Exhaustive searching & a few lucky breaks

QI’ve been doing my family history for around 25 years and have hit a couple of brick walls. I have not been able to find the birthplace or parents of my 3x great-grandfather, George Deakin. George was born about 17621766, depending on which census or certificate you go on.

The 1841 Census shows he was 75 years of age and not born in the county of Surrey. His 1847 death certificate in Godstone, Surrey, shows he was 85 years old. George married Catherine Horley in 1796 and she died in 1840.

I’m also looking for the birth of Francis Deakin born Mancetter, Warwickshire, about 1811. All the census records show him as born Atherstone, Mancetter, Warwickshire. Francis married Amelia Leaver in 1833 in Aston Juxta Birmingham, Warwickshire and she died in 1857 in Kidderminster, aged 44.

Francis died on 12 January 1871 at 65 Ingleby Street, Birmingham, Warwickshire. The occupation on his death certificate is Wine Merchant’s Traveller.

By DNA I’m linked to Francis Deakin and Amelia Lever. Their son, Francis John, married Sarah Ann Godier. They had a daughter Marion Deakin born 1874 and this is where, by DNA, I’m connected to this family.

I’ve been looking to find the connection to George Deakin but can’t find one.

AHenry Deakin

In the 1841 Census ages over fifteen were rounded down to the nearest five so George’s 1841 census age of 75 could be 75–79, giving a birth year of 1762-1766. His age at death of 85 in 1847 would fit within this at 1762.

With the census taken in Godstone, Surrey, and George recorded as not born in the county, it could be difficult to find a definite baptism for him. However, Godstone is close to the Surrey/kent border and although I can’t find a George Deakin(s) baptism in Kent, even by widening the birth-year search, it would be worth contacting Kent archives (www.kentarchives.org.uk) to see if there are any possibilities in parishes not yet online.

As a descendant of George Deakin in Surrey you are linked by DNA with Francis Deakin in Warwickshire around a hundred years after George so it seemed sensible tackle the problem of George’s origins by investigating Francis.

You mention that the censuses show that Francis was born in Atherstone, Warwickshire. However, while in 1841 the family is indeed in Atherstone the place of birth is simply ‘born in county’ and both the 1851 and 1861 Censuses give his place of birth as Birmingham, Warwickshire. Atherstone was almost 30 miles northeast of Birmingham pre-motorways so it is important to be clear about this.

The places where they lived are also important. Having married in Aston near Birmingham they were in Atherstone in 1841, in Kings Norton in Worcestershire in 1851 and back in Birmingham in 1861 where Francis died in 1871. In the meantime, though, daughter Josephine is shown in 1861 as born in 1856 in Kidderminster, well down into Worcestershire, and her mother Amelia died there a few months later.

Francis’s age of 30-34 in 1841 gives a birth-year range of 18071811 while the 1851 and 1861 Censuses give a year of 1809 and 1811 respectively. His death in January 1871 gives an age of 60 so a birth year of 1810/1811. Overall, then, a potential birth year of 1807-1811.

A blanket search for a George Deakin(s) born 1762+/- 2 brings up just two results

One piece of luck was finding a second marriage for Francis. In 1865 Francis Deakin, a 54-year-old widower and a Wine and Spirit Dealer of Ingleby Street, married 28-year-old Emma Phillips in All Saints, Birmingham. With matching name, age, address and occupation this is definitely the same Francis Deakin and the certificate has the bonus of a father: Francis Deakin, Merchant.

Searching for a Francis Deakin(s) born in Birmingham 18071811 with a father Francis brings up just one possibility: Francis, son of Francis and Sarah Deakin, baptised 1 July 1808 in St Philip’s, Birmingham.

Francis Deakin married Sarah Green in St Martin’s, Birmingham, in 1800 and they had six children: Thomas (1800), Francis (1801, died 1801), Francis Eustace (1803, died 1804?), Sarah (1804), William Francis (1805, died 1807), then Francis (1808).

Sarah died on 18 January 1809 and was buried in St Philip’s, Birmingham. Her memorial inscription says 1811 but I suspect that the stone was probably only erected when Francis died in 1829.

On 7 July 1810 Francis Deakin, a widower of St Martin’s parish, married Lucy Lakin in Polesworth, Warwickshire. Francis’s signature on both of his marriage certificates and on both of his marriage licences seem to be an excellent match so this is almost certainly the same Francis. They went on to have several children. Lucy seems to have been born in Freasley, Warwickshire, less than six miles from Atherstone. Could this explain why Francis and Amelia were in Atherstone in 1841? On the 1810 marriage licence Francis is given as a Sword Manufacturer and a Google search brings up several references to him, including at https://collections.royalarmouries.org/object/ rac-object-8016.html. This would certainly fit with an occupation of Merchant.

Francis died 14 November 1829 – not 1830 as some references suggest – and is buried with Sarah. His burial age has been amended to 51 in the register so a year of birth of around 1778. One of the death announcements is interesting: ‘a few days ago, at Hall-end, near Atherstone, Mr Francis Deakin, late of Birmingham’ (Leicester Chronicle 5 December 1829). Hall-end is where Lucy’s home was. However, the burial record is in St Philip’s, Birmingham, with the Abode as Alcester Street, Aston Parish, so presumably they were visiting Lucy’s family when he died.

What I think must be Lucy’s death announcement in the Coventry Herald on 28 November 1834 adds another twist: ‘on the 13th inst., at Severn End, Worcestershire, in her 53rd year, Lucy, relict of the late Mr Francis Deakin, of Birmingham’ which suggests another Worcestershire link. There are certainly several Deakin(s) families in Worcestershire back to at least the 1600s.

Moving back to George, a blanket search across several websites for a George Deakin(s) born 1762+/-2 anywhere in England, Wales or Scotland brings up just two results: George baptised 19 April 1760 in Leigh with Bransford, Worcestershire, to George and Elizabeth, and George baptised 25 September 1764 in Ipsley, on the Worcestershire/warwickshire border, to William and Mary. Widening the search to +/-5 gives only two more: George baptised 25 March 1759 in Cotheridge, Worcestershire to George and Ann, and George baptised 27 May 1759 in Cheadle, Staffordshire, to Samuel and Alice. I rather think the Cheadle one can probably be discounted as it is well north of Birmingham and Atherstone.

So, despite the 150+ miles from Godstone, I suspect that your George might well have been born in Worcestershire. ME