I am tracing my 2GG John Smith, born abt 1816 Woolwich, Kent but was living at Mount Pleasant, Woore for many years before he died in 1891. He was married to Hannah born 1816 in Fadilley [=Faddiley], Cheshire. I do not know her maiden name.
Three out of four children of John and Hannah have BAXTER as their middle name. This might be Hannah's maiden name but can find no record of a Hannah Baxter, or even a Baxter family in Faddilley at the time of her birth. I also cannot find any death record although it appears she died between 1891 and 1901 in the Woore area.
I am from the USA and not familiar with English naming conventions. Is it common to include a family name as the middle name of a child? If so, is it common to do so with most of your children?
Is it possible that there is a Baxter township in England? This seems to be an unlikely name source as all of the children were born in Faddiley, Cheshire. Is it possible that Baxter is an occupation? John Smith was a yeoman farmer his entire life.
Also, one of John Smith's grandchildren was given the middle name Baxter.
Any insight on the naming convention would be appreciated. I just find it interesting and can't determine why it is so.
Michael
Thank you very much for the reply. This is the first time I have found a date of death for Hannah.
I have had a subscription to Find My Past until recently but found it either duplicated info I have found on Ancestry or did not have any additional info.
I have a subscription to Ancestry and was able to find the probate and will info a few days ago. But thank you for letting me know.
I checked my info and I mis-spelled the name of Hannah's birth town. It is Faddiley, Cheshire, not Fadilley, Cheshire. Sometimes my brain gets ahead of my typing. Faddiley is near Nantwich, Cheshire.
I agree there must be a Baxter somewhere in the family's history. I just haven't found it yet as I cannot determine Hannah's maiden name or the parents of John Smith. I haven't found any record of their marriage yet either. Unfortunately for me, there are a lot of John Smiths born in Woolwich abt 1816.
I will keep on looking for John Smith's ancestry and will hopefully break through soon.
Again, thanks for your assistance. You do a great job on this site helping people like me understand our family histories.
Hello
Faddiley is in the parish of Acton (near Nantwich), Cheshire. Searching the baptism register for that parish on Find my Past there appears to be only one Hannah from Faddiley baptised about 1816 as follows:-
30 July 1815 Hannah daur of William & Hannah SHORE of Faddiley Farmer.
Searching for a marriage of a John SMITH & Hannah SHORE only produces one result:-
27 Dec 1838 at Acton (near Nantwich) by Licence. The original marriage entry can be viewed on Find my Past.
Mike
Mike
I haven't been able to get back on line in the past few days.
Thank you very much for the information on Hannah and John.
This info should allow me to continue my search.
Would there be any death records, or any other records, that would show the birth date of John Smith, born abt 1816 in Woolwoch, Kent but died in Woore, 1891 (as you noted above). I can't seem to pinpoint his month and day of birth.
Thanks again.
Mike
Hello Mike
Death and Burial records in 1891 will not give a birth date. Provided the stated age of 75 years at death/burial is correct then he should have been born in 1815/16 so you will need to search those two years for possible Baptisms but as you are obviously aware there are going to be many possible entries with a name like John SMITH so it is going to be a difficult job.
Mike
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Hello
The Shropshire Parish Registers (up to 1900) can be searched and viewed on the Find my Past web site. Put Shropshire in the search box near the top. This is a subscription web site.
Hannah SMITH of Mount Pleasant, Woore was Buried (not died) on 17th June 1891 age 74 years.
There is only one John SMITH buried at Woore around the same time (+/- 20 years) and by coincidence his name appears on the same page as Hannah.
John SMITH of Woore Buried 27th Aug 1891 age 75 years.
Unfortunately there is no known gravestone on their grave but there is some better news about a Probate for John SMITH which you can find on Ancestry (another subscription site) where it confirms he was from Mount Pleasant, Woore a Yeoman died 23 Aug 1891 proved at Shrewsbury by Alfred Baxter SMITH of Betton Farm near Market Drayton and Thomas SMITH of Woore both farmers and his sons.
I cannot find a place called Fadilley - can you please check this.
With regard to naming conventions there isn't a complete answer to this because each family would have their own ideas or variations on a theme. My own father had a middle forename which was his great grandmothers maiden surname. We know of other people (cousins and second cousins) who also have the same middle name but no-one knows why. In your case the BAXTER might have been a favourite aunt or even great aunt that someone wanted to please.
I am not aware of a place called Baxter but there is a Baxter Hall, Baxterhill, Baxter House, Baxterknowe, Baxterley, etc but they may be a bit of a long shot. If you can work backwards a generation or two through John and Hannah's families it might become obvious where the BAXTER name comes from.
Mike