A quick English research tip and my PC's last days.

Arthur William Matthews
Colorized by MyHeritage

This year's tackling of the Hobbs branch of my tree is my first real go at English research, so I am just now reaping the benefit of .pdfs being made available online in a matter of days for civil birth and death certificates. I am trying hard to stick to just my Hobbs branch, but I couldn't resist ordering a birth certificate for my great-grandfather, Arthur William Matthews.

When I saw "Frome Union" as the Superintendent Registrar's District, I was curious. I was familiar with the town of Frome, but what was Frome Union? The top result of a Google search was for a site called workhouse.org and indicated that Frome Union was connected to the workhouses. I knew my great-grandfather grew up in poverty, and his father's occupation was listed as "disabled coal miner" in his baptismal register entry, but it didn't indicate that he was born in a workhouse. There was obviously more research to do, but it was still a sad circumstance to contemplate, given the conditions in any workhouse I've read about.

A day or so after I received Arthur's birth certificate, I finally had a chance to open a book I'd recently ordered, Ancestral Trails by Mark Herber. Many refer to this work as a "Bible" of English genealogy and it gave me an answer to this question in the first chapter. In the early years of civil registration, registrars' districts followed the borders of the poor law unions; groups of parishes responsible for poor relief in their area. So Frome Union is just a geographical area and does not have any connection, in this case, to a workhouse. Just another example of why we can't assume things in genealogy, and how important it is to research the laws, customs, and all the background we can in the areas in which our ancestors lived.

I've been reading some background material for research into one of my Swedish lines as well (please remind me not to tackle two new countries in the same year again) and I'm working on a post about that but I'm also having technical difficulties. My desktop computer, currently my only computer, is showing its age lately. I'd really like to be settled in a new place before I make decisions about a desktop PC, monitors and general setup, so now that it's obvious that this can no longer wait, I've ordered a laptop. My data is all backed up, so I just have to hope my desktop makes it until the laptop gets here. It's scheduled to ship on May 6th. My fingers and toes are crossed, but if not, I do have plenty of reading to keep me busy!

"New" Siblings for my Great-Grandmother and a Mystery

Ada Hobbs and Bessie Hobbs, the only photo I have of any of Ada's siblings.

My grandfather's writings about his family and his mother's family are such a special thing to have. I wouldn't know nearly as much about my great-grandmother's siblings without them, but I have recently discovered two siblings he knew nothing about. And it isn't surprising, there was a lot of loss in my great-grandmother's childhood, it may be something she wished to leave behind in England when she came to the United States.

My 2nd great-grandparents were Joseph Elijah Hobbs and Elizabeth Merritt of Somerset, England. They were married in Frome in 1850 and had four children that were previously known to me, all of whom emigrated to America after their parents deaths in 1868. Emily, born in 1851, Elizabeth Ann (Bessie), born in 1852, Ada, born in 1855 and Joseph Elisha, born in 1859. That leaves nine years between Joseph's birth and their deaths, a long time to go without a birth, so I went to the church records.

A few weeks ago, I discovered a church register entry for a Henry Hobbs, baptized at Holy Trinity in Frome, Somerset in 1863. His parents are Joseph Elijah (thank goodness for that middle name) and Elizabeth. A birth certificate for Henry that I received this week confirms his mother's maiden name of Merritt, boosting my confidence in the relationship.

Five years after Henry's birth, on March 16, 1868, Joseph Elijah, according to his death certificate, died of pulmonary phthisis, or tuberculosis and it was noted that he had been ill for "some years." His death was reported by a Richard Hobbs, possibly his brother, who said he was present at Joseph's death. Just three months later, on June 22nd, Elizabeth died seven days after childbirth. Her death was reported by an Ann Millard, who I believe was her sister, having found an 1842 marriage register entry for Ann Merritt and John Millard.

Now, here is the mystery: a child named Henry Hobbs, son of Joseph and Elizabeth, was baptized two days after Elizabeth died and in the same church she would be buried from a day later. This Harry's address is the same as that on Elizabeth's death certificate but there is no civil registration of his birth or death that I have been able to find to correlate any other information. And what about the Henry born in 1863?

It wasn't unusual at this time for a child to be given the name of an older sibling who had passed before their birth, but I wasn't able to find any burial or death records for Henry Hobbs in that period. I did, however, find a burial record for a five year old Harry Hobbs, a few months AFTER Elizabeth's death and the baptism of the second Henry. This week, I received the five-year-old Harry's death certificate. His father was Joseph, an edge tool worker, which is a match and his death was reported by Ann Millard, the same woman I believe to have been his aunt. His place of death also matches her residence, which makes sense considering the passing of his parents. His cause of death, like that of Joseph, was tuberculosis.

I have heard in lectures that babies could go unregistered due to the fees required and I can only guess that money was already tight when Elizabeth died. That made me think that the baby perhaps didn't live very long and his extended family didn't "bother" with registration, but I would have expected to find at least a burial record in that case. Perhaps as I learn more about the family and the extended family and the customs and records of Somerset, I will be able to discover the fate of this baby and maybe even figure out why he was baptized with the name of his living brother.