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I am tracing an ancestor

Alice Higham or Hyam born 1854, Crewe.

She married William Henshall on 06 April 1874.

On the marriage record summary Nantwich 8a, 460 the list of people are:

William Henshall
Alice Higham
Alice Hyam
Louisa Parr
Samuel Whittingham

5 people - why not 6?

William Henshall is definitely one of my ancestors and the Crewe/Nantwich location is correct. William Henshall was born in Manchester and there is an Alice Higham on the 1871 census (birthplace Crewe) working in Manchester as a servant.

Also I cant find an Alice Higham in the Crewe area around 1861/1871

So the question is - Are Alice Higham and Alice Hyam the same person and why are there two spellings in the wedding entry?

Thanks,
Wayne

Cheshire BMD only has the one entry:

Cheshire Marriage indexes for the years: 1871 to 1875
HENSHALL William HIGHAM Alice Crewe, St Paul Cheshire East 701/1/149

Father's names:


Name:
Alice Higham

Gender:Female
Marriage Date:6 Apr 1874
Marriage Place:St Paul, Crewe, Cheshire, England
Father: Richard Higham
Spouse:William Henshall


Name:William Henshall
Gender:Male
Marriage Date:6 Apr 1874
Marriage Place:St Paul, Crewe, Cheshire, England
Father: Arthur Henshall
Spouse:Alice Higham

Other records give the church as St Paul, Coppenhall, Cheshire
Alice's age 20; William's 24

1881 England, Wales & Scotland Census Transcription
2, King Street, Monks Coppenhall, Nantwich, Cheshire, England


William Henshall Head Married Male 28 1853 Boiler Makers Laborer Middlewich, Cheshire, England

Alice Henshall Wife Married Female 27 1854 - Crewe, Cheshire, England

Jane Henshall Daughter Single Female 6 1875 Scholar Crewe, Cheshire, England

Maggie A Henshall Daughter Single Female 1 1880 - Crewe, Cheshire, England

think you would need the cert to see why there was both spellings .

Thanks Potty,

Much appreciated and that now makes sense and the fathers names match my other records.

Wayne

Thanks Shirley,

I have that info but nice to have another view, I'm still a little confused why there are 2 different spellings, maybe an error when recording but all the info regardless of Hyam or Higham seems to be making a match.

Jane Henshall was my great-grandmother.

Just added this to your duplicate thread and have now transferred it to here:

They will be the same person Wayne it's just that there was some confusion over the spelling so that she is recorded under both spellings on the marriage ref.

There should only be 4 people on the page so that is also confirmation that they are one and the same.

Dea x

I wonder??

1871 England, Wales & Scotland Census Transcription
Graysons Yard, Wigan, Lancashire, England

Learn more

Print transcription View image Household Members
First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Gender Age Birth year Occupation Birth place
Rich Higham Head - Male 46 1825 - Lancashire, England occ coal; miner

Ann Higham Wife - Female 45 1826 - Lancashire, England

Rich Higham Son - Male 19 1852 - Lancashire, England

Alice Higham Daughter - Female 15 1856 - Lancashire, England occ cotton hand

James Higham Son - Male 11 1860 - Lancashire, England



Edit no this family seems to be consistently in Lancashire and born Wigan

This looks like her in 1861:

Allice Hyam

in the 1861 England Census
Record Image View

View blank form

Name: Allice Hyam
Age: 7
Estimated birth year: 1854
Relation: Daughter
Father's name: Richard Hyam
Mother's name: Ann Hyam
Gender: Female
Where born: Monks Coppenhall, Cheshire, England
Civil Parish: Monks Coppenhall
Ecclesiastical parish: Christchurch
Town: Crewe
County/Island: Cheshire
Country: England
Registration district: Nantwich
Sub-registration district: Wybunbury
ED, institution, or vessel: 9
Neighbors: View others on page
Household schedule number: 156
Piece: 2616
Folio: 46
Page Number: 33
Household Members:
Name Age
Richard Hyam 45
Ann Hyam 49
James Hyam 20
Jane Hyam 17
Thomas Hyam 12
Joseph Hyam 9
Allice Hyam 7
Elizabeth Hyam 5
Mary E Hyam 2
Walter Hyam 1/12

Shirley, I believe this is her in 1871:

Alice Hyam

in the 1871 England Census
Record Image View

View blank form

Name: Alice Hyam
Age: 17
Estimated birth year: abt 1854
Relation: Servant
Gender: Female
Where born: Crewe, Cheshire, England
Civil Parish: Manchester
Ecclesiastical parish: St Paul
County/Island: Lancashire
Country: England
Registration district: Manchester
Sub-registration district: London Road
ED, institution, or vessel: 22
Household schedule number: 66
Piece: 4043
Folio: 148
Page Number: 14
Household Members:
Name Age
John Oldham 66
Thos Oldham 36
Elzha Oldham 29
Saml Oldham 16
Emiline Oldham 14
Alice Hyam 17

Thanks Dea,

That's very helpful, I was wondering if there should only be 4 persons :-)

Yes - there were usually 2 marriage entries per page at that time so 2 males and 2 females.

Remember - many people were illiterate at the time and so the vicar would fill in the marriage entry and he may have written it with one spelling then if the bride or groom had managed to sign their name (as some of them had learned to do) they may have spelled it differently but would not necessarily notice their error.

When the transcription was done this may have been noted and both spellings were put down or the writing on there may have just been very difficult to decipher? It often happened.

Dea x

Thanks Dea, that's really useful info....and thanks to everyone else who replied.

Margee - I'm in agreement with your post, it would give an explanation of the Manchester/Crewe connections.

Wayne,

I have copies of various certificates that may shed some light here:

Birth certificate, 6th April, 1854: Born 10th March 1854 at 12 Betley Street, Monks Coppenhall (sub-district of Wybunbury, Nantwich, County of Chester) to parents Richard Higham (Striker) and Ann Higham (formerly Greenhough).

Marriage certificate: April 6th, 1874: Alice Higham, 20, spinster, no occupation, of the parish of St Paul, Crewe (father: Richard Higham, smith) married William Henshall, 21, bachelor, striker, of the parish of St Paul, Crewe (father: Arthur Henshall shoemaker), at St Paul's Church in Crewe. Witnesses: Joseph Higham and Fanny Henshall. Registered in Nantwich (Hyam, Alice 1874 Q2, vol 8a, Page 484). On the marriage certificate she is given as both Alice Higham, and then Alice Hyam.

NB, you can see in the above record that her brother, Joseph, also married a Henshall. Here, after one generation, the descendants of Joseph and Fanny become Hyams.

Mother's death certificate, 1888: at death of her mother on 21st February, she is resident at 11 Broom Street, Monks Coppenhall.


Alice's father was born in Aspull, Wigan on 2nd July 1820. He was Christened Richard Hickham (sic) and this is why he is so difficult to find. (Interestingly, while this branch of the Highams are definitely from Aspull, the village of Higham in Barnsley is pronounced Hickam in the local accent.)

Richard's surname was recorded correctly as Higham for much of his life but his death was recorded under Richard Hyam, in Monks Coppenhall in 11 May 1867. His father was James Higham, my great, great, great grandfather.

I have much more information if you or any-one else wishes, if so: message me.

Jeremy Higham

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