Genealogy Chat

In 1891 census ~I have a surprise ! RG12/3011 Margaret J Lawton grand daughter age 2 (?b1889) Living with granddad John Lawton 10 Church St Widnes. (Grandma died in1879) and Elizabeth 22 and thomas 20 Then in 1901 Census I have Ref RG13/3514 Margaret J Lawton age 12 now described as neice living with the Davies family. Owen the head married to elizabeth (as above nee Lawton) There's no birth registration that I can find for Margaret and my query is How am I going to be able to find out who her parents were. Potentially she could have been the child of Thomas and as he's my Gx2 grandad I'd like to find out. Any ideas what I should do next? Thanks Jenny

Did she marry? Her marriage cert might give her father's name. Heather

Jenny, when you say, 'She could have been the child of Thomas', do you mean Thomas junior? Is he married or unmarried on the 1891 census? If he is unmarried, then although it is possible she is his daughter I think it is more likely that she is the daughter of one of his brothers or sisters. Do you have the family on previous censuses with other children apart from Elizabeth and Thomas? Kate.

From the census it does look as if she could be the child of Thomas ,however why would she now be living with Elizabeth & her family in 1901

I assume you checked the bmd images for the birth but have you checked the census image to make sure it's 2 yrs and not 2 months ?

Heather - I've looked on BMD for a marriage but as I know nothing else about her I couldn't pin any single one down as the definitive one. jen x Thanks Guys -I'll try and answer each one - Esta - yes its definitely 2yrs on 1891- ` 1901 has been corrected to 12 years

Kate - I wrote Thomas twice in error - apologies. her granddad is John - have amended note. The only other brother to thomas and elizabeth is william b1867 I have him in 1901 RG13/3514 with wife and children but I've looked at my notes and for some reason i havent looked for him in 1891 - maybe he is the answer? Jen

Cant see any Margaret Lawson birth reg in 1887-1890

Thank you for your time shirley - but may i point out its LawTon and not LawSon. Your help is appreciated Jen x

Thank you Yvonne I have had written contact with Halton over other family and they have always been helpful. However I never thought of contacting them about Margaret as I thought that you had to have a date for them to search for, but I suppose there's no harm in asking is there? My Grandmother was born in 1900 and it doesnt look as though her birth was registered either ! Halton would cover her birth too - so I could be cheeky and get both enquiries dealt with at the same time !!! :0))) Thanks again Jen x

Jenny, don't forget that Margaret J. Lawton may not be the name on her birth registration. She could be J. Margaret Lawton, for instance, or it could be that she was 'illegitimate' and registered under her mother's surname - and since we don't know what that was, (nor what the J stands for) we don't know where to look! Kate.

Thank you Kate - I said I needed someone to point out the obvious ;0) I had not considered that she may be a J rather than a Margaret - John's deceased wife was a Jane - tenuous I know but stranger things have happened. I'll search again. Cheers Jen x

There was also a son William aged 14 in 1881 census. Could also have been other children older still if you look at 1871 - another daughter, perhaps? Jay

Hi Jay - Thanks - if you see above I mentioned William and that I seemed to have missed him out on an 1891 search - so that is a path i'm going to go down. On 1871 (RG10/3859) I have the Lawtons with Johns father (also John) and with John's brother Charles - in 1881 I have him married to a Mary J !!! perhaps another possibility Aaaarrrggggh Thanks to all for your help and advice - much appreciated - dont you just love this hobby!!! Jen x

Yvonne - which would be 8 yrs after Mgt was born so maybe . I notice in 1901 Owen was a 'school attendance officer' - maybe if I could find out which school he covered it would be the same one as Mgt attended and maybe (clutching at straws here!) the school records still exist Jen

Yvonne - please dont apologise - everyone's been so good in giving me some ideas that I can follow through. She's really niggling at me as I may be living next door to her relatives - who knows!!! It wasn't that long ago and yet I'm finding my 18th century welsh jones's easier to trace! Jen x

I think it worth mentioning that Ancestry has the middle initial transcribed as I not J. It's hard to tell as there are so few names beginning with I which were much in use at the time. I scrolled forward a few pages and spotted none. Looking at the image - it could be either. Christine

The nearest I could find for ''Law?on'' (to allow for RO errors - and there certainly are some!) was: Name: Margaret Jane Lawson Year of Registration: 1890 Quarter of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec District: Liverpool (1837-1924) County: Lancashire Volume: 8b Page: 113 That seems a bit late for someone described as 2 in early 1891! Christine

Groan!! Christine I agree now I've had another look - it could well be an I (I'm looking at 1891) it isnt on the 1901 The other J's are written much more flamboyantly Thank you for pointing that out to me Jen Thank you for trying a look up for me too.

You can't discount the possibility that she's Elizabeth's daughter, described as ''niece'' for social acceptability. Christine