Liverpool & South West Lancashire FHS - Forum

Hi out there!

I have been building a very comprehensive family tree for several years now which has some branches going way, way, way, back but, one branch has been haunting me day in & day out for years and although I've reached out to many different helping hands, I haven't yet found the answers I'm looking for. I am considering hiring a professional genealogist but I thought I might try here first. If anyone out there would be able to help me, words couldn't even explain how incredibly grateful I'd be. Here's the quick version:

My Great Great Grandfather's name was James Wheeler. He came to Canada sometime around 1884 (at least this is the first time he shows up in the city directory) he was a Confectioner by trade and on his marriage certificate (which I ordered from Manitoba Vital Statistics and it lists his parents as (it is slightly illegible) George Wheeler and Harriet Lawton, gives his birthplace as Liverpool and gives his age as 21, which would give him the approximate birth year of 1866/1867.



I have tracked down his will at our archives (no useful information), found his obituary, his grave, any census he was on while living in Canada, his marriage and death certificate, as well as several other inconsequential tidbits. The issue is that he passed away of Tuberculosis when my Great Grandmother Violet was only 1 year old, her mother still carrying his last born (who later died in WWI)
My great Grandmother died when I was very young but we asked her about her father and she didn't really know anything about him other than his name.

I have searched FreeBMD [and ancestry, familysearch.org etc.] up and down (searching Lancashire, mostly) and while there's a couple James Wheeler's I'm leaning towards, I don't want to start ordering random birth records only to be continually disappointed. I found one James born in Chorlton that I'd been most leaning towards (for months) until today, when I found that James Wheeler still living in Chorlton on the 1891 census.

I know that people during this period changed their names and maybe that's simply the issue, but I'd like to know if a birth record can be found for him. I would think that he would be somewhere on the 1871 and 1881 UK census but I can't find him. It seems those parents were never married (?) so for now, I'm at a loss.

Does anyone have any ideas for me?

There is a baptism for a Jane Wheeler daughter of George and Harriet Wheeler on 3rd July 1881 at St. Catherine, Edge Hill George is a Railway ?. I have this family on the 1881 Census at 106 Chatsworth Street and Jane is the only child.

We can Rule this one out Harriet maiden name is Barnes

A shot in the dark... With the apparent absence of a marriage [1850 - 1900] was James registered as Lawton?

These in Liverpool [1865 - 1870]....
Births Sep qtr 1868: LAWTON James W. Derby 8b 546
Births Mar 1870:
LAWTON James Alfred Liverpool 8b 183
LAWTON James Johnson W. Derby 8b 29

Hi and welcome to the forum.

There doesn't appear to be any baptisms for either a James Wheeler or James Lawton within a few years of 1866, Dickiesam's suggestions are some of the best, but it would be unknown who the parents were without applying for them.

You should apply to the GRO but without specifying a reference and give the parents details and approximate date of birth. They will do a three year search around that date and if they have no success will refund your money. If this happens you should try applying for James Lawton, again giving no reference but provide the mother's name only.

Hello there, I'm sure you will get some help from our forum.
A warm welcome to you.

Thank you everyone for your time & input thus far! I've just applied to the GRO following your great advice MaryA. Fingers and toes will be crossed!

If anyone else has any additional ideas, I'd still love to hear them!