1841 census lookup for Benbow, please

[Lenore]

Hello folks,

Thomas Benbow of Grendon Bishop, or Winslow, Herefordshire, died in 1835 at Winslow, and I am seeking his widow and children in the 1841 Census.

These were Mary Benbow, aged about 41
William Benbow, aged about 24
Jane Benbow, aged about 9

In 1851 they turned up in Westminster, MDX for the census, but we don't know where they were in 1841. Any clues?

With thanks,

Lenore

[jeeb]

Hi Lenore,
Jane's age is given as 22 on the 1851 census so this maybe a possibility for her in 1841. She is seemingly living on her own which seems a bit strange.

HO107/1179/10 Folio 39 Page 29
Swindon, Wilts
Jane Benbow age 13 not born in county.

There is a Mary Benbow aged 35 in Rotherhithe, Southwark, Surrey. She is a F S (female servant) Not born in county, which could possibly be the mother.
Ref HO107/1067 Folio 16 Page 5

Cheers Jeremy

[Lenore]

Hi Lenore,
Jane's age is given as 22 on the 1851 census so this maybe a possibility for her in 1841. She is seemingly living on her own which seems a bit strange.

HO107/1179/10 Folio 39 Page 29
Swindon, Wilts
Jane Benbow age 13 not born in county.

There is a Mary Benbow aged 35 in Rotherhithe, Southwark, Surrey. She is a F S (female servant) Not born in county, which could possibly be the mother.
Ref HO107/1067 Folio 16 Page 5

Cheers JeremyHi Jeremy,

Do you mean that there was no other person in the household with Jane Benbow at all? It does indeed seem odd - but perhaps someone was away for the night? It goes withouth saying I wasn't expecting her to be in Wiltshire, but Herefordshire or near Westminster. I'll talk to my cousin about whether she thinks there was other family in Wiltshire.

The Mary Benbow in Rotherhithe is also a bit tricky - I don't know of any of her family being there (my cousins might have a better idea).

We know that when Mary's husband died in 1835 the two middle children were farmed out to an uncle and taken to America. The American branches of the family feel that Mary Benbow remarried, and that Jane never married and died in England, and they didn't know what became of William. However, we found Mary, William and Jane together in the 1851 Census, and Jane married in 1857. This gave the appearance of Mary having kept her eldest boy and the baby with her. There is a chance that William was an ex-nuptial child, and the Benbow uncle didn't want the responsibility, but the other thought is that at the age of 13 he could work and assist with an income.

I'll have a chat to my cousin and see what she thinks about these two 1841 Census entries.


With grateful thanks,

Lenore

[jeeb]

Hi Lenore,
I have had another look at Jane Benbow on the 1841 census and she is indexed as living alone but I would think she is actually living with William (30) & Mary (40) Bray.

The Mary Benbow in Rotherhithe (1841) looks promising. She is a servant to Richard Courteen, a solicitor living in Paradise Row. There is no other Mary Benbow in London on 1851 census, except yours, that matches the age unless of course she died or married in between censuses. Rotherhithe is relatively close to Westminster for a strong likelihood for someone to have moved there.

Jeremy

[Peter Goodey]

She is seemingly living on her own which seems a bit strange
I think my interpretation of the entry in the enumeration book would be that she was living with William and Mary Bray. There's a single slash after Mary Bray because the surname is changing and a double slash after Jane Benbow because she's the last entry in the house.

To my mind, the entry that follows Jane Benbow is difficult to explain but as we're not interested in him I don't suppose we need to worry about it.:)

[Peter Goodey]

Jeremy

My apologies. I didn't see your latest message. My fault for not pressing the refresh button :o

[Lenore]

Thank you Jeremy and Peter, your explanations are very useful.

I wonder if Mary Bray could be of interest by way of being a former Miss Benbow? I'll have a hunt round and see if I can turn up anything there.

I am rather warming to the idea of the Mary Benbow in Rotherhithe being the right one, despite expecting to find at least Mary and Jane together, if not with William. His occupation in 1851 appears to be tunnel miner navvy, according to my cousin. She can't think of a particular reason for Mary to be in Rotherhithe, other than the fact that several Benbow families left Grendon for London around this time, so she may have been within striking distance of relatives.

My grateful thanks to you both. My cousin and I are waiting with interest for Mary's death certificate to arrive, particularly to discover the informant.

Best wishes,

Lenore

[Lenore]

There is a Mary Benbow aged 35 in Rotherhithe, Southwark, Surrey. She is a F S (female servant) Not born in county, which could possibly be the mother.
Ref HO107/1067 Folio 16 Page 5
Cheers JeremyHi Jeremy and others,

Just a little update. We were awaiting a death certificate for what we thought to be our Mary Benbow who died in Westminster in 1857. This has arrived, and it is the woman we are chasing. She was aged 62, widow of Thomas Benbow, farmer, and the informant was her son, William Benbow.

The age of 51 in the 1851 Census was possibly a misreading of 57. In theory she ought to be about 46 in the 1841 Census, rounded to 45, rather than 35, but it may have been mistranscribed, perhaps. Not sure what to make of the Rotherhithe entry now - further work to be done, obviously.

Thank you for your interest.

Best wishes,

Lenore

[jeeb]

Hi Jeremy and others,



The age of 51 in the 1851 Census was possibly a misreading of 57. In theory she ought to be about 46 in the 1841 Census, rounded to 45, rather than 35, but it may have been mistranscribed, perhaps. Not sure what to make of the Rotherhithe entry now - further work to be done, obviously.

Thank you for your interest.

Best wishes,

Lenore

Hi Lenore,
Mary definitely has given her age as 51 on 1851 census. I have checked. It would seem she told a little fib so probably did in 1841 too!

Happy New Year.
Jeremy

[Lenore]

Hi Lenore,
Mary definitely has given her age as 51 on 1851 census. I have checked. It would seem she told a little fib so probably did in 1841 too!

Happy New Year.
JeremyHi Jeremy,

I may have it wrong, but I have been under the impression that there was an original collection document, transcribed to the schedule that we now see, and I thought perhaps there could have been a mistranscription at that stage - I certainly agree that the 1851 Census does show 51. She may well have fibbed then, and in 1841, or alternatively the 1841 Mary Benbow is a bit doubtful. We need to do a bit more work on it to see what else we can turn up that would tend to confirm, or not, that identification.

Thank you once again, and a Happy New Year to you.

Best wishes,

Lenore
in Hot, Hot, Hot, Melbourne.

[Peter Goodey]

I have been under the impression that there was an original collection document, transcribed to the schedule that we now see, and I thought perhaps there could have been a mistranscription at that stage

True and there could have been but there's no way of telling. However, all the advice on interpreting census returns is that ages are probably the least reliable item.

There's no reason why enumerators should have been OK at transcribing most of the household schedule except the age!

One should also be cautious about the age given on death certificates. The informant may simply not have known the exact age of the deceased.

[Lenore]

One should also be cautious about the age given on death certificates. The informant may simply not have known the exact age of the deceased.Hi Peter,

You are quite right, and no-one is more wary of anything at all on a death certificate than me - we get more details in Australian death certificates, so we see a wider range of errors and fibs. And so we will be looking for other corroborating (or otherwise) evidence, don't you worry about that.

And it's even hotter in Melbourne now than it was this morning.|blush|

Best wishes,

Lenore

[ziksby]

Hi
Only just picked up on this thread, but I have Benbows in my tree, including a Mary, William and Jane from the Grendon area. They emigrated in the 1840s and eventually settled in California. Look at my tree at www.tribalpages.com/tribes/ziksby (http://www.tribalpages.com/tribes/ziksby)
Regards
Roger

[jeeb]

Hi
Only just picked up on this thread, but I have Benbows in my tree, including a Mary, William and Jane from the Grendon area. They emigrated in the 1840s and eventually settled in California. Look at my tree at www.tribalpages.com/tribes/ziksby (http://www.tribalpages.com/tribes/ziksby)
Regards
Roger

Hi Roger,
I think only some of the family emigrated to America after the death of Thomas in 1835. Mary,(mother) William & Jane are in London on 1851 census and Mary Benbow, the widow of Thomas dies in London in 1857 and her son William is the informant on her death certificate.
Cheers, Jeremy

[Red Kite]

Hi Lenore, I have Herefordshire Benbows too. I wonder if you have made any progress since this thread.


I have had another look at Jane Benbow on the 1841 census and she is indexed as living alone but I would think she is actually living with William (30) & Mary (40) Bray.



I wonder if Mary Bray could be of interest by way of being a former Miss Benbow? I'll have a hunt round and see if I can turn up anything there.

I'm descended from James Benbow c1759 and Mary Bray b 1762 in Bromyard. They married in Bromyard in 1792 and lived in Winslow. I think it's possible that he is the James Benbow born 1759 in Grendon Bishop, son of Prestwood Benbow & Elizabeth Cook - if so he would be the uncle of your Thomas. (But I would need to 'kill off' James's first wife for this to work! However my James & Mary had children called Prestwood and Elizabeth so ...)

Anyway there were certainly Brays in Bromyard, so could it be that your 1841 Brays were connections of my Mary Bray ...

[Lenore]

Hi Red Kite,

Sorry for being slow to respond, I've been away. Now I have to contact my cousin to unravel this mystery (it's her family, not mine), so I'll do that and get back to you.

Best wishes,

Lenore

[Red Kite]

No worries, not been in much myself as my pc has been misbehaving. Will be interesting if we can manage to connect any of these people!