During my summer stays with Nan and Granddad Green, I remember playing the card game Woodland Happy Families. The cards were simply old back then; now they are vintage collectibles from the 1940s. If you recall the game, the aim is to collect sets of Mr., Mrs., Miss and Master of different animal families, all delightfully illustrated. Importantly, you had to remember to ask with a "please", and receive with a "thank you", or else forfeit your turn. And so, from card families to genealogical detective work.
In case, dear reader, you were wondering which generation we're onto, the previous three posts are focussed on: first, Henry Stroud (Lieutenant RFC), my great grandfather, and his parents, Robert Stroud (Building Contractor and developer of Ilford) and Charlotte Norris, my 2xgreat grandparents (The Strouds of Barley Hall); and then Robert's parents in turn, Henry Stroud (Hairdresser) and Ann Neill, my 3xgreat grandparents, briefly considering the possibility of John Stroud (Servant from Marylebone and Hairdresser) and Zipporah, my 4xgreat grandparents (Henry Stroud Hairdresser of Hanwell); and, in the last post, Ann's parents, William James Neill (Cow Keeper) and Ann Fox, my 4xgreat grandparents (Keeping Cows and Carting Coal).
For each great grandparent, there are two 2xgreat grandparents, and - assuming no marriages of cousins - four 3xgreat grandparents, eight 4xgreat grandparents, etc. It soon adds up. Including my stepfather's family, I am working on the ancestors of twelve great grandparents, since each parent has four great grandparents. Thus I have 96 4xgreat grandparents (64 biological and 32 step-ancestors). Today, we move back a further generation in an attempt to identify some 5xgreat grandparents, of which I have 192! In this case, the parents of Ann Fox.
I should preface the collection of data presented here with a cautionary note. The identity of Ann Fox, wife of William Neill, to Ann Fox, daughter of William Fox and Ann Bunnett is by no means certain. In this post I aim to show where I am in the research on this line.
As previously posted, William James Neill and Ann Fox are married at Chiswick, St Nicholas in 1817. According to the National Probate Calendar, Ann Neill dies 30 January 1865 aged 73 years. She is enumerated in the 1841, 1851 and 1861 England Censuses. By my reading, the latter two reported her place of birth as Norfolk, Caustee, and Norfolk, Cosly. The ancestry.com transcripts have Caversfield and Cosby, neither of which looks correct to me. See what you make of them below. None of these is a real place in Norfolk.
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| Census returns with Ann (Fox) Neill: 1851 (above) and 1861 (below) |
First, recall that neither William nor Ann signed their marriage certificate in 1817; they made their marks, presumably unable to write. If in the 1840s and 50s they could not read, they would have told an enumerator or a neighbor their census details, but they could not have checked whether the spelling on the census form was correct. We have to work backwards. The question is: what were the enumerators trying to render here?
I first thought of Costessey (pronounced Cossey). There are three Roman Catholic baptisms in Costessey for the surname Fox between 1780 and 1810, according to familysearch.org: Anastesia (15 May 1789); Robert (13 Nov 1791); and Charles (18 Mar 1895) - parents Robert Fox and Mary (or Maria) Hatton. Anastesia could have been shortened to Ann, but England Marriages 1538-1973 records the marriage of Anastatia Fox and Jonathan Wilkinson in Costessey (Cossey) on 2 Nov 1818, which would her out as the future wife of William James Neill.
The next possiblity I thought of, and my current hypothesis, is Corpusty, in Norfolk pronunciation "Corp'stee", but additionally with the "p" dropped in a London way to Cau'stee or Co'sty (in the second census, I'm supposing the tee didn't get crossed in the enumerator book).
When I searched for Fox born in Corpusty, Norfolk from 1780 to 1810, I found England Births and Baptisms 1538-1975 do indeed have a suitable candidate and some siblings, children of William Fox and Ann Bunnett.
Ann Fox bapt. 12 October 1792 parents: Wm. Fox and Ann Bunnett
Stephen James Fox bapt. 31 December 1794 parents: William Fox and Ann Bunnett
Edmund Fox bapt. 16 September 1799 parents: Wm. Fox and Ann
Elizabeth Fox bapt.19 July 1801 parents: William Fox and Ann
England, Select Marriages 1538-1973 records the marriage of William Fox and Ann Bunnett at Saxthorpe, Norfolk (neighboring parish to Corpusty) on 4 March 1792.
Next I searched UK censuses, using the ancestry.com search engine, for Fox born in Corpusty, Norfolk between 1786 and 1806, Norfolk. Top of the list was in 1851 resident in Hanwell, Middlesex:
James Fox Head M 55 Gardener Norfolk, Corpusty
Sarah Fox Wife M 50 do Wife Buck, Wexham
Charles Mellest Nephew U 16 Gardener's Labourer Middlesex, Hanwell
In 1861, they are on Boston Road, Hanwell:
James Fox Head Mar 65 Market Gardener Norfolk
Sarah Fox Wife Mar 60 Buckinghamshire
While in 1841, and still in Hanwell, we have:
William Fox 80 Gardener No[t born in Middlesex]
James Do 40 No
Sarah Do 44 No
In the above censuses James Fox might be the Stephen James Fox baptized in Corpusty 1794. The age is consistent allowing for enumerator error and the vanity of respondents. His place of birth is given as Corpusty on the 1851 Census. And the William of 1841 is consistent with the father of the baptism.
Following up on the nephew, Charles Millest is the son of George Millest and Hannah Fox, who were married at Ealing St Mary on 3 January 1824. This family is found in Hanwell in the 1841 Census, about three households away from William James Neill, Cow Keeper, and his wife Ann - who, if the Corpusty connection is correct, would be Hannah's sister:
George Mellist 40 [No occupation] Y[es, born in Middlesex]
Hannah Do 35 Y
Henery Do 11 Y
Jane Do 9 Y
Charles Do 6 Y
William Do 4 Y
Mary Do 2 Y
Note the spelling of Mellist (the ancestry.com transcript has Mallis). George Millest dies before the next census. The BMD Death Index has George Millest Sep1849 Brentford 3 3. His burial record at Hanwell St Mary is 16 September 1849, age 50 years. Hannah Fox lives to 1891 and never remarries. The BMD Death Index has Hannah Millest Jun1891 Kingston 2a 145 Age:87. Her burial record at Hanwell St Mary is 6 June 1891, age 88 years, resident of Surbiton.
Hannah's census records have Hanwell, Middlesex as her place of birth. The parish register at Hanwell St Mary records the following double baptism 22 August 1813:
Hannah born 27 July 1803 [daughter of] William and Ann Fox
[resident in] Hanwell [Occupation] Tailor
Charles born 17 July 1810 [daughter of] William and Ann Fox
[resident in] Hanwell [Occupation] Tailor
BMD Death Index has: William Fox Jun1845 Brentford 3 2. Hanwell St Mary has the burial date of 15 June 1845, age 85 years.
BMD Death Index has: Ann Fox Dec1840 Brentford 3 2. Hanwell St Mary has the burial date of 3 January 1841, age 71 years.
These two sets of death and burial records, the double baptism and census returns reported in this post definitively link parents William Fox (Tailor, sometime Gardener and resident of Hanwell) and his wife Ann to the following children: James (Market Gardner, born in Corpusty and resident of Hanwell), Hannah (wife of George Millest), and Charles (born 1810). We can say for sure that James Fox, born in Corpusty, moved to Hanwell in time for his sister Hannah to be born there in 1803, and later Charles, and that their parents were named William and Ann.
How does this tie in to Ann Fox, wife of William James Neill (and my 4xgreat grandmother)? She is another Fox who moved from Norfolk to Hanwell. If the census enumerators are trying to render Corpusty, Norfolk as her place of birth, then we have a likely baptism record. In this case, the other Corpusty baptisms of the children of William Fox and Ann (Bunnett) are surely her siblings. And if Stephen James Fox, baptized in Corpusty, Norfolk, is James Fox, Market Gardener in Hanwell, then we have located more of Ann's siblings and we know a little more about her parents (and my 5xgreat grandparents).
Now, do you have information on a Mrs. Fox please? You do? Well, thank you! Happy Families!
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