We see him here, we see him there

In England and Wales, the first census of the general population took place in 1801, then every ten years.  From 1841 onwards the given name and surname were recorded for each person.  The census date chosen was always a Sunday, when most people would be at home.  From 1851 onwards it was always at the end of March or beginning of April, before seasonal farm work would take many people away from their family.

Enumerators were recruited and each one was allocated a specific area, aiming for a route that could be covered in one day.  In the week before the census they delivered a form to every household and institution, such as hospitals and prisons.  It was the responsibility of the head of the household to ensure that the form was filled in.  They may have needed the help of someone who could read and write, which could have been a schoolchild in the family, or the enumerator themselves when they returned to collect the form.

The aim was to list the details of all the people who were living there, specifically those who slept in the house at midnight on the Sunday night.  Also recorded were night-workers who were away at midnight, but would be returning to sleep in that household.  The intention was certainly to count everyone, and count them once each.

On three occasions I have come across people who were counted twice - once with their family and also on a vessel.

• Joseph Dwyer in 1881:
• Star Inn, 4 Albert Terrace, Portland, Weymouth, Dorest - shipwright, lodger with wife.
• Vessel Boscawen, also Portland - skilled shipwright 3rd class.

• Enoch Stockwell in 1881:
• Peaked Elm, Kingstanley, Stroud, Gloucestershire - waterman bargee, head of household with wife and two sons.
• Canal Boat, Lower Mitton, Kidderminster, Worcestershire - boatman, with captain of the boat.
• Enoch Stockwell again in 1891:  
• Noahs Ark, Stonehouse, Stroud, Gloucestershire - waterman, head of household with wife and five children.
• Vessel Sea Breeze, Bathurst Basin, Bristol - able seaman, one of two crew with master of the sloop.

One can only speculate where they actually did sleep on census night.  In a contrasting example, Frederick Austin is not listed at his home address in the 1911 census, although he did sign the form for the household.  Instead, he is recorded at the Hotel Metropole, Bournemouth, occupation Hotel Porter.  If only all people who were away from home on census night were that easy to trace.

The age of the census

Have you ever lied about your age?  Have you ever had to think carefully and check your current age before quoting it?  Or have you ever simply made a mistake when writing your age or date or birth?  Sometimes one just wants to give an imprecise answer - "21 again!"

My great-great-great-grandmother Charlotte Stockwell seems to have given imprecise answers.  There is record of her baptism on 11 July 1819.  Subsequently,

• 1841 census - age 19  -  actually age 21 - living with her parents.
• 1851 census - age 31  -  right, for once - living with 30 year old Peter and 2 young sons.
• 1861 census - age 30  -  11 years missing - living with 38 year old Peter and 3 sons.
• 1871 census - age 49  -  nearly caught up, just 2 years missing - living with 51 year old Peter.
• 1881 census - age 58  -  only 9 years more than last census - widow living in the household of her son Robert who had lost his wife and had 3 children to care for, as mentioned in Vital events.
• 1891 census - age 72  -  a rare overestimate, although only by 1 year - head of her household with a boarder, a 54 year old single man.
• 1901 census - age 72  -  same age as the previous census, and the same lodger.
• 1908 death - age 79  -  actually the ripe old age of 89 - her son Robert was the informant for the registration.

From those records, the estimated year of birth would be a range between about 1818-1831.  Meanwhile, her surname starts out as Stockwell but in later years appears in the census records and variety of transcripts as: Maquay, Magnay, Magway; Quay; Macquay, Marguay, MacGuay; Mc Quay, Mcquay and McQuay.   That seems like a lot for one person, although it is a subset of all McQuay name variants.

So, this short summary represents a long journey, over many years, a triumph over diversity of counting and spelling.  To finally have the up-to-date set of census records for this great-great-great-grandmother seems like a significant achievement.

Each ancestor's recorded age, references to date of birth, surname, relations and location are all key to my family history hobby.  However, in their day they probably never imaged that records about them would be cross-checked and analysed by a clerk with a computing machine.  In my day I can only glimpse concerns that Charlotte faced that were far greater than getting her age recorded accurately on successive census records.

Theresa May, May Theresa

My favourite website FreeBMD tells me that in 1887 Theresa May Harrison was born in the Stroud area, county of Gloucester.  In the same quarter of the year, in the same registration district, the birth of May Theresa Harrison was also registered.  Was this a mistake (on the original, the copy, the index or the transcription) when really there was one baby girl perhaps entered twice, with names reversed?  Or maybe two girls from separate families who coincidentally, or knowingly, named their children this way?

In the past, my choice was either to live with such uncertainty or pay to purchase a copy of the birth certificates.  I don't usually allow my curiosity to spend money, although for direct ancestors I may pay the price.  However, recently I have discovered a new approach to finding the mother's maiden name at no cost, except my own time.

The General Register Office (GRO) for England and Wales provides an online search tool for a new index of historical birth and death records (see their Frequently Asked Questions). This new, online index has been created directly from the record copies held at the GRO and contains additional data fields, such as the mother's maiden name for births. (That was only in the traditional birth registration indexes from September 1911 onwards.)  Beware, the new index also contains new errors.

The GRO works with copies of registrations - the originals remaining in the county where the event took place.  Gloucestershire Registration Service (GRS) and Gloucestershire Archives in conjunction with the Gloucestershire Family History Society (GFHS) have produced their own index for birth, marriage and death (BMD) registers held in the archives there (see Gloucestershire BMD Indexes).

Both of those sources show the mother's maiden name for Theresa May was Burrows.  The mother's maiden name for May Theresa was also Burrows.  From the entry number of the original register in Gloucestershire we can know that Theresa May was registered first and May Theresa was the next entry.  Also, there's a death registration for May Theresa aged 12 months.  Meanwhile, the surviving Theresa appears in the 1891, 1901 and 1911 census records with her parents and siblings, then in 1916 gets married.

So, it looks like there really were two separate babies registered and no mistake.  But what about them having the same mother's maiden name ... the same mother's name ... the same mother's ... the same mother?!  Twins?!  It seems that I needed to look elsewhere - for a baptism entry or other information which names the parents.  Indeed, there is a pair of baptism records which lists Calvin Edmund and Elizabeth Hannah as the parents for the pair of girls.  Curiosity satisfied!

Occupation Spinster

In the 1841 census, Charlotte Stockwell is at home with her parents and two younger brothers, in Dudbridge, in the parish of King Stanley, Gloucestershire.

Ten years later in the following census, her parents have with them one son, John Stockwell age 28, and two grandsons, Henry Stockwell age 9 and Enoch Stockwell age 8.  The census records each person's relationship to the head of the household.  It does not necessarily show the relationships between family members although sometimes these can be inferred, for example a mother-in-law would be the wife's mother.

On looking at this census household our first thought would naturally be that John, age 28, farm labourer, could be a widower who has brought his two sons to be cared for by the older generation.  However, John Stockwell is recorded in the census as being unmarried.

Amongst the birth registrations for the district, there is one Henry Stockwell which is in the last quarter of 1842 and one Enoch Stockwell whose birth was registered in the first quarter of the following year.  These births seem to be too close together for these to be brothers of the same mother.  According to the baptism record, Enoch was baptised on 3 January 1844, having been born on 4 January 1843.  As for parents - just Charlotte Stockwell of Dudbridge is named, with the column entitled "Quality, Trade or Profession" recorded as "Spinster".

The corresponding birth certificate says Enoch was born on the Fourth of January 1843 at Dudbridge Rodborough.  The spaces reserved for the father's name and "Rank or Profession" contain no text but just have a line drawn through.  However, the baby is registered with a middle name of Charles Pegler!  Whilst the clergyman wrote only Enoch on the church register, John Stephens the civil registrar recorded the child's name as Enoch Charles Pegler Stockwell for posterity.

Two years later, on the Third of July 1845, at Ebley in the Parish of Randwick, Peter was born to Charlotte Stockwell.  The local registrar for the Stonehouse area was John Cooper Grimes and, as before, the birth certificate columns for the father's name and rank/profession were left empty.  However, this time there was no middle name clue, but perhaps the first name itself could be key.

Same surname, same job, same village

Charles was born at Peaked Elm, Kingstanley on the Eighth of April 1847, the son of Peter Mackway, so it was recorded, whose occupation was Pin Pointer.  The birth registration was in the district of Stroud, sub-district of Rodborough in the County of Gloucester, by John Stephens, Registrar.  The mother was named as Charlotte Mackway, formerly Stockwell.

Charles McQuay died age 1 year and 8 months, on the Eighteenth of December 1848, of "inflammation in the bowels".  This sad event happened in the hamlet of Redditch, and was registered in the district of Bromsgrove, sub-district of Tardebigg in the Counties of Worcester and Warwick, by John Osborne, Registrar.  The space on the certificate labelled Occupation says, "Son of Peter McQuay (deceased) Pin Pointer".

Whilst this Registrar had got the spelling of the surname correct, the record that the child's father was deceased was incorrect!  Charles' parents, Peter and Charlotte, went on to have further children and in fact did not die until 1877 and 1908 respectively.

The informant who registered the death of young Charles was Henry Waterson, who had been in attendance and lived in Redditch.  We will probably never know whether it was this Informant, or the Registrar, who was the source of the misinformation.

What we do know is that ten days earlier, on the Eighth of December 1848, a 26 year old Pin Pointer with the surname McQuay had indeed died in Redditch.  The Informant, who gave the cause of death as consumption, was named as Mary Waterson.  She is recorded has having been in attendance at the death.  The 1851 census shows Henry and Maria Waterson as husband and wife living a few doors away from the surviving Peter and his family.  The Registrar who recorded the death was John Osborne.

The man who had died was named Joseph McQuay.  Three and a half years later a new son of Peter McQuay (Pin Maker) and Charlotte is registered with the name Joseph, on Sixteenth of July 1852, by John Osborne, Registrar.  Did Joseph and Peter, with the same surname, same job, living in the same village, know each other?  Did Peter name his new baby after the Joseph who had died?  Were they related?  Also, exactly when and why did Peter and his family move the 50 miles from King's Stanley to Redditch?