Wednesday 19 August 2015

Miss Halstead of Harrogate - update

Now I never like to leave something part finished. I suppose that comes from 35 years to research into family history, mind not all of that has been into the Halstead name. If you want to know my background then have a look at the Halsted Trust website where you will find details of all the personnel involved with the Trust.

There has been something nagging at me and I couldn't think what. So I went back to the file that I had created from all the newspaper reports and worked my way through each and comparing it to what was already in the file.

The fact that Martha's daughter was born and baptised in Rochdale was still there - Why Rochdale?

That is when I stumbled onto Mrs Jewison from Rochdale in one of the reports. how common was the name? A look at my good old faithful "Surname Atlas" CDROM showed that there were less than 100 in the 1881 census and mainly in Lancashire and Yorkshire - so on the right lines.

It said in the report that she was married on 13 August 1852. What if she was a HALSTEAD by birth and married a JEWISON. it would make sense then for Martha to have gone to Rochdale to have the child. A check of the HALSTEAD BMD indexes should that indeed an Ellen HALSTEAD married a Samuel JEWISON but in 1851. The marriage accord to LancashireBMD was at Rochdale St Chad - now the parish records for there are on Ancestry and a quick check revealed that the marriage was on the 13 August 1851 - too much of a coincidence? Was it the reporter who got the year wrong?

What was more interesting was the address that Ellen showed in the marriage certificate as her address. It was Drake Street. Now if you remember from the previous blog you will know that Martha HALSTEAD's daughter Hannah was baptised in Rochdale St Chad and the address I had read a Deake Street - I know believe it to be Drake Street.

In the 1861 census Ellen JEWISON is living with her mother Ann HALSTEAD in Castleton (part of Rochdale) and both are widows. in the 1851 census they are in Drake Street.

Ellen HALSTEAD's father was John HALSTEAD born about 1793 and in the files he is shown has being the son of John HALSTEAD. John says in the 1851 census (the only one he appears on) that he was born in Birkenshaw. Now Birkenshaw as a parish was created from Birstall in 1834.

Martha HALSTEAD's father on the other hand was Isaac HALSTEAD born about 1799 in Birstall.

Was there a link between John and Isaac? If so then that would really make the whole picture make sense.

Back to the listing I exacted of baptisms and I started with Isaac - a lot less of them than John's!

Sure enough in 1799 Isaac HALSTEAD was baptised in St Peter, Birstall, the son of Isaac. was there a John that matched up? Yes there was in 1794.

So now we have the link to make is all make sense. John sadly died in 1854 so if he did leave a will it is likely to be at the Borthwick. Isaac on the other hand died in 1867 and his is one of the modern wills that I actually have but has been on the list of those the transcribe at some time.

Guess what is on the list for tomorrow!

Hopefully these blogs have given you the hope that even if it looks impossible there is always something else that you can try.

All of this information will be in the next website update

Regards
John


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