Non-conformist baptism look up please

[DigleyMill]

The son Joseph Mitchell appears in the 1841, 51, and 1861 census, living at Cartworth Moor and is also a delver - he appears to have moved there from Rastrick at about the same time as his father.

He married a Hannah Beaumont in 1839 (Kirkburton) and they appear to have had at least six children. Note that the census index for the family for 1861 on ancestry is a bit mixed up and I only found the famaily by searching for daugther Emma born 1850

Anne, I think you have hit the nail on the head.

Joseph Mitchell baptised at Rastrick on 5 Sep 1819

Mary Mitchell baptised at Rastrick on 7 Mar 1822

Hannah Mitchell baptised at Rastrick on 18 Jul 1824

Parents John Mitchell and Hannah.

I have the CD for St Mary's, Elland but these baptisms are not given, although the burials of both Hannah the mother and Hannah the daughter are. I can see no burials for Joseph and Mary so the next question is what happened to them as they are not with John Mitchell and second wife Ann in the 1841 census.

[Marmaduke 123]

Not sure this is the same Joseph - he says he was born in Fixby on one census, and there are a lot of delver Mitchells in Fixby. Still, Fixby/Rastrick - not a million miles apart although one is Huddersfield and one Halifax.

There is a George Mitchell also a delver born Fixby about 10 years older living next door or very near. Might be worthwhile for Holmemoss to identify him if he wants to be sure of this Joseph. Maybe a cousin or other relative.

Anne

[DigleyMill]

Marmaduke

Thanks for this, and thanks for all your help with this thread so far - very much appreciated!

I'm pretty sure this is the correct individual, although I had spotted the "Fixby" birthplace in the 1861 census and it did seem a bit odd at first. His 1851 census record gives his birthplace as "Halifax"; and his baptism record gives it as "Rastrick".

But I am sure the families that appears in the 1841, 1851, and 1861 census are the same - they can be linked by the children, especially George and Emma. The census sheets for 1841 and 1851 show them at "Flowery Fields" (near Hade Edge/Bowshaw - appears on 1854 OS map). 1861 just says "Hade Edge".

Joseph's marriage record gives his father as John Mitchell, delver, and his baptism record John Mitchell, delver, abode Rastrick.

I took the same view as Marmaduke that Fixby and Rastrick aren't that far enough apart, and perhaps it depended on who was giving the information for each census?

I had spotted the neighbouring George Mitchell too, and did a bit of work on him. The interesting thing is to see him living at Magnum Bonum in 1841, as one of the three Mitchell families living there, alongside John Mitchell  and another Mitchell family headed by a (slightly younger) James Mitchell. James's family has an elderly Mary Mitchell (age about 70-74).  I wondered if she was a parent of one of the others, with the theory that John (b. 1799) and George (b. 1807) might be brothers, with James (b. abt 1817) a son/nephew looking after his grandmother (and John and George's mother?). This would fit with the picture of three closely related Mitchells moving  together from the Rastrick area circa 1830 to start up at Magnum Bonum, (John already married, the other two finding spouses nearby and marrying in 1833!)  There is a Halifax non-conformist baptism record on IGI for a George Mitchell son of Jonas and Mary Mitchell 9 Feb 1808 which might tie with this and might perhaps be the same Mary, and potentially also John Mitchell's mother.

However, I haven't been able to confirm this, as I haven't been able to find any supporting baptism/marriage records with my limited access to them, and as Holmemoss has already found, there appear to be significant gaps in some of the non-conformist records  in the Rastrick/Brighouse area. So it just remains a theory.

[Marmaduke 123]

I've had tremendous difficulty with my Helm family because of missing non-conformist records in Brighouse/ Rastrick around 1800.

I found a possible explanation:

Source: J. Horsfall Turner - Independency at Brighouse

This book  records that the minister [of Bridge End Chapel] from 1790 to 1800 failed to keep the records properly and lost a lot of the congregation. His successor was equally unpopular "preached to half a dozen people" and the congregation dispersed to prayer meetings and Sunday schools in people's houses. The missing baptisms may therefore be accounted for.

Anne

[DigleyMill]

Thanks, yes I've already seen this on another thread.

Do you have access to the 9 Feb 1808 baptism image for George Mitchell - if so, is there any extra information on it, other than the baptism date and name of parents? Which chapel was it?

[Marmaduke 123]

It's the Wesleyan chapel Greetland, abode Elland, born 16 Jan.

[DigleyMill]

Thanks, that helps. I've been able to check the IGI batch for the same chapel and the same parents (Jonas and Mary) also appear to have had a son John born 1806. This almost certainly rules them out as potential parents of the John and George who moved to live and work at Magnum.