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  1. #1
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    Default Picketts of Witney, Oxfordshire

    I'm tracing my ancestor Susan Jane Pickett, born 24 June 1859 in Southleigh. She is listed on the 1861 and 1871 census (aged 11) but neither myself (nor her grandson who is also researching our family tree) can find a single thing on her anywhere after that.

    She arrived in Sydney in July 1886 on the John Elder and married my great-great grandfather William Henley (originally from Worplesdon, Surrey) a few weeks later. I have found her brother Amos in various census records, one of which has him placed in Nottinghamshire as a servant (farm labourer). Another brother Edwin, died suddenly at age 33. Her parents were Richard and Mary Ann Pickett.

    I am trying to find out what happened to her between the 1871 census and arriving here in 1886 with a view to discovering why she came to Sydney on her own and how she came to marry my g-g-grandfather only 3-4 weeks after arriving.

    Thanks for any help!!
    Mandy

  2. #2
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    Default

    No problem finding her in the 1881 census - spelling is a bit awry, that's all.

    RG11/772 f 46 p 9

    She's a general servant in Woking.

    Worplesdon and Woking are quite close (4 or 5 miles).

  3. #3
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    Default

    Thanks Peter!! Appreciate your response. I don't know what that reference means though, how do I use it?

  4. #4
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    The census reference is vital for record keeping - it allows others to find the record even on a different system or on old trusty microfilm.

    On Ancestry the search page headed "1881 England Census" - providing you click "Show advanced" - has fields for the census reference.

    Piece: 772
    Folio: 46
    Page number: 9

    By the way, I found her by entering Susan (no surname), born 1859, Oxfordshire. She pops up on about the second page.

    Ancestry doesn't seem to want to accept "Southleigh, Oxfordshire" as a valid place but if you enter Southleigh as a keyword, she appears at the top of the list.

  5. #5
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    Default

    Oh gosh! I tried every other spelling variation of Pickett except "Perket"!! I even tried Sarah instead of Susan as I've found her that way before as well. Thanks so much!
    You're quite right about Ancestory not accepting Southleigh, but it accepts Witney
    Very grateful for your help. I had suspected for some time that she went into service and now I have proof. Her grandson (my cousin) will be very happy too!!!

  6. #6
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    but it accepts Witney
    But that doesn't help. She was born in Southleigh (or South Leigh), not Witney.

    Don't be misled, the significance of Witney is that it was the name of the registration district (and the poor law union) that covered Southleigh. Otherwise it's not relevant.

    For future searching, you may want to bear in mind that South Leigh was a chapelry in the parish of Stanton Harcourt.

  7. #7
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    Ok. Thanks for that tip, Peter. It's just that I've found everything else about the family by searching using Witney. It's sometimes difficult for us Aussies to understand the significance of all the place names - it can get quite confusing at times

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