Uncertain. James HARVEY

There are so many ancestors I am uncertain about that it isn’t easy to choose just one.

I’ve settled on part of my paternal family.

Uncertainty surrounded my three times great grandfather James Harvey is missing from the 1841 census, and at time of writing he is still missing!

I am sure that his name was ‘James’ as he is cited on the marriage certificates of two of his son’s that I have been able to find, Joshua, my great great grandfather and his brother Ephraim.

In a search for his death I discovered that he didn’t die until November 1841, the census was in June of that year, so where was he and where was his wife Susannah?

I searched for Charity Allum, the person who notified his death and it turned out to be his sister. The still unanswered question is why did his sister notify his death and not his wife? What does make interesting reading is finding Charity on the 1841 census living right next door to a ‘Thrower’ family. In later years the first marriage of Joshua (son of James) was to Rebecca Thrower. The tiny parish of Athelington was quick to search through, but there were no Harveys.

1841 England Census for Charity Allum, Athelington , District 9

I do know that James wife outlived him by a number of years because she re-married one Thomas Aldous on February 11then 1848.

Is it too much of a coincidence to find Thomas Aldous  on the 1841 census for Wilby right next door to David Harvey and his family.

The only possible Susan Harvey on the 1841 census is at an Inn on the census for Holt, but this is almost 50 miles from Wilby.

1841 England Census for Susan Harvey, Norfolk, Holt, District 2

James’s father was called William and I think I may have found him on the 1841 census only a few houses away from Joshua and his siblings. I’m even more sure that this is the correct family because William had a daughter called Lettice Harvey and she married William Feveryear, not only that they had a daughter called Margaret. I wonder if Lettice and her family lived there to care for her widowed father

1841 England Census, Wilby, District 14

I am also researching a possible link with my  Harvey family  to a  Baptist Minister who appears on the 1841 census for Wilby. His name was Matthew Harvey and his wife was Sarah, but that will have to wait for another day.