52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #8 Ann Dudley

Ann Dudley -- So many questions come to my head when I say your name. Are you my great-great grandmother? Why did you marry late in life after having my great-grandfather, Josiah Dudley and several other children?  Which Thomas Dudley was your father? Who was your mother?

Have I the right family? Here is what I have pieced together from different sources.

A Josiah Dudley was born 6 April 1847 in the Union Workhouse Oversley, Alcester, Warwickshire England. No father was listed. His mother is listed as Ann. She made her mark. This seems the best match with all the census records for Josiah.

Four years later on the 1851 census, there is a Dursley family living in the Workhouse but no Dudley. There is a Josiah of the right age (4) with a mother Ann but she has other children.

Children - Jonathan - 8 months - not found on the Free Birth Marriages and Death Index
George age 6 - There is a George Dudley registered in Alcester in 1843
Charles age 7 - no registration found
Solomon age 12 = there is a Solomon registered in the March 1/4 of 1839 in Alcester, A Search in the FamilySearch database shows a Solomon Dudley baptized 13 February 1839 with a mother Ann in Alcester

GS Film number:

367762

Jumping ahead 10 years to the 1861 census Ann (43) is living in Alcester on Bleachfield Street

There is no George, Charles or Solomon in the household but Josiah is now 14.

Added to the list are children

Joshua age 10 - there is a Joshua Dudley baptized at Arrow 19 June 1851 mother Ann

GS Film number:

549945

William age 1  William Thomas Dudley born 10 March 1860 baptized 12 April 1862 mother Ann - Family search index to baptisms

GS Film number:

557290

Living on Bleachfield Street is Thomas Niblett, a bricklayer. Josiah becomes a bricklayer as does Joshua.

We know that Josiah married in 1867. Did Ann attend the wedding?

By 1871, Ann (53) and the two younger children have moved and are now listed as lodgers in the household of Thomas Niblett, labourer  Bleachfield Street in Alcester.

William is 19 and Joshua is 11. It looks like the two boys have been mixed up. It should be Joshua who is 19 and now a labourer. 

On 10 March 1881, Ann daughter of Thomas Dudley and Thomas Niblett, son of William Niblett, bricklayer marry in the Parish Church of Alcester. 

GS Film number:

1067389

Thomas (62) and Ann (61) are still living Bleachfield Street. William is now 21 and is shown as a visitor on the 1881 census.

Neither Thomas or Ann have been located on the 1891 census.

It would appear that Ann may have lived until 1898. An Ann Niblett was buried in Alcester 14 April 1898. Residence is given as Union. Is this referencing a street or the Union Workhouse where she spent many years when her children were young? Her husband most likely predeceased her, dying it would appear in 1892 with his burial taking place 16 January 1892. [I need to get the death registration for Ann as a family tree on Ancestry gives this Ann as a sibling of Thomas.]

Going back before Josiah was born Ann Dudley (20) is with Solomon Dudley in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire at the time of the 1841 census. Her occupation is listed as nail m. Others on the same census page list that as their occupation.

Ann are you my great-great grandmother and the mother of Josiah and daughter of Thomas Dudley?

[I found several family trees on Ancestry showing Ann as the daughter of William and Rebecca Dudley and having her also marrying Thomas Niblett. Is it possible they have merged individuals?]

Sources
Ann Niblett Estimated birth year: abt 1818 Date of Registration: Apr-May-Jun 1898 Age at Death: 80 Registration district: Alcester Volume: 6d Page: 374
Ann Niblett burial record; digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : assessed 17 February 2014) citing Warwickshire County Record Office; Warwick, England; Warwickshire Anglican Registers; Roll: Engl 09000 4; Document Reference: DR 360/21.

Name:Thomas Niblett Estimated birth year: abt 1816 Date of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar 1892 Age at Death: 76 Registration district: Alcester Volume: 6d Page: 455
Source Citation: Warwickshire County Record Office; Warwick, England; Warwickshire Anglican Registers; Roll: Engl 09000 4; Document Reference: DR 360/21.

updated 2022-08-08

© 2022 Janet Iles