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Can anyone help me please to find James Howard Ballard, I am unable to find a birth as having been born in Medway district about 1840. I did find a birth of James Ballard age 8 months with family living in Chatham but could not find this James in either the 1851 or 1861 census, Found a James and Mary Ballard who presume were his parents , found them in the 1851 census but no family with them and the first time James Howard turned up was in his marriage and the 1871 census., Any help will be appreciated

Who did he marry? When and where?

for ref is this his marriage

Marriages Sep 1864 (>99%)
Austen Anne Faversham 2a 994
Ballard James Hoared Faversham 2a 994

A tree on Ancestry says that he was born 1840, Chatham, Kent and that his parents were James Ballard & Mary Hoar. However it says that Mary was born 1785 which would have made her 55 when James Howard was born.

????
Births Sep 1841
Hoar James E Ashford 5 8

Roy

the marriage i posted above
states james father as been joseph (not) james so maybe i have the wrong marriage

I would imagine that on that 41 census James & Mary are his grandparents.

Do you have the marriage certificate? Does it give father's name?

1871


Saml Ballard ... wrong transcription
[James Ballard]

Age:30

Estimated birth year:abt 1841

Spouse's Name:Anna Ballard

Where born:Chatham, Kent, England
Civil Parish:Faversham
Town:Faversham
County/Island:Kent

Saml Ballard 30
Anna Ballard 28
Ernest Ballard 4
Nelly Ballard 2
George Ballard 1

1841


James Ballard 55
Mary Ballard 56
Joseph Ballard 18 ....... maybe James's father ?
Mary Ballard 15
Sarah Ballard 15
James Ballard 8 Months - Where born:Kent, England

Another tree has mother Mary Hoar born 1777 and James Howard born 1841 making her 64 when he was born!!!

Just in case it's relevant.

UK and Ireland, Masters and Mates Certificates,
Name:
Joseph Ballard

Estimated Age:
28

Birth Date:
16 Apr 1823

Birth Place:
Finsbury, Kent

Issue Date:
20 Feb 1851

Issue Port:
Sunderland <<<<<<<<<<<

Thank you for your replies. I thought the same that James and Mary could have been grandparents. Possible he could have been listed on birth as James Hoar, that's if Mary was his mother and not grandmother. I did find Joseph Ballard who was 18 in 1841 in the 1861 census living in Durham states occ Mariner, so that could tie up with the Masters and mates certificate. In 1851 James would have been 11 yrs old so who would he have been living with, certainly not James and Mary Ballard. No I do not have a marriage cert for James Howard Ballard, I'm looking up for my husbands cousins family. I have looked on the trees of other people and they don't seem to have found him either for 20 years Looking at the birth of James Hoar in Ashford Kent, that is quite a distance from Chatham so not too sure on that one but will look it up. Many Thanks

It's possible that he could have been an illegitimate child of a daughter of James & Mary. If the daughter married he could have been brought up using his step-father's name and then reverted to his legal name at marriage. I've seen that happen more than once.

I can see that happening and wondered if he was the son of either Mary or Sarah, both age 15 on the 1841 census. I have just looked up a marriage for him in 1864 and he his down as James Hoared Ballard, so could he have been the child of James and Mary both in their 50's

He names his father as Joseph when he married:

James Hoared Ballard, "England Marriages, 1538–1973 "

Name: James Hoared Ballard
Birth Date: 1841
Age: 23

Spouse's Name: Anne Austen
Spouse's Birth Date: 1842
Spouse's Age: 22

Event Date: 28 Jul 1864
Event Place: Faversham, Kent, England

Father's Name: Joseph Ballard
Spouse's Father's Name: Thomas Austen

Indexing Project (Batch) Number: I00359-8
System Origin: England-EASy
GS Film number: 1886148
Reference ID: item 5 p 171

(From FamilySearch)

Hard to say if the middle name is a mistranscription of Howard or if it's derived from Hoar (I think it's meant to be Howard).

The only way to be absolutely certain is to buy a copy of the actual certificate and see what occupation it gives for the father.

Thank you MarieCeleste, now that is interesting, so Joseph the son of James and Mary is possibly the father, do you think Joseph was married and his wife died for she is not on the 1941 census and I think it would be unusual if a father took on his baby if the wife or partner was alive in those days.. I will ask around on the family trees to see if anyone sent for a marriage cert.

So I wonder where James Howard Ballard was between 1841 census and his marriage in 1864

So I wonder where James Howard Ballard was between 1841 census and his marriage in 1864

Coincidentally. my gt. grandmother was illegitimate and gave the name of her mother's brother on her marriage certificate. as her father.