Liverpool & South West Lancashire FHS - Forum

Hi everyone

I wonder if anyone out there can help trace the birth certificate of Christopher Thomas Bowles born in Yarmouth, Norfolk in 1839. He appears on the 1841 census at age of 4 living with his aunt and uncle William and Ann Carr. I would love to find out who his parents were and if he had any sibilings - can anyone help.

Regards Midgei

Unfortunately I didn't find a birth registration for him - you can check the indexes for yourself at http://www.freebmd.org.uk/ If Christopher was 4 years old in 1841 (confirmed by 14 years old in the 1851 census) then he was born in 1837, not 1839 and there is a good chance that he wasn't registered since Civil Registration only began on 1st July, 1837.

Christopher's marriage certificate would hopefully give his father's name - do you have a copy of this?

It would have been worth checking on his uncle's marriage to see if Ann was a Bowles but I've checked the IGI without success, however if the entries on the familysearch site haven't been made by you then there is somebody else researching the same family as the lists are littered with submitted connected entries.

Somebody has guessed the marriage of William and Ann Carr took place in Clipsby, but I would suspect that is because she gives this as her place of birth.

I believe your first search should be the baptism registers for Great Yarmouth, hopefully he would have been baptised and see how much detail was provided there. Then perhaps the marriage registers for Great Yarmouth/Clipsby to see if you can identify the marriage of the Carrs and if there are any for a suitable Knowles/Carr or Knowles/maiden name of Ann.

Hi MaryA

Thanks for your help it is me researching the Carrs and Bowles without much luck but will take your advise and try a few other things you suggested. Christopher Bowles was married to Annie from Runcorn, Lancs havent looked for Marriage as yet but will give it ago.

Thanks again
Regards Midgei

ps your are correct about dob 1837 not 1839 having a senior moment

I suspect this will be the marriage -

Christopher Thomas Bowles Q4 1871 Prescot 8b 1079 to either Mary Maunder or Ann Baylis, however you need to confirm Annie's maiden name by means of the birth certificate of one of the children.

The baptism registers of St Nicholas the parish church of Yarmouth are on Ancestry and there is no Christopher Bowles. However there are many other Bowles showing.

The coverage of Norfolk on the IGI is very poor. On the 1841 census William Carr says he was not born in the county, his wife Ann states she was born in the county as does William Carr aged 16.

Ed Officer

PS the marriages at st Nicholas Great yarmouth are also on Ancestry. They also have Pallots Marriage index where there is a marriage of William Carr to Ann Humphrey 10 January 1825 at Ormesby St Michael Norfolk which could be a possibility.

Shame about the Ancestry entries.

Just to confirm, yes the uncle gives his place of birth as Gorleston, Suffolk in 1851, so the marriage could even have taken place in that county.

I did notice that there are few actual transcribed registers for Norfolk listed on the IGI, but it's difficult to sift through numerous entries that others have posted such as Joe Bloggs married Mrs Bloggs, the sort of entries that have no basis in fact since they have just been picked up from a census - unknown even if these couples were actually married or not.

Hope you manage to piece together a family unit to give a bigger and clearer picture.

Hi again

Can now confirm that Christopher Thomas Bowles (who died 1881) married Ann Baylis in Prescot in December 1871. Can anyone possibly find out details on marriage certificate before I apply to GRO.

Regards Midgei

For somebody to do a look up of the marriage register you would need to know which church the ceremony took place at.

Our usual resources for checking this are
www.lancashirebmd.org.uk - for Lancashire or possibly www.cheshirebmd.org.uk for Cheshire since Ann was born in Runcorn, Cheshire it was worth a look.

They did not necessarily marry in Prescot, but in the Prescot Registration District which would cover a slightly larger area.

Other places to check are the IGI - www.familysearch.org or the Lancashire Online Parish Clerk site - http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/ As the search is not working at present on this second site, you will need to search each parish in turn for the appropriate date and see if you find the marriage.

If you thought they had married in a Catholic church then another place to try is
the Liverpool History Projectssite.

If you discover the record anywhere, either make a new post requesting a look up, or change the title of this one so that people are aware of the different meaning to this post.

Thanks MaryA will try the sources you have suggested.

Much appreciated.

regards Midgei