Oh my goodness, when the PDF arrived I was so excited to see what was on it! I wasn’t disappointed, here it is:

Isaiah Padfield aka Wyndham Stuart Pandfield was a House painter in 1880 and the family were living at 48 New Road, Southampton, Hampshire. William born on the 25 February, registered by father on the 1st April 1880. I also found William’s Baptism record and that gave me more information about the family. This shows us that in November 1880 just a few months after Williams birth, the family had moved from Southampton and were living at Waverley Place, Gigant Street in Salisbury, Wiltshire. Interesting to see that elder sister Florence was Baptised at the same time. Also you can see there were three other children from Waverley Place also Baptised, so maybe it was a joint celebration that day.

Isaiah Padfield. So he’s using the name Isaiah Padfield and because of this name being given on Williams birth certificate, I have now found this marriage of the couple, have sent for a marriage certificate, so I have another wait as this one comes through the post. Not available by PDF. This also was a possibility of a marriage originally found by friend Simon from Charnwood Genealogy, when I had asked him for help and ideas at the beginning of my research, great that’s it’s proved him right! Fingers crossed that I get some extra information from it. His Dad’s name would be brilliant, sent for the marriage certificate. So after a week’s waiting I got the Marriage certificate on Monday morning.

Being a Music Teacher certainly ties in with his interests when he lived in Bewdley that I put in the first Blog, that could be the only thing I have found to be the truth about him, that he was a lover of Music. He certainly seems to have been able to turn his hand to a variety of Jobs, Plumber, House Decorator, Music Teacher, Coffee Tavern manager and Photographer.

So out of all these details on the Census records, Birth certificates and Marriage certificate what is actually true? Or is it all lies? I’m certainly beginning to think the latter. Before and after these certificates arrived I have spent many hours and searched all the various sites I can for variations of his names and relationships, but I have found nothing to match him at all. Samuel Padfield his named father I have done the same too and even at one point I thought I might have a match of a son of a Samuel Padfield but then I found his death, so had to discount him too. All the men that looked a possibility with all the various names and combinations of names I have followed through and either killed them off or found them settled elsewhere with different jobs and in totally different families. To do this I have compiled several more family trees on Ancestry so that I could add and check records clearly. There are a lot of Padfield families out there in Victorian times.

What I have searched also, are males that were born between 1838 and 1843, I have searched from 1837 and some earlier. All these various names JAMES STEVENS, ISAIAH PADFIELD and WYNDHAM STUART PANDFIELD and all the variations of these names searching for them as first names, middle names and surnames and all the variations of those names and initials. Single names with a birthdate or without and looked at the areas that we know he has been in, especially Somrset. There are Whyndham/Wyndham Padfield’s to be found too but none before the 1870’s. So could he have heard the name and thought it sounded good? With and without a father called Samuel Padfield and also searched for a father Samuel Padfield an Army Pensioner. I have become obsessed with this search over the last few weeks and need to give up now. Everyone out there who has come across a total brickwall in their family trees will know exactly how I feel!

I could send for the Birth certificates of his other two sons Wyndham and Salisbury and also I could send for Whydham Stuart Pandfield’s Death certificate but I would end up spending a lot of money for maybe very little information. If it was my own family, then of course I would want as much information as I could find, but it’s not, so I have to stop, I am really frustrated not to finish the family’s story though as you can all imagine!

Bewdley Coffee Tavern was taken over by William Henry Tomes as Manager in the 1890’s, unfortunately I can’t find the exact date of this record from the collections.le.ac.com. There were a lot of Coffee Taverns about weren’t there. I shared my Blog on the Somerset and Dorset FH Facebook group and another member Heather Holden suggested: “It is a pity we cannot “make out” what is on the board behind the group photo as my great grandfather in 1891 had the Rownham Coffee Tavern in Bristol. He was a member of the “Temperance Society” and the society often frequented coffee taverns. Could W S Pandfield be affiliated to the local Temperance Society.” I have looked for any links but not found anything, but thanks for the suggestion Heather!

Bonus Find. While I was looking through all the various possibilities of the different Birth Names of the many Padfield families in Somerset I came across these astonishing Baptism record pages. There are many many pages before and some after this one below, with every possible bit of information about each Baptism family and also they are all cross referenced to any Burials and vice versa. All written meticulously by the Rev John West, the first bits of writing of his at Coleford I found at the end of 1837 and as it says below he had moved to Clipsham, Rutland at the end of 1846. His last entry in Coleford was September 1846. What a super find! Yes and I have checked and he carried on writing a few extra details at Clipsham, but not as much, from about 1849 there are a few extra details, probably after he had got to know the congregation better, until the end of 1857 just before his death.

This information about him I found on the excellent website: www.ucl.ac.uk ‘Trustee of Mount Lebanus estate with Rev. David Laing and the son of John West of Jamaica. 1) John West, son of John West of the Island of Jamaica, matriculated Exeter College Oxford 26 Jan 1813 aged 18. BA 1816, MA 1819. Bar-at-law Lincoln’s Inn 1819 . He was Vicar of Clipsham Rutland from 1846 until his death 15 Dec 1858. aged 63. 2) In 1851, the Rev. John West Rector of Clipsham and magistrate for the county of Rutland aged 56 born Kingston Jamaica  was living at the Rectory Clipsham aged 56 with his wife Mary aged 58 (born Portland Place, Bath). 3) The will of Rev. John West formerly of Coleford Somerset and lately of Clipsham in Rutland who died at Clipsham 15 Dec 1857 was proved 13 Jan 1858 by Mary West his relict and executrix, effects under £6000.‘ ……..This could be the start of a whole new story!

Here’s the link to the Whyndham Stuart Pandfield family tree I have compiled on Ancestry, it’s public so that any descendants can see and maybe contact me…always hopeful.

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/tree/174436393/family?cfpid=152264655633

Till next time then…………