ARC TBC Two alternative family trees - which one is correct?

[usignuolo]

Following our success at tracing the Jackson side of the family, my brother and I have embarked on the Whiffins (our mothers side). You would think this is quite an unusual name and as we know they lived on the Kent Surey border where it is a common name, and spelling, tracing the records would be straightforward. Think again. You can have no idea how many John and Jane and James Whffins there are in NW Kent. Also although all our relatives insist it is spelt with 2 i's, there seem to be some cases where it has been recorded as Whiffen for good measure.

Anyway on ancestry uk my brother found a family tree (for Allery) which showed George Whiffin (b 1774) married Esther Hester (b 1789) and had around 15 children, including a son James born in 1811. James married Elizabeth Tomkins and they produced around ten children including a son John (b 1845) who married Jane Sales. John and Jane had a large family including our ancestor Harry Whiffin born in 1879. There is an 1881 census return showing them living in Warlingham with their family.

So far so good. But there is a different version posted on the Family Search website. This shows the same line of descent up to James Whiffin marrying Elizabeth Tomkins. But this version has son John marrying not Jane Sales but Emma Fairman. John and Emma in this account had 4 or five children including Thomas, Albert Henry, Charles, Alice, and Elizabeth. Albert Henry (b 1879) emigrated to Australia.

The first account, on ancestry looks convincing. But someone has clearly researched the FS version. Could there be more than one John Whiffin born in the same district in the same year? Could that explain it.

[MarkCDodd]

The John Whiffin who married Emma/Anne Fairman was born in Kent and died in N.S.W. Australia.

Kent is not Warlingham, Surrey!

[SRD]

Steady on Mark, OP does mention Kent/Surrey border and an Olympic triple jumper (especially an Australian one ) could probably get from Warlingham into Kent.

[grangers14]

??
That other family it says were from Bexley Kent in 1881.
1871. Camden Place, Bexley
John Whiffen, head, 25, labourer, Wilmington, kent
Emma, wife, 24, Caryford
Elizabeth, daur, 11 months, Bexley Heath
Ann Fairman, sister, 26, Bexley Heath
/Elizabeth Crane, lodger, M, 65, Exworth?,
Margaret Aldaton, ? daur, M, 23, Chest? Hertford
Nephate, M, (doesnt say relationship but is male) 26, labourer, Essex?
Lilian, daur, 2, London

?? 1851 in Wilmington Kent age 6 with James and Elizabeth as parents


The other one

1871. Slina? Cottage,
John Wiffin, head, 27, Gardener, Seal kent
Jane, wife, 26,
Thomas, son, 7,
Aday, daur, 5,
George, son, 1
/William Peters, lodger, 23, Ag Lab
All others born Warlingham

??1851 in Seal Kent, age 10 with Thomas and Mary as parents. As Whiffen

[usignuolo]

I am fully aware that Warlingham is in Surrey. Early Whiffins lived both in NW Kent and just over the county border in Surrey in places like Warlingham. However the Whiffin name is particularly common in NW Kent.

[usignuolo]

The 1871 census with the family in Seal Kent looks to be the correct family. Although my brother has turned up the 1881 census where John is shown as a bricklayer (no longer a gardener) born in Warlingham (in SURREY) with wife Jane, children Thomas, (18) Ada (16) George (11) Arthur (9) Ellen (5) Lizzy (4) Harry (2). Harry we assume to be my ancestor.

If this is correct then it looks one of the published family trees charts must be wrong - This raises a delicate question - how to get it corrected?

[grangers14]

I dont think you can do anything till you have a birth certificate to prove you are right.
Then a polite email to the other person showing your facts?
Jo

[grangers14]

familysearch has this

George Henry Whiffin
England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975
birth:
christening: 24 Oct 1869 - WARLINGHAM,SURREY,ENGLAND
baptism:
death:
burial:
residence:
parents: John Whiffin, Jane
spouse:
child:
marriage:

record title: England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975
name: George Henry Whiffin
gender: Male
baptism/christening date: 24 Oct 1869
baptism/christening place: WARLINGHAM,SURREY,ENGLAND
father's name: John Whiffin
mother's name: Jane
indexing project (batch) number: C01419-3
system origin: England-ODM
source film number: 991774

[usignuolo]

I think it is clear that John Whiffin and Jane (Sales) were the parents of Harry and lived in Warlingham. The issue at the heart of this is who John's parents were?

[grangers14]

??
That other family it says were from Bexley Kent in 1881.
1871. Camden Place, Bexley
John Whiffen, head, 25, labourer, Wilmington, kent
Emma, wife, 24, Caryford
Elizabeth, daur, 11 months, Bexley Heath
Ann Fairman, sister, 26, Bexley Heath
/Elizabeth Crane, lodger, M, 65, Exworth?,
Margaret Aldaton, ? daur, M, 23, Chest? Hertford
Nephate, M, (doesnt say relationship but is male) 26, labourer, Essex?
Lilian, daur, 2, London

?? 1851 in Wilmington Kent age 6 with James and Elizabeth as parents

The other one

1871. Slina? Cottage,
John Wiffin, head, 27, Gardener, Seal kent
Jane, wife, 26,
Thomas, son, 7,
Aday, daur, 5,
George, son, 1
/William Peters, lodger, 23, Ag Lab
All others born Warlingham

??1851 in Seal Kent, age 10 with Thomas and Mary as parents. As Whiffen

[grangers14]

From Ancestry
England & Wales Christening Records, 1530-1906

Name: John Whiffin
Gender: Male
Birth Date: abt 1842
Christening Date: 27 Feb 1842
Christening Place: Seal, Kent, England
Father's Name: Thomas Whiffin
Mother's Name: Mary

[grangers14]

??

1841. Seal Chart, Seal
Thomas Whiffen, 30, Brickmaker
Mary, 30
Goerge, 9
Thomas, 8
William, 6
Harriet, 4,
Henry, 3


1851. Seal Chart? Sevenoaks
Thomas Whiffen, head, 42, Labourer
Mary, wife, 40,
William, son, 16, labourer,
Harriet, daur, 12,
Henry, son, 11, Erand boy
John, son, 10,
Mary, daur, 7,
James, son, 5,
All born Seal

[usignuolo]

Well Harrys father was John so it COULD be the second family but according to the 1881 census John Whiffin who married Jane and had Harry in 1879 was born in Warlingham in 1845. As I said there are a lot of Whiffins in NW Kent and just across the county border in Surrey.

(BTW if latest researches are correct, we seem to have found a second family ancestor who was illegitimate and whose mother later married and had a large family. That makes one on the paternal side (our GG grandmother) and one on the maternal side (our GGG grandmother). In both cases they had our ancestors while teenagers and later married in their mid-late twenties and went on to have a large family. I wonder how many other families have relatives they are not aware of for the same reason. After all, if your mother married in her twenties, you are not likely go looking for earlier teenage pregnancies....it's a bit frustrating though, to have gaps like this in the family tree which cannot be solved).

[BC Wench]

Is this still a Brickwall, or have you solved it?

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