Robyn Gross wrote: > JAMES/THOMAS ABBOTT used both forenames in different census's. In > all censuses he stated that he was born in BEAUCHAMPS SOMERSET. SKS > has already checked the BEAUCHAMPS records for me without being > able to find a birth registration for him. If he was born c1808, you won't find a birth registration for him. Civil registration didn't start until 1 July 1837. The best you can do is a baptismal record which could have happened any time from the day he was born to the day he died. He may have believed he was from Beauchamp (Shepton Beauchamp?) but he may have moved there with his family as a small child and not known he was actually born somewhere else: maybe a neighbouring parish, maybe further away, eg in a different county! There's also the possibility that he was a foundling who was taken in by the ABBOTT family and raised as their own. He could have been illegitimate so be in the baptismal registers under his mother's name but took her husband's name when she married - and she may not have married his father. I have a similar problem in trying to find my great grandfather in law's parents which is complicated by the fact that he and the truth were merely passing acquaintances, if not outright strangers :)) > To assist I will provide his childrens names in birth order as the > naming pattern may help identifying his parents. ANN, EMMA, ELLEN, > ELIZA, JEANETTE, WILLIAM, ELLEN, HENRY, ALFRED, GEORGE, JESSIE. Naming patterns don't necessarily mean anything. Some families followed them, others didn't, whilst others only partially did. -- Charani (UK) OPC for Walton, SOM http://wsom-opc.org.uk

Charani, Thankyou for your reply. I have checked the census reciords again and he also listed HATCH as his place of birth which I believe is very close to if not part of BEAUCHAMPS. > If he was born c1808, you won't find a birth registration for him. The > best you can > do is a baptismal record which could have happened any time from the Yes it was parish registers that were checked for me. I had also considered the other alternatives you raised, and I do realise that one of them may well be the case, but his wife was a cousin to the wives of the well known DICKSEE family of artists. He would have married well above him. Thankyou again Robyn in Australia