Genealogy Chat

see below

Im not sure if she is the illegitamte child of matthew and anne meredith, in 1841 there are 2 people with matthew and anne, one is Martha jenkins aged 75 the other is anne jenkins aged 10 matthews wifes maiden name was jenkins, found their marriage in 1839 jan to mar hereford 26 163. thought is was strange that martha had 2 daughters called anne, then realised she wouldnt have had anne junior at the age of 65 so im wondering if she was anne seniors child, in 1851 census she is down as a lodger aged 20

The fact that Anne junior has the same name as Anne senior suggests they are related. But she could be a niece or a cousin. Have you tried finding a baptism for her? nell

Because the relationship to head is not on the 1841 census this makes it hard to understand? you will need to buy the cert to be sure, also it was normal if a child died to give the next child born the same name? (just other things to consider) Roy

Regarding the last point, yes, quite often children would be given the same name as a dead sibling. I've got several of these in my tree. nell

I agree with Helen - have you looked on the IGI? Sorry Roy, as she was born c1831 a certificate can't be obtained as Civil Registration didn't start to 1837. What you could do perhaps would be to find a record of her marriage and obtain that certificate. Though if she is indeed illegitimate then the father box will probably be left blank, so not much use. I do find it annoying that the 1841 census is so vague, I suppose as it was the first census recording names they didn't want to ask too many questions!

I thought I had one of those when hunting out my g-g-mother. It turned out she'd just been lying about her age - persistenly and consistently from the date of her marriage (and a bit beofre then too)! Christine

OOOOOOPS I was thinking that the birth was 1839? but its the marriage date sorry Roy

I did think about buying her marriage cert but wasnt sure if her fathers name would of been added, the witness`s may be of some help will try and find her on the other census may find a clue there, i did think she may be a neice or something but as she is on the 1841 and 1851 census with them i wondered then if she was the daughter. Update, just looked on 1841 census, martha and ann jenkins are living next door to matthew and anne, i noticed a stroke mark next to anne merediths name, so maybe martha brought her up as her own, she died in 1844, so anne junior goes to live with matthew and anne and appears on the 1851 census with them