Showing posts with label Gardner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gardner. Show all posts

Thursday, July 13, 2023

Looking for Little Marks on Census Pages

In recent months, my local library (bless them!) has acquired a dozen genealogy books from Pen & Sword, focusing on family history research across the pond. One by one, I'm borrowing these books and trying new approaches for tracing UK ancestors in my family tree and my husband's tree.

Learning about the UK Census

This week I read Emma Jolly's excellent, detailed Guide to Tracing Your Family History Using the Census. The 2020 edition is updated from her earlier book, and explores the specifics and context of Census documents from England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. This guide gave me a better appreciation of who and what I might actually find in the Census records. 

Emma's book goes beyond the actual Census questions to explain why various questions were added or changed every ten years, and what to be aware of when interpreting answers. Because I'm a Bronx native, her summary of historical context was especially helpful for understanding the background and evolution of UK Census documentation from early days to the 20th century. 

Just as important, Emma decoded the marks delineating separate households and separate dwellings, which I had not paid close attention to when I originally looked at these Census documents. I know the little clues to check on US Census documents (such as the X in a circle in the 1940 US Census, showing which household member spoke with the enumerator) but I'm far less familiar with Census documents from elsewhere.

Check those little marks

With Emma's guide in mind, I revisited the 1871 Census of England page for Sarah Harris Slatter Shuttleworth (1814-1872), hubby's great-great grandmother, and her second husband, John Shuttleworth (1812-1878). The transcribed record shows three names of grandchildren in the household, but I *always* try to look at the actual image if available.

As shown directly above, John and Sarah were enumerated at the bottom of a Census page, with only two grandkids listed. I've circled in red the double diagonal lines that indicate the end of a dwelling, just above John's name. Notice there's no mark after the second grandchild, who's the last name on the page.

At the top of the next page is the third grandkid, and near her name, a single diagonal line--end of a household, not end of a dwelling. Three more names are listed in a separate household at same dwelling, then a double diagonal line--end of that dwelling.

Small marks but meaningful, because not seeing the end of a household was a reminder to check the next Census page for the remaining grandchild who was actually listed on the transcribed record. Folks who regularly search these UK Census documents are, I'm sure, very aware of these small marks, but I'm still getting comfortable with the context and nuances of genealogy documents from across the pond.

Note: Shuttleworth became a middle name for a few boys born in later generations. Seems to me that the grandchildren wanted to honor their step-grandfather by perpetuating his surname. He must have been a positive influence!

Thursday, December 9, 2021

My 1921 English Census Research

The 1921 Census for England and Wales will be released on January 6,  through FindMyPast.com, with a fee charged for accessing records. 

However, there will be several designated places (such as the Manchester Central Library) where the public can view and save 1921 Census records for free

My Manchester cousins are planning to look for our mutual immigrant ancestors in the 1921 Census. They have also offered to help me by looking for several ancestors in my husband's family, including descendants of his great-grandfather. I'm making a list and checking it twice! 

John Slatter Sr. and his children

My husband's great-grandfather John Slatter Sr. (1837-1901) was born in Oxfordshire, England and died in Cleveland, Ohio at the home of his youngest daughter, my hubby's grandma. John and his wife, Mary Shehen Slatter (1837-1889) had six children together: Thomas, Albert, John, Henry, Adelaide, and Mary. 

Five of the six children left England. Two settled in Ohio, three settled in Canada.  But one of the children doesn't seem to have left England, so far as I can determine.

John's probate as a clue

At top is a probate listing for John Slatter Sr, filed in Ohio in 1902, months after his death. Notice that five children are listed as heirs. Those are the five children I can account for. 

Thomas, however, is not listed. Very likely this is because Thomas had passed away before his father, but I don't know for sure. 

I do know Thomas John Slatter was taken in by his father's mother, Sarah Harris Slatter Shuttleworth, by the time of the 1871 UK Census. This saved Thomas John from going into the poorhouse along with his siblings and his mother.

Unfortunately, his grandma Sarah died in 1872 and at this point, I haven't definitively located Thomas John Slatter. I do have some leads to check out, including a possible stint in the military, but more research is needed to connect the dots.

Slatter ancestors on my 1921 list

In addition to searching the 1921 Census for a possible clue to Thomas John Slatter, I'll be looking for his cousins in the Slatter family: Thomas Albert Slatter (who I found in the 1939 register), Fanny Slatter Gardner (who died in 1931), and John Shuttleworth Slatter (a WWI veteran who died in 1927), among others.

So early 2022 is shaping up to be a period of intense Census searches for my hubby's family and, in April, for my family!