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Devious and Cunning Plans
by Val Atkinson
Article ID: 29, First Published: August 2005Don’t you think we need to watch our children and grand children more?
We need to learn from the modern generation.
For example, I’ve watched them on computer games:
CHILDREN ON COMPUTER GAMES SHOW:
• Fantastic hand/eye co-ordination
• Perfect manual dexterity
• Magnificent keyboard skills
• Lateral thinking when the direct approach fails
• A fierce determination to win
REAL ‘CHILD’ EXPERTS:
• Can tell grownups a thing or two about technology
• Tackle new skills when the ones they have are ineffective or outdated
• Sneak in at the back door
• Stop the game and start again if all else fails
If we genealogists are sensible and teachable we can learn a lot from children
IN OUR ‘GAME’ WE COULD DO WITH:
• A fierce determination to win
• Lateral thinking when the direct approach fails
• Stopping and starting again when all else fails
• Be sneaky, devious, and cunning when necessary
Let me illustrate with an example from genuine research:
The STEVENS family of Hammersmith London:
A very ordinary task of obtaining a marriage certificate. So very ordinary!
The next step proved more difficult.
• No ordinary method located a birth for Violet STEVENS.
• It seemed that London was teeming with births of Violet STEVENS
A death certificate had to be obtained to compare information from other documents.
Eventually, a comparison of death information, marriage information, and birth indexes gave a 'shortlist' of three births to choose from
And finally in a long drawn out triumph over adversity the correct birth certificate was located showing father William Edward STEVENS.
It’s unbelievable but true, that the same ‘research nightmare’ scenario was repeated when trying to locate William’s marriage. He just would not surface!
Family information was picked over looking for clues. ANYTHING!
There was nothing relevant to a London search, so a couple of ‘Nothings’ were chosen to investigate further. When you have nothing, nothing is what you have to use!
E MAIL INFORMATON:
“There is a possibility that the STEVENS of London are related to the Horace OLDHAM Family from Leicestershire. Horace OLDHAM married Winifred Maria and they had a child Neville OLDHAM born in 1915. We are in contact with this Oldham family, but neither of us know what the connection is between our two families”.
END E MAIL
And so began the OLDHAM saga, all the time hoping for the surname STEVENS to surface.
When working in the dark it is certificates that illuminate things, and stepping forward bravely into the unknown that gets you places!
Horace OLDHAM married Winifred PEGG whose father was Ernest PEGG.
The family was located on UK census as follows:
1891 CENSUS Black Friars Leicestershire 4 Alexander Street
Ernest PEGG 32 Leicester Head Shoemaker
Winifred E PEGG 26 Leicester Wife Wool spinner
Winifred M PEGG 3 Leicester Daughter (SHE MARRIED HORACE)
It seemed clear that Ernest and Winifred were probably married after 1881, so just to test the waters (as you do!), the information: Winifred STEVENS born Leicester 1865 was keyed into 1881 census index
AND THE FOLLOWING DELIGHTFUL ENTRY CAME UP!
42 Rodney St Leicester St Margaret, Leicester, England
Maria A. STEVENS Head Widow 48 Whetstone, Leicester, England Charwoman
Abraham STEVENS Son U 22 Whetstone, Leicester, England Shoe Finisher
Winifred Ellen STEVENS Dau U 17 Whetstone, Leicester, England Cotton Winder
Annie M. STEVENS Dau 16 Whetstone, Leicester, England Cigar Maker
Willie E. STEVENS Son 11 Whetstone, Leicester, England Scholar
Samuel BALL Lodger U 21 Kettering, Northampton, England Shoe Rivetter
Here was the elusive William STEVENS with his pretty large Victorian family that included a sister Winifred.
This was followed back into 1871 census, and the very large Leicestershire Victorian family finally emerged
Abraham STEVENS 1829 Broughton Astley, Leicestershire, England Head Labourer
Maria STEVENS 1829 Whetstone Wife
Isaac J STEVENS 1855 Leicester England Son Bobbin Turner
Alfred STEVENS 1860 Leicester England Son
Sarah STEVENS 1863 Leicester England Daughter
Winifred STEVENS 1865 Leicester England Daughter (Indexed as ‘son’)
Anne ANNIE 1866 Leicester England Daughter
Florence STEVENS 1869 Leicester England Daughter
William E Stevens 1870 Leicester England Son
All this glorious information was eventually authenticated by certificate, including the birth of William Edward STEVENS, which took place in Leicester City Jail, and not the village of Whetstone as indicated on the census.
IN THAT EXERCISE THE FOLLOWING STRATEGIES WERE DEVELOPED:
• Stop the game and start again with a fierce determination to win
• Lateral thinking when the direct approach failed
• Sneak in at the back door with a cunning plan
This whole saga is an illustration of how the anecdotes and nostalgia of family history can sometimes generate enough facts to open up the past, so long as the researcher is resourceful.
AND WHEN WE ARE RE-ENERGISED WE MAY TRY TO FIND OUT WHY HIS MOTHER WAS IN JAIL IN THE FIRST PLACE!
