Re: Simmonds or Simmons

[Laura Louise]

My father and his siblings were born in Brighton.  His family came to Canada when he was 11, approx. 1924 because he was born in 1913.  I am looking for any information on the Simmonds/Simmons family.  The parents were Walter and Mariah Jane, nee Goddard.  His siblings were Stan, Harold, (George,died from childhood smallpox or something like that), Dorothy, Bernard Oswald-my father.
Sincerely,
Laura Louise

[Manchester Rambler]

Walter and Mariah's marriage hasn't been transcribed on Free BMD yet, although it's worth checking there regularly, as they are constantly updating their database: http://freebmd.rootsweb.com

Otherwise, you could invest in some credits for one of the pay sites which has the GRO index online - http://www.1837online.com/Trace2web/ or https://www.familyrelatives.org

I couldn't see an obvious match for Walter or Mariah on the 1901 census: do you know when their oldest child was born?  This would help tie down the rough marriage date.

A marriage cert for Walter and Mariah would give their ages and father's names, and we can the start tracking them backwards on the censuses.  Unfortunately, the latest census available in England is the 1901, which might be too early to find them with any of their children - depends whether your father was the oldest or youngest child!

Hope this helps. 

Rambler

[Laura Louise]

Good Morning Rambler and thank you for checking on the names    I know for a fact that my father was born in 1913 and I believe he was the youngest.  All of my uncles and aunties were somewhat oldish in my eyes.   My parents had my older siblings early then waited 10 years and had me and another 4 years after me to have my younger brother.  My mother was 38 when she gave birth to me and 42 when she gave birth to my brother.  They never discussed the ages of people.  In fact, in our house, not much was discussed openly in front of children.  It appears to me that the data may not be available.  Someone was able to help be with the marriage year of 1900 for my mother's parents and for that I was very grateful.  Well, thank you again for your help and suggestions.
Sincerely,
Laura     

[sillgen]

Marriage for Walter Simmonds and Jane Maria Goddard December quarter 1896 Brighton 2b 489    I think it will be on FreeBMD if you want to check it.
You can use that reference to order the certificate from the GRO.   There is a link from www.1837online.com.   You will then know both their fathers' names
Andrea

[sillgen]

1901 census RG13 940 f140 p34
Hythe Rd Preston Brighton
Ardingly House
Walter Simmonds Hd 30 House Builder Employer B Ardingly
Jane Maria wi 32 b Cuckfield
Walter G son 3 b Brighton
Harold R so 1 b Brighton

next door at Cryil? House  must be Cyril?
Joseph Simmonds Hd 41 House builder Employer b Ardingly
Evangeline wi 40 b Handcross
Wilfrid G so 20 Carpenter b Newhaven
William A so 19   Bricklayer b Ardingly
Sydney R so 17          "       b Ardingly
Ellas E dau 12 Housework b Ardingly
Minnie E dau 12   b Ardingly
Percy C so 9  b Ardingly
John Comber nephew 20 Bricklayer b Haywards Heath

There is another family also on the same page.  I will let you have them later - just off to lunch!   They come from an area I know well.  There is still a plumbing firm in Haywards Heath called Goddards and a builder called Comber.   I feel sure they must be connected.
Will get back to this later.
Andrea

[Manchester Rambler]

Nice find on the marriage, Andrea - I didn't think of inverting the forenames.   ! 

I'm still looking for Walter in 1891; the 1881 census is available online free at http://www.familysearch.org.

Here's Walter as a baby on the 1871 census:

RG10/1060/85/8 - Jenkins Croft, Ardingly
Richard Simmonds  Head  45  Sawyer
Mary Ann Simmonds  Wife  44
Thomas Simmonds  Son  22  Bricklayer
George Simmonds  Son  20  Sawyer
Joseph Simmonds  Son  18  Labourer
Henry Simmonds  Son  16  Labourer
Alfred Simmonds  Son  14 Labourer
Joseph Simmonds  Son  12  Scholar
Ann Elizabeth Simmonds  Dau  10  Scholar
Morris Simmonds  Son  7  Scholar
Alice Simmonds  Dau  4  Scholar
Walter Simmonds  Son  5m

All born Ardingly.
   
The IGI (available free at the same site as the 1881 census) has a possible birth for Richard Simmons on 7 Dec 1826: parents James Simmons and Philadelphia.

Trying to see if Richard and Mary Ann's marriage is on Free BMD, but they're updating their hardware at the moment, and the site isn't performing as well as usual - I'm just getting error messages, so will try again later.

Rambler

[sillgen]

The other Simmons (note no d for him so it may be coincidence) on the same page in 1901 is at Ditchling House Hythe Rd
Henry Simmons Hd 38 Railway Engine Driver b Woodmancote
Charlotte wi 33 b Ditchling
Florence M da 12
Ellen C da10
Harry so 5   all b Brighton
Andrea

[sillgen]

1861 Rg9 581 F92 p10 Newbarn Cottage Ardingly
Richd Simmons Hd 34 Sawyer
Mary Ann wi 33
George so 10 Plough boy
Jasper so 8 scholar
Henry so         "
Alfred so 4
Joseph so 2
Ann E da 4 months   all born Ardingly

1851 HO 107 1642 124 Ardingly Street Ardingly
Richard Simmons Hd 24 Ag Lab
Mary Ann wi 23
Mary Ann da 4 scholar at home
Thomas so 2
George so 10 months all b Ardingly

Quite a lot of kids here!
Andrea

[sillgen]

The 1841 census for Ardingly is online at the Sussex Online Parish Clerk site.  www.sussex-opc.org/parish pages/ and follow the links to Ardingly    There are a lot of Simmon/d s on it and various Combers too.
I have the Ardingly parish records transcription from 1558 - 1812 so when you get back to that I can look up BMDs for you.  There is an interesting lot of name variants so bear that in mind when you are searching
 Simons/Simmons/Symmons/Symons/Symonds/Simmonds/Symmonds
This will be especially important if you are searching for BMDs after 1837 when they are indexed strictly so you might miss someone if you do not check all variants.  The IGI, on www.familysearch.org, which is a first port of call for all of us to find baptisms etc is more helpful and gives variants.  However it is NOT full coverage of every parish.
Andrea