Genealogy Chat

I've found my ggg-grandparents Thomas and Sarah Protheroe (both born c1830) on the 1871 census, living in Swansea, but not on the 1881, so I'm guessing that they both died sometime before then. I've found a death registration for Thomas in Swansea (September 1872, 11a 342) which seems to fit, but the only Sarah Protheroe whose death was registered in Swansea in the 1870s was in March 1875 (11a 591, spelt Protheror) - with the age at death recorded as 82. I know the age given by the person who reported the death was often a few years out, but 35 years or so seems a bit extreme. Would it be possible that, if she was a widow, the death was reported by someone who didn't know her and took a flying guess as to how old she was? Without wishing to be too grisly, if her death wasn't discovered until some time after it occurred, might it have become difficult to tell? It might well not be her, but with no other Sarah Protheroe (or anything similar) in Swansea in 1871, it seems to fit. Thanks, Michael

Have you checked she didnt remarry? Suzanne

Hi Michael..... Could you possible give us where Thomas & Sarah gave as there birth places in 1871 Cencus you've already found? It may also be that Sarah had her maiden name at death? Susan

I think this is them Susan: 1871: Edward D Brott abt 1855 Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales Son Swansea Glamorgan Selina S Brott abt 1852 Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales Daughter Swansea Glamorgan Sarah Protheroe abt 1832 Chipping Ongar, Essex, England Wife Swansea Glamorgan Thomas Protheroe abt 1831 Landewy Oelfry Head Swansea Glamorgan

have you only centred your search in that area? Do you know if Sarah had family in another county, a child perhaps? If Thomas had died first, then as a widow Sarah may have gone to live with family elsewhere. Chances are she stayed in Wales, but if you don't have any luck there, but if you can't find her there the matural thing to do is expand your search to include other counties. Or as Suzanne suggested, she may have remarried. Is this any help?? 1881 census <1828> Birthplace Aberdare, Glamorgan, Wales Age 53 Occupation Innkeeper Marital Status W <Widowed> Head of Household Sarah PROTHEROE Relation Head

Thanks for all the suggestions. Suzanne, yes that's them in 1871, the 'Brott' is a mistranscription. I've just found something else - in 1881, Selina and her family (she married James Norman in 1873 and had had two kids by then) were living at the same address as she and her parents were in 1871. Surely if her mum was still alive she'd have been living with them? Sarah's maiden name was Crouchman, and I haven't found her in the death indexes under that name either. She was born in Chipping Ongar, Essex, a bastard, and sent away from home, turning up in Pembrokeshire in 1851, when she married Thomas, and moving to Swansea by 1861. There's an outside possibility: William and Sarah Crouchman, both born in Ongar, Essex, around 1831, and living in Hampstead in 1881. I can't find the marriage of a William Crouchman to a Sarah any time before that, so my guess is that maybe they weren't, as the census return stated, husband and wife, but brother and sister: in 1841 Sarah is recorded in Chipping Ongar along with a brother named William. They turn up again in 1891 in Acton and 1901 back in Hampstead, although Sarah's birthplace changes and she apparently manages to age 15 years between 1891 and 1901. There's also a death registration in 1908 for Sarah Crouchman, aged 78 which would be about right. A rather large dent in this theory, however, is that that particular William and Sarah were together in 1871, which would appear to suggest that, although the William in question might well be mine, the Sarah he was living with was indeed his wife rather than his sister. Any thoughts? Thanks, Michael

The prosaic answer might be that the original entry had a different age - say 62 - which has been misread and when the register was typed up, the wrong age was put in the index. Have you checked the image of the index page? Errors will have crept in to many of the typed indexes.

Just to make life interesting - there are also errors in the GRO index itself! Christine

There is this one in Merthyr Tydfil that doesn't have an exact date of birth given (about 10 years out):- Name: Sarah Protheroe Birth Date: abt 1820 Year of Registration: 1881 Quarter of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar Age at death: 61 District: Merthyr Tydfil County: Breconshire, Glamorgan, Mid Glamorgan Volume: 11a Page: 331 Kath. x