Surname of Hemans? on baptism record

[urbanhippiedown]

Hi,

I live a long way from Yorkshire, but I am descended from a man from Cleaveland Yorkshire. His name was Thomas Foster. Going with what I do know. He was buried in the ghost town in the West Australian goldfields in 1902 and aged 46. I have recently found out he is in the Anglican section! Small info but useful and hence born 1856 is likely. I have searched and searched for his family in Yorkshire to no avail. On his marriage cert in Australia there are no parents mentioned. Recently I did find a Thomas Foster baptised in Church of England in Whorlton in Cleaveland with mother of " Mary Hemans". I find this an odd surname and of course can not find any Mary Hemans marrying a Foster at all around that time in England (by 10 years swing). On the baptism record it says "married woman seperated". There is no Hemans mother in the GRO or registration district of Stokesley mentioned at all. In Yorkshire what other surnames could "Hemans" be? I have tried "Hayman"

[Lesley Robertson]

Welcome to the British Genealogy Forum.
Just a quick suggestion - thinking about people who spoke their names using one accent to clerks who were used to different accents, I’d be looking for other variants such as Herman/Herman’s, etc. Try one of the databases that allow variant searches - FamilySearch for example.

[Pam Downes]

Hello, and welcome to British-Genealogy.

Congratulations on finding that Whorlton is in Stokesley registration district. Had I absorbed that piece of information properly, I could have saved myself a few minutes searching for the answer!

Firstly, clarification for anyone wishing to help in the search.

The baptism entry is available online at Findmypast. Search for Thomas Foster, with surname Hemans, baptised in 1856. (I searched in the parish baptisms section of birth, marriage, death and parish records, but is should also be found in the Yorkshire baptisms record set.)
Baptism took place 30 November 1856, in the parish of Whorlton-in-Cleveland, child's Christian name, Thomas Foster. Parent's Christian name Mary, surname Hemans. Abode Potto.
Where you normally find the father's occupation a note says "married woman - separated from her husband".

There is a birth registration for a Thomas Hannan, Stokesley registration district, September quarter 1856. Mother's maiden name Koony. (Another name that I think was spelt on a 'well, it sounds a bit like that' basis by the vicar. )
The surname Cooney certainly exists, but no B, M, or D on FreeBMD for Koony between 1838 and 1856.

It might be worth goings through some of the other pages in the parish register for similar names to Hemans.
You can also browse the registers for other nearby parishes for baptisms, marriages and burials by opting for the 'Yorkshire Parish Registers and Bishop's Transcripts Browse' record set and selecting a parish.
For ones next to Whorlton, check out the map at https://www.familysearch.org/mapp/
You want the Whorlton in Yorkshire.

Hannah is a surname, as well as a girl's first name.

The English are a law unto themselves when it comes to pronouncing names. We add an H sound to the beginning of names (places and personal) when they begins with a vowel, and then just as easily drop the H sound when the name does begin with an H.

[Jomot1]

I can see only one child in the right area & timeframe with the two forenames 'Thomas Foster', and that's this one:

COOPER, THOMAS FOSTER (no mmn) GRO Reference: 1856 J Quarter in STOKESLEY Volume 09D Page 436

The lack of mmn indicates an illegitimate birth, and while we usually assume this means a single (never married) woman, I've also seen it presented this way for the illegitimate child of a married woman.

[Jomot1]

Hi,
I live a long way from Yorkshire, but I am descended from a man from Cleaveland Yorkshire.

Can I just ask, how do you know he was from Cleveland?

[Pam Downes]

Can I just ask, how do you know he was from Cleveland?

In addition to Jomot1's question, I'm also confused by

His name was Thomas Foster.

When he married and died, were those his two first names with a surname you haven't told us about, or was his first name simply Thomas with a surname of Foster?

I know people change their surname (2x great-granddad reverted back to his birth surname as he was illegitimate though his parents married on the day he was baptised and it was a pure stroke of luck that led me to him in the 1861 census) but there must be a missing link which you haven't told us about to link a 'Thomas Foster' to that entry in the Whorlton register.

[christanel]

Is this your Thomas Foster
Death
Thomas Foster
Birth Place - England
Death Date - 26 Jun 1902
Death Place - Mount Morgans, Laverton Shire, Western Australia
Cemetery - Mount Morgans Cemetery
Burial or Cremation Place - Mount Morgans, Laverton Shire, Western Australia,
Spouse - Sarah Eliza Price
Children - George Henry Harold Foster and Horace Marshal Foster

is this his arrival
Thomas Foster
Age 27
Birth Year 1857
Arrived 16 March 1884
Arrival Place - Queensland, Australia
Ship - Shannon
Title Assisted Immigration 1848 to 1912

Hmmmm There are other Thomas Fosters in Australia, born around the same time, so need to watch out for them.

Christina

[christanel]

I am confused by the birthplace as Cleveland because according to FreeBMD it only existed as a district between Dec 1936 to March 1974. The parishes program Parlloc doesn't recognise it either., with or without an 'a'
Christina

[Pam Downes]

I am confused by the birthplace as Cleveland because according to FreeBMD it only existed as a district between Dec 1936 to March 1974. The parishes program Parlloc doesn't recognise it either., with or without an 'a'
Christina

You're right in that Cleveland doesn't exist as an actual town/village. Just as a registration district and an archdeaconry.

England can be a very confusing place because there are lots of 'sub-divisions', some ecclesiastical, some civil.
One of the the best examples I've seen is this one for Waxham.
https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/NFK/Waxham/White1883
As at the time I found that, I only knew of counties and registration districts, I really had trouble getting my head round all of that. (In the last twenty years, it's gradually all made sense.)

When you have multiple places with the same name they often have an 'addition' to their name to help differentiate between the two, e.g. in Lincolnshire you have Asgarby by Sleaford and Asgarby by Spilsby.

Hence the Whorlton-in-Cleveland, to distinguish between the Whorlton in Durham (about 25 miles away as the crow flies). The Whorlton in the North Riding is in the archdeaconry of Cleveland.
https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YK...ton/Whorlton35

Hope that's all as clear as mud.

[Jomot1]

I lived in Cleveland when it existed as a County, so I know the area reasonably well. Before Cleveland it was Teesside, which itself was created from parts of Durham & parts of North Yorkshire (I was born in North Yorkshire but my sister was born a mile away in Durham. Both PoBs later fell within the boundaries of Teesside & then Cleveland).

Cleveland is often incorporated into various place names because of the Cleveland Hills, and trying to identify it as a distinct place/area is very difficult as it can stretch from the North East coast (eg Redcar) to quite far inland (eg Osmotherly), although its fair to say that the bulk of it would formerly have been classed as part of North Yorkshire.