Which Isaac Wilson is mine?
QMy great great grandfather, Isaac Wilson, was a police officer/ inspector in Liverpool (1854-1886). Isaac’s father is described as being James Wilson, occupation farmer, on the certificate for Isaac’s marriage to Mary Ann Hesketh in Liverpool in 1855. From information given on Isaac’s death certificate and census returns, he appears to have been born c1831. Isaac’s birth place is described variously as Westmorland in the 1861 census; Kendal in 1871; Croston, Westmorland in 1881; and Crosthwaite, Westmorland in 1891.
Given this information, what is the best way to find his parents? I have found an Isaac Wilson aged 19, born c1832, living with parents James and Isabella in 1851 in Mansriggs, Lancashire. Isaac is described as being born in Crosthwaite. The same family are in Dalton-in- Furness in the 1841 census, where Isack ( different spelling) is aged eight, with an estimated birth year of 1833. Could this be my great great grandfather? James is described as a farmer in 1841 and ‘Flind’ in 1851.
I have also found an Isaac Wilson in the 1851 census aged 17, listed as a servant/ agricultural labourer, living with the Docker family at Spink How in Crosthwaite, born in Kendal. Wilson is a common surname and I can see how it would be easy to follow the wrong family. How should I approach this? Nicola Lee, via email
ATo establish which of several possible candidates is the ‘right’ one, you should look at records for all of them to try to eliminate most of them from consideration. (By the way, ‘Flind’ is probably ‘Hind’, which is a Northern/Scottish term for a farm labourer.)
I looked on FamilySearch for the baptism of any Isaac Wilsons in Westmorland between 1830 and 1834. There were three: Edmund Law Isaac Wilson in Kendal in May 1833, an Isaac Wilson in Langdale by Ambleside in August 1832, and another in Grayrigg in September 1833. In the nonconformist births and baptisms on TheGenealogist website, I found an Isaac Whitwell Wilson born in Kendal in 1833. There were no relevant baptisms in that time-period in neighbouring Cumberland and Lancashire.
The fathers of the above Isaac Wilsons were respectively named Isaac, Timothy, John and John. In addition, the Langdale and Grayrigg Isaacs and Isaac Whitwell Wilson all appear in the 1861-1881 censuses with their respective wives Hannah, Margaret and Anne. On Ancestry, an indenture dated February 1850 places Edmund Law Isaac Wilson as a trainee with Thomas Harrison, a solicitor in Kendal, while on Findmypast, a death notice in the Westmorland Gazette states that Edmund died of a fever in Constantinople in March 1856.
Other children of James and Isabella Wilson on FamilySearch were Thomas and John, baptised in Crosthwaite and Lythe parish in January 1824 and October 1827 respectively. Searching that parish for any children with parents James and Isabella and leaving the surname blank, I found the baptisms of ‘Mary Witson’ in April 1830 and ‘Isaac Witson’ in January 1833.
I would say that the Isaac Wilson who was with James and Isabella in the 1841 and 1851 censuses is your great great grandfather. I suspect that the Isaac Wilson living with the Dockers at Spink How is the Grayrigg Isaac, who is missing from his (farming) family in 1851. Alan Stewart