James Slater 1861 look up for Ovenden/Halifax

[johnnyboy]

Hello all: I spent a few hours trying--with no luck-- to find James Slater in the 1861 census. He was born Ovenden and lived there most of his life. I have him and his family in 1841, 1851, 1871, 1881, 1891, and 1901.

Here's what the family probably would have looked like in 1861:

James Slater (other censuses have Slaytor/Slayter) born 1825 or 1826 in Ovenden. James was a clay miner and wool comber.
Susey Slater born 1825 or 1826 in Thornton, Yorkshire. In 1851 she worked as a wool comber. Susey was also spelled Suzy and in one census as Surey. Her full first name was Susannah, I suppose.

Children
Emma  born 1844. She was with the family in 1851. She may have married or died before 1861 or was away from the family at census time in 1861. She is not with the family in 1871.

The following children are with the family in the 1871 census, and, I assume, would have been with the family in 1861:
Mary  born 1846
Hannah born 1849
John Henry born 1851
Margaret born 1855
William born 1858

The family lived in 1841 in Bradshaw (which is next to Ovenden), on Bradshaw Lane; in 1851 they were on Bradshaw Lane; and in 1871, they were again on Bradshaw Lane. In 1881, they were in Northowram.

My guess is that they were living on Bradshaw Lane in 1861. I just couldn't see them.


Thanking you in advance, I am

John 

[CeliaRM]

I appreciate it's been a while since you posted this, but it came up during my googling for answers re my own conundrum.

Did you ever find your Slaters in 1861?

I have two households of Town(e)'s and one of Binns/Benns missing for the same census. Like your Slaters they all lived on Bradshaw Lane in 1851 and 1871 but are nowhere to be found in 1861. I have traced one of them on tax records up to 1858 in Bradshaw Lane.
 
My current theory, as I expand sideways along this particular family tree and discover yet more missing individuals on that road, for that census, is that Bradshaw Lane either wasn't covered by an enumerator for some reason in 1861 or those pages haven't survived. I've checked census records both at FindMyPast and Ancestry, numerous spellings of names and surnames and page by page of the census all with no luck.

[johnnyboy]

I appreciate it's been a while since you posted this, but it came up during my googling for answers re my own conundrum.

Did you ever find your Slaters in 1861?

I have two households of Town(e)'s and one of Binns/Benns missing for the same census. Like your Slaters they all lived on Bradshaw Lane in 1851 and 1871 but are nowhere to be found in 1861. I have traced one of them on tax records up to 1858 in Bradshaw Lane.
 
My current theory, as I expand sideways along this particular family tree and discover yet more missing individuals on that road, for that census, is that Bradshaw Lane either wasn't covered by an enumerator for some reason in 1861 or those pages haven't survived. I've checked census records both at FindMyPast and Ancestry, numerous spellings of names and surnames and page by page of the census all with no luck.

Hi CeliaRM: Welcome to Rootschat. And thanks for your reply here.

I discovered that the 1861 census pages for Bradshaw Lane were damaged or missing. How much of Ovenden was missing, I can't remember. I've had that happen a few times with other census searches I've done, which means I'd have to duplicate my search for the Slaters in Ovenden in 1861 to be able to tell you what the exact reason was. But I think my information came from a description attached to the census returns for Ovenden. As you say, it's been a while.

But on a positive note: James Slater, head of the household that I was searching, was the son of John Slater (Slaytor in one census) and Hannah Town, born about 1803. John Slater and Hannah Town married  in 1822.

Hannah Town Slater's parents seem to have been James and Betty Towns. Her siblings may have included JONATHAN TOWN born/christened 15 JAN 1792, THOMAS TOWN 05 DEC 1795, JAMES TOWN 16 APR 1805, MARY TOWN  born 15 MAR 1808, and BETTY TOWN  18 APR 1813.

The children were christened at the Zion Methodist New Connexion church, which was/is a mile or so north of the spot on Bradshaw Lane where these folks lived.

I've seen the Binns name on the census, too. In fact, a relative of James Slater's wife, Susey (nee Dobson), was named Binns Dobson.

Let me know if any of this looks familiar.

Regards,
John 

[CeliaRM]

Hiya,

You look to be further back than I am at the moment.

I've a Hannah Town too but not the same one, mine is mother of an Emma b. 1832, Elizabeth b.1835 and Shadrach b.1837 (Sheldrake maybe). Baptised at the same church, Zion Methodist in 1837, Hannah is described as living specifically at Swill Hill / Swilling Hill which is just above Bradshaw Lane. Their baptism entry doesn't record the fathers name.

Emma Town had a son Joseph Town b.1851, father unknown.

In 1852 Emma Married William Benn b.1826
(William Benn was living with an Abraham Town, his wife Nancy nee Benn, and FIL Squire Benn b.1783 on the 1851 census, along with Abraham & Nancy's children and an additional lodger, 10yo Sarah Riley. I haven't found a familial link between Abraham and Emma as yet).
Emma and William Been had 2 daughters, Rose Benn b. 1856 and Mary Ann b.1858.
William Benn died in 1863.

Emma remarried in 1869, John Sharp(e) b.1813, who in 1851 lived next door to Abraham, Nancy, William and Squire and is listed as Brother-in-law to Samuel Riley and his wife Marcy.
Emma had two children with John Sharp, Sarah Ann Sharp b.1870 and John Turner Sharp b.1874.




 

[johnnyboy]

I'm only a few years further back than you are, and things get murky there because the records are not very thorough.

If you haven't seen them before, Zion Methodist chapel (http://www.mountzionhalifax.org.uk) has put its burial records online. There are also graves sales listings that can be searched.

Here is a link to the burial database: http://mountzionhalifax.free.fr/FullSearch.php

I searched burials there for Town and found an entry for Abraham and Nancy Town. This link will take you directly to a picture of their gravestone with a transcription: http://mountzionhalifax.free.fr/FullSearch.php?GRAVE,Hm12

I also found an entry for five of their children, all of whom died young. The link is http://mountzionhalifax.free.fr/FullSearch.php?GRAVE,Is27

The graves sales records--in five separate groupings--have the sale of a grave plot to Abrham (with a missing "a") Town in 1880. His "Abode" is Ovenden. His occupation is farmer.  I also saw the sale of a plot to Squire Benn and two sales for plots to men named William Benn.

John 

[CeliaRM]

Oh Wow Thank you so much for those fantastic links and information! 

[Kenman]

I'm also researching Abraham Town and his wife Nancy Benn.  Their daughter, Selina Mabel, was my wife's great-grandmother.
I'm trying to sort out Abraham's parents, Jonathan and (I think) Betty.
Has anyone else managed to piece together their ancestry?

[johnnyboy]

I'm also researching Abraham Town and his wife Nancy Benn.  Their daughter, Selina Mabel, was my wife's great-grandmother.
I'm trying to sort out Abraham's parents, Jonathan and (I think) Betty.
Has anyone else managed to piece together their ancestry?

Hi Kenman: Sorry for not responding earlier, but I just saw this today. Extrapolating from Reply #2 to this thread: Abraham Town might be a nephew of Hannah Town Slater, my great-great-grandmother. As I note, she seems to have a brother Jonathan Town, born 1792, who fits in with the Towns that I am dealing with.

On the Mount Zion chapel burials database, there is an burial entry for Abraham Town born 1810/11 and living on Bradshaw Lane, where my Slater ancestors lived, and his wife Nancy, born about 1811.

Here is a link to the burial of Abraham and Nancy Town at Mount Zion, with a transcription of the MI: http://mountzionhalifax.free.fr/FullSearch.php?GRAVE,Hm12.

Here is a link to the burial of what may be five of their children at Mount Zion:
http://mountzionhalifax.free.fr/FullSearch.php?GRAVE,Is27. Note that in the transcription of this MI, the name is Abram, rather than Abraham.

I've also noticed that certain names--such as James and Jonathan--tend to be repeated in successive generations. The James Slater in the title of this thread is, I think, named for his grandfather, James Town. In the index to the 1841 census, there are three Jonathan Towns born Halifax, which is where Abraham and Nancy Town lived.

Here is a link to the Jonathans in the 1841 census index on FamilySearch:
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/results?count=20&query=%2Bgivenname%3AJonathan~%20%2Bsurname%3ATown~%20%2Bbirth_place%3A%22Yorkshire%2C%20England%22~&collection_id=1493745.

Here is a link to Abraham and Nancy Town in Halifax in the 1841 census:
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQPS-6VZ.

If I find anything further, I'll post it here.

Regards,
John 
 

[Kenman]

This is just a holding reply for now, as I'm in the process of trying to reconstruct the TOWN family in the Ovenden area at the turn of the 18th/19th century.
Their vital records seem to be spread between Ovenden Zion and Mixenden Providence chapels, St Mary's Illingworth church (a chapel of ease in Halifax parish at the time), and Halifax parish church, plus possibly a few outliers at other Halifax chapels.
The images of the registers are on Ancestry, but they haven't all been indexed so its a matter of plodding through the records page by page.
"TOWN of Bradshaw Row, Ovenden" appears very regularly.