Marriages in the STEERS Households

I have now finished adding to my 'Master List' the marriages that occurred for the ONS from Quarter 3 1837 to the end of 1841 in the GRO.

There were only 23 to add, and of these I was able to identify 12 couples by either locating the marriage entry in the parish register or by using the census records.

I also looked on Family Search to see what marriages are recorded between 1837 and 1841 in England for STEERS. Here I found 10 marriages but I have not yet had chance to go to a Family History Centre to view the films and verify the information transcribed.

The marriages for which I have acquired the transcription but not verified the image are as follows;

• 09 February 1837 at Holy Trinity Church, Dorchester, Dorset - William HANSFORD to Nancy Hunt STEERS
• 14 February 1837 in Wycombe, Buckinghamshire - Samuel SPRING, widow to Sarah STEERS, spinster
• 22 June 1837 in Feltham, Middlesex - William STEERS to Sarah RUDD
• 04 November 1839 in St. Botolph without Aldersgate, Middlesex - Stephen STEERS to Jane PAYNE
• 05 January 1840 in Byfleet, Surrey - William STEERS aged 23, father: John STEERS to Peggy HARDY aged 17, father: Jospeh HARDY
• 20 April 1840 at St. Paul, Deptford, Kent - John DEADMAN to Elizabeth STEARS
• 10 November 1840 in Alverstoke, Hampshire - William STEARS, father: William STEARS to Ann GORDOVE, father: John GORDOVE [There is also another entry on Family Search for the same parish and date for a William STEARS to Ann GOODEVE; I believe that GOODEVE is the correct transcription as shown by the GRO index]
• 02 February 1841 at St. Mary's Church, Broadwater, Sussex - George BUTLER, bachelor, father: George BUTLER to Sarah Jane STEERS, father: Edward STEERS
• 16 November 1841 at St. Andrew's Church, Auckland, Durham - William STEARS to Elizabeth CARREY
• 26 December 1841 in Petersham, Surrey - James STEERS to Mary Ann FIELD, spinster

The following 6 marriages I have verified via the certificates in the 'West Yorkshire, England, Marriages & Banns, 1813 - 1922', and 'London, England, Marriages & Banns, 1754 - 1921' both of which are accessible via an Ancestry subscription.

• 05 August 1838 at All Souls Church, Marylebone, Middlesex after Banns - James HUDSON, aged 52, widow, occupation: porter, abode: All Souls district, father: John HUDSON, occupation: Housedresser to Eliza STEARS, aged 37, widow, abode: All Souls district, father: Henry POPE, occupation Jeweller
• 10 September 1838 at St. Mary, Lambeth, Surrey after Banns - John LADD of full age, bachelor, occupation: gardener, abode: Devonshire Street, father: Levi LADD, occupation: labourer to Jane STEERS of full age, widow, abode: Devonshire Street, father: James LICH
• 14 February 1838 at Christ Church, Marylebone, Middlesex after Banns -  William STEERS of full age, bachelor, occupation: servant, abode: Burton Mews, father: James STEERS, occupation: servant to Mary DEAR of full age, spinster, abode: Burton Street, father: William DEAR (deceased)
• 09 September 1839 at Christ Church, Marylebone, Middlesex after Banns - James STEERS of full age, bachelor, occupation: servant, abode: 10 Upper Seymour Street, father: James STEERS, occupation: servant to Maria SCOTT of full age, spinster, abode: 10 Upper Seymour Street, father: William SCOTT (deceased)
• 10 May 1840 at St. Peter's Church, Leeds, Yorkshire after Banns - William STEARS, a minor, bachelor, occupation: Clothesdresser, abode: New Road End, father: Joseph STEARS, occupation Man Servant to Elizabeth SHAW of full age, spinster, abode: Back Park Street, father: James SHAW, occupation: Clothier
• 01 January 1840 at St. Saviour's Church, Southwark, Surrey - Thomas STEDMAN of full age, bachelor, occupation: Coachman, abode: Croydon, father: William STEDMAN, occupation: labourer to Ann Elizabeth Blake STEERS, a minor, spinster, abode: Croydon, father: James BLAKE, occupation: Labourer

If any of these appear in your family I and you would like a copy of the marriage entry from the parish register please feel free to get in touch.

Finally to all my readers, have a

Happy Christmas and a brick-wall busting 2012.

Start of the Baptisms & A Visit to Kew

Since I last posted I've been carrying on trying to put together the families of the 1841 Census. In order to do this I'm looking at marriages in the GRO and baptism records from 1837 to 1841 as more children under the age of 5 were given their actual ages than those over this age.

To do this I've been using a mixture of the baptisms which are available on Ancestry and those that are listed on Family Search. In both cases using the 'Advanced' search options.

From Family Search I located 43 baptisms. In order to cite them I used Window's Snipping Tool (available on Widows7) in order to get a print screen of the result as it looks on the Family Search website. This tool also records the date the image is captured automatically.

My next step has been to put all of the data into a spreadsheet, which will link in with my MASTER list once all the people have been identified. Included in this is the FILM NUMBER.

Now I'm quite lucky in that I live close enough to the London Family History Centre at Hyde Park to be able to check the transcriptions against what has been indexed. Firstly I make sure that the London FHC has the films I need by using the catalogue search function on their website. Usually the London Family History Centre is based at.....Hyde Park. However they're getting some upgrade work done so they've temporarily moved to the Reading Room on the first floor at the National Archives in Kew. You can still access the films you require and they have computers there for access to Find My Past, Ancestry and all other resources that were available at the Hyde Park Centre. However I did not notice any USB connection points for their computer terminals.

Living close enough to Hyde Park to pop in on my way home is nice, but as they've moved to Kew I can also make my way down there, albeit on a Saturday morning as it's a bit far to go from work (and in the opposite direction!)

Again, luckily I appear to be the committed fiancée as the OH has rugby practice down that way on Saturday so I get to go to Kew and he gets to go chase a ball around the field and get hit lots by other men!

Once you've made your way the the LDS area of the Reading Room you can set up just as before; you choose a reader, get the corresponding block of wood and put in on the shelf and then put your request in (4 films at a time). They make trips every 15 minutes and are very lovely and helpful individuals.

Due to the time constraints (read - OH finished practice and was sore & in dire need of a 'long soak in a hot bath') I didn't have time to double check all 43 entries.  Instead I only got through 16 films and I couldn't find four entries on the film numbers specified.

Once I locate a baptism I transcribe it and take photo's of the register from the microfilm reader. This works reasonably well providing the light isn't directly overhead and the text is dark enough. Personally I take close up shots of the entry and the top of the page, this leads to numerous images for each baptism and I then 'stitch' them together using Paint. I don't have time to learn Photoshop! This gives a further visual reference for the citation.

Below is a list of the baptisms I did manage to confirm:

Date of Baptism	Parish	Name of Child	Male / Female	Father’s Name	Mother’s Name	Father’s Occupation	Abode	Date of Birth
13 June 1841	St. Botolph Without, Aldersgate, Middlesex	Mary Ann STEERS	Dau. Of	Stephen	Jane	Waiter	25 Red Cross Square	10 April 1841
16 October 1839	Parish Church of Leek, Staffordshire	Elizabeth STEERS	Dau. Of	Thomas	Martha	Farmer	Heaton
11 October 1837	Parish Church of Leek, Staffordshire	Hannah STEERS	Dau. Of	Thomas	Martha	Farmer	Thorncliffe
03 September 1827	St. Dunstan, Stepney, Middlesex	John Thomas Barker STEERS	Son Of	John	Rebecca	Bricklayer	[blank]	24 July 1837
08 February 1840 {Private Baptism}	Parish Church of Farnham, Surrey	Mary Ann STEERS	Dau. Of	John	Eliza	Weaver	East Street
26 July 1839	Parish Church of Sundon, Bedfordshire	Emma STEERS	Dau. Of	[blank]	Elizabeth		Sundon
13 June 1841	Parish Church of Sundon, Bedfordshire	John STEERS	Son Of	Richd	Eliza	Labr	Sundon
17 February 1839	Parish Church of Bromley, Kent	Eleanor STEERS	Dau. Of	Thomas	Jane	Labourer	Bromley
30 June 1839	Parish Church of Bromley, Kent	Charlotte STEERS	Dau. Of	George	Anne	Labourer	Bromley
14 January 1838	Parish Church of Bromley, Kent	Charles STEERS	Son Of	Thomas	Jane	Labourer	Bromley
26 February 1837	Parish Church of Bromley, Kent	Harriet Catharine STEERS	Dau. Of	George	Anne	Labourer	Bromley Command

I won't mind making more trips to Kew; which is a good thing given the number's I've got to contend with.

GRO Births to 1841 Census - Results

Finally I have done it, although I'm sure that I'll find extra's that have been incorrectly transcribed.


What What I hear you cry..... well for the past couple of months I've been working to transcribe the 1841 Census and GRO Births up to 1841. I have done this for the following surnames

• STEARES
• STEARS
• STEERES
• STEERS
• STIERS

It appears that the families were only resident in England, with the exception of one family of four who were living in Guernsey. 

At the taking of the 1841 Census the greatest percentage of person's with the above surnames were resident in Middlesex, followed by Surrey and then Kent. Closely behind is Yorkshire. This would suggest that there are 2 main branches of the name, possibly with different origins?? Either way more research is required.

Table to show distribution of individuals in 1841 Census.

In total there are 445 individuals recorded on the 1841 Census.

According the GRO Births register there were only 51 births between the start of registration in 1837 and Quarter 2 (April, May, June) of 1841. Of these 22 individuals cannot be located on the census, however I managed to 'kill-off' 9 by using the GRO Death entries, leaving a total of 13 who are unaccounted for.

Similarly, there are 22 individuals with an estimated birth date between 1837 and 1841 who are not accounted for on the GRO index. 

For possible reasons behind this I contacted members of the Guild of One Name Studies Forum as I also wanted to know how the more experienced members would deal with such a situation. The following explanations were presented and I've put my thoughts in blue

• Remember that in 1841 ages were rounded up, or down to the nearest 5 years. Whilst this is true it doesn't account for the youngest individuals that I am missing; these are often babes who's ages were recorded in months, or years under 5.
• In the early years of registration there were many people who neglected to register the birth. Failure to comply with civil registration did not incur a fine until 1874.
• The enumerator could have misheard or mistranscribed the family, or missed them completely.
• They may have left the country.
• Children could have been registered under one name, but known by another. This still happens in our family. My Uncle John is actually Uncle David John and my Great Grandmother was known as Nellie but her name was actually Mary Ellen.
• The actual Census may be missing due to fire, or so damaged that they cannot be read. I will have to go through the lists of known missing pieces and double check.
• Illegitimacy - children could be registered under their mother's name, later adopting their father or step-father's name.
• It could be a simple case of mistranscription. Different companies use different transcribers. Check from two separate sources if possible. I have used Ancestry for this exercise as I subscribe to this service. Previously I have compare the index figures from the three main sites (Family Search, Find My Past and Ancestry). I found that Ancestry has a much higher instance of STEAR and STEARS recorded than the other two sites so it may be that the surnames are mistranscribed.

Outcomes

• To date I have a total of 590 individuals in the STEERS ONS.
• Included in this number are 67 marriages.
• On the 1841 England & Channel Isle Census there are 445 individuals. 
• Each census image has been downloaded and saved to the individuals (a total of 204 images).
• There are 13 individuals from the GRO Birth Register 'missing' from the 1841 census.
• There are 22 individuals from the 1841 Census with an estimated birth between 1837 and quarter 2 of 1841. It is likely that these were not registered.
• STIERS was added to my list of variant spellings.