Where can I find records of James Beever followingg his marriageg to Jane Green?
Q My great grandfather James Beever was born in 1856 in Intack, Yorkshire, and appears on the 1861 and 1871 censuses. In 1881, he lodged with the Green family in Stocksbridge, Yorkshire. In 1881 he married Jane Green and in 1883 they had George Henry, my grandfather. In 1884, Jane died. The Greens were still in Stocksbridge in the 1891 census, with George Henry listed as their grandson, but James is not there. What happened?
Barry Beever
A Your James Beever is not to be found in the census after 1881, nor is his death recorded. He does seem to have vanished, although that may be only from England and Wales.
I checked Scottish records using the Scottish government’s site ScotlandsPeople ( scotlands people.gov.uk), but unfortunately had no success.
In the Irish 1901 and 1911 censuses at the National Archives of Ireland’s site census.national archives.ie, there was a James Beaver of about the right age living in County Tyrone. Unfortunately, he seems to have been born in that county.
Ancestry ( ancestry.co.uk) and Findmypast ( findmypast.co.uk) have some criminal records for men named James Beever in 1887, who were coal miners like your forebear. You can read about these trials on the British Newspaper Archive ( british newspaperarchive.co.uk).
There is also a June 1885 article about a James Beever who was involved in riotous and indecent behaviour at a Salvation Army hall in Pickering, Yorkshire. I hope this wasn’t your relative!
It may be that James emigrated to another part of the British Empire or to the USA. I searched records from the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand at Ancestry and Findmypast, but found nothing of interest.
Finally the FamilySearch Wiki at familysearch.org/en/wiki/ Main_Page has information about the free website’s countless online records for the US states, Canadian provinces, Australian states, New Zealand and the provinces of South Africa. You may wish to take a look at it.
Alan Stewart