The Elusive FOSTERS of CHESHIRE

[sue1]

I am a new member.

I have been trying to research my ancestors since May of last year. This particular branch of the family has come to a full stop in 1799.

The culprit is:

George Foster/Forster b 1799 Wrenbury, Cheshire.
[Anc.co (when I was a member) gave :

Birth: preferred dob 1799 in Wrenbury, Cheshire
abt 1801 in Cheshire
abt 1799 in Wembury, Cheshire
abt 1801 in Wrenbury, Cheshire

He married Ann Cadman b 1803 Acton, Nantwich in 1.4.1823

They had, according to the 1841 census the following household members:

Ann Foster 35
George Foster 40
Hannah Foster 15
Mary Foster 15
William Foster 12
John Foster 7
Emma Foster 5
Helen Foster 3
George Foster 1 My G Grandfather

This was the civil parish of Audlem, in the Hundred of Nantwich in the registration district of Nantwich in the sub-registration district of Wrenbury.

In 1851 it was identical EXCEPT there was now:

Ellen Foster 10
Thomas Foster 9
Harriet Foster 5
+
Mary Moss - visitor 10

I had looked at the original handwritten census and made a note that the actual address was 27 ?Woolfall, Audlem, Cheshire. I do not have a copy of this (this was all done early on when I really had no idea what I was doing).

This census stated it was taken in Audlem, Cheshire, reg. dist. Nantwich, subregistration Bunbury.

The 1851 census (on the untranscribed page) also stated that George Foster was a farmer of 44 acres.

My problem is that apart from the 1881 census when George Foster's age is given as 82 and he is living with his son William and son's wife Martha, in London Road, Stapeley, I can find out absolutely nothing about this chap. I can find no parents for him which is main thing I would like to do. He is not in the on line parish records that have been transcribed, nor is his wife - no birth, no marriage of either. I got my information from IGI.

One of his daughter's marriage IS on there and correctly gives her father's name as George (I have the marriage certificate and the details are the same).

I am pretty sure he was C of E - his son, my G Grandfather was (according to his military records) and also the daughter whose marriage certificate I have, was.

Please can anyone advise me or help me to track this family back further.

Sue

[thepalace1]

Hi sue1.

Don't know if this is correct but I have found a Christening record

John Foster, Christened 17 December 1798, In Nantwich, Cheshire

[michaelpipe]

You have just got to the hard part.
Looks as if your only course is to trawl through the parish registers in the 'suspect' locations, and surrounding parishes. Should be able to find the appropriate films at LDS. Try Wrenbury, if you already have a lead there, and then spread the net. Takes time, but unfortunately in many cases it is the only way.
And while you are at it, it is always a good idea to extract all the entries with the same family name, no matter how far removed they may appear - you have no idea when they will be of use.

Michael

[sue1]

Thank you for your advice - I think I may be on to something having had a bit of a "trawl" on IGI batches. Sadly there is not one for Wrenbury but have found a website called Wrenbury Village Website and I imagine Ann Cadman and George Foster married there in 1823 - again a guess. However, someone else on this website is researching Foster/Forsters (it seems to be Forster for this generation) and I have E-mailed this person but his is an old message - 2003, so I wait and hope.

On IGI I found a name pattern - first names that is.

Thomas Forster b 26.2.1775 Astbury, Cheshire married Mary (no maiden name).

Children found so far (and I couldn't find John) were:

Mary 3.2.1793
Ellen 25.12.1795
Hannah 1.4.1798
Thomas 22.5.1803
Mathias 22.5.1803

Apart from Mathias (who may have been the twin of Thomas) these names are the same as the children of George Foster b 1799 (this family did seem to re-use their ancestors names but they are in age order I think) However, I cannot find a George, William, Helen, Emma or John.

To my horror, as I am typing this I have realised the parents of all the children are Thomas and Hannah, which makes sense but the "father and mother" I had for them are Thomas and Mary! Back to the records.

In the next couple of weeks my husband and I are going to Cheshire Record Office - the records for George Foster timespan i.e. 1799 (baptism, marriage) are not on the parish records which are on line and I am hoping I will find them there. I have never been to a record office before and have no idea what to expect or quite how to go about it - I just hope it is better than the National Archives (for the inept researcher that is!).

Any advice gratefully accepted.

Sue