Confused

[JBee]

I have the birth certificate for a William James Kirby born 13 August 1843 in Berwick on Tweed to James Kirby and Ann(e) Brown (marriage not found).

I found him in the 1851 census in Stranton, Hartlepool with his grandparents William and Catherine Brown as William Morbie.

Yesterday at the Woodhorn records office in Northumberland I found a transcribed baptism for

William James Cirbby for 16 July 1843.
William James son of James and Anne Cirbby formerly Brown born 12 Feb 1843. sponsors John Hannah and Mary Jane Cavannah.

Now by the looks of it - it's the same person but baptised before he was born??!!!

I can't see any others it might be.

[kiterunner]

Could be that they gave an incorrect birth date when registering the birth because of the fact that it was past the deadline for registration. Either that or the baptism transcription is wrong.

[JBee]

Thanks Kite

That's what I thought.

Don't know if I can get to see the original baptism record. It still hasn't solved the problem that I'd hoped to resolve of whether he was the son of Anna born 1823 or Hannah born 1825 to William and Margaret Brown in Berwick.

[Merry]

I was just reading an old thread about William James Kirby.

Did you ever find anything about his parents after his birth?

What was James Kirby's occupation on his son's birth cert?

[JBee]

On William's birth certificate his father James Kirby's occupation was given as a Mariner.

I did find a possible Merchant Navy Apprenticeship to ship "Friend" in 1838 aged 15 in London but nothing else.

If William's mother was the Ann Brown born 1823 there's a number of deaths between 1843 and 1850 in Liverpool but none in Berwick.

If his mother is Hannah Stevens Brown born 1825 - she married? John McKenzie (possibly in Scotland in 1844) and their first child Margaret Brown was born n Dec 1845 in Berwick. They then moved to Sunderland before 1849. Hannah's parents were in Hartlepool with William James Kirby in the 1851 census.

[Merry]

Hmmm.....I'm not keen on relations called Brown (or Smith, Jones, Taylor etc) and definitely not keen on mariners! I now see I don't like people called Kirby when they can spell is with a C (never come across that before) I can definitely see the problem (even ignoring the dodgy baptism date!).

I've had troubles with families where they have an Ann and a Hannah. Shouldn't be allowed!

I think if the Kirby/Brown marriage never actually happened then it's unlikely the mother would have gone to Liverpool but if she had done and died she would most likely been registered as Kirby. Might Ann have married in Hartlepool rather than Berwick?

[JBee]

Sorry for the delay got distracted.

Haven't found a marriage anywhere for James Kirby and Ann Brown even in the cross border irregular marriages. The only marriage I'[ve found for a John McKenzie and Anna Brown is in Greenock in 1844 which may or may not be Hannah.