Hi, I have hit a brick wall with my ancestor, Nicholas Kirbyson. I have found his baptism record from Jan. 1, 1803, Settrington, Yorkshire. It gives his mother's name as Mary Kirbyson, but does not name a father. I have searched the LDS film on Bastardy Records for the area, with no luck. Does anyone have any idea where else to look in hopes of finding Nicholas' father's name? I do not have access to a local family history centre, so it's inconvenient to order films. I believe his mother, Mary Kirbyson, was born about 1780, and may have married John Hagues in 1805. Does anyone have access to early census records that may show if Nicholas is living with John & Mary? Are there any such census records available? I know that Nicholas married Ann Dobson in 1828, so any census records would have to be before that time period. The earliest I have found is 1841. I would also be interested in finding out when Mary Kirbyson (Hagues?) died, and where. Any suggestions? Thanks, Dorothy Quebec dquebec@sasktel.net

On 22 Jan 2011 at 20:56, Dorothy wrote: > Hi, > I have hit a brick wall with my ancestor, Nicholas Kirbyson. I have > found his baptism record from Jan. 1, 1803, Settrington, Yorkshire. It > gives his mother's name as Mary Kirbyson, but does not name a father. > I have searched the LDS film on Bastardy Records for the area, with no > luck. Does anyone have any idea where else to look in hopes of finding > Nicholas' father's name? I do not have access to a local family > history centre, so it's inconvenient to order films. I believe his > mother, Mary Kirbyson, was born about 1780, and may have married John > Hagues in 1805. Does anyone have access to early census records that > may show if Nicholas is living with John & Mary? Are there any such > census records available? I know that Nicholas married Ann Dobson in > 1828, so any census records would have to be before that time period. > The earliest I have found is 1841. I would also be interested in > finding out when Mary Kirbyson (Hagues?) died, and where. Any > suggestions? Thanks, Dorothy Quebec dquebec@sasktel.net > There are no official censuses that give names and addresses before 1841. The first national census was in 1801 but that census and those of 1811, 1821 and 1831 were taken for statistical purposes only. I rather thought everyone knew this, as it's one of the best-known facts in family history. There were, in fact, a substantial number of unofficial censuses before 1841 - church censuses and militia lists, etc - before this date but their survival rate is not high and they are thinly spread. There is a book called "Local Census Listings 1522-1930: Holdings in the British Isles" by Jeremy Gibson and Mervyn Medlycott (one of the well-known Gibson Guides) that lists all known local censuses county by county. However, I do not see anything listsed for Settrington. In any case, even if there was a record that showed Nicholas was living with John and Mary Hagues, it wouldn't prove that John was his father. Obviously Nicholas was illegitimate, so you may have to accept the fact that you will never know who the father was. -- Roy Stockdill Genealogical researcher, writer & lecturer Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History: www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." OSCAR WILDE