Genealogy Chat

Gaps in children's births should always make you think. I have a couple, William and Sarah Ann who married 1862 but didn't appear to have any children until 1868 when they had 3 within 6 years. Thanks to a brilliant site mentioned on GR yesterday about Norfolk baptisms I found they had a baby the same year as the marriage, who died within a few months, and a daughter who is living with her grandparents on the next census, and then out at work on the census after that. As the surname is quite common and the daughter wasn't born in the district where she was baptised I wouldn't have picked her up on a trawl through the birth indexes. I am still puzzled about William's parents, another William & Susan/na who clearly married 1831 but had no children until 1839. I've not found baptisms in any of the parishes in which they are known to have lived. I know this William was a fisherman, so possibly he was always at sea when Susanna was ovulating! He is not on the 1841 or 1851 census and died in 1858. Unlike the rest of the family, who were very fecund, he and Susanna only appear to have had 4 boys. Two died in childhood and the William above died between 1871-81. Only John, my gt grandfather, survived to the age of 72 - and fathered 10 children of his own. nell

Is this the family in 1861? Name: John Milburn Age: 31 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1830 Relation: Head Spouses's Name: Mary Gender: Male Where born: Mildon, Durham, England Civil parish: Crook and Billy Row Ecclesiastical parish: Crook Town: Crook County/Island: Durham Country: England Registration district: Auckland Sub-registration district: Hamsterley ED, institution, or vessel: 8 Neighbors: View others on page Household schedule number: 264 Household Members: Name Age John Milburn 31 John G Milburn 1 Mary Milburn 24 born Birtree Mill, Durham Mary J Milburn 2 Source Citation: Class: RG9; Piece: 3714; Folio: 82; Page: 49; GSU roll: 543176 Address: East Side, Hope St. John is a coal miner Is this the family in 1881 Name: John Geo. Milburn Age: 21 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1860 Relation: Son Father's name: Jhn. Mother's name: Mary Gender: Male Where Born: Crook, Durham, England Civil parish: Crook and Billy Row County/Island: Durham Country: England Street address: White Lee Villas Occupation: Depty Overman Registration district: Auckland Sub registration district: Hamsterley ED, institution, or vessel: 13 Neighbors: View others on page Household Members: Name Age Ann Milburn 19 Jhn. Milburn 51 born Old Shildon, Durham John Geo. Milburn 21 Laidler Milburn 17 Mary Milburn 44 born Stanhope Sarah Milburn 14 Ths.Wm. Milburn 6 Source Citation: Class: RG11; Piece: 4928; Folio: 87; Page: 41; Line: ; GSU roll: 1342185. Maureen

Jean, Post the details if the family and perhaps someone can find them for you. Rose

I had the same thing Jean, then found that he had married 2 women with the same name, to complicate things he even named his first Son with each woman Thomas after himself!

How old was the wife? Sometimes the youngest children in a family are spaced further apart as the woman approaches menopause and is less fertile.

Reg....thankyou so much ....I think you may have it. I didn't even think that the wife may me a different one. I have found quite a few deaths that could be the first wife....and a couple of marriages that could be with the second wife. There's no obvious sign that the wife has changed except for the gap in the children. I'll have to start sending for some more certs....the poor purse.!!! I'll send for the birth of the child after the gap ..first, and see what that brings Thanks again... Jean

Yes Reg....or if not, she has the same name and is the same age and from the same place......but I might take a look at that, thanks. jean

Thanks Judith...I think I'll have to trail through the whole district again and see if I can find them...as they seemed to return more or less to the same place. She could have had some deaths in babies but eight years seems such a big gap. If he was in prison he came back to being a colliery overman. Suppose he could have been. One of my families went to USA, mining, for a few years but I knew they had been because two of the children were born over there...so that was easy. Thanks again...I'll keep looking Jean

Is there just one wife? Reg

If they were in a workhouse the husband and wife would have been put separately in men's and women's dormitories, or he could have been in prison and she took the children off to stay with relations. On the other hand perhaps they were still in the area and mistranscribed and the gap in children simply because she had a miscarriage or there were babies born and died between censuses.

Glen's thread on 'finding addresses on the census' made me have another look at this Milburn family. The children's ages..all born in Crook..are. 1859,1860,1862,1864,1867,...1875. They are all missing in Crook on the 1871 census?? Could they have been somewhere...where they couldn't have children? Any ideas welcome.....please, please. Jean