View Full Version : deciphering a census entry.
Is there anyone who's any good at deciphering census entries? I've found an entry for Millies (still don't know if it's the right one but I'm at breaking point lol) father at age 1, I can't see what it gives for his fathers profession though. Help :)
http://content.ancestry.co.uk/Browse/view.aspx?dbid=8860&path=Middlesex.St+Sepulchre.West+London+North.3e.2 3&rc=&zp=50
Jem, the link's not working for me. Can you download or copy the image and post it on here? :)
I tried a couple of times and can't get the download to work either.:(
ayyjay
23-02-2006, 07:10 PM
I got it ok
it says it's too big to attach on here, I can email it to you if that's ok? Just PM me with your email addy.
katiepops
23-02-2006, 08:48 PM
If it's the right one, then the head of the house is Francis Flowers Gelson (also listed as Flouers), married to Rosana Judgson on 2nd August 1841 at St Dunstan, Stepney, London.
Profession looks like Prefsmarc or something similar - definitely starts Pre anyway.
Have you tried looking him up on the Historical Directories site?
Kate
Have you tried looking him up on the Historical Directories site?
Kate
Huh? lol where do I find that? I know the other stuff about Frances as I found the marriage certificate for him and Rosanna, but I cannot decipher the profession on this entry, prof is as far as we've got lol, thanks for trying :) {{{}}}
Looks a bit like prefurnace to me whatever that might be so maybe not!
The letter that looks like an 'f' is actually probably an 's' . It's how they wrote double 's' in those days. So is it 'Press....' . Maybe his marriage certificate will help you.
Found them in the 1871 under Felson...
http://content.ancestry.co.uk/Browse/view.aspx?dbid=7619&path=London.Hammersmith.St+Peter+Hammersmith.2.52&rc=&zp=75
He is a painter then.
He is Gilson in the 1861 census
http://content.ancestry.co.uk/iexec/?htx=view&r=5538&dbid=8767&iid=MDXRG9_256_258-0092&fn=Rosana&ln=Gilson&pid=5654696
and with that one he is a printer, so is the 1871 printer too???
So could the 1851 one, be something to do with the printing press??
The letter that looks like an 'f' is actually probably an 's' . It's how they wrote double 's' in those days. So is it 'Press....' . Maybe his marriage certificate will help you.
Found them in the 1871 under Felson...
http://content.ancestry.co.uk/Browse/view.aspx?dbid=7619&path=London.Hammersmith.St+Peter+Hammersmith.2.52&rc=&zp=75
He is a painter then.
He is Gilson in the 1861 census
http://content.ancestry.co.uk/iexec/?htx=view&r=5538&dbid=8767&iid=MDXRG9_256_258-0092&fn=Rosana&ln=Gilson&pid=5654696
and with that one he is a printer, so is the 1871 printer too???
So could the 1851 one, be something to do with the printing press??
That would make sense Jem as he's living in the same street as book folders - suggests there's a printing press somewhere nearby.... :)
you stars. not only did you work out the profession but you found another two entries that I hadn't and I have searched under gilson countless times!
Don't suppose you want to try your magic looking for Mildred do you, lmao.
Just had a closer look and in 1871 Edward had left home, which ties in with the marriage I found in 1870. But can anyone read the entry for the youngest child? It looks to me like Mary Ann Roberts age 1, and I'm pretty sure it doesn't say daughter. How on earth did you manage to read any of it JQP?
It is Mary Ann Roberts and it says Visitor.
I think it is just practice with reading these, and I have got used to the writing and faded bits over the last couple of years. I think I go on Ancestry most days! Sad isn't it...
I'll try looking for Mildred...did have a quick attempt last night, but was tired.
lol, I'm on there most days, but happily most of the stuff I'm searching through is typed :)
Some of it is easy enough to decipher if you know what you're looking at, ie 1871 I figured it was Francis because I already knew, but I think I'd have been hard pressed to spot it straight off without knowing already he was on that page.
The only thing I truly 100% know about Mildred Gelson is that her home address was 4 Williams Passage, Ealing in 1922 when she gave birth to my gran, Mildred Evelyn Gelson, at a home for unmarried mothers... (Walkworth House, Twickenham Road, Isleworth). If Millie is Mildred then I've got loads of her family, possibly back to Frances father, they took about ½ an hour to find online! 7 months of looking and I still haven't found Mildred though.
oooppps, and thanks!!
I need to find a course on deciphering this writing :).
Sometimes certificates are missed off the registers and can only be found by contacting the local registry office...
Did she ever marry..in which case it would give her father's name and her age.
When did Millie/Mildred die...if it were after 1984 then with the listings would be her date of birth....without costing anything.
we don't know JQP, (do you have a *proper name lol) Grandma was raised in an orphanage in Isleworth, then went into service for Lord Lichfield at Shugborough Hall. She left Shugborough to join the womens land army and somehow ended up in Darlington married to my grandad (registered Durham SE not sure where exactly, have to buy a copy of the certificate). The weird thing is that Gelson has a connection with Staffordshire and County Durham so I'd love to find out if it's family connections that played a part in where she ended up, even if she never actualy knew it.
Until my Gran's death last August we didn't even know she knew her proper name let alone had a birth certificate! As you can imagine we were really excited to finally get a clue on her past, and we've found nothing lol.
Sods law says a recent find on ancestry for another part of my family tree has had 3 hits on other people's, I'm just waiting for replies.
Don't despair its early days yet. We've been going on the same members of the family for some 10-15 years and each year we have managed to reveal a little bit of something...apart from my gt grandmother who apparently was never born! Married and had 8 children, lived with my mother for a number of years, but does not exist before her marriage. Nor do her parents!!!
But from two children's first names, and a wife's initials in a letter from Canada we found an entire branch of the family out there!
Wonder if there are papers that would give you information from the orphanage, or the place where your Gran was born?
Just a little YAY
Believe it or not I tried faceboebook ok in desperation as I still haven't found Millie. I found a couple of Gelsons on Facebook and sent them messages. Two are sisters and their GG grandmother was Edwards younger sister. They know there is a Millie in their family tree somewhere from their Gran and are looking into it for me. YAY! I've got my fingers and toes crossed :)
I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope you strike lucky! It's so lovely when you find someone else looking for the same people...don't feel so lonely.
Just been reading through the old messages....do have a name ...Jacqui
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