#22 & # 36 Joseph Wade (my paternal gg-grandfather AND ggg-grandfather)

I'm a librarian so I admit to being completely biased - I think libraries are a great place to do genealogy research! This week's challenge gave me the perfect excuse to spend time at my local public library. I don't have an Ancestry membership but I can use the absolutely FREE one at the library.

I decided to see what I could find out about the Wade line since it runs on my both my paternal grandparents' side. I figured I'd be able to further the tree in a few ways if I focused on this name. I'll share my search methodology at the end of this entry so that I can share my ancestor's story more fluidly.

Joseph Wade (1852-1899) is my 2nd great-grandfather
His daughter Winnifred Glaydis Wade (1895 - 1975) is my great-grandmother
Her daughter Ruby Elizabeth Napper (1927 - 1995) is my grandmother

Joseph Wade (1852 - 1899) is also:
the father of Sidney Thomas Wade (1884 - 1961), my 2nd great-grandfather
His daughter Ruby Elizabeth Rosina Wade (1904 - 1983) is my great-grandmother
Her son Marlen Sidney M. (1928 - 2017) is my grandfather

So Joseph Wade is my 3rd great-grandfather and my 2nd great-grandfather.

I think that makes my Dad my uncle...

Joseph was baptized on October 31, 1852 in the Parish of Stradsett in the County of Norfolk. His parents were John and Harriet Wade, and John worked as a labourer. Their home at the time was in Crimplesham, a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated 2.5 miles (4.0 km) east of the small town of Downham Market, 12 miles (19 km) south of the larger town of King's Lynn, and 37 miles (60 km) west of the city of Norwich.[1]

At age 8 we find Joseph in the 1861 England Census, living on Fox Street in Gillingham, New Brompton with his parents, younger sister Harriett (age 6), younger brother Thomas (age 3), and younger sister Emily (age 1). Joseph had been born in Stradsett, as had his mother, and his father had been born in Crimplesham. Harriett was born in Hammersmith and the two younger children were born in Kent, New Brompton.

Gillingham is a small village in South Norfolk, about 1 mile north of the market town of Beccles. The full name of the parish is Gillingham All Saints and St Mary. [2]

In the 1881 census we find Joseph at age 28 working as a bricklayer. His father John is working as an excavator and 23 year old younger brother Thomas is a plumber. There is no mention of his sisters Harriett (now age 26) and Emily (now age 21), possibly they are both married by now.

Joseph married Harriet/Harriott Jane Swaffield on 1 Aug 1881 in Godstone, Surrey, England. [3]

In the 1895 survey of homes in London we find Joseph T. Wade and his wife Harriett with their 8 year old son Joseph T. Wade living on Globe Road in Mile End, London.

Mile End is a district of East London, England, 3.6 miles (5.8 km) east-northeast of Charing Cross. On the London to Colchester road, it was one of the earliest suburbs of the City of London and became part of the metropolitan area of London in 1855. It developed as an area of working and lower-class housing, often occupied by immigrants and migrants new to the city. The parish became part of the County of London in 1889 and in 1900 it became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney. [4]

Joseph and Harriett had nine children in 16 years. Joseph Jr. was born in 1882, Sidney Thomas (my 2nd great-grandfather) was born in November 1884, William Stanley was born in 1886, Ruby Edith was born May 4, 1889, Henry George and his twin sister May Violet were born May 13, 1892, Winnifred Glaydis (my great-grandmother) was born on July 21, 1895, Edith Phoebe Louise was born September 28, 1896, and Charles Swaffield was born on October 11, 1898.

When the six youngest children were baptized on November 26, 1899 Joseph was listed as deceased.

The life expectancy for men in England in 1852 was only 39 [5]. Joseph lived past this and his death was registered as being in April, May, or June 1899 in Reigate in eastern Surrey, England.

Harriett was left with 9 children, one of them only 8 months old. No wonder she married Timothy Brown fairly quickly in 1900. But that's another story...

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Sources:
1. Wikipedia: Crimplesham, accessed January 26, 2019
2. Wikipedia: Gillingham, Norfolk, accessed January 26, 2019
3. see below
4. Wikipedia: Mile End, accessed January 26, 2019
5. UK Office for National Statistics, accessed January 26, 2019

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Search methodology:

I decided to start with the London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1932 to see if I could find his marriage to Harriet Jane Swaffield in 1880. I know her parents' names so that will help me determine whether the entry I'm looking at is the right one.

3. From the Card Catalogue page I set up my search with these filters: Birth, Marriage & Death / Marriage & Divorce / 1880s / Europe / United Kingdom / England / London. This gave me 11 possible documents to look through. I tried using "Wade" as a keyword to search, however that yielded no results.

I decided to get less specific and search from the "Birth, Marriage & Death" page using Joseph and Harriet's names and marriage year. The results showed a Joseph Wade marrying Harriott Jane Swaffield on 1 Aug 1881 - Godstone, Surrey, England. I had them as being married in Kent, but I have no source listed for that. Godstone and Kent are 28.4 miles apart so this leaves room for some doubt in my mind. Joseph's birth year is listed as 1853 and as I don't know his year of birth I decided to look further into this. The "England, Select Marriages, 1538–1973" result shows Charles Swaffield as Harriott's father, which is what I have. Her birth date is listed as 1859, which is also what I have in my records. I think I've found the right people. It's only a text record, no image, but it lists Joseph's father as being John Wade.

Since Harriet/Harriott's name varies, I searched with just H as her first name and changed the marriage year to 1881. This gave me an additional result in the "England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915."

I decide to try to look for his death information next. The notes in my tree, passed down from another relative but without a source, say he's buried on Mary Lebon Road. This odd little tidbit leads me to this record:
NAME: Joseph Thomas Wade
BIRTH: abt 1842
DEATH: Oct 1899 - Marylebone, London

My Joseph doesn't have Thomas as a middle name, and the birth year doesn't match what I previously had (1859) or the one on what I believe to be his marriage record (1853). His second son has Thomas as a middle name though and the Marylebone Registration district seems to match.

Other results:
England, Select Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991
Name: Joseph Wade
Gender: Male
Age: 47
Birth Date: 1852
Burial Date: 8 Apr 1899
Burial Place: Merstham, Surrey, England

Surrey, England, Church of England Burials, 1813-1987
Name: Joseph Wade
Age: 47
Birth Year: abt 1852
Burial Date: 8 Apr 1899
Burial Place: Merstham, St Katharine, Surrey, England
Parish as it Appears: Merstham

A search of the UK General Register Office finds an entry for Joseph Wade dying at age 47 in 1899 (J Quarter in REIGATE Volume 02A Page 106). This was confirmed by a search on FreeBMD.

The notes in my tree, passed down from another relative but without a source, say he's buried on Mary Lebon Road. Marylebone Road is an important thoroughfare in central London, within the City of Westminster. There is a St Marylebone Churchyard on Marylebone High Street, City of Westminster, Greater London, could he be there? There is also St. Marylebone Cemetery, also known as East Finchley Cemetery.

To the right of results there is sometimes a list of Suggested Records. I went through them and found:

England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975
Name: Joseph Wade
Gender: Male
Spouse: Harriet Jane Wade
Child: Winifred Glaydis Wade

Name: Joseph Wade
Gender: Male
Spouse: Harriet Jane Wade
Child: Ruby Edith Wade

Surrey, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1912
Name: Joseph Wade
Gender: Male
Parish as it Appears: Merstham
Spouse: Harriet Jane Wade
Child: Winifred Glaydis Wade

Name: Joseph Wade
Gender: Male
Parish as it Appears: Merstham
Spouse: Harriet Jane Wade
Child: Ruby Edith Wade

Name: Joseph Wade
Gender: Male
Parish as it Appears: Merstham
Spouse: Harriet Jane Wade
Child: Charle Swiffield Wade

Name: Joseph Wade
Gender: Male
Parish as it Appears: Merstham
Spouse: Harriet Jane Wade
Child: Edith Phoebe Louise Wade

Name: Joseph Wade
Gender: Male
Parish as it Appears: Merstham
Spouse: Harriet Jane Wade
Child: Henry George Wade

Name: Joseph Wade
Gender: Male
Parish as it Appears: Merstham
Spouse: Harriet Jane Wade
Child: May Violet Wade

London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1932
Name: Joseph Wade
Gender: Male
Child: Sydney Wade

This record helps me with the death date because Joseph was deceased when Sydney was married in 1903.

Ruby, May, Henry, Edith, Winifred, and Charlie were baptized in November 1899 and Joseph is listed as being deceased at that point. There's the record that has him dying Oct 1899 in Marylebone, London, but the burial records for Merstham are for 8 Apr 1899. So which one is correct? The birth years vary by a decade.
The family is listed as living at Jolliffe Row, which appears to be a farm. This is something I'll have to look into later as it's outside of the scope of Joseph's life.

My next search is in the Census and Voter Lists. I want to look at 1891 first and see if I can find him and Harriet/Harriott. I use his first and last name, 1853 as birth year in England. I spell her name Harriott. I narrow it down to the England collection and the 1890s. I don't get any useful results so I change Harriott to H - still nothing. I switch to the Categories tab instead of the Records tab and see the link for the 1891 England Census. Why am I not getting any results? The tree hint was going off of his year of birth being 1859 but trying that doesn't yield any valid results either.

The 1881 England Census gives me John with a birth year of about 1853, living with his wife Harriett (b. abt 1832) in the Marylebone district. Children Joseph Wade (b. abt 1853) and Thomas Wade (b. abt 1858) are listed. These aren't my people but who are they and why must they use so many similar names??

I decide to change my approach and search for Harriet/Harriott instead and see if that will tie me back to Joseph more easily.

A 1895 Survey of homes in London gave me Joseph's birth place as Lincolnshire, Boston. This entry also included the initial "T" as a middle name, likely Thomas I'm guessing/hoping.

I used the following search criteria to find the 1861, 1871, and 1881 England Census:
First & Middle Name(s): joseph
Last Name: wade
Place your ancestor might have lived: London, England
Birth Year: 1853
Location: Lincolnshire, England
Marriage Year: 1881
Location: Godstone, Surrey, England
Any Event Location: London, England
Spouse First & Middle Name(s): harriott
Last Name: swaffield
Keyword: bricklayer