My Paternal Grandmother’s Mother’s Family
My father’s mother’s maiden name was Redfin. Her father’s name was John Redfin. He married Mary Hurst on 2 February 1895.
The Hurst Family
Initially, I had relatively little information about the Hurst family and felt this was not enough to justify drawing a family tree. However, I am grateful to Stuart Hurst for contacting me and providing me with information to link to his extensive family tree. Based on this I have now constructed a Hurst family tree. The key piece of information was the 1861 census.
Mary Hurst
Mary Hurst was born in Leicestershire on 2 August 1874. She died on 26 May 1917. According to the 1881 census, she was living in Thringstone but the name has been transcribed as Hursh on FindMyPast. She was living with her parents, James (b1851) and Matilda (b1851). James was described as a coal miner. Mary had an older brother Henry (b1866), also a coal miner, and a younger brother, James (b1879). It may be worth noting that Henry was born before Mary’s parents married in 1870. In the 1871 census, there is a Henery Watson listed (b1868) and I suspect this is the same person.
James and Matilda Hurst
James Hurst married Matilda Watson in Ashby de la Zouch in 1870. In 1871, they were living with her mother Ann Watson at Railway Inn, Swannington.
James Hurst’s Parents and Siblings
Initially, I did not manage to find out anything about James Hurst’s parents. However, Stuart Hurst was able to identify them, in the 1861 census in Griffydam, Leicestershire, as William (b.1801) and Mary (b.1795). He was identified as an agricultural labourer. The census also identified James’ siblings as Hannah (b.1829), William (b.1836), John (b.1840), Thomas (b.1844) and Elizabeth (b.1857 – who is described as a step-daughter). The four boys were all coal miners. This included James, aged 12. What is odd about this entry is the age of James’ parents. Based on the 1861 census, William would have been 50 when James was born and Mary would have been 56. Perhaps, James was adopted, possibly by his grandparents?
Armed with this information, I then found him in the 1851 census along with his parents William and Mary. Here, both of them have their dates of birth given as 1800. William is described as a stone miner. Brothers, John and Thomas are listed. James’ date of birth is given as 1848. Based on this, I think I have found his birth record.
The Move to Kirkby
It seems that James and Matilda moved to Hucknall Tockard sometime between 1881 and 1891 as they appear on the census in Hucknall in both 1891 and 1901. In 1891, Mary Hurst appears as a lodger with John T Blines and his family at 45 Truman Street, Hucknall Tockard. She was described as a stocking maker.
Thomas Hurst
Based on Stuart Hurst’s family tree, William Hurst’s father, so James Hurst’s grandfather, was Thomas Hurst (b1897).
Connected Through Herbert Smith Hurst?
Stuart Hurst tells the story of his great-grandfather Bowley Hurst, who was great-grandson of Thomas Hurst. He married Elizabeth Smith but before they were married they had a child. His name was Herbert and he was born in 1892. He was killed in France in 1915. The possible connection was that Herbert was born in Hucknall Tockard. The story in Stuart’s family was that Elizabeth and Bowley went to have the baby with a cousin in Hucknall to save embarrassment. However, so far, we have not found compelling evidence identifying James as the cousin in question. The address where Herbert was born does not match addresses for James from the 1891 or 1901 census.
I am grateful to Stuart Hurst for tracking down that the connection was actually not to James Hurst but to William and Ann Cook who were living at 18 Linby Avenue in 1901. Stuart found out that Ann (b1862) was Elizabeth Smith’s older sister. She married William Cook in 1882.