My great grandmother, Frances Wiliams, was born in Shrewsbury in 1850. Her father was Humphrey Williams - a herdsman - and mother Catherine? On Census records, her mother's birthplace is listed as Acksturt, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, but I can't find the name at all on a web search. Does anyone have any idea where this could refer to?
The 1851 census transcription (in findmypast) has a Frances Williams with a father Humphrey and a mother Margaret.
Margaret's place of birth is shown as: Cockshut, Shropshire.
Perhaps Acksturt is a mis-transcription of Cockshut?
Thank you so much; you're absolutely right. I had taken the typed transcript of the 1851 census on Ancestry.com and not checked out the original image. I can see that it is indeed Cockshutt. I can't make out Humphrey's place of birth, so if anyone can identify this I'd be very grateful. Their address is given as no. 136 Castle Foregate, Shrewsbury St. Mary. Does anyone know if this still exists?
Hello
There are several distinct problems with the information in this thread.
In the original question Frances WILLIAMS is said to have been born in 1850 but in the census entry quoted lower down that Frances was born 1847/8.
The father in the original question is said to be a Herdsman but in the census quoted lower the husband is shown as 'Ostler & Haxter' (someone who deals with horses, but Haxter is not in the dictionary).
Again, in the original question the mother is named as Catherine? but in the lower census the mother is Margaret.
As for taking a web site transcript and not checking the original, this is a recipe for disaster. No matter how good the person is making the transcript the original records are extremely difficult to read even when you have some knowledge of the context. Without that you have no chance of anything approaching an accurate transcript.
The address given in the census is Castle Foregate. The number 136 is the Schedule Number which is merely a sequential number for the household on the census form - it is NOT a house number.
Mike
Thank you Mike.
Firstly, 'Catherine' was a typing error on my part, due to tiredness; I had meant to put Margaret. I have just checked the copy I have of Frances' marriage certificate. Her father is named as 'Henry'. In later census records, her birth place is given as Shropshire. I think family members have found Frances b. 1848 in Shrewsbury and decided this is 'the one' and I had just picked up that information. On the marriage certificate, it simply gives her age as 'full' and a copy of her death certificate from Quebec only gives the date of death, so more work to do there. Thanks for the info. on the numbers and point taken over checking original documents!!!
Clare
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Hello
Can you tell us which census and where they were living so we can look at the entry. If you have the reference numbers they help.
Mike