Answers to Questions

FITCH, Cheshunt, circa 1861

November, 2008

Teresa Godwin (teresag1000 @t btinternet.com) of Colchester writes:

Keziah Fitch nee Brown was my Great Great Grandmother.  The census returns indicated she was born in Ware.  In 1861 she is living in Cheshunt with husband Edward (a Coachman, born 1826 in Royston) and children Mary Ann age 7 Fanny 5 and baby Keziah age 1 week). I have the death certificate that indicates Keziah snr. died 27/3/1864 at Albury Grove Road, Cheshunt age 35 of Phthisis.  Edward remarried and moved away according to 1871 census, I can find him, new wife Louisa and child of first marriage - Fanny now aged 14, my Great Grandmother. 

I cannot find out what happened to Mary Ann or baby Keziah.  I have searched the census returns, LDS, ancestry, BMD.  I wonder if the baby died very early, whether the birth was never registered? I assumed that Mary Ann also died, but I now realise she may be living as a servant elsewhere.

Think about what may have happened when the census form was filled in in 1861. In the household there was a tiny baby, whose birth had probably not yet been registered, and it is possible that the parents had still not agreed on a name. An over-zealous census enumerator insisted that a name was supplied so the name Keziah was written onto the form. A few days later the birth was registered under the name the parents finally decided on.

This is pure speculation - but could it have happened? As you will know from the census returns Cheshunt is in the Edmonton registration district and in April-June 1861 the birth of a Martha Fitch was registered. There is no sign of  Martha Fitch (born about 1861) in the 1871 census and the death of a Martha Fitch was registered in the Edmonton registration district in October-December 1864 according to FreeBMD.

Visiting familysearch for the baptism shows that Martha Fitch was baptised at Cheshunt on 5th May 1861, the daughter of Edward and Kezia Fitch. If you want further confirmation that this is baby Keziah you could buy Martha's birth certificate to see if she would have been about a week old on census day and was born at the address given in the census.

If you then use the batch number to look for other children of Edward and Keziah baptised in the same church you will find there was an Edward Fitch baptised on 10th May 1863.

Tracing Mary Ann Fitch is more difficult. You may not have found her in the 1871 census for many reasons. The daughter of a poor family may well have left home and entered service - and her employer may not have entered her details accurately, or there may be other problems with the census returns - which contain many errors (see Census Problems). In addition she may have died, married, or emigrated. All I can offer you is a long shot, by assuming that she married locally at about the age of 18-30.

FreeBMD shows many marriages for the name Mary Ann Fitch - so which is the right one (if any)? My "best bet" is the marriage of Mary Ann Fitch in the Edmonton registration district in 1873. It is possible to use the web site to tell you the name of all people whose marriage is recorded on the same page and it would seem her husband was either Walter Hutching or John Willis. However, without buying the marriage certificates you know nothing about the individuals apart from the name.

There is a way round this. Searching the 1881 census shows that Mary Ann, the wife of William Hutching, was born in Waltham Abbey in about 1853- which is wht you would expect it to say if his wife was Mary Ann Fitch. If you purchase the appropriate marriage certificate and find that Mary Ann's father was Edward Fitch you will have found the person you are searching for. You will also have found, from the census, several of Fanny's nephews and nieces!