Looking for "Atkin"

[L D Atkin]

I am new to the British Genealogy site. I live in the state of Michigan in the USA. I have been trying to find information on my ancestors in England with the surname "Atkin" My great grandfather Fredrick Atkin (birth date August 17, 1852 in Lincolnshire (possibly Helpringham)to Fredrick and Sarah Atkin) came to the United States in 1882 with his wife Sarah and two daughters Annie and Mary Elizabeth. I keep hitting roadblocks trying to research my great-great grandparents (Fredrick and Sarah) who stayed in England. It appears the Atkin name was prevalent in that area at that time and "Fredrick" was a popular name. I would appreciate any help or suggestions you might have to continue my search.

Thank you,
Larry Atkin

[Pam Downes]

Hi Larry,

Welcome to British-Genealogy.

Apologies for not yet replying to your PM but my life is a little hectic at the moment.

I've done a bit of research but,as you say, Atkin is a fairly common name, and sometimes has an extra 's' added to the end, the same way Atkins can sometimes lose the 's', in records. So, some questions, to enable me to positively join the dots and ensure that I am looking at the correct person as regards the Fredrick allegedly born in 1852.

Have you found him in the 1881 census with his wife and children. How old are he, his wife, and the children, and do you have the birth certificate of one of them to confirm their mother's maiden name?
Do you have the marriage certificate of Frerick-allegedly-born-1852 and Sarah? If so, what is his father's name and occupation? And are ages given for Fredrick and Sarah?
Have you found Fredrick-allegedly-born-1852 in the 1861 and 1871 census, with him hopefully being with his parents in at least 1861?

I know I might sound harsh asking these questions but although I've found a Fredrick born in Helpringham he wasn't born in 1852 so I need to find out exactly how you've come to the conclusion you have about Fredrick's birth year, place of birth, and parent's names because I may be looking at someone completely different.

Until you have a record that ties Frerick-allegedly-born-1852 to Fredrick senior and Sarah senior you stand the risk of looking for the wrong people.

More to follow.

Pam

[L D Atkin]

Pam,
Thank you so much for your reply. I hope "hectic" just means things are temporarily out of the normal. I do not mean to add additional work for you so there is no rush for getting the information.

I have a copy of my great grandfather's obituary which has much of the information you ask about. Also, I have a copy of the page from the Atkin Family Bible which has some of the marriage information on it. I tried to copy and paste them here, but with no success. Do you know if there is a way of doing it?

Both my great-great grandfather and great grandfather were named Frederick and they both married women named Sarah. In the obituary for my great grandfather, it states he was born August 17, 1852 in Helpringham, Lincolnshire, England. On May 22, 1878 he married Sarah Ann Gilbert at the Primitive Methodist Chapel in Gainsborough. They immigrated to the US in May 1882. They had three daughters, Mary Elizabeth (Lizzie born June 15, 1876), Mary Elizabeth (August 22, 1879), and Alice (born in the US October 31, 1882). Sarah Ann died on November 14, 1883. His occupation was listed as agricultural laborer.

I did find a family with the correct information in the 1851 Helpringham census, but I have had no luck finding an 1861, 1871, or 1881 census too compare them. I have been using ancestry.com and familysearch.com. In addition, as I stated in my original message I am at a standstill trying to find any information about my great-great grandfather and beyond.

I hope this information helps. Thank you for your interest and time. I truly appreciate it.

Larry

[almach]

Hi Larry, and welcome to Brit-Gen Forums.

I think these are the census returns for your ancestors, what do you think?

Frederick the younger's age is different to the age you have, that isn't unusual as obituaries are only as accurate as the info given by the informant, also folks back then didn't celebrate their birthdays, consequently, they often weren't certain of their age, it was often guess work along the lines of born about x year.

1861, Helpringham RG 9; Piece: 2346; Folio: 15; Page: 23;
All born Helpringham, except Sarah (wife and mother) born Ruskington.
Frederic Atkin 33, ag.lab
Sarah Atkin 33
Betsey Atkin 10
James W Atkin 8
Frederic F Atkin 6
John G Atkin 4
Sarah Ann Atkin 2

1871, Little Hale, Lincolnshire.RG10; Piece: 3352; Folio: 125; Page: 3
Frederick Adkin, 44
Sarah Adkin, 44
James Adkin, 18
George Adkin, 14, Helpringham (John G, 1862?)
Charles Adkin, 9, Helpfingham
Henry Adkin, 5 Little Hale
Felix Adkin, 1 Little Hale
Frederick the younger is missing, most likely working away from home.

1881, Misterton, Nottinghamshire. RG11; Piece: 3294; Folio: 19; Page: 1
Frederick Atkin 26, ag.lab, Elpringham Fen (note indexed and original census sheet spelling)
Sarah A. Atkin 24. Misterton
Annie Atkin 5, Misterton
Mary E. Atkin 1. Misterton
Charles E. Atkin 19, brother, farm servant, Elpringham Fen

[christanel]

Hi Larry and welcome to Brit-Gen

To upload an image to the forums the first step is to make sure that you are in Go Advanced mode on the Brit-Gen thread where you want to place the photo. Click on the picture frame in the row of images above the reply box. (6 from the RH side. The box that appears requires a URL address.
You have to upload your photo/image to a free site which will provide a URL address. I use Postimage which is very simple.
On the home page of Postimage click on 'Choose images' then find and click on the file you want to upload where you have the photo stored on your computer eg Pictures. Then click on the particular folder that holds your picture and Open it. Choose your photo/image, click on it and click on Open. You are now taken back to the Postimage page where you are given a choice of 9 links. Click on the URL 'Hotlink for forum' Now right click on the URL address and then click on Copy. Go back to the reply box on the Brit-Gen thread and in the URL box right click on your mouse and from the menu click on paste. The URL for your photo is now ready to be posted on the forum along with any information you have typed in to accompany it.
I hope I have explained this clearly enough for you to have a go. There are other free sites from which to upload images.

Christina

[helachau]

First, a very warm welcome to Brit-gen.
Almach
I was going to post the 3 Census findings you've found for '61, '71 and '81, also noting John G in '61 is George in '71 and Frederick has gone missing in '71.
The mother's surname is Jackson and leads to -
1. a marriage registration of Frederick Atkins and Sarah Jackson, December Quarter 1848, Registration District Sleaford, vol 14 page 949
2. a birth registration of Frederick Jackson Adkin, September Quarter 1854, registration district Sleaford, vol 7a page 368 - mother's maiden name Jackson
(Helpringham falls within the Sleaford registration district)

The 1854 birth registration does not fit the specific date of birth posted for Frederick (17 Aug 1852) but yet to find a better fit.

[Pam Downes]

Firstly, many thanks to Christina for posting details of how to upload an image. Saved me having to remember exactly where and how I'd bookmarked previous postings of the instructions.

Secondly, Fredrick junior in 1871.
Census reference RG10/3319 folio 33 page 1. Living Mallard Hurn, Donington.
Frederick Atkin, boarder, 15, farm servant (indoor domestic), born Helpringham.

Thirdly, a minor, but as it happens a very important, difference in Alma's 1861 transcription.
Frederic's second initial is J, not F.

Fourthly,
It's only been as I'm typing this reply that I realise the 1871 census entry for Fred senior gives the surname as Adkin
Had I seen that earlier I might not be saying -

And, finally - drum roll - helachau.

a birth registration of Frederick Jackson Adkin, September Quarter 1854, registration district Sleaford, vol 7a page 368 - mother's maiden name Jackson

That would explain why I couldn't find birth registrations for any of the children. Found some baptisms in the online Helpringham parish registers, but no birth regs.
One of the children's names is very distinctive - James William Baker - followed by Atkin in the baptism record and Adkin in the GRO Index.

1851 census
HO107/2101 folio 289 page 18
Living in Helpringham.
Frederic Atkin, 24, agricultural labourer
Sarah, 24
Mary, 1,
Elizabeth, 3 months
Fred and the girls born Helpringham. Sarah says born Donnington. However, in 1861 and 1871 Sarah says born Ruskington and the next village to Ruskington is Dorrington which is more probably correct than Donnington (Donington as a Lincolnshire village exists only with one N after the first O.)

So, Larry, your homework for the coming weekend is to take out a month's subscription to Findmypast (FMP) because they have loads of Lincolnshire stuff online - both indexes and transcriptions.
Go to 'All record sets' and search for 'Lincolnshire'. Browse parish records allows you to select a place, select whether you want baptisms, marriages, or burials, and years plus/minus. The very early registers had everything in the same register, and you have to have patience trying to find the entry you want; from 1754 marriages and banns should be in their own register; 1813 onwards baptisms and burials should be in their own registers. In most, but not all, churches from 1 JUly 1837 the marriage registers copy the format of the marriage certificates issued by the GRO at the start of civil registration.

You can also search the Lincolnshire baptisms, marriages and burials indexes but you won't necessarily pick up all variants of the name(s) you are looking for so it's always a good idea to work your way through the pages of the individual PRs. Check out the other Lincs records available to look at - can't remember what they all are.

Neither of the Fred/Sarah marriages are available online. Fred junior because he married in a non-conformist church, and Fred senior because the church has yet to deposit the register at Lincoln Archives.
You can find a few details about Fred senior's marriage under Atkins in the Sleaford district spreadsheet at
https://mi.lincolnshiremarriages.org.uk/

To order copies of the marriage certificates start at
https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl
to find the registration district, quarter, volume and page numbers then head to
https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/c...ates/login.asp
to order.
All marriage certificates cost £11.00
Early births (1837-1934) and deaths (1837-1957) can be obtained for £7.00 if you opt for a no-frills black-and-white copy. For that click the PDF option. (Pretty-coloured, certified, ones cost £11.00.)
Always quote the name as given in the index (e.g. Adkin in the case of Fred junior's birth), otherwise you'll be told that no entry can be found.

Once you've found out Fred senior's father name (from that marriage index) have a look at the various censuses, and then have a search of the various Lincs records on FMP to see what you can find. If you're not sure of anything, ask.
And when you think you've solved some of the puzzle, come back and tell us what you've found, and we (probably me!) will check for you.

Have fun.

Pam

[L D Atkin]

Alma,

Thank you for the information. I have seen some of the information in my search, but I am skeptical because Fredrick's obituary states he was born in 1852. The census you found indicates 1855. I will look into it further and compare it with the other information I have found.

Larry

[L D Atkin]

Helachau,

Thank you. I have seen Sarah Jackson's name before and also Frederick Jackson. I cannot definitively say she is my great-great grandmother quite yet until I have a few more facts in place. Some information I have found indicates both Fred and Sarah were born around 1826, so marrying in 1848 sounds about right.

Larry

[L D Atkin]

Christina,

Thank you for the detailed information. I will give it a try soon.

Larry