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My great grandmother was Ellen Rushton born in Beverly, Whalley, Barrowford in 1839. Her mother was Ann (widow), formerly Duerden. I can't find Ellen Rushton on the 1841 census. She would be age 1 at that time. There is a Rushton family with a 1 year old female called Elling. Is this a local nickname for Ellen? I want to know if Ellen and Elling are one and the same. Can you help me?

Hi, we have an Elling Leaver (1832), who was born at Extwistle, and on the census she is either, Ellen or Elling.

I think I have seen Ellen written as Elling but also as Nellie.

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Mel

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I tried to find Ellen on later censuses to see whether I could tie her up with the family you found - and failed miserably. I did find some Rushton children with an Ann Pate of the right age (shown as stepchildren to the head of household) but no Ellen.
As Kris says, we do have an Ellen sometimes shown as Elling, and I think it has a lot to do with the fact that many people couldn't spell their own names and the enumerator had to make the best guess he could with what they told him.

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Maureen
If you can't fight, wear a big 'at

Thank you for your response. I really want Elling to be Ellen so I'm encouraged by your comment about Elling aka Ellen Leaver. Kind regards, petewins.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll have a look for any Nellie Rushtons. Regards, petewins

Thanks for your thoughts. The next census (1851) is not yet available on FreeBMD and by the 1861 census Ellen Rushton had married James Shackleton. Noting your comment about some people being illiterate in 1841' I noticed that Ellen's mother, Ann Rushton signed the birth certificate with an 'X'. At the time Ann Rushton was a widow and her former name was Duerden. I have not been able to find details of her marriage to Mr ?? Rushton. Have you any suggestions where I could look? Regards, petewins

Hi Pete, I find that this is one of the best links when searching for marriages http://lancashirebmd.org.uk/
I tend to use the surname that is easiest to spell if there may be spelling variations.

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Mel

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Just reading this topic again - do you know if Ellen/ing was the first born child? If not, you might not find a marriage on the link I suggested as they only list post July 1837 marriages.

The Mormons (LDS) website may be another avenue. http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp. Select 'Search Records' and then 'International Genealogical Index'.

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Mel

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Have looked at the 1841 census you refer to. HO107/506/10 folio 8 pg 12

From the info you provide, I would say that this is your Ellen.

Having now seen this, it is highly unlikely that you will find a marriage on the lancsbmd site. You stand more chance on the LDS site.

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Mel

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Found them in 1851. Birthplace is listed as Briercliffe but I would take this with a pinch of salt. I have some families who have a different birthplace on each census.

HO107/2251 folio 125 pg 4
Mill, Briercliffe
Ann Atkinson Head W 40 Housework b.Briercliffe
Ann Rushton Dau 17 Power loom weaver b.Briercliffe
Mary Rushton dau 14 Power loom weaver b.Briercliffe
Ellen Rushton dau 11 scholar b.Briercliffe

As you can see, mother is now named Atkinson so I searched for a marriage for Ann Rushton and founf the following one -

Lancashire Marriage indexes for the years: 1844
Surname Forename(s) Surname Forename(s) Church / Register Office Registers At Reference
RUSHTON Ann ATKINSON Stephen Colne, St Bartholomew Preston CE118/2/381

As Ann is listed as widow, I searched for death of Stephen and found this.
Deaths Dec 1847 Atkinson Stephen Burnley 21 183

I also found this marriage on the LDS site - not guaranteed to be the marriage you want, you could do with the birth of one Ellens older siblings to find out dads name
IGI Individual Record FamilySearch™ International Genealogical Index v5.0
NANNY DUERDEN
Marriages:
Spouse: ROBERT RUSHTON Family
Marriage: 24 JAN 1830 Colne, Lancashire, England
Messages:
Extracted marriage record for locality listed in the record. The source records are usually arranged chronologically by the marriage date. Source Information:
Batch No.: M005606

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Mel

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How on earth did you find that census Mel? I reckoned to try everything but as usual you trumped me. Ah well, looks like I'm going to stay an apprentice a while longer yet.

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Maureen
If you can't fight, wear a big 'at

I searched for Mary, birth year +/- 2 (or 5, I forget) born Lancashire, Mother called Ann. Went straight to the results starting with 'R' and there they were. I can't remember now if they were listed as Rushton or if the transcription was wrong.

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Mel

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Thank you so much for your help. I notice that the children's surname was misspelt RUSTHON on the 1851 census. How clever of you to find it.
I also note your suggestion about getting the birth certificates for Ellen's siblings. It is possible they were all born before 1837. Where should I look to find details of their father's name?
Yours, petewins

If you could find a marriage record for any of them, that should have the father's name on it.

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Maureen
If you can't fight, wear a big 'at