Where on earth was my great grandfather born?
QI’m trying to find out where my great grandfather Thomas Wright was born. He was born around 1852/ 1853 and married Eleanor Mary Jennings. They had three sons and three daughters.
The 1911 census says that he was born in Islington, but previous censuses state that he was born in Ware, Hertfordshire. In 1901 and 1911, Thomas and Eleanor lived in Barnes, Surrey.
Tina Myers
AI empathise with your situation. You can track Thomas following his 1889 marriage, in conjunction with his wife, but the challenge is how to identify him prior to that. Ancestry.co.uk suggests more than 600 Thomas Wrights were born within two years of 1854, but there are two interesting candidates – one born in the fourth quarter of 1855 in the Hertford registration district, and one born in the fourth quarter of 1853 in the Islington district.
There can be many reasons why records throw up inconsistencies, not least because people sometimes provided incorrect information thanks to factors such as illiteracy; a desire to avoid the authorities; vanity; miscommunication, and not knowing or guessing the facts. Thomas signed the 1911 census schedule, but the document appears to have been completed by someone else, which introduces further potential for error. Thomas’s marriage certificate suggests he was 35, while Eleanor was 21
– but it wasn’t very practical to check ages, so we have to treat these with caution. The difference in age is another reason why a few years could have been lost or added for appearances’ sake. Thomas gave his father’s name also as Thomas, which might help narrow things down.
I would suggest that you search the civil birth register for candidates born in Ware/ Hertford and Islington, and preferably obtain the corresponding certificates. Then cross-reference these with the 1861, 1871 and 1881 censuses, matching the father’s name and occupation. Consider also obtaining a copy of Eleanor’s 1909 death certificate, and see if you can find Thomas’s as well (this may be the one that was recorded in the Richmond district in 1921). Being methodical and meticulous is the most likely recipe for success in this case! Geoff Young