Hooray for the 1901 Census but where is my G-Grandmother

[rjpaton]

I was looking forward to this census so much as I finally thought I would be able to pin down my Great Grandmother Susan Phillips Septon but unfortunately I can find no sign of her - which is unexpected. All I know about her is that she was married to William Milne Paton on 19th June 1903 in Glasgow and that my Grandfather said she was Irish. The marriage certificate gives her parents as John Septon (deceased) & Susan Phillips and her age would indicate she was born about 1884 or 5. She died in 1920 in Glasgow of Pnuemonia & I have this certificate too but there are no further details of her origins. I have not been able to find her in the England or Scotland 1901 census records so I fully assumed she would appear in the Ireland 1901 census still living in Ireland (as the 3 censuses were conducted on 31 March 1901 she had to be somewhere). But it does not appear to be the case & I used as many wildcards & variants as i coudl think of - I know Septon is a bit unusual - it could also be Sefton or Sephton or goodness knows what else. Does anyone have any ideas? - could she have been on the boat coming across from Ireland?

Thanks
Robert

[Currie]

Hello Robert,

You may have already tried this but in desperation you could search 1901 for forename su* age 16 (+/-5). There are only 4505 of them. Sort by surname and select 100 records per page. Scroll through them all while looking for a suspicious surname.

Probably no help,
Alan

[marie]

There is a Susan Sexton age 13 in Co Clare..

Marie (who has been searching the Irish site for hours today..........)

[Andrew C.]

I thought I would never get on this morning but I had no problems. Unfortunately I have just sat down to have another look and it is experiencing capacity problems.

Slight disappointment this morning, although I have gleamed additional information on my dads mother's family I was hoping to find my mother's grandparents however there is no trace apart for a maybe for my great grandmothers parents.

[rjpaton]

Thanks Alan

I did that & it wasn't too bad - just a matter of scrolling through the pages & pages for an hour. I will remember to use this technique in future. Unfortunately no likely candidate appeared & I checked quite a few on the off chance - Eston, sofrin, Totton etc. etc. I also checked a few Phillips but to no avail. I came to the conclusion she must have been in Scotland by 1901 so I tried the same on Ancestry - with a little less success. I had to search for sus* & specify born in Ireland. But still no success. There are a lot of possibilities here. Her parents may not have even been married (its often an indicator when people have names like Susan Phillips Septon). And the fact she was so young when married & 1st child in 1903 could hint she was a bit of a runaway or something. One thing's for sure, the 1911 Scotland census should nail it once and for all so I am hanging out for next year.

Thanks
Robert

[nelmit]

What was her address and occupation when she married in 1903? Have you tried looking at that on Ancestry in case there's any clues?

Regards,
Annette

[rjpaton]

Annette

On the marriage certificate of 19th June 1903 at 21 Abbotsford Place Glasgow, they are both listed as 19, both have the same residence of 24 South Wellington St Glasgow & William Milne Paton is listed as a Contractors Carter (Batchelor) and Susan Phillips Septon is listed as a China Hawker (Spinster). Is there anything there you might advise to follow up on?


Robert

[nelmit]

Annette

On the marriage certificate of 19th June 1903 at 21 Abbotsford Place Glasgow, they are both listed as 19, both have the same residence of 24 South Wellington St Glasgow & William Milne Paton is listed as a Contractors Carter (Batchelor) and Susan Phillips Septon is listed as a China Hawker (Spinster). Is there anything there you might advise to follow up on?


Robert

Hi Robert,

I was hoping she'd be a Hawker.

In 1901 at a lodging house in Edinburgh there is a Susan Philip age 18 - occupation is given as a Hawker -born at Glasgow (there is a matching birth entry at SP). There is also a Susan Philips age 60 at the same address who is also a Hawker born Port Glasgow.

Susan senior's parents appear to be Hugh(a Hawker born Ireland) and Susan who were living at Port Glasgow in 1851 where Susan's year of birth is given as 1837. In 1861 and 1871 the family are at Glasgow although Susan isn't with them in 1871 and I'm still looking for her in 1881 and 1891.

I think this family are worth investigating.

Regards,
Annette

[rjpaton]

Thanks for that Annette. Its very interesting because William & Susan called their second son Hugh Phillips Paton. The first son (my grandfather) was named after Williams father - William. I will definitely be following up this family.


Thanks
Robert

[nelmit]

Now I wonder if he was named after her brother -

1891 - 141 Cowgate, Edinburgh

Susan Phillips 56 born Glasgow, Port
John Phillips 27 son, born Glasgow, Hawker
Hugh Phillips 14 son, born Glasgow
Susan Phillips 10 daughter, born Glasgow

1881 - 39 Crown Street, Hutchesontown

Susan Phillips 40 Hawker
John Phillips 17 son
Mary Smith 3 Mo daughter
Susan Phillips 70 Mother born Ireland

I wonder where Hugh was in 1881?

There is a good chance that there will be poorhouse applications for this family.

regards,
Annette