William Handley 1838-1878

[fredandora]

Hi everyone!  Trying to find William's father's county of origin is driving me nuts.  He, also William Handley born anywhere between 1815-1820, and his wife Martha Miller, also born between 1815-1820, were living in Manchester in 1841 with their infant son William (my greatx2 grandfather) born in 1838 at Brown Street, London Road area of Manchester before his parents married in 1840.  Neither parent was born in Lancashire (according to the 1841 census).  I cannot find either parent on any succeeding census and by 1851 their son William was already living with his grandmother, Elizabeth Miller, in Runcorn.  (The census ms has William down as her nephew, but he is recorded as the nephew of Elizabeth's son-in-law in 1861.)

On William's parents marriage certificate his mother, Martha, gave as her father's name Samuel Miller, Farmer and his father, William, gave his father's name as John Handley, also a Farmer  (William himself was a Butcher).  And one of their witnesses as an Ann Handley.  I have found a baptismal record for Martha with a father Samuel and mother Elizabeth (IGI) for 1815; but nothing for John the father William Handley.  Can anyone help at all? 

I've combed the extant 1851 census records for William Handley the elder (greatx3 grandfather) and Martha (greatx3 grandmother) and have no sign of them... There was no indication on their son's marriage certificate that his father was dead at the time of marriage (1862)...but that is no proof one way or another.

  Any advice would be most welcome....I'm stymied!!   All the best and in hope....Anne

[LizzieW]

Hi Anne

One of my g.g.aunts married into a Handley family, but her husband George born about 1856 was born in Ireland as was his father John Handley who was born about 1832.  I'm sure it's not the same family, but it is just a thought that maybe your Handleys originated in Ireland too which could be why you can't find anyy trace of them.

Lizzie

[fredandora]

Hi Lizzie - Thanks for the idea.  Not one I'd contemplated, but it certainly needs keeping in view. 

I suspect that the Ann Handley who was a witness at William and Martha's wedding in Manchester was William's mother.  But she could as easily have been a sister over from Ireland, if that was their place of origin.  They were Prots, however; so if from Ireland, originally they would have been of English possibly Scottish background.

Again many thanks for the input. Best Regards, Anne.

[Joanne-h]

Hi,

I wonder if you could help me, I have just started researching my family tree and think William Handley might be the person I'm trying to find out about.

The information I have is from my great grandad who is also called William Handley, born 1878/1879 and dies in 1951. I know he lived in Runcorn and worked as a train driver. He married Eliza Snowball in 1902 and had 3 children including my grandad Paul Handley.

I think William Handley 1878/1879 was living in Runcorn in 1891 with the Green family and two other people called John Handley & Elizabeth Handley, I think they were his sibblings. I believe their father was also called William Handley born around 1838 although I cant find any trace of him or their mother.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Joanne

[fredandora]

Hello Joanne,

We certainly do have the same family.  We both share the same great-great-grandparents: William Handley (1838-1878) and Mary Lockett (off hand can't remember birth year but she died in 1907).  I have a fair amount of information on my tree and have the birth and marriage certificates for these two family members.  I should be more than willing to share. 

Are you a member of any of genealogical websites?  Perhaps we could use the personal message service on here and I could give you my email address and tell you where my tree is (I'm not sure just how much one can reveal on an open posting).

Let me try and see if I can send a personal message to you, using your user name. 


All the best for now,
Anne

[hheapet]

i, I also have William and Mary on my tree along with his parents William and Martha both born in Manchester and married 1840 Manchester Cathedral.
My connection is through the Lockett family.

Peter