Genealogy Chat

My ancestor, Sidney Goldsworthy, is not on the 1891 census. There are several people with the same name, but none of them are him. The only thing I can think of is that he is on a page not yet indexed. There are two likely districts in Stoke Damerel that haven't been indexed, the Military Barracks and the Military Hospital. Then there are thirteen separate ships. That's fifteen 'districts', some of which are well over 20 pages long. Call me stupid, but I'm just not prepared to sift through over 300 scanned images on the off-chance he's there. Until you look at them, there are an awful lot of pages not indexed on that census. Maybe this is ancestry's way of keeping us on our toes. Considering he was the first person I searched for, it's really not made a very good impression!

Hi - I@m no expert but have you tried the 1881 and then the 1901 census? Where in the blazes is Stoke ??? I've never heard of it, and I'm quite geographically minded - maybe someone else could help if they realised where the heck the place was - county wise at least. You mention ships, so it must be on the coast somewhere but hey - give us a clue to help you if we can? Don't give up - the man will be found. Ja cqui

Hi Kathryn Just out of curiosity I looked for Sidney Goldsworthy on 1891 census and only came up with one! He's aged 15, born Branscombe, Devon and living in Salcombe Regis. Where did you find the others? (Just being nosey really!!) Don't give up, I'm sure he's there somewhere! Sue at Langley Vale

I think with the 1891 you just have to keep on trying. I couldn't find either of my mother's grandparent's families, even though I knew they were in the London area in 1891. Thanks to help from people on GC, having put in a plea on this board, the GOBEL family were found under GABEL, and the FORSTER family were found under FORETER. That is how I learned about using * and ? in my searches. So do keep trying, and one day you or someone else will find him for you. I've already tried once to find your Sidney, but I'll have another go if you like. Jan

This is copy & paste from the 1881 for SIDNEY GOLDSWORTHY: <1871> Birthplace Devonport, Devon, England Age 10 Occupation Scholar Marital Status Head of Household John GOLDSWORTHY Relation Son Disability -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Source Information: Dwelling 18 Charlotte Row Census Place Stoke Damerel, Devon, England Family History Library Film 1341533 Public Records Office Reference RG11 Piece / Folio 2213 / 127 Page Number 7 So that gives us a start Jan.

Stoke Damerel is the old name for DEVENPORT. If that means anything for you! -Kat

Stoke Damerel is in the Plymouth area if I remember rightly?? There are still plenty of bugs with the 1891 census on Ancestry. My chief niggle at present is when you find the name in the index and you click on the image link only to find the name not on there. Closer inspection tends to reveal that the names on the image do not match any of those listed for that particular folio and page, as listed in the index. This happened me to only last night when I was trying to find an elder sister of my gt-grandfather.

There is another Sidney in the 1881 census for Devon he is the son of Elijah Goldsworthy and they live at No 2 Trow Salcombe Regis Devon The name index for the 1881 census lists another Sid b1861 listed as a brother in Law in London but I haven't traced him Bren

On the 1891 I did a search for 20yr old males born in Devonport, Devon. A quick scroll through the 233 names brought no results. Don't have time at the moment to look at the 19 yr olds and 21 yr olds, which is what I usually do when looking for people by age. Jan.

That's interesting, Kat <Stoke Damerel is the old name for DEVENPORT> because on the 1891 I found a lot of people born in Devonport but living in Stoke Damerel. Jan.

Working on the assumption that Jan had located the correct family from the 1881 census, I did a couple of other checks on the 1891 census: 1. Sure, Sidney does not appear to be on there at present. I've used wildcards, as well as looking for all Sidneys + Sydneys (omitting surname)born in Devon. 2. John Goldsworthy and his wife are the only ones in their household in 1891. 3. Harold Goldsworthy, shown as a younger sibling on the 1881 census, looks to have joined the Royal Navy come 1891. Is this where Sidney is hiding even though he may not be in the index?

I've started a separate thread How to find people in the Royal Navy in 1891, but I didn't find the elusive Sidney there. Don't know if ships at sea were covered though. Jan.

Hiya all , Im originally from Plymouth and Stoke Damerel is next to and in the same area as devonport...Devonport is the major place in the area and Stoke or Stoke Dameral is just another estate in the same location...demelza

Thanks everyone. John and Hannah are his parents and Harold is his brother. Most people living in Church Street seem to be related to me in some way (at least no.s 12,13,15, and 23!) Sidney was 19 or 20 in 1891, and had by that time joined the Navy. I have him on the 1881 and 1901 census but I'd really like to find out what ship he was on.

Another question - if Harold was on the 'Impregnable' in 1891, would they have put his brother on the ship too? I'm trawling through the unindexed pages, but 'Impregnable' is 73 pages long. I don't want to waste time searching there if there was a policy to separate family members.

I don't know the answer to your question, Kathryn but does it say what ship he was on at the time of 1901? Guess, I'm clutching at straws a bit for possible suggestions...

No, the little beggar was at home in 1901. My mother isn't surprised, she said he could be just as awkward when he was alive. I'm especially interested in him, though, because he was the first person in Britain to undergo surgery to help his speech when he had throat cancer. It's not often you get a pioneering medical procedure in the family. Should I ever get around to writing the family history, I'd really need to mention his naval career!

To search for someone in the Navy in the 1891, this is what you do: Go to the Search window, type in name, age and birthplace as usual. In Search Area = All counties. Parish : Royal Navy. District: <name of ship if you know it> However, I tried this for your Sidney and got no result at all. Sorry. Jan

Thanks anyway. I'll just have to wait until they finish indexing it and then get another free trial.

Well, I've tried again, but still no luck. I tried "Sidney" born Devonport, Royal Navy, and just found a Sidney A Bean, which by no stretch of the imagination could be a mistake for Goldsworthy. A wild card search for Sid* Go*, Royal Navy, produced a 35 yr old Sidney Godolphin. Sidney, born Devonport, aged 21 - nul point. Sidney, born Devonport, aged 19 - 4 hits, including our friend Mr. Bean again. I looked yesterday at the 20 yr old Sidneys, with no result at all. All I can say again is, if his ship was at sea, would be be included in this census? Jan.