Its all in a Name!

It's All in a Name

My husband’s great grandfather, Henry, had a younger brother called William HASE.  William was christened on the 20th Oct 1822 in the Parish Church at Compton Bishop, son of William & Rebecca.  On the 1841 census he appears at Cross, as follows:

You will note that the surname is entered as what appears to be HARSE, and that his father is a blacksmith.
In the 1851 census the family was still in Cross and William appears with the surname HASE.  By 1861 he had married and was living in Weston-super-mare but entered as HARTE (or HARSE) and is married to Amelia with three children.

These children were christened William Barnard HASE in 1855, Henry Austin HASE in 1857 and Rebecca Ester Barnard HASE in 1861.  From this I wondered whether Amelia’s maiden name might have been BARNARD and this was confirmed after William’s death, by her marriage on the 30th April 1872 in Christ Church, Weston-super-Mare to James COLES, when she gave her father’s name as William BARNARD, farmer.  

On later censuses she gave her birth place as Aldsworth in Gloucestershire and on the 1841 census was this entry at Aldsworth but no daughter called

It took me several years to find the marriage of William HASE to Amelia – and when I did it asked more questions than it answered. They were married in the Register Office in Axbridge in 1853, both saying that they lived at Cross

Surprisingly her name was given as Amelia HICKS, a spinster, with father William HICKS, Farmer.  Presumably she just said her father’s name was William and the clerk understandably decided that he had the same surname as her
This took me back to the 1851 census of Aldsworth, Gloucestershire.

Mary A HICKS, mar, is living with her widowed mother Ester BARNARD.  Could Mary A HICKS be the Amelia HICKS who married William HASE?

The CD of baptisms produced by the Gloucester FHS shows this christening in St Bartholomew’s Church, Aldsworth

23rd June 1830    Marianne d/o William & Esther BARNETT, labourer

The Emanuel and Job who can be seen with Mary A on the 1841 census are also given the surname BARNETT and Timothy is entered as BARNET when he was christened - all sons of William & Esther.

Here is Mary Ann’s marriage to a George HICKS witnessed by her brother Emanuel.

 
So what happened to George HICKS?   Where was he in 1851; why and when did Mary become Amelia; why say she was single by 1853 while still using the surname HICKS?

Just to confuse the issue.  Amelia’s mother, Esther, had a maiden name of HICKS but I don’t think that helps at all.  

All the above goes to prove that you can’t believe everything that you find and that you need - to use a modern expression – “to think outside the box” – after all, one of the main attributes of family history is to think laterally and not always accept what initially looks to be the obvious answer.

Journal Article: 

its-all-in-a-name-72.pdf