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Hi everyone, this is my first post on the 'board', so I'm not too sure how much to say, I started my family tree about a month ago and its kind of taken over at the moment.
The above name is my great great grandfather, that was his birth name. Robert's DOB is 06/05/1851 and he was born in Dewsbury, Leeds. I can't find him in the 1861 census, but in the 1871 census, he is calling himself 'Robert Henry W Gaunt and is married to Hannah Gaunt nee Barraclough. He is working as a Iron furnance man and living in Lower Wortley.
1881 = Robert H Gaunt
1891 = Robert H Gaunt
1901 = Robert Henry W Gaunt
1911 = Robert Henry Wilks Gaunt
He always lived in the lower Wortley area and had various jobs...Engine firer, Labourer, Brickyard Labourer, Brick setter. He had 10 children
Samuel, Martha, Richard/Robinson, Ruth, Mary, Kate, Benjamin, Edith and Emily. He died in 1927, aged 75.
I received his birth certificate today and there is no fathers name on it, just his mothers ELIZABETH GAUNT WILKS and no other information about her, I ca't find Robert or Elizabeth in the 1861 census and I've searched all the different variations of both their names???
Can anyone help? or have I come to the end of the line?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Debi Gaunt-Walsh :D

On the certificate is there an address indicating exactly where he was born?

For Ref............


Household Record 1881 British Census

Search results | Download Previous Household Next Household
Household:

Name Relation Marital Status Gender Age Birthplace Occupation Disability
Robert H. GAUNT Head M Male 29 Birstal, York, England Engine Firer Iron Wks
Hannah GAUNT Wife M Female 29 Leeds Wortley, York, England
Samuel GAUNT Son Male 9 Leeds Wortley, York, England Scholar
Martha GAUNT Daur Female 7 Leeds Wortley, York, England Scholar
Robinson GAUNT Son Male 6 Leeds Wortley, York, England Scholar
Robert H. GAUNT Son Male 5 Leeds Wortley, York, England Scholar
Mary GAUNT Daur Female 1 Leeds Wortley, York, England
Ruth H. GAUNT Daur Female 3 Leeds Wortley, York, England

Source Information:
Dwelling Low Wortley Rd
Census Place Wortley In Bramley, York, England



1871 England Census
about Robert H W Gaunt
Name: Robert H W Gaunt
Age: 19
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1852
Relation: Head
Spouse's Name: Hannah Gaunt
Gender: Male
Where born: Birstall, Yorkshire, England
Civil parish: Wortley
Ecclesiastical parish: Leeds and Wortley
County/Island: Yorkshire
Country: England
Registration district: Bramley
Sub-registration district: Wortley [Near Leeds]
Household Members:
Name Age
Robert H W Gaunt 19
Hannah Gaunt 19

No, sorry, its so frustrating!
Registration district was Dewsbury, sub district of Gomersal in the County of York. He was born on the 6th May 1851 (The day the general reg office sent it out to me, they have typed the date 6th May 2011, which is a bit strange, exactly 160 years to the day he was born!!!)
He was born in Birstal, Leeds and registered on the 17th May 1851. In the box below where it says 'Signature, decription and residence of informant it has a 'CROSS' and the words 'the mark of Elizabeth Wilks Gaunt. Mother. Birstal.
Does that mean she was unable to read and write?
Thanks Debi

Thank you prickly holly, but its the 1861 info I need.

Debi

The "X" almost certainly indicates that she was illiterate but so were over half of the population in 1851.

But you have the 1871 information and we don't, Debi, that's the thing.

I think maybe his mother married in the interim. Searching for Robert in 1861 born Birstal/Birstall:


Name: Robert Brown
Age: 9
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1852
Relation: Son
Father's name: Benjamin Brown
Mother's name: Elizabeth Brown
Where born: Birstal, Yorkshire, England

Civil parish: Wortley
County/Island: Yorkshire
Registration district: Hunslet
Sub-registration district: Wortley [Near Leeds]

Benjamin Brown 31
Elizabeth Brown 34
Robert Brown 9
Sarah Brown 5
John E Brown 3


Marriages Jun 1855
? BROWN Benjamin Leeds 9b 308
? GAUNT Elizabeth Leeds 9b 308
IBBETSON Sarah Leeds 9b 308
SPENCER Alban Leeds 9b 308

I would suspect that his father was Wilks. It was very common for the child of unmarried parents to be given the father's surname as a middle name, whether or not (usually not) the father was named on the certificate. My great-aunt (born to my gr-grmother several years before she married, as a result of assault by her employer's son) is an example in my family.

JC

Was also looking at the Brown family.

Maureen

Yes, i do realise that Debi............i posted the information ("For Ref") As in: For reference purpose.....(on your behalf) in the hope that it might help any researchers with your enquiry. Good Luck. PH.

1861 just for info

Name: Elizabeth Gaunt
Age: 24
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1827
Relation: Daughter
Father's name: John Gaunt
Mother's name: Elizabeth Gaunt
Gender: F (Female)
Where born: Wortley, Yorkshire, England

Civil parish: Leeds
Town: Wortley
County/Island: Yorkshire
Country: England

Street Address:

Occupation:

Condition as to marriage:

Disability: View image

Registration district: Hunslet
Sub-registration district: Wortley
ED, institution, or vessel: 3c
Neighbors: View others on page
Household schedule number: 116
Piece: 2314
Folio: 207
Page Number: 29
Household Members: Name Age
John Gaunt 57
Elizabeth Gaunt 47
Sarah Gaunt 27
Elizabeth Gaunt 24
Helen Gaunt 20
John Gaunt 16
Samuel Gaunt 13
Nathan Gaunt 8
Sophia Gaunt 6

Actually, I wonder whether it was the other way around (which also happened). She was Wilks, but called herself and her child Gaunt, his father's name, for propriety.


1851

Name: Elizabeth Wilks
Age: 24
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1827
Relation: Lodger
Where born: Wortley, Yorkshire, England

Civil parish: Gomersal
County/Island: Yorkshire
Registration district: Dewsbury
Sub-registration district: Gomersal

Sarah Lancaster 51
Elizabeth Lancaster 15
Elizabeth Wilks 24 - unmarried, hand loom weaver

The address is Low Lane, Gomersal, and Google maps gives that as:

Low Ln
Birstall, Batley, Yorkshire WF17, UK

so I do suspect that's your Elizabeth.




GB, Elizabeth Gaunt aged 24 in 1861 would have been very young to have a child in 1851, and there's no Robert in the household.

Hold on, should that have read 1851 in your post?

Wow, thank you so much everybody!!!

Janey, but his mother was also a Wilks, She was Elizabeth Gaunt Wilks. Do you think she just added the fathers surname to hers???
Also. didnt realise the other census info was put up for others. as i said this is my first poat and I'm unsure how it works.
Thanks again everyone!

That Elizabeth Wilks is in district 1d Gomersal in 1851; this household is in district 1f. I might like one of these boys for the father.

Name: David Gaunt
Age: 24
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1827
Relation: Son
Father's name: Jeremiah Gaunt
Mother's name: Sarah Gaunt
Where born: Drighlington, Yorkshire, England

Name: Thomas Gaunt
Age: 21
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1830
Relation: Son
Father's name: Jeremiah Gaunt
Mother's name: Sarah Gaunt
Where born: Ardeley, Yorkshire, England

Civil parish: Gomersal

Jeremiah Gaunt 50
Sarah Gaunt 54
David Gaunt 24
Thomas Gaunt 21
Jane Gaunt 17
Sarah A Gaunt 15
Samuel Gaunt 13
Thornton Gaunt 9
Sophia Gaunt 9


Their address is Field Head; Google maps gives it as

Field Head Ln
Birstall, Batley, Yorkshire WF17, UK

and it intersects wtih Low Lane.


All just a wild theory, of course! ;)

Sorry, Debi, I was remembering it backwards -- yes indeed, her surname was Wilks on his birth certificate.

Bit of an intricate web of names.

Gaunt being his middle name sounds like his father's surname. Her including it in hers on her son's birth certificate ... maybe an assumption by the registrar; hard to tell from this distance! The fact that he later used it as his surname suggests that he did know who his father was and that Gaunt was his father's surname. And my theory that Elizabeth used that surname for respectability (including marrying under it) might still hold.

I think I'd have a look at the possible Gaunt-Brown marriage (order under one name only, or only if they married each other). It would be interesting to see what name that Elizabeth gave for her father and what marital status she claimed (possibly widow?).

Right, so you think I should order the marriage certificate for Elizabeth 9b 308?
It has four names attached to this number...how does that work?
Will I get info for all four people?
I haven't ordered Marriage certs before.

I can't believe the support I have had on here tonight!
Should have done it earlier!!!

Thanks again!
Debi

Before 1911 you can't tell who married whom -- there are usually 4 names on a page (i.e. two couples), sometimes 2, sometimes as many as 10. Only the certificate will tell for sure, but sometimes you can find one of the couples in a later census.

No luck finding Alban Spencer in 1861, though, to see whom he married, or in 1851 to get his details ... an oft misspelled / mistranscribed name, I'd think (I tried Al*n etc. at Ancestry).

The marriage certificate might not tell you much.


There's a couple of Gaunt households in Birstall in 1851; here's another one, in Township of Drighlington, with both sons the right age and an Elizabeth, depending on how the names went.

Charles Gaunt 45
Sarah Gaunt 42
James Gaunt 18
Frances Gaunt 17
Mary Gaunt 16
David Gaunt 15
Ann Gaunt 12
Elizabeth Gaunt 10
William Gaunt 8
Moses Gaunt 7
Francis Gaunt 5

and the other nearby

James Gaunt 42
Ann Gaunt 43
Charles Gaunt 17
Joseph Gaunt 15
Mary Gaunt 9
Martha Gaunt 7
James Gaunt 4


No Robert though (in case he was named for his father). And no Wilks in Birstall in 1841; Mary (edit - I meant Elizabeth - Wilks) could have come from somewhere else to work there.

You've got GB and me as the great minds looking at that Brown household, and if it turns out to be a Brown+Gaunt marriage, I'd be thinking it's the likeliest looking candidate to focus on.

One question, is there an address for the birth or the mother on his birth certificate?

And just by the way, none of this is unusual -- children of unmarried parents, name-shifting ... it's a rare one of us who doesn't have 'em! My gr-grfather Hill/Monck is famous around here (because I natter about him constantly). At least you might have an idea of where the two surnames came from; I have no idea where "Monck" came from. Unless the tale of the Viscount's black sheep younger brother was true. ;)

Mary herself might have been born to unmarried parents, one Wilks and the other Gaunt, on the other hand ...

Hi Janey

There is no address, just the details I put on an earlier post. I'm really intrigued about the Gaunt side of my family, I lost my dad at 16, he was an only child (lost a sister before he was born). My grandmother died when my mum and dad had just met, then my granddad when I was aged 13. So, I have nobody left to ask and a load meaningless photos!!!

I have got back a lot further on my grandmothers side, through having paperwork, hot matches and connecting with 5 people on here.

Another family member has done my mothers side. So, I have that info and my mother in law has done my husbands side.

I have emailed several people re the Gaunts and they are still in my sent box unopened, which is very frustrating. I think I will send off for the marriage cert you recommended. Also I haven't got Roberts and Hannah's marriage cert...was just thinking if I sent off for that, would that have any parents detail on it??? I know the later ones have, but would this info be on a 1871 one?

Thank you again for all your help, I'm so grateful.

Debi
:-) :-) :-) :-)

Fathers' names - if known - are on all marriage certs from 1837.

Sometimes, of course, they are invented - to cover illegitimacy