Random Stumblings Lead to Interesting Findings

Sometimes you stumble on the most interesting things. I'm working my way through finding information for a CHARLES HOBBS. I believe his parents were THOMAS HOBBS AND PHOEBE. (Waiting on certificates to see what confirmation I can find.) His grandparents may be JOHN HOBBS and ANNE. Lots of maybes.

As I was reviewing the 1841 Census results, I did additional searching for the HOBBs family in BERKSHIRE COUNTY, ENGLAND  which is where Charles Hobbs lived in 1841. In the small town of STANFORD DINGLEY where Charles lives, there is a record for Thomas Hobbs and Phebe Hobbs, both aged 50. This would make them about the right age for Charles' parents and since they are living very close to Charles Hobbs, for now I am thinking they are likely to be his parents. (Yes I have work to do to actually confirm this.)

The next thing I did was a search for other Hobbs in the county in the 1841 census. I stumbled on an ANN HOBBS. Remember, I believe that the grandmother of Charles was named Ann. So I was very interested in this record. She was 80 in the 1841 census and living with a Benjamin Thorn, aged 20 and Elizabeth Thorn, aged 30 and Henry Thorn, age 1 month. There was also a Martha Lawrence, aged 8 listed in the household. I assumed that, despite the 10 year age difference that Benjamin and Elizabeth were husband and wife.

The 1851 census confirms this. It lists Benjamin Thorn living with his wife Elizabeth,  the child Henry plus some other children. It also lists Martha Lawrence, aged 20 and lists her as Daughter-in-law.  I know this cannot be true as she was living with them at aged 8 in 1841 and couldn't possibly be anyone's daughter-in-law. My hunch was that she was Elizabeth's daughter, either by a first marriage or born out of wedlock. (Especially since Elizabeth Thorn was 10 years older than her husband.)

A search of Berkshire parish records finds a marriage record 26 January 1840 in Tilehurst Berkshire for Benjamin Thorn, full age, bachelor and Elizabeth Laurence, full age, widow of this parish. It lists the Bride's father as James Hobbs (this isn't the father I think she should have but I'll have to see where this takes me). Witnessed by Joseph Egleton and Eliza Fisher (who married each other in August 1840).  So Elizabeth was a widow and I am assuming that Martha was her daughter. (Quick birth record search for Martha has not been successful so I'm kind of puzzled at that.)

So because Ann Hobbs was living with Benjamin and Elizabeth Thorn, my next hunch was that Elizabeth is her daughter. A search of marriage records, find a marriage record for John Lawrence, bachelor and Elizabeth Hobbs spinster 10 January 1829 in Tilehurst, Berkshire, England. No parents are listed unfortunately but I suspect that I'll find my hunch is correct - that Ann Hobbs is Elizabeth Hobbs Lawrence Thorn is her daughter. Now I need to find a connection to Charles Hobbs.

I found another piece of the puzzle perhaps. Parish Birth record for Elizabeth Hobbs, b. 17 June 1810 to John and Ann Hobbs. It was in Hambledon, Hampshire, England. So we've got a totally new county here. But it is close to Berkshire so not out of the realm of possibility.

Lots of pieces to try to tie together if at all possible. I could have several false leads and red herrings but they all give me places to check and lots of hints are better than none at all.

Using the Internet

I am continually amazed at the wealth of information that can be found at the end of a Google Search. I can sit at my desk for hours, going off on one tangent after another but all the time finding great information that fills in around the dates of the family I am searching for.

Today I was searching for CHARLES HOBBS who was born in 1814 in Ham, Wiltshire, England. Since Charles lived his life in Berkshire County, I was unsure as to whether this was the correct Charles. But a quick search for Ham, Wiltshire told me that this town was very near the area of Berkshire where he lived. So, although I am not absolutely positive this is a correct birth entry, it is a possibililty to think about now and not discard.

As I dug through the life of Charles, I discovered that in the 1881 Census he was listed as being a Pauper in the Union Workhouse in Wallingford, Berkshire.  A quick Google search took me to an interesting site that talks about workhouses in general and had information, including maps and pictures on the Wallingford workhouse in particular. What a great find! There was even a list of menus giving me some idea of the food they might have served. http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Wallingford/

Another fact I learned about Charles - he was a Tanner's assistant. A quick Google search gave me more information than I probably want about this occupation. It seems like a Tanner would be a nasty and smelly occupation - and I can only imagine what a Tanner's Assistant's jobs might be - probably the worst of the worst.

Sarah, the wife of Charles died at age 45. Charles continued to raise their three sons. Searching around the internet gave me some idea of what his life might have been like. Not very pleasant by our measure. And although it appears as though one of his sons died before he went into the workhouse, at least one of them was still alive and married. So one wonder's what drove him to the workhouse and why he couldn't stay with one of his sons? Perhaps I'm putting too much modern thought into this and of course I will most likely never get the answer to that question.

Maybe I'll stumble on the answers on the Internet.

Out-of-Wedlock Children

Before I got into genealogy, I assumed, quite mistakenly, that out of wedlock children were a modern day occurrence. I've learned, at every turn, that it happened much more frequently than I sure would have expected.

Most laws in the US and Great Britain,  appear to attach a stigma to the child by labeling them a bastard. More modern laws, take that stigma away if the parents eventually marry. But what of those children whose parents don't ever marry?  I've come up on two situations recently.

HENRIETTA HOBBS, b. 1873 in Berkshire, England appears to have had a son, ARTHUR EDWARD HOBBS, out of wedlock in 1897 in Oxfordshire. There doesn't seem to be a record of his father (although I haven't seen an official birth record yet.) When Arthur marries in 1918, he does not list a father on his marriage record. The interesting thing is that Henrietta marries in 1900 to JAMES PARSONS. She does not take her son to live with her in her marriage. He stays with his grandparents.  This seems to be a common way of dealing with this if the mother didn't "give the child up." Henrietta and James went on to have a family of their own.

In my family, my gr-great grandfather, ALEXANDER CLARK was born out of wedlock to GRACE CHRISTY in 1834 in Fife, Scotland. There is a record in 1834 in the Cupar Sheriff's Court Aliment Decrees where Grace is listed along with the father ALEXANDER CLARK. In this case, Grace obviously acknowledges the child and is trying to get some support. It appears as though Grace and Alexander never married and it is possible that Grace may have gone on to live as a "housekeeper" with another family - and may have had two or three other children out of wedlock within that family. So if this is true, why did she never get married.?The man in this second family was a widower so he appears to have been free to marry. It is unclear to me yet, what happened to the father and what happened to the son between the time of his birth and the time of his marriage in 1854. Pieces of the puzzle yet to be filled in.

Early on in England, it appears as though once a child is born out of wedlock, they were always considered to be a bastard, regardless of whether their parents were ever married. This changed in 1926 so that if the parents married, that legal designation went away.  Wikipedia says the term bastard may have come from the word bastum which means packsaddle. This was apparently because originally they thought these children were fathered by passing travelers.

In Wales, a bastard was a child not acknowledged by his father. If a child was acknowledged by his father, then he was not legally considered a bastard and could inherit regardless of whether he was born in or out of wedlock.

As a genealogist, I find all these occurrences quite interesting and add to the colorful fabric that makes up our family history.