James Buckingham (abt. 1831 - 1912)

Born about 1831 in Ramsden, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom

Husband of Fanny (Carter) Buckingham — married 1865 in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England

Descendants

Died 1912 at about age 81 in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom

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Biography

James Buckingham was born about 1831 in Ramsden, Oxfordshire, England,^[1] and lived in the same area throughout his life, dying in 1912 in Chipping Norton. His occupation was a stonemason. Perhaps he worked his entire adult life; that occupation is listed on every census record.

At 19 years of age, he and brother Christopher, had a brush with the law. They were caught cutting ash trees and convicted of the intent to steal them. Lacking the fine of £1 3s. they were each sentenced to six weeks of hard labor.^[2]

Eleven years later, in April 1861, he was unmarried, but living in his own home with an unmarried servant, Ann Lardner, and her two children.^[3] Five years later, he married Fanny Carter;^[4] they produced six, maybe seven, children before her death in 1891.

In April 1911,^[5] he was living in the household of his son, George, at 21 Spring St in Chipping Norton. This was possibly his own home; the 1901 census reported him living on the same street. He died less than a year later, during the period Jan-Mar of 1912.^[6]

The case for James's paternity of Ann Lardner's children is circumstantial but persuasive. On his marriage certificate, Ann's third child, Christopher, listed his father as "Walter Lardner (deceased) stonemason". However, the records reveal no stonemasons named Lardner in Oxfordshire. In Victorian England it was the custom for an illegitimate child to avoiding embarrassing the new in-laws by indicating that the father was deceased and by imputing a common name to him; "William" was among the most common at the time. Of course, upon birth an illegitimate child was given the mother's family name. It was also the custom to name the child after a relative or friend of the father--apparently, as an honor to the father while still allowing distance and deniability. Christopher is an unusual name at the time, but James has a brother named Christopher. Furthermore, it is to be noted that James was a stonemason, the same occupation listed by Christopher Lardner on the marriage certificate. Finally, one can observe that Ann's other two children also have the same names as siblings of James.

It is perhaps ironic that the name "Christopher" was carried forward through two generations of descendants of Christopher Lardner.

Sources

1. ↑ 1851 and other censuses
2. ↑ Notice, Petty Sessions
3. ↑ 1861 Census
4. ↑ FreeBMD Marriage Record
5. ↑ 1911 Census
6. ↑ FreeBMD Death Record

• England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Original data: General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office. Volume: 3a, Page: 1325
• Notice, Petty Sessions,Thursday, Oxford Chronicle and Reading Gazette, Oxfordshire, UK, 5 January 1850, convicted with brother James of cutting ash trees with the intent to steal them and sentenced to six weeks at hard labour.

• "1851 England Census," index and images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2005, Ancestry (http://search.ancestry.com/: accessed 26 July 2015), John Buckingham Family, Class: HO107; Piece: 1731; Folio: 551; Page: 18; GSU roll: 193640-193641; citing Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1851.

• "1861 England Census," index and images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2005, Ancestry (http://search.ancestry.com/: accessed 22 July 2015), Ann Lardner, family 90, page 16, Witney, Oxfordshire; citing Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1861.

• "1871 England Census," index and images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2004, Ancestry (http://search.ancestry.com/: accessed 24 July 2015), James Buckingham family, Class: RG10; Piece: 1457; Folio: 60; Page: 34; GSU roll: 838786; citing Census Returns of England and Wales, 1871. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1871.

• "1881 England Census," index and images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2004, Ancestry (http://search.ancestry.com/: accessed 24 July 2015), James Buckingham family, Class: RG11; Piece: 1521; Folio: 39; Page: 5; GSU roll: 1341367; citing Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1881.

• "1891 England Census," index and images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2005, Ancestry (http://search.ancestry.com/: accessed 24 July 2015), James Buckingham family, Class: RG12; Piece: 1179; Folio: 61; Page: 15; GSU roll: 6096289; citing Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1891.

• "1901 England Census," index and images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2005, Ancestry (http://search.ancestry.com/: accessed 26 July 2015), James Buckingham family, Class: RG13; Piece: 1399; Folio: 33; Page: 14; citing Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives, 1901.

• "1911 England Census," index and images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2011, Ancestry (http://search.ancestry.com/: accessed 26 July 2015), James Buckingham, Class: RG14; Piece: 8252; Schedule Number: 63; citing Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA), 1911.

• FreeBMD, "England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index, 1837-1915," online images of transcription of index, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006, Ancestry (http://search.ancestry.com: accessed 24 July 2015), James Buckingham and Fanny Carter, Chipping Norton, vol 3a, page 950; citing General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office.

• FreeBMD, "England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index, 1837-1915," online images of transcription of index, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006, Ancestry (http://search.ancestry.com: accessed 26 July 2015), James Buckingham, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, Jan-Feb-Mar 1912, vol 3a, p 1325; citing General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office.