Jane Evans

[webwiz]

I have the marriage cert. for Jane Evans 14/12/1868 in All Saints Birmingham. She gives her age as 20 which is consistent with later censuses, where her place of birth is Birmingham. Her father is James Evans Watch & Clock Maker. However I cannot find any likely entry on Ancestry for James & Jane in 1851 or 1861. Can anyone do better than me?

[herky]

Hi,
Do you have any more info on James - year of birth, place of birth etc?
Thanks.

[LaurenS1990]

Possible for Jane in 1861

Name	Relation	Condition	Sex	Age	Birth Year	Occupation Disability	Where Born
SUMNER, George	Head	Married	M	38	1823	Commission Agent	Birmingham Warwickshire
SUMNER, Helen	Wife	Married	F	39	1822		Alcester Warwickshire
SUMNER, Helen	Daughter		F	11	1850	Scholar	Birmingham Warwickshire
SUMNER, Catherine	Daughter		F	6	1855	Scholar	Birmingham Warwickshire
SUMNER, Florence	Daughter		F	4	1857	Scholar	Aston Manor Warwickshire
SUMNER, Marian	Daughter		F	1	1860		Aston Manor Warwickshire
EVENS, Jane	Servant		F	12	1849	House Servant	Birmingham Warwickshire
Piece: 2182 Folio: 68 Page: 33 Registration District: Aston Civil Parish: Aston Municipal Borough: Address: George Street, Aston County: Warwickshire

[webwiz]

Herky
No I know nothing about james except that it is him on the marriage cert.

Lauren
Could well be her but if she is not at home this entry does not help trace her family. I really need to find her in 1851 when she was only 3 so should have been at home.

Thanks, both, for your interest in this case.

[Christine in Herts]

There's a James EVANS, aged 27 in 1851, who's described as watch finisher journeyman, but the children are James, 3, and Emma, 10 mo... and they're all in Coventry. That's not all that far away but it isn't Birmingham.

Christine

[Christine in Herts]

There's another in Coventry, again, but aged 56 (which is getting on a bit, as is his wife, Marg, 54, when you're talking about bearing a child only a few years before). He's a watch gilder and publican (an odd combination). No Jane is mentioned.

Christine

[Christine in Herts]

Do the witness names give any clues to help you?

Christine

[Christine in Herts]

There's a jeweller called James EVANS, aged 19, in Brearley St, West, in Birmingham, but he's unmarried and living with parents and siblings.

Christine

[Heather Positive Thinker]

Long shot but there is a Jane aged 10 in the 1861 living with parent James in Aston - he is a gun borer, not a watch maker but it is a job where the skills could be transferred. Theres a James living with parents in Brum in 1851 a journeyman gold chain maker. Hmm, not easy to find them is it.


Who were the witnesses to the marriage and where did Jane and her husband live?

[webwiz]

Christine
Of the two in Coventry one wife seems too old. But not impossible. The other one is the right age but where is Jane age 3? The witnesses were relatives of the groom, and I have no problems with his side of the family, it's just his wife.

Heather
I saw that one, but both age and occupation make it unlikely.

Thanks for looking.

[Elaine]

If you look 1861, do you think gun could be gem?

[Darksecretz]

Her father is James Evans Watch & Clock Maker

what about trade directories? might they help?

[kylejustin]

there are only 2 jane evans born in birmingham in 1848:

Births Sep 1848
EVANS, Jane- Birmingham. vol.16, page 387
EVANS, Jane Elizabeth- Birmingham. vol.16, page 341

other surrounding entries are 1846 and 1850. you could get one of the birth certs, the address might help narrow the family down in the census. this is assuming she was born in birmingham, and not a small village nearby.

[webwiz]

Thanks, already checked these but neither has a father James. Of course her mother may have remarried after Jane was born with some other name in which case this will probably be an insurmountable brick wall.

[Darksecretz]

what is Janes husbands name please,

[Darksecretz]

have you look for a bapt/birth for her?

[webwiz]

It could be gem, but then I don't know what the next two words might be that would match gem. Birmingham was the centre of the arms industry, BSA and others, but there was also a thriving jewellery industry.

[webwiz]

Jane married John Leaver. I cannot find any likely birth under the name Jane Evans with a father James in the Midlands. There are a couple in Wales, but in both father's occupation is miner and Jane always claims to have been born in Birmingham.

[Darksecretz]

mmm I did wonder if they left any wills or anything, but, it doesnt look like they had. It might be that she 'invented' the father or possibly gave the wrong name, I know my own grandmother gave her fathers name as George Frederick, whereas it was Frederick Thomas!

[Christine in Herts]

I must say that I found myself wondering if the father's name was conjured up for the sake of saving face at the time of the marriage.

Christine