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Our postings crossed. On FreeBMD I also found a possible marriage between Thomas and Sarah Randall in 1848 in I of Thanet - same page number. At least it's Sarah.

Thanks for working that out for me Sylvia. It looks like I'm going to be stuck on this one forever! Maybe I need to try it from the Fontaine side as I know there were Sarah Fontaines in the UK (also considering different possible spellings). William may have been illegitimate and taken on the name Chester after his mother married Thomas.

Possible Marriages of Thomas Chester

Marriages Jun 1848 (>99%)

CHESTER Thomas I of Thanet 5 598
RAYNER Jane Thanet I 5 598



??? death of Jane

Deaths Dec 1851 (>99%)

Chester Jane I of Thanet 5 357



???????

Marriages Mar 1856 (>99%)

BOWLES Jane Sevenoaks 2a 430
CHESTER Thomas Sevenoaks 2a 430




sylvia

well, I found a marriage for a Sarah Fontain, but I think it's too early, and it's to a Thomas Kiernan!


SARAH FONTAIN Pedigree
Female Family

Marriages:
Spouse: THOMAS KIERNAN Family
Marriage: 20 AUG 1832 Saint Giles Cripplegate, London, London, England

----------
Messages:
Extracted marriage record for locality listed in the record. The source records are usually arranged chronologically by the marriage date.

-----------
Source Information:
Batch No.: Dates: Source Call No.: Type: Printout Call No.: Type:
M025772 1817 - 1837 0380212 Film 6903743 Film
M025772 1837 - 1842 0380213 Film NONE
M025772 1842 - 1846 0380214 Film NONE
M025772 1846 - 1850 0380215 Film NONE




sylvia

from the I G I on www.familysearch.org

.......... this looks like the baptism of that Sarah Ann, and it is an extracted record taken from the parish register


SAR AN CHESTER Pedigree
Female

Event(s):
Birth:
Christening: 24 NOV 1833 Folkestone, Kent, England

Death:
Burial:

Parents:
Mother: SAR CHESTER Family

----------
Messages:
Extracted birth or christening record for locality listed in the record. The source records are usually arranged chronologically by the birth or christening date.

---------
Source Information:
Batch No.: Dates: Source Call No.: Type: Printout Call No.: Type:
P020721 1635 - 1840 0908172 IT 1, 3 Film 6906423 Film




so probably no father




All this has done is show that the Sarah Ann Chester that GR found on the 1851 Census was NOT married, and was the illegitimate daughter of Sarah Chester who later married Henry Simmon(d)s




sylvia

??? mother Sarah in 1841 ???


1841 Census

Name: Sarah Chester
Age: 30
Estimated birth year: abt 1811
Gender: Female

Civil parish: Gillingham
Hundred: Lathe of Aylesford Chatham and Gillingham
County/Island: Kent
Country: England

Registration district: Medway
Sub-registration district: Gillingham

.
.
.

William Chester 20 b. ca 1821, not born in Kent, Soldier
Sarah Chester 30 not born in Kent, Soldiers Wife
.
.
.

Address:- Brompton Barracks, Gillingham


NO NO NO

This Sarah is still with William (who has aged soemwhat) on the 1851 Census ..... but I'll leave it up as it does rule this one out.


sylvia

1851 Census

Name: Sarah Ann Chester
Age: 18
Estimated birth year: abt 1833
Relation: Daughter-in-law
Gender: Female
Where born: Folkestone, Kent, England

Civil parish: Ramsgate
Ecclesiastical parish: Christchurch
Town: Ramsgate
County/Island: Kent
Country: England

Registration district: Thanet
Sub-registration district: Ramsgate

Henry Simmonds 34 b.ca 1817, Ramsgate, Kent. Grocer
Sarah Simmonds 43 b.ca 1808, Newington, Kent
Sarah Ann Chester 18 Dressmaker
Elizabeth Chester 83 b.ca 1768, Elham, Kent, Visitor. Labourer's Widow

Address:- 34 Addington Place


At this period, daughter-in-law could apply as much to stepdaughter as to wife of son.


????????
Marriages Dec 1850 (>99%)

Chester Sarah Thanet I 5 734
Simmons Henry Thanet I 5 734




I think this is the same Sarah in 1841, with her grandmother (??)

1841 Census

Name: Sarah Chester
Age: 8
Estimated birth year: abt 1833
Gender: Female
Where born: Kent, England

Civil parish: Preston By Wingham
Hundred: Ringslow
County/Island: Kent
Country: England

Registration district: Isle of Thanet
Sub-registration district: Ramsgate

Thomas Sanders 40 Ag Lab
Elizabeth Sanders 35
Elizabeth Sanders 14
Elizabeth Chester 70 b.ca 1771, Kent
Thomas Chester 15 b.ca 1826, Kent
Sarah Chester 8

Address:- Leeds Place, Ramsgate

Unfortunately, the 1841 does not give relationships between the inhabitants of a house ...... so that is guesswork.



sylvia

Sorry for the delay in responding - I'm in Australia so time differences hold things up unless you're at this all night!

This is the same Thomas Chester I have been following with William born in 1851. The trouble is his mother is supposed to have been Sarah but it may be that his real mother (Jane?) died when he was a baby and Thomas then married Sarah. Alternatively, Thomas married another Jane. The other complication is that I have calculated that William Henry was not born until 1854/55 if dates/ages on the marriage, death cert and children's brith certificates are accurate. My suspicion here though is that William was supposed to have been 30 and his wife only 17 and pregnant when they married, so maybe saying he was even older made him even more unacceptable! By the time the 4th child came along, the difference in their ages had decreased to only 10 years!

According to the GR census map there was a Sarah Ann Chester b. 1833 in Hagham who was in Ramsgate at the time of the 1851 census. Would you mind looking for her please to see whether she was married or single and if married, who her husband was?

Thanks. I really appreciate all this help.
Shelley

I think this is the same Thomas Chester in 1861.

His occupation on the 1851 census was Rope Spinner.

His occupation in 1861 in Publican of the Chequers Inn, Chiddingstone, Kent and Rope Maker.

His wife Jane does not appear to be the same Jane. The age is wrong as is the place of birth.

In 1851 she was said to have been born in Monkton, Kent.
In 1861 she was said to have been born in Riverhead, Kent (near Sevenoaks)

There is no sign of William, the son.

1861 England Census
Name: Thomas Chester
Age: 34
Estimated birth year: abt 1827
Relation: Head
Spouse's name: Jane
Gender: Male
Where born: Nessington, Kent, England (reads Newington, Kent on original)

Civil parish: Chiddingstone
Ecclesiastical parish: St Mary
County/Island: Kent
Country: England

Street Address:

Occupation:

Condition as to marriage: View image

Registration district: Sevenoaks
Sub-registration district: Penshurst
ED, institution, or vessel: 5c
Neighbors: View others on page
Household schedule number: 5
Household Members: Name Age
Thomas Chester 34
Jane Chester 25
Richard Launders 27




Source Citation: Class: RG9; Piece: 490; Folio: 54; Page: 1; GSU roll: 542648.



Marriages Mar 1856 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ashton Hannah Sevenoaks 2a 430
************BOWLES Jane Sevenoaks 2a 430
************CHESTER Thomas Sevenoaks 2a 430
Forster William Sevenoaks 2a 430



Possible death of first wife Jane -

Deaths Dec 1851 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chester Jane I of Thanet 5 357

1851 England Census
Name: Thomas Chester
Age: 26
Estimated birth year: abt 1825
Relation: Head
Spouse's name: Jane
Gender: Male
Where born: Newington, Kent, England

Civil parish: Thanet St Lawrence
Ecclesiastical parish: Holy Trinity
County/Island: Kent
Country: England

Street Address:

Occupation:

Condition as to marriage:

Disability: View image

Registration district: Thanet
Sub-registration district: Ramsgate
ED, institution, or vessel: 2f
Neighbors: View others on page
Household schedule number: 126
Household Members: Name Age
Thomas Chester 26
Jane Chester 26
William Chester 8 Mo **************




Source Citation: Class: HO107; Piece: 1630; Folio: 213; Page: 34; GSU roll: 193531.

that one appears to be William John and not William Henry, unless they decided they liked William Henry better than William John


Births Sep 1850 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chester William John I _f Thanet 5 506

The William who was in Eastry in 1871 was born in Aylesbury, Bucks so you can probably rule him out. I'm not coming up with an exact match for Ramsgate but there is this for St Lawrence which, when I checked Google maps, turns out to be an area of Ramsgate:

Thomas Chester 26
Jane Chester 26
William Chester 8 Mo

Is this the one you are looking for?

Sorry Ann, Haworth doesn't ring a bell at all. I'll check out the websites but I think we're on the wrong track. On William's marriage certificate (1884 in Sydney, NSW) he has his parents as Thomas Chester and Sarah Fontains/Fontaine. I have never found a marriage for these two and none of William's descendants in Australia knows anything about his family at all, only that he came from Kent. I don't know if this helps but William and his wife gave some of their children very unusual names, like Roberto, Mercenia and Maxmillian. I know there were some Fontaines with European first names who lived in Ramsgate during the 1861 census (Ferdinand Louis, Isabella Eugene etc.). Makes me wonder if his mother's name was really Sarah or that was an Anglicised version of some other name.

I think the census information may be the best bet at this stage, even if only to rule people out.
Thanks
Shelley

Conqueror 162
James Irvine Hatfield Friend, O.B.E., M.C., of Thanet, Kent. .... Norfolk, * 1812, + 1884, Md. 1846, Mary Chester, + 1899, d. of Lt.Gen. John Chester, ISSUE SEE ..... Bernard Thomas Howard (later Fitzalan Howard by Royal Licence in 1842) , Lord, * 1825, + 1846. ... Md.3) 1826, Anne Charlotte Ogle, + 1886, d. of Rev. ...

www.william1.co.uk/w162.htm - 38k - Similar pages

http://www.william1.co.uk/w162.htm

Sorry for the confusion - no, William's children were born in Australia and two of their certificates say William was born in Ramsgate.

Shelley

found this on google

Thomas Chester HAWORTH, b. 10 Apr 1815 at Bury, chr. 20 Sep 1815 at Bury, m. Mary Ann (b. ca. 1814 at Eltham, Kent, d. 12 Mar 1895 in a house fire), d. 28 Jul 1887. At the baptisms of his sons in 1844 and 1846, Thomas Chester HAWORTH. In 1848 directories, Thomas CHESTER, a tailor. In 1851, Thomas CHESTER, a tailor, living at Eltham with his wife and their sons George and William. In 1858 directory (here and later with surname HAWORTH), an auctioneer or house agent. In 1861, a surveyor, living in High Street, Eltham, with his wife, their sons George and William, and a servant. In 1871, a surveyor, living at Park Place, Eltham, with his wife Mary Ann, sons George, William, Joseph, and Richard, and two general servants. In 1878 directory, a surveyor, living at 1 Park Place. In 1881, a surveyor, living at Whitworth House, Eltham, with his wife, their son George, and two servants. In 1882 directory, a house and estate agent and surveyor, living at Whitworth House, Eltham. Residence in 1886 voters list: Whitworth House, High Street, Eltham. Will for £1,133 10s. 11d., probate 30 Aug 1887. Thomas was waywarden to the highways board in 1879 and was concerned in many enterprises, including the foundation of the Eltham Journal. He and several of his family are interred in a mausoleum he had built in Beaconsfield Road, Mottingham,

Birth certs do not give a place of birth for the father or mother.

do you mean the children were born in Ramsgate?

I am trying to find the census details for Thomas Chester, b. 1826/1827 who is in the 1841,1851 and 1871 censuses at Thanet, Ramsgate, Kent and in 1861 seems to be in Sevenoaks. I am very keen to find out who was in his household. His son William Henry was my great grandfather and I have found one in Thanet, Ramsgate in 1851 (year of birth according to the census) and another in 1871 in Deal, Eastry which may be the same person. His children's birth certificates say he was born in Ramsgate. I have been trying to research this family for years with nothing but dead ends but I am hoping GR's census maps have put me on the right track at last.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Shelley