I give up (for now)

[Clarinetguy]

I have spent a good amount of time on 2 commerical sites looking for William Ashworth (c.1814-1880). I have him on the 1841 and 1871 census but nothing in between. He moved to Yorkshire at some point after 1841.

He is to be found on HO107 / 82 / 11 / 17 and RG10 / 4854 / 64 / 1. If anyone is minded to have a search I should be grateful. If you find him it would be useful to know what techniques you used which I didn't try!

[arthurk]

I haven't cracked it, but I've come across one or two clues which might help you take it a bit further. First, though, if anyone else is having a look, the full reference for 1841 is HO107/82/7 fo11 p17 (in 1841 the piece number is subdivided into books).

I see from 1871 that William was a railway labourer. I have one of those too, and he went all over the country. I only managed to track him by children's birth places in a later census, but in this case, children are rather lacking.

However, the granddaughter Frances Alice Dixon, with them in 1871, was where I started looking. Her birth was registered in Newcastle with mmn Rumford, and this led me to the marriage of Ralph Nicholson Dixon and Mary Ann Rumford in Jun qtr 1859 in Leeds. The GRO indexes suggest another daughter, Sarah Townley Dixon, born Jun qtr 1860 in Rotherham; she and her parents are in Wetheral, CUL in the 1861 census, with Mary Ann aged 21, and born, like Elizabeth Ashworth, in Wilton, YKS.

Mary Ann Rumford's birth was registered in Dec qtr 1839 with no mmn, and there's a baptism record showing her as the illegitimate daughter of Elizabeth Rumford. It therefore seems likely that William Dixon married Elizabeth Rumford, but I haven't managed to track that down. It's not impossible that she may have married someone else first and then married William as a widow. But finding the marriage might give you a clue as to where they were living.

Anyway, that may give you a bit to go on. I'm afraid I need to stop now, so over to you or someone else.

[jacval]

Both Elizabeth + Mary living with Elizb's parents in 1841 + 51 census at Wilton Yorksh.

[elsinore]

The 1841 Census has William in Coates, Whittlesea.

The 1871 census has William born in Coates, Cambridgeshire.

1851 Census HO107 Piece 1765 Folio 542 Page 19

(J) William ASHWORTH aged 37 born Doddington, Cambridgeshire and residing in Benwick, Cambridgeshire.

Coates, Doddington and Benwick are all pretty close to each other to the south-east of Peterborough.

Looking at the 1851census image, there appears to have been some confusion with the entries for William and James ASHWORTH. Could the official have entered William ASHWORTH, then started to enter James, before realising his mistake and amending the first entry. Has the 'J' got deletion marks across it?

By the way, when I searched the 1851 Census on FMP for William ASHWORTH born Cambridgeshire 1816 (-/+2 years), there was only the one result above.

Peter

[arthurk]

Elizabeth in 1861 (I think): RG9/3653 fo32 p6 - age 41, unmarried, laundress in Wilton. Surname looks to be spelt Rhumpford, which may be near enough.

Still no sign of a marriage, though.

[Clarinetguy]

Thank you all for the pointers so far. I'll let you know how I get on. Plenty to go at now. I've found a marriage certificate online for Ralph Nicholson Dixon and Mary Ann Rumford 30th May 1859.

[geneius]

I agree with the above research 1861 is on ancestry