Where was my ancestor born?

QI’m trying to find a birth record for my ancestor Adam Lewis. In the 1851 census, his birthplace was Oxfordshire, and in 1861, Worcester. He was living in Marylebone, London (with his wife Mary), in both. He died in Marylebone workhouse in the March quarter of 1869. Anna Baghiani by email

AIn the 1841 census, I found an Adam Lewis living in Snead’s Gardens (now Yarmouth Mews) behind Piccadilly in central London. This Adam (aged 45- 49) was a carpenter – as was your ancestor in the two following censuses – living with Avis Lewis (40- 45). Ancestry. co.uk has a record of the burial of an Avis Lewis aged 40 on 22 May 1842, also in the parish of St Marylebone.

Searching for the baptisms of Adam Lewis’s children, I found Ann (born 12 August 1822), John (24 November 1824) and Adam junior (17 February 1827), whose father, Adam, was a carpenter and mother named Ann. There was also a Jane Levis baptised on 28 March 1831 to parents Adam (a carpenter) and Anne. On 24 September 1821, an Adam Lewis and an Ann Shaw had married in St Botolph’s church, Aldgate, London.

I too could find no likely Church of England baptismal record for Adam Lewis in Oxfordshire (on Ancestry) and Worcestershire (on thegenealogist.co.uk), or nearby Warwickshire and Gloucestershire ( both on Ancestry), nor among nonconformist births or baptisms (on TheGenealogist and Ancestry). Nor could I find any record of Adam marrying Avis or Mary.

One of the witnesses to Adam’s marriage in 1821 was a Sam Lewis, who may have been Adam’s brother. TheGenealogist lists Samuel Lewis baptisms in Worcester in 1780, 1785, 1787 and 1791, which may be worth following up. You could also try looking at Lewis wills to see whether Adam received any bequests. Wills proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury are on Ancestry, while those proved in Oxford are on findmypast.co.uk, which also has an index of wills proved in Worcester. To view these, visit Worcestershire Archives at The Hive in Worcester ( thehiveworcester.org). Alan Stewart