Ancestor Most Wanted Charles Fuller

1841 Census Lenham

Here is my Number 1 of 10 Genealogy Mysteries: My great-great grandfather Charles Fuller. When and where he was born is anyone's guess. Here is what the U.K. census takers recorded during his lifetime spent in Lenham Kent England:

1841 census Lenham - Charles age 14 (b. 1825) - no birth location given in 1841 but I believe this is my ancestor
1851 census Lenham - Charles age 23/25 b Faversham (b 1826)
1861 census Lenham - Charles age 32 b. Milton (b 1829)
1871 census Lenham -  Charles age 44 b Faversham (b 1827)
1881 census Lenham -  Charles age 52 b. Lenham (b1829)
1891 census Lenham-  Charles age 60 b Frinsted (b 1831)  

THE KNOWN  Here is what I know about Charles: Marriage of Baptisms in St. Mary's Parish Church, Lenham. Entry #221:

Oct 17, 1858: Charles Fuller, of age, bachelor, labourer in Lenham. Father: John Fuller, labourer. Charles married Georgiana Golding, minor, spinster in Lenham.  Father of Georgiana given as George Norris, labourer. Married in the Parish church after banns. Witnesses: George & Sarah Earl. Neither groom, bride nor witnesses were literate, all signing with their marks.Marriage Cert. Parish of Lenham, Hollingbourne District, Kent.

1861-1891 census is definitely my ancestor.
1851 is almost certainly him as he is living quite near Georgiana Golding who later became his wife

I believe Charles died in the last quarter of 1892. His age was given as 68 giving him a year of birth of 1824.   

MY THEORY

1826 Baptism of Charles Fuller

I suggest my ancestor is the  Charles FULLER, baptised 31 Oct 1826, Faversham, Kent to John & Winifred FULLER  In 1830 Winnifred died. In 1839 John Fuller remarried to Sophia. In the 1841 census where I found the boy I believe is my Charles, he is living with a "mother" Sophia and a younger sister Harriet.

One of the clues that led me to formulating the theory that my Charles was the Charles baptised to John and Winnifred is the name "Mene" and others which repeat in the generations. John and Winnifred named their children

• Mene 
• Mary Ann 
• Sarah 
• Joseph 
• John
• Philadelphia
• Henry
• Edward
• Harriet
• James
• Frederick
• Charles

My ancestor Charles and his wife Georgiana named their children

• Frederick
• Elizabeth
• Harriet
• Martha Ann
• Charles *my ancestor - see photo below
  
• Alfred
• Mene
• Edward John 
• Walter
• Albert Henry 

For some of the children I do not have middle names but I have highlighted the names that repeat in Charles' children.

Charles Fuller son of Charles & Georgiana with wife Mary Ann Norman Caspall

MY GOAL
What I am hoping to find is proof that the Charles baptised in 1826 to John and Winnifred is my ancestor.

Do my readers have suggestions, ideas or thoughts? 

52 Ancestors: Hannah Philpot Golding and George Norris - Friends With Benefits?

Pluckley, Kent England

I'm writing about my 3rd great grandmother Hannah Philpot Golding as part of Amy Crow's Challenge: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks and also as part of Women's History Month Challenge
 
Hannah was born in 1805 in the little hamlet of Pluckley in Kent England to John & Susanna Philpot. 

Pluckley is said to be the most haunted village in England. At age 18, Hannah left Pluckley for Lenham, a nearby small town. There she married Edward Golding and over the next 14 years the couple had 6 children. When their youngest was 9 months old Edward died and Hannah was left a widow at the age of 28. 

Church in Lenham

Hannah had no family in Lenham but luckily she was able to take in laundry to support her young family. My mother went to Lenham to research my 2nd great grandmother Georgiana Golding who was born there in 1840. To our surprise Georgiana's mother Hannah was noted in the church record as "the widow Hannah Golding". My next find was the fact that Hannah's husband died some 3 years earlier in 1837. So obviously my 2nd great grandmother was an illegitimate birth. 

It took a few years to find out who had fathered Georgiana but eventually I had the proof that it was Hannah's next door neighbour, George  Norris. Hannah went on to have another child after Georgiana, and Georgiana named George as her father at her marriage to Charles Simpson, so obviously this was not a secret in the village. 

Hannah never remarried after Edward's death and George Norris remained single his entire life. I've always wondered what their relationship was. They never lived together so were they an early example of  "friends with benefits"? Was it a casual but consensual relationship? Or was it a long-lasting love that carried on over the years. I suspect I will never know. 

Kent County Insane Asylum

The last record of Hannah is the 1881 census where she is found as an 85 year old widow, an inmate of Kent County Asylum. Often paupers were sent to the Lunatic Asylum but it may also be that Hannah suffered from senility or some other disorder that labelled her as insane. It's very sad that none of her children could support her or take her into their own home. I have never found Hannah's death although she may be the Hannah Golding who died in June 1881 in Maidstone (which is where the Asylum was located).

As for George Norris he disappears after the 1861 census where he is found as a 50 year old single man living with his mother in Lenham.

What About Georgiana's Illegitimate Birth?

On March 8, I wrote a post called "What About The Women" One of my goals for March was to find my ancestor Georgiana Fuller's death and figure out more about her illegitimate birth to the widow Hannah Golding nee Philpot

There were several comments on that post and I thank everyone for their contributions. I want to answer two of the comments:

Michelle Goodrum said...
I am curious about Georgiana's father George Norris. What happened to him and why did Georgiana not use his surname?

Michelle, I don't know. I was not aware of his name until I found Georgiana's marriage to Charles Fuller in Lenham Kent England. On the marriage certificate Georgiana names her father as "George Norris"

A search of census records for Lenham turned up only one George Norris - a neighbour to Hannah Golding and her family. In the earlier 1841 census his parents and siblings are living a few houses from Hannah Golding and her family. In 1851 his parents and a few brothers and sisters live next door to Hannah and her children. In the 1861 census for Lenham, I found George, age 50, living with his mother and unmarried.

I do not know what happened to George and have no absolute proof that he is the George Norris named on Georgiana's marriage record. But Lenham was a tiny village and it seems most plausible that Georgiana's father would be someone who Hannah knew from her daily life in the village. I've not yet found George in any other census other than 1861 but searching for him is on my To-Do list.

I also plan to send for the birth certificate of Hannah's illegitimate son Edward John Golding born 05 Mar 1843 in Lenham to see if his father is listed, and if he and Georgiana shared the same father. I may need his marriage record, as Georgiana's birth record did not have a father's name.

Brett Payne said...

FreeBMD shows the death of a Georgina FULLER, aged 44, in Hollingbourn Registration District, Kent in the 4th quarter of 1882. Despite the ages not quite matching up with what you say is shown on the 1881 Census, I wonder if that is her? Perhaps it would be worth sending off for the death certificate if it's in the right area.

Brett was absolutely correct. A cousin informed me that he had sent for that death record and it was indeed our Georgiana. She is listed as 44 years of age, the wife of Charles Fuller, a farm labourer. Georgiana died on 19th December 1882 of complications from pregnancy, aggravated by heart disease.

So now I know what happened to Georgiana. After 10 children in a 23 year time period, her 11th pregancy was her breaking point.

Georgiana's oldest child was 23 when his mother died, her youngest was 2 years old.