mfwebb
29-01-2008, 3:09 PM
My name is Malcolm WEBB and am new to this forum although I have been researching my family history for 15 years on and off.
My primary research is my WEBB family in Bedfordshire and I have lost my 2x great grandparents who appear to have disappeared off the face of the earth between 1843 and 1851.
John WEBB and Ann BUTTS were married in Houghton Conquest Bedfordshire in October 1843 (I have their marriage certificate). Their son Charles WEBB (my great grandfather) was born in December 1843 in Houghton Conquest Bedfordshire. I have his birth certificate and confirmation of his baptism on 31st December 1843 from the Parish Records.
John WEBB and his family do not appear together in the 1851 Bedfordshire census (I checked this manually at the Bedford records office in 1996).
I subsequently found Charles WEBB aged 17 living with a GOODMAN family in Hillmorton Warwickshire in the 1861 census once it became available on-line. Charles is described as "son in law" to the Head Thomas Goodman.
Checking Thomas GOODMAN in the 1851 census, I found them at the same address but Charles aged 7 was listed as Charles GOODMAN son of the Head.
So, it appears that my ggf Charles WEBB was "adopted" by Thomas GOODMAN and his wife sometime between his birth in 1843 and the 1851 census. I have not found any connection whatsoever between the WEBBs of Houghton Conquest and the GOODMANs of Hillmorton.
I need to know what happened to Charles' parents. I cannot find them together in any census after Charles was born in 1843. I cannot positively locate a death for either Ann Webb or John Webb. I ordered a death certificate for the death of an Ann Webb in Bedfordshire between 1843 and 1851 but it is the wrong Ann. I have checked the prison records, transportation records and workhouse registers for Bedfordshire without success. Unfortunately for me, the names John Webb and Ann WEBB are common names and are also a common combination.
Has anyone any suggestions of how I could locate the whereabouts of either of them after 1843? Also, does anyone have any information about "adoption" in the mid 1850's? I am aware that there was no formal adoption procedure at that time and there is unlikely to be any written record.
Many thanks for any help anyone can suggest.
My primary research is my WEBB family in Bedfordshire and I have lost my 2x great grandparents who appear to have disappeared off the face of the earth between 1843 and 1851.
John WEBB and Ann BUTTS were married in Houghton Conquest Bedfordshire in October 1843 (I have their marriage certificate). Their son Charles WEBB (my great grandfather) was born in December 1843 in Houghton Conquest Bedfordshire. I have his birth certificate and confirmation of his baptism on 31st December 1843 from the Parish Records.
John WEBB and his family do not appear together in the 1851 Bedfordshire census (I checked this manually at the Bedford records office in 1996).
I subsequently found Charles WEBB aged 17 living with a GOODMAN family in Hillmorton Warwickshire in the 1861 census once it became available on-line. Charles is described as "son in law" to the Head Thomas Goodman.
Checking Thomas GOODMAN in the 1851 census, I found them at the same address but Charles aged 7 was listed as Charles GOODMAN son of the Head.
So, it appears that my ggf Charles WEBB was "adopted" by Thomas GOODMAN and his wife sometime between his birth in 1843 and the 1851 census. I have not found any connection whatsoever between the WEBBs of Houghton Conquest and the GOODMANs of Hillmorton.
I need to know what happened to Charles' parents. I cannot find them together in any census after Charles was born in 1843. I cannot positively locate a death for either Ann Webb or John Webb. I ordered a death certificate for the death of an Ann Webb in Bedfordshire between 1843 and 1851 but it is the wrong Ann. I have checked the prison records, transportation records and workhouse registers for Bedfordshire without success. Unfortunately for me, the names John Webb and Ann WEBB are common names and are also a common combination.
Has anyone any suggestions of how I could locate the whereabouts of either of them after 1843? Also, does anyone have any information about "adoption" in the mid 1850's? I am aware that there was no formal adoption procedure at that time and there is unlikely to be any written record.
Many thanks for any help anyone can suggest.