William Stokes 1838-1926

William Stokes is in my tree.  His journey starts in 1838 in Caldecote, Cambridgeshire and ends in 1926 in Scotter, Lincolnshire.

Quite a few in the family tree ended up in Lincolnshire - and, at some point, I'll get to see the bigger picture of "who went to Lincolnshire first".  It might even have been William!

So, what do I know about William Stokes?  All information I gather is unsubstantiated by actual certificates.  This can lead to errors - how important errors are in your tree is a personal choice.  I am happy that all my family tree research is guesstimates, because it'd be prohibitive to buy all evidence and certificates for everybody that was on my tree!

Outline of what I've made of William Stokes' life:
1838: Christened, Caldecote
1851 Census, Caldecote (13)
1861 Census, Blyborough (21)

1868 married Lincolnshire
1871 Census Frodingham (29)
1881 Census Ashby (40)
1891 Census Bromby (49)
1901 Census Grayingham (66)


1911 Census Scotter (73)
1926 died possibly (90)

I keep a "brief outline" for people, so I can quickly scan/check if things look right or not.  In this instance, William seems to have aged 17 years in the 10 years between the 1891 and 1901 Census, so that's a reg flag that I might've gone a bit astray, but I am happy it's "probably the same guy" for now.

Where I've got this information from:

• 1838 baptism from FreeREG. There is a baptism at St Marys & All Angels, Caldecote on 23 September 1838.  Parents are given as John Stokes and Jane Stokes.  That was enough to toss him onto my tree!
• 1851 Census. William was aged 13 and living with his parents/siblings in Caldecote.
• 1861 Census. I believe William Stokes is at Blyborough, working as a waggoner and showing as aged 21.  The household he is in contains one other servant and a visitor - two adult males and one single female, a strange mix under one roof.  In the 1861 Census this William's birthplace is transcribed as Calker, Cambridgeshire - of course, there's no such place, BUT, with a Cambridge Ag Lab's accent and the strange/awkward pronunciation of Caldecote, I can fully understand why that's what somebody unfamiliar with the village might've written. This transcription of the placename exists on UKCensusonline and on the LDS site, so I will get the original image at some point to see what I make of it, but I'm convinced without checking that this IS William Stokes of Caldecote! Additionally, his brother Alfred Fineden Stokes and nephew are both just 1 mile away in Grayingham, so it makes perfect sense that the three might've either travelled together, or been hired at the same hiring fair by employers from the same district, or even employed initially by the same hirer!
• 1868 did he marry?  This was a little flakey at the start.  FreeBMD has a marriage in the Caxton Registration District, Cambridgeshire, to Ann Childerley - one might've thought this was William's marriage, but "our" William Stokes actually married Harriett Pogson in 1868 in Lincolnshire.  The Caxton Registration District includes the village of Caldecote, so this was a possible marriage, but would've been wrong.  FreeREG doesn't have the marriage listed. Findmypast has the marriage listed, but I've not got round to checking whether it's informative, or just the 1/4ly returns.
• 1871 Census. A William Stokes and Harriett Stokes are in Frodingham, Lincolnshire.  This William's birthplace is given as Caldicote, which is one of the common typos for the village name.  They are living with their first born child Lizzie.
• 1881 Census. William is living in Ashby, Lincolnshire, the Census says he was born Caldecot, Cambs. Living at Stone Hall Farm Cottages, which is a cottage next to the farm, William is with wife Harriet/34/NettlehamLincs along with two daughters MaryJane/12/NewFrodinghamLincs and Lizzie/10/NewFrodinghamLincs. 
• 1891 Census. William and Harriett Stokes are living in Bromby, Lincolnshire, with five children: Adah/14,Charles Willie/12, Alice/11, Fred/8, Grace/4.  So Mary Jane Stokes, aged ~22 and Lizzie Stokes ~20 have probably married by this point!  William is now a foreman on a farm and aged 49.
• 1901 Census. William and Harriet appear to be living in Grayingham, Lincolnshire.  They have with them a grandson - although there are no clues as to where he's appeared from!
• 1911 Census. The 1911 Census is more extensive than in previous years, so provides a little more chance to get a grip on people!  William is now aged 73 and was born Caldicot, Cambridge - there's that village name typo again.. William is a farm labourer/worker living with his wife Harriet/63 in 6 rooms. The address is just written as Scotter, Lincoln.  The 1911 Census tells me that they had 10 children, but only 8 are still alive. Time to check the tree!  How many did I have?  I've got 8, so have missed some somewhere.
• 1926 died?  I believe William Stokes died in 1926.  A local newspaper carried a short piece on 18 December. William Stokes, aged 90, of Scotter.  I am confident this is our man! I can find no probate records for him though.

I can see, online, that the Stokes family had strong connections with Scotter.  William and Harriet would've been the founding members of this family in the area.  I suspect they also encouraged other families in my family tree to head this way!

Family Tree Maths!

Taking a quick look down the timeline, I started off having William baptised in 1838.  Of course, a baptism doesn't mean it's a birth, he could've been aged 0-2 when baptised. An age of 90 when he died in 1926 would indicate a year of birth of 1836.  In January 1836 William's parents had another sibling baptised, so maybe they couldn't afford two in one year, or maybe they simply didn't get round to it!
Across the various Census ages the age changes, but it always looks like the same person due to age and where born. I'm confident this is probably all correct.