Dear Rosemary, > I am looking for baptisms for several children of William and Sarah > Gibbs when they were living in Shotover between about 1829 and 1838. > There does not seem to be a church in Shotover so I was wondering > where any baptisms are likely to have taken place. One good reference for questions of this sort is the book published by Oxfordshire Family History Society called "Oxfordshire Parish Registers and Bishop's Transcripts", by Colin Harris. (sold by OFHS: http://www.ofhs.org.uk/books.html ; also in PDF on more recent parish register CDs). This book says that Shotover was "extra-parochial", so no church, no parish, and people would need to make use of an adjoining parish. Colin Harris's book suggests Forest Hill. I also think Headington would be a reasonable choice. However, the actual place of baptism appears to be St Aldates in Oxford. I can find: 1830 October 10 GIBBS Ann Adelina d William & Sarah, labourer, Shotover Based on that, these 2 baptisms in St Aldates also seem to be relevant: 1829 Feb 8 GIBBS Thorpe William s William & Sarah, labourer 1832 May 20 GIBBS William s William & Sarah, labourer I also note the name "Thorpe", which matches one of the children baptised later in St Giles. There are also these 2 children baptised in Headington: 1835 19 Apr GIBBS James s William & Sarah, labourer 1835 19 Apr GIBBS Ellen d William & Sarah, labourer James seems to match with one of the children in 1841 (and Ellen is the name of another child in 1841, although the age does not seem to match.) It's difficult to be precisely sure these belong to the family, but Headington is not improbable for residents of Shotover. I can't see any children in Forest Hill. > ... > Ann Adelaide, William and Jane Gibbs (born about 1831, 1832 and 1836 > respectively) consistently given their birthplace as Shotover in > census returns. Jane is difficult. I wonder if the answer is this: Jane is actually the child whose baptism is recorded as "Ellen" in Headington in 1835. This child cannot be the Ellen in the 1841 census, if her age of 1 is accurately recorded. There may have been a mistake in recording the baptism (or in principle, in the transcription, although the error seems unlikely here), or there may be something about the 1841 census. One is never completely sure about relationships there, and the order of the children's ages is not regular (but one wouldn't make much of that usually.) I tried looking on FreeBMD. I can't see anything to clear this up (although the first birth in 1835 is clearly out of range.) Have you seen the entry for "Thoipe (sic) Gibbs" in September quarter 1839, Headington registration district? > There is also a Thorpe William Gibbs, born about 1829 as > he was buried in 1838 age 9 at St Thomas, who may have been born in > Shotover. See Oxford St Aldate - I agree he is probably another child of the family. It seems a very mobile family considering; although if, as seems likely, William Gibbs was a jobbing gardener, he might have lived in and worked in any of the outlying parishes/areas of Oxford where there were market gardens. Shotover, St Giles, and St Thomas would all be likely places. Best wishes Paul -- Paul Betteridge, Leafield, Oxfordshire pbetteridge@pobox.com

Dear Paul Thank you very much for your very useful information. I was wondering if I should buy another CD of church records, but would not have thought of St Aldates. I am so pleased to have confirmation that Thorpe William was the son of William and Sarah as he does not appear in any census. The death certificate gives the informant as that of Sarah Gibbs so I had been fairly sure. Thorpe Stevens was Sarah's brother and Thorpe was used for 2 other children (one was baptised and buried at St Thomas in 1839, the other born in 1857, baptised at St Giles and he lived until 1910 and was also a carpenter like his uncle, who had had only the one child who died as an infant). I think the age of Ellen in the 1841 census must be an error as the ages she gives in all subsequent census (right up to 1911) would put her birth in 1835/1836. My greatgreat grandfather Albert was born about 1840, age 1 in the 1841 census, but was not baptised until 5 July 1857, aged 16. Jane gives her age as 14 in the 1851 census, which would make her birth about 1837 - she marries John Baylis in 1854 and I think dies in 1855 (from the bmd indexes) as I cannot find her after that. Sarah Gibbs was constantly pregnant from age of 16 when she married shortly before the birth of her first child! I have found 15 children in all. She did well though, living to the age of 78 when she died of "exhaustion of old age"! Thank you again very much for your assistance. Regards Rosemary ----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Betteridge" <pbetteridge@pobox.com> To: <oxfordshire@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, August 05, 2012 9:47 PM Subject: Re: [OXF] Gibbs - baptisms near Shotover > Dear Rosemary, > >> I am looking for baptisms for several children of William and Sarah >> Gibbs when they were living in Shotover between about 1829 and 1838. >> There does not seem to be a church in Shotover so I was wondering >> where any baptisms are likely to have taken place. > > One good reference for questions of this sort is the book published by > Oxfordshire Family History Society called "Oxfordshire Parish Registers > and Bishop's Transcripts", by Colin Harris. (sold by OFHS: > http://www.ofhs.org.uk/books.html ; also in PDF on more recent parish > register CDs). > > This book says that Shotover was "extra-parochial", so no church, no > parish, and people would need to make use of an adjoining parish. Colin > Harris's book suggests Forest Hill. I also think Headington would be a > reasonable choice. > > However, the actual place of baptism appears to be St Aldates in Oxford. > I can find: > > 1830 October 10 GIBBS Ann Adelina d William & Sarah, labourer, Shotover > > Based on that, these 2 baptisms in St Aldates also seem to be relevant: > > 1829 Feb 8 GIBBS Thorpe William s William & Sarah, labourer > 1832 May 20 GIBBS William s William & Sarah, labourer > > I also note the name "Thorpe", which matches one of the children > baptised later in St Giles. > > There are also these 2 children baptised in Headington: > > 1835 19 Apr GIBBS James s William & Sarah, labourer > 1835 19 Apr GIBBS Ellen d William & Sarah, labourer > > James seems to match with one of the children in 1841 (and Ellen is the > name of another child in 1841, although the age does not seem to match.) > It's difficult to be precisely sure these belong to the family, but > Headington is not improbable for residents of Shotover. > > I can't see any children in Forest Hill. > > > ... >> Ann Adelaide, William and Jane Gibbs (born about 1831, 1832 and 1836 >> respectively) consistently given their birthplace as Shotover in >> census returns. > > Jane is difficult. I wonder if the answer is this: Jane is actually the > child whose baptism is recorded as "Ellen" in Headington in 1835. This > child cannot be the Ellen in the 1841 census, if her age of 1 is > accurately recorded. > > There may have been a mistake in recording the baptism (or in principle, > in the transcription, although the error seems unlikely here), or there > may be something about the 1841 census. One is never completely sure > about relationships there, and the order of the children's ages is not > regular (but one wouldn't make much of that usually.) > > I tried looking on FreeBMD. I can't see anything to clear this up > (although the first birth in 1835 is clearly out of range.) Have you > seen the entry for "Thoipe (sic) Gibbs" in September quarter 1839, > Headington registration district? > > > There is also a Thorpe William Gibbs, born about 1829 as >> he was buried in 1838 age 9 at St Thomas, who may have been born in >> Shotover. > > See Oxford St Aldate - I agree he is probably another child of the family. > > It seems a very mobile family considering; although if, as seems likely, > William Gibbs was a jobbing gardener, he might have lived in and worked > in any of the outlying parishes/areas of Oxford where there were market > gardens. Shotover, St Giles, and St Thomas would all be likely places. > > Best wishes > > Paul > > -- > Paul Betteridge, Leafield, Oxfordshire > pbetteridge@pobox.com > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Oxfordshire FHS "wills library" is at http://wills.oxfordshirefhs.org.uk/ > , > with references to 47,347 people and 3,980 testators. Can you offer a > will? > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > OXFORDSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message