Same man; 2 addresses in 1851 Census!

[tony vines]

I am in the process of checking who the right parents of one of my great grandmothers were, however in the 1851 E & W census the father seems to appear twice at two different addresses. He was called William Humphrey (the surname being spelt Humphry, Humphreys and Humphries at different times) and he was born around 1800-1803 in a hamlet called Clipston, Northamptonshire.

It is probable that he was in the Leicestershire area because my great grandmother Eliza was born there in 1840. Sure enough the FMP search reveals a man who fits his description in Harding St. Leicester. He is described as a "baker". Strangely, living in the same property is a Priscilla Blackbourn described as "daughter-in-law" but who is "unmarried" and I can find no earlier reference to her in the family albeit she was living in the same multiple dwelling as (what may be) the same Humphrey family in the 1841 census. An Eliza who fits my parameters is also in the 1851 household.

The other 1851 find is a William Humphry living in a village called Houghton on the Hill, Leicestershire. The head of this household was Mary Smith, a baker, and William was described both as a servant and as a journeyman baker. Houghton is about 7 miles from Harding Street along the A47 and while bakers would need to be working very early in the morning, making it theoretically possible that he could have been at work on the morning of the census and home by the evening, it was 1851 so travel was much slower in those days.

It is possible that there were two men by the same name born in Clipston at around the same time but probably unlikely given that Clipston probably only had a population of a few hundred in 1800. The chances of both becoming bakers and moving to Leicestershire within a few miles of each other make the likelihood of there being two much less.

So, has anyone got any ideas about this conundrum please? I appreciate that there are other ways to prove the parentage but I am intrigued by the census entries.

Tony

[Lesley Robertson]

Was the Harding one HoH? If not, what was his relationship to the HoH?
I've seen double entries before when a man was away from home on census night. The family automatically put him in as HoH even though he was sleeping elsewhere, and then the HoH where he was sleeping also listed him.

BTW step children to the HoH were often called ...-in law in the 19th century. It doesn't necessarily indicate a relationship by marriage.

[tony vines]

Hi Lesley

Yes he was head in Harding St. I wondered whether that might be the case, although I've not come across double entries before.

Tony

[Lesley Robertson]

The other possibility that I've bee caught out by, was when a parish was home to a family for a while. Two brothers fathered sons within a year, both called their son after their father. I thought it was one male for ages, until I bought their birth &a marriage certa.

[tony vines]

Yes I'd thought along those lines but even if that had happened both sons would have had to have been born in the same years, married Elizabeths, become bakers and moved to Leicestershire. Not impossible but probably reduces the odds quite a lot of there being two of them.

I would come down firmly on the double counting theory if it weren't for the fact that Harding St. is in central old Leicester and Houghton on the Hill is 7 miles away, particularly as bakers would have to travel before dawn to get to work unless they lived at the bakery. Maybe he lived at Ms Smith's bakery during the week and came home at the weekends. Not sure how that trade operated in the days of poor transport.

PS The BG clock seems to have gone haywire - it's showing 2 hours fast.

[almach]

BTW step children to the HoH were often called ...-in law in the 19th century. It doesn't necessarily indicate a relationship by marriage.

It is possible Priscilla and the other Blackbourn/Blackburn children were William's step children. It is also possible both William and Elizabeth had been previously married. In 1841 I see there's a Robert Humphrey age 15 with the family, in 1851 I think he's in Southam, Warwickshire HO107; Piece: 2077; Folio: 321; Page: 19, where it says he's born Thorpe Mandeville, Northamptonshire.

More to follow, posting before I'm timed out.

[almach]

Name Robert Humfries
Christening Date 21 Nov 1824
Christening Place Thorpe-Mandeville, Northampton, England
Father's Name William Humfries
Mother's Name Anne

Name Robert Humphrey
Birth Date 1825
Age 27
Spouse's Name Hannah Austen
Spouse's Birth Date 1815
Spouse's Age 37
Event Date 14 Oct 1852
Event Place Brackley, Northampton, England
Father's Name William Humphry
Spouse's Father's Name John Austen

Robert and Hannah on census returns with children
1861: RG 9; Piece: 923; Folio: 167; Page: 4
1871: RG10; Piece: 1469; Folio: 164; Page: 4;

Obviously the above isn't proof and more research is required to establish if William was first married to an Anne, I do think it looks promising though.

[almach]

Haddon was the maiden name of Eliza and her brother William's, mother.

HUMPHREYS, ELIZA HADDON
GRO Reference: 1840 J Quarter in OF LEICESTER UNION Volume 15 Page 122

HUMPHREYS, WILLIAM HADDON
GRO Reference: 1838 S Quarter in LEICESTER UNION Volume 15 Page 100

[tony vines]

Thank you Lesley and Alma for your help. I had the Haddon connection but not the other ideas. May I ask Alma the source of the wedding details for Robert?

Tony

[almach]

Thank you Lesley and Alma for your help. I had the Haddon connection but not the other ideas. May I ask Alma the source of the wedding details for Robert?

Tony

Family Search, Tony.