Genealogy Chat

Please, please can someone help me? With the help of people from this site I've managed to trace my Clayton family back to EDWARD CLAYTON, born/christened 21 Jan 1829 in Wellington, Shorpshire. His mother's name was ANN CLAYTON. I can't get any further back than this. No records, no poor law (or so I've been told), nothing. It's possible that Edward ran away from home a the age of 12/13 years. Does ANYONE have an ANN CLAYTON in there tree that could possibly be mine? Does ANYONE have any suggestions as to where to go from here? I really need some help! Thank you so much xx

Hi Rebecca As he only has a mother mentioned then it looks likely that he was illigitimate. Have you looked for a Bastardy Warrant/Bond? Sheila

Sorry, not a Clayton, and not researching Shropshire. How did you arrive at Edward's mother's name? Do you have details of a parish register entry? There are some other routes that might help - have you tried these already? Ann Clayton may have been single when Edward was born, in which case, searching for an Ann Clayton born (say) Shropshire on this site may put you in touch with someone who knows a little more about some of the possible matches. The possible age in 1829 would range between 12 and 52, so you could check for Ann Claytons born in 1797 +/- 20 years. If you limit the search to those born in Shropshire, you could email the 6 tree owners listed on this site as having the five different AC's in their tree. They may be able to say - no, this one died age 5 years old etc... It could also be a starting point for looking at Claytons in Shropshire in more detail. If AC never married but survived to 1851, there is just one possible AC transcribed by Ancestry from the 1851 census who was living in Shropshire (born appox 1812). I note that all 6 AC's living in Shropshire in 1851 who were born between 1777 and 1817 were also born there, so you may have arrived at that legendary time when people at least stayed in the same county! Another possibility is that AC was widowed before Edward was born, so that no father's name was recorded. At the other end of the age range is one AC in 1851 shown as a mother-in-law. The other AC's are all married - if your AC married/remarried after Edward's birth, she will be under another name. Even if she is still AC in 1851, she may have been mistranscribed and not show up. Other people have commented on the success they have had in tracing those around the last known ancestor - for instance, did Edward ever have any visitors staying at his address in subsequent census returns? What was his occupation? Is there any chance he could have been apprenticed? Even if the poor law records don't cover the precise period you want, can you find records about any Claytons when there are records? What does Shropshire record office offer? Could you visit, or ask someone to do some look-ups for you? Keep talking about your research - there are numerous very helpful people on this site.

Hi guys! Thanks for your replies. First of all I was able to see Edwards birth details on Family Search and that's where I have his mother's name from. Another family member whos has tried to trace more info on Edward has apparently had the bastardy warrant things checked and I've also asked Shropshire Records office if they have anything (poor law etc) and both have come back with nothing. Next: I have previously contacted a few members with Ann Claytons in their trees and nothing as of yet, but I will go back and see if I missed any. And unfortunatley I don't have access to the 1851 census at the moment on Ancestry to search and look at all those Ann Claytons you mentioned, Ivy. Would you be able to help? However, Ivy you mentioned something about if Edward had been apprenticed. He was as far as I can tell on the 1851 census as he's down as living with the Aston family in Wolverhampton (David Aston was a coal minner - which Edward was all his life). Edward is down as being 12 years old and 'ap' is in the employment box - I presume that stands for apprentice. Could you explain a little more about how this might help, please? On the 1861 census Edwards down as being an Ironstone Minner and from the Shropshire, Dawley. I have all the census returns and unfortunatley there were never any visitors. I've been told that Edward never spoke about his past and only went back to the Dawley area once in his life to ask his grandparents for money to open his own mine. He was refused, so he shut them off. How much of this story has chanced over the years, I don't know! Thank you both so much for your help. I really want to crack this one.

Can anyone help more with info about apprentiships and death duties please? Cheers xx

(copied from the reply to your pm) Dear Rebecca, I'm just on my way home - I noticed your message just before I shut down... I mentioned the apprenticeship really to try and provoke a response from someone with more knowledge. At one time (I'm very vague as to when), apprentices were indentured - a formal contract between young teen and his master. There would have been two copies, and some of these documents survive. If he was in touch with his grandparents, they may well have paid for him to be indentured (and perhaps then claimed that they had done enough??) It sounds as if the family story of the grandparents' refusal is well worth tracking down. If they had enough money to invest in a mine, they would probably be paying death duties. Provided they are Claytons (a big if!), the name and the location might allow you to trace wills. Sounds like you have a really tough one here - I wish you lots of luck with this! (PS will have a look at Ancestry when I'm back on Mon)

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Wow, Lynne thanks!! Lets hope this is a good lead, eh? xx

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