Early NZ? birth help please Cooke/Cook

[mare]

Hi  again

Any current records you can keep quite private.... there is a PM facility ( personal message ) now that you have made 3 posts that is open to you ... the little green scroll lit up under our names when on line is a quick route to PM.

William Robert married in New Plymouth and most of his family was born there, he then moved with the Prison Service ending his days in Auckland. My late MIL who was his grandaughter was born in Auckland and that is where we are.

There is a lot I don't know about William Robert and his line, it was news to me until I started this that he had 3 sons and 2 daughters, I only had his son Aner to start with so luckily it is unusual enough a  name to have got as far as I have with everyone's help on here.

Rootschat has also been the contact point for another descendant of William Robert also who put the name into search this time last year and came up with this thread ... magic 

I will PM you now which will give you a chance to reply if you wish ... funny if we're neighbours 

[Lizzie(ac)]

Super.  Didn't know about PM having just subscribed, but good idea.

L

[mare]

Lizzie  do you know if there is any family information regarding Aner and Charlotte before coming to NZ .. or at least possible likely yarns ?
They were not young when William Robert was born and I have wondered if there were any previous births/deaths of children between census records. On their death certs they both have no living issue although William Robert was alive ( realise that is only as accurate as the informant's knowledge) and they are named as his parents on his marriage and death certs.

  mare

[Lizzie(ac)]

To be honest I haven't much information at all.  Aner born in Suffolk, Charlotte in Cambridge.  They married in London.  Interesting - they obviously moved around a bit.  It was the industrial rev at that time though, so I suppose a move to London for those who wanted to find a better situation was a common theme. 

Where did they meet?  That's what bugs me.  Abraham and Anna are also married in 1841.  Did Abraham and Aner go to Cambridge at some point and meet the girls there?  Or did Abraham meet Anna, or Aner meet Charlotte, and at the marriage of one couple the other couple met?  The Smart girls' father was a Schoomaster, so unlikely that Abraham and Aner would have had 'trade contact' with him.  (Abraham was a shoemaker/seed grinder/butcher and Aner was a farrier).

Then there's young Aner/Amos/Anos,  born in 1861.  The birth record at IGI (familysearch.org) says that he is actually a she.  'She/He never turns up in census records after England 1861 though.  Named after his/her uncle?  Or actually Aner and Charlotte's offspring?  IGI lists Abraham and Anna as the parents...  Confusing.  My guess is either he/she died (not uncommon) or he/she went to live with a grandparent somewhere.  I know that Abraham's first daughter Frances Charlotte went to live with William and Francis in Cambridge, so it could be a family trait.  My guess though is that Aner died - he/she is only 1 month old in the 1861 census and Charlotte was already 41 at that time.

Unusual for Aner and Charlotte to have had no offspring until Wm Robert.  Maybe he was the miracle child born later in life?  Maybe they deliberately didn't have any children until they had a 'new life' in the colonies and a better chance of survival.

So many questions....

L

[mare]

... agree so many questions ... anyway just trying to absorb what new info you have given.

If you look at reply no 77 on page 6 of this thread from Lu she has found a death registration in the same qtr as the birth for that child Aner to Abraham and Anna (believed to be a boy and perhaps mistranscribed as a girl )

[Lizzie(ac)]

Hi Mare,

Read all the posts thoroughly this morning.  You've all been so busy!!

Jumped on IGI last night to see if I could find anything for Will Rob's birth.  I found one record:

William Cook
Christened: 26 Nov 1865, Saint Mary, Harmondsworth, London
Father: Amos Cook
Mother: Charlotte

What do you think?  Looks likely? 

Might also shed light on shipping lists?  Will have a hunt and see what turns up.

Name changes are a common occurence.  Abraham was often known as Robert, and both Walter Roberts were always known as Bob.  Anna Maria is recorded as Maria in later census records.  William Richard was known as Uncle Dick.  Ellen was known as Nellie, Frances as Fanny, etc.  'Aner' and 'Amos' seem to be interchangeable in all the records so far.  Would explain why no records here.  Reference to 'Brighton' on marriage cert a possible problem, but as I think you said at some point, info is only as good as the informant...??

[mare]

Hi Liz

So who has been busy then    

That looks pretty good for a Christening doesn't it ... as you can see I have him at different ages on his certs .... then there is the possibility I suppose that he may have been born in Brighton NZ as the certs say and they made the journey back to London and Christening done when William was a young boy 

I have perused the shipping lists into NZ through the  60's and not spotted anything likely so far, some lists may have been updated since and you never know what a fresh pair of eyes may see of course.

  mare

[Lucy2]

Hi Mare   ... and ... Welcome to RootsChat, Lizzie   

Jumped on IGI last night to see if I could find anything for Will Rob's birth. I found one record:

William Cook
Christened: 26 Nov 1865, Saint Mary, Harmondsworth, London
Father: Amos Cook
Mother: Charlotte

What do you think? Looks likely?

Mmmm ... pretty sure we covered this baptism record, earlier ?

On the IGI there is another extracted record from this same parish, which gives details of a marriage for "Amos COOK and Charlotte MAY - 1865".    It does seem much more likely, that Charlotte MAY (rather than Charlotte SMART) is the mother of this particular William COOK.

Lu

[Lucy2]

   .... perhaps a check of 1871 census (for this Amos and Charlotte Cook) may help rule this William out  ?

Lu