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anyabekx
25-08-2007, 4:13 PM
Hello all,

My problem is that I've managed to trace my Clayton family back to the following person and I'm now stuck. I've contacted many different people and made lots of enquiries but I keep drawing a blank:

EDWARD CLAYTON, born/christened 21 Jan 1829 at All Saints, Wellington,
Shorpshire. (Born in the Poorhouse) His mother's name was ANN CLAYTON
(Servant). I have a copy of the original parish record and there's nothing else on there.

Edward can be found on the 1841 census living with the Aston family in
Wolverhampton. He is down as being an apprentice and of being born outside the county. No mention of his mother anywhere. On the other census' he was always down as being from Wellington or the Dawley area. On his marriage certificate there is no father's name.

I can't get any further back than this. It's possible that Edward ran away from home a the age of 11/12 years. There is a story that later on in life, Edward returned to the YORKSHIRE area (c1845/6) to visit his grandparents to ask for a loan to enable him to buy his own mine in the Dudley area. He was refused and apparently, because of this, he never spoke to nor spoke of his family again. I have since been told that it was very unlikely that Edward would have been able to buy a mine as mining rights were then held by the greater landowners. Lord Forester in the Much Wenlock, Dawley, Wellington area. The Earls of Sutherland in the Ketley, Wombridge and Lilleshall area and perhaps Lord Dudley or like in the West Midland area. Certainly the Earl of Dudley for Dudley. A mine might have been rented but it would have needed men of some substance to get together to form a mining company. However there must be some truth in the story but not quite as it has come down to me.

I've contacted both Shropshire and Staffordshire RO with regards to the Wellington Poorlaw records (1827-29) and apprentice records. I also have a copy of the Clayton family living in Wellington at the time of the 1821 census and there's only one Ann Clayton down, but she's 38 years old. Too old I think. I understand that I have very little information on Ann Clayton but it is my thinking that Edward must have know his mother or indeed lived with his grandparents to have known where to find them later on in life.

Does anyone have any idea where I could look now? Is there something I've missed?

As you can tell I'm really struggling with this!

Rebecca xx

bristolloggerheads
25-08-2007, 7:08 PM
Edward Clayton of Lilleshaw died 1721 and
William Clayton of Ketley died 1745 both left wills / inventories.

Peter

anyabekx
26-08-2007, 11:08 AM
Thanks. But I have no idea if those people are in my tree until I find some more info from the 1800s.

xx

ChrisKelly
26-08-2007, 12:09 PM
A couple of thoughts.
First, the Ann Clayton that you've identified isn't necessarily too old. One of my great grandmothers was 44 when she had my grandmother (one of 9 children). Another ancestor, a grt grt grandmother was still producing at 43 (and she had 11 children!) and yet another one was also 44 when she had her 9th. So, its' very possible!

Second, there are plenty of Claytons in Shropshire and quite a few called Ann. For example, here's some that appear in the 1851 census. Theoretically anyone of them could be your ancestor. Why not Ann born at Wroxeter in 1812 (living with her mother Mary)? What else do you know about her?
_______________________
Name / Parent or spouse names / Birth Year / Birthplace / Relation / Civil parish / County/Island
------------------------------
Ann Clayton / Henry / abt 1798 / Wroxeter, Shropshire, England / Wife / Eyton and Dryton Shropshire
Ann Clayton / William / abt 1805 / Cardington, Shropshire, England / Wife / Hadley Shropshire
Ann Clayton / Mary / abt 1812 / Wroxeter, Shropshire, England / Daughter / Rushton Shropshire
Ann Clayton / Robert / abt 1800 / Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England / Wife / Shrewsbury St Julian Shropshire
Anne Clayton / _ / abt 1809/ Bps Castle, Shropshire, England / Sister / Mellington Shropshire
-------------------------------

Hope that helps. Need more info really.

anyabekx
27-08-2007, 7:12 AM
I agree with you. It's quite possible that my Ann is the Ann living with her mother Mary. The thing is that all I know about her is her name and the fact that she was a servant and had some contection to Wellington, Shropshire.

Not much to go on really, is it?|banghead|

ChrisKelly
27-08-2007, 9:32 AM
If that's the case, then there's not a lot you can do. However, a couple of things to check if you haven't done so already.
1. Who were the witnesses at Edward's marriage? See if you can identify them and then track them down in every relevant census. Often, one or both witnesses are family relatives - a brother or sister - which could lead you to other relatives ...
2. Check later censuses (i.e. Edward's family) to see if Ann turns up as 'mother-in-law' or something like that. In my family history it's happened quite a few times.

Don't forget that as you don't know what happened to Ann, anything could have happened. She could have died in 1830 (check death certificates?) or lived until she was 90 or 100. She could have married. Basically, keep looking for some possible connections and maybe you'll get lucky.