Genealogy Chat

I have a marriage certificate for Cornelius Matthews and Jane Smith as well as their birth certificates if anyone would like a copy. Their daughter Eliza was my step grandmother.

Brenda

Hmm. so wonder what the other Birth says then!...

Births Mar 1888 (>99%)
SMITH Sidney John Cambridge 3b _81

Glad it all fits, shame we can't see Cornelius on 1891...

Come back to us if you need any more help...

Chris :)

Wow, what a great lot of information since yesterday!
I need some time to go through it and decipher some of the genealogy shorthand that I'm not familiar with.

Henry Alfred Smith's birth certificate arrived and confirms:

DOB: 19 Oct 1880
Father: blank
Mother: Jane Smith - washerwoman
Address: 20 Gas Lane, Cambridge.

Subdistrict: Saint Andrew the Less, Cambridge

So I guess I have found my Great Grandfather's mother Jane and ancestors but a dead-end on his father....

(agrees with mgnv, Camdex not helping, lol, and it's not on my cd's either!, wonders if Kirsty ever got it)

Chris :)

1891 (young Henry is next door as a Visitor!)

SMITH, William Head Married M 72 1819 General Labourer
Cambridge
SMITH, Martha Wife Married F 68 1823
Waterbeach
Cambridgeshire
SMITH, Jane Daughter Single F 29 1862 Charwoman
Cambridge
SMITH, Sarah Daughter Single F 27 1864 Charwoman
Cambridge
SMITH, Alfred Son Single M 18 1873 Printers Assistant
Cambridge
SMITH, Sidney Grandson M 3 1888
Cambridge
BAVISTER, Francis Visitor Single M 46 1845 General Labourer
Cambridge

Piece:
1284 Folio:
31 Page:
17 Registration District:
Cambridge

Civil Parish:
Cambridge Municipal Borough:
Cambridge Address:
9, St Mathews Court, Cambridge County:
Cambridgeshire

(notes the Bavester visitor on 1901, and also above)


Marriages Mar 1857 (>99)

Bavister Martha Cambridge 3b 692
Smith William Cambridge 3b 692


Parish Records Collection - marriage
Day: 19
Month: Jan
Year: 1857
Groom forename: William (x)
Groom surname: SMITH
Groom's residence: of Gas Lane
Groom's condition: bac
Groom's occupation: lab
Groom's age:
Groom's father's forename: John
Groom's father's surname:
Groom's father's occupation: lab dec'd
Bride forename: Martha (x)
Bride surname: BAVISTER
Bride's residence: of Gas Lane
Bride's condition: sp
Bride's occupation:
Bride's age:
Bride's father's forename: Thomas
Bride's father's surname:
Bride's father's occupation: lab dec'd
By Licence: by banns
Place: Cambridge, St Andrew the Less
County: Cambridgeshire,England
Witness 1 forename: Walter George
Witness 1 surname: GUNN
Witness 2 forename: Mary Ann
Witness 2 surname: HYDE

Chris :)

Checking availability of local index at http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/local_bmd
then searching at
http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/community/bmd/certificate/Camdex/

CAMDEX- Marriages Index- MATTHEWS Cornelius - 1892
Surname: MATTHEWS
Forename: Cornelius
Middle Initial:
Year of Marriage: 1892
Reference: 331/CE039/02/228/1
District: Cambridge (the Registration District in which the marriage took place)
Spouses Surname(s): SMITH

So confirming SylviaIC's pairing.

Unfortunately CAMDEX don't say what church 331/CE039 is called.

looks good Chris


Martha is a little old at 55, and 8 years difference in age between Henry and Albert!




sylvia

1881

SMITH, William Head Married M 58 1823 Labourer
Cambridge
Cambridgeshire
SMITH, Martha Wife Married F 55 1826 Charwoman
Waterbeach
Cambridgeshire
SMITH, Eliza Daughter Single F 21 1860 Washerwoman
Cambridge
Cambridgeshire
SMITH, Jane Daughter Single F 19 1862 Char Woman
Cambridge
Cambridgeshire
SMITH, Sarah Ann Daughter Single F 17 1864 Servant
Cambridge
Cambridgeshire
SMITH, Albert E Son Single M 8 1873 Scholar
Cambridge
Cambridgeshire
SMITH, Henry A Son Single M 0 1881 (5mths)
Cambridge
Cambridgeshire

Piece:
1665 Folio:
57 Page:
21 Registration District:
Cambridge

Civil Parish:
Cambridge St Andrew the Less Municipal Borough:
Address:
20, Gas Lane, Cambridge St Andrew The Less County:
Cambridgeshire


Surname: SMITH
Forename: Henry
Middle Initial: A
Year of Birth: 1880
Reference: 331/SAL 043/296 (St. Andrew Less)


Wondering if this is the Henry with Jane above, and not Son of William!...


Baptism, St. Andrew the Less Cambridge.
1864 8th May Smith Jane of William lab and Martha Gas Lane

Baptism, St. Andrew, Chesterton
1857 20th Dec. Matthews Cornelius Clarke of Alfred and Lydia otp lab


(just adding in case it matches the Birth Cert. Debbie has sent for, if not will delete, just having a guess! lol)

Chris :)

BTW

Debbie pm'd me , and I suggested that she revive this thread by posting her connection on it


it took us so long to work out who was who in the family that it seemed to make sense to have the information to hand!



sylvia

I've just come across this thread from 2010, whilst trying to find the ancestors of my Great Grandfather, Henry Alfred Smith.
I believe he is the 'stepson' Henry Matthews from the 1901 census.

He married Ada Amelia Fullford in March 1903, at which time he was living at 8 Malham Road. The marriage cert. states 'father unknown', occupation of father 'labourer'. (Ref. 1d, 1203 Lewisham).

I'm waiting for a birth certificate to come through, to check his parents - he was born in Cambridge according to his WW1 death records. (I'm hoping the birth cert. is ref. 3b, 465 Cambridge Dec 1880).

If anyone has any further information about him now, it would be much appreciated - i.e. who his parents were. I suspect he was the illegitimate son of Jane Smith, given the information in the above thread.
FYI, he had 6 children and died in 1917 in WW1. My family know nothing of his life before marriage, nor are there any photos of him.

Thanks
Debbie

Thanks for all your replies! I was certainly looking on GR index and it was driving me crazy! I was also confused about the son-in-law, but now makes sense that he may have been a step-son!

You have also confirmed our suspicions that Lettuce was a Smith as it is rumoured that she (who is my grandmother's grandmother) is a cousin of my grandad's grandad who was also a Smith!

I will now try and digest all the info you have provided - you are all stars! Only started looking at family tree yesterday and am trilled at what I have found all ready! Thanks all again for the

Most def 2 Cornelius Matthews born about the same time.

1881 England Census
about Cornelius Mathews
Name: Cornelius Mathews
Age: 21
Estimated birth year: abt 1860
Relation: Boarder
Gender: Male
Where born: Brentwood, Essex, England

Civil parish: St Marys Islington
County/Island: London
Country: England

Street Address: 4a Brewery Rd
Education:

Employment status: View image
Occupation: Engine Cleaner (Rly)


But I cant find the one born in Cambridge on 1881 or 1891.,found him on 1871 and 1861,then Poof,gone !

I think it would be best to get birth certs for Sidney and maybe Lillian to be sure who the mothers are and maiden names.

Or at least the birth cert of the direct Ancestor,whoever that one is.

mgnv...

I think what Sylvia was saying was that..

Henry was Janes before marrying Cornelius and that Sidney may have been Cornelius,s from a first wife?

which would account for 2 marriages of Cornelius maybe?

Then my computer decided to play up and I had to shut down and sort it out.

Since it's Cornelius's stepson, it's Jane that was "marr" before - maybe, eh.

and nothing shows using Chesterton and 1861 +/-2



sylvia

Nope

Isn't that strange???

I've tried Cornelius, Corn*, Matthews, Mat*hews



oooooooooooo ........ did I try Mat*hew*?????



just off to try that!



sylvia

Nor have I been able to find them on 1891,on Ancestry or FMP .

could be

or I wondered if, as only Henry was down as Son-in-Law, and Sidney was son ..................


whether Henry was son of the first wife before marriage, Sidney was the son of Cornelius and first wife, and then he married Jane



but I can't find any of them on the 1891 Census!!!




sylvia