John Pratt born Weeley1840??

[ninkynoo]

Could anyone enlighten me as to what I should do about  John.

He is on the 1841 census Living at West St Weeley Essex aged 1 yr.By rights I should be able to find him on the B.M.D index.I have looked right through from 1837 -1841 but cannot find him.
I then checked the1851 census and he is still living with his parents William and Elizabeth Pratt .In 1851 he is aged 11.
This is quite strange as all the other offspring that needed to be registered have been ,even the illegitimate ones.
I know he existed as I have later details of him but this has got me stumped as I would like to send off for his birth cert.
Any idea's welcome
Ninky

[janan]

Hi Ninkey
Is it possible William and Elizabeth weren't married at the time of John's birth, so he would have been registered under her maiden-name/previous married name?
Jan

[ninkynoo]

That was one of my initial thoughts ,but they have about7 older children and were married at St Osyth .John is the youngest child and he and all the others are Pratt.
Thanks for the thought ,it's very kind of you
Ninky

[janan]

I suppose another possibility is that he was registered something other than John - John being his middlename or he was just known as John? Or registered as Male Pratt? Any Pratts registered at right time, right place who could be him?
Jan

[ninkynoo]

Hmmmm ,I also thought of that .So checked the records and found only two male Pratts born between 1838-40 .A Walter James b 1838 and a William b 1840 who appears in later census' as born in Harwich.
Walter does not fit in anywhere and his name never appears in the family again ,he would also have been 3 at 1841 census.
Could it be that they never bothered registering him ?.
Ooooh families ,they can really get on your pip.Tsk.
Thanks for advice.
Ninky

[janan]

Number eight - maybe they never got round to it. Pretty sure you were fined if you left it longer than six weeks. So could be a reason not to.

Adopted? Any sisters who may have died in childbirth?

Can't think of any other possibilities.
You're right  ancestors can be annoying - makes life interesting though  .
Happy hunting
Jan

[Tralena]

Hi Ninky

I just came across your post regarding John Pratt.  Did you manage to find his birth index?.

I am the 3x Great Granddaughter to (I believe) his Mother Caroline Pratt. 

Caroline had an illegitimate Son John Pratt b.abt.1842 in Weeley. 

In the 1851 Census Caroline and John were living with her parents William & Elizabeth Pratt. 

By 1861 Caroline and her son John were in the Tendering workhouse, it also seems her sister was there too with her illegitimate daughter Julia/Julie (b. 1851 Weeley) in the parish of Tendering.

Caroline went on to marry John Southgate Webster.

Hope this has been of some help

Kind Regards

Tralena Mason

[ninkynoo]

Hi Tralena
I did find the baptism record for John (son of William and Elizabeth Pratt)at ERO he was the brother of Caroline ,he was baptised 21/4/1840 at Tendring.
So ,you are descended from Caroline.It's nice when you find someone who is researching the same tree and ,as yet ,I have only found a couple of people researching the Pratt family.
I have her as marrying John Southgate Webster and ,did find a daughter Rose who was born in Gt Clacton.
I have some details on Caroline and a couple of her sisters in the Workhouse(The Spike).
I believe ,that Carolines son John went on to marry Mary Ann Pickman from Brightlingsea .Though the date of his birth varies in census. I did find a baptism which could very well be him in the workhouse.
I am quite happy to send you what I have on the Pratt family .We are all still around the Tendring peninsular ,though a lot of the family moved from the area in the early 20th century,a few of us remain.I have found out that a few of this family changed their names to Priat ,Platt ect U(unfortunately my parents kept the name ,so I had the pleasure of it until I got married).
I will PM you later today.
By the way ,the Walter I spoke about in earlier posts was in fact a James who was born 1838 and died 1838 baptised 25/3/1838 Tendring.
Thanks so much for contacting me.
Lin