Liverpool & South West Lancashire FHS - Forum

Hi I have tried to find where my gt gt grandfather is between the 1861 and the 1891 census, I just wondered if anyone could help me please?

In the 1861 William Halsall is listed as born 1835 Isle of Man with his wife Mary Ann also born 1835 Isle of Man and sons William Henry Halsall born 1858 and John born 1860 in Liverpool. They are living at Llanrwst Street, Toxteth.

Class: RG 9; Piece: 2704; Folio: 91; Page: 27

In 1871 Mary Ann is listed as a widow living at 28 Tamworth Street Toxteth with:

William Hy born 1858
John b1860
Ann Jane b1862
May Ann b1864
Robert b1867
Thomas b1870

Class: RG10; Piece: 3802; Folio: 81; Page: 28

In 1881 she is Mary Ann is listed as married and living at 309 Beaufort Street with:

William H b1858
John b1860
Ann J b 1864
Robert b 1867
Thomas b 1871
George b1873
Emily J b 1880

Class: RG11; Piece: 3643; Folio: 126; Page: 12

In 1891 William is back!

Class: RG12; Piece: 2931; Folio: 33; Page: 11

I would really appreciate any help with this and thank you for your time!

Victoria

I wonder if his occupation of Marine Engineer (Seas) could have a bearing on where he was.

I wonder if he travelled?

Name: William Halsall
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1836
Age: 30
Arrival Date: 26 Dec 1866
Arrival Port: Melbourne, Australia
Departure Port: Liverpool
Ship: Great Britain
Nationality: English

Sorry no image available.

Again there are a couple of entries on crew lists
Year of birth 1835
Place of Birth Isle of Man
Period for Crew List 1 Jan 1873 - 30 Jun 1873
Vessel - Tartar
Capacity: 2 Engr

now what Capacity means I don't know as there appears to be another journey
1 Jul 1873 - 31 Dec 1873, same ship but the Capacity says A Engr. Could this be his rank? might he have been promoted?

I think it does refer to the person not the ship, another journey
Previous Ship - Toiler
1 Jul 1891 - 31 Dec 1891
Capacity: Engineer

Thanks Mary - that would fit it with his occupation too!

these are the occupations I have for William:

Labourer (1857), Forge Laborer (1864), General Laborer (1866), Marine Engineer (1891), Engineer (1894), Marine Engineer (1901)

Victoria

I think it's him, gut feeling

MaryA wrote:I wonder if his occupation of Marine Engineer (Seas) could have a bearing on where he was.

My thinking is with MaryA's. Marine engineers were usually sea-going so his absence from a census would be the same as if he was a 'mariner'. The 1871 description of Mary as a widow I would believe to be a mistake by the enumerator when he/she transferred the information from the Household Census Form to the Census Summary Sheet.

Re:

now what Capacity means I don't know as there appears to be another journey
1 Jul 1873 - 31 Dec 1873, same ship but the Capacity says A Engr. Could this be his rank? might he have been promoted?

Certain the word Capacity means Rank or Position on the ship, ie in what capacity he served. '2nd engineer' would be below Engineer and Assistant engineer would probably be the same as 2nd engineer. Would depend on the captain's interpretation perhaps?

Thank you so much! I think the entry for Mary Ann being a widow threw me off! Just goes to show how fantastic this forum is!

Victoria x

Hi Victoria
Perhaps they had split up and she put widow down to save face?
I don't know maybe William went walkabout for quite a few years?