Their journey to Cape Town in 1849 suggested to me that there may be UK records before that. In the 1841 Census taken on 6 June 1841 I found a Hugh Child, a carpenter age 25 (born abt 1816) living in The Street, Chilbolton, Hants with his father Hugh Child age 55, a carpenter, mother Elizabeth Child age 60 and a possible twin sister Ann because she is also age 25, the same age as Hugh. The 1841 Census does not give married status so it could equally be a wife named simply Ann rather than Mary Ann Price Child. I checked the 1851 Census for Hugh Child in Hampshire with nothing found so that would fit with his departure to the Cape in 1849. The use of the name Price as a forename suggests it was her family name so I checked the 1841 Census for Mary Ann Price and found such a named person living at 43 Cross Street, Portsea Town, Portsmouth. Now that is some 25/30 miles south of the village of Chilbolton but in the 1840s it would have been a centre of timber built naval ship construction so some time after 1841 Hugh (assuming he was a single man) might have headed to Portsmouth for work. It is therefore plausible that Hugh and Mary Ann Price met in Portsea. The 1841 Census return for Mary Ann Price in Portsea shows her living with Ann Painter age 40 and Sarah Painter age 15. No male resident. Mary Ann was 20 and had two children George C. Price (her surname) age 2 and John W. Price (also her surname) age 6 mths. There seems an implication that she has two children out of wedlock so meeting Hugh and making a fresh start in South Africa would make sense. You mentioned children older than son Harry born in 1846 (age 3 in 1849) so perhaps tracing George C. (age 10 in 1849) and John W. (age 7 in 1849) could link everyone together. Excuse some of my speculation but it's detective work and it helps to visualise how people might relate. Hugh has therefore two possible wives, Ann 25 (or it is his sister) and unmarried Mary Ann Price age 20 in 1841 so 5 years his junior. It does mean that Hannah born in 1855 was delivered to a mother age 39 (Ann) or 34 (Mary Ann). The latter is more realistic in those days with 6 others born between age 20 and say 32 with Harry in addition in 1846 and George, John and Hannah making the total of 10. Good luck with your 1849 ship details, and wouldn't a passenger list help! Regards Martin Brady

Hello Thank you for your detective work. Mary Ann gives her surname as Dewey on her marriage certificate of 1843. It states her father is Thomas Dewey, occupation as Traveller. I first thought that meant commercial traveller however someone pointed out to me the presence of Irish Romani travellers in the area and I have other evidence that she had contact with them but no information to support more than that. She was about when she married Hugh who was about 28. I understand sometimes census enumerators rounded ages to a five year point. I have also noted that Mary Ann Dewey was imprisoned for two months for fraud in 1842. The story is that she was a dressmaker who stole some patterns from her employer and passed them off as her own designs. Her employer at one stage was Mrs Child, Hugh's mother. I would not be at all surprised if Mary Ann's background is different from what the family understood. My great grandmother, her grand daughter was fond of sanitising and embellishing to ensure a respectability. Who was Ann Child? I do not know. It could be a first wife or it could be a sister. Like you I like looking around the corners when doing research. I like to find who were the other people in their lives as I think we can build a more interesting picture. I like to find out who they lived with, who were their neighbours, work mates, employers, other relatives and distantly connected ones, friends and associates who they may have joined at committe meetings and other organisations. I'm also interested in movements. Why do people go to particular places and what is significant about the timing? I'm very interested in chain migration. It seems Hugh's South African occupation was Wheelwright. I'm keen to find out about Harry who worked on the newspaper. Yes the name Price is a mystery. I am wondering if the name came from associates in the Cape Colony. Hannah Maria Price Child was born there as were two of her brothers William and Samuel. She did say she had 10 children when a doctor recorded her details in his notes. I would not be surprised to learn that there were children before the marriage, even if just one. She married Hugh in 1843 but Harry was born in 1846. There seems a gap there too. What is not available is any evidence that the young Mary Ann born about 1824 lived with Hugh even after marriage. ----- Original Message ----- From: <JMartinBrady@aol.com> To: <south-africa-cape-town@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, May 18, 2012 7:59 PM Subject: Re: [SOUTH-AFRICA-CAPE-TOWN] Cape Argus Apprentice and other children > Their journey to Cape Town in 1849 suggested to me that there may be UK > records before that. In the 1841 Census taken on 6 June 1841 I found a > Hugh > Child, a carpenter age 25 (born abt 1816) living in The Street, > Chilbolton, > Hants with his father Hugh Child age 55, a carpenter, mother Elizabeth > Child > age 60 and a possible twin sister Ann because she is also age 25, the > same > age as Hugh. The 1841 Census does not give married status so it could > equally be a wife named simply Ann rather than Mary Ann Price Child. I > checked > the 1851 Census for Hugh Child in Hampshire with nothing found so that > would fit with his departure to the Cape in 1849. > > The use of the name Price as a forename suggests it was her family name so > I checked the 1841 Census for Mary Ann Price and found such a named person > living at 43 Cross Street, Portsea Town, Portsmouth. Now that is some > 25/30 > miles south of the village of Chilbolton but in the 1840s it would have > been a centre of timber built naval ship construction so some time after > 1841 > Hugh (assuming he was a single man) might have headed to Portsmouth for > work. It is therefore plausible that Hugh and Mary Ann Price met in > Portsea. > > The 1841 Census return for Mary Ann Price in Portsea shows her living > with > Ann Painter age 40 and Sarah Painter age 15. No male resident. Mary Ann > was 20 and had two children George C. Price (her surname) age 2 and John > W. > Price (also her surname) age 6 mths. There seems an implication that she > has > two children out of wedlock so meeting Hugh and making a fresh start in > South Africa would make sense. You mentioned children older than son > Harry > born in 1846 (age 3 in 1849) so perhaps tracing George C. (age 10 in > 1849) > and John W. (age 7 in 1849) could link everyone together. > > Excuse some of my speculation but it's detective work and it helps to > visualise how people might relate. Hugh has therefore two possible wives, > Ann > 25 (or it is his sister) and unmarried Mary Ann Price age 20 in 1841 so 5 > years his junior. It does mean that Hannah born in 1855 was delivered to > a > mother age 39 (Ann) or 34 (Mary Ann). The latter is more realistic in > those > days with 6 others born between age 20 and say 32 with Harry in addition > in > 1846 and George, John and Hannah making the total of 10. > > Good luck with your 1849 ship details, and wouldn't a passenger list > help! > > Regards > > Martin Brady > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > SOUTH-AFRICA-CAPE-TOWN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.455 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/5004 - Release Date: 05/16/12 18:34:00