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Hi all. Sorry for the delay - it's Sunday and hectic!! :-)


Yep, I have all of the above info but nothing on Matthew. Am beginning to think he was an alien :-D

Many thanks for your help. Much appreciated. Cx

Samuel Cunliffe would have been old enough by 1908/9 to have fathered a child and have his family agree to keep that child if the Mother's family didn't.

Or even Joseph senior to be the Father and kept the child - it has happened!

There just appears to be no trace of him under that name in bmd

6 trees on ancestry show him as son in that 1911 family census but none have any further info. None have the 1900 Matthew.

I had thought along those lines, too, Gwyn, but thinking that Matthew 1900 might have been 2 months old when he died - but no. His gravestone says he was 4 months old, per Findagrave.

I've also looked at all the Matthews, of any surname, registered in the Wigan RD 1908-9, in case he might have been the illegitimate son of a Cunliffe, and registered under his mother's name - but the only illegitimate one was Matthew Hill Jones, 1908, who died the same year, coincidentally aged 2 months.

One of my families in 1911 included a deceased child and stated his age when he had died, so I was looking for a Matthew of 2 years old,.... but without success.

Surname First name(s) District Vol Page
Marriages Jun 1887 (>99%)
WALKDEN Isabella Wigan 8c 25

-----------------
Name: Mother's Maiden Surname:
CUNLIFFE, SAMUEL WALKDEN
GRO Reference: 1887 S Quarter in WIGAN Volume 08C Page 93

CUNLIFFE, MARY WALKDEN
GRO Reference: 1891 S Quarter in WIGAN Volume 08C Page 87

CUNLIFFE, JOSEPH WALKDEN
GRO Reference: 1895 D Quarter in WIGAN Volume 08C Page 81

CUNLIFFE, MARGARET ANN WALKDEN
GRO Reference: 1898 S Quarter in WIGAN Volume 08C Page 107

CUNLIFFE, MATTHEW WALKDEN
GRO Reference: 1900 S Quarter in WIGAN Volume 08C Page 80

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Surname First name(s) Age District Vol Page
Deaths Dec 1900 (>99%)
Cunliffe Matthew 0 Wigan 8c 52

so 5 children born and 1 has died.

Doesn't help with the 1909 Matthew though.

1891 England, Wales & Scotland Census
754, Atherton Road, Hindley, Wigan, Lancashire, England

First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Sex Age Birth year Occupation Birth place
Joseph Cunliffe Head Married Male 24 1867 Coal miner Hindley, Lancashire, England
Isabella Cunliffe Wife Married Female 24 1867 - Hindley, Lancashire, England
Samuel Cunliffe Son Single Male 3 1888 - Hindley, Lancashire, England

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1901 England, Wales & Scotland Census
729, Atherton Road, Hindley, Wigan, Lancashire, England

First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Sex Age Birth year Occupation Birth place
Joseph Cuncliffe Head Married Male 34 1867 Brick maker Hindley, Lancashire, England
Isabella Cuncliffe Wife Married Female 33 1868 - Hindley, Lancashire, England
Samuel Cuncliffe Son Single Male 13 1888 Labourer at calico print works Hindley, Lancashire, England
Joseph Cuncliffe Son Single Male 9 1892 - Hindley, Lancashire, England
Mary Cuncliffe Daughter - Female 5 1896 - Hindley, Lancashire, England
Margaret A Cuncliffe Daughter - Female 2 1899 - Hindley, Lancashire, England

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1911 Census For England & Wales
768 Atherton Road Hindley Green, Hindley, Lancashire, England

First name(s) Last name Relationship to head Marital status Sex Age Birth year Occupation Birth place
Joseph Cunliffe Head Married Male 45 1866 Colliery boiler stoker aboveground Lancs Hindley Green
Bella Cunliffe Wife Married Female 44 1867 - Lancs Hindley
Samuel Cunliffe Son - Male 23 1888 Colliery labourer aboveground Lancs Hindley Green
Joseph Cunliffe Son - Male 15 1896 Colliery belowground Lancs Hindley Green
Margaret Ann Cunliffe Daughter - Female 12 1899 At home Lancs Hindley Green
Eli Howarth Son in law Married Male 23 1888 Colliery stoker aboveground Lancs West Leigh
Mary Howarth Wife Married Female 19 1892 Colliery stoker aboveground Lancs Hindley Green
Mary Ann Howarth Daughter - Female 3 1908 At home Lancs Hindley Green
John Howarth Son - Male 0 1911 At home Lancs Hindley Green
Mathew Cunliffe Son - Male 2 1909 - Lancs Hindley Green

Joseph and Bella married 23 years (c 1887/8) 4 children born, 3 living 1 has died

However - Samuel and Bella have 4 children in 1901 and also same 'children' in 1911 -
Samuel, Joseph, Mary (now Howarth) and Margaret

----------------------------
Surname First name(s) District Vol Page
Marriages Sep 1908 (>99%)
CUNLIFFE Mary Leigh 8c 466
HOWARTH Eli Leigh 8c 466

Wigan, England, Church of England Marriages, 1754-1926

Name Isabella Walkden
Gender Female
Age 20
Record Type Marriage
Birth Year abt 1867
Marriage Date 16 May 1887
Marriage Place Hindley, All Saints, Lancashire, England
Parish as it Appears Hindley
Father Samuel Walkden
*** Spouse Joseph Cunliffe ***

I see.... I was still checking the children.

Just looked at LancsBMD.
There is a Matthew Cunliffe MMN Walkden born 1900

I wondered whether he was the deceased child of Bella, who has lost one of the children born of her marriage, especially as he has no note of 'At home'.
Even so, there should be a record of his birth :-S

The writing of the names seems to be in the same hand as the signature at the bottom of the page.

In 1911, he seems to have been added to the census as an afterthought - he should be above Eli Howarth if he is truly the son of the head of the household

Not with widowed Joseph and the Howarths in 1921

On the 1911 census, I have the Cunliffe family =
Joseph b 1866 - Hindley Green, Wigan
Bella b. 1867 - Hindley, Wigan
with their children Samuel, Joseph and Margaret Ann.

Also
Eli Howarth their son-in-law and his family

Right at the bottom, is Mathew Cunliffe aged 2, son of Joseph.

The thing is, I simply cannot find this child's birth anywhere.
What am I missing?????