Week 5 - A Breakthrough Moment

The Two Elizabeth Appleby's

Genealogy is like detective work. You follow a lead, gather evidence, and sometimes discover something that appears to have been overlooked by others. This is how I proved that some online family trees have identified the wrong woman as the wife of George Washbrook.

The Initial Discovery

I am currently researching the Washbrook line as part of a one-name study when I discovered that George Washbrook, baptised 12 December 1830 at St Giles Church in Willenhall, Staffordshire, married Elizabeth Appleby. The surname Appleby immediately caught my attention, as my second great-grandmother was Susannah Appleby (she married Thomas Richardson, who I talked about in my Week 1 post: An Ancestor I Admire). I vaguely recalled that she had a sister, Elizabeth. Had I discovered an interlinked family connection? I went to my Family Tree Maker and went to Susannah Appleby's record. I found she did indeed have a sister called Elizabeth who was baptised on 3 November 1839 at St Giles, Willenhall, to parents Joseph and Ann Appleby. But then I saw the date of death. Elizabeth Appleby died on 17 March 1841, at eighteen months old, of inflammation of the chest. The daughter of Joseph and Ann was buried on 24 March 1841 in St Giles, Willenhall. So, my third great-aunt, Elizabeth Appleby, was not the Elizabeth Appleby who married George Washbrook. That Elizabeth was long dead.

Down the Rabbit Hole

I started looking at George Washbrook's census records with his wife, Elizabeth. The 1841 census showed them newly married. The 1851, 1861, 1871, and 1881 censuses all listed Elizabeth's birth year as circa 1832-1833 and birthplace as Short Heath or Lane Head, Willenhall. As I had already discovered, the Elizabeth Appleby who was my third great-aunt had died at 18 months old; however, her baptism year was 1839. If there had been two Elizabeth Appleby's alive at the same time, there could have been confusion, as the birth years of 1833 and 1839 are close enough that it could be the same person, but given one had died, this was clearly evidence of two Elizabeth Appleby's. I went in search of the Elizabeth Appleby who married George Washbrook. I returned to my Appleby research. Joseph Appleby and Ann Peace married on 24 September 1832 at St Matthew, Walsall. The 1841 Census shows them with their sons Willis, born 1834 and Lewis born 1836. The probability of them having a daughter, Elizabeth born in 1833, was quite low, not impossible, given they married in 1832 and Willis was born in 1834. I knew from Elizabeth and George's marriage records that her father was Joseph Appleby so I set about finding a baptism record for an Elizabeth Appleby born in 1833. I found an baptism record at St Giles, Willenhall on 17 March 1833 for Elizabeth Appleby, daughter of Joseph and Ann Appleby. Was it possible that there was a daughter, Elizabeth, born between Willis and Lewis who wasn't listed on the 1841 Census record? Or did I have a different Joseph and Ann Appleby having children in the same area at the same time? I had to establish which theory was correct. I had to establish if there were two Joseph and Ann Appleby couples in Willenhall having children at overlapping times.

The Spreadsheet

I immediately did what any self-respecting genealogist would do, I created a spreadsheet.   I placed Joseph Appleby and Ann Peace on one side and Joseph Appleby and Ann on the other side. I wanted to find the surname of the second Ann but first I wanted to find baptisms for all Joseph and Ann Appleby's in the area. text goes here. You can add paragraphs, headings, or links.

Joseph Appleby and Ann Peace

Information I knew was that Joseph Appleby and Ann Peace had been married in 1832. Civil registration started in 1837 so I had been able in my previous research to identify any children born to them. I knew about William and Lewis as they were in the 1841 Census but born prior to civil registration. The children I had identified as theirs: Willis b.1834, Short Heath, Willenhall, baptised 20 October 1833 at St Giles Willenhall Lewis b.22 January 1836, baptised 14 February 1836 at St Giles, Willenhall Martha b.1838, baptised 3 June 1838 at St Giles, Willenhall, d.1838 aged 9 months, buried at St Giles, Willenhall Elizabeth b.1839, baptised 3 November 1839 at St Giles, Willenhall, d.17 March 1841, aged 18 months, buried at St Giles, Willenhall Susannah b.9 February 1842, baptised 5 march 1842 at St Giles, Willenhall, d.3 April 1916, burried at Holy Trinity, Short Heath Franklin b.1845, baptsied 23 March 1845 at St Giles, Willenhall Alfred b.1848, baptised 12 March 1848 at St Giles, Willenhall Ann b.1851, baptised 20 April 1851 at Holy Trinity, Short Heath Phillip b.1854, baptised 9 April 1854 at Holy Trinity, Short Heath I have confirmed that Martha, Elizabeth, Susannah, Franklin, Alfred, Ann, and Phillip have the birth mother listed as Peace on the birth indexes. This confirms that they belong to this Joseph and Ann. Various census records over the years also corroborate these are the children that belong to this Joseph and Ann Appleby. I have the birth certificates for Elizabeth and Susannah also confirming their parentage.

Joseph Appleby and Ann ?

Now I had to identify the other Joseph and Ann Appleby. This took a bit longer as I had to research them because I did not already have them in my tree. The information I had was Joseph and Ann Appleby with a daughter, Elizabeth. I knew their daughter, Elizabeth, was born approximately 1832-1833 from the census records I had from her marriage with George Washbrook. The marriage register confirmed her father was Joseph Appleby and recorded her age as 18 years when she married on 6 January 1851 at St Giles, Willenhall. I needed to find a baptism record for her. Now here is where I got lucky. The baptism record I found for Elizabeth Appleby had her being baptised on the same day as her sister, Caroline. They were baptised on the 17 March 1833 at St Giles, Willenhall with their abode listed as Lane Head. I now had two childrens names for this family. Using this new information I went searching for the 1841 census to see if I could find the family. I found the record with the following information: Joseph b.1786, Ann b.1791, Isaiah b.1821, Charles b.1826, Isaac b.1826, Caroline b.1834, Elizabeth b.1837, and Sarah b.1838. Damn! Elizabeth was listed as being born in 1837 yet she was baptised in 1833. This was a significant discrepancy of 4 years. Did I have the right Joseph and Ann Appleby? I went doing some more digging. By the 1851 census she was married to George so I couldn't place her in the family; however, could I place the other children above? This was going to be hard given that Isaiah was 20 years, Charles and Isaac were 15 years, and Caroline was 7 years in the 1841 census meaning they could all possibly be out on their own. This was worrying as they had the most unique names of the children (except Charles of course). The search for a census proved fruitless as I couldn't find Joseph anywhere. There is a possible 1851 Census for Ann, Caroline, and Sarah; however, Caroline's birth year is listed as 1830. All the other details match up: abode of Lane Head, birthplace of Willenhall, Ann and Sarah's birth years. I even searched for Caroline Appleby's using birth year of 1830-1840 and only found two with the other one having a birthplace of Wednesbury. Years of birth were quite fluid in this era, for want of a better word, with some birth years being ten years different from census to census, record to record. Also, in the 1841 census the adults ages were adjusted to the nearest age in a multiple of ten so Isaiah being 20 and supposedly born in 1821 may not be accurate. Now given that Caroline was baptised on 17 March 1833 we know that her birth year is at the most 1833. This aligns closely with the 1841 census birth year of 1834 and the 1851 census birth year of 1830 so it was still feasible I was onto the correct family. Back to the records. I went in search of baptism records for the other children as I could not get birth indexes as they did not start until September 1837 meaning the only possible one was for Sarah. Isaiah b.1821, baptised 12 January 1817 in St Bartholomew, Wednesbury Charles b.1826, baptised 5 August 1821 at St Giles, Willenhall Isaac b.1826, baptised 14 May 1826 at St Bartholomew, Wednesbury Caroline b.1834, baptised 17 March 1833 at St Giles, Willenhall Elizabeth b.1837, baptised 17 March 1833 at St Giles, Willenhall Sarah b.1838, baptised 12 July 1835 at St Giles, Willenhall. These baptisms were problematic to say the least. I was particularly worried about Isaiah and Isaac's given their baptism was removed from all the other ones and in an area the family was not known to have inhabited. I searched doing really broad search parameters on FreeReg, Findmypast, Ancestry, and FamilySearch. I first searched for Isaiah with no birth year and the whole of England and only two showed Isaiah baptised in 1817 to Joseph and Ann Appleby and another one born in 1843. This was the result on all the four websites I used. I then searched for Isaac doing the same as for Isaiah. I found three - one baptised 1768, one in 1826 in Wednesbury, and one in 1837 in Uttoxeter. Of these three the 1826 one in Wednesbury was the only one with parents Joseph and Ann. I then searched the distance from Willenhall to Wednesbury and it a distance of approximately 4 miles so it is possible. Maybe there is a connection to there I have not yet found. The birth dates were my second big issue with these baptisms as the only birth years that approximately matched the baptism dates were for Isaac and Caroline. However, as any genealogist knows, our ancestors were not big on birth years and ages and there are often great discrepancies the further back you go. I then decided, based on the children's births I had found to see if I could find a marriage for Joseph and Ann. Again, I searched all four sites using as broad a search as possible - Joseph Appleby marrying Ann with the only other parameter set as England. The only one that looked remotely possible was on the 26 December 1811 at St Matthew, Wasall, Joseph Appleby married Ann Mountfort. I am relying solely on transcriptions for these as I have not yet been able to source the original; however, the information is consistent across the sites. For the reasons above I decided that it was the correct family as my search was exhaustive and across multiple platforms; however, I am open to revisit the searches in the future if further records come to light.

The Elizabeth's

Both Elizabeths were baptised at St Giles, Willenhall, to parents Joseph and Ann Appleby one on 17 March 1833, the other on 3 November 1839 but she died on 17 March 1841. They were not the same child. They were not even the same family. They couldn't be. If the Elizabeth born in 1833 had been the one to die, then possibly they could have been the same family as often when a child died, their name was reused; however, it was the younger one who died. It would be very strange for one family to have two children alive at the same time with the same name. That said, I have got some families in my tree where they had an Elizabeth and Eliza!!

The Evidence

The 1833 Elizabeth appeared in the 1841 census, age 8, living with Joseph and Ann (born circa 1786 and 1791) and siblings Willis, Isaiah, Charles, Isaac, Caroline, and Sarah. A family unit with birth years spanning from 1814 to 1835. The parents married in 1811 so this fits. The 1839 Elizabeth did not appear in the 1841 census. She was buried three months before it was taken. Post-marriage census records for Elizabeth Washbrook (wife of George) consistently listed her birth year as circa 1833 and birthplace as Willenhall. She appeared in every census from 1841 through 1901, with birth years ranging from 1832-1835, fairly consistent, always with George until his death in 1889, and then with her adult children. She died in 1905 in Wales The civil birth index for the 1839 Elizabeth confirmed her mother's maiden name as Peace. Her death was recorded on 17 March 1841. Her burial record at St Giles confirmed she was buried 24 March 1841, eighteen months old. Two distinct girls. Two distinct families. Only one survived to marry George Washbrook.

The Online Tree Problem

Here's where it gets frustrating. I started checking online family trees. A few of them had George Washbrook married to Elizabeth Appleby, daughter of Joseph Appleby and Ann Peace. However, as I have shown above the Elizabeth, child of Joseph Appleby and Ann Peace, died at 18 months old. Therefore, she could not be married to George Washbrook. What often happens with online trees is one person connects the wrong person to a family. In this case it was a VERY easy mistake to make. It is not until you really delve into it that you find the error. It took me two weeks of solid work to separate the families. The two Elizabeths were born six years apart in Willenhall, not a big gap in an era when ages and years of birth weren't strictly adhered to. They both had parents Joseph and Ann Appleby. They were both baptised at St Giles in Willenhall. Someone, somewhere, had made the connection incorrectly—probably because both girls had parents named Joseph and Ann Appleby, both were baptised at St Giles, both were born in Willenhall. However, once an error is in one tree, it is often replicated - copy, paste, copy, paste. Suddenly dozens of trees can have a deceased toddler getting married! I once found a tree who had my great-great-uncle who got married in 1919. A pretty miraculous feat given he died on the Somme in 1918!!! I have fixed the FamilySearch tree; however, when I checked it when writing this post it had been editec back to the wrong Elizabeth. I have fixed it again; however, what I really need to do is write up my Genealogical Proof Statement with all my evidence and add that to the tree to prove what I know. It's one of the dangers of online genealogy. An error, once made and copied enough times, starts to look like truth.

Two Weeks of Proof

I spent two weeks systematically building my case. I needed to prove beyond doubt which Elizabeth was which. I gathered:

• Baptism records for both Elizabethsd
• Marriage records for both Joseph and Ann couples
• Birth registrations showing maiden names after 1837
• The death and burial records for the 1839 Elizabeth
• Census records showing the 1833 Elizabeth alive and well in 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, and 1901
• Census records showing all the children of each Joseph and Ann couple
• Marriage records for George and Elizabeth Washbrook

I created a timeline. I cross-referenced dates. I verified every birth year, every location, every family group. The evidence was overwhelming. The Elizabeth who married George Washbrook was born in 1833 to Joseph Appleby and Ann Mountfort. The Elizabeth born in 1839 to Joseph Appleby and Ann Peace died before her second birthday.

The Breakthrough

The moment of breakthrough in this case wasn't dramatic. There was no single document that made everything clear. It was the accumulation of evidence, the patient building of proof, the slow realisation that every piece of data pointed the same direction. The 1833 Elizabeth married George Washbrook. The 1839 Elizabeth was buried in St Giles churchyard, her life barely begun.

What This Taught Me

This research reinforced several important lessons:

• Don't trust online trees blindly. Even when dozens of trees agree, they could all be copying the same original error. Do your OWN research.
• Maiden names matter.
• If civil registration gives you a mother's maiden name, use it. That's how I distinguished Ann Peace from Ann Mountfort.
• Death records are as important as birth records. Without the burial record for the 1839 Elizabeth, I might have assumed the two baptism records were duplicates or errors.
• Common names require extra care. When you have two men named Joseph Appleby married to women named Ann in the same town, having children at the same church, you need meticulous documentation to keep them straight.
• The spreadsheet is your friend. Sometimes you need to lay everything out visually to see the patterns.

The Lingering Question

I've proven which Elizabeth married George Washbrook. But I'm left with an intriguing question: were the two Joseph Applebys related? Two men, both named Joseph Appleby, both living in Willenhall, both marrying women named Ann, both having children baptised at St Giles. Were they cousins? Uncle and nephew? That's my next research project. Because while I've solved the mystery of the two Elizabeths, I suspect there's a deeper family connection waiting to be discovered. For now, though, I'm satisfied. I've untangled the confusion. I've proven which Elizabeth was which. And I've documented it all thoroughly so that anyone else researching the Washbrook or Appleby families won't fall into the same trap.

Are you related to Elizabeth Appleby and George Washbrook? Do you agree with my assessment of the records?

Leave me a comment below.