Genealogy Chat

see updated message below its much easier to read than the first one - I'm not promising it i'll be easy to understand though! Its had my brain tied in knots for weeks! Sharon

Sharon, as you can see, when you put in the first message it just comes out in one huge block which is very difficult to plough through. If you were to retype (or cut and paste) your original message in an Add Reply, you can then space it out how you want, which makes it so much easier to understand. To be quite honest, I tried to read what you had typed, but gave up. If you could redo it, I'll try again. Jan.

just a tip for you what i usually do, is for first message, type see below. then add a reply and put all the details in, that way you get all spaces etc and is much easier to read.

having a go amaking this easier to read it might take me a couple of messages as GC doesn't seem to like carriage returns! Looking for someone to make sense of these: MARY STEAD born 14th May 1793 father: Thomas Stead (of Tadcaster, occup - labourer) - Son Of Joseph Stead (a gardener from Newton-Hyme) and Elizabeth Stead mother: Sarah Bean ( - father Benjamin bean, Mother Mary Fawcet) FAITH STEAD born 22nd December 1793 Father: - Joseph Stead son of Richard Stead and Ann Simpson Mother Catherine, daughter of William and Catherine Howcroft WILLIAM STEAD born 23rd June 1795 father: William Stead son of James and Frances Stead of Shadwell mother Ann Hill daughter of William Hill and Rosamund Nelson

and these!: WILLIAM STEAD born 29th August 1795 father Joseph Stead son of Richard Stead and Ann Simpson mother Catherine Howcroft dau of William and Catherine Howcroft WILLIAM STEAD born 25th July 1796 father William Stead mother Ann Hill dau of William Hill and Rose Nelson HANNAH STEAD born 18th July 1796 mother Ann Stead, Spinster JOSEPH STEAD born 14th June 1797 father: Thomas Stead son of Richard Stead and Ann Simpson mother Catherine Howcroft dau of William and Catherine Howcroft ANN STEAD born 26th April 1798 father William Stead son of James Stead mother Ann Hill dau of William Hill and Rose Nelson ELIZABETH STEAD born 27th June 1799 father: Thomas Stead son of Richard Stead and Ann Simpson mother Catherine Howcroft dau of William and Catherine Howcroft JOHN STEAD born 13th April 1801 father: William Stead son of Richard Stead and Ann Simpson mother Ann dau of William Hill GEORGE STEAD born 28th September 1803 father: William Stead son of James Stead mother: Ann daughter of William Hill and Rose Nelson THOMAS STEAD born 26th August 1803 father Stephen Stead son of Thomas Stead and Sarah Bean mother Hannah dau of Thomas Dews MARY STEAD born 18th June 1805 father Thomas Stead son of Richard Stead and Ann Simpson mother Mary Dawson dau of William and Martha Dawson REBECCA STEAD born 19th July 1805 father William Stead son of James Stead mother Ann Hill dau of William Hill and Rose Nelson MARY STEAD born 24th November 1807 father Thomas Stead son of Thomas Stead and Sarah Bean mother Flora Davison CHARLOTTE STEAD born 12th May 1812 mother: Flora Stead widow ELIZABETH STEAD born 8th December 1811 father Thomas Stead son of Richard Stead and Ann Simpson mother Mary Dawson dau of William and Martha Dawson

This is what I do when I have a long list like you have. I go to Word, and type out the names of the different parents. I then type under these the names of their children, in date order. Then cut and paste the family groups into date order. By doing this I once sorted out four generations of one family in one afternoon, because I could see that the children of the first groupings were the parents of the second grouping and so on. Jan

Hi Jan I tried doing that the trouble is that there seems to be lots of crossed wires and intermarrying, either that or a vicar who was more confused than me!

Maybe there are two families? There are lots of Presgrave children born between 1800 and 1820 all to William and Elizabeth - but there are two couples named William and Elizabeth having kids at the same time. Perhaps whoever was transcribing was doing both Stead families and got into a mess somewhere along the line. Remember, members used to guess in the beginning, so maybe they saw links when there were none?

The records are taken straight from the microfilm copies of the parish registers so have not been transcribed, which rules out one possible reason for all the confusion! There is definitely more than one different family, what I am finding most confusing is actually working out who was really married to who and who was really the child of who! e.g. The records show both Thomas and Joseph Stead (sons of Richard Stead and Ann Simpson) being married to Catherine Howcroft. I also have a William Stead with two different fathers depending on which of his children he is baptising! Either there was lots of "carrying on" within the Tadacaster Steads or the vicar had a hard time sorting out which one was which!

Jan The easiest way to sort is to put the information in columns on a spreadsheet. E.g. Surname, Given name, Date (or year) of Birth, Location, parent's name, etc., etc. You can the sort by any of the criteria to group families together.

I have tried every which way of grouping them on paper and screen and the results and I still can't square how Joseph and Thomas Stead (brothers) both come to have Catherine Howcroft as the mother of some or all of their children and how William Stead (married to Ann Hill) comes to be listed as the son of James Stead in most records and then Richard Stead ( father to Thomas and Joseph) on his childrens baptism entries. Sharon

Sharon. Is it possible that Catherine Howcraft was married twice? First to Joseph Stead, who could have died about 1796. Secondly to his brother, Thomas. By ordering all her children, you get the first two as children of Joseph, and the second two as children of Thomas. The next two children of Thomas have Mary Dawson as mother, so could Catherine have died, and Thomas remarried to Mary. The births of the children tie in with this hypothesis. I thought of this because a similar thing occured in my family - my G grandfather was married sequentially to two sisters. Hope this helps. Andrew.

Hi Sharon My wife's ggg grandfather married the wife of his late brother in 1823. Her first marriage had been in the small village of Sharnford, Leicestershire, in 1805. They were married in Leicester, the nearest large place, using her maiden name, very likely for anonymity. I suspect that marrying your brother's widow may have been frowned upon, although it might be the only way of supporting her and her children. Once done, it was a fait accompli, even if people didn't like it. So don't give up, these muddled relationships can make sense. Both my great grandfathers married twice, one of them to a widow. It was a necessity to remarry, often within a few months of a death, to have an income and someone to look after young children. It's just unfortunate that before the days of censuses you cannot look to see who lived with whom. Best wishes Stan