Hi
I have only just seen this thread and you’ve discovered in 4 days what it had taken me about 10 years to unravel and I’m still not sure of all the facts as you can imagine !!
I am a descendant of Daniel OATES, one of the sons of George OATES and Sophia BEASLEY/BEEZLEY who married 24 Aug 1818 in Ealing, and had 7 children.
Never been able to get a firm baptism date for Sophia who possibly hailed from Mortlake, Surrey, or indeed George as I have no record of where he was born.
George & Sophia seemed to have travelled up and down to London, possibly for his file smith work, and one of their sons George was probably born there in 1825, but baptised in Sheffield.
Another son Joseph born 1833, threw me a curve ball as he was baptised twice in Sheffield, once in 1834 and then again in 1881 as you have sussed out.
George snr. died aged 39 and was buried 25 Dec 1836 at what is now the Sheffield Cathedral, and Sophia re-married Alfred Holden 7 Oct 1838, they had no children.
Sophia died in Bellfield Street, Sheffield & was buried at St Philips 25 Nov 1860. I have only found Alfred on the 1861 Census living with his step-daughter Harriet TYAS, then he seemingly disappears after that.
However, I wonder if the 1851 Census in London has him under an assumed name of Thomas SMITH, especially with Sophia using the name Holden Smith on documents, or did she take up with another chap from Sheffield who had the same occupation - a slater? But yet her son Joseph is under OATES, it’s all very odd.
Sophia also had a ‘flexible’ age and her granddaughter Alexandra carried on the tradition on her second marriage by wedding a man of 19 when she was 31, both lying on the marriage certificate to say they were 21 and 29.
This OATES family is linked with GREAVES and PARKIN lines in Sheffield and it is tricky as can be.
One branch of the OATES, Edith married in 1908 to Bernard Franklin GLOSSOP , his parents were Charles and Rachel.
If anyone has any links with these OATES or related families, I would love to hear from them
VAT
