; 1861: completely mis-transcribed as Brighton, Sussex; 1871: Oddington, Gloucestershire (a duplication of her husband's birthplace) and I believe they were both dead by 1881.
I would be extremely grateful for any help in deciphering the name.
Many thanks.
Purdie
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That is very tricky. For others looking, the census reference is HO107/1970/180/21.
I see that Mary Keen was OTP when she married James Williams at Oddington in November 1828. Have you been able to trace the witness Caroline Keen, who is likely to be related?
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I see that in an old thread a Rootschatter descended from this family mentioned that Mary Keen was from Rollright, Oxfordshire:
www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=645901.0 (at reply #5).
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It looks like Nailsworth to me.
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Could be Headington. There's a baptism that fits https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J7S5-HFF
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Looks like a place name
with 'of' in the middle, then Oxon?
Edit....I think the tail of what looks like an 'f' is coming up from the entry below?
A larger shot would have been better ::)
Annie
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Would agree with Jebber
Looks like Nailsworth which is in Gloucestershire not Oxon
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Looks like a place name with 'of' in the middle, then Oxon?
Edit....I think the tail of what looks like an 'f' is coming up from the entry below?
A larger shot would have been better ::)
I don't think anything is coming up from the entry below (Oddington). Looking at the full page entry, there is no overlap between them.
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Many thanks for all your input! I was really just re-investigating her birthplace as I was a bit uneasy with the Headington connection as it was quite a distance from where she ended up (30 miles).
I agree that it looks most like Nailsworth but a check with parish records on FindMyPast shows that the name Keen isn't really a Gloucestershire name (2 baptism entries, both in Cam in the 1700s) but more an Oxfordshire one (pages and pages). I have found a Caroline Keen (her married name) from Churchill in Oxfordshire which is only 4.5 miles from Oddington, so I may have found the connection!
Many thanks again!
Claire