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Hi folks,
I am looking for a birth or baptism date for William Cooper, born around 1854 in Bilston, Staffordshire. The 1881 & 1901 Census shows him as being married to Harriett. Both of these census returns give William and Harriet's date of birth about 1854.The marriage certificate I have just received shows a William, son of Joseph Cooper (Publican) marrying Harriett Eccleston daughter of Job Eccleston (Miner, deceased) in Dudley in 1875 this certificate shows that they were both born around 1846.
Any help on this would be much appreciated.
Graham Morris

Hi Graham! I have William Coopers back then, one of whom was a publican. But his was the Gas Tavern in Worksop, now thankfully called the Canal Pub. ;)


In 1871, this would be the William Cooper son of Joseph whose marriage certificate you have:

Name: William Cooper
Age: 24
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1847
Relation: Son
Father's Name: Joseph
Mother's Name: Phoebe
Gender: Male
Where born: Bilston, Staffordshire, England

Civil Parish: Bilston
Ecclesiastical parish: St Mary
Town: Bilston
County/Island: Staffordshire
Country: England

Registration district: Wolverhampton
Sub-registration district: Bilston
ED, institution, or vessel: 10
Household schedule number: 45

Alfred Cooper 5
Edwin Cooper 19
Elijah Cooper 15
Joseph Cooper 57 - Beer House Keeper
Joseph Cooper 9
Phoebe Cooper 50
Samuel Cooper 22
Selina Cooper 17
William Cooper 24
Edward Pugh 12


Whereas there is this William Cooper in 1871 who better matches yours in 1881 and 1901:

Editing again -- he was born in 1845, not yours at all, and I'm now going to take out a whole lot of other bumph.


Now, here is that older William Cooper in 1881:

Name: William Cooper
Age: 34
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1847
Relation: Head
Spouse's Name: Harriet
Gender: Male
Where born: Bilston, Staffordshire, England

Civil Parish: Bilston
County/Island: Staffordshire
Country: England

Street address: 4 CT Brook St
Condition as to marriage: Married
Occupation: Forge Labourer

Registration district: Wolverhampton
Sub-registration district: Bilston
ED, institution, or vessel: 10

Harriet Cooper 35
Phoebe Cooper 3
William Cooper 34


So they're different people, for sure.

Okay, the William Cooper married to Hannah Shaw who was born in France is a whole nother William Cooper, and I'm deleting everything that had to do with him.

Yeesh. Nobody's ever going to listen to anything I say again ...

There's no William Cooper + Harriett marriage in Wolverhampton between 1860 and 1880.


There's this possible pair:

Marriages Dec 1874
Cooper William Dudley 6c 189
DAVIS Harriet Dudley 6c 189



and once again, deleting the William Cooper + Hannah Shaw bumph ...

Getting back to your question: YOUR William was born about 1854.


This looks like him in 1861:


Name: William Cooper
[Willian Cooper]
(Ancestry has corrected its own mistranscription)
Age: 7
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1854
Relation: Son
Father's Name: Ammer
Mother's Name: Emma
Gender: Male
Where born: Bilston

Civil Parish: Bilston
Ecclesiastical parish: St Leonard
Town: Bilston
County/Island: Staffordshire
Country: England

Registration district: Wolverhampton
Sub-registration district: Bilston
ED, institution, or vessel: 31
Household schedule number: 17

Ammer Cooper 35
Ammer Cooper 3
Emma Cooper 34
Hannah Cooper 17
Thomas Cooper 10 Mo
William Cooper 7

And I'm going to post this in case of crashes, and go look at that image in IE to see what this "Ammer" might be.


Well huh. It is Ammer -- a coal miner born in Bilston. Except that nobody by that name, if such it is, was ever born, married or died in England.

Aha -- 1851 says Ammon.


Name: Ammon Cooper
Year of Registration: 1847
Quarter of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec
District: Wolverhampton
County: Shropshire, Staffordshire, West Midlands
Volume: 17
Page: 420

married Emma Waltho.

Lucky you, if so. Coopers with unusual names. I thought my Reuben Cooper had one ... but I still can't find him before 1851.


AMMON COOPER
Christening: 07 DEC 1823 Hanbury, Stafford, England
Father: JOHN COOPER
Mother: HANNAH
Batch No.: C082261

EMMA [WALTHOW]
Christening: 24 OCT 1824 Kings Bromley, Stafford, England
Mother: ANNE WALTHOW
Batch No.: C037983


If your William Cooper is the one born abt 1854 in Bilston, then those seem to be his parents.

One last suggestion -- the Ann M Cooper, daughter, in the 1881 William-Harriet household would have to be one of these:


Name: Ann Maria Cooper
Year of Registration: 1878
Quarter of Registration: Apr-May-Jun
District: Wolverhampton
County: Shropshire, Staffordshire, West Midlands
Volume: 6b
Page: 695

Name: Ann Maria Cooper
Year of Registration: 1878
Quarter of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec
District: Wolverhampton
County: Shropshire, Staffordshire, West Midlands
Volume: 6b
Page: 649


-- so if you order 'em up, you'll know which one had parents William and Harriett, and you'll know Harriett's surname, and you can take another shot at finding a marriage!


Here they are in 1891, btw:


Name: William Cooper
Age: 28
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1863
Relation: Head
Spouse's Name: Harriet Ann
Gender: Male
Where born: Bilston, Staffordshire, England

Civil Parish: Bilston
Ecclesiastical parish: St Leonard
Town: Bilston
County/Island: Staffordshire
Country: England

Registration district: Wolverhampton
Sub-registration district: Bilston
ED, institution, or vessel: 30

Ann Marie Cooper 12
George W Cooper 2
Hammond Cooper 8
Harriet Ann Cooper 37
William Cooper 28


William's occupation is correct -- Iron Works Engineer -- and his age is obviously just enumerator error.

And this would be son George, the only candidate I see, thus only one cert needed for getting Harriett's name:

Name: George William Cooper
Year of Registration: 1888
Quarter of Registration: Jul-Aug-Sep
District: Wolverhampton
County: Shropshire, Staffordshire, West Midlands
Volume: 6b
Page: 615


And note son named Hammond, a variant of Ammon, I suspect. Can't find a birth to match, though.


Still no marriage to a Harriet(t) Ann, other than possibly one named Paige to a William Madders Cooper in Okehampton in 1878, which seems unlikely.


I sure hope you're reading ... and you've managed to wade your way through!

Here's an interesting thing.


In 1871:

Name: Harriet Burne -- I read it as Burns
Age: 7
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1854
Relation: Daughter
Father's Name: Benjmin
Mother's Name: Eliza
Gender: Female
Where born: Bilston, Staffordshire, England

Civil Parish: Bilston
Ecclesiastical parish: St Leonard
Town: Bilston
County/Island: Staffordshire
Country: England


Name: Harriet Burns
Year of Registration: 1877
Quarter of Registration: Jul-Aug-Sep
District: Wolverhampton
County: Shropshire, Staffordshire, West Midlands
Volume: 6b
Page: 651

-- groom on page: George Cooper.


Is it possible that William was in fact George William? His son was.

No birth by that name registered in Wolverhampton in the right time, but two William George-s -- one in Q1 1854 in West Bromwich and one in Q1 1854 in Wolstanton.



editing ... no, dang, that seems to be this couple in 1881:


Name: Harriet Cooper
Age: 27
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1854
Relation: Wife
Spouse's Name: George Henry
Gender: Female
Where born: Bilston, Staffordshire, England

Civil Parish: Wednesfield
County/Island: Staffordshire
Country: England

Street address: 58 Salop St
Condition as to marriage: Married
Occupation: Pawn Brokers Wife

Registration district: Wolverhampton
Sub-registration district: Bilston
ED, institution, or vessel: 6

George Henry Cooper 29
Harriet Cooper 27
Harriet B. Cooper


Sigh.

Hi Kathryn,
Many thanks for your quick response, it is going to take me some time to take in all of this info. Some of the census returns and other info. I already have and some I have not.
1901 census for 40, Greencroft, Bilston. RG 13/2690 page 25 shows the following:
William Cooper age 47 (estimated birth year 1854)
Harriet A. Cooper age 46 (Estimated birth year 1855)
Hammond Cooper age 18
George H. Cooper age 12
John Thomas Cooper age 9 (my grandfather)

The 1881 census I have shows Williams age as being 27 (estimated birth year 1854)

This ties in with your 1891 Census details apart from Williams age 28 (estimated birth year 1863 and Harriet's as 1854) I have not got this 1891 census, but will now look for it.

I will now send off for some birth certificates based on the info you have given me and hopefully find out Harriet's maiden name.

Again, many thanks for your info and time spent.

Regards,
Graham
[email protected]

You're welcome! It's fun, and it's always possible a fresh eye will see something, and I place my faith in genealogy karma -- it will come back around, and someday, someone will find a key to one of my mysteries. ;)

If you ever run into a Reuben Cooper born sometime around 1825 in Calverton, Nottingham ... whose siblings' baptisms and apparent parents' marriage are all in the IGI but of whom no trace is to be found before he's shacked up with my grx2 grmother in 1851 (they got around to marrying in 1872) ... well, you know where to find me!

Hi Kathryn B,
Today received the birth certs. for both George will William Cooper and my grandfather, John Thomas Cooper. Their mothers maiden name was Harriet Ann Russell. Not Eccleston. So it's back now on the trail for a suitable "Russell" Will keep my eye out for your Reuben in my research and should his name appear at anytime, you will hear from me.
Regards
Graham

Here ya go!

Name: Harriet Ann Russell
Year of Registration: 1871
Quarter of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec
District: Wolverhampton
County: Shropshire, Staffordshire, West Midlands
Volume: 6b
Page: 844

+ William Cooper on same page.


Ancestry found that one in a wink, on a search for a Harriet Russell marriage in that time frame. I have no idea why it wasn't showing up before.

I think you can be confident that your William who married Harriet was the son of Ammon Cooper and Emma Waltho -- but that marriage cert will give you his father's name.


But you'd probably have to order more than one birth cert of the several William Coopers born in Wolverhampton during the time frame, to confirm his birth details!

Hi Kathryn
Have now sent for the marriage certificate, another lady put me onto that record after I failed to find it through BMD. I have now found it myself, funny it did not find it yesterday. Hopefully I shall get the certificate for when I am back home next weekend, (I work away in the week) Then I hope to have another bit of searching to do. Will keep you posted.
Thanks Kathryn
Regards
Graham

Hi Kathryn B
Have now got the Marriager Cert. William Cooper, age 19 (Bilston Road, Bilston/Wolverhampton) to Harriet Ann Russell age 17 (Bilston Street, St. Leonards, Bilston) 24th. Dec. 1871 at St. Peters church, Wolverhampton. Williams father was Hammond a Collier and Harriets father was Thomas a Fitter. So you were correct about Hammond and Emma. So a little more research to be done now, and a few more certificates to send off for.
Regards,
Graham.

If you knew me, you'd know: I'm always right, and I never lie! ;)

(And I quote Firesign Theatre at the drop of a hat. Put down that pickle!)

So now you have ages that might help track down the births too, hopefully. Of course, we know who William's mother was already, and more, from the marriage and the baptism info in the IGI. Lucky you ... but still no word about my Reuben Cooper, sniff ...