Hi All,
I’m so sorry that I have taken so long to get back to you. I have been ill and away from computers, internet and that sort of thing for the past two to three weeks.
I will address each posting in turn:
Sillgen: 25/11/2009
Yes, I have seen this 1871 census listing – RG10/4798/10/13. There’s no problem identifying everyone here. William is shown as being born in Newcastle-on-Tyne, aged 28 years, coal miner. It is definitely the right family that I am researching as two of the children: Jane and Sarah Potts, just 2 years old in this listing are the twins (born 6th December 1868 at New Seaham, Durham). I have a family photograph of Jane and Sarah Potts taken circa 1887 (they look about 18-20 years old), and another photograph of a much older Jane Purvis (nee Potts) with her mother, Eleanor Wardle.
Jacqueline: 25/11/2009 – postings 1 and 2
Posting 1: No, Elen is not a widow, she’s a spinster – thus indicating that children she had before her marriage to William Potts in 1866 were perhaps illegitimate – certainly, in the 1871 census you quote, they are referred to as the step-children of William Potts, and later listings show them as the children of Ellen Potts (Wardle).
Posting 2: I don’t think that this is “my” William Potts, although I could be wrong. Ayecliff in Durham is right down near the border with Yorkshire, and “my” William indicates that he was born in Newcastle-on-Tyne, Northumberland.
Trish: 25/11/2009 – postings 1 and 2
Posting 1: I think that this William Potts listed in the 1861 census (RG9/3806/35/36) is the most likely contender – he is the right age, born in the right place and the right occupation (coal miner).
Posting 2: Again, I think that your listing above is the most likely contender rather than your second listing – however, who knows until further research is done. My interest in William Potts is not through my own direct relationship – William Potts is my wife’s 2 x great-grandfather, with Jane Purvis (nee Potts) being her great-grandmother. Jane Potts married William Birkbeck Purvis at New Seaham, Durham in August 1889. Jane and William Purvis had two children, William and Susannah, both born in New Seaham in the early-mid 1890s. Both these children married, and in 1919-1920 – the two children and their spouses plus their parents (Jane Purvis (nee Potts) and William B Purvis) migrated to Canada, settling in Hamilton, Ontario. All three families lived there for the rest of their lives, with the two younger ones having children born in Canada.
I think that about covers it – what I am really needing to find is the birth of a William Potts, ca. 1843 in Newcastle-on-Tyne, with a father named John Carr. This will enable me to identify the mother.
Thanks for all your help, time and trouble. Enjoy your Christmas and New Years feastings and all the very best to you for 2010.
Cheers
Bryan
