Richard Smith <richard@ex-parrot.com> wrote: > On 14/08/13 11:12, Tickettyboo wrote: > >> Can't find a baptism for a Fred(erick) born c1872 or John born c1874, >> but the likely church records (St Stephen/ St Ambrose) are not on >> ancestry for those dates- though I have searched on all churches too). > > You've found several occasions when John has given his age, each of which > give different estimates for his date of birth: > > death certificate: b 9 Feb 1874 to 8 Feb 1875. > 1911 census: b 3 Apr 1874 to 2 Apr 1875. > 1901 census: b 1 Apr 1874 to 31 Mar 1875. > marriage certificate: b 9 Aug 1872 to 8 Aug 1873. > 1891 census: b 6 Apr 1874 to 5 Apr 1875. > > Assuming you've not made a typo in your post (and I've not > miscalculated), the marriage stands apart from the others. Probably it > is the marriage is the wrong one, but I wouldn't dismiss the possibility > that the others are all wrong. > > Nowhere is a middle name mentioned, and in particular not on the death > certificate, probate record or marriage certificate. (Censuses are much > more hit and miss with middle names.) That suggests that more likely > than not, he didn't have a middle name. > > If we look through the birth registrations for the Liverpool district for > the years 1872-1875 (i.e. the period consistent with at least one of the > records, above), FreeBMD only has one John Wilson without a middle name: > John Wilson, b reg Q3 1873, Liverpool [8b 116]. That might be worth a shot. > >> It kind of 'feels' right, but though my gut feeling is that its >> possible, I feel I am chasing shadows, I get near to a conclusion and >> then it slips away from me. > > It feels right to me too. > > However, to explore another possibility, I looked up Susannah Dean, one > of the witnesses on the marriage. The name is unusual enough that > there's only one plausible person, and in 1891 she was living in 34 > Fowler Street, Everton with her adult siblings. Four doors away, in 42 > Fowler Street are a William H Wilson and his wife Mary J Wilson, both > aged 43. Could your John be a son of them? He's the right age, but the > professions don't really match. William H Wilson worked for HM Customs; > your William was described as a sample man. (I wondered whether a sample > man might be something in the tailoring trade. Something to do with > samples of fabric. But I don't really know.) > > Richard It's possible a sample man could be someone employed by HM Customs & Excise to test the quality of spirits in a bonded warehouse, ie, assessing for duty charges. -- wtwjgc (Joe)

On 15/08/13 19:18, wtwjgc (Joe) wrote: > It's possible a sample man could be someone employed by HM Customs & Excise > to test the quality of spirits in a bonded warehouse, ie, assessing for > duty charges. That's a possibility too. The 1891 census for William H Wilson describes him as a "[something] Officer HM Customs". I'm not sure what the [something] is, but it looks a lot like "Ouldoa". Richard