Reynolds family from Whitechapel

[andy wright 1955]

Hi everyone
I have a family, who, in the 1871 census lived at 22 Wellclose Square, Whitechapel. They are:-
James Reynolds, 38 yrs, head born Whitechapel; Mary, wife,38, born Whitechapel; and their five children, John, 12, born Whitechapel; Ann,9, born Whitechapel; Frances (son) 7, born Whitechapel; James, 3, born St George in the East; Mary, 1, born Whitechapel.
I have not been able to find any of the five children having had their births registered, neither could I find any record of their baptisms. This sounds unusual to me, has anyone else had the same problem?  Has anyone got access to any records that could help me, or can anyone suggest what else I could do please. It is likely that the family of James came from Ireland, does that mean they may have been catholics and therefore were baptised elsewhere?? Any ideas???

[carol8353]

Are the parents definitely married,or could they have been registered in mum's maiden name?

Is mum Mary and son John b 1859 the couple lodging in 1861, with the Furgusson family?
RG/226 Folio 27 Page  52

They are  down as visitors,as is 52 year old Mary Jones ( her mum perhaps?)
Mary Reynolds says she is married but James is not with them.

Carol

[lizdb]

Interestingly, looking at the image of the 1871, the enumerator originally recorded Mary Reynolds as unmarried, but it has been changed to married in a different hand.

[andy wright 1955]

Hi
I agree with the 1861 census entry that you have found because the marriage which I think is correct was 30/4/1856 at St Marks, Whitechapel when James Reynolds married Mary Ann Murphy, full age, of 4 Whitehorse Court, Whitechapel, with Margaret Ferguson as one of the witnesses. I struggled to find James in the 1861 census, the closest I found was in Bedford Street, Mile End Old Town, Stepney, a James Reynolds aged 28, unmarried, a dock labourer, born in the City Of London.
Both have Irish ancestrors but if they were catholic, they married in a parish church.
It is an interesting thought about the children being registered under the mothers maiden name, which I shall check now.
Regards
Andy

[carol8353]

I see from that 1856 marriage that James was a tobacco shipper- maybe that entailed trips abroad?

[andy wright 1955]

I think that on the certificate it actually reads a tobacco stripper, which ties in with his occupation in later life.

[carol8353]

I don't know my strippers from my shippers 

So if he was the former then he probably didn't go abroad. 

Carol

[carol8353]

An 1856 marriage would be a very early one if their first child wasn't born till 1859.

[lizdb]

Maybe it just took a while.
Or maybe she suffered a miscarriage or two before having a full term pregnancy.