Genealogy Chat

I am aware that infant mortality rates were high and people did reuse names for children born later if a child died. I have two children born a year apart William Hicks 1815 and William John Hicks 1816 who were christened a year apart William 15/03/1815 and William John 16/03/1816. It is entirely possible this is two different children the names and dates seem a little coincidental.

What do others think

Parents are William Hicks (1790) and Margery Bottrall (1794) and the family were from St Just in Penwith, Cornwall.

Are the parents’ names the same on both records?

it would be helpful if you C&P’d the actual transcriptions

I’m working off a phone as I don’t have a computer. I’ll try to C&P. The names are the same on both records.

The 2 records you refer to - text only no image

Cornwall Baptisms

First name(s) WILLIAM
Last name HICKS
Gender Male
Birth year 1815
Baptism year 1815
Baptism date 15 Mar 1815
Parish St Just in Penwith
Father's first name(s) William
Father's last name Hicks
Mother's first name(s) Margery
Mother's last name -
Relationship Son
Place ST JUST IN PENWITH
County Cornwall
Country England
Record set Cornwall Baptisms
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Parish Baptisms
Collections from England, Great Britain
Cornwall Family History Society


and

Cornwall Baptisms

First name(s) WILLIAM JOHN
Last name HICKS
Gender Male
Birth year 1816
Baptism year 1816
Baptism date 16 Mar 1816
Parish St Just in Penwith
Father's first name(s) William
Father's last name Hicks
Mother's first name(s) Margery
Mother's last name -
Relationship Son
Place ST JUST IN PENWITH
County Cornwall
Country England
Record set Cornwall Baptisms
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Parish Baptisms
Collections from England, Great Britain
Cornwall Family History Society

(A popular name - also a William baptised 1.10.1814 to a William and Mary and a to a John and Jane 7.9.1817 in St Just in Penwith)

If she lost the child soon after birth/baptism and then fell pregnant again fairly quickly ie within 3 months the next was born within the year of the first.

No Burials not showing on site in St Just

That’s them. Thank you. I assumed it was the same family as Margery is more unusual but it could be two different families.

I think that by that date, baptism records show the occupation of the father.

Is there perhaps an online parish clerk who has access to actual records.
If the occupation of William is the same for both baptisms, that might help you to decide whether or not it is the same family.

The clerk may be able to check for a possible burial too.

Probably most men in the area at that time were miners or seamen/fishermen - so the father's occupation might not prove anything.

Another child of a John and a Margery:

Honor Hicks
in the England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975
Name: Honor Hicks
Gender: Female
Baptism Date: 23 Aug 1831
Baptism Place: St. Just-in-Penwith, Cornwall, England
Father: William Hicks
Mother: Margery Hicks



???
Margy Hicks
in the 1851 England Census
Name: Margy Hicks
[Margery Hicks]
Age: 57
Estimated birth year: abt 1794
Relation: Wife
Spouse's name: William Hicks
Gender: Female
Where born: St Just, Cornwall, England
Civil Parish: St Just in Penwith
Phillimore Ecclesiastical Parish Maps:
View related Ecclesiastical Parish
County/Island: Cornwall
Country: England
Street address:
Occupation:
Condition as to marriage:
Disability:
View image
Registration district: Penzance
Sub-registration district: St Just
ED, institution, or vessel: 3g
Neighbors:
Household schedule number: 81
Piece: 1919
Folio: 231
Page Number: 29
Household Members:
Name Age
William Hicks 59 - tin [something] - looks like tindreper
Margy Hicks 57
Edward Hicks 25 - tin miner
Alfred Hicks 21 - tindreper
Elizabeth I Hicks 6
Alice Perrow 30 - daughter, tin miner's widow
Mary A Perrow 10
Isaac Perrow 9
Edward Perrow 4
Elizth I Perrow 2

On that one page of census record alone, there are three Hicks families.

Probably the same family in 1841:

Margery Hicks
in the 1841 England Census
Name: Margery Hicks
Age: 45
Estimated birth year: abt 1796
Gender: Female
Where born: Cornwall, England
Civil Parish: St Just
Hundred: Penwith
County/Island: Cornwall
Country: England
Street address:
Occupation:
View image
Registration district: Penzance
Sub-registration district: St Just in Penwith
Neighbors:
Piece: 144
Book: 11
Folio: 6
Page Number: 5
Household Members:
Name Age
Willm Hicks 45
Margery Hicks 45
John Hicks 20
Charles Hicks 15
Edward Hicks 15
Henry Hicks 13
Alfred Hicks 11
Honor Hicks 10
Mary Hicks 7


Daughter Mary:

Mary Ann Hicks
in the England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975
Name: Mary Ann Hicks
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 11 Dec 1834
Baptism Date: 3 Jul 1837
Baptism Place: Saint Just IN Penwith,Cornwall,England
Father: William Hicks
Mother: Margery

from Freereg

https://www.freereg.org.uk/

Always well worth looking at this site :-D

lots of Hicks baptism in St Just-in-Penrith!


County Cornwall
Place (Links to more information) St Just-in-Penwith
Church name (Links to more information) St Just
Register type (Links to more information) Parish Register
Register entry number 276
Baptism date 15 Mar 1815
Person forename William
Person sex M
Father forename William
Mother forename Margery
Father surname HICKS
Person abode Church Town
Father occupation Miner
Transcribed by Linda Payne
File line number 283

County Cornwall
Place (Links to more information) St Just-in-Penwith
Church name (Links to more information) St Just
Register type (Links to more information) Parish Register
Register entry number 417
Baptism date 16 Mar 1816
Person forename William John
Person sex M
Father forename William
Mother forename Margery
Father surname HICKS
Person abode Church Town
Father occupation Miner
Transcribed by Linda Payne
File line number 424


same place of living, same occupation for father

Thank you Gwyn, ArgyllGran and Sylvia. It looks like a lot of people at the time they had a large number of children.

I will definitely need to contact St Just and see if someone can help me with a parish record or two.

It looks like both Williams may have been from the same parents.

If you want to see images of the parish records then look on the Family Search site. Thy have images for most of the Cornish parishes up to the end of the nineteenth century.

Generally the transcriptions on https://cornwall-opc-database.org/ are good and the images won't show any more information, unless they haven't been transcribed yet.

Thank you Kense