Clara Parkin

[Icklec]

Hi,

I am trying to trace Clara Parkin who had an illigitimate son, Herbert Parkin.

Herbert was born 4th October 1876 at Thorpe Hesley, Wentworth, South Yorkshire. His birth cert states he is the son of Clara Parkin.

Clara has Herbert baptised at Masborough, St John (Rotherham), on the 1st February 1880.

By the 1881 census, Herbert is with the Grove family in Masborough. He is listed as a visitor. There is a Clara Parkin on this census also in the Masborough/Kimberworth area who is a servant and listed as born in Wentworth.

By 1891 census, Herbert has become Herbert Parkin Grove and is listed as a son of the Grove family but the ages of the head and wife would suggest that he didnt belong to them. Herbert used the name Herbert Parkin Grove from then on.

It would appear that Clara Parkin that was on the 1881 census married a James Rodwell in 1888 and the could are on the 1891 census, also still in Masborough/Kimberworth.

I think this is 'my' Clara but do I have to go with gut feeling or are there any ways I could try and prove this is the illusive Clara?

Any suggestions will be much appreciated
Claire

[KiteRunner]

Claire, was Clara the informant on Herbert's birth certificate? If so, then if you can get a copy of the original birth cert from the local register office, it will have her signature on it and you can compare it with the signature on a copy of the original marriage certificate. Sometimes this is inconclusive though, because of course she could have changed her signature over the course of 12 years, but if she didn't then it could show that it's the same person.

[Anne in Carlisle]

Have you had a trawl around to see if there are any other Clara Parkins of the right age? If there are no other candidates then it becomes clearer that she is yours. (Maybe not necessarily in the same area, if Herbert had been unofficially adopted by the Groves.)

Have you traced the Groves family to see if there is any relationship to Clara Parkin? I have people down as visitor in one census when later censuses show they are actually related.

Have you got the marriage certificate for the 1888 marriage. I know this wouldn't necessarily prove it was your Clara but it might help check the ages etc.

Finally, gut feelings can often be right (and such a good feeling if you eventually prove it!)

Hope these suggestions add something to your hunt.
Anne

[Icklec]

Hi Kiterunner

Yes, Clara was the informant on Herbert's birth. Many thanks for that suggestion. I will look for that marriage next time I am at the Sheffield Archives.

If this is the same Clara, she would have been 16 when she had Herbert.

I still have not found any links to why Herbert would have ended up with the Grove family.

Kind Regards

[Icklec]

Hi Anne

I have looked at the Grove family through the years on census. Ive also looked back on the Parkin family as the Clara on 1881 was easily found in Wentworth on the 71 with her widowed father. There does not appear to be any link between these two families but I am going to re-check all the information.

Herbert names Joseph Grove as his father on his marriage certificate but that could just be because he brought him up as his own. Or, one thought I had was that Clara was a servant aged 16 for the Grove's in 1876 and he did actually father Herbert. A little random idea but I am clutching at straws now lol.

Regards

[Uncle John]

Yes, Clara was the informant on Herbert's birth. Many thanks for that suggestion. I will look for that marriage next time I am at the Sheffield Archives.

Rotherham Register Office might be a more fruitful line of enquiry. The archives don't hold marriage registers.

[Anne in Carlisle]

Is that specific to Rotherham, Uncle John? I would have thought the marriages for as far back as 1888 would be in the archives by now?

Anne

[Uncle John]

Is that specific to Rotherham, Uncle John? I would have thought the marriages for as far back as 1888 would be in the archives by now?

I stand to be corrected but I thought that register offices retain all their registers ad infinitum.

[Anne in Carlisle]

Was it a register office wedding? I don't think we know without the certificate. If it was in church the copy from the parish records will be in the archives unless the book has been withheld by the church or is still in use there.

Sorry I'm being a bit pedantic here but I don't want anyone being misled into thinking that they can't see marriages at County Archives. These are the ONLY places you can get to see marriage certificates without paying a fee!! Also the ones I have seen are the ones with the actual signatures of the people on them

Anne

PS I think the REGISTER office will also retain their copy of the certificate.

[Uncle John]

Point taken, Anne. Though 99% of the problem with marriages is finding where they took place and therefore which register they are recorded in.

[Anne in Carlisle]

Yes, agreed! In a densly populated area (as apposed to a small town) it could be a long search. I am still basking in my successful search in Beverley Archives for a marriage in Hull - all I knew was the quarter from the GRO index...... I found it in 2 minutes!!!

Anne

[Icklec]

Hi

I would guess that the first two places I would look for a marriage if it was in a church would be St John Masborough or the parish church of Rotherham, both are held at the Sheffield Archives. I would look at St John because Clara baptised Herbert there four years after his birth and she appears (if it is the right Clara on census) to have stayed in the area.

If not those two, then I guess I will have to pay the £7 for the certificate.

Some parishes of Rotherham are held at the Sheffield Archives, some are in Rotherham Archives and some are still at the church. Its all very confusing :(

Regards