Genealogy Chat

I am trying to find the parents of the following,
Henry Johnson, born 1826c
Mary (Ann ) Johnson, born 1834c
Dessie Johnson, born 1835c
Emily Johnson, born 1843c and William James Johnson, born 1841c
On the 1841 census they are listed with a James Johnson born 1761c at a place named Camomile Green, Harborne, Staffordshire.
Any help with this would be greatly appreciated, I know the Johnson's are very many hundreds to check. Many thanks, David

The complete household in 1841

Dessee Curtiss 65 Farmer (not born in county)
James Johnson 80 Farmer (not born in county)
Henry Johnson 14
Mary Johnson 9
Dessee Johnson 6
Walter Fisher 12
Mary Partridge 15

Given the unusual Christian name it's fair to assume that Dessee Curtis is related to Dessel Johnson.

If Dessie and Henry are brother and sister, then here are their parents:

1851

Name: Desse Johnson
Age: 16
Estimated birth year: abt 1835
Relation: Daughter <<<<<<<
Father's name: William Johnson
Mother's name: Mary Johnson
Gender: Female
Where born: Harbourne, Staffordshire, England
Civil Parish: Suckley
County/Island: Worcestershire
Country: England
Registration district: Martley
Sub-registration district: Martley
ED, institution, or vessel: 2
Neighbors: View others on page
Household schedule number: 11
Piece: 2041
Folio: 401
Page Number: 3

William Johnson 53 b. Worcestershire Kings Norton
Mary Johnson 54 b. Birmingham
Desse Johnson 16
William Johnson 11
Emily Johnson 7

Looking at Mary's maiden name, this would be the marriage

Name: William Johnson
Gender: Male
Marriage Date: 5 Jul 1825
Marriage Place: Birmingham, St Martin, Warwickshire, England
Spouse: Mary Curtes
Spouse Gender: Female

Baptism of Mary (note mother's Christian name)

Name: Mary Curtis
Baptism Date: 29 Sep 1796
Baptism Place: Birmingham, St Martin, Warwickshire, England
Father: John Curtis
Mother: Dessece Curtis

Thank you BeverleyW, your info will be invaluable as I have been entering the names into this search, genes reunited, and been getting no matches coming up, I must be doing something wrong.
Thanks for your help, time and it's very much appreciated, David :-)

You're welcome :)

David ................


most of us do not use GR records searches


it's not you doing something wrong ................... we find other sites to be better :-)



I would suggest that Bev was probably using FindMyPast (FMP)



I use ancestry, and this is ancestry's transcription of that 1841 Census


1841 Census

Name: Dessel Curtiss
Age: 65
Estimated birth year: abt 1776
Gender: Female
Civil Parish: Harborne
Hundred: South Offlow
County/Island: Staffordshire
Country: England

Registration district: Kings Norton
Sub-registration district: Harborne

Piece: 980
Book: 5
Folio: 15
Page Number: 22

Dessel Curtiss 65
James Johnson 80
Henry Johnson 14
Mary Johnson 9
Dessel Johnson 6
Walter Fisher 12
Mary Parbridge 15

Address:- Camomile Green


The actual image does show the name as spelled Dessee


Dessee Curtiss is not showing up on your search of GR records because she is actually on the page before the rest of her family.

from ancestry .............


England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975

Name: Dessey Johnson
Gender: Female
Baptism Date: 6 Jul 1834
Baptism Place: Harborne,Stafford,England
Father: William Johnson
Mother: Mary
FHL Film Number: 426562



so Dessee / Dessey must have been born some time before 6 July 1834, but this is confirmation of her parents.

I would suggest that the James Johnson age 80 in the 1841 Census could be William's father

?????????


from ancestry


Birmingham, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1937

Name: Dessece Skett
Gender: Female
Marriage Date: 1 May 1796
Marriage Place: Birmingham, St Martin, Warwickshire, England
Spouse: John Curtis
Spouse Gender: Male
Reference Number: DRO 34/7
Archive Roll: M178


Ancestry.com. Birmingham, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1937 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.

Original data: Anglican Parish Records. Birmingham, England: Library of Birmingham.



from the image ..............

John, Bachelor of this Parish

Dessece, Spinster of this Parish


Witnesses:- Penelope Knight and Thos Curtis




no names of fathers on the register at this date

the name Dessee is obviously an old family name, if the following is correct ..............



Birmingham, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812

Name: Dessee Skett
Baptism Date: 31 Oct 1773
Baptism Place: Northfield, Worcestershire, England
Father: John Skett
Mother: Dessee Skett
Reference Number: DRO14/4



possible siblings of this Dessee ................


Joseph Skett Baptism 25 Mar 1764 Northfield John, Dessee

Martin Skett Baptism 22 Jun 1766 Northfield John, Dessee

Penny Skett Baptism 3 Oct 1768 Northfield John, Dessee

John Skett Baptism 2 Dec 1770 Northfield John, Dessee




possible marriage for John Skett and Dessee ..........


Birmingham, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1937

Name: John Skett
Gender: Male
Marriage Date: 15 Aug 1763
Marriage Place: Northfield, St Laurence, Worcestershire, England
Spouse: Dessee Andrews
Spouse Gender: Female
Reference Number: DRO 14/30
Archive Roll: Reel 1


from the image:-

John Skett of the Parish of Kingsnorton, Batchelor

Dessee Andrews of this Parish, Widow

Witnesses:- John Lea and John (???sp)



????? Dessee's first marriage?


Birmingham, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1937

Name: Edward Andrews
Gender: Male
Marriage Date: 8 Oct 1758
Marriage Place: Kings Norton, St Nicolas, England
Spouse: Desse Chellingworth
Spouse Gender: Female
Reference Number: EP4/2/3/1


The above was actually the notice that the Banns for their marriage were legally published, on October 8, 15 and 22



The following seems to be the actual marriage date ..........


England, Select Marriages, 1538–1973

Name: Edward Andrews
Gender: Male
Marriage Date: 24 Oct 1758
Marriage Place: Stafford, England
Spouse: Dessee Chillingworth
FHL Film Number: 291632




?????? her baptism


Birmingham, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812

Name: Desse Chilingworth
Baptism Date: 28 Dec 1737
Baptism Place: Northfield, Worcestershire, England
Father: Benjamin Chilingworth
Mother: Mary Chilingworth
Reference Number: DRO14/2


Source Information:-

Ancestry.com. Birmingham, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.

Original data: Anglican Parish Records. Birmingham, England: Library of Birmingham.

Thank you Sylvialncanada,
You have been most helpful and I am genuinely very grateful for all your time and effort. I will in future check with other sites, I thought all sites carried much the same records,
Thanking you, David :-)

Hi David,

I have only just read your post re: Dessee (Skett) Curtis (Bapt 1773-Died After 1841 Census) and her only daughter Mary (Curtis) Johnson (1796-1890).

I have researched this family line during the past year or so – but have not put it online as yet.

I just thought I would clarify that Dessee Skett was the daughter of John Skett (ca.1743-1829) and Dessee Chillingworth (1737-1801). The marriage between John Skett and Dessee Chillingworth was Dessee’s second marriage after her first husband Edward Andrews (Bapt 1735) died in 1761.

Several sources you may come across have your Dessee Skett dying in 1801 – this is because many assumed this was the daughter when in fact it was the mother (1737-1801)

I am also a descendant of one of the many Dessees – whilst mine was the daughter of John Skett (1777-Bef 1820) (brother to your Dessee) and Lucy (or as Louiza) Fellows (ca1784-1846) – their daughter (Bapt as Dessee) but was known as Dessey Skett (1814-1864) married Joseph Turrill my mothers 3 times great grand parents.

Hope this may be of some help on your family tree journey.

Cheers: Steve Campbell – in Australia.

Hi Steve,
Thank you very much for your info, you are the first family, even if distant, that has replied to any of my noticeboard questions and it's very much appreciated. I haven't put my family tree on line but have it all written down, if you needed any info at any time, I'm more than ready to help if I can.
Do you know if any descendants still live around the worcs/ Hereford area?
Many thanks David Johnson

Hi David,

Great to hear back from you, I was up rather late last night when I saw you’re posting and am a little bit worse for wear today - a few more hours of sleep would be good.

In my hasty reply to your post I realize now that I need to clarify one or two things (*nothing major). Firstly my Mum is the (2 times) great grand daughter of Joseph Turrill and Dessey Skett (not 3 times). Also you may have wondered that I wrote my John Skett Jnr was Bapt in the year 1777 and not as in 1770 (as you may have understood John Skett Jnr to have been Baptized). There were if fact two Johns – the first John (Bapt 1770) died in 1776 then John and Dessee had another son John (Bapt 1777 in Staffordshire) and they passed the Christian name down. This John (mine) went on to marry Lucy (Louiza) Fellows (Note: Several of the Skett lines were Bapt|Married|Buried in Staffordshire and surrounds).

Also - when I wrote that I had researched this line (*the Johnson's) it was in-as-much that I had linked the Curtis/Johnson families to the Sketts – but not full scale certificate purchasing and the like….I hope I did not get your hopes up in that respect - I do have several original records that I can email to you regarding our shared ancestors (the Sketts)….. If you would like to PM (private message) me your email address I would love to send them on.

My initial research into my Skett line goes back a good 9 – 10 years now. It was with the initial help from Mike Tewson and Helen Verrall (respectively) in 2006-2007 that gave me the verifying links to my initial research into my mother’s family history. Since then I have spent a good number of years linking the lines, especially the female lines which sadly tend to get either overlooked (*by some) or prove difficult to find for one reason or another. I was excited when I discovered Dessee Skett Curtis in the 1841 census – I realized she hadn’t died prematurely as some had written.

I am not sure as to whether branches from the Johnson line are still in the general area of Worcester. But from other peoples research I know that Martin Skett (1766-1802) (brother to your Dessee and my John) married Elizabeth Walker (ca. 1762-1856) – I know that their daughter Elizabeth Skett (1799-1868) married James Halward (1798-1872) and their descendants lived in the Selley Oak area of Birmingham – Those lines continue to this day.

My line went from Birmingham onto Middlesex then back to Birmingham before settling in Manchester btw 1873 and 1876 – I believe there are descendants still in Manchester – The Isle of Wight – here in Australia – and I believe also in Africa.

I have a busy few days ahead – but please feel free to PM me and I will send on those records if you would like.

Cheers: Steve Campbell.


:-D :-D