1851 Census Lookup - BENTLEY's in Welshpool

[mdparker0731]

As far as I know, there was only one or maybe two BENTLEY families in Welshpool in the mid 19C. My Bentley family group at the time should have been:

Head: Maurice Bentley bc.1807, Yorkshire (I think)
Wife: Sarah bc.1812 Welshpool

Children:
Edwin bc.1838, Welshpool
Maurice R bc.1841 Welshpool
Harriet Sarah b.12 Mar 1849, Welshpool

In 1849, when Harriet was born, the family were at 12 Broad St, Welshpool.

Thanks in advance.
Mike.

[davierj]

Hi Mike,
Here they are in 1851.
HO 107/2498, Folio 706, Page 22.
Parish of Welshpool
All surnames Bentley, all born MGY Welshpool and lving in Broad Street, Welshpool

Sarah       h    u    38    Needlewoman
Edwin       s          13    Errand Boy
Maurice    s            8
Harriet      d           2

Free BMD shows the death of a Maurice Bentley Sep qtr 1851 in Halifax District, Vol 22, Page 186.    May or may not be yours.

Hope this helps.

Cheers Dave

[davierj]

Hi
Here they are in 1861
Ref:   RG9/4258, folio33, page 27
All surnames Bently (sic), all born MGY Welshpool and address Rookery, Welshpool

Sarah     h    u    51    Needlewoman
Maurice  s    u    18    Labourer
Harriet   d          12    Scholar

No sign of Edwin but FreeBMD shows a number of deaths for Edwin Bentley between 1851 and 1861, including 1854 at Bradford and 1855 at Dewsbury

Cheers Dave

[mdparker0731]

Many thanks for your quick responses, Dave. The 1851 census is interesting and actually opens up more questions for me than it resolves. I had the 1861 census info (and Edwin was a private in the army at Regents Park Barracks in 1861). What is confusing me is that Sarah is listed as unmarried in both 1851 and 1861. I had thought the 1861 'unmarried' ref was a mistake, but I doubt both censuses would be incorrect on this matter. Given this data, I now suspect that Sarah was a single mother, although the 1871 census has her as a widow I wonder if she married between 1861 and 1871 and subsequently lost her husband...

Now, if she was a single mother, and Bentley was her maiden name, then she would seemingly be the Sarah Bentley who was the daughter of John and Mary, and twin of Thomas, who both were baptised Jan 6th 1811 in Welshpool.

I have the birth certificate for Harriet Sarah Bentley, daughter of Sarah, and it does not list a father, which may further prove Sarah was a single mother.

The one other piece of evidence I have is that Edwin's marriage certificate in 1878 (Welshpool) has his father listed as "Morris Bentley (deceased)" -- a policeman.  I have not yet found birth or baptism records for Edwin (c.1837/8) or Maurice R (c.1841).

To move forward, I think I need to get the 1841 census for this family and/or see if I can find the birth records for Edwin and Maurice, although I suspect Edwin was borderline on being before BMDs began.

This has been a frustrating line for me!

Once again, thanks for your help.

Regards, Mike.

[davierj]

Mike, it's certainly a poser.   I had a quick look at the 1841, but it's not indexed, so unless you have a good idea where to look it's well nigh impossible.   Do you know where Sarah might have been then?   Bentley is such an uncommon name in the area it seems almost inconceivible that the 2 lots aren't related.   Also Maurice is unusual and I heard somewhere that it was common practice to name the second son after the father - the first after a grandfather

I have a big problem with my family in the area at that time also.   Jane Trow born abt 1836 ostensibly in Berriew but I can find no real trace of her or her father Joseph before 1851.

I'll have another look in 1841

Cheers Dave

[davierj]

Hi Mike,
A bit of luck!   Here they are in 1841.

Ref:   HO107/1442/7 Enumeration District 12, page 34.
Living in Severn Street, Welshpool

Sarah Bentley       28     Lab     Y
Edwin Bentley         4                Y

It looks as if the evidence is starting to stack up against Sarah.

Also found a James Bentley, age 20, living in Broad Street, Welshpool.

Wish I could find my Trows 

Cheers Dave

[mdparker0731]

Many thanks again, Dave!

Well, yes, it seems that my Sarah was indeed a single mother ... and with other info I have, at least I can track her back to her parents (John Bentley and Mary Davies, who married Feb 13 1809), and John's parents were Thomas Bentley and Mally ____).  I only know of these other Bentley's as I passed through Welshpool last week and spent an hour in the library there.  This is certainly not the outcome I was expecting!

The James Bentley you found was, I think, James Askew Bentley.  I don't know how he fits into the picture. Maybe he was another (late) son of John and Mary.

I think I may have to try the court records around 1838 to see if Sarah claimed maintenance for Edwin, and if so, who the claim was against.  There was an Edwin Bentley who died in "Montgomery" region in 1837, so I may chase up that certificate as it could be connected with the family.

I think you're a step ahead of me on research in that region, so if you can't find your Trow's I don't think I'm going to have much luck either. Ancestry.com doesn't come up with much to go on ...

Regards, Mike.

[davierj]

Hi Mike,

Our family history is never quite as expected - I had great problems with a GRANDMOTHER, her illegitimate birth was covered up and she was passed off as her grandmother's daughter in the 1881 census.   The real mother married 2 years later and my grandmother changed her name to that of the step-father.

My Trows are almost as bad as my Montgomery Claytons, unlike my Montgomery Jones families who were RELATIVELY easy, would you believe.   I'm sure they should be on the 1841 census, but as I said before it's not indexed and I don't have it all.

I've had the best results by using a combination of FreeBMD (these days very slow), LDS Family Search and Roots Chat.   In the short time I've been 'chatting' I've had great help and a very friendly response.   I must say I agree with your Ancestry.com...................

If you need more just post it and I or someone else will pick it up.

Best of luck, cheers Dave