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Our resident expert Stephen Rigden, pictured below, answers your queries.
From Shirley Hague:
‘Why can I not find any birth or marriage for my great-grandmother Clara Stocks, born in 1876 or 1877? I know the family originated from Staffordshire but the 1901 census states she was born in Mexborough, while the 1911 census states Denaby Main. Both are areas of Doncaster in the West Riding. I believe she married my grandfather George Booth in 1896 as your records state but there is no hint as to whom he married, which normally there is. Any clues? I have even tried looking under Stokes, but my main concern is why do I find a marriage for a George Booth with no mention as to whom his bride could be?’
Stephen says:
‘Thanks for the message, and I think I can help.
Firstly, I can explain why currently there is no spouse, or choice of spouse, offered for George Booth. As you will know, up to and including 1911, the name of the spouse isn’t given in the General Register Office’s central marriage index for England and Wales. We have, therefore, relied upon matching of registration district + year + quarter + volume number + page number to produce possible matches.
In some cases, this does not work, because there isn’t an exact match either in the original index or in our transcription of it. Here, the wrong page number reference is shown for George’s marriage. I have submitted a transcription error correction report which will correct this, so shortly George will join the other three individuals with the correct page number.
Now, to your other question. I wonder whether Stocks was not Clara’s surname. Once the marriage index is correctly cross-referred, you will see that George’s spouse was, according to the GRO, a Clara Nock (sic). Now, this might have been an error on behalf of the GRO clerk who created the index many decades ago. I noticed also, however, that in 1891 there is a Doncaster family named Knock (sic). The head of the household is John Knock, born in West Bromwich, Staffordshire, while daughter Clara was the first of the family to be born in Yorkshire, circa 1877/78, in Denaby (her brother Charles, one year her senior, was born in West Bromwich). If you wish to look at the image, go to our census reference page and key in the following reference:
RG12, piece 3859, folio 25, page 43
In the 1881 census, the family is listed under Nock (sic). Father John is again shown as a West Brom native. Clara is described as aged two (moving her approximate year of birth to 1878/79) and born Denaby. To view the image, search under the following reference:
RG11, piece 4688, folio 11, page 16
If you go back to the birth index, I’m sure you will find Clara – there is an entry under the name Clara Knock in Doncaster in March quarter 1879 which must be her.
I hope this helps!’
If you’d like to send your question to Stephen, please register or opt to receive newsletters in ‘my account’. Stephen only has time to answer a couple of queries each month but if yours wasn’t answered this month, you could be lucky next time!
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Please note: This post has originated from a news feed from an external website.
Family Tree Forum neither endorses nor is responsible for the views of the author or any other content.
From Shirley Hague:
‘Why can I not find any birth or marriage for my great-grandmother Clara Stocks, born in 1876 or 1877? I know the family originated from Staffordshire but the 1901 census states she was born in Mexborough, while the 1911 census states Denaby Main. Both are areas of Doncaster in the West Riding. I believe she married my grandfather George Booth in 1896 as your records state but there is no hint as to whom he married, which normally there is. Any clues? I have even tried looking under Stokes, but my main concern is why do I find a marriage for a George Booth with no mention as to whom his bride could be?’
Stephen says:
‘Thanks for the message, and I think I can help.
Firstly, I can explain why currently there is no spouse, or choice of spouse, offered for George Booth. As you will know, up to and including 1911, the name of the spouse isn’t given in the General Register Office’s central marriage index for England and Wales. We have, therefore, relied upon matching of registration district + year + quarter + volume number + page number to produce possible matches.
In some cases, this does not work, because there isn’t an exact match either in the original index or in our transcription of it. Here, the wrong page number reference is shown for George’s marriage. I have submitted a transcription error correction report which will correct this, so shortly George will join the other three individuals with the correct page number.
Now, to your other question. I wonder whether Stocks was not Clara’s surname. Once the marriage index is correctly cross-referred, you will see that George’s spouse was, according to the GRO, a Clara Nock (sic). Now, this might have been an error on behalf of the GRO clerk who created the index many decades ago. I noticed also, however, that in 1891 there is a Doncaster family named Knock (sic). The head of the household is John Knock, born in West Bromwich, Staffordshire, while daughter Clara was the first of the family to be born in Yorkshire, circa 1877/78, in Denaby (her brother Charles, one year her senior, was born in West Bromwich). If you wish to look at the image, go to our census reference page and key in the following reference:
RG12, piece 3859, folio 25, page 43
In the 1881 census, the family is listed under Nock (sic). Father John is again shown as a West Brom native. Clara is described as aged two (moving her approximate year of birth to 1878/79) and born Denaby. To view the image, search under the following reference:
RG11, piece 4688, folio 11, page 16
If you go back to the birth index, I’m sure you will find Clara – there is an entry under the name Clara Knock in Doncaster in March quarter 1879 which must be her.
I hope this helps!’
If you’d like to send your question to Stephen, please register or opt to receive newsletters in ‘my account’. Stephen only has time to answer a couple of queries each month but if yours wasn’t answered this month, you could be lucky next time!
More...
Please note: This post has originated from a news feed from an external website.
Family Tree Forum neither endorses nor is responsible for the views of the author or any other content.