Hello whatever your name is? 1871 Census South Shields RG10/5032 Folio 57 Ecc district - Holy Trinity 183 Eldon St Jane Volkman, Head, W[idow], 29, Shopkeeper, born DUR South SHields Dorothy do, dau, 6, scholar born do John P. do. son, 3, born do Other Volkman entries in the 1871 census are in London and the people concerned are born in Germany. You could try National Archives for naturalisation records but the chances are he did not bother. I could not see a death for John Henry Volkman senior on FreeBMD prior to 1871. Perhaps he just left, or perhaps there has been a mistranscription or perhaps it is recorded phonetically as something else - Folkman? or similar. Have a play and be open as to location of death. If he was a mariner he could have died almost anywhere - including Scotland or further afield. You could also check the 'deaths at sea" - I think www.findmypast.com has the index for these or else your local library may have the index. If you have the marriage, was John Henry's age given or did it just say 'full age" ? Some Bishop's Transcripts are on line for South Shields, for some years and some C of E parishes - coverage is very partial. www.familysearch.org and click on the search tab & choose pilot record search. Click on the map that comes up & follow the links. The BTs have not been indexed so using the search function that comes up will not get you there. If you are not looking at images of handwritten pages you are not looking at the BTs. On 8/03/2009, at 7:11 AM, DBF wrote: > I'm looking for any VOLKMAN connections. In 1941 > one of my Gt Aunts married a Harold Pearson VOLKMAN b: 1910 in South > Shields. > His parents were John Henry VOLKMAN b: 1869 in South Shields (A Gas > Meter > Inspector) and Annie HALL His parents were also a John Henry VOLKMAN > b:? and > Jane Adey Martin b:1855 South Shields, they married 1864 at Holy > Trinity, South > Shields. He was a Mariner. On the marriage Cert his father is Edward > VOLKMAN, a > Sexton. Where might Edward have been Sexton and Where did the VOLKMANS > originate. Any Ideas?a

Ingrid, thank you for your full and helpful reply, forgive my discourtesy in not appending my name, David Francis. The 1881 census (5016/84/21) has an intriguing entry at Weston, South Shields John Smith, Head, Unmar, 48, General Smith Jane Wolkman, Daur, Unmar. 26, S Sheilds Sarah Wolkman, GrandDaur, 5, S Sheilds John H Wolkman, ditto, 12, S Sheilds This Jane is possibly the wife of my John Henry VOLKMAN, BUT Jane's maiden name was Martin In 1871 Jane was listed as Widow and here we have a new daughter Sarah born 1876 (Sarah Kirton A Volkman) Regards David -----Original Message----- From: Ingrid Clausen [mailto:ICLAUSEN@PARADISE.NET.NZ] Sent: 08 March 2009 8:04 AM To: DBF Cc: ENG-DURHAM@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [ENG-DURHAM] VOLKMAN - South Shields Hello whatever your name is? 1871 Census South Shields RG10/5032 Folio 57 Ecc district - Holy Trinity 183 Eldon St Jane Volkman, Head, W[idow], 29, Shopkeeper, born DUR South SHields Dorothy do, dau, 6, scholar born do John P. do. son, 3, born do Other Volkman entries in the 1871 census are in London and the people concerned are born in Germany. You could try National Archives for naturalisation records but the chances are he did not bother. I could not see a death for John Henry Volkman senior on FreeBMD prior to 1871. Perhaps he just left, or perhaps there has been a mistranscription or perhaps it is recorded phonetically as something else - Folkman? or similar. Have a play and be open as to location of death. If he was a mariner he could have died almost anywhere - including Scotland or further afield. You could also check the 'deaths at sea" - I think www.findmypast.com has the index for these or else your local library may have the index. If you have the marriage, was John Henry's age given or did it just say 'full age" ? Some Bishop's Transcripts are on line for South Shields, for some years and some C of E parishes - coverage is very partial. www.familysearch.org and click on the search tab & choose pilot record search. Click on the map that comes up & follow the links. The BTs have not been indexed so using the search function that comes up will not get you there. If you are not looking at images of handwritten pages you are not looking at the BTs. On 8/03/2009, at 7:11 AM, DBF wrote: > I'm looking for any VOLKMAN connections. In 1941 > one of my Gt Aunts married a Harold Pearson VOLKMAN b: 1910 in South > Shields. > His parents were John Henry VOLKMAN b: 1869 in South Shields (A Gas > Meter > Inspector) and Annie HALL His parents were also a John Henry VOLKMAN > b:? and > Jane Adey Martin b:1855 South Shields, they married 1864 at Holy > Trinity, South > Shields. He was a Mariner. On the marriage Cert his father is Edward > VOLKMAN, a > Sexton. Where might Edward have been Sexton and Where did the VOLKMANS > originate. Any Ideas? David

Hi David Can I double what the marriage cert for John H Volkman & Jane Martin said? Did it just say Jane Martin or did it say Jane Martin late "another name"? Did it give her age? That 1881 census household is interesting, although Jane's age does not match. I will list the full entry. Jane is indexed as Walkman however the original image does look like Wolkman. 1881 census, Westoe, South SHields RG11/5016 Folio 84 10 Commercial Rd John Smith, Head, Unm[arried], 48, General Smith, born DUR Gateshead Jane Wolkman, dau, Unm[married] 26, born do So Shields Sarah do, Granddau, 5, born do John H. do, Grandson, 12, born do Joseph Smith, Grandson, 3, born do Jane do, Grandau, 2 born do Leonard A? Grandson, 2 mth born do The Smith children were over the page but part of the same household. If Jane's age is wrong, perhaps John Smith & Jane were partners rather than father and daughter? I even wondered if John Smith was John Volkman under another name (perhaps he deserted from a ship?) but I think they would have both said they were married in that case. One of the Smith children's birth certificates might help. Other scenarios are possible - Jane & John Smith are de facto step-father & daughter, or father & illegitimate daughter, or father in law and daughter in law & Jane's new partner is at sea or not at home on census night. However see notes re census entries below which seem to eliminate some of these options. Dora/Dorothy died in 1871 after the census which would account for her absence: Deaths Dec 1871 Volkman Dora 6 S. Shields 10a 487 I note that there are a handful of Wolkman's around in co. Durham e.g. the John Wolkman & his wife Annie in the 1891 census in South SHields & his wife Annie both born DUR - RG12/4161 Folio113. In 1861 the most likely candidate for Jane (based on her age in the 1871 census) was a 19 year old Jane Martin working as a servant in Frederick St, South Shields RG 9/3788 Folio 125. There is a Jane Martin of the right age (9 years) living at 3 Barrows Building in 1851 with parents Joseph & Jane Martin & siblings HO 07/2399 Folio 467. The siblings include a sister Susannah. Then in 1891 we have an entry which seems to tie together the Volkman, Smith and Martin households: John H. Volkman is part of this entry: RG12/4160 Folio 67 South Shields, Ecc district - St Jude's 1 New Tanford??? 3 rooms Thomas Stoker, Hd, M, 43, Sailmaker, born DUR South Shields Susannah do, wife, 50 born do Joseph Martin, wife's bro, S, 42, Joiner, born do John H. Volkman, nephew, S, 22, Gas Meter Inspector, born do Joseph Smith, do, S, 13, scholar born do. I haven't tracked Jane down in later census years - have run out of time and I don't want to spoil all your fun! If you do not have ready access to census data let me know however. None of this resolves what happened to John H. Volkman senior, but it may well be he just left both South Shields and the country. You could join the Rootsweb list for Germany and see if they are able to help. You have the name of his father, anglicised to Edward, and I would guess that Dora may come from his family, as it is a German name at that time, possibly his mother. Regards Ingrid On 9/03/2009, at 2:40 AM, DBF wrote: > The 1881 census (5016/84/21) has an intriguing entry at Weston, > South Shields > John Smith, Head, Unmar, 48, General Smith Jane Wolkman, Daur, > Unmar. 26, S > Sheilds Sarah Wolkman, GrandDaur, 5, S Sheilds John H Wolkman, > ditto, 12, S > Sheilds > > This Jane is possibly the wife of my John Henry VOLKMAN, BUT Jane's > maiden name > was Martin In 1871 Jane was listed as Widow and here we have a new > daughter > Sarah born 1876 (Sarah Kirton A Volkman) >

Hi David Further to my last message, this trio of deaths may help explain the 1891 census entry. Deaths Jun 1882 Smith Leonard Armstrong 1 S. Shields 10a 381 Deaths Jun 1883 Smith Jane 41 S. Shields 10a 397 Deaths Dec 1883 SMITH Jane Martin 4 S. Shields 10a 401 Ingrid