Genealogy Chat

I am looking for my great great grandmother Ellen and one of her brothers, Henry. They are missing in the 1851 census. I have their parents in the census. They were John Hayes (Hays) and his wife Jemma (Jemima) with two of their children Emily (B: 1843) and John Thomas (B: 1850). They were in St Andrews, London. How did they miss out two of their children? Ellen was born in 1845 and Henry was born in 1848. I have their 1861 census in Town Hamlets, Shoreditch. They were John Hayes (Hays), Jemima, Hellen (Ellen), Elizabeth, Henry and John. Any ideas or suggests why the two children were missed? Thanks, Steven from Australia.

Its possible they were with their grandparents or aunts/uncles. Have you found any other possiblities for them on the census or just not found them altogether? Its also common that if the children were at another relatives house they may not have been sure whether to include them in their household as they thought perhaps their own parents might have included them even if they weren't in the same house that night, so therefore they got missed.

Thanks, Alex, Yes, I have looked up Ellen and Henry Hays together in the 1851. So there were no records of them which were not matched.

Jim I think Emily was with her parents in 1851 - its Ellen and her brother he is looking for!

Maybe a long-shot, but perhaps if you know Jemima's maiden name it would be worth looking for the children with one of her siblings or her parents - and listed with their surname. Victoria

Thanks, Victoria, That's good idea. Jemima's maiden was Yeldham. So I looked up of Yeldham families in the 1851 census. However, there are no records. What a mystery! There might be something wrong with them. Because Emily and Ellen were born before their parents were married in 1847. They don’t have birth certificates, I believe. Maybe they forget to put Ellen and Henry’s names into the census! Regards, Steven.

Steven - have you tried just putting in the Christian name plus year of birth and where born (but do you know that?) and seeing what comes up? I just tried Ellen, 1845, born Tower Hamlets and it brings up hundreds - but not too onerous to look through since if you check the relationship column you don't need to check any who are daughters. I found one that I thought might be a possible, Ellen Clay, but when I checked it really IS Clay, not a mistranscribed Hay. With the variations of Ellen/Helen..... maybe it would be easier to look for her brother? That should keep you away from the football this arvo!! Victoria in Canberra (who won't be watching football)

Hi Victoria, Yes, I did look up Ellen and Henry with thier birth of year but with 'Hay*' and nothing to come. I found Henry's birth registration from FreeBMD. He was born in Shoreditch on c. Dec 1848. I will try to find Henry without surname. I still don't understand why they missed out. Well, I barrack for West Coast :-) and I will go to watch TV soon. Thank you for your time. Regards, Steven (ex Perth) in Melbourne.

No doubt you have found Jemima Yeldham (there is only one) on the 1841 census, a female servant for the Gilberts family where Mary, 37, is the head of the family and an Innkeeper. This was in Lawrence Lane, in the parish of St Laurence Jewry. Jemima (born out of the county) is 20 or 20+ given that ages were rounded DOWN to the nearest aged divisible by 5! Victoria

Hi Victoria, I have seen it and I am not sure about her. Because there is another Jemima (Hays) who was with John Hays. He was a porter, according to the 1851 census. Both were born in the county at Middlesex and they were 20 years old. It seems right ones. However, they were not married on that time. Regards, Steven, happy WCE fan!