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Looking for birth cert of my Gt Grandfather Wm Goody who appears on the 1861 census of Colchester Essex aged 2 with parents William and Hannah (nee Fisher) I have his marriage cert (albeit in the name of GOADY) to Catherine Tommony in 1878 in Preston Lancashire. I also have his death cert in Preston 1910 (aged 50).
I can find no trace of him or wife Catherine on the 1881 census.
Neither have I been able to find a birth cert for him, either in the name of Goody or Fisher.
I have checked Male Goody, Male Fisher, and all the spelling mistakes I can think of.
Would be grateful if someone could point me in the right direction.

found this
Banns: St Peter, Preston, Lancashire, England
Wm Goodier - 19 of 10 Carlisle St, St Paul's Parish
Catherine Tommony - 18 of 18 Friday St
Banns Read: 24 Nov 1878, 2nd: 1 Dec 1878, 3rd: 8 Dec 1878
Notes: Banns request signed by Groom
Register: Banns 1864 - 1886, Page 107, Entry 214
Source: LDS Film 1471022 Items 9 & 11

The marriage was after he was born:

Marriages Mar 1861
Colchester 4a 266 Scan available - click to view
Fisher Hannah Colchester 4a 266
Goody William Colchester 4a 266

Rose

He's listed as born c1860 in 1871. There are several William Fisher births in the March quarter of 1860.

Births Mar 1860
Fisher William Colchester 4a 257
Fisher William Colchester 4a 264

Rose

There are several trees on ancestry all missing the same information you want.

Is this him in 1891??

In which case, he says he was born in Preston, Lancashire



1891 Census

Name: William Goody
Age: 30
Estimated birth year: abt 1861
Relation: Head
Spouse's name: Katie
Gender: Male
Where born: Preston, Lancashire, England

Civil parish: Preston
Ecclesiastical parish: St Peter
Town: Preston
County/Island: Lancashire
Country: England

Registration district: Preston
Sub-registration district: St John

William Goody 30 Bobbin Turner
Katie Goody 30 b.ca 1861, Preston
George H Goody 10
James Goody 8
Mary J Goody 6
Elizabeth Goody 4

Address:- 8 Garage (??) Court



sylvia

Thanks Lindsey.
Yes I have his Dec. 1878 marriage certificate under the name of Goodey, though transcribed in the index as Goady. His age is stated as 19 which would mean he was born in 1859, 2 years before his parents marriage, as Rose points out. However, as his wife Catherine Tommony states her age as 18 whereas she was in fact only 15 ( I have her birth cert 1863) it could be that they both exaggerated their ages when marrying.
I have several certs in the name of William Fisher but none have Hannah as his mother.
Yes Sylvia, that's him in 1891. It's the only census which has his birth as Preston. All the others (except for 1881 when there is no trace of him at all) have Colchester Essex as his birth place.
I have even been down to Chelmsford which holds Essex records to check for a christening but drew a blank.

Well, he's age 2 in 1861:

1861 England Census
about William Goody
Name: William Goody
Age: 2
Estimated birth year: abt 1859
Relation: Son
Father's Name: William
Mother's Name: Hannah
Gender: Male
Where born: Colchester, Essex, England

Civil parish: Colchester St Giles
County/Island: Essex
Country: England

Street Address:

Occupation:

Condition as to marriage: View image

Registration district: Colchester
Sub-registration district: Colchester First Ward
ED, institution, or vessel: 9
Neighbors: View others on page
Household schedule number: 194
Household Members: Name Age
William Goody 21
Hannah Goody 19
William Goody 2
Mary I Goody 2 Mo

Yes I acquired the 1861 fiche for Colchester so found him living with his parents and baby sister. I have most of his life covered but just cannot find a birth cert or record of a christening.
As he was born before his parents married, I can't be sure who his father was although he has the same name. I wonder if he was re-named William after his parents married ?

There is one factor to be considered

Although registration of bmds began on July 1 1837, many births are not in fact registered.


The law said that a minister had to send to the local Registrar all records of marriages and deaths from the church. This was usually done at about 3 monthly intervals, depending on the number of events.

Births were different. It was the responsibility of the Registrar to find out that a birth had occurred, then for him to visit the home and record all the details from the mother.

Imagine the difficulty of this.


Partly because of the large number of births that were not recorded, this was changed about 1875 or so

The new law stated that it was the responsibility of the mother to go to the Registrar and record the birth of an infant within 6 weeks of the birth. There was a fine as penalty if she did not do so.


There are still births which were not recorded, but far fewer than in the period between 1837 and 1875.


Add to the non-recorded births is also the fact that records sometimes did not make it from the local Registry Office to the General Registry Office ..... so there are bmds missing because of that.



sylvia

This may well make sense Sylvia as it seems Mrs Goody had little time for legalities.
In 1881, not being divorced or widowed, she married Thomas Cronnall in Preston, giving her name as Hannah Fisher (her maiden name) and declaring herself as a spinster...

Michael,

You say you've been unable to find his birth cert. Does this mean you've ruled these out I mentioned earlier?

Births Mar 1860
Fisher William Colchester 4a 257
Fisher William Colchester 4a 264

Rose

I have several certs in that name (all wrong ones) but there are no reference numbers on them so can't be sure if the ones you mentioned are among them.
I will have to look at them again.

The birth certs I have are for 1858/59 as his age was given as 2yrs in 1861 census ( taken in April) and his sister was given as being 2 months old, so I don't think he would have been born in 1860 ... unless of course he wasn't Hannah's child after all !!!

Those two births that Rose gave you were REGISTERED in March 1860, but he could actually have been born in the December quarter. He says he is 19 in December 1878, so a birth in November/early December 1859 would be right with his marriage cert. That also fits with the censuses and age at death, apart from 1861, when it's quite possible they gave his age as 1 1/2 and the enumerator rounded it up to 2.

I'd write to the Colchester Records office, explain you are looking for William Fisher born to Hannah Fisher (unmarried), born 1859, enclosing a cheque for £7 and an sae. If they don't have such a birth, they won't cash your cheque, so it only costs you a couple of stamped envelopes.

Still no sign of them in 1881.

I have been to Chelmsford records office where the Colchester records are kept but found neither birth or christening. Didn't know I could commission someone to look for me unless I had a date or ref no. to go on.

Colchester official records are not held at Chelmsford, but at Colchester itself: At least that is my understanding.

I am talking about the Register Office, not any other type of office.

A Register Office will hold governmental records, not church records.

Here are the contact details:

The Register Office, Stanwell House, Stanwell Street, Colchester, CO2 7DL.
Tel: 01206 572926. Fax: 01206 540626.
E-mail: [email protected]

These local Register Offices have been a godsend to me in my own research. They are staffed by real people who reply to letters promptly and answer telephones in a real voice. In my experience, they are people who enjoy their jobs. Worth their weight in gold. Will go the extra mile.

You can't "commission" them, as such, to look for you, but if you give them some short parameters to work from they will usually do their damndest to find the person you are wanting.

They can't give out information for free. So lets say they find four William Fishers around that time. They might ring you up (and they do, on Saturdays too) and say "We have four Wiliam Fishers. One is born to a married couple, one is born to a Mary Fisher, one is born to a Hannah, but she is married and the other might fit your criteria, but I can't confirm that". So that means, reading between the lines, that the last one is yours. Worth a £7 gamble.

Chelmsford had Colchester's parish registers on film and fiche when I was there. As I found nothing, it was suggested that Wm Goody might have been christened at the military chapel if his father was in the services. Unlikely as he was a factory worker on the censuses. However, I requested a search there but nothing came up.

You have misunderstood me. The two births that Rose found are Civil Registrations, and those records are at Colchester. I was suggesting you write to them asking if one of those was to Hannah Fisher, unmarried.

This is the address:

The Register Office, Stanwell House, Stanwell Street, Colchester, CO2 7DL.
Tel: 01206 572926. Fax: 01206 540626.
E-mail: [email protected]

This office is a local government department, not a family history centre.

Parish Registers are of church baptisms, marriages and burials, and may well be at Chelmsford (as you have said in your PM to me), but they won't include people who weren't baptised, who married in Register Offices, or who weren't buried in a churchyard.

Ian, received you PM about William Goody being born 8th December 1859 to William Goody and Hannah Fisher (unmarried).
Appreciate you are too busy to supply the details but perhaps you could just tell me where to look.
I want to be sure William snr. is indeed the boy's father before researching the paternal line.