Would you claim them?

[Icklec]

Hi everyone,

I wanted to know if I should claim a family I have found on census that appears to be mine.

My great x 2 grandfather, William Jones was born 1844c according to his marriage and death certificates and his father is named as Henry Jones, Silversmith, on the marriage cert from 1865. All census from 1871 show William as born in Sheffield.

On the 51 census, the only likely William Jones born Sheffield around 1844 with a father called Henry shows that Henry's occupation was a School Master. I cannot find any likely William on the 61 census.

I was going to rule out the 51 family because of dad's occupation which was the same in 1861 but in 1871, Henry Jones has become a Silversmith. So between 1861 and 1871 Henry changed occupation.

The only other thing that is going through my head is that when my nan talked about her family four years ago, she kept saying her dad (William's son Charles Henry) told her the family owned schools in Wales! We ruled this out as a load of tosh lol, especially when Charles and William both were born Sheffield but this occupation has got me thinking......

Would you say I have found the right family or am I trying to put pieces together and being totally wrong?

Any advice welcomed.

Claire

[Phoenix]

Jones isn't exactly an uncommon name....

Do the 1851 - 1861 families match in all details with the 1871 family? Live in the same house? Children's names in same order?

If the only difference is in father's occupation, then I would be incline to think you had the correct family. The alternative is two parallel familes and there ought to be a hint somewhere of them.

It might be worth exploring the history of Sheffield. Silversmith sounds like a job for someone with good eyesight & motor skills. Would it cover someone running a business as well?

[Icklec]

I have printed all census of this family from 51 to 81. Henry has wife Ann of same age as him on all four census. Both their birthplaces are the same on all. They are in Warmsworth, Yorkshire on the 51 census and the Norton just out of Sheffield on the 61 to 81 census. Not all children appear on all census but the ones that do, are the same ages as they should be etc.

It is definately the same family but its if they are mine. William doesnt appear with them in 61 but I also cant find him anywhere in 61.

I will have a look at history of silversmiths and school masters.

Many thanks

[Uncle John]

There was/is an Assay Office in Sheffield so he could possibly have his own registered mark to use on pieces he had assayed. Depending how well known he was, The Goldsmiths Company in London might have information on him.

[Christine in Herts]

I don't know about claiming him as a "definite", but I'd certainly make sure I'd kept all relevant info about that family. That way, you'll always have the chance to look back and compare until you can rule them in/out for sure.

Also, if you test the hypothesis by pretending they're definite, you might turn up something definitive one way or the other. I did that with a likely family of FOSTERs, and ended up with a couple more generations of direct PAFOOT ancestors: there were Wills which named names and specified relationships!

Christine

[KiteRunner]

I would say it's the right family, since Henry became a silversmith - you didn't pick them out in the first place because he was a silversmith, so the chances that the "wrong" Henry would become one seem pretty low to me.

[Icklec]

hi John, Christine and Kiterunner

Many apologies for not responding last night, I was offline.

I appreciate all your comments. I will check out that mark you mentioned John to see if there are any records and if Henry Jones was known in anyway.

I did disregard Henry in the first instance because of the occupation discrepency but decided to check what became of him in later census so seeing him changed to a silversmith did jump straight at me.

There are a few possible William Jones' born 1844c in Sheffield. Maybe my best option is to send for each one with Henry named as reference and see which occupation Henry has when I order the right one

I have tried both the 51 and 61 censuses for other William Jones' but this one in 51 is the only one I can find, and happens to have a father with a name matching the marriage cert.

Thanks again for all input