Genealogy Chat

I don't think I am on the wrong board but has anybody ever come across the name Chimsen?One of my family,from the south coast,married a man named Chimsen in Westminster in 1805.I know her daughter was buried in our village in 1854,having died in Portsmouth but that is the only mention I can find of the name at all,apart from a couple in Denmark.Did they make it up for a laugh?Is it a magic word that makes you disappear?I would be glad if somebody had heard of it before otherwise it looks like I'm making it up to make a pretty average tree look interesting.

I think the spelling is correct.The spelling on the daughters gravestone is the same as that on the marriage certificate.I've just come back to my tree after a little break of twenty odd years so have not been to Portsmouth yet to check the 1851 census.After that it's the ouija board I think.

No entries in the country at all on national Burial Index either

England and Wales Census 1871 13 Marriage Licence Allegations Index - Vicar-General (1694-1850) 1 Boyd's Marriage Index (1538-1840) 2 These are the number of times the name appears in those places

1871 census Not the correct spelling, but they must be the lot the other search threw up Albert Chimson 12 Stepney, Middlesex, England Son Mile End Old Town London Alice Chimson 7 Stepney, Middlesex, England Daughter Mile End Old Town London Arthur Chimson 3 Stepney, Middlesex, England Son Mile End Old Town London Edward Chimson 18 Stepney, Middlesex, England Son Mile End Old Town London Frederick Chimson 5 Stepney, Middlesex, England Son Mile End Old Town London George Chimson 44 Deal, Kent, England Head Mile End Old Town London George Chimson 22 Bethnal Green, Middlesex, England Son Mile End Old Town London Henry Chimson 20 Bethnal Green, Middlesex, England Son Mile End Old Town London Mary A Chimson 42 Mile End New Town, Middlesex, England Wife Mile End Old Town London Oliver Chimson 16 Stepney, Middlesex, England Son Mile End Old Town London Sarah A Chimson 14 Stepney, Middlesex, England Daughter Mile End Old Town London The only ones in 1881 are this incorrect spelling as well

Thanks Linda.That's evidently one family.I will have a look myself on the 1871 census and see if I can trace the father of them.It's possible he is the son of James and Elizabeth but I don't hold out much hope.Damned silly name anyway.looks all out of place with all my proper names!

I have been sitting here, muttering and contorting to myself - something I always do when I see an unusual name. I can therefore see that it might have been a dialect rendering of Jamieson. (Go on, mutter and contort yourself and you'll see what I mean!) Marjorie

Marjorie, Just what I was thinking. I have a friend from the Orkneys and he always calls me Chim. Perhaps an illiterate Islander trying to make himself understood in a strange place? Looking at Linda's reply, Deal in Kent was a Seaport. Where else for an Islander to travel to? and when he gave his name he couldn't pronounce the J so his descendants become Chimson or Chameson.

I had thought of this and sometimes the sites throw up Jimson and Jameson but it is odd that the same spelling should be on the daughters gravestone.This kind of put me off pursuing Jameson too far.Interesting line to follow,Orkney Islander in Westminster early 19c.How would he have arrived at that situation,what occupation might he have followed?There was definitely maritime trade out of Pagham Harbour at the time which I think may have been the route Elizabeth would have taken to London. Just another little thought.His name was James Chimsen,wouldn't that have come out as Chims Chimsen?

Thanks Barbara.That is the one I've seen.It seems that that and the gravestone are the only things that point to their existence.To make it worse,her sister married somebody called Ammon,but I won't even go there now.It's got to be Pompey Library for the 1851 census and then obscure things when I get around to it.Odd that her daughter was buried in Elizabeth's home village but she was buried elsewhere.No logic to 'em is there!