Genealogy Chat

In 1805 William Wixon (born 1770 in Sydenham, Oxfordshire) married Hannah Rockall, they lived at Northend near Turville where William was a family baker and had several children including Katherine, Elizabeth and James. James was baptised in Watlington on 17th Apr 1811 All this information was taken from Oxfordshire Parish Register transcripts.
In the 1841 census William and Hannah were still living in Northend in the parish of Turville along with their 2 daughters Kate and Elizabeth.
Also in the 1841 census there is a James Wixon who was born in the parish of Turville living with his wife Ann and children Sarah, Hannah, Daniel and Emanual, and it could easily be assumed that because Northend is such a tiny village that this James should be William and Hannah's son but for the fact that James's age in the 1841 census is 40, making his year of birth around 1801. No further trace can be found though for James, William and Hannah's son, and no earlier trace can be found for this James living in Northend. I can not find the marriage for James and Ann which would presumably be before the birth of their first child Sarah in 1833.
In the 1851 census James and his family are found in Pyrton, Oxfordshire (this time showing James as being born in Watlington), his age being 53, estimated year of birth being around 1798.
If this James is William and Hannah's son, why would there be such a large age difference showing between the census and the parish register, if it is not the same James then why can no trace be found for either James, especially as the James found in the 1841 and 1851 census was born in Watlington and the only James baptised close to this time in Watlington was William and Hannah's son.
This is a really important link between the Oxfordshire Wixon's and the Buckinghamshire Wixon's, it all rests on this one piece of information which doesn't quite seem to tie up.
Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated.

Don't forget that in 1841 The ages of people over 15 years old were usually rounded down to the nearest 5 years. Therefore, someone who was actually 24 years would have their age listed as 20, and someone who was actually 27 years old would have their age listed as 25.

Ah, I wasn't aware of that, thanks. However, he was actually showing on the census as being around 10 years older than he would have been if he was actually William and Hannah's son

Iain, baptism doesn't necesarily coincide with birth. I have seen on parish records 4 children from the same family being baptised at the same time (a mass baptism)

I had considered this as a possibility. It would have meant that James was born before William and Hannah were married, not impossible but then to add to that, there were then 2 other children baptised up to 5 years before James was baptised, I would have thought that James would still have been baptised first if he was the first born.

Just a thought: Do you know where Hannah Rockall came from? Is it possible she had a son, James Rockall, before she married William? He may then have taken on the name of Wixon.

Thanks for the thought. Again, a possibility I had wondered, but can find no record of this being the case. I will look into this possibility further though.
The other thing that strengthened my thoughts for James being William and Hannah's son is that one of the daughters of James and Ann was named Hannah

There is a James Rockell chr. 1796 in Church Eaton, Staffordshire to a single Hannah Rockell (on the IGI) but I think this is clutching at straws.

Hannah would have been only 10 years old in 1796. she was born around 1786.
Worth a thought though, thanks

Am I likely to get any more information by looking at the actual register rather than the transcripts that I have on Microfiche? and if so, is the register likely to be held at the appropriate church or at the Oxfordshire records office ?

Iain, if the microfiche is a direct copy of the records then probably no more information than the original. My local libraries, Oakham and Stamford, both have microfiche/film copies of the original church records and the writing in the 1700's/early 1800's is difficult to read. The vicars seem to try and cram as much into a page so as not to waste paper!! The originals are in Leicester archives so we are fortunate to have copies locally.

Very few churches will have the records going back so far but you could ring and ask. They will be in an archive somewhere, try asking the local studies dept at the nearest library or look on GENUKI and it should tell you on there where the records are. Good Luck, Jennifer

Have you got the correct james on the 1851 cencus.
There is a james wixon bc1813 watlington living in edinburgh st cuthberts scotland in 1851.
Occupation grocer & spirit dealer.

richard.

Rutland Belle, thanks for the information, they are typed transcripts as opposed to films of the original handwritten documents, and in addition some of them stop earlier than I need. eg, the Pyrton transcripts stop at 1840, if I am looking for James's burial and it happened in Pyrton then I guess I will need to see the more recent register.

Jim Soton, again, thank you for the information. I couldn't find James in any census more recent than 1851.
I think I came to the conclusion about James's birthplace incorrectly, because of the tick in the "born in same county" column and for some reason thought it said "born in same parish"!!!
I was aware the 1851 census stated that he was born in Watlington which I believe is the parish which Northend falls into.

Thanks Richard, I didnt see that one. That could well be the James I am looking for, I need to look into this more.
I guess I wasn't expecting to see him so far away from where the rest of his family were