Pre-1841 censuses: Brightlingsea 1831, Elmstead 1811

[helvissa]

Hello Jan,

Oh good, I'm glad you've found it useful!

Was he a mariner? It's possible he wasn't at home on the night of the census, I suppose, if he was at sea? So he could still have been alive in 1831.

One of my Brightlingsea ancestors was married to a mariner who died (she remarried as a widow), but I can't find his burial there. It's possible he wasn't from Brightlingsea originally and that eventually he'll pop up being buried in a nearby parish, but I do wonder if he was lost at sea.

Which leads to an intriguing question - how did you prove that someone was lost at sea, enough that you could remarry? (slightly off topic there, but it's relevant!).

[helvissa]

Ah, wait, presumably it would be done by an inquest. So it's possible there might be newspaper reports in the local press, but not definite, I would imagine.

[Duodecem]

James Harvey was a fisherman so could easily have been away on census night. I wasn't sure if the 1831 was a snapshot of one day like the later censuses? Since the occupation of fishermen was recorded I thought it might just be a profile of the households in the town.
As for lost at sea-no body found. Presumably if the boat was lost as well then there may have been an inquest. Otherwise wasn't there a period of time- 7 years I think- after which the missing person was presumed dead?
Do you know of any other Brightlingsea records? I don't know about James's birth or death, and noticed there were no other families called Harvey in the town in 1831. His wife Elizabeth Hills was born in Colchester and was living  there with her younger daughters on the 1841 and 1851 censuses.
Her son -also called James Harvey was a fisherman living in Brightlingsea in the household of his eldest sister, Mary and her husband Robert Wade-also a fisherman

[helvissa]

I've had another look at the accompanying notes and it says:

"Persons, including Children (of whatever age) actually in the Parish, Township or Place at the time
of taking the Account, exclusive of Men actually serving in H. M.’s Regular Forces, the Militia;
Seamen in H. M.’s Service, or the registered Vessels. (this is expressed in the transcription as, for
example, 1m, 1f, which of course means, one male, one female)."

So it is possible that he was at sea on a boat on census night (equally, he may have died by then - this is what's unfortunate about early censuses - if it was 1851 it would say 'married' or 'widow').

I've got an Essex Ancestors account - I've also got the CD of Brightlingsea parish transcriptions that ESfFH have done. Have you had a look at those? Actually - I've also got ESfFH's CD of transcribed memorial inscriptions. I'll have a look and see if the Harveys are on there.

Have you had a look on http://www.freereg.org.uk/ ? I have transcribed several parishes in the Tendring district, so it's possible the Harveys appear there (a quick search reveals a lot of Harveys in St Osyth and surrounding parishes). There are also Harvey families further along the Colne in Wivenhoe, Fingringhoe and East Donyland, so James could conceivably have come from there.

You might also want to look at ESfFH's transcription CDs of Colchester. It isn't cheap buying the full coverage (1752-1851) but if you have a lot of family from Colchester, it's definitely worth it!

[Duodecem]

Elizabeth Harvey(nee Hills) was definitely widowed by the time of the 1841 census.
I don't have access to any records for Brightlingsea. I've searched freereg and Family search for James Harvey to no avail-though Familysearch does have baptism records for his children.
I paid for a search by someone from the Essex FHS who  found the  record of the marriage between James Harvey and Elizabeth Hills (1787-1858) in Brightlingsea All Saints October 31 1810-both of Brightlingsea.
He was also able to confirm the baptism of their 8 children -and I have found burial records for two in childhood, and census records for the others-apart from Elizabeth Anne baptised August 1815 (the family habit of appending Anne as 3 daughter's second names doesn't help!).
It was going to be too expensive to research further. Any suggestions you can make would be most welcome, Jan

[helvissa]

It's difficult to know where to start, seeing as we don't have his age at death, so we can't estimate when he was born. It might be worth you paying £5 for a day's access to Essex Ancestors so you can go through the Brightlingsea register to see if he's there.

Then again, if you start a new thread on this forum, you could see if anyone else with an account fancies having a rootle about? I'll have a look at the CDs I have at home and let you know.

I've looked up their marriage just now and can see that they were married by banns, so there's no marriage licence which could've yielded more info. I've looked at the 1710-1811 apprenticeship register on Ancestry and can't find him on there, and the sailor records on Find My Past don't go back far enough! Quick look through the newspaper archive isn't yielding anything either.

Don't despair, though - I managed to find the marriage and then the baptism of an ancestor who I only knew existed because she was the mother appearing on baptisms in the 1760s. She was living in Wix, her children were born in Holbrook in Suffolk, and after lots of faffing about I just sat down one evening on Essex Ancestors and systematically checked *every* parish in the Tendring area, and then I found her marriage in Great Holland in 1764. I still don't have her husband's baptism or burial, or indeed her own burial (and being called Dorcas Sorrell after her 2nd husband died, she hasn't got a particularly usual name!), but after sheer determination paid off, I'm hopeful I will find the other info in the end - even if I go cross-eyed from reading old handwriting in the process!

[helvissa]

Ok, I might have stumbled across a clue.

I went through the transcriptions CD and found a marriage in 1838 between William Harvey (a coastguard) and Rebecca Ward in Brightlingsea. Rebecca is fact on my tree - a sister of my 4 x great-grandmother. I checked and I'd started researching William and Rebecca. He's the son of William Harvey, labourer, and was born in Dovercourt in 1807. It might be the case that he's related to James Harvey's family, and it might be that your James came from Dovercourt. It is only a suggestion, though! It might be that, if he was from somewhere like Dovercourt, he was buried there, rather than in Brightlingsea.

Another place to look: there's a Settlement Certificate for James Harvey and his family from 1752, settled in Elmstead (which is near Brightlingsea), and living in Bulmer (which is in Essex, but 4 miles south of Sudbury). There is an examination for a James Harvey in 1788 settled in Latchingdon, living in Gt Baddow. There's a 1765 removal of James Harvey from St Osyth to (Bures?). I only mention them in case they suggest places to look - the Elmstead one or St Osyth seem like possibles - perhaps! We are rummaging about in the dark, but these might be handy little clues.

Wait a second!!! If you search the Seax catalogue for harvey and brightlingsea, you get several results including a 1731 will of Daniel Harvey of Brightlingsea, oyster dredger, and an earlier will from 1608 for Francis Harvey of Brightlingsea, mariner. This suggests that perhaps your James was from Brightlingsea after all - he could perhaps be a grandson of Daniel Harvey?

[crimea1854]

Helvissa

Just in case you have not found it, there is a Merchant Seamen's Ticket for William Harvey on FindMyPast. Currently he is shown as being born in Dovercourt in 1817, but this is a transcription error that has been reported to FindMyPast. At the time the ticket was issued he was a Commissioned Boatman in the CG Service at Stone Point, St Osyth. The Ticket is useful because not only does it provide a date and place of birth, but also a physical description and details of when he first went to sea.

Another source of records you may not have yet checked are the ADM 175 files, available as free downloads from the National Achives. Using these CG Establishment Books it is possible to trace a man's career. William was first nominated to the CG Service on 12 Nov 1831 from Harwich, with a posting to St Osyth. (ADM 175/6 pdf 663)

Martin
Coastguards of Yesteryear

[fastfusion]

blimmin brilliant.....    always wanted 1831 census portions.....   excellent work and pdf.......   good luck to you.......    [fastfusion just wishes all 1831 surviving portions were done for UK]