Deborah Leeder (nee Nash) (deborah_leeder @t hotmail.com) writes from Leicestershire: I have a direct ancestor called John Nash. According to the 1881 and 1901 census he was born Welwyn Herts (living at Walton on the Hill on these census). On his marriage certificate he states his father as being William Nash.

I looked on the census and found one good bet. A William Nash married to a Susan. I checked back on the 1871 and 1861 but found no John Nash living with them. I found the marriage of these two and it occurred after John was born. There is a George Nash also born before the marriage, but he turned out not to be a Nash at all but the illegitimate son of Susan Harwood, who married William Nash.

I wrote to Hatfield district and St Albans for a John Nash, father William, there was none. There does not appear to be a John Nash for Hatfield in the General Register Office index for the right time period. I checked the IGI and there was no sign of a John Nash with a father called William in the right area.

I found a William Nash born 1832 Welwyn, but I have no idea if this could be my William. I am completely stumped as to where to look next and would really appreciate any ideas on how to find the birth details of John Nash and his elusive father William Nash.

In discussing your problem it is worth looking at the relevant census entries from the 1881 census

4 Breech Lane, Walton On Hill, Surrey

John NASH	Head	25	Builders Labourer	Welwyn
Sarah J. NASH	Wife	25		Walton, Surrey
Edith A. NASH	Daur	6		Southwark, Surrey
John W. NASH	Son	4		Southwark, Surrey
Thomas W. NASH	Son	2		Walworth, Surrey
George H. NASH	Son	8 m		Walton On Hill, Surrey

Mimram Road, Welwyn

William NASH	Head	52	Agricultural Labourer	Digswell
Susan NASH	Wife	46	Charwoman	Welwyn
George NASH	Son	24	Shoemaker (Finisher)	Digswell
Emma NASH	Daur	21	Domestic Servant	Welwyn
William NASH	Son	16	Shoemaker (Finisher)	Digswell
Ernest NASH	Son	9	Scholar	Welwyn
Annie NASH	Daur	6	Scholar	Welwyn
Susan NASH	Daur	4	Scholar	Welwyn
John NASH	Son	1		Welwyn

There is one problem with assuming that the John Nash of Walton is William's son. William and Susan are shown to have a 1 year old son called John - and it would be surprising if the family had brothers both called John. However one must be careful - as it is not unknown in these situations for an illegitimate grandson to be recorded as a son in the census to avoid embarrassment. For this reason it would be worth checking John Nash junior's birth certificate - and also see what is recorded in later censuses.

I decided to examine the IGI on familysearch and I found the marriage of William Nash and Susan Harwood at Welwyn on the 25th December, 1858. I also looked for the Nash children and found

Joseph Nash baptised 16th February 1862 at Welwyn
William Nash baptised 19th February 1865 at Welwyn
Ernest Nash baptised 20th August 1871 at Welwyn

I then looked for George Harwood and found

George Harwood, son of Susan Harwood, baptised 8th November 1863 at Welwyn

Interesting I thought, was he christened at the age of about six? But children were often confirmed at about seven. So was he at Sunday School, being prepared for confirmation, and it was realised he had not been baptised??? And as he was illegitimate (perhaps with William not accepted as the father) only recorded against his mother, despite the fact she was now married. I wonder if something similar happened to John? So I looked again and found the following baptism:

John Harwood, son of William and Susan Harwood, baptised at Welwyn on 6th June 1859.

One can imagine the scene. The couple turn up in church. The minister asks the child's name - "John Harwood" - and your name ... " Susan" and your husband's ... "William" and the details go into the register. Obviously you will need to check the 1861 census to make sure there was not a genuine William and Susan Harwood in the area - and you need to check the register itself to see exactly how the entry is recorded and if there are any additional bits of useful information such as address, father's occupation, or if lucky a marginal note. If the couple could not read (did they sign their marriage certificate?) the error is not likely to have been spotted.

It is not clear whether you checked for a John Harwood birth in the General Register Office index - but if it is not there it may be because he was not registered. While you were supposed to register a birth, penalties for failing to register were only introduced in 1874 - so not everyone did. I suspect that illegitimate births were less likely to be registered. In addition the indexes are full of errors - see A Comedy of Errors.

 Maybe my imagination has run away with me - but it looks like a possible solution. However if he was born several years before the marriage you cannot be certain that William was the father, even is Susan was the mother.

December 2002

Deborah Leeder (nee Nash) (deborah_leeder @t hotmail.com) responded: I have obtained the birth certificate for John Harwood, the one mentioned on the IGI. he was born 1858 and turned out to be the brother of Susan who was married to William Nash. The 1861 census shows William and Susan Nash, George appears to be Harwood instead of Nash, but no John Nash.
There is no William Nash on the 1851 at all in Welwyn.
I know that John Nash married in a Congregational church. Was he likely to be registered in a Congregational church in Welwyn? If so, could anyone shed any light as to where the records might be please. I am completely stumped now.

Let us review the situation. We have a John Nash who gave his father's name as William, and who told the census enumerators that he was born in Welwyn, Herts, in about 1855. There is no obvious matching birth certificate.

There is a "possible" William living in Welwyn, married to Susan, but the evidence that he was their son is all negative in that

• They were not married at the time is is said to have been born.

• He was not living with them in the 1861 census

• At least some of their other children were baptised in Welwyn, but he is not among them, including another son, George, born before they were married.

• He was not living with them in the 1871 census

• They appear to have had another son called John

 It would be safest to assume that your John Nash is not the son of William and Susan Nash.

Unfortunately the name Nash is comparatively common, and on the information I have it is not immediately clear where to look. You need to get more information on John in the hope that a clue turns up. Some long shot suggestions are:

• Look in the 1891 census to see if his answers are consistent with 1881 and 1901. Maybe he gave a different place of birth.

• Look at the 1871 census for Walton, Surrey, to see if he was already living in the area. If so look in 1861.

• Who were the witnesses at his wedding. They may be relatives.

• How did he name his children - an unusual Christian name may have been after an uncle, aunt, or grandparent.

• Check with HALS to see if they have any documents (poor law account books, rate books, etc.) which might throw some light on anyone with the name Nash in Welwyn circa 1855. Any search of such documents may have to be done in person, can be time consuming, and the chances of success are not high.

If these all draw a blank I personally would switch my efforts to another branch of the family for a time, and return later refreshed and hopefully to find further indexes have been issued. (Quite a few of my own uncertainties were "solved" when the 1881 census index became available, and more when the BVRI CDs were published.)

May 2010

David Wood.(wood912 @t btinternet.com) of Tunbridge Wells. wants to contact Deborah Leeder who asked about Nash family as he has some fairly comprehensive research on the family to share. Does anyone know her current email address?

June 2011

Deborah  Leeder (deborah_leeder @t hotmail.com) writes: I did eventually solve the John Nash mystery. He was John Alexander Nash born to Emma Nash at Burnham Green in 1853.

If you can add to the information given above tell me.

May 2010		Request of contact information from David.
June 2011		Update from Deborah