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Advice please - which Ann Shaw?

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paulH01
Posts: 18
Joined: 26 Jun 2020, 09:41

Advice please - which Ann Shaw?

Post by paulH01 »

I have a mystery I'd like some advice on, please!

I have an ancestor, Ann Shaw. She married Hugh Lindsley in Barnard Castle in 1844.

In the 1851 and 1861 Census she is listed as being born in 1808, birthplace Staindrop.
She died in 1864, both GRO and FreeREG list her as being aged 55, therefore born 1809.

I have two possibilities for her birth:
bap 1806 Staindrop - mother Hannah, no father listed.
bap 1808 Auckland St.Andrew, parents William and Ann (Walker) - near Staindrop and Barnard Castle.

Children of Hugh/Ann not conclusive - Hannah is the first born - 1806 mother's name was Hannah, but William/Ann also had a daughter called Hannah.

I thought ordering the 1844 marriage certificate would clear up which Ann Shaw was correct, but it doesn't list her father.
Both resident at Staindrop, though.

Do you think this is more likely to indicate the 1806 option (father not listed, birthplace matches in two censuses), or the 1808 option, since the birth/baptism date appears to be reflected in two censuses and her death entry?
Norfolk Nan
Posts: 506
Joined: 16 Jun 2020, 11:54
Location: A Londoner lost in Norfolk

Re: Advice please - which Ann Shaw?

Post by Norfolk Nan »

I know knee jerk reaction would be accept the no father option, for obvious reasons, but I know of two occasions when living but estranged fathers were recorded as dead. I’d suggest you keep looking for more linkages.
avaline
Posts: 77
Joined: 13 Jun 2020, 23:23

Re: Advice please - which Ann Shaw?

Post by avaline »

paulH01 wrote: 01 Apr 2021, 22:28 I thought ordering the 1844 marriage certificate would clear up which Ann Shaw was correct, but it doesn't list her father.
Both resident at Staindrop, though.
Mother Hannah does seem the most likely, and Staindrop is very distinct from Auckland.

A Hannah Shaw married Ralph Burrell in 1811 at Staindrop. Who were the witnesses to Ann's marriage?
avaline
Posts: 77
Joined: 13 Jun 2020, 23:23

Re: Advice please - which Ann Shaw?

Post by avaline »

It looks like Ralph Burrell died in 1819 and Hannah may have then married Alexander Summerbell in 1821. A Hannah Summerbell aged 59 was buried Staindrop in 1836.

From the 1841 & 1851 census Ann Shaw had most of her children before she & Hugh married

1841 Staindrop
Ann Lindsley 69
Hugh Lindsley 25
Ann Shaw 30
Hannah Shaw 8 (baptised 1833 as Hannah Lindsley Shaw)
Elizabeth Shaw 6
Margaret Shaw 3
Jane Shaw 3
Ann Shaw 7m

By 1851 the Shaw's have become Lindsley, and are joined by William 7 & Eliza 1.
paulH01
Posts: 18
Joined: 26 Jun 2020, 09:41

Re: Advice please - which Ann Shaw?

Post by paulH01 »

Thank you for your replies, and opinions.
I'm also coming to the same conclusion, that birthplace, and lack of father details, trumps birth date, so it is the 1806 Staindrop option.
I was hoping it would be the 1808 option instead, as I would then have links to Weardale, a place I really like visiting. But I may have other links...

As Avaline spotted, Ann 1806 also had several illegitimate children before marrying Hugh Lindsley in 1844 - some, including my ancestor Hannah (1833), actually had the surname 'Lindsley Shaw', so he must have been responsible for at least some of them.

I also found this Durham Records entry, which may have referred to Ann's 1806 birth:
'Bastardy examination of Hannah Shaw of Staindrop; John Alderson of the Deer House, servant, 1 June 1806'.
There is a John Alderson born Staindrop 1783, but I can't find anything else out about him. The Deer House is probably the one in Auckland Castle.

I did notice the Ralph Burrell marriage in 1811.
The FreeREG record for the birth of Thomas in Staindrop in 1812 to Ralph/Hannah tells me she is the daughter 'of Thos SHAW of Evenwood'.

Evenwood is part of Auckland, and FreeREG has a Hannah Shaw with father Thomas baptised there in 1777. The only Staindrop birth listed for Hannah Shaw around this time is a daughter of George and Mary in 1780, so it could be that one as well.

If it is the same Hannah who married Ralph Burrell, then, again as Avaline spotted, it seems that Ralph died in 1819 in Staindrop (aged 60!) and she remarried Alexander Summerbell in 1821 (there was a witness called Esther Shaw - suggestive), probably dying in Staindrop aged 59 in 1836. This would roughly tie in with either the 1777 or the 1780 birth date for Hannah.
Staindrop/Gainford/Auckland are very near to each other so I wouldn't be surprised to see some mixing between these parishes, and I have seen it elsewhere.

Still confused!
Last edited by paulH01 on 15 Apr 2021, 10:36, edited 4 times in total.
paulH01
Posts: 18
Joined: 26 Jun 2020, 09:41

Re: Advice please - which Ann Shaw?

Post by paulH01 »

Update:
In addition to Ann b 1806, I have found two more possible illegitimate births to a Hannah Shaw (it said Ann was the third):
Thomas 1810 Staindrop - died after three days
John 1800/01 Gainford: 'Natural Son. Mother daug of Thomas & Betty SHAW native of Even Wood'
The latter would suggest that it is the same Hannah Shaw as in the 1811 marriage, since her father is Thomas Shaw of Evenwood, according to the record of the birth of Thomas Burrell in 1812.

Thomas Shaw b 1750 Auckland married Elizabeth Carlisle (= Betty?) in 1772 in Auckland is the only entry in that timeframe.
Elizabeth Shaw was buried 1829 in Auckland St H, aged 80, which is probably her.
Elizabeth Carlisle is probably not the one with the interesting family..... the family history says she died in 1792. But she is the only one whose baptism is registered in that timeframe.

There is another Hannah Shaw, bap 1777 in Auckland St Andrew, her father is Ralph.
She is the sister of William Shaw, who is the father of the 1808 Ann.
But the evidence above suggests it's not this one, and it's more likely to be the 1777 Auckland St Helen birth to Thomas.

EDIT:
GPR/Find a Grave has a picture of the grave of Thomas and Elizabeth Shaw in Auckland St Helen!
The ages are right, they are from Evenwood - it suggests that Elizabeth's maiden name is Heighkley.
Mother Hannah Heighkley 1723-1795 is also buried with them. Also from Evenwood.
She may have been baptised 1724 parents Henry Atkinson/Margaret Heightly (before he married Ann Stodart three years later).
More to investigate....
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