Kate (Denchfield) Rickard (abt. 1870)

Born about 1870 in Whitchurch, Buckinghamshire, England.

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Biography

Birth date estimated from census data, marriage date from census data and age of eldest child.

Kate's parents are a mystery.

The 1871 census shows Kate in a household in Wingrave, with four other people: Richard Denchfield (60), a farmer; Sarah A P Denchfield (26), his wife (both born at Whitchurch); Jane Hill (11), his niece (born at Dorking, Surrey); and Frank W Denchfield. Frank and Kate are both aged one, and are described as grandchildren, born at Whitchurch.

If they are indeed Richard's grandchildren, their father must have been a child of Richard's by an earlier marriage, since Sarah is too young to be a grandmother. But no Richard Denchfield of approximate age (30 in 1841, 40 in 1951 or 50 in 1861) has been located in censuses for Whitchurch or any of the towns or parishes in Buckinghamshire, and no likely candidate has been found for Kate's and Frank's father.

Another possibility is that they were mis-described in the 1871 census. It is possible that Sarah A P Denchfield was their mother. In support of this, in the 1891 census we find the following household, not in Whitchurch but in Wingrave: James H Stranks (36) wheelwright, b.Ringshall; Sarah A Stranks (41) b.Whitchurch; her daughters Kate Denchfield (21) dressmaker & Alice Denchfield (17) apprentice dressmaker, both b.Whitchurch; and son [of James & Sarah] Walter Stranks (14) b.Wingrave. FreeBMD indicates a marriage in September 1877 between Sarah Ann P Denchfield and James Henry Stranks (Aylesbury 3a 743).

At the same time, Frank Denchfield (21), a general labourer born at Whitchurch, is lodging at Castle St, Whitchurch, with a bricklayer and his family. There is no sign of grandfather Richard, who would have been 80 that year.

If Sarah Ann P Shanks (c.1850) is identical with Sarah A P Denchfield (c.1845), we still do not know her original surname or antecedants, nor the name of the father(s) of Kate, Frank, and Alice.

Sources

• England & Wales censuses for 1841-1901 for Buckinghamshire & Bedfordshire.