Mary May nee Manning of Halse, Somerset

[tenterfieldjulie]

Mary was an amazing lady, who lived all her life in the lovely small village of Halse in Somerset. (Had a lovely lunch in the one and only pub there last year). Mary was baptised 29/10/1752, parents Richard Manning and Martha ??. Mary married Thomas May on 5/11/1778 at Halse, then between 1779 and 1792, bore seven children. William, the youngest, was baptised 25/3/1792 and lived to be nearly 80. This was despite his father being buried as a pauper, less than six months after William was born. Mary then raised her family without what appears to be a lot of aunts and uncles close by. Mary lived on until she was 94 years of aged and died 25 January 1846. I would love to know where she was in 1841 Census. Can anyone find her please? Julie

[Merry]

She's 85 and living in Halse in the same household as William May 45 ag lab, Jane 50, Thomas 15, John 14 and William 2 (William jr is listed after Mary and apart from the other children)

[tenterfieldjulie]

Thanks for that Merry .. either Mary was being a bit coy with her age, or whoever filled the census in didn't know her age lol William is her youngest son and Jane Webber was his wife. In the 1851 Census Mary Butler dau widow aged 35 and her son William Butler aged 12 are with them. I couldn't find them in the 1841 Census. In the 1871 Cenus William May Jane and John Butler grandson 19 are still living in Halse. Can you read the name of the cottage at the top of the page please Merry? Julie

[Merry]

Don't forget ages were supposed to be rounded down to the nearest five years in 1841, so if she was 89 then 85 would be "correct" :)

[kiterunner]

In the 1871 Cenus William May Jane and John Butler grandson 19 are still living in Halse. Can you read the name of the cottage at the top of the page please Merry? Julie

It doesn't tell you the name of the cottage - just says Fitzhead Road, a cottage.

[Merry]

In 1871 it says Fitzhead Road a cottage

I haven't got time to check 1841 for Butler, sorry!

[kiterunner]

Could William Butler who is 12 in 1851 be William May age 2 in 1841? If you look at the 1841 census, he is listed after Mary May 85, with a single line separating them from the rest of the household, which suggests he is not a son of William and Jane.

[tenterfieldjulie]

Yes I think William in the 1841 Census, is the William Butler in 1851, but might have been born before Mary's marriage, I'm not sure. In 1861 Census, John Kilminster Butler aged 9, is living with them and he is still with them as John Butler aged 19 in 1871. The only likely marriage I can find, is William Henry Butler who married Mary May on the 07 Jul 1840 at Saint Martin in the Fields, Westminster, London. It is a long way from Halse and May was quite a common London name, so I am sceptical. Two of Mary's brothers married in Halse, and one in Milverton. Brother John, b1826, I don't know where/if he married. Thanks for reminding me about the rounding of ages in 1841, I had forgotten momentarily Merry. Fitzhead road, the location of where they lived in the 1871 Census, there appears to be three cottages. As they were farm labourers, probably tied to a larger farm do you think? I found Halse Manor on Fitzhead road close to the town, so possibly the cottages tied to the Manor.

[kiterunner]

There is a baptism at Halse 10 Feb 1838 of "William Mary Butler", son of Edward and Mary, father's occupation ship's carpenter, abode St James Bristol, according to these transcriptions:
http://www.pbenyon1.plus.com/H_m_w/Halse/Baps/Bap_2.html

I bet his middle name "Mary" is supposed to be May!

Ooh - and John is on there too, baptised 3 Feb 1851, father Kilminster, mother Mary, mother's occupation servant, single, base-born.

[kiterunner]

Think this could make it hard to find Mary (the one born about 1816) in 1841 as she could be anywhere, using any name!

[tenterfieldjulie]

Ooh that explains what happened.. you know I didn't see them .. must be loosing the plot.
Thanks for that Kate. I wonder what happened to Edward, she called herself a widow in 1851.
It sounds like she married Edward Butler, gave birth to William, Edward died, then she had son John to a Mr. Kilminster, but didn't marry him? Unless she didn't marry Edward, but you found the baptism and it didn't say that William was base born. John carried the name Butler, which I suppose if she is Mrs. Butler, he is technically a Butler? Confusing. He found a home with his grandparents anyhow.

[tenterfieldjulie]

I found John Butler's marriage in Halse to Mildred Thorne on 5/8/1875. His father is named as William Kilminster. John is x Cardiff and he is a guard. Do you think that would be a guard on a train and he was living in Cardiff? Found them in 1891 & 1911 Census at Newport, Monmouthshire .. great

[kiterunner]

This is them in 1901 at 238 Caerleon Rd, Newport, Monmouthshire:
John Butler Head M 49 Labourer (Corporation) England Somerset Halse
Mildred Do Wife M 49 do do do
Mildred E Do Daur S 24 Wales Glam Cardiff
Tom J Do Son S 22 Labourer (Corporation) England Glos Gloucester
Dorothy R Do Daur 11 do Hereford Hereford.

[tenterfieldjulie]

We crossed Kate. That is great as I didn't have the 1901 Cenus. Now I can find the children.
I also found William Butler in the 1861 as a lodger in Brompton, Kensington. I had a feeling that he might have gone to Australia with his uncle William May but they went about 1850, so that proved me wrong.

[tenterfieldjulie]

Mary Butler's brother, William May, married Elizabeth Sloman in 1845 at Halse, where Jane and Emma were born. Then they sailed to Australia, where Frances Mary May was born in 1850 and Elizabeth Butler May was born in 1852 at Rangers Valley Station, outside Glen Innes in NSW. This must be where I remember the name Butler from in the May family in Australia. The only possible reason I can think of using the name would be out of respect for Mary's late husband who they would have known in UK?