Prisoner of Debt (Morning Advertiser)

[toaster]

Also, I just noticed that in the '51 census, it places their daughter Eliza as being born in Birmingham.

[christanel]

Also, I just noticed that in the '51 census, it places their daughter Eliza as being born in Birmingham.

LAWTON, ELIZA mother's maiden name WHITTALL
GRO Reference: 1841 Sept quarter in BIRMINGHAM Vol 16 Page 291

1851 also says their son William born Birmingham c1845 but I can't find a record with same mmn for him
Christina

[christanel]

As Mary Ann was born Lancashire I looked on Lancs OPC for a possible marriage and there is this

Marriage: 30 Jan 1837 St Mary the Virgin, Eccles, Lancashire, England
Ira Lawton - this parish
Mary Ann Woolstenholme - (X), this parish
Witness: Thomas Gorse; James Chalmers
Married by Banns by: Geo. Benj. Sandford, Curate
Register: Marriages 1836 - 1837, Page 19, Entry 55
Source: Manchester Central Library

Christina

[christanel]

Birth registration of Sarah age 2 on the 1851 census?
LAWTON, Sarah mmn WOLSTENHOLME
March quarter 1849 reg dist STEPNEY Vol 2 page 550

LAWTON, ELIZA mother's maiden name WHITTALL
GRO Reference: 1841 Sept quarter in BIRMINGHAM Vol 16 Page 291

Unless the registrar made a hash of the mother's maiden surname this can't be the Eliza on the 1851 census. Needs looking into.

Christina

[toaster]

As Mary Ann was born Lancashire I looked on Lancs OPC for a possible marriage and there is this

Marriage: 30 Jan 1837 St Mary the Virgin, Eccles, Lancashire, England
Ira Lawton - this parish
Mary Ann Woolstenholme - (X), this parish
Witness: Thomas Gorse; James Chalmers
Married by Banns by: Geo. Benj. Sandford, Curate
Register: Marriages 1836 - 1837, Page 19, Entry 55
Source: Manchester Central Library

Christina

Thanks! I put an order in for Eliza's birth certificate. Not sure whether it will reveal much, but let's see!

My hunch was that both Ira, Mary, and their son Ira were probably all born in France because the 1841 census says they were not from the UK, and son Ira(John) was listed as being born in France in the '51 census. But with the marriage entry for Lancashire, I'm no longer sure! The Nepoleonic war had ended not too long before, and was probably fresh in the mind of many people, so I imagine, anyone from France would have tried to integrate, and hide their French roots.

I feel like there are two Lawton families tied up in all of these records. Not sure!

[christanel]

The 1841 census does not say Ira and Mary Ann were not born in the UK. It says they were not born in the county they were living in. If they were not born in the UK the enumerator would have done what he did for young Ira and either put foreign parts or the country of birth.
Christina

[toaster]

The 1841 census does not say Ira and Mary Ann were not born in the UK. It says they were not born in the county they were living in. If they were not born in the UK the enumerator would have done what he did for young Ira and either put foreign parts or the country of birth.
Christina

Ah I really should have checked this before coming to any conclusions. So Ira and Mary Ann could have been born anywhere in the UK, but not in the same place as the 1941 census!

I was searching this just before your reply to understand the Foreign Parts designation (realising that the three of them would be designated the same if they were all from France)! So where does Foreign Parts refer to? I guess it referred to the British Empire at the time?

Edit: Read county as country - So they were born in the UK but not in the same place as the census. Apologies!

Double edit: Foreign parts must refer to anything outside of the UK, so France makes sense. Perhaps something to do with the war.

[christanel]

Hi
Yes you've got it Foreign parts = anywhere outside of the UK. If it is Scotland or Ireland the enumerator usually puts that. The 1851 census gives Ira's birthplace as Cheshire and Mary Ann's as Accrington Lancashire so I think the Cheshire baptism is the correct one for your Ira and the marriage is also yours as back then people tended to get married in the bride's parish.
So they went abroad sometime after 30 Jan 1837 and were back in England sometime prior to Sunday 6 June 1841 when the census was taken.

[toaster]

Hi
Yes you've got it Foreign parts = anywhere outside of the UK. If it is Scotland or Ireland the enumerator usually puts that. The 1851 census gives Ira's birthplace as Cheshire and Mary Ann's as Accrington Lancashire so I think the Cheshire baptism is the correct one for your Ira and the marriage is also yours as back then people tended to get married in the bride's parish.
So they went abroad sometime after 30 Jan 1837 and were back in England sometime prior to Sunday 6 June 1841 when the census was taken.

So as it stands, the story you've helped me so much with is that; Ira was born in the UK (possibly in Cheshire). He Married Mary Ann (Wolstanholme/Whittal), they had at least 4 Children together, Ira, Sarah, William, Eliza. Ira was born outside of the UK, possibly in France. They moved from Lancashire to Cheshire to Birmingham and eventually to London. Mary died in 1854, at which point Ira fell on hard times financially, though he remarried again to Sarah Ann Johnson, then his son Ira died in 1856.

I can't find any mention to him after that, Ira, or Iva! Perhaps he carried on using the name John? Though in his second marriage he uses his name Ira.

Edit; I know this is not an exact science, but this is the story of Ira Lawton and his family as of now.

I do wonder why he and his son are listed as John in the 1851 census though!

[christanel]

If you still have some credits on FMP you could try searching for John Lawton. There are quite a few criminal records and also some Poor House ones. Whether they are anything to do with your man or not I don't know. I don't have a sub so can only see the index.
Maybe Ira adopted the name John when he started having money troubles? And if creditors were after him he changed his son's name so there wasn't an Ira in the household. Or it may be the enumerator made a mistake and because of local accents he misheard the name.
The daughter Eliza is in Birmingham as a servant in 1861 from memory.
Christina
C