COMPLETED - William Beech, West Felton

[daveinspain]

Any help gratefully received for information on William Beech born about 1814.

1871 Census: Aged 57 and widowed, living with mother Elizabeth in West Felton. Born in Haughton(?)
1861 Census his son Thomas living with grandparents Thomas and Elizabeth in West Felton

[..claire..]

Hi,found these

Wedding of Thomas Beech and Elizabeth Bowen
Date:17 Jan. 1813 or 7 Feb. 1813, Ellesmere, Shropshire.


Name: William Beech
Baptism date: 18 July 1813
Baptism place: Ellesmere, Shropshire
Parents Thomas Beech and Elizabeth

Not sure if these are what you are looking for but parishes of Ellesmere and West Felton pretty close to each other

[crisane]

Hi,found these

Wedding of Thomas Beech and Elizabeth Bowen
Date:17 Jan. 1813 or 7 Feb. 1813, Ellesmere, Shropshire.
Name: William Beech
Baptism date: 18 July 1813
Baptism place: Ellesmere, Shropshire
Parents Thomas Beech and Elizabeth

Not sure if these are what you are looking for but parishes of Ellesmere and West Felton pretty close to each other

In the 1851 census Thomas says he was born Ellesmere so these look spot on.

[daveinspain]

Many thanks claire.t and crisane, that certainly seems to be him.
1841 census, William Beech (25) and Elizabeth Beech (25) could be him in Drayton Parva.
1851 census, where is wife? His son Thomas is not born until 1856.
I'm also interested in any siblings. From the dates you provided William is likely to be the oldest

[..claire..]

Hi, have found these baptisms in West Felton for children of a Thomas Beech and Elizabeth,

John Beech  17 July 1814
Mary   "        12 May 1816
Alexander Beech  1 Mar 1818
Martha Beech 6 Feb 1820
Joseph    "     18 May 1823
Jane       "      10 Oct. 1824
James    "       1 Oct. 1826
Ann        "       3 Aug. 1828
George    "      9 May 1830
Hannah   "     17 July 1831

Have found family in 1841 census , Thomas, Elizabeth, Alexander and Ann in the township of Wooton living with a John Bowen aged 70, could be Elizabeths father, hope this helps, Claire.t

[daveinspain]

Thanks again claire.t

The list of siblings is great, much more information to go on.

Still can't find more information on William' wife. I found a marriage in 1839 of a William Beech in Market Drayton, but no wife is listed on FreeBMD. That would tie in with the 1841 census of a William & Elizabeth Beech, both aged 25, living in Drayton Parva. I'm trying to fill the gaps after then.

Without the children's names I would never have found the 1841 census record for Thomas & Elizabeth Beech. For a start their ages are wrong, being 20 years younger than they were. By 1851 they are 65 and 62. It is a puzzle as to why they are so far away from West Felton, where all the children were baptised, and where they were living again in 1851.

Thanks again

DaveinSpain
 

[..claire..]

Hi, sorry I can't find a marriage either, I'll keep looking.

Wootten was a small township 4 miles South East of Oswestry, again not far from West Felton. My relatives from West Felton moved around a lot too. It was a farming community and the families travelled rom parish to parish looking for work, my family were all "ag labs".

claire.t

[daveinspain]

Thanks yet again for clearing things up. Living in Spain I don't have a map of Great Britain any more and Google Maps only gave me Wooton near Bridgenorth, hence my reference to being so far from West Felton. Clearly, they were not that far away!

Although William was baptised in Ellesmere in 1813 all his siblings were baptised in West Felton, starting in 1814 so I assume William would have spent his younger years in West Felton with his parents.
The William Beech in 1841 in Drayton Parva looks less likely to be him but the William Beech in 1851 working as a servant (ag. labourer) at Cabin House Farm, Middleton is not that far from West Felton.

William's son Thomas was born in Quinton, Oswestry in 1856 and in 1861 was living with his grandparents Thomas and Elizabeth in West Felton. Perhaps William didn't have a wife. I'll just keep looking.

Dave

[daveinspain]

I'm going to order a birth certificate for William's son Thomas, which should give me a bit more information. I will report back.