52 Ancestors Week 10: Strong Woman

Katie Sandwina, "The Lady Hercules," lifting three men
Bain News Service / Public domain

It is incredibly difficult to narrow down the topic of "Strong Woman" to a single woman in my family. In just one generation--that of my great-grandparents--it is impossible to decide. There is Great-Grandma Flora (Amos) Underwood, who left England with her husband and infant son, to travel across the ocean on a journey to America, knowing she would never see her home in England again. She left a comfortable middle-class life for the unknown world of the western U.S., living almost a pioneer existence and learning the skills along the way.

There is Great-Grandma Cora (Wade) Brosius, who raised a family of six boys and one girl in Kansas, married to a man nearly twenty years older than she was. When he died and left her with four children who were still quite young, she packed those children into a car and the five of them drove across the country to the Pacific Northwest to begin their new lives.

There is Great-Grandma Mary (Craig) Stroesser, who grew up in "the Bottoms" in Omaha, a neighborhood marked by its shanty houses and poverty, and frequently flooded by the nearby Missouri River. She went on to marry and give birth to thirteen children, suffering post-partum depression after many of them according to family lore, and suffering also the deaths of three of her sons. Although Grandma Rose, her daughter, had a strained relationship with her, it seems clear that Great-Grandma Mary was battling her own demons.

Then there is Great-Grandma Hazel (Fox) Hoyt, who, according to family lore, graduated valedictorian. Unlike my other great-grandmothers, she began to work outside the home during WWII, and continued to work after the war was over. She was a shipping clerk at Dehner Boot Company until her retirement. She was also the only great-grandmother whose lifetime overlapped my own.

Truly, I believe that you could pluck almost any woman off my family tree and, looking at her life and circumstances, come to find that she deserves the appellation of a "Strong Woman."

Abraham Amos' parents - part 2

A while ago I traced the parents of my 3great-grandfather Abraham Amos, determining them to be Thomas Amos and Amy Dunn. Since then, I have continued pushing the line back, and have gone back quite far--to the seventeenth century--on one of the maternal lines. Recently, however, in a Google search for something else, I stumbled across an apparently well-researched genealogical site that threw my conclusions into doubt.

The site is called Faded Genes, and is a project to trace the ancestry of some Kentish soldiers who died during WWI. Two of my 2great-grandfather George Amos' nephews, Ernest Richard Amos and Fred Amos, are featured. They are sons of his brother Thomas, and therefore share his ancestry on their paternal side. The information on the site agrees with my research that their grandparents were Abraham Amos and Isabella Cock. It also agrees with my research on the Cock family, and even gives me a hint that one of the Simon Cocks may have had a second marriage I didn't know about. However, when looking at the Amos line I had a great shock.

The line read " Thomas AMOS, born Abt 1795. He married Mary [maiden name unknown – marriage not found]." My initial reaction was that the researcher simply hadn't been able to find out as much as I had. Abraham's parents were Thomas and Amy; likely the mistake of Amy for Mary was the cause. But then I continued reading. Children were listed:

i          Jane AMOS, born Abt 1817, baptized 6 Apr 1817 at St Augustine, East Langdon (Kent).

ii         Margaret AMOS, born Abt 1820, baptized 6 Feb 1820 at St Augustine, East Langdon (Kent).

These were not the siblings I had discovered for Abraham. Yet they were baptized in the same parish he was, making them more likely candidates than the group I had found. But if his parents were Thomas and Amy, and these girls' parents were Thomas and Mary, the likelihood was surely decreased. I had to refer to my sources.

And that was when I realized that I had no primary source for his baptism. I had only an index entry. The "England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975" database at Ancestry, which cited the "England, Births and Christenings, 1538-1975" database at FamilySearch, which cited FHL microfilm 1,786,622 was my solitary source. It claimed that his baptism had taken place at East Langdon, Kent, on 7 April 1821, and that his parents were Thomas Amos and Amy. Surely in all my digging through parish registers I had verified this record? But a search through my Evernote account, where I store all my in-progress documents, proved that I had discovered only that East Langdon is not a parish included in FindMyPast's "Kent, Canterbury Archdeaconry Parish Registers Browse, 1538-1913," where I have been finding original images of so many of my family's records.

St. Augustine's Church, East Langdon, where Abraham Amos was baptized no matter who his parents were.
Nick Smith / St Augustine's church / CC BY-SA 2.0

So now, since I couldn't see them in the usual place, it was time to figure out where I could see images of East Langdon's parish registers. I could find them in none of the databases at FindMyPast, nor at Ancestry. FamilySearch had only Bishop's Transcripts and transcribed excerpts. I searched the catalog of the British National Archives and Kent Archives. A guide, provided by the Kent Archives, to the locations of parish registers in Kent indicated only Bishop's Transcripts for East Langdon. After about two days of using all my spare time to search every possible repository I could think of, I came to the conclusion that the original parish registers must have been lost. Even the databases covering East Langdon used the Bishop's Transcripts as their source.

And these databases had me worried. The one at FamilySearch, as I had discovered before, recorded Thomas and Amy as Abraham's parents. But the "Kent Births" database at FindMyPast gave his parents as Thomas and Mary. This was disheartening and inconclusive. Even though I have seen errors in Bishop's Transcripts in the past, in this case it would have to serve as my best possible source. I would have to consult it. That meant visiting my local FHC, which I would not be able to visit until Sunday afternoon. It was going to be a long, suspenseful week.

Finally Sunday arrived. When the time came, I hopped into my car to make the drive, just as my phone buzzed to remind me of a workshop I was supposed to attend, which had nothing to do with genealogy. With a heavy heart, I turned my car the opposite direction. The suspense would have to last another hour. It turned out to be an hour and a half before I was able to dash to the FHC, checking my clock and noting that I had only an hour and twenty minutes to solve this mystery. Had I spent a large quantity of time and effort climbing the wrong family tree? Would I have to add an editor's note to my recent blog post about the Shrubsoles that further research had proved that they were not actually my ancestors? Soon I would find out.

Within two minutes of entering the building, I was seated at a computer, and scrolling through images from the appropriate microfilm, searching for the beginning of the section filming East Langdon. It took a little while to find; East Langdon was quite far into the roll. But not too long after locating the right item, the 1813 baptism of a child with the surname Amos appeared. His parents, however, were named William and Ann. Perhaps he was a cousin, but that would have to wait. A few more images passed, and then came another Amos baptism. Ah, now we were on the right track; this was for Jane Amos, the supposed sister of Abraham. In both the FindMyPast and the FamilySearch databases, as well as the tree at Faded Genes, her parents were Thomas and Mary. The real question was the names of the parents on Abraham's record. The Bishop's Transcript, though--the source of most, if not all, of these of these entries--provided a surprise. Jane's parents were Thomas and Amy! That possibility had never entered my mind. I had felt certain that either Abraham was the brother of Jane and Margaret, and not the son of Thomas and Amy, or that he was the son of Thomas and Amy, and not the brother of Jane and Margaret.

Quickly, I looked up the information I had on Thomas and Amy's children, and saw that Jane and Margaret would fit nicely into that gap I had noticed between the births of Abraham and his older sister Susanna. Perhaps all my research would not have to be scrapped after all. Margaret, too, and Abraham, all were the children of Thomas and Amy according to the Bishop's Transcripts, despite databases claiming their mother's name was Mary. And thank goodness for that, because tracing a Thomas and Mary Amos through Kent would be a far more difficult task than the more unusual combination of Thomas and Amy. Plus, I can still claim to be a descendant of numerous John Shrubsoles. Now, if I could just find Thomas' parents...

Military Monday: WWI Veteran Frank Amos

The Amos family. Frank Amos is the young man on the left.

In her typescript, Aunt Elsie remembered that her uncle Frank Amos was “killed while he was in the infantry, World War No I.” This was one of the instances in which Elsie was less accurate. Frank Amos did, indeed, serve in World War I, but he was not killed in the war.


The service records of the millions of English soldiers who served the WWI were stored in the War Office, which sustained bomb damage during WWII, destroying about two-thirds of the records. But some of the records were salvaged. These are known as the “Burnt Records.” Frank Amos’ record was among these fortunate ones. And it is very lucky for me, indeed, because I owe much of what I know about Frank and his family to these Burnt Records. And, also due to these records, I can trace his service with more completeness than any of my other WWI veterans.

Firefighters putting out a blaze in London after an air raid during The Blitz in 1941.
By New York Times Paris Bureau Collection [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Frank Amos was called up for service on 2 Mar 1917, and his physical fitness was approved the following day. He reported his age as 30 years and 4 months, and he was 5 feet and 6 ¾ inches tall. His profession in civilian life was “barman,” which is no great surprise. He had been born and raised at a pub, after all. (See my posts on the Creeksea Ferry.) He was married to a woman named Frances Daisy Appleby, whom he had married on the 19th of some month in 1912 (there is a hole burnt through the month; there is a reason these are known as the “Burnt Records”), and they had a son, William George, born 19 Oct 1913.


Frank was posted on 3 Mar 1917 to the 4^th Battalion of the Essex Regiment. He is again recorded as being posted to the 4^th Essex on 9 Mar 1917. I am uncertain why both dates are recorded, but at this time I still have little experience in deciphering these service records. At any rate, the 4^th Essex was crossing the Sinai Desert to participate in the Palestine campaign at the time. It proceeded to engage in all three battles of Gaza. But Frank would have been with them for only the first two, because on 23 May 1917 he was transferred to the 301^st Depot of the 5^th Labour Battalion.

Egyptian Labour Corps landing stores near Gaza during World War I
By C. Guy Powles (1872–1951) [1][2] [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The Labour Corps was manned in part by soldiers who had been wounded or otherwise rated below the “A1” condition required for front line fighting. Therefore, I have to wonder if Frank had been injured in battle. His Medical History in his service record is difficult to read, much of it apparently having been written in pencil. However, there are a few clues. Under “Slight defects but not sufficient to cause rejection,” which would seem to have been recorded at the time of his enlistment, is written “states trouble with left ankle.” Perhaps the trouble with his ankle had increased and disqualified him. There is also an entry indicating that he had been examined on 4 May 1917. This is a few weeks after the second Battle of Gaza, which would seem to indicate that he was probably not injured in that battle, as he would presumably been examined much sooner. (This is just me making assumptions, though. As stated before, I am no expert on these service records, nor am I particularly knowledgeable about military procedure.) But it is only a few weeks before his transfer to the Labour Corps, so it would seem quite possible that the transfer was a result of the examination. The full entry reads

Examined by No 1. TMG. + placed
in Cat B II.

Strangely, the first line is dark and clear, as though written in pen, but the second line is faded and appears to be in pencil, or at least a lighter shade of ink. Together, though, they would seem to say that he is no longer considered to be in A1 condition, but in B2. In that case, his transfer to the Labour Corps makes sense. But the two different writing materials still confuse me. (I am pondering the effects of the heat of fire on ink, and wondering if that may explain the difficulty in reading some portions of this record.)


I have not been able to locate details on the relevant companies of the Labour Corps, so cannot trace with any precision Frank’s movements up to the end of the war. It seems that little research has been done on the companies made up of Englishmen. The Labour Corps also made use of hundreds of soldiers of other ethnicities, in segregated companies, which are beginning to be examined for their historical significance, especially in regard to British colonialism. Without dismissing this important research, I can’t help but selfishly hope that more information on the English units soon appears. All I can currently manage is to list the companies (or as much as could be read of the companies—some of their names were partially burnt) in which Frank served:

Employ Coy, 363
H. S. Emp Coy, 246, 363, 586, 587
Agric Coy, 435
E. C. L. C.
H. S. E. Coy, 583

Although I could not verify this supposition, I think that “Coy” is an abbreviation for “Company.”


While Frank was with the 586^th or 587^th Employment Corps, on 11 Aug 1918, his wife Daisy passed away at the Union Infirmary in Rochford, Essex. Her cause of death was certified as “phthisis,” which is a type of tuberculosis. Frank evidently acquired leave in order to be at her side, as he is the recorded informant on her death certificate. Their son William George would have been a few months shy of five years old. But Frank did not get to stay with his son. The war was not yet over, and Frank had to return to his duty. 

Rochford, Essex, England
By Terryjoyce [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], from Wikimedia Commons

He was posted to the 435^th Agricultural Coy on 24 Aug 1918, and was apparently serving with them when the armistice was signed. He remained in the Labour Corps, however, moving through two more companies, until 23 Mar 1919, when he was transferred to the East Kent Regiment, the “Buffs.” There appears to be a detailed comment in regard to this transfer, but the ink is so faded I was unable to make out any of it. He was transferred to Class “Z” Army, a reserve contingent of discharged soldiers authorized in case of violations of the armistice, on Christmas Eve of 1919, hopefully just in time to celebrate Christmas with his son.

Sources:

 
Elsie Crocker, "Elsie Crocker" (typescript, 1990s); copy in possession of Amber Brosius.


England, "Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’," Frank Amos' enrolment papers, et al; digital images, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Mar 2011).

Isabella Cock’s parents

Now that I have explained my reasons for believing the parents of George Amos to be Abraham Amos and Isabella Cock, and have explored the paternal side, it is time to look to the maternal side. Against all odds, the maternal side has proved the easier to research in many respects.

Isabella Cock’s parents were Simon Cock and Mary Gurney. Their marriage was a bit tricky to prove without access to original records, but I am pretty satisfied with the conclusion. They were married on 24 Dec 1812 in Sturry, Kent, England. Mary’s birth location in later census records is given as Sturry, so the location, being the bride’s parish makes sense. The Tyler Index to Parish Records, one of my sources for the marriage, records that Simon is “of Tilmanstone.” Since Tilmanstone was where their family was raised, the groom also makes sense. 

Church of St. Nicholas, the parish church of Sturry, where Simon Cock and Mary Gurney were married.
pam fray [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Their first child, a son, William, was baptized on 13 Feb 1814 in Tilmanstone, Kent. My 3great-grandmother Isabella herself was next, baptized on 24 Apr 1815. Then came John on 17 June 1816, who must have died quite young, as another John was baptized the following year on 20 June 1817. (I have not, however, located a death or burial record for the first John.) Next came Simon on 27 Jan 1819, but he also passed away very young, and was buried on 3 June 1819.

There is a strange duplication of records for a baptism which took place on 26 Jan 1820; FamilySearch has records for both a Simon Edward and an Edward Simon on that date. It is possible that two sons were born twins and given identical names in reverse order, but I think it far more likely that it is an error introduced during transcription. Since I have not yet been able to examine the original records, I can state nothing with certainty. However, I am proceeding on the assumption that it is one child. 

The interior of St. Andrew’s, the parish church of Tilmanstone, where the children of Simon Cock and Mary Gurney were baptized.
John Salmon [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The next baptism for a child of Simon and Mary Cock appearing in the Tilmanstone records is for Frederic, on 26 Oct 1827. Last is Elizabeth Dorothy on 30 June 1829. There is, of course, a gap of nearly eight years between Simon Edward and Frederic. That is enough time for a few more children to have been born, but no records have been found. Perhaps there were miscarriages; Mary was by this time nearing the age of forty, and perhaps childbearing was becoming increasingly difficult for her. Perhaps Simon and Mary were separated from one another for some reason—Simon traveling elsewhere for work, maybe—and they quite simply had no opportunity to conceive any children during this time. Perhaps they moved to another parish during that period and I simply haven’t discovered the records.

In 1841, census records begin. The family is still living in Tilmanstone, and the census finds Simon and Mary with their children Edward (Edward Simon or Simon Edward of 1820), Frederick, Eliza (Elizabeth Dorothy). Also in the household are two younger children: Mary, age 6, and William, age 1. William is the illegitimate son of Isabella, and thus Simon and Mary’s grandson. Mary is likely also a grandchild, but her exact relationship has yet to be determined.

They are still residing in Tilmanstone at the time of the 1851 census. This is one of the censuses which helped in deciding that the marriage record in Sturry was the correct one, as Mary’s birthplace is recorded as Sturry. Simon’s is Ringwould, Kent. This census also brings the somewhat startling news that Simon is a pauper. That is, he is probably receiving “outdoor relief,” or money, from the local poor law union. He is in his late 60s at this point, so quite possibly he was unable to work. Simon and Mary’s children Edward and Elizabeth are still living with them, as is a granddaughter named Mary Ann (who is ineligible to be the mystery Mary of the 1841 census, as she is only four months old). Edward is working as an agricultural laborer, so perhaps he helped supplement the family’s small income. 

The former Eastry Union Workhouse and its attendant chapel.
Nick Smith [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

By 1861, times seem to have gotten even harder. Simon and Mary have relocated to the Eastry Union Workhouse. Their birth places are again recorded, and Simon’s occupation is listed as an agricultural laborer. Only two months after the census enumeration, on 15 June 1861, Simon passed away in the workhouse. His death certificate pdf arrived just yesterday. His cause of death was old age and bronchitis. Mary seems to have lived a while longer.

Death certificate of Simon Cock, who died in 1861.

Sources:

“England Marriages, 1538–1973,” database, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 3 Dec 2017), entry for Simon Cook and Mary Gurney’s 1812 marriage; citing Sturry, Kent, England, reference item 4 p 180, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,737,093.

St. Nicholas’ church (Sturry, Kent, England), Kent, England, Tyler Index to Parish Registers, 1538-1874, entry for Simon Cook and Mary Gurney’s 1812 marriage; digital images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 Dec 2017).

“England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975,” database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 8 Oct 2017), entries for William Cock’s 1814 baptism, Isabella Cock’s 1815 baptism, John Cock’s 1816 baptism, John Cock’s 1817 baptism, Simon Cock’s 1819 baptism, Edward Simon Cock’s 1820 baptism, Simon Edward Cock’s 1820 baptism, Frederic Cock’s 1827 baptism, and Elizabeth Dorothy Cock’s 1829 baptism; citing Tilmanstone, Kent, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,835,794.

“England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991,” database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 9 Oct 2017), entry for Simon Cock’s 1819 burial; citing Tilmanstone, Kent, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,835,794.

1841 census of England, Kent, Tilmanstone parish, District 5, Eythorn, Thanington civil parish, folio 10, page 16-17, household of Simon Cock; digital images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 Oct 2017); citing PRO HO 107/470/14.

1851 census of England, Kent, village and parish of Tilmanstone, folio 474, page 16, household of Simon Cock (No. 60 of householder's schedule); digital images, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 Oct 2017); citing PRO HO 107/1631.

1861 census of England, Kent, Eastry Union Workhouse, Eastry civil parish, folio 113, page 8, Simon Cock; digital images, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 Oct 2017); citing PRO RG 9/539.

England and Wales, death certificate for Simon Cock, died 15 June 1861; citing 2a/416/451, Apr/May/Jun quarter 1861, Eastry registration district, Sandwich sub-district; General Register Office, Southport.

Abraham Amos’ death certificate

Not long ago, I was listening to one of the many genealogy podcasts to which I subscribe (so many that I don’t recall which one brought me this welcome news!) when I learned that the General Register Office of the U.K. was running a pilot where one could order certificates to be delivered digitally in pdf form at a reduced price. That is, instead of the regular price of £9.25, a pdf costs only £6. Taking into account exchange rates, that is a difference of more than $4. So naturally I rushed to take advantage of this potentially limited time offer.

Having once before ordered a certificate through the GRO, which came through the mail, the time in which this pdf arrived seemed exceedingly short. I had ordered the death certificate of my 3great-grandfather Abraham Amos.



I must admit that at first glance I was a bit disappointed at the appearance of the certificate, which was missing the attractive pastel background and official seals of the paper certificate I had received in the past. But soon I remembered that I had ordered the certificate for information, not aesthetics. And information it did provide.

I learned that Abraham Amos had died on 2 April 1881 in Martin, East Langdon, Dover, Kent, of hemiplegia (from which he had suffered 14 years) and exhaustion. Not being much of a medical aficionado, I had to look up the word hemiplegia, which it turns out means paralysis of one side of the body, often as a result of a stroke. The certificate also records that he was a farm labourer, which must have been rather difficult without the use of one side of his body. No wonder he died of exhaustion!

His son Thomas was the informant.

Source:

England and Wales, death certificate for Abraham Amos, died 2 Apr 1881; citing 2a/515/434, Apr/May/Jun quarter 1881, Dover registration district, St. James sub-district; General Register Office, Southport.

Abraham Amos’ parents

All that I wrote in the previous post about George Amos’ parents and siblings had actually been researched some time ago, definitely before this summer, and quite probably even earlier than that. However, since there is some confusion online about his parents, it seemed a necessary prelude to the presentation of my new research. That is, having already determined the parents of George Amos, it was time to determine his grandparents. Fortunately, his parents’ marriage record provided a good starting place.

George Amos’ parents, Abraham Amos and Isabella Cock, were married 25 May 1847 in Eythorne, Kent. The marriage record revealed that the groom’s father was Thomas Amos and the bride’s father was Simon Cock. I first turned to the paternal side, to find the childhood family of Abraham Amos. Census records indicated that Abraham had been born about 1820 or 1821 in East Langdon, Kent. So the first step was easy: search East Langdon christening records for an Abraham Amos whose father was Thomas, and who was baptized around 1821. The results of this search left little question that I had located the correct individual; an Abraham Amos was baptized on 7 Apr 1821 in East Langdon. His parents were Thomas and Amy Amos.

Finding his siblings—for during this time frame I felt reasonably certain he would have some—proved more difficult. A search for other children of Thomas and Amy Amos in the East Langdon parish records yielded nothing, nor could I find there a marriage record for the couple. Widening the search to the entire county of Kent produced one possible sister of Abraham: Sarah Amos, baptized 1 May 1808 in Eythorne, but the relationship was by no means certain.

Since I didn’t seem to be getting very far at either FamilySearch or Ancestry, I decided to try my luck at Find My Past. They have many British parish records in their collection, and although I don’t have a subscription to their site, and therefore would be unable to view the transcriptions or original records, hoped the search results could lead me in the right direction. So I went to their “Kent, Canterbury Archdeaconry Baptisms 1538-1912” database and entered the search terms to find a child of Thomas and Amy Amos. Suffice it to say, using Find My Past in conjunction with FamilySearch (Ancestry was no help in this case), I believe I have identified a large part, if not all, of Thomas and Amy’s family. 

The Church of St Mary and St Ethelburga in Lyminge, Kent
Photographs by Gnangarra...commons.wikimedia.org [CC BY 2.5 au (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons

Their eldest child seems to have been a daughter, christened Mary Amis on 11 Nov 1798 in the parish of Lyminge. This parish, dedicated to Saints Mary and Ethelburga, also houses a marriage record for Thomas Amos and Amy Dunn on 17 June 1797. In just the year before the birth of their first daughter, and in the same parish, it is quite likely the right couple. The record notes (or at least one of the transcriptions of the record does; I have not yet had the opportunity to view the original document) that the bride is “of this parish” and the groom “of Hastingleigh.” Given this valuable information, it ought to be relatively simple to trace the next generation back; however, thus far I have been unable to find a baptismal record for either party.

It seems that by 1805 the small family has relocated to the parish of St. Mary the Virgin in Dover, about fourteen miles to the east. A son, Thomas Ames, was baptized there on 24 May of that year. By 1 May 1808, they were about seven or eight miles from there, in the village of Eythorne. This was, indeed, the possible child I had wondered about before. Sarah Amos, it turns out, does fit into this family.

Once the family made it to Northbourne, another six miles, they seem to have stayed put for a while. A son, John Amis, was baptized there in 1810, and then a daughter, Susanna Amis, on 20 Feb 1814.

Google Map of the approximate route of the Amos family, from about 1797 to 1821.

Lastly, after a gap of seven years, came my great-great-great-grandfather Abraham Amos. He was baptized in East Langdon, about five miles from Northbourne. The entire route, from Lyminge to East Langdon, along modern roads, is a distance of about 33 miles. It appears an entirely reasonable route for a family during a period of a couple decades. Especially if the father was an agricultural labourer as his son Abraham later became.

I suspect that a child or two... or three... is missing somewhere in that seven-year gap between Susanna and Abraham. But for a basic investigation, nowhere near being a reasonably exhaustive search, it’s a pretty fair reconstruction of a family.

Sources:

Ancestry, “England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975,” database, Ancestry, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 24 Mar 2016), entry for Abraham Amos’ 1821 baptism; citing England, Births and Christenings, 1538-1975. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.

“England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975,” database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 7 Oct 2017), entry for Mary Amis’ 1798 christening; citing Lyminge, Kent, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,736,875.

“England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975,” database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 7 Oct 2017), entry for Thomas Ames’ 1805 christening; citing SAINT MARY THE VIRGIN,DOVER,KENT,ENGLAND, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 355,633.

“England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975,” database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 7 Oct 2017), entry for Sarah Amos’ 1808 christening; citing Eythorn, Kent, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,736,696.

“England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975,” database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 7 Oct 2017), entry for Susanna Amis’ 1814 christening; citing Northbourne, Kent, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,835,535.

“England Marriages, 1538–1973,” database, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 24 Sep 2017), entry for Thomas Amis and Amy Dunn’s 1797 marriage; citing Lyminge, Kent, England, reference Item 2, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,736,875.

Ronnie Cobb, “Marriages 1665 to 1841, Lyminge,” database, Kent Online Parish Clerks, Kent Online Parish Clerks (http://www.kent-opc.org/index.html : accessed 7 Oct 2017), entry for Thomas Amis’ and Amy Dunn’s 1797 marriage; citing Lyminge parish register, entry no. 379.

George Amos’ parents

Ordinarily I wouldn’t describe myself as someone who has trouble focusing, but lately—since the end of summer, in fact—I have felt like I have genealogical attention deficit disorder (ADD). My approach has been remarkably scattered. I might spend a few hours on the Howard branch, and then hop over to the Robinaults. After a few hours with them, I might return to the Howards, but get distracted by the allied Filby family. Then, for no apparent reason, I might turn to the Brosius and Wade lines, followed by a leap to the Stroesser family.

At length, the second annual WikiTree Source-a-Thon arrived, and I volunteered. For those of you who don’t know, the Source-a-Thon was a weekend-long event in which volunteers sought sources for unsourced profiles on the WikiTree site. This was tailor-made for my temporary genealogical ADD, as I researched unrelated individuals from many and varied locales. After three days of arbitrary source-finding, I was finally ready to settle down.

George Amos

The branch of my family which finally engaged me, for whatever reason, was that of George Amos. Yes, George Amos of the Creeksea Ferry, the subject of my very first blog post. There has been some question about his parentage for a while: namely, whether his parents are Edward Amos and Sarah Constable or Abraham Amos and Isabella Cock. Both couples have a son named George Amos born in Kent during the correct time frame, but after some deliberation I have fallen firmly in the Abraham and Isabella camp.

(Unfortunately, I have some fears that I may have inadvertently begun the Edward and Sarah fallacy by tentatively placing them on my Ancestry tree without publicly stating that the placement was only tentative.)

The argument for Edward Amos and Sarah Constable is based entirely on census records, for which Abraham Amos and Isabella Cock have an equal claim. But the marriage record of George Amos and Elizabeth Filby bears some pretty strong evidence, in that it specifically states that Abraham Amos is the groom’s father. If that is not enough, the 1911 census records our George Amos’ birthplace as “Martin, Kent.” The son of Edward Amos and Sarah Constable was baptized in Buckland, Kent, but the son of Abraham Amos and Isabella Cock was baptized at St. Martin, Guston, Kent.

St. Martin of Tours church, Guston, Kent
By John Vigar (http://www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Guston) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

(Incidentally, you will sometimes see our George Amos recorded on online trees as George Hammond Amos. That was the baptismal name of the son of Edward Amos and Sarah Constable. There is no evidence to support a middle name of Hammond for this George Amos.)

Accepting that Abraham Amos and Isabella Cock are George Amos’ parents, George had at least three siblings. The eldest, likely a half-sibling, was born illegitimately to Isabella Cock in about 1840. He was baptized William Cock on 15 March 1840 at Tilmanstone, Kent, his mother’s home parish.

Abraham and Isabella married seven years later, on 25 May 1847 at Eythorne, Kent. Their first child as a married couple (and quite possibly as a couple at all, depending on the paternity of William) was Thomas, who was born on 31 October 1947. Note that he was born only five months after his parents’ marriage. He was baptized a few months later, on 23 January 1848, at Eythorne. Next came John Abraham, baptized 14 September 1851 at St. Martin, Guston, Kent; and last of their known children was George himself, baptized 22 May 1853, also at St. Martin, Guston, Kent.

Sources:

1911 census of England, Essex, 27 St. Thomas Road, South Fambridge, Essex, household of George Amos; digital images, Ancestry, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 Sep 2012); citing RG 78, RG 14 PN 10108, enumeration district (ED) 14, schedule number (SN) 91.

Christ Church (Southwark, Surrey, England), London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921, “1875 (Register of marriages, P92/CTC, Item 037),” George Amos and Elizabeth Filby marriage record, p. 106; digital images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 Feb 2016).

“England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975,” database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 24 Sep 2012), entry for George Amos' 1853 christening; citing Guston, Kent, England, reference p35 rn279; FHL microfilm 1,886,151.

“England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975,” database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 30 Dec 2014, George Hammond Amos, ), entry for George Hammond Amos’ 1852 christening; citing Buckland (near Dover), Kent, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,886,085.

“England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975,” database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 23 Sep 2017), entry for John Abraham Amos' 1851 christening; citing St. Martin, Guston, Kent, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,886,151.

“England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975,” database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 24 Sep 2012), entry for Thomas Amos' 1847 birth; citing reference item 9-12, FHL microfilm 1866545.

“England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975,” database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 22 Sep 2017), entry for William Cock's 1840 baptism; citing Tilmanstone, Kent, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,835,794.

“England Marriages, 1538–1973,” database, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 22 Sep 2017), entry for Abraham Amos and Isabella Cook's 25 May 1847 marriage; citing Eythorn, Kent, England, reference p22, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,866,546.

George Amos’ death certificate

A little over a dozen or so years ago, my younger self received a letter. It had come airmail—“par avion” read a sticker on the envelope—all the way from England. The letter had been written by a cousin, who, in reply to my inquiry, had jotted down what she knew of the family tree. For many years; until the advent of internet genealogy, that is, this letter was my main source for information on the Amos family. The more I matured in genealogical matters, the more I realized that the letter was merely a starting place, and the facts would have to be supported by more reliable documentation.

Fortunately, the facts outlined in that letter have, for the most part, stood up to examination. The names have occasionally required spelling correction, but the people have generally turned out to be properly placed within the tree. There have been two or three whom she named that I couldn’t trace, but that’s not bad percentage-wise.

Though she sent me a great many names and relationships, she sent me very few dates. Among the few dates she did send were that my great-great-grandparents George and Elizabeth Amos died in 1928 and 1942 respectively. Without any other evidence, I tentatively inputted those dates into my genealogy software and my various online family trees, waiting for the day I would finally have substantiative proof. The years passed by, and I located most of their children in the General Register Office’s birth, marriage, and death indices, but the deaths of the parents remained elusive. The longer the passage of time, the less secure I grew of the accuracy of the dates.

If you have any English ancestors, doubtless you are familiar with the GRO’s indices. They provide a name, registration district, year, and quarter for each event. And that’s it. No actual date—just a three month span. Obviously it can be very difficult to pick out the correct entry if you don’t know the death date in a case of multiple people with the same name. And to consult the actual document is currently £9.25 (depending on the exchange rates, about $15) a pop. Not being independently wealthy, I have not been terribly inclined to take a gamble like that without being pretty sure of my odds.

Finally, at the beginning of this month, all the circumstances aligned. I found an entry—and only one—which I felt reasonably certain was the right George Amos, the exchange rates were comparatively favorable, and I had a little spare cash. It was time to make my first purchase from the GRO.

It took over two weeks, but yesterday a brown envelope marked “Royal Mail” arrived.

I carefully slit it open, and looked inside. A cover letter detailed the facts of the order. Behind the cover letter was a delicately tinted certificate, which I couldn’t help but scan with my eyes before sitting down and seriously studying it. The word “Ferryman” jumped out at me. Ferryman! I was on the right track.

The rest of the information bore this out. The address given was the same address as on the 1911 census, and the informant was M. Bines: his daughter Minnie Bines.

So now I have a legitimate death date for George Amos: 3 May 1931. Now I just need to work on his wife...

Sources:

Letter from cousin, since misplaced.

England and Wales, death certificate for George Amos, died 3 May 1931; citing 4a/624/13, Apr-May-Jun quarter 1931, Rochford registration district, Rochford sub-district; General Register Office, Southport.

1911 census of England, Essex, 27 St. Thomas Road, South Fambridge, Essex, household of George Amos; digital images, Ancestry, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 Sep 2012); citing RG 78, RG 14 PN 10108, enumeration district (ED) 14, schedule number (SN) 91.

Wedding Wednesday: Harold Frank Amos & Florence Fisher

Here’s another article about a wedding on the Amos side of my family. This time the groom is a son of my great-grandmother Flora (Amos) Underwood’s brother Arthur.

The wedding, somewhat to my surprise, took place at the local Baptist church. I had believed the Amos family to be members of the Church of England. Perhaps the bride was a Baptist?

The Baptist Church in Burnham-on-Crouch
Dr Neil Clifton [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

ARCHWAY OF OARS

AT A

BURNHAM WEDDING

The wedding of Mr. Harold Frank Amos, third son of Mr. and Mrs. A. Amos, of Silver Road, Burnham, with Miss Florence Fisher, of Chapel Road, took place at the Baptist Church. The Rev. C. J. Soar officiated, and Miss Nellie Cole was at the organ. The bride was in white satin, and carried a bouquet of white carnations. The bridesmaids were the Misses Maud and Rose Amos, in green silk, with bouquets of bronze chrysanthemums. There were two little pages, Ross and Bobbie Amos, also in green. Mr. Thomas Amos was best man. As the bridal party left the church, fellow watermen of the bridegroom formed an archway of oars.

The entire party named, with the exception of the Rev. C. J. Soar and Nellie Cole the organist, is made up of members of the groom’s family. The bridesmaids, Maud and Rose Amos, are his sisters; the “little pages,” Ross and Bobbie Amos, are his nephews by his brother Walter; and the best man, Thomas Amos, is his brother.

I like the idea of the fellow watermen forming an archway of oars. I managed to find a few images online of the practice, though they all appeared to be under copyright. If you would like to see my favorite of the images, click here. It differs from Harold Frank Amos’ wedding in that the holders of the oars are all women, but it appears to take place much nearer the date of that wedding than any of the other pictures I found, although it is still about twenty years later.

Citation:

“Archway of Oars at a Burnham Wedding,” The Chelmsford Chronicle, 21 Nov 1930, p. 11, col. 5; digital images, British Newspaper Archive (http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk : accessed 26 Dec 2012), Brightsolid in partnership with the British Library.

Wedding Wednesday: William George Snell & Maud May Amos

For the same reasons articulated in the previous post, here is another Wedding Wednesday.

This article announces the marriage of Maud May Amos, a daughter of my great-grandmother Flora (Amos) Underwood’s brother Arthur Amos.

St. Mary’s Church, where the marriage took place.
Robert Edwards [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

THE MARRIAGE took place at St. Mary’s Church, the Vicar officiating, of Mr. William George Snell, only son of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Snell, of Torquay, with Miss Maud May Amos, eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Amos, of Silver Road, Burnham. The bride wore white satin, with wreath and veil, and carried white carnations. She was attended by her sister, Miss Rose Amos, whose dress was of ankle-length mauve floral georgette. Mr. Jack Raven was best man.

Citation:

“Burnham-on-Crouch,” The Chelmsford Chronicle, 6 Oct 1939, p. 4, col. 7; digital images, British Newspaper Archive (http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk : accessed 26 Dec 2012), Brightsolid in partnership with the British Library.

Before the Creeksea Ferry

I have already discussed in some detail the lives of George and Elizabeth AMOS after their marriage, when they were living on Wallasea Island at the Creeksea Ferry. However, I have only alluded to their lives before that.

A few years ago I was able to trace Elizabeth’s parents and siblings, but only within the past month have I made the breakthrough that allows me to identify with conviction the previous family of George. But let us begin where I did: with the 1881 British census.

1881 finds the AMOS family residing in the “Ferry House” on Wallasea Island. It identifies George’s birthplace as Dover, Kent, and Elizabeth’s as Maldon, Essex. Fortunately for us, a niece by the name of Esther FILBY is staying with them. Of course, she may be the daughter of a sister of either spouse, but there is the hope that she is the daughter of a brother of Elizabeth. That gives us the first hint of a possible maiden name for Elizabeth. Perhaps her name had been Elizabeth FILBY.

This surmise holds up when examining the 1891 census. By an even more fortuitous circumstance (from the point of view of the genealogist), George’s mother-in-law is now living with them. To state the obvious, that can only be Elizabeth’s mother. And what is her name? Mary A. FILBY. She is listed as a widow, and her birthplace as Stow, Essex—which, however, cannot be found on any map. George’s birthplace is now identified as East Langdon, a village near Dover, and Elizabeth’s is still identified as Maldon.

Armed with the information gleaned from these censuses, I was able to find a marriage record of sorts at FamilySearch. As a transcription of an index, it could hardly be considered the best possible evidence, but it did yield some valuable information. According to this record, a George AMOS and an Elizabeth TILBY were married at Christ Church in Southwark on 7 Nov 1875. Considering how easily Ts and Fs can be confounded in older handwriting (and being unable to examine the original handwriting myself), the name TILBY is a good match for FILBY. The date is also a good match, being just far enough before the birth of their oldest child. The location surprised me a little, but was not far enough out of the way to be improbable. The record, of course, contained a source microfilm number which I could have ordered at my local Family History Center, but I never quite got around to it.

Elizabeth FILBY

From here, knowing her birthplace to be Maldon, estimating her birth date as 1855, and knowing her mother to be Mary A. FILBY born c. 1812, it was not particularly hard to find Elizabeth living with her parents before her marriage. An entry with all the requisite particulars (excepting that her mother’s birthplace is recorded as Purleigh instead of Stow) appears in 1871 in Latchingdon, Essex. It is the household of John FILBY, a shoemaker, born c. 1814 in Purleigh. Living with him are Mary his wife and Elizabeth his daughter. No other family members are mentioned.

Tracing them back a little father, we find that Elizabeth was not an only child. In 1861, in Snoreham, Essex, the household contains a son, William, born c. 1849 in Snoreham, a daughter, Mary Ann, born c. 1853 also in Snoreham, and Elizabeth, still born in Maldon. This time the enumerator reports that their mother Mary was born in Stowe Maries, Essex, which is phonetically close to the “Stow” of 1891 and finally furnishes a location that can be found on a map.

Now that we know the proper household, we can go back even farther. The 1851 census reveals yet two more children: Henry FILBY, born c. 1835 in Purleigh, and Samuel FILBY, born c. 1850 in Latchingdon. These are in addition to William FILBY, to whom we have already been introduced.

Going back farther yet, to the earliest British census that lists the names of inhabitants, namely the 1841 census, brings us a little bit of a surprise. John FILBY, shoemaker, lives in Purleigh, Essex with his son Henry FILBY—and his housekeeper Mary HOWARD. This Mary HOWARD is approximately the age that Mrs. Mary FILBY would have been in that year: 24 is only three years from the expected 27. This page of the 1841 census also gives a clue as to Mary’s parents. The previous household is headed by a John HOWARD, age 60. Given their close proximity and identical surnames, it is a credible guess that John HOWARD is Mary’s father.

From this census we can deduce that Henry FILBY is John’s son from a previous marriage, and we can guess that Mary HOWARD was soon to become Mrs. Mary FILBY. The latter guess is backed up by the FreeBMD Marriage Index, which reveals that in the Oct-Dec quarter of 1842 there was indeed a marriage between a John FILBY and a Mary HOWARD.

Since we have reached the earliest possible census in our search, let us leap forward in time to the period between when we last saw Mary with her husband in 1871 and when we see her as a widow living with her daughter Elizabeth in 1891.

John FILBY is still alive and apparently making shoes at the time of the 1881 census. He and his wife are living together in an empty nest in Latchingdon. They are both reported as having been born in Purleigh, and for the first time since she was a housekeeper for her future husband, Mary has a recognized occupation of her own. She is identified as a “Nurse Sub Med,” which seems to be a sort of acknowledged nurse, but without formal training as such.

The best possibility for when Mary (HOWARD) FILBY became a widow is found in the FreeBMD death index. There is a record in the Oct-Dec quarter of 1882 for the death of a John FILBY in the Maldon district. This is the best match both because of his age and his location.

I have also done some research on Elizabeth’s siblings, especially her brother William, but we will leave that for another time.

George AMOS

As for George AMOS’ ancestry… that has been a little more difficult to trace. Taking East Langdon, near Dover, Kent as his birthplace, and searching the censuses for a George AMOS born c. 1853 brings multiple results, none of them an obvious match. There were, however, other researchers on this line, and I tentatively accepted their claim that he was the son of Edward AMOS and Sarah CONSTABLE.

Last month I returned to George AMOS’ profile on Ancestry and did another search for records. Ancestry is always updating and adding new databases, so periodic searches are essential. And this time my search was well rewarded. Remember that transcribed marriage index record that I found and never got around to ordering? There was the original, in all its handwritten glory, digitally scanned and appearing on my computer screen through the wonder of modern technology.

I have become more or less inured to disappointment in marriage records (outside of Luxembourg), seldom finding much in them beyond what is already known. That, at least, has been my experience of American marriage records, some of which contain no more than names and a date. This, however, was not to be my experience in the marriage of George AMOS and Elizabeth FILBY—FILBY, indeed, now that I could see it with my own eyes and distinguish the letter F. (The difficulty had arisen with her signature, in which the line crossing the F seems instead to be dotting the i.)

Most notable of the information contained within this record is the names and professions of the fathers of both the bride and the groom. The bride’s father, as anticipated, is John FILBY, a shoemaker. Although not new information, it is helpful in that it shows that we do have the correct marriage record. And now—if only there were a way to print a drum roll!—we come to the groom’s father. Strictly speaking, he appears on the record before the bride’s, but I have taken the liberty of creating a little suspense. The groom’s father is stated to be Abraham AMOS, labourer. So we can discard (or at least set aside, as they could turn out to be related more distantly than previously thought) the family of Edward AMOS and Sarah CONSTABLE.

Finding an alternate George AMOS, given the superfluity of the name, has not been hard. In fact, a George AMOS of the proper age and approximate birthplace is found the son of an Abraham AMOS in 1861. Conveniently, several of the details contained in this census fit what we know of the Creeksea Ferry’s George AMOS better than the formerly accepted household of Edward AMOS. Firstly, the location of the household is East Langdon, claimed as George’s birthplace in 1891. The birthplace of this 1861 George AMOS is said to be West Langdon, but he is only eight years old; perhaps he was raised in East Langdon. In any event, the two villages are within a couple miles from one another, and share noticeably similar names.

Secondly, Abraham AMOS’ wife is named Isabella, which would be a likely source for the name of our George’s eldest daughter. Such a supposition would be consistent with common Victorian naming practices, although they don’t seem to have strictly adhered to any such practice. (The origin of their eldest son Arthur’s first name remains a mystery.)

Thirdly, although this is admittedly rather slim evidence, we can amend the parenthetical observation about George and Elizabeth AMOS’ eldest son. Despite the fact that the source of his first name is unknown, this household at least gives a possible source for his middle name. There is a son of Abraham AMOS named Thomas, which is known to be Arthur’s middle name.

Working forward with this household, we find Abraham AMOS again heading his family in East Langdon in 1871. This time, however, the only child still living with them is Thomas. Once again we are faced with the question of where George could be. Since he is not residing with his parents, and since we can eliminate the George AMOS known to be the son of Edward AMOS as well as any listed as the son of other parents, the most feasible candidate (but certainly not the only possibility) appears in the William PIERCE household of Saltwood, Kent. This George AMOS, listed as a servant, is the right age. He is said to have been born in Saltwood, but that is within twenty miles of East Langdon, near enough for an error to be plausible. That is the extent of the case for him, so acceptance of this as our George AMOS can be only on the most tentative basis.

Reversing direction, we can work backward through the censuses with the Abraham AMOS family. But first we must take another glance at their household in 1861. Way down at the bottom of their household, where visitors and servants are usually found, appears the name William COCK, age 21. Servant he is not, nor is he a visitor or a lodger. Curiously, he is a “son.” The fact that his surname is not the same as that of his father suggests that he is not the son of Abraham AMOS, but rather his stepson. Such a hypothesis would imply that Isabella had either had him by a previous marriage or illegitimately before she was married. Therefore, we can presume that her name when she married Abraham had been Isabella COCK.

In 1851, we find Abraham and Isabella in West Langdon. This time the household includes a son William the same age as William COCK would be. It is probably the same person, but this time styled an AMOS. It is not uncommon to find a stepchild enumerated in a census with a technically inaccurate surname. Thomas AMOS is also included in the household, but his line contains no surprises. He is three years old and said to have been born in Eythorne, Kent. In fact, so far as I have discovered, his birthplace is recorded so consistently that the only part of it that varies from census to census is the spelling.

The FreeBMD marriage index discloses a marriage between Abraham AMOS and Isabella COCK in the Apr-June quarter of 1847 in the Eastry district of Kent. Therefore they were not yet married to one another at the time of the 1841 census, and at this time the paucity of information on their lives before their marriage makes it impossible to locate them with certainty in that census.

Sources:

1841 England Census, Essex, Purleigh, page 23, How Green, John Filby household. GSU roll:  241366. Digital images, Ancestry.

1851 England Census, Essex, Snoreham, page 30 (stamped 301), no. 23, John Filby household. GSU roll:  207425-207426. Digital images, Ancestry.

1851 England Census, Kent, West Langdon, District 7, page 20-21 (stamped 57-58), no. 22, house 3, Abraham Amos household. GSU roll:  193534-193535. Digital images, Ancestry. Accessed 21 Sept 2012.

1861 England Census, Essex, Snoreham, District 3, page 23-24 (stamped 48A), no. 30, John Filby household. GSU roll:  542751. Digital images, Ancestry.

1861 England Census, Kent, East Langdon, page 11 (stamped 20), no. 48 Martin Langdon, Abraham Amos household. GSU roll:  542659. Digital images, Ancestry. Accessed 21 Sept 2012.

1871 England Census, Essex, Parish of Latchingdon, page 16, no. 93, John Filby household. GSU roll:  829959. Digital images, Ancestry.

1871 England Census, Kent, East Langdon, Martin, page 7 (stamped 21), no. 42, Abraham Amos household. GSU roll:  827259. Digital images, Ancestry. Accessed 21 Sept 2012.

1871 England Census, Kent, Saltwood, page 27-28 (stamped 38), no. 130, house no. 127, William Pierce household. GSU roll:  827265. Digital images, Ancestry. Accessed 21 Sept 2012.

1881 England Census, Essex, Wallasea Island, Rural Sanitary District of Rochford, page 1, no. 2, “Ferry House,” George Amos household. GSU roll:  1341427. Digital images, Ancestry.

1891 England Census, Essex, Canewdon, Rural Sanitary District of Rochford, page 1, no. 1, Cricksea Ferry Rd (Ferry Boat), George Amos household. GSU roll:  6096503. Digital images, Ancestry.

“England, Marriages, 1538–1973 ,” index, FamilySearch. Previous version accessed 31 July 2003, George Amos and Elizabeth Tilby, 07 Nov 1875; citing reference , FHL microfilm 384912, 384913, 384914, 384915, 6026046.

FreeBMD. England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index:1837-1915 [database on-line]. Citing entry for John Filby, Oct-Nov-Dec 1882, Maldon, Essex, vol. 4A, page 211. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Original data: General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office.

FreeBMD. England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index:1837-1915 [database on-line]. Citing entries for Abraham Amos and Isabella Cock, Apr-May-Jun 1847, Eastry, Kent, vol. 5, page 195. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Accessed 21 Sept 2012. Original data: General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office.

FreeBMD. England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index:1837-1915 [database on-line]. Citing entries for John Filby and Mary Howard, Oct-Nov-Dec 1842, Maldon, Essex, vol. 12, page 283. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Original data: General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office.

Gaskin, Joan. “Nurse or SMS.” DEVON-L Archives. RootsWeb, 13 Aug. 2001. Web. Accessed 3 Oct 2012.

London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921 [database on-line]. Citing marriage record for George Amos and Elizabeth Filby, Southwark, Southwark Christ Church, page 106, 1875, No. 212, 7 Nov 1875. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Accessed 21 Sept 2012. Original data: Church of England Parish Registers, 1754-1921. London Metropolitan Archives, London.