Swift and Hughes

[Azhria Lilu]

As well as searching out Rutters for my partner (posted about in the Middlesex forum) I'm also tracing my own family.

I have a mountain of relatives none of whom are the remotest bit helpful :D

Here's the breakdown as I have it

Lisa Swift (b1973 Birkenhead)
sisters - Elizabeth (she was adopted in approx 1975 - have no idea where she is), Laura (again, fostered away), Emma (lives with her father), Helen and Rachel
brother - Tony (father's name was Vince)

mother - Patricia (Tricia) Swift (b 1955 Birkenhead)
sisters - Lesley Ann, Noeline, Barbara Ellen, Paula, Victoria
brother - Robert Harry (Bobby)

Grandparents - Lesley Swift and Elizabeth (nee Hughes) (both born in Wiiral)

Great Grandparents - Harold Swift (born in Wiiral) and Charlotte Matilda Marley (b1895 in Westhamnett, Sussex.)
Robert Hughes and Ellen Sandler (no details avaialable on these.

I found a record of Charlotte on the 1901 Census where she is listed as being 6 years old and visiting Benjamine White and Family in Yapton, Norton in Sussex

I found her birth information but it lists nothing on her parents.

Any help would be appreciated.

Lisa

[Wirral]

Hi Lisa

I live on the Wirral & will be going to Birkenhead library sometime in the next couple of weeks. My local library (Wallasey) has some Wirral records as well. It also has the Liverpool & Birkenhead trade directories 1766-1897 (+ a few later ones).
Do you already have any birth/marriage/death certificates or censuses for your family?

[Azhria Lilu]

No, I have nothing other than the scraps of info I found on ancestry.co.uk. I now live in Derbyshire and haven't had the opportunity to organise copies of certificates yet :0

[Wirral]

At the moment you can apparently look at the GRO index of births/marriages/deaths on Ancestry.co.uk .Have you tried this?

[Azhria Lilu]

I've got an account with ancestry and haven't had much luck with much other than charlotte matilda marley - it states her birth (no parents listed) and in the 1901 census states she was visiting benjamin white. It's not given me information about any other person.

[Wirral]

Is this your Harold Swift in 1901 & 1891?

RG13/3397 folio 134 page 39
Rg12/2890 folio 29 page 20

[Azhria Lilu]

WOW.... it is! My sister neglected to give me the middle initial of him. I just sent her a text and she confirmed that it is definitely the right one - with a brother called Frank.

Thank you a million... you must have cracked the secret of searching :D

[Wirral]

Haven't found Frank in 1901, but here is the rest of the family:

RG13/3397 folio 126 page 2

Also marriage 1887 St Chrysostom, Everton, Thomas Swift & Katherine Heyes. This from www.lancashirebmd.org.uk (http://www.lancashirebmd.org.uk/) . You will also find www.cheshirebmd.org.uk (http://www.cheshirebmd.org.uk/) & other www.ukbmd.org.uk (http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/) sites useful.

Looks like Harold is visiting his aunt Ellen in 1901. Frank is Frank Heyes Swift, Harold is Harold Heyes Swift, Gladys is Gladys Heyes Swift. Nothing like keeping a name in the family!

[Azhria Lilu]

Rg12/2890 folio 29 page 20 (you gave me) lists the whole family Thomas, Catherine, Frank and Harold. Harold's middle name begins with an S but we're not sure what... funny how information starts to come back to people you've already asked ...when you offer them a new name to think about isn't it.

Two things to investigate here.. you've found Thomas marrying Katherine Heyes, and I've found one marrying a Catherine Peers in 1877 *laughs*

think you may have the right one tho, as Catherine Peers appears to have been born in 1865, which would have made her 12 <grin>

*edited* It could be that the transcribers have mistaken a H for an S... as it still makes sense tracking on the Heyes name.... this is becoming addictive.

[Wirral]

1871 RG10/3812 folio 21 page 25
1861 RG9/2712 folio 10 page 18 I think this is Thomas & William, their mother, grandmother & aunt. If it is correct, then they came from Goldcliff, Monmouthshire. It is by Newport. This site has links to transcriptions from church records http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/MON/Goldcliff/index.html

[Azhria Lilu]

how on earth are you finding that so fast??

[Wirral]

Just practice & anything's better than housework!

[Azhria Lilu]

Oh i agree completely LOL I'm supposed to be scrubbing the kitchen <grin>

[Wirral]

From freeBMD, Marriage Sep quarter 1854 vol 8b page 610, William Swift & Sarah Walters.

[Wirral]

1851 HO107/2176 folio 373 page 9
1881 RG11/3667 folio 49 page 42 Henry Heyes, father of Katherine is a Bookbinder employing 50 men. In 1891 Thomas Swift was a wholesale newsagent. I wonder if he married the boss's daughter?
1891 RG12/2890 folio 29 page 19

William Swift died Dec quarter 1859 West Derby vol 8b page 265.
Ellen Heyes died Mar Q1895 Birkenhead vol 8a page 392 age 72.

[Azhria Lilu]

oohhh, a newsagents rings bells... I'm pretty sure my gran pointed out a newsagents once and commented that it still belonged to someone on my grandad's side of the family...

[Wirral]

1861 RG9/2714 folio 15 page 23

1851 HO107/2188 folio 338 page 2

Of course, if it turns out to be the wrong Harold in the first place, then this will all collapse like a pack of cards! :rolleyes:

You will need to get all the certificates to make sure that you are on the right lines after all. You can get them online at http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificate/ They cost £7 each (using the GRO index references) & usually take about a week to arrive, but with the new series of "Who do you think you are?" being on the tv, the delivery times may be longer. Last series they went to 3 weeks!

[Azhria Lilu]

Of course, if it turns out to be the wrong Harold in the first place, then this will all collapse like a pack of cards! :rolleyes:
That's part of the fun tho :)

[Wirral]

I have seen the marriage of Thomas Swift & Katherine Heyes at St Chrysostom at the library. Send me an email if you would like a copy of the entry, saves me typing !. It was the original register I viewed, not a microfilm.

[Azhria Lilu]

Oohhhh yes please :D ... have emailed you with my email addy :D

Thank you!

[Azhria Lilu]

I've located the missing Frank Heyes Swift on the 1901 Census (RG13/3992 folio 102.

In 1901 he was 12 years old and was a patient at the Royal Albert Asylum. (Joy, more nutters in the family *grin*) .... does anyone know if there is any way of finding out what he was institutionalised for and how long he was there?