Genealogy Forum UK

Hi again,

Started on the mother in law's family (mothers side) and have made an interesting discovery (from a family view point anyway) about her Grandfather, William E Harbron who worked for Royal Worcester as a painter in 1911 (and have found a piece of his online that sold for £235)

The problem I am having is finding his father (also William) who per the 1911 census was born in 1868 in Bilston. I can't find him listed on any of the census' between 1871 and 1901 on ancestry.co.uk, or on the BMD section of that website - anyone got any pointers on how to improve the search or where to look next?

For completeness, the details from the 1911 census are below (sorry about the formatting, but hope it makes sense)

Name: Relationship to head: Marital Status: Years married: Sex: Age in 1911: Occupation: Where born:
HARBRON, WILLIAM P HEAD MARRIED 20 M 43 GROOM BILSTON BIRMINGHAM
HARBRON, ELIZABETH WIFE MARRIED F 40 BOSBURY HEREFORDSHIRE
HARBRON, WILLIAM E SON SINGLE M 19 CHINA PAINTING WORCESTER
HARBRON, JOHN SON SINGLE M 5 WORCESTER
HARBRON, LIZZIE M DAUGHTER SINGLE F 17 BANDING CHINA WORKS WORCESTER
HARBRON, ERNEST S SON M 12 WORCESTER
HARBRON, LILY DAUGHTER F 12 SCHOOL WORCESTER
HARBRON, ALBERT G SON M 10 SCHOOL WORCESTER
HARBRON, NELLIE DAUGHTER F 8 SCHOOL WORCESTER
HARBRON, HECTOR SON M 6 SCHOOL WORCESTER
HARBRON, CHARLES H SON M 2 WORCESTER
HARBRON, AMY O DAUGHTER F 1 MONTH WORCESTER

HARBRON WILLIAM E (RG14PN17626 RG78PN1079 RD377 SD1 ED7 SN364)
Address 13 TYBRIDGE STREET WORCESTER County Worcestershire
District Worcester Subdistrict Worcester
Enumeration District 7 Parish Worcester

This is a long shot but you say William was a painter of China.

Could this be him mistranscibed.

1881.
William Harper.
Age: 14
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1867
Relation: Son
Father's Name: Thomas
Mother's Name: Sarah
Gender: Male
Where born: West Bromwich, Staffordshire, England

Civil parish: West Bromwich
County/Island: Staffordshire
Country: England

Street Address: 21 Ryder St.

Occupation: Painter

Registration district: West Bromwich
Sub-registration district: West Bromwich South West
ED, institution, or vessel: 21
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members:
Name Age
Thomas Harper 55
Sarah Harper 55
Thomas Harper 21
William Harper 14
Louisa Harper 12
Rebecca Harper 9

Thanks for the quick reply. The painting William was the son rather than the father, so I have a feeling it's a red hearing (getting lots of those with my searches just recently)

Going down the mis-transcribed name route, I did find a William Harper who was born in Bilston in 1868.

I know that transcription errors occurred (and also that people couldn't always spell their own names), but is Harbron becoming Harper (or vice versa) a usual error?

The Bilston 1881 census is as follows:-

John Harper 50
Eliza Harper 44
Mary J. Harper 21
Alice Harper 19
Eliza Harper 16
William Harper 13
Clara E. Harper 10
Ellen Harper 7
John Harper 5

Chris

What about this 1901:Transcription from Ancestry:

Worcester District 30 Taylors LAne:
William Harlson 36 Groom(Horsebreakers),Bilston
Elizabeth Harlson 32 , Ledbury
William Edwd Harlson 9
Lizzie M Harlson 7
Ernest S Harlson 4
Lilly Harlson 2
Albert J Harlson 2 months

Children all born Worcester

Maths girl

This is the only one I can see with that spelling.

Births Jun 1867.
Harbron William, King's N. 6c. 462.

I take this is his marriage.

Marriages Dec 1890.
Curtis William. Worcester 6c 511.
Harbron William. Worcester 6c 511.
Lane Winniefride. Worcester 6c 511.
Preece Elizabeth. Worcester 6c 511.

You beat me to it Jimmy

Possible marriage:

1890 Worcester,OctNovDec
William Harbron
Elizabeth Preece

so would be on 1891 together possibly in Worcester

Hi Maths Girl,

That does seem to be a good match for the family, and also potentially removes the twins from the 1911 census as they are 2 years apart in 1901 (must be to do with the date the census was taken at a guess)

It lead to a bit of a problem with tracing them back any further, as I now have 2 surnames (Harbron and Harlson) and maybe a third - Harper!!

At a guess I need to get hold of a birth certificate for William P Harbron / Harlson / Harper from 1868 in Bilston (thankfully that is just down the road so I might be able to visit easily - registration in Wolverhampton at a guess?) Would this be the right way to proceed?

Cheers

Chris

PS - you guys are good - what site do you use?

Have you got William and Elizabeth's marriage cert.

Getting no where with 1891 & 1881 but how about

1871 Bredicot Worcestershire

John Harbron 27 Ag Labourer, Feckenham
Emma Harbron 26 Bishampton
William Harbron 4 North Hill
Ann M Harbron 1 Bredicot


Ag Labourer would lead onto Groom/Horse breaker

I don't know the area to know whether these place names fit the others

Not as yet Jimmy - I know my mother in law has some certificates in a box somewhere, but I haven't seen the box as yet. I was trying to get a head start, but I guess I'll have to be patient.

If the certificate isn't in the box do I quote the reference that you and Maths Girl found at Worcester Registry Office?

Cheers

Chris

Maths girl wrote:Getting no where with 1891 & 1881 but how about

1871 Bredicot Worcestershire

John Harbron 27 Ag Labourer, Feckenham
Emma Harbron 26 Bishampton
William Harbron 4 North Hill
Ann M Harbron 1 Bredicot


Ag Labourer would lead onto Groom/Horse breaker

I don't know the area to know whether these place names fit the others

Staying with the Bilston birth, it's a fair distance to North Hill which is near Malvern according to Google Maps. It's a possible, but I wouldn't call it a probable at the moment.

If the certificate isn't in the box do I quote the reference that you and Maths Girl found at Worcester Registry Office?

I think the reference that Jimmy found was for the General record office rather than the Worcester one - local ones tend to have a different number to the GRO but with the year and the quarter they should be able to help you track it down unless someone on here has an index for Worcester Marriages.

Any ideas on that Jimmy - you know them better than I do

NL is the one to ask.

This looks like the 1871 family.

1881.

John Edmund HARBORNE Head M Male 37 Feckenham, Worcester, England Agricultural Laborer
Emma HARBORNE Wife M Female 36 Bishampton, Worcester, England Gloveress
William Thos. HARBORNE Son U Male 14 Northfield, Worcester, England Scholar
Ann Maria HARBORNE Daur Female 11 Bredicot, Worcester, England Scholar
Sarah Jane HARBORNE Daur Female 8 Bredicot, Worcester, England Scholar
Harriatt Emma HARBORNE Daur Female 6 Bredicot, Worcester, England Scholar
George John HARBORNE Son Male 4 Newtown, Worcester, England Scholar
Francis Leo HARBORNE Son Male 10 m Churchill, Worcester, England


Village
Churchill, Worcester.

This William would fit with,

Births Jun 1867.
Harbron William, King's N. 6c. 462.

Jimmy

Have we ended up with the same family in 1871 from 2 different sources and transcriptions - look at the names and birth places of the 4 eldest - I'm going to try ancestry again and have another look

Maths girl