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Arthur Philip Hicks, b. 1850, and Mary Hicks,b.1853 are both children of Thomas Hicks and Mary Golding, both in Gravesend. I presume they were Catholics, but haven't found any records to prove that.
Looking at my previous research, Thomas Hicks was baptised in the parish church in Bicester, in Jan. 1810, and Mary Golding was baptised in the parish church in Andover in June of the same year. If they later converted to the Catholic church, they would not have been baptised a second time. Does anyone know whether the RC church kept records of converts, and if so, where would I find them?

Thank you all for replying. I have done a bit of research into the catholic church in Gravesend, and discovered that there was one from 1842 onwards, opened by a Polish priest, and that numbers rose quite rapidly, until eventually they moved into the church known as St John the Evangelist. The dates from my family correspond with the very early beginnings of this church. Knowing that the transcripts don't show the parents (thank you for finding that out for me!) suggests that I have to look further afield for them. Not finding them, therefore, presents a bit of progress!
Sue

I have just found this fascinating thread while looking for information about my Hicks grandfathers, of whom at least three generations were tailors in Bicester, Oxfordshire. They seem to have been rather wealthier than some, and to have had some standing within the local community. I have found papers for apprentices which describe one as a Master Tailor. I imagine he still had to sit on the table - or did he just supervise his apprentices, and concentrate on patterns and cutting? I was very interested to gain a bit of insight into their lives in the 19th century.
 The first tailor from this family to move away from Bicester, was my 2nd grt grandfather, and he became a military tailor. He and his family moved around; Gravesend, Deptford, Leeds...where he describes himself in the 1871 census as 'tailor, master, 5th Drg guards. I think he was independent of the army, not a part of it. My great grandfather was also a military tailor, and he moved around even more, with an ever-growing family. In 1871, he employed 9 men; since reading this, I have a differnt picture of them all at work!Eventually, he became a Gentleman's Outfitter in Leadenhall St, London. He gave up the military side of his work because he made uniforms for officers, who notoriously never paid their tailors!
It is years since the last person contributed to this. I hope it's not too late to say thank you to all of you.
Sue

My ancestor, James Pairman, was Postmaster General in Barbados from 1812 to shortly before his death in 1845. In 1826 he declared the purchase of a number of slaves, 17 of whom he then sold to Helen Pairman, who I think was his daughter, born about 1810. She had a sister, Elizabeth Christian Pairman, who is described at her marriage as 'free coloured'. I can find no marriage for James, either in the UK or Barbados,nor can I find a record of their births. Am I right in assuming that the girls were the result of a partnership with a black slave/free woman, acknowledged by him?
My questions: Were births, marriages and deaths  among the slave population recorded, and if so, where?
When an owner freed a slave, was that recorded in any way - and if so, where?
Were slaves always given the surname of their owner? The only surnames recorded for James in the slave registers are those whose names are not Pairman.