The Alford's in the Census records up to 1881...

This post will consider the lives of Martha Alford's mother, Mary Ann Alford nee Galpin, and her other children, from the time after the 1861 England Census. We will go up to the time of the 1881 England Census when we know that Martha Groves was living at 1 The Crescent, Taunton, Somerset. 

We already know that Martha Alford, the eldest daughter of the late Thomas Alford and Mary Ann Galpin, married John Mead on 10 September 1861 [1] (See the 'Who was Martha Alford married to first? post).  

I started this research by looking for the matriarch of the family, Mary Ann Alford, on the 1871 England Census by searching the Ancestry website with her name and born in Broadwindsor, Dorset, which returned the result below [2]

We can see from this that she is living with her son, John, and 2 daughters, Mary Ann and Clara at the George Hotel in Shepton Mallett, Somerset along with a boarder and 4 servants. 

I used the same search parameters as above for Mary Ann Alford for the 1881 England Census and returned the result below [3]

We can see that she is still living with her son, John, and her 2 daughters, Mary Ann and Clara, along with a servant, Elizabeth Clark. However, they are now living at 4 St Johns Terrace in Radipole, Dorset, England.  

Turning to Martha's siblings, I looked for her brothers and sisters who were missing on the various early census records and where I had not already found a death or burial entry (see 'Tracing the parents and siblings of Martha Alford' post). I started the search with Thomas Alford, Martha's brother who was born in about 1832, and is not listed with the rest of the family on the 1851 England Census. An entry for him was located living on Market Place in Crewkerne, Somerset [4]  where he is a Chemist's Apprentice:

I was unable to find a conclusive record for Thomas Alford on the 1861 England Census. I did though find an entry for him on the 1871 England Census living on the High Street in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, where he worked as a Chemist and Druggist [5]:

On the 1881 England Census, Thomas is still living on the High Street in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, along with his wife Mary Ann, and continues to work as a Chemist and Druggist [6]:

I have not been able to find a conclusive marriage index or entry in the various records available for Thomas Alford marrying with the information currently researched.  

Next, I searched for Mary Ann Alford, who was missing from the 1861 England Census. I located her living with her Mother's brother and his wife, Walter and Marianne Galpin, in Crewkerne, Somerset, as detailed below [7]

This just leaves one sibling, Ellen Alford, who was missing from the census taken in 1871. A search on the Ancestry website for her using her name and born in +/- 1 year around 1843 in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, returns one result as below [8]

Ellen is living with her Father's brothers, James & John Alford, in Sherrington, Wiltshire, England and is working as a Governess. There was no record of Ellen on the 1881 Census. However, a search for a burial record between 1871 and 1881 in Somerset, England, on the Ancestry website sadly returned one result as below [9]:

A search of the death indexes on the GRO website located a matching record [10]. There is also an entry on the Probate Service website for Ellen Alford which tells us that she died on 2 May 1879 and her personal estate was granted to Mary Ann Alford of Shepton Mallet, widow, the mother and only next of kin [11]. 

So, the Alford family tree is updated:

On my next update, I will move forward to the time after the 1881 Census and consider what happened to Martha Groves mother, Mary Ann Alford, her brothers, Thomas and John, and her sisters, Mary Ann and Clara. In the meantime, I hope that you have enjoyed reading this blog much as I have enjoyed researching this family for my One Place Study. 

It would be wonderful to hear from you via the comments section on this blog or via my Facebook page. If you would like to see the tree that I have been building for my One Place Study for each individual house, it is on Ancestry under 1 The Crescent Taunton One Place Study. 

[1] Ancestry.com Somerset, England, Marriage Registers, Bonds and Allegations, 1754-1914 Somerset Heritage Service; Taunton, Somerset, England; Somerset Parish Records, 1538-1914; Reference Number: D\P\she/2/1/21 page 5
[2] Ancestry.com 1871 England Census - The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1871 England Census; Class: RG10; Piece: 2443; Folio: 11; Page: 13; GSU roll: 835183
[3] Ancestry.com 1881 England Census - The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1881 England Census; Class: RG11; Piece: 2103; Folio: 65; Page: 8; GSU roll: 1341507
[4] Ancestry.com 1851 England Census - The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1851 England Census; Class: HO107; Piece: 1928; Folio:445; Page: 7; GSU roll: 221085
[5] Ancestry.com 1871 England Census - The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1871 England Census; Class: RG10; Piece: 2628; Folio: 32; Page: 23; GSU roll: 835320

[6]  Ancestry.com 1881 England Census - The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1881 England Census; Class: RG11; Piece: 2541; Folio: 38; Page: 3; GSU roll: 1341613

[7]  Ancestry.com 1861 England Census - The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1861 England Census; Class: RG9; Piece: 1637; Folio: 25; Page: 11; GSU roll: 542843

[8] Ancestry.com 1871 England Census - The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1871 England Census; Class: RG10; Piece: 1936; Folio: 84; Page: 20; GSU roll: 830876

[9] Ancestry.com. Somerset, England, Church of England Burials, 1813-1914 ~ Somerset Heritage Service; Taunton, Somerset, England; Reference Number: D\P\tau.m/2/1/37 page 37 

[10] General Register Office (https://www.gro.gov.uk/) - Deaths GRO Reference: 1879 J Quarter in Taunton, Volume 05C, Page 266

[11] Probate Service (https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/) - Year 1879, Alford, Ellen