Bays Littlehampton

[Hicklin]

My maternal great x3 grandfather was called James Bays (a mariner) and was born in Littlehampton in 1797 and married a Catherine from South Shields, County Durham. They had two sons William (my great x2) and Joseph. I don't know when James and Catherine married but they were living in Jarrow (near South Shields) in the 1851 census. I'd love to know anything about the Bays family in Littlehampton.

Regards
Kevin Hicklin

[Roy G]

The name Bays is fairly unusual in Sussex and there are few entries, most of them are in Littlehampton. 

It would therefore help if you could verify Jame's birth year, for the Littlehampton records only have a James Bays baptised the son of James and Ann on 22 Feb 1793 who is listed as having died in 1800. 

One possibility is that the name in the burial register is incorrect, for a James born c1793 is also listed as having been buried in Littlehamoton in 1865.  Could it be that the burial entry relates to his brother John born 1800?  That James had two other siblings, Henry 1801 and Sarah 1805.
Roy G

[Hicklin]

Thank you for your reply.

The only information I have is that James Bays was born in Littlehampton in 1797. He married a Catherine who was born in South Shields in 1804. He had two sons - Joseph born in 1836 (glass maker) and William born in 1841 (Seaman)

Kevin

[Roy G]

By the look of the Index to the 1841 census there were more children than just two.
Ann Bays born Jarrow c1830, Joseph Bays c1835, Catherine Bays c1836, John Bays c1838, William Bays c1841.

IGI has Catherine's baptism in St Hilda as BAIS (1833), a Joseph BAYS in 1835, and a Robert Russell BAES in 1827.
A copy of the birth cert of John or William should give you Catherine's maiden name to further assist you find the marriage which may have been mistranscribed (eg 'Boys, Bais, Baes, Bayes').  Perhaps James parents appear on that marriage entry or a sibling is down as a witness. 

St Hilda, County Durham would seem to be a good place to start looking for the marriage.    Roy G
   

[Hicklin]

Thank you again you have been a great help

Kevin

[Roy G]

I added to my previous entry that St Hilda, County Durham would seem to be a good place to start looking for the marriage. 

In taking a token look under variations of the spelling, I also discovered a James BAYES of Littlehampton (indexed as Little Hampton) marrying a Charlotte Moore in 1823.  They are both on the 1841 Littlehampton census, so I would think that takes the James Bays born 1793 out of the equation. 

Genes Reunited has a Rachel Theaker with an interest in the siblings, William, John, Catherine, and Joseph all baptised St Hilda.
 Roy G

[Hicklin]

Thanks again :-)

Can I ask what you mean by "takes James Bays born 1793 out of the equation"?

Cheers

[Roy G]

The meaning of:   "It takes James Bays 1793 out of the Equation."

The Littlehampton parish Records have a James Bays baptised 1793, who married Charlotte Moore 1823, who appears on the 1841, 1851 & 1861 Littlehampton censuses, who finally dies in Littlehampton in 1865.

Your James Bays, who said he was born Littlehampton c1797, also appears on the 1841 and 1851 census, but hundreds of miles away in JARROW.   As your James could not have been in two different places at the same time in 1841 & 1851, there must have been two James Bays from the Littlehampton area.  So the James Bays, son of James and Ann baptised Littlehampton 1793 was not your James and has to be removed from consideration as your ancestor.

There was another James Bays baptised Pagham 1795, but Pagham is some distance from Littlehampton and those born there generally state Pagham or Chichester to census enumerators.
Roy G

[Hicklin]

This genealogical thing gets complicated! 

Cheers