Answers to Questions

REYNOLDS, Ridge & Colney Heath, 19th Century October, 2011

Places Ridge Colney Heath

Anne Roberts (a.c.roberts @t blueyonder.co.uk) of Tyne and Wear writes: My grandfather was William George Reynolds. He married my grandmother in July 1917 in Hornsey, London. William's age was given as 26, occupation soldier. From their marriage certificate I know that his father was called Edward George Reynolds and was deceased. There was also a witness at the wedding -- Edward James Reynolds- -- older brother/cousin? in copy of marriage banns William is described as of this parish (Hornsey) If age at wedding is correct then he would have been born in 1890/1891. I have obtained his death certificate died Aug 1957) my mother registered death. His age is given as 66 which correlates with a birth in 1890/1891. I have located a birth certificate for a William George Reynolds  born in November 1890 in Holloway, London (not far from where my gran would have been living). I have also located one for an Edward James Reynolds (possible witness at William George's marriage?) for 1893. Both born at same address and father given as Edward George Reynolds, omnibus driver and mother Henrietta Ellen Ledger. Edward George and Henrietta's marriage certificate from June 1879 gives Edward's age as 25, occupation is carman, his father's name as William and  father's occupation as butcher. I have obtained a death certificate for Edward who died in 1893. Age given as 37 and death registered by his brother Samuel who was living in Edgware. I've yet to follow up on Samuel.

Anne then summarised the information she had gathered from census returns and to simplify my comments I have downloaded the actual information below She then continues : I hope I am on the right track with all this --- any advice would be appreciated. If you have any further info/advice re Reynolds family from Colney Heath especially those with a William Reynolds butcher I'd be very grateful. I would like to come down to that neck of the woods at some point to do some searching in situ ... . Any suggestions that you might also be able to offer that would help me focus my efforts and make the best use of time would be great.

I must congratulate you on the thorough way in which you are exploring the family tree, including getting certificates to confirm details. I wish all my correspondents were as careful as you are. You are definitely on the right track despite the fact that the censuses describe Edward George Reynolds' place of birth as successively St Peters (1861), St Albans (1871), Colney Heath (1881) and Colney Hatch (1891).

This highlights a common problem which is not always understood, and one must always be on one's guard when looking a documents such as census returns. Householders were asked to fill in a form which asked for the place of birth, and in practice the place name recorded can be anything from the name of a house to the name of a county. If you were living some way from your birth place you were more likely to record where you were born as the nearest town, rather than the small village or hamlet on its outskirts. and there were many stages at which errors could occur in recording the census. There were particular problems in the St Albans area. Historically St Albans was a borough which included the Abbey parish and the urban parts of parishes of St Michael, St Peter and St Stephen. St Peter's parish included a very big rural area with many hamlets and the parish was broken up into separate parishes in the Victorian period. Toward the end of the 19th century St Albans became a city and steadily expanded swallowing up adjacent rural areas and founding new parishes. The Colney Hatch error may be because the the handwriting on the household census form (which has not survived) and probably said "Colney Heath" and was misread by someone who knew of Colney Hatch (which is in Middlesex).

As to giving advice on your proposed visit I first downloaded the relevant census returns and added a few notes from other sources in the following box, with specific comments on your visit after that. Text in italics relates to records I know you have already seen.

I should also point out that although my surname is Reynolds, my great grandfather, Jacob Reynolds only moved to the St Albans area in about 1860 and there appears to be no connection with your relatives.

 

Before I go any further I should warn you of the following

Danger Area

A search using familysearch for William Reynolds born around the St Albns area within a few years of 1820 shows a number and you may find it useful to look at Right Name, Wrong Body?  In including a press reference above I cannot be certain that it refers to the right William Reynolds without more investigations - and in any further research you do in this area you will always have to be on your guard. For example if you look in the 1841 census you find a William Reynolds living in the St Albans area of the correct age and it would be easy to think he was your William Reynolds. In fact a quick search provides the following information about him - and he is not your William. The matter is confused because William (and his brother George) appear to have been listed twice - a mistake that occurs occasionally in census returns.

 

Other William Reynolds born in or near St Albans circa 1822 (some of whom may have died as infants) are: William Reynolds, son of Joseph & Elisabeth at St Peters, 14 April 1822 and William Reynolds, son of John & Dinah Reynolds, at Hatfield, 19 May 1822.

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In preparing for a visit to the area you may find Visiting Hertfordshire to look for Ancestors useful. Do as much as you can online (including purchasing certificates) beforehand. This includes looking at both old maps and modern maps (Google Street view may show surviving buildings). A lot depends on how much time you want to spend seeing the area where your ancestors lived and how much time you want to spend looking at old documents which are note available online (which will probably mainly be at HALS. HALS no longer allow people to handle the original parish registers and you could end up spending time going through microfilms in Hertford when you might be able to arrange to see the same microfilms at the L.D.S. Family History Centre nearest you (see familysearch for address). HALS could also have manuscript maps, including tithe maps, which could show where your ancestors lived.

One important document would be the Ridge baptismal register for 1821 it that it should give the occupation of William Reynolds senior's occupation, which might well be butcher. Sometimes the register also gives an address within the parish. While the poorer folk are not well recorded in other types of parish records, farmers and tradesmen are more likely to turn up in any documents that survive from that period. I cannot advise on individual parish holdings, as it varies very widely but there will be a document index at HALS available online. The important thing to realise that many of the key documents will not be indexed by the names of the people mentioned in them. The National Archives web site had an index that could reveal documents about places such as Colney Heath, Ridge, etc, which are not held at HALS.

My suggestion is that if you are only making a short visit half a day at HALS would allow you to look at a few key documents (or their microfilms) and find out about the other kinds of documents they have on Ridge and other parishes you wish to research. Unless you are used to going into Records Offices and spending hours looking at hard to read documents that might mention your ancestor I would not commit yourself to spending all your time looking at dusty old manuscripts.

For possibly related individuals see REYNOLDS, St Albans area, 19th century and REYNOLDS, Tyttenhanger Green, Prior  to 1916 

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