From Welch to Welsh to Adams-Welch to Adams

 

Church Records, Family Bibles and Oral Tradition

Prior to 1837, Church Records were the primary source of family records for births, christenings, marriages and burials.  Of course, the church wasn’t required to keep records of births, under ecclesiastical law, but some church records show the birth date alongside the baptism date.  This was not consistently done in all churches.  For Christian families, some information was kept by the family and recorded in family bibles which were passed down from generation to generation. 

But what happened to family history for those who grew up in families without a religious belief or church affiliation?  Many of those family histories were lost, resulting in dead-end searches in family trees.  Some histories survived through oral or written histories passed down through each family generation. 

Our Family Ancestry Begins with Welch

It is fortunate for our ancestry research that the Welch family were members of a Christian church denomination and baptized their children.  Because of this, we can trace our ancestry back to John Welch (1735-    ).  John was the son of William and Mary Welch and was born about 1735 in Kessingland, England.  On February 16, 1755, he married Mary Moffrey (1735-1768) in the parish church in Kessingland on February 16, 1799.

John and Mary Welch had 4 children.  Charles Welch, (1750-1764), Joseph Welch (1758-1778), Thomas Welch (1761-1792), and Elizabeth Welch (1763-1768).  Church records recorded that Elizabeth died and was buried on February 24, 1768.  Her mother, Mary died and was buried the following month on March 23, 1768.

Thomas Welch was baptized in the Diocese of Norfolk on April 26, 1761.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thomas Welch was the only child of John and Mary to survive and he married Mary Rainer (1754-1815).  Thomas and Mary Rainer had 3 children.  Elizabeth Welch (1786-1866), John Welch (1787-1884), and Shadred (Shared/Sherrard) Welch (1791-1856). 

John Welch(1787-1884) married Elizabeth Collins (1789-1813) around 1811 in Kessingland, Suffolk, England.  They had one child, John Welch (1812-1884), born on February 5, 1812 in Kessingland.   Elizabeth Collins died at age 24 in April 1813 when John Jr. was only 1 year old.  Church records still recorded the name of Elizabeth’s husband as John Welch.

Up until this point in history, the church records were fairly consistent in spelling the Welch family name.  This is most likely due to two major factors.  First, the family stayed within the Kessingland parish boundary which means that records of christenings, marriages and deaths were recorded in the same books which provided a reference source for previous entries made within the same family.  And second, they didn’t rely upon the family member for the correct spelling of names.  Since a majority of parishioners could not read, write or spell, the church recorder was usually pretty adept in the skill of writing and spelling.  However, it must be kept in mind that Noah Webster did not publish a standardized dictionary of words until 1828, so there were quite a few variations in spelling among different parish records. 

In one particular instance, the burial register for Kessingland recorded the burial of a “visiting Taylor, whose name was unknown”.  Today, we would spell it tailor and not capitalize the word as the parish recorder had done.

The change in the surname Welch to Welsh began in the next generation after the marriage of John Welch and Ann Wright.  The major driving force to this change came about with the new law passed in Parliament which required the civil registration for births, marriages and deaths in Britain.

The General Register Office starts civil registration

From 1 July 1837, every birth and death occurring in England and Wales had to be registered by the local registrar. The new system of civil marriage had been introduced earlier that year, so with these changes the system of registration came into being.

The world today is very different to that of 1837, but some of the key reasons why the system was set up are still valid today:

ü  the need to record all births that take place, as a protection to the individual who has been born as well as to aid with planning of services

ü  the need to clearly record marriages in a way which brought clarity to a previously erratic system

ü  the need to record each death - again, as a protection to individuals but also so that information on causes of death could be collated and studied

The register office has become a recognized part of British national life, whilst the fact that General Register Office now holds over 260 million records has greatly enhanced the process of searching for family histories and backgrounds.

Inconsistencies Begin to Appear

Up until 1837, John Welch (1812-1884) had used the surname Welch.  But it was doubtful that the Registration Act had any real impact on John since it is most likely that he and most of his children could neither read or write.  It is no surprise then, that his first 2 children were never registered with the civil authorities and retained the surname Welch.

However, records for baptisms kept in parish records, continued to use the surname Welch for all his children.  Within the civil registration process, his children Sarah Ann, Elizabeth Ann, James, Susannah, and Hannah were registered with the surname Welsh.  It doesn’t take much to imagine the process of registration with the civil authorities.  Without the ability to read or write their own name, the registrant would show up to the registration office and speak to the clerk at an open window.  Once there, the clerk would then ask the registrant to fill out a form.  Of course, they would assist in filling out the information requested on the form for the applicant who could neither read or write.  Then there would be a strong reliance on the one speaking to say the surname and it wasn’t always clear that what was spoken is what was heard.  Try speaking the name Welch and imagine if the speaker is pronouncing the name with a hard “ch” sound like in the word church.  Or perhaps, the name is slurred at the end and it was pronounced with a softer “sh” sound like Welsh.  However it was done, it became a permanent.  Once registered, with the civil authorities, they retained the spelling of the surname Welsh.  All 15 children of James Welsh and “Happy” Blowers’ children carried the surname Welsh which they passed down to their descendants.

But when John Welch (1852-1919) was born, he was registered with the civil authorities with the surname Welch and his sister Mary Ann Welsh (1855-1912) was registered under the surname Welsh. There isn’t any explanation for the inconsistency.  But I would conjecture that it was the wish of John and Ann that John Welch carry on the name given to their first-born son John Welch (1834-1852) who died in May 1852, just 2 months before John Welch (1852-1919) was born in July 1852.

As a result, all 7 of John Welch’s (1855-19120 children with Louisa Dowding are named Welch and carry that spelling down through their descendants as well.  All of John’s surviving siblings carried the name Welsh.

John Welch’s Family

John Welch (1812-1884) married Ann Wright on August 6, 1835 in Kessingland.  They had 9 children.

·         John Welch (1834-1852), died at age 18.

·         George Wright Welch (1838-1856), died at age 16.

·         Sarah Ann Welsh (1840-    ).  Had one daughter, Betsey Welsh born in 1860.  Father is not known.

·         Elizabeth Ann Welsh (1844-1908).  She married James Knights on September 29, 1862 in Kessingland.  They had 8 children.

·         James Welsh (1845-1919).  James married Kerenhappuch “Happy” Blowers on January 13, 1869 in Kessingland. They had 15 children all with the surname Welsh.

·         Susannah Welsh (1847-1898).  Susannah or Susan, married William Frederick Adams (1847-1907) on December 31, 1868 in Pakefield, Suffolk, England.  They had 11 children:

o   George William Welsh (1867-1940)

o   James Frederick Adams (1869-1920)

o   Harriet E Adams (1872-1958)

o   Ernest John Adams (1875-1933)

o   Gertrude Ann Adams (1878-1938)

o   Charles Henry Adams (1889-    )

o   Edith Jane Adams (1882-    )

o   Francis Henry Adams (1884-1965)

o   Ethel Maud Adams (1887-19710

o   William Adams (1889-1948)

o   John Adams (1891-1965)

·         Hannah Welsh (1850-    ).

·         John Welch (1855-1912).  John married Louisa Dowding on December 30, 1879 in Kessingland.  They had 7 children all with the surname Welsh.

·         Mary Ann Welsh (1855-1912).  Mary Ann married George Bunn on July 18, 1876 in Lowestoft, Suffolk, England.  They had 13 children.

 

Susannah Welsh and George William Welsh

Susannah Welsh (1847-1898) met and fell in love with a local fisherman, William Frederick Adams (1845-1907).  But before they could plan a wedding, Susan Welsh became pregnant.  George William Welsh was born on September 16, 1867 in Kessingland, Suffolk, England.  He was named in honor of her older brother George Welch, who died at the young age of 16, and her betrothed, William Adams.  William and Susan were married on December 31, 1868 in Pakefield.  Both William and Susan were present for the christening of their son George William Welsh on July 25, 1869 in the Parish church at Pakefield. Registration laws did not allow an unmarried woman to register a child under the surname of the father without a formal court document proving adoption or paternity of the father.  It is for this reason that George William grew up with the surname Welsh and he was duly registered by the civil authorities as Geroge William Welsh.

 

Christening Record for George William Welsh from the Parish of Pakefield.

 

From George William Welsh to George William Adams Welch

At some point in time, George began to use the name Adams as a part of his name.  Since his registered surname was Welsh, he placed the Adams as a part of his middle name.  Among his friends he was always known by his nickname “Pikey” Adams.  My aunt Brenda told the story of how her grandfather George William acquired the name “Pikey”.  She explained that those who came out of Pakefield were given the name “Pakey” or “Pikey”, which is really how it was pronounced.

The civil registration system still contained flaws which were not figured out in 1891 when George Welsh married Caroline Forster.  It appears that George wrote his surname as Welch and made the letter “c” indistinguishable from the letter “s”.  Without comparing the marriage record with the birth registration, George and Caroline were officially registered as Adams-Welch. That is the name that was used upon the registration for the death of Caroline Adams-Welch. 

It is not known if, or even when, George William was able to change his surname from Welch to Adams.  What is known is that he was born George William Welsh, married as George William Adams Welch, lived the majority of his life as “Pikey” Adams and his registered death was under the name George W. Adams. His first two children were registered under the surname of Welch and then starting with the birth of Thomas, the children were registered under the surname Adams.  George William and Caroline Forster raised 9 children:

Ethel Maud A Welch (1891-1893).  She was registered with the surname Welch and died at just under 2 years of age.

George Ernest Adams Welch (1892-1972).  He is registered as George Ernest A Welch.

Thomas William Adams (1894-1975)

Lily Maud Adams (1896-1958)

Elsie Victoria Adams (1897-1923)

William Adams (1899-1933)

Gladys May Adams (1900-1985)

Helen Caroline Adams (1903-1980)

Charles Thomas Bruce Adams, DSM (1905-1986)

George Ernest Adams Welch

Ethel Maud Adams Welch and George Ernest Adams Welch were the only two children of George William Adams Welch and Caroline Forster to be registered with the civil authorities with the surname Adams Welch.  Ethel died as a young infant.  Throughout George Ernest’s early life, he was always known by his family and friends as George Ernest Adams.  He most likely acquired his skippers license under the name of George Ernest Adams.  Every document he possessed used the name George Ernest Adams.  He never used his surname of Welch and it is likely that he grew up without knowing his formal name.  It was, therefore a rude awakening when he attempted to enlist in the Royal Navy Reserve in 1916 and he was denied enrollment due to a discrepancy in his name. 

George Ernest Adams was required to travel to London to appear in a special court to have his name officially changed.  He must have been successful because he enlisted in the Royal Navy Reserve on July 25, 1916 and his name was only recorded as George Ernest Adams.  When George died on July 5, 1972, his death was registered with the civil authorities as George Ernest Adams.