Genealogy Chat

Is it possible to search through all the entries for a village on the census rather than search by name? If so, how do you do it? I will be using Ancestry. Thanks.

Hi Sue Yes it is! Say if you want to search in England in 1861, click on that. Then instead of filling in the box, scroll down to the County names. Click on the County you want and another window should open with all of the place names for that County. Choose your place and away you go! Jeanette x

I don't know if there is a proper way, but I usually just fill in a given name that is likely to be there, eg John. I put no other information other than the name of the village in the 'parish' section of where they live. This gets you into the village, then I wander up and down the streets looking for my people.

This is a good way of finding someone so badly mistranscribed that they are impossible to find in the index. If you have a relative from a small village, it doesn't take too long and you are bound to find other family members. On just one page in 1861 census I found my great-great-great grandparents with their youngest daughter Emma. A bit further down was their eldest child William lodging with his grandparents, two doors down was the village blacksmith, who was William's godfather and the village constable. Within 18 months of the census being taken, William would be knocking on the constable's door, covered in blood, confessing to murder. The blacksmith, William's parents and Emma would all give evidence at his trial. Going through the village on ancestry can give you a real sense of the flavour of the place. nell

You describe it so vividly Nell! Who had he murdered? And how? Lesley

nudge, because I want to know the story!

Lesley It's a sad story. William Mealing was engaged to be married to Sarah Moss, with whom he had been lodging since Christmas 1861. The banns had been called. Sarah had a 3-year-old child (I have been unable to find out positively whether this child was male or female) by another man, from whom she was receiving maintenance payments. Sarah was very heavily pregnant with William's child. William had apparently received a head injury, caused by ill-treatment from a farmer, when he was 8. I don't know any details, but I imagine he was hit. He seemed to be very simple, and suffered periods of bad headaches and pain. He had gone home to his parents before the murder and was talking about worrying that he was going mad. On the night of the murder, his mother walked him to Sarah's house, where the household also included her father, an old man in his 80s. During the night, William knocked on the door of Timothy Tarrant, the village blacksmith & part-time constable, and said 'I have come for you to take me and hang me'. He was bloodstained. Mr Tarrant, who appears a sensible chap, took William to his parents, and went to Sarah's house with a neighbour to investigate. They found her in bed with her throat cut. She was dead and there was no sign of a struggle. The villagers clubbed together to pay for William's defence. Two doctors described him as being a homicidal maniac and suffering from religious mania. He was found innocent on the grounds of insanity and spent the rest of his life in Broadmoor. He died in 1908. Rather sadly, I just got William's father's death cert, and he committed suicide by cutting his throat with a razor. He lived 20 days after the attempt. This has been a great surprise to me and my mother, I don't think her father (William's great nephew) knew anything about it. nell

Nell, How terribly, terribly sad for all parties involved. I can't begin to imagine how you must have felt as you unravelled all of this. I've seen you mention the Broadmoor connection in previous threads. Thanks for telling the story. Lesley

Thanks Jeanette, I thought there should be a way and your suggestion sounds fairly simple so I'll give it a try. And Nell.........what a fascinating story! Would be good if I could find something half as interesting!!! Sue.

I must confess I was shocked when I found William in Broadmoor on the 1881 census! I HAD to find out why, of course, but I was worried he would turn out to be molester something really horrible like a serial rapist or a child molester. Far from being scary, I think he was a very sad person who had a tragic life. The fact that the villagers paid for his defence shows that they didn't think he was responsible for his actions. He went to Broadmoor in 1863 after a short time in Gloucester gaol and Bedlam. Broadmoor had only opened shortly before, when the government had allowed for special accommodation for the criminally insane, who had previously been locked up in lunatic asylums or prisons. nell

Nell, perhaps you should be named Sherlock Nell after finding out all that info!!!! lol!!!! Sue.