Houlston family - Shropshire

[jabez]

New to this today, can anyone help me with the Houlston family from Shropshire please?

[Elaine ..Spain]

Hi Jabez, welcome to the forum.
I've just moved your post into a thread of its own - let's hope someone can help.
What exactly are you looking for - maybe some names and dates of how far you have got might help.

[jabez]

New to this today, can anyone help me with the Houlston family from Shropshire please?

I believe my great grandmother is Mary Anne Houlston born 1867 Bank Wombridge father Enoch mother Martha. Enoch born 1842 Martha born 1846 nee Rigby. I need help in confirming these details then I can start to go back!

[Elaine ..Spain]

Do you have the marriage certificate for Mary Anne Houlston? Who did she marry? The marriage certificate will confirm her father's name and his occupation which will help finding the family in the census.

There are some new parish registers for Shropshire which have just appeared on the Findmypast website - apparently they are not complete but on doing a search I can see a baptism for a Mary Ann Houlston in 1868 Ketley Bank (Methodist) which could be your one. The baptism record should show the names of the parents.

Findmypast is a subscription site and they have just introduced a monthly rate if you need to sign up just for a short time. Alternative check your local library as some offer access to Findmypast as well as Ancestry.

[jabez]

Do you have the marriage certificate for Mary Anne Houlston? Who did she marry? The marriage certificate will confirm her father's name and his occupation which will help finding the family in the census.

There are some new parish registers for Shropshire which have just appeared on the Findmypast website - apparently they are not complete but on doing a search I can see a baptism for a Mary Ann Houlston in 1868 Ketley Bank (Methodist) which could be your one. The baptism record should show the names of the parents.

Findmypast is a subscription site and they have just introduced a monthly rate if you need to sign up just for a short time. Alternative check your local library as some offer access to Findmypast as well as Ancestry.

I have a marriage certificate for Mary Anne HOLSTEN to WILLIAM STINTON on 24 October 1887. My gran was 4th born in 1891. The eldest was born in 1885. Mary Anne's father is Enoch from the certificate and an engine man. He is also described as colliery engine driver on Mary Anne's birth certificate in 1867 so I guess they are the right people. Just that Mary's age was 23 on wedding certificate but was actually 20. Wm Stinton's age is spot on at 33. OK given that Enoch and Martha are the right parents of Mary Anne Houlston, how do I go about tracing Enoch's parents and ancestors given that there are a lot of HOULSTONS in Salop? I have tried FMP but not very successfully. Do you know where Ketley Bank is? The baptism there looks promising. You mention methodist-are those records easily accessible?

[Elaine ..Spain]

Ketley Bank seems to be in or near Telford - google maps will bring it up for you.

The baptism is in the new Shropshire collection on Findmypast. There seem to be three baptisms which took place on the same date - Mary Ann, Rosannah and Samuel - all at Ketley Bank. Possible siblings? The image will be available to view.

Findmypast have recently changed their format and unfortunately a lot of people are having problems finding their way round the new site - if you want to look at the Shropshire records the following is a direct link into each dataset.

http://search.findmypast.co.uk/historical-records?SearchedRecordsetName=shropshire&Region=World

Your next step would be to find the marriage of Enoch and Martha - this would give you not only Martha's maiden name, but also the names and occupations of Enoch's father and Martha's father. I would start by tracing Enoch and Martha back through the census which would give you an idea of when their first child was born and an approximate date for their likely marriage. Have you found them on the census?

[Elaine ..Spain]

Looking at the 1871 census for Enoch and Martha, this seems to be the household:
Enoch Houlston age 27
Martha Houlston age 26
Samuel Houlston age 3
Mary Houlston age 4
Rosena Houlston age 3
Enoch Houlston age 8 Months

which would suggest a date of marriage mid 1860s.

Census link for ancestry: http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin...=try&h=2057038
Ref: RG10; Piece: 2747; Folio: 71; Page: 14;

Looking at FreeBMD this appears to be the most obvious:
Marriages Sep 1863
Enoch Houlstone / Martha Rigby
Shiffnal 6a 1014

- which appears to be available in the Shropshire records on FMP.
Enoch Houlstone - 1863 Shifnal (Anglican) Shropshire marriages
If you access this record you will get a copy of the marriage register entry (equivalent to a marriage certificate).


(not sure where you live Jabez, but if you don't have a subscription to Findmypast then don't forget to check your local library to see if they do, unless of course you want to take out a free trial to it, and/or a subscription!)

[Chrissie Smiff]

I have been looking at this family too and came to the same conclusions as Elaine. Samuel appears to be 5 on the actual page though, not 3. I can't seem to find a birth for him though in Shifnal.

[Chrissie Smiff]

I see now that Samuel and Mary Ann were registered in Walsall. Rosina was the first to be registered in Shifnal in Sept 1878.

[Chrissie Smiff]

It would be interesting to see the marriage certificate that you have Jabez as I can't find the one you have listed in the records at all.

The most likely marriage I could find was William Stinton in Jan-March quarter of 1885 in Stoubridge Worcs and one of the possible brides is Mary Ann Ward. This would tie in with the likely 1891 census. -

http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=uki1891&h=2506461&ti=5538&indiv=try&gss=pt&ssrc=pt_t14456233_p145853124_kpidz0q3d145853124z0q26pgz0q3d32768z0q26pgplz0q3dpid

I then looked and found a very full tree on Ancestry that gives Mary Ann Ward as born July-Sept quarter of 1860 . Illegitimate daughter of Ann Ward and Enoch Houlston. However, the death they have for Mary Ann Stinton in 1898 gives age at death as 32, when it would have been 38 for Mary Ann Ward.

So all rather complicated.

[jabez]

Samuel and Mary Ann were indeed registered in Darlaston, Walsall. I have birth certificates of all 4 children. Rosina and Enoch were registered in Shifnal. Samuel born 7 Mar 1866, Mary Ann born 14 April 1867 and Rosina born 8 July 1868. Enoch born 31 July 1870 Shifnal. So why Samuel's age difference? Must be a typo. I was looking at Find my past today at the library and found the 1871 census for this family but it's a bit different. Take a look address is 88 Church Street, Shifnal. Mary Ann born 1867 is my great gran. She died in 1898.

[Chrissie Smiff]

I still can't see that marriage reference for Mary Ann to William Stinton. Most puzzling.

[jabez]

Just caught your latest post- Mary Ann-my great gran-was born 1867 and died in 1898, age on death certificate given as 32 though she was 31. Family news passed down confirms she died then. The marriage certificate I have is a copy of the original entry and the handwriting on it is just about readable! Wm Stinton married Mary Ann Houlston on 24 Oct 1887 at St Peter's Church in Stoke-on Trent. William was resident there but why they married in Stoke and not Shifnal I do not know. I do remember it was a big task to track this marriage. I think if memory serves me right my father found the entry as he was researching at the time when I was working. At the time I let him get on with it, that is why I am keen to confirm his findings now. By the way Mary Ann had given birth to an illegitimate boy in 1885 so may be she came to Stoke to be with Wm Stinton. Just guessing on that. The boy's name is William Henry Houlston and he lived in Stoke and raised his own family, again confirmed within the family. On the marriage certificate if you want a copy, we'll need to exchange email addresses and I can send you a copy. From the certificates I have and what my dad told me about his family, the details I have seem to be 100% accurate, it's just that my initial msg on here is that I need more information about the Houlstons further back in time from Enoch and Martha back. I have information from another source about Houlstons and I'm trying to link it all together. Plse send me address thnks Jabez

[Chrissie Smiff]

E-mail address Private messaged to you Jabez I think that should help as I have loads more information if it fits with what I have found.

[jabez]

Regarding the marriage certificate, William Stinton's father is named as William and a farm labourer. Residence Berry Hill which is correct as Wm and Mary Ann went on to farm Botteslow Farm there. Family talk again confirms this, my nan used to help out there with the milking! Wm's age is 33 again spot on. Mary's age is 23 on certificate, she obviously told a porky there. Her father is Enoch Houlston and an engine man, which again is right. he was a driver the colliery. I presume Elaine would see these messages. I remember at the time back in 1999 that Dad and I thought maybe Mary Ann and William never married. I don't know how he found the entry, it might have been a researcher, I can't remember now. By the way, Wm Stinton's dad also William came from the Cambridge area.

[Chrissie Smiff]

Yes, Elaine will be able to see the details you have just given. I can't wait for you to e-mail me the marriage cert though, as the only marriage I can find to a William Stinton is to Mary Ann Ward in 1885 , as I said. No marriage apparent in 1887 for a William Stinton at all.

[jabez]

Another bit of interesting knowledge, this came from my Dad. Enoch's son Samuel born in 1866 married a Susannah Fox. They raised their own family in Salop and I think ended up near Oakengates. After Mary Ann died in 1898, William struggled on but he too died in 1904. There were 8 children including William Henry(illegitimate). The youngest 2 or 3 went to live with Samuel and Susannah and stayed there in Salop. I can remember going to visit one Sunday though I didn't know they were my cousins. My dad always referred to Samuel and Susannah as GRANNY AND GRANDAD HOULSTON!

[Chrissie Smiff]

Hurray - Now I know where they married I found the marriage reference at last Mis-transcriptions of William Stenton to Mary Ann Holstan/Holston. Dec quarter of 1887 - Stoke on Trent ref 6b 357.

[jabez]

Thanks Chrissie I've just picked up your email address. I will send you a reply later tonight so you can get mine. I do not have an electronic copy of the certificate on my computer nor a scanner so I will have to get my son to scan it and send it to me then I can forward a copy to you-hopefully tomorrow. One more thing-as we are exchanging basic genealogical information about the Houlstons do you think that we should continue to do so on here so that any other members can get any information for themselves which may help them? Your detail by your picture says you are a moderator-I don't know what that means or if you are an ordinary member like me researching their past. What do you think?

[jabez]

Well done on that Chrissie. It's not the only misspelt name I've come across