In Search of a Glemsford Family

Migration in the late 19th Century

Tracey's original quest had been for the Brown family in Glemsford so, not wishing to get side-tracked too far, I decided the easiest task was to resume my search in the 1881 Census, to fill in the gaps between the 1871 Census, the marriage in 1873, and 1901.

"The easiest task"?
As any Family Historian will tell you, what should be the easiest task, rarely is.

 

A search of Glemsford in 1881 revealed no George or Susannah, nor any of their children, nor, come to that, any John or Ellen.

Careful, not to say frantic, use of Ancestry.co.uk led me out of Suffolk, out of Eastern England altogether, to Lancaster and the parish of Skerton, where the 1881 Census revealed : 

“the new family living ... in East Street, Skerton, which is between Morecambe and Lancaster in Lancashire.
George is listed as a "Mat Weaver" - all the details (particularly place of birth) make me certain this is the right family. George and Susannah had 4 children at this stage:
Artementer, a daughter, aged 7 (that's the best reading I can come up with of a very odd looking name!),
William (4),
Alva - a son - (3)
and Martha (10 months).”

A closer examination of Skerton in 1881 showed that:

 

“when George and Susannah were up north at Skerton, so were John and Ellen and the rest of their family! They were living on Derby Road and all those old enough were matting weavers,"

while a map of Lancaster and Skerton shows that

“Earl St and Derby Road run parallel with each other!”

And, in fact there were

“a whole load of Suffolk-born people in 1881,including some non-Browns from Glemsford”

 

This was a fascinating development which intrigued me. Simple questions like “Why?” and “How?” arose, so I sent an email to the local Family History Group in Lancaster and received this very helpful reply:

 

The continuing story:
The Browns in 1891

 		  

Follow the search for the
Savage family
of Cavendish, with several twists and turns
or go
straight to the start of our findings.

   
 

 
© Tracey Foulds, Sandra Poole and Stephen Clarke
September 5 2005
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