First look at the 1921 census

 I haven't done much family history research over the last couple of years.  But the release of the 1921 census on FindMyPast seemed a good opportunity to dip in to it again, to see what information the census could add about some of my closest ancestors, people I had actually known.  

I'm not normally one to 'rush in' as soon as a database is released - there's often too many issues to make it worthwhile, better to wait until demand has settled down a bit and any initial technical problems have been resolved. But, with a short priority list, I reckoned a late night/early morning finding them would mean I could then get on with other activities again.

So that's how I found myself, counting down to that midnight deadline:   

So this was my list of priorities:

Grandfather: Donald Martin PARRY, (1904-1980)

Grandmother: Elsie May THOMAS, (1902-1982)

Grandfather: John William Frederick ALLEN (1892-1967)

Grandmother: Maud Emily Alice DOWDING (1896-1971)

Great Grandparents: George THOMAS (1871-1955), with wife, Rose Hannah (1874-1958)

Great Grandparents: John Prosser ALLEN (1866-1945), with wife, Caroline (1866-1953)

Great Grandparents: Charles Henry DOWDING (1865-1933), with wife, Minnie Louisa (1865-1934)

2xGreat Grandparents: John THOMAS (1843-1929), with wife, Priscilla (1846-1932)

2xGreat Grandparents: George HAYNES (1855-?), with wife, Caroline (1855-1933)

(This was the point at which I realised I still have eight death dates for various 2xGreat grandparents to identify.  A talk by Jeanne Bunting, on the importance of "burying your ancestors", at a Guild of One-Name Studies seminar, flashed briefly across my brain.)

Donald Martin PARRY, (1904-1980)

Finding Donald was easy - he was exactly where I expected him to be, in Rowleston, Herefordshire.  I have already written about him in my "Favourite Photo" post at https://notjusttheparrys.blogspot.com/2018/01/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks-week-2.html  Orphaned when he was 14, he and his sister were separated and sent to live with 'relatives'.  I knew this was a WILLIAMS family for Donald, but now, finally, I know which WILLIAMS family - a Joseph Henry WILLIAMS, with wife Gertrude, and children, Geraldine, William, Henry, Irene, and Gwendolyne.  

A quick search revealed Gertrude's maiden name was THACKWAY, which hasn't appeared in my research so far, and, although I do know about various connected WILLIAMS families, this particular one isn't one I have come across before.  So investigating how they might be related to us has gone onto my "ToDo" list.  

Elsie May THOMAS, (1902-1982) and her parents, George and Rose Hannah THOMAS

After the intial success with Donald, I was feeling positive - but disappointment soon followed, when I searched for Elsie.   Despite trying various search tactics, I was unable to find her.  Her parents were easy to find in Collington, Herefordshire, along with six of her siblings still at home.  But Elsie and three other siblings are absent.  

It's not surprising - they were all old enough to be working (or married) and, as females, would often be 'living in', in service somewhere.  That perhaps increases the possibility of errors in recording or transcription, as the census entry will probably have been completed by a non-family member, who might not get the name correct, or a transcriber not spotting the variations in a household's surnames.

More work needed there, unfortunately.

John William Frederick ALLEN (1892-1967), and his parents, John and Caroline ALLEN

Initially, there was more frustration when I searched for my other grandfather, John.  There are a lot of John ALLENs in London!

Again, I tried a variety of tactics - parts of his first names, birthplace variations, other members of the family.  I wasn't sure whether he would be with his parents - although I did know he was widowed, with a young son who his parents had looked after while John was away in the army.  

Fortunately, when looking at entries in the index, by hovering over the 'payment' options, it is possible to see some of the other people in the household.  So, finally, having searched for Caroline, and checking out an entry appearing in the index as just "C ALLEN", I found them.  Yes, only John senior was recorded by name - all of the others, Caroline, my grandfather, 'John', another son, Robert, and the son of my grandfather, 'John Frederick", are all recorded with just one initial!  Not only that, both my grandfather and his son are shown with the initial "F" - I always knew the son was referred to as "Freddie", but I didn't expect that for my grandfather.

All the other details match up - John senior was a toy maker, working for himself, my grandfather John, was widowed and in the paper trade, and the other son, Robert, was a decorator - so I am quite content that this is the 'right' entry.   The address is also 21 Lambeth Walk - which, if  I had thought about it, I could have used as a search term, since I did know that was their address from at least 1911 until many years after 1921.   And, having now tried the address search, just to check out how it works, I can see from the index that there is another family at the same address - it's the third son of John and Caroline, Albert Edward ALLEN, with his wife, Alice Irene, and baby daughter, Doris Irene.  An interesting contrast between the two families, with even middle names recorded fully in Albert's household, yet most of my grandfather's household recorded with just first initials.  

I'm sure my mother would have found that amusing - she always said her dad could be an "awkward 'so & so'" 😄

Maud Emily Alice DOWDING (1896-1971), and her parents, Charles Henry and Minnie Louisa DOWDING

DOWDING is not such a frequently occurring surname as ALLEN, THOMAS or PARRY are, and there were only a few 'Maud DOWDING's of the right age, so my grandmother was easy to find.  She and her younger sister, Ethel, were living with their parents in Pratt Street.  

The 1921 census gives more occupational details than has been recorded in previous censuses and, although I knew that my grandmother worked in a tobacco factory, it is great to have the name of the factory, "Faulkner & Co", and location, "Blackfriars Rd", as I can now investigate more about them, where exactly the factory was, how large it was, what working conditions were like etc.  All of that detail adds 'colour' to the lives of my ancestors.

I was also interested to see that Maud's sister, Ethel, was a machinist for a "theatrical costumier", H M Raynes, of Waterloo Rd.  That conjures up images of glamorous, extravagant, costumes - definitely worth further research.

 So who did that leave from my priority list - just two sets of 2xGreat Grandparents.

John THOMAS (1843-1929), with wife, Priscilla (1846-1932)

Fortunately, by this age, my ancestors were a bit more 'settled' - and, not only did I find John and Priscilla in Stoke Bliss, where they'd married over forty years before, but with them was one of their daughters, Lilly, and also one of their granddaughters, Edith, who was one of the four daughters 'missing' from George and Rose Hannah's family.

George HAYNES (1855-?), with wife, Caroline (1855-1933)

Again, George and Caroline HAYNES were easy to find, having been living in Sheep Street, Bromyard for many years and still there in 1921.  There's nine in the household, a mixture of family, both children and grandchildren, as well as a couple of boarders.

And, for the first time from any of the 1921 census entries, I have some new family information, since there's a married daughter, Annie PULLEN, as well as two, previously unknown, grandchildren, Ellis Thomas PULLEN and Lilian HAYNES. 

Clearly, I do have a lot more research to carry out now, adding the new members of the family to my files, as well as recording the additional information about occupations etc from the census.  

As well as not finding my grandmother, Elsie May THOMAS, I was unable to find Donald PARRY's sister, Rosina Jane PARRY, despite trying the variety of names she was known by.  I did identify an entry for their aunt in Hereford, who I believe Rosina was sent to live with after their father had died in 1918, as well as possible entries for the aunt's two daughters, who had moved to London by 1921.  Unfortunately, according to one of Rosina's daughters, Rosina also moved to London when she was about 16 - which would be in 1921 - so she could be almost anywhere that year! 

But, overall, I felt this was a fairly successful set of results for my first foray into the 1921 census (and I wasn't that late to bed, either!)

The family of George THOMAS and Rose Hannah HAYNES

We're now at the end of week 17 of the year and I am only just posting what should have been week 10 of my "52 ancestors and their descendants".  Stuff Happens! 🙂

I am glad I have attempted the "52 ancestors in 52 weeks" principle again, even if I wasn't sticking to the suggested topics.  But it is clear to me that I currently do not have the research documented well enough to try working to that schedule.  Hence I won't be including that as part of the title anymore and will remove the badge from the blog, as well.  From now on, I shall just be posting about my ancestors, and their descendants, as and when it suits the research carried out.

Anyway, on with my second set of paternal great grandparents, my Dad's maternal grandparents, George THOMAS and Rose Hannah HAYNES.

George and Rose were married on the 25th December 1895, in Bromyard parish Church.  Although Rose Hannah's names had been recorded as "Rose Hannah" at her birth, and "Rosannah" in the 1881 census, perhaps indicating that the family did make common use of her middle name, at her marriage only the name "Rose" is recorded:

The 1895 marriage certificate of George THOMAS & Rose HAYNES

Marriage dates like this always tend to stand out, when I come across them in the records.  Why marry on the 25th December - Christmas Day? It is probably not a date that many of us in the UK these days would consider getting married on.

But, in George and Rose Hannah's time, there weren't the 'holiday entitlements' that the majority of working folk enjoy now.  Most people worked six days a week and, if they didn't work, they didn't get paid.  So taking time off to get married was often not an option.  Weddings were therefore planned for the few public holidays that existed.

When George and Rose Hannah married, George was 24, working as a carter and living at Stoke Bliss, and Rose was 21, a domestic servant, resident in Bromyard.  The certified copy of the certificate that I have was hand written in 1980, so does not contain any of the genuine signatures, but it appears that both George and Rose, as well as their two witnesses, Henry JAMES and Lilly THOMAS (probably one of George's sisters) were able to sign for themselves.

George and Rose's first child, Edith, was born on the 30th October 1896.  At that time they were living at Brick Barns, Underley, Wolferlow, in Herefordshire.

In the 1891 census, there were three properties called "Underley" (Lower, Middle and Upper), as well as two cottages called "Underley Cottage"  The Brick Barns were enumerated in between Middle Underley and Upper Underley and two of George's sisters, Matilda and Annie, were working as servants at Upper Underley.  The two girls were living with the family of a Samuel JONES.  But a William BALDWIN lived at Lower Underley and I believe, from family stories, that various members of the THOMAS family have worked for the BALDWINs over the years.

Both Upper Underley and Lower Underley are listed buildings, the former a medieval hall house, the latter dating from the late eighteenth century.  A barn to the north west of Lower Underley, dating from the early nineteenth century, is also a listed building. Described as a "large red brick barn with twin gabled wing. Tile roof with gable ends," one wonders if this might have been where George and Rose were living when Edith was born.

However, based on the enumeration order, since "Middle Underley" was further north than the listed barn (which is within the same group of buildings as Lower Underley), it seems more likely that the relevant "Brick Barns" was closer to Upper Underley.

George and Rose's second child, Ernest, was born on the 2nd May 1899.  The address this time is just given as Underley, Wolferlow, so it is impossible to identify which of the Underley properties the family were living in.

But when their third child, Hilda Mary, is born on the 13th November 1900, their address is again listed as Brick Barns, Underley, so it seems plausible they had been living there all the time.

By the time of the 1901 census, the family had moved to Coombs Wood, Collington - still in Herefordshire.  I suspect this was somewhere in the region identified as "Cwm Wood" on contemporary maps.

It was here that my grandmother, Elsie May, was born on the 3rd April 1902.  George, who had been described as a "general laborer" for their first three children's births, was this time described as a "Farmer".

However, when their fifth child, Ada Annie, was born on the 20th April 1904, his occupation was once again "General Laborer".  George was the informant for each of these births so one wonders why the variation.  Perhaps, as I have found with other ancestors, George was engaged in some small scale farming for himself, whilst also labouring on behalf of an employer, so both occupations were correct.

Matilda Jane was the next child, born on the 17th May 1906, followed by Emily, on the 25th April 1908. Emily's is the first birth registered by their mother, Rose.  One suspects registration had initially been forgotten, as the birth isn't registered until the 11th June 1908, five days over the 42 day time limit.  They might have been fined for this late registration, but perhaps there was some leeway as to when fines were applied.  Since the Registrar was the same one who had registered all of their previous children, he would be in a position to identify that they were not generally a family who were 'non-compliant', so I hope he was able to waive the fine.  (I wonder if the Registrars kept records of fines?)

On the 30th April 1910, the eighth child and second son, George John, was born.

The 1911 census shows the family at "Coombs Wood in Whitbourne, Worcester" - I suspect this is yet another case where the family haven't moved but the county boundary (at least, administratively for the census) has!  Present are George, Rose, Ernest, Hilda, Elsie, Ada, Matilda, Emily and George.

The oldest daughter, Edith, aged 14, is working as a general domestic servant at Butterley Mill Bromyard.  Although it is often difficult to identify individuals working as servants away from their families, I think the fact that Edith's birth place is recorded as "Barn House Woffellow", I can be quite confident about this entry.🙂

In the years following the census, two further children were born, both girls, Olive, on the 5th December 1912, and finally, Dorothy Rose, on the 1st June 1915.

From my point of view, there is a benefit from this number of children being in the family - it has led to there being many descendants, which increases the chances of some of them deciding to take a DNA test.

George and Rose had twenty nine grandchildren (that I know of) and I am aware of at least fifty two other great grandchildren.  Since these great grandchildren are all within the range of 'siblings to second cousins' to me, any of them that take a DNA test should show up as matching me.

Already, I have a cluster of "shared matches" as a result, and any new matches that also match people in this cluster can therefore be identified as connected to my THOMAS/HAYNES ancestral lines in some way, even if I don't know the exact link.

It is wonderful to be able to confirm my genealogy through the use of DNA like this.


References
Christmas Day weddings - https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/discoveries/christmas-day-weddings

Historic England Listings for Underley, Herefordshire:
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/results/?searchType=NHLE+Simple&search=underley%2C+herefordshire

Census 
1891: (Matilda and Annie THOMAS) Class RG12; Piece: 2071; Folio: 12; Page: 2
1901: Class: RG13; Piece: 2491; Folio: 8; Page: 7
1911: Class: RG14; Piece: 15795; Schedule Number: 20
1911 (Edith): Class: RG14; Piece: 15787; Schedule Number: 50  

2020 52anc. Wk 9: Rose Hannah HAYNES (1874-1958)

Rose Hannah HAYNES, one of my paternal great grandmothers, was born on the 20th December 1874, the daughter of George HAYNES and Caroline HARRIS.  At the time, the family were living at 16 Henry Street, St Mary, Cardiff, Glamorganshire.

By the time of the 1881 census, the family were living in Bromyard, Herefordshire - which is where both of Rose Hannah's parents had been born.  What they were doing in Cardiff at the time of her birth is currently unknown and mobility is always an interesting subject, so I'll try researching that when I consider her parents as a couple.

These are the 1881 census details:
[Class: RG11; Piece: 2601; Folio: 30; Page: 11;]
Bromyard, Herefordshire
Brick Clamp

Geo. Haynes, Head, Mar, 25, Ag Labourer, Herefordshire Bromyard

Caroline Haynes, Wife, Mar, 27, Herefordshire Bromyard

Rosannah Haynes, Daur, 6, Scholar, Cardiff

Albert Haynes, Son, 4, Herefordshire Bromyard

George Haynes, Son, 3, Herefordshire Bromyard

Emma Haynes, Daur, 1, Herefordshire Bromyard

So it is clear the family moved back to Bromyard relatively soon after Rose Hannah's birth and a baptism entry for "Rosanna Haynes", with the parents George and Caroline, took place in Bromyard on the 8 Nov 1875, so it is possibly safe to assume they had moved back by then.

Further siblings arrived in the years before the next census and I imagine Rose Hannah helped around the house and with her younger siblings. However, by 1891 she is out at work, as a domestic servant:

1891 census
[Class: RG12; Piece: 2070; Folio: 30; Page: 4; ]
Much Cowarne, Herefordshire, England
Leighton Court
(The DENT family, a farmer, with his wife and six children aged between 13 - 19)
Rose HAYNES, Serv, S, 19, General Servant Domestic, Wales Cardiff

I haven't just assumed that this is the correct entry, especially given the couple of years discrepancy on her age.  However, whilst searching on Ancestry for Ros* Haynes, +/-5 years of her birth year, and no birth place specified, does produce a number of results, none of them look likely to be an entry for "my" Rose Hannah in 1891, nor is there any person in the other years', or database, results, who could be this one in 1891.  So, at the moment, my conclusion is that either she had added a few years to her age, or there was just a mistake in recording it.  There are some other age variations across the various records for the family, which I shall look into in the future.

Her parents and siblings are still living at Brick Clamp in Bromyard in 1891:

[Class: RG12; Piece: 2069; Folio: 26; Page: 9;]
Brick Clamp, Bromyard
George Haynes, Head, M, 35, General Labourer, Herefordshire, Bromyard
Caroline Haynes, Wife, M, 38, Machinist, Herefordshire, Bromyard
Albert Haynes, Son, S, 16, Agricultural Labourer, Herefordshire, Bromyard
George Haynes, Son, 14, Agricultural Labourer, Herefordshire, Bromyard
Emily Haynes, Daur, 13, Scholar, Herefordshire, Bromyard
Henry Haynes, Son, 8,  Scholar, Herefordshire, Bromyard
Ann Haynes, Daur, 5, Herefordshire, Bromyard
Jane Haynes, Daur, 3, Herefordshire, Bromyard
Ernest Haynes, Son, 2, Herefordshire, Bromyard
Florence Haynes, Daur, 7mo, Herefordshire, Bromyard

Rose Hannah HAYNES married George THOMAS in the Bromyard parish church, on the 25th December 1895.  Their married life, and descendants, will be the topic for my next post.

Ancestry close matches

I was beginning to think that my comment on the 12th January - that everyone was just waiting for Christmas to buy DNA tests - was clearly not justified, since there was then a lack of any new close matches for almost another fortnight, during which time 23andMe announced they were laying off staff.  When Ancestry also then reported lay offs, on the 5th February, it just emphasised how much of a downturn there has been in the DNA testing market.

However, it hasn't been all "doom and gloom" since - I've received seven new "4c and closer" matches since my comment ( 24/1, 1/2, 11/2, 13/2, 19/2, 21/2, and 23/2) bringing me up to a total of 190. 

Out of these new matches, one was someone who has also tested at 23andMe - which is useful, since I have identified the potential shared ancestor with this match, and that helps to confirm some of the shared lines at Ancestry, which were suggested through match clustering.

Another match was a predicted 3rd cousin - by the time I'd explained how our shared matches enabled me to identify approximately where in my pedigree they fitted, ie a shared match who is a first cousin of mine meant my paternal side, sharing with certain second cousins of mine narrowed it down to my paternal grandmother's ancestral lines, and a shared third cousin meant the connection was most probably through my great grandmother HAYNES' ancestry somewhere, they'd discovered just how closely they were related to that third cousin, and it was clear exactly where they fitted into the family! 

The other matches haven't been quite so easy to place, varying from no pedigree information and no shared matches, to both good pedigrees and at least one shared match, with a possible suggestion of which of my ancestral lines they will connect to, based on the shared clustering.  

So, still a bit of research to be done for most of the new matches, but with a possibility of success for at least some of those.  

Which makes for steady progress towards my goal of identifying all of my '4c and closer', as well as giving me some more examples to use in a presentation that I am currently working on, on how helpful shared match clustering can be.

23andMe Lay-offs: https://blog.eogn.com/2020/01/23/23andme-lays-off-100-employees/

Ancestry Lay-offs: https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2020/02/05/our-path-forward/