GITTINS/GITTENS Family History in Madeley, Shropshire

Hello Cookie

As far as I can see there doesn't appear to be a gravestone for the surname GITTENS / GITTINS at Madeley Churchyard. (See Monumental Inscription in 'Online Databases' on the blue bar above)

In the absence of a gravestone it is often almost impossible to locate a particular grave in a churchyard because the Burial Register rarely records the location of the grave. In your case the Burial Register just gives his date of burial as 24 Aug 1875 and that he was from Aqueduct aged 73.

Mike

Thank you Mike, I'm desperate to find this part of my family but keep drawing blanks. I can't find the death of him or his wife. I have been researching my family tree for a while but have never come across the burial register, how do I access it. 

Hello Cookie

If you can't find the death registration and haven't seen the burial register how do you know that Thomas GITTENS / GITTINS died in 1875 and was buried at Madeley?

The burial register can be seen online on the Find my Past web site but this is a subscription web site unless you can use it at your local library / archives. If you have access I will explain how to do it because it takes a bit of learning.

If the burial I found at Madeley is the correct one, and only you can judge that, then like you I can't find any trace of the death registration unless he died several miles from home and was brought back for burial.  There is a death registered at Cleobury Mortimer which nearly fits but that person died in Apr/May/Jun 1875 and fits with a burial at Mamble, Worcestershire.  (Registration Districts quite often crossed county boundaries.)  Your Thomas was buried in August 1875 so they are most unlikely to be the same person.

If you have found your family in the census between 1841 and 1871 you should have a good idea when and where Thomas and Elizabeth were born.  Their birth years will help to find them in the death indexes.

Mike
 

Hi Mike,

I have a cutting in the family bible, which I can't seem to post a copy on here.

It tells me all of the info that I have.

Hello Cookie

I have now worked out why you couldn't find the Death Registration for Thomas. His death is recorded as Thomas GITTINGS (with a second G) in the Jul-Aug-Sep Quarter (Q3) 1875 in the Madeley Registration District Ref: Vol. 6a Page 412. His age is given as 73 years.  This fits exactly with the entry in the Madeley Church Burial Register.

In the Shifnal parish Marriage Register there is a marriage by Banns on the 7 March 1825 between a Thomas GITTINS and Elizabeth LEWIS. Both were said to be of Shifnal at that time. He signed and she made her mark.  This seems the most likely marriage for your couple.

In the 1851 Census at Hadley (HO107; Piece: 1997; Folio: 506; Page: 41) Thomas & Elizth GITTINS both aged 47 are listed with their 8 children ranging in age from 26 years down to 1 year. Thomas is a Blacksmith.

In the 1871 Census (RG10; Piece: 2756; Folio: 66; Page: 9) Thomas & Elizabeth GITTINS are living in Aqueduct with just their unmarried daughter Louisa age 34. Thomas is again described as a Blacksmith.

Mike

Mike, thank you   I really appreciate your help, I know the " i " changed to an "e" in the surname but I would never have thought of adding a G. I can now spend a cosy night in on Ancestry, trying to find if there are any descendants living in Madeley.

Picking your brains again do you know of any way that I could find out whether a Drive close to where they lived has any connection, to the family it's called Gittens Drive. 

Again thank you for your invaluable help.

Hello Cookie

First of all, we all need to remember that years ago name spelling was at the whim of the person writing the name down on the piece of paper. In many cases the individual concerned would not be able to spell their own name so it would be written how it sounded but in many cases like yours that could be interpreted in several different ways.

As far as I know the naming of roads and streets is decided by the Local Authority so you need Telford & Wrekin Council.  Have a look at this page for more information.

Mike

Hi Mike I've just read this again, how can I see the Shifnal parish Marriage register and does it include any info for their parents?

Thanks 

I think I can perhaps shed some light about the Gittens Drive connection - it is quite near to a place where my Gittins ancestors lived for over 200 years (1700-1970+), and in fact their descendents are probably still in the area - Holywell Lane, in Lightmoor near Little Dawley. They lived in one of a row of home-built cottages along the lane, along what was then land owned by Lord Craven. I do recall that in some of my searching I saw that relatives of theirs were also in Madeley, and possibly Shifnal. So we may be related. The last of those cottages was demolished only in the 1970's! The Gittins' intermarried with others on the Lane, including Baileys, Bageleys, Pooles, and others, during those two centuries. The earliest ancestor I have found for my Gittins branch was Andrew Gittins, b. 1640 in Buildwas. I have no birth record or death record for him, if anyone can help me find records for him, or who his father was? There are suitable candidates but I can only locate Gittins in Pontesbury in the Parish Records, none earlier in Buildwas? The line of my branch is Andrew (b. ~1640)-John-Richard-John-John-John (who immigrated from Holywell Lane via Liverpool to port of NY in 1849, and then on to Pittsburgh, PA, ans Iowa.)

I would love some leads! Gittins/Gittens/Gittoes/Gittings are def. a border name only, a rare one elsewhere, and my goal is to find out where they originated down to even a town if possible, and what they were doing earlier than 1640. Thanks for any help you can give!