Genealogy Chat

see below

Still working on my Newton/Tuffnell/Swindell family. Mary Ann Swindell, daughter of Thomas Swindell and Mary, nee Tuffnell, was born Sep qr 1850 St Peters Derby. I have her on every census except for the 1861 one. 1851 Census Gorsty Hill Cheadle Benjamin Tuffnall Head Hertfordshire Hatfield Sarah Tuffnall Wife Mar 66 Hertfordshire St Albans Sarah Tuffnall Daur U 34 Tape Drafter Staffordshire Holly Bush Mary Swindell Daur Mar 37 Publican’s wife Cheshire Congleton William Swindell Grand Son 3 Derby St Peters Mary Ann Swindell Grand Daur 8 months Derby St Peters 1861 Census ???? 1871 Census Staying in Penge with Ann and John Newton and Emily Newton. Niece. Age 20 (same age as Emily) 1881 Census Staying with Ann and Henry Newton in Penge. age 30 Visitor Born Derby, Derbyshire Niece 1891 Census Living at 173 Piccadilly Cook and housekeeper to the Buttery family. Age 40 Born Derby Single 1901 Census Living at 173 Piccadilly Cook to the Buttery family Single Age 50 Born Derby, Derbyshire She spent time with her cousins, as you can see, but I can't find her in 1861. I wondered if she was at school because they seemed to send the children up to Staffordshire. Any help appreciated.

The name Swindell may have been misspelt e.g. Swindle, Swindall etc. I have found a number of ancestors with misspelt surnames on the census returns. Good luck. Susan

Hi Susan - yes, her parents are on the 1861 census as 'Swindle'. I have tried searching Ancestry using a wildcard as 'Swi*' but no joy. Unless the beginning of the word is misspelt, e.g. by omitting the S. I was expecting to find her with other family. The other branch - Tuffnell - has four different spellings over the years, so when I search the BMDs I have to try every which way!

I have had some wild and wonderful mistranscriptions in my ancestors - the best one was Lesowther for Crowther. To be fair when I looked at the original image it did look odd. Susan

There are quite a lot of pages missing from 1861 - you can see which if you go to the info on the census on ancestry.

Thanks Heather - I'll look into that. It might also explain why my husband's great-great-grandfather William Henry Lamb has never been found on the 1861 census.