Genealogy Chat

....what do you think? It feels like the right family!

Solomon Turner m. Hannah Shimwell 3rd April 1844 Manchester Cathedral. Father William Turner, occupation PUDDLER. Solomon’s birthplace on every census from 51 to 91 is Wilmslow, birth year never wavers from 1817. Solomon Turner baptised 23 Mar 1817, Bollin Fee (a parish of Wilmslow) to parents William and Ellen, William’s occupation SADDLER. At the same church to the same parents, William 1813 and James 1815. 1861 census living Pownall Fee, another parish of Wilmslow, William Turner b. 1784 Staffs, wife Ellen b. 1787 Bollin Fee and with them, unmarried son James b. 1815 Bollin Fee. Again, William is a Saddler. I’m probably just being too cautious with this one but the difference in the occupation on the marriage cert has made me stop and think! What do you think? Lou x

What does a puddler do? Could it be read as saddler? I would say same person. :) Joy

Hi Joy A puddler is something to do with iron, according to the old occupations website. I did wonder whether Puddler and Saddler could simply have been misheard with an accent cos everything else fits too neatly to be the wrong family Lou

Is the marriage cert a photocopy of the original or a copy? It's probably a mistranscription as the pattern of the letters is the same. A puddler worked in an ironworks. Janice

Hi Janice Its an actual copy of the entry that I obtained from the Manchester Cathedral archivist and it does clearly say Puddler Lou

Maybe the saddler is mistranscribed then - or he changed jobs! All the things put together seem like the same people. Janice

Has Solomon signed his name to this, or made his mark? Does he have a distinctive occupation that might be related to a saddler or a puddler? Have you looked for infant deaths in the parish, to make sure that the Solomon you have found didn't die? My gut feeling is that you have got the right parents and the information has either been misheard, or the rough notes mistranscribed. I have no problems with a/u. S/P is a little more difficult but when my Skillings turn up as Rilley it's not unbelieveable. Are there any other Solomons around? If you found some only in Ellen's family, that might suggest that your was unique to the Turners.

Hi Brenda & Dea I'm fairly certain that I have the right marriage cert, Solomon is a Gas Inspector and that is stated on his marriage cert, the children's baptisms/marriage certs and on all the census records until his death in 1897. He also left a rather interesting Will! Both Solomon and wife Hannah signed their names, as did both the witnesses. One of the witnesses is Mary Connolly. Hannah's brother George married Mary Connolly 3 years before Hannah's marriage. The other witness I am assuming for now is Solomon's brother, James Turner. I have Solomon pre-marriage on the 41 census living in Manchester, occupation again Gas Inspector and with him is a James Turner, a Tailor. The James who is with William and Ellen on the 1861 census is a Tailor! That all fits! I just can't get the difference in father William's occupations to lie down! If he had been a Puddler on the baptism records and then a Saddler thereonafter, I might have been able to accept that he'd had an occupation change. But the 'change' is slap bang in the middle and I can't find any likely marriages for William or James as a back-up. I actually can't find William or James post 1861 at the moment! Think I'll go and find some chocolate! Lou