Research Help Please:

[Eden]

I have been unable to find the birth record for Christopher Harrison born 16th July 1809 Northampton(I think) England. Once I can see names of his parents it might give me a start going backwards!! One source of info (not necessarily reliable) says his parents were Richardson and Martha Harrison. Whoever his father was, he died in 1845, and had a family Bible dating back to 1690 showing all family records!! (Boy! would I love to have THAT right now!!) Any help in tracing this elusive family would be greatly appreciated.

[margaretmarch]

I have been unable to find the birth record for Christopher Harrison born 16th July 1809 Northampton(I think) England. Once I can see names of his parents it might give me a start going backwards!! One source of info (not necessarily reliable) says his parents were Richardson and Martha Harrison. Whoever his father was, he died in 1845, and had a family Bible dating back to 1690 showing all family records!! (Boy! would I love to have THAT right now!!) Any help in tracing this elusive family would be greatly appreciated.

There will only be a baptism record for 1809 so parish records is where you need to look. familysearch.org has a number transcribed so worth looking there.

Where did you get the exact date that you quote from?

Have you found Christopher on the 1841 census and if so is he with a family - they don't show relationships but it's sometimes possible to judge who is related to who and how from the way the list is compiled.

Margaret

[Eden]

Margaret, A letter written by his son in 1864 gives amazing details of Christopher's life..even to his sobriety and beliefs.( I didn't know all this detail when I last had access to census / BDM etc ) and although I have tracked shipping records etc & trcaked enough to know details of his marriage/ children etc, I haven't found his birth. A relative says his father was Richardson & mother Martha - but I haven't been able to match anything and verify it with any amount of certainty.

[margaretmarch]

You might have to get in touch with Northampton Records Office to see if they hold the records for the period concerned and if you can't get there yourself then maybe ask on the request board on this site if someone can go for you.

I can see a Christopher Harrison in 1841 with 4 children Reuben, Rose Ruth and Henry occupation sawyer - is that him? He's living in the parish of St Sepulchre Northampton

Margaret

[margaretmarch]

The same Christopher seems to be living in London in 1851 with son Reuben - says on that born in Northampton

Margaret

[margaretmarch]

Margaret, A letter written by his son in 1864 gives amazing details of Christopher's life..even to his sobriety and beliefs.( I didn't know all this detail when I last had access to census / BDM etc ) and although I have tracked shipping records etc & trcaked enough to know details of his marriage/ children etc, I haven't found his birth. A relative says his father was Richardson & mother Martha - but I haven't been able to match anything and verify it with any amount of certainty.

If you have his marriage details you will have his father's name surely?

Margaret

[Anne in Carlisle]

Probably married before 1837 I would think, so no father's name. I've not found Northamptonshire very good on familysearch, myself, so it would probably be better to get info direct from the County Archive as mentioned above.

Anne

[Janet]

There is a marriage of 25 June 1829 on Free Reg for a Christopher Harrison(Sawyer) marrying Emma Claridge Brington Northants with a Maria baptised to Christopher Harrison & Emma Brington St Mary the Virgin18 April 1830 but abode All Saints Northampton. May not have been born Brington, just marrying there probably working on the Spencer Estate. You will need to trawl the parishes around to find baptism which could be anywhere in Northants or not. No baptism found on Free Reg yet but may come on at some point in time.

Janet

[Heather Positive Thinker]

What marriage details have you got as that should give you his fathers name? When did he marry?

Doh, I see others have already covered that

If you have further details, what is the wife's name and the childrens details? Who was the son who wrote the letter? You must have a lot more info that you could give to help track them down. Reading between the lines it sounds like he emigrated? What details do you have re that?

The Cristopher Harrison (sic) in the 1841 given in above post with the children down to a one year old called Henry but no apparent wife seems to be living in the same household as a possible brother called George, his wife Phoebe and a child with the odd name of Frost. George is also a sawyer A tree on ancestry gives the wifes name as Thompson, born Edinburgh. Sadly no parents given for George though but his bap is given as 1819 in Cotton End, Northamptonshire. If we could be sure this is the bro of the Christopher you are searching, his marriage cert would be worth buying.

Been checking on "Frost":

ame: Vincent Frost O'Connor Harrison
Birth: Apr 1841 - Northampton, Northamptonshire

[Eden]

A very very distant relative did some research abt 40yrs ago, so I assume from shipping records: 'Christopher Harrison 44, sawyer s/o Martha & Richardson born All Saints arrived Sydney Dec 1853. Emma 45 born Little Brighton d/o Thomas & Louisa Claridge/ Clarence. Ruth Rhonda 15, and Henry Vincent 14. An older son Reuben arrived earlier in the year.' I have also tracked the births of Maria (1830) Rose (1837) & Jesse (1841). Reuben's letter d 1864 gave me C's birthdate and life story. C's father died in 1845 (no mention of mother) and a brother committed suicide in 1853. The letter also mentions Earl Spencer and that after C learnt to read and write he got involved in town politics etc. Also mentions his grandfathers bible which dated back to 1690. It was only yesterday I discovered the letter which gave me C's birthdate & story - but not enough details to actually find birth / parents / sibling online using the limited resources I have.

[dicole]

Hi Eden

The NSW State Records website shows two microfilms of passenger arrivals for the Athenian, the ship Christopher and family arrived on. The first one (2137 - Asisted Migrants arriving) is fully digitised on the SR website gives age, occupation, native place, religion and read/write. The other microfilm (2464 - Boards list of immigrants) is a separate list of the same passengers but includes parents - and will often say "deceased" so you have a reference point of their deaths as well.

This second set of microfilms has not been digitised or indexed yet, so you need to go the library and scroll through the microfilm. It looks like this might be where your relative got the information on his parents, as I cannot find any other confirmation on-line. It would be good to double check this information, just to make sure.

A lot of the large public libraries in NSW, like Parramatta, Ryde, and the State Library have the microfilms which you can access more easily than the SR office at Kingswood. If you cannot get to look at the second microfilm, I will have some time to go and look for you - when you know what you want it only takes a few minutes.


Regards

Diane

[dicole]

Whoever his father was, he died in 1845.


So he should be in the 1841 census, too.

Di

[margaretmarch]

Whoever his father was, he died in 1845.


So he should be in the 1841 census, too.

Di

Yes that's true but it doesn't really solve the issue of the birth record that Eden requires and since the 1841 does not give relationships it would not help with that either.

I'll have a look for Richardson and Martha Harrison in 1841.

The baptism records for Northamptonshire are not available online to any great extent so I think Eden will have to be reliant on someone going to the Records Office for him to see if they can get some verification for the information he has.

Margaret

[margaretmarch]

Can't see anything obvious for Richardson or Martha in 1841 but difficult as don't have much to go on and Harrison is not an uncommon name.

Margaret

[kylejustin]

i think they could have died pre census. martha could be around i guess, but because no one knows much about her, it may be hard to find her.

[Janet]

A very very distant relative did some research abt 40yrs ago, so I assume from shipping records: 'Christopher Harrison 44, sawyer s/o Martha & Richardson born All Saints arrived Sydney Dec 1853. Emma 45 born Little Brighton d/o Thomas & Louisa Claridge/ Clarence. Ruth Rhonda 15, and Henry Vincent 14. An older son Reuben arrived earlier in the year.' I have also tracked the births of Maria (1830) Rose (1837) & Jesse (1841). Reuben's letter d 1864 gave me C's birthdate and life story. C's father died in 1845 (no mention of mother) and a brother committed suicide in 1853. The letter also mentions Earl Spencer and that after C learnt to read and write he got involved in town politics etc. Also mentions his grandfathers bible which dated back to 1690. It was only yesterday I discovered the letter which gave me C's birthdate & story - but not enough details to actually find birth / parents / sibling online using the limited resources I have.

I would suggest that the Little Brighton above should be LITTLE BRINGTON. There is a Little and Great Brington, Northants, villages on the Spencer Althorp estate. Google for more information. Have not seen so many Harrison in Northants but Richardson is a very popular name in Northants, all over! Newspapers online are very good for Northants. The Northants Mercury is the main paper and I am sure you will find many Richardsons in there for various reasons! I presume you have looked at all the Richardsons and harrisons on Free Reg which is very good for Northants, although still a lot missing. I have a few Richardson mixed up with my lot for poaching!! I am not sure why the name Richardson is coming in when his name is Harrison? The fact that Earl Spencer is mentioned is indicative he no doubt worked as a sawyer at Althorp although may not have been for long. If you can get to Northants CRO and look for the Althorp records, you will find much of interest as anyone working for the Spencers will be mentioned. Alternatively, if you are unable to get to the Northants CRO then google Northants Family History Society from where you will be able to purchase CD's/books/fiche for various Parishes to include Little and Great Brington. I have some but not for Great or Little Brington or Northampton. There is another Brington just over the border of Northants into Hunts so do not confuse!

Janet

[margaretmarch]

Janet - would that include All Saints Northampton? as that is where Christopher says he was born. He is living in St Sepulchre in 1841 and then went to London in 1851 and thence to Oz !

Margaret

[Janet]

Margaret,

Yes it should include Northampton.The link to the Northants FHS is as follows:

http://www.northants-fhs.org/

It looks as though you have to contact the person for Library Holdings for information, but they do hold CD's for many many parishes. I have not done any for Northampton itself as all mine are in all the villages and hamlets around. They may have changed their rules now that Northants is coming more and more online through FMP and Free Reg. Some of my CD's I have from Northants FHS, some through Alan Clarke's website and a couple from Northamtonshire County Record Office. I will look up Northants CRO as cannot remember the website details. Is he baptised Christopher Harrison or Christopher Richardson?

CRO website:

http://www.northamptonshire.gov.uk/en/councilservices/community/archives/pages/visiting-the-record-office.aspx

I cannot see anywhere they may sell CD's on the CRO site but worth sending them an e mail as they always used to sell CD's/ books/fiche.

I belong to both the Northants FHS and Northants Record Society so I will have another look at my last issue. I have not bought anything for a long time as I have what I need for now. One other book I possess which may help is the Northants Militia List for 1777. I will have a look, but it is difficult not knowing whether we are looking for Richardson or Harrison?

One other thought. Is Eden Oz or UK or where? If Oz and belonged to a local OZ FHS then they are always very helpful at being able to provide books and parish records for anywhere in the world through their own systems.

Alan Clarke's Website as follows:

http://www.northants1841.fsnet.co.uk/

Janet

[Mary from Italy]

Not sure if it's relevant, but in 1841 there's a Richard Harrison, sawyer, and wife? Martha, both aged 65, living in the All Saints district of Northampton.

[Janet]

Found the possible interesting names in the 1777 Militia list for Northants:

Northampton Chequer Ward
John Frost Servant

Northampton East Ward
John Richardson Carrier
Thomas Frost Cordwainer
William Claridge Servant
John Harris Baker

Northampton North Ward
William Richason + 3 children Brewer
Daniel Frost Labourer
With only one, possibly two Richardson in the whole of Northampton Town in 1777 suggests to me that though Christopher may have ben born there in 1809? that the family came from elsewhere. There are nests of Richardson around Brigstock area. No Harrison was found except John Harris/ Baker.

The John Richardson Carrier could be an interesting one. You may find more on Historical Directories online. I have found quite a few of my Northants carriers in the late 1700's, early 1800's on this site.

William Claridge is interesting as Christoper married an Emma Claridge at Brington.

Historical Directories on line:

http://www.historicaldirectories.org/hd/

Mary,

I think they have already found the 1841 census on page 1.

Janet